Let me share a few facts with you:
1) Traveling is always an adventure
2) Don’t fly with Delta
3) Tears make others soften up, though they don’t really accomplish anything
4) The Atlanta airport hates me
5) God can make good come out of any bad situation

So, if you read my previous post, you know that I came home this past week. And as you can guess, I’ve had some problems getting back to Swazi. Let me just share the past 24 splendid hours with you. 🙂

My flights back home to Swazi go as follows: Milwaukee to Cinncinati to Atlanta to Johannesburg to bus to Swazi. I am about halfway right now. And it all started in Milwaukee. There’s a joke with my housemates and I that somebody really doesn’t want me in Swaziland because I kept getting all the sickness and rashes and whatnot and my housemates stayed healthy…well, this joke really isn’t funny anymore. Innitially, the people at the airport in Milwaukee would not let me check in or get on my flight because they said I needed a return ticket. Well, I explained to them that I had been there for two months, had flown home for a funeral, so my “roundtrip” ticket was from joburg back to joburg. They said I couldn’t go because I have a U.S. passport and have to show that I am not staying in Joburg. What? So, nearly two hours, a few tears, and $2500 later…I am finally checked in. I had to buy a “fake” ticket back home to show I wasn’t staying in Joburg…but it’s refundable, so when I get there, I can get the money back.

Okay, so stop #2: Cincinnati to Atlanta. The window of time from my arrival in ATlant to when I needed to catch my Joburg flight was short enough, so when we started having delays in Cinci, I was freaking out. There’s no way I am going to catch that flight, I thought. I talked to the flight attendents on the plane and they kindly reseated me to the front of the plane to get me off asap. The delays was because of a luggage and inbalance problem. The pilot let us all know it was Delta’s fault and even encouraged us to go online and let them hear about it. He did everything he could to get us there in record timing…so from the moment I stepped off the plane to when my Joburg flight departed was now 15 minutes. For those of you who know how HUUUUUGE the Atlanta airport is, know how nearly impossible it is to catch this flight in 15 minutes…let alone travel the completely OPPOSITE end of the airport where the international flights are. Anyway, I ran, jumped on the train thing and as I kept watching the clock, my eyes started tingling…don’t cry don’t cry…you can still make it! I thought again. I sprinted off the train and hustled to gate E10…the doors were closed there was no attendant there. I huffed and puffed, catching my breath and trying not to cry and a few bystanders told me to bust through the door…I tried…it was locked. Then a lady came over and was like, “Oh, you’re going to Johannesburg?”
“Yes!” was all I could say.
“It’s too late,” she bluntly said. Then she changed her tone when I started to cry. “Well, let me check…” she goes through the doors and then comes back. “The JUST closed the door.”

Seriously?!

All she could say when I started to cry was, “oh…”

But because it was Delta’s fault, at least they rebooked me for free. Then they were going to put me up in a hotel for a “discounted” price. But (if you are familiar with one of my first posts, you will know who I’m talking about) my friend’s mom lives in Atlanta, so I called around and got a hold of her number. She graciously picked me up at the airport with her daughter Rebecca. And I was pampered and loved for the past night and today, and it was a wonderful comfort before I head back to Swazi.

So…basically, always be ready for adventure when traveling, don’t book a flight with Delta, tears are needed sometimes but don’t solve things, there’s something about the Altanta airport that apparently doesn’t like me, and God is good. I am very blessed to have Ellen and Rebecca Farish taking care of me in a situation like this. Praise God for them, and the way our Good Lord can make us smile in any circumstance! 🙂

Well, time’s up…I WILL be catching this next flight…see you on the other side.