Well, I'm a little more than a week into the "African Adventure" and, as you can tell from the title, I'm liking Botswana WAY more than China. I had mentioned that to Alex the other day via Skype and he replied with a resounding "YES!" (if I had copy/paste that from Skype, it would had looked the same!)

It was quite a bit of craziness leading up to the trip.  I had to move, pack, sell my car to my brother, heal from a concussion, finish my cousin Casey's wedding planning, finish her flowers, set up the ceremony and reception halls and stand in the wedding all before the day before I had to get a plane and head to Africa. Of course during all that, I still had to fulfill my obligations to both my Wednesday and Thursday night dart leagues, hang out with as many people as possible, and have one last half-price wings session down at Showboat Saloon! Being the natural procrastinator that I am, I called in mom, dad and Tourdot to help me move, and proceeded to sleep the absolute bare minimum to get everything done. This did not go over so well with my cousin/doctor Sarah as she was trying to patch me up-did a great job! btw- BUT I figured I would have roughly 24 hours of plane ride I could sleep on :)

The wedding went beautifully Saturday night and instead of driving, I took the Marleys shuttle. Good, safe way to go. Only problem was I didn't have my car when mom called to wake me up the next morning... oops. I wasn't too far from the convention center or the resort where mom and dad were staying so I decided to hoof it. In a bridesmaid dress. And boots with the fur. Talk about walk of shame! Only I wasn't ashamed lol it was cold and I was just glad I didn't drive. Could only imagine what I looked like: Black puffy jacket, pewter full length gown and tan boots with updo and sparkly earrings. Epic :) I didn't make it very far before the cold won out and I called in some very welcome and much needed vehicular assistance.

Once I got back to my car it was a straight shot home. I quickly changed into something more appropriate and set about helping with the last minute packing and weighing operation. As usual, mom and I ended up leaving the house fashionably late for making the trek to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Drive went smoothly, but it was a nightmare of unmarked signs and incorrect internet information as we attempted to navigate the terminals and then figure out where we had to be as dad parked the car.

Low and behold. The terminal we needed was actually the international terminal (Weird. You really shouldn't believe everything you read online...). Good that we figured that out, but that was a train ride allllllllll the way on the other side of the airport and we didn't have dad! Time was too close for comfort and we still had to make it thru security for an international departure, let alone get all 7 of our bags over to a train we would inevitably have to wait for! Thankfully, shortly after I got dad on the phone, there he was right in front of us! Off we go!

Have you ever seen the movie Rat Race? That's kinda how it felt... Up this way, over that way, roadblock of wheel chairs and luggage carts, which train are we on? Oh, the train that is pulling in now?! Hmmm... quick! Squish into the last car! Hang on to the luggage! aaaaannnnd spill out.  We had made it. International terminal number 5! Cool clear and collected compared to all of the domestic terminals. We found our line, waited maybe five-ten minutes to get in, then it was off to security. Very strange feeling having that check in process be so easy then turning around and saying goodbye to your father. I had been going for so long that everything seemed to stop. I wasn't quite sure what to do. Exhausted, I gave one last hug to dad, and followed mom to security.

Once again I was astonished at the lack of lines and ease of passage. Well, almost easy. If you've been to an airport recently, you may have the new scanning machines they've put more or less in replace of the metal detectors. Basically you stand in a clear open tube, with your hands above you head almost if you're under arrest. The scanners whir around you with their Xray vision and look for anything you may be concealing. Cool device. No worries since I'm clearly not a threat. Then I get pulled aside. Random search, cool. Still not a threat. Scan came back clean....  " I'm going to pat you down and check under your breasts with the backside of my hand. Is it okay that I do so?" the female officer asked... well yeah. what? am I going to say no?? "Before I do, do you have anything on your chest?" No. (Why would I?) "Are you sure?" Yes. "You don't have anything in your bra?" as she gestures to her clavicles... No I-hmmmm I guess I do. Sorry! Turns out this whole time I had had my cell phone in one "bra pocket" and all my credit cards tand cash on the other side. No wonder she looked at my like I was daffy! I had completely forgot I have tucked everything there upon check-in. Oops! After my backhanded body search, between my confident yet incorrect answers and the fact that I looked like a prom queen who had been run over by a bus, my female officer kindly swabbed my hands for drugs. Ha! I must have looked suspicious! Or just much more rough than I had originally thought... after this point, nothing too exciting or eventful happened. Notified credit cards, made a few phone calls and boarded plane 1 of 3: nonstop to Amsterdam.

Mom and I took our seats, me taking window and mom in the isle. Please let this flight not be full! Certainly top of my list to sit middle for seven plus hours... but we lucked out! Open seat which Elena gets to take over and I did! I managed to contort myself into so many quasi-comfortable positions the flight seemed half as long. Or I just slept most of the way :) A little turbulence but  relatively uneventful flight. When we hit Amsterdam, it was another round of sleep, but this time in a seat trying to protect the carry-ons as mom walked and strangely yet another round of security. They don't take any chances over there! That was a fairly long line this time and then we were stuck in a cage of glass! No going to the restroom. No going for food. If you left, that was another round of security. I waited til we were on the plane.

This time we weren't quite as lucky with the seating. A gentleman named David? the Netherland/Cape towner we think was going to end up in the middle of the middle with both mom and me on an isle. Because mom didn't want to sit with the metal box like thing-whatever it was protecting-at her feet, we rearranged: Mom to my seat, me to the middle, and David? the Netherland/Cape Towner to mom's old stop over the metal box. Remember how I said just in the paragraph prior that it was top of my list to sit middle for seven hours? Yup, middle for eleven! Again, in all reality, I really cant complain. I slept most of the way, neither mom or David snored and nor did either one take up multiple seats. As an added bonus, all babes were quiet and well behaved and the individuals directly in front and behind me were great! I smothered myself in a multitude of pillows and blankets and nestled in for the long, uneventful ride.