The Beginnings

Update!

Heyo I have made it to Africa!! It took a quite a bit of travel and several pit stops, but I am now safely in the intern house on a gorgeous, winter day in Port Elizabeth.
There is so many experiences that I could share with you from the past week,  but I will only grace you with the ultimate highlights in this post. My family, Haley, and I left for the Airport last Wednesday (August 8th) at 530am to drive to Baltimore to catch my plane out of BWI. Unexpectedly, we hit some traffic early in the morning (which made for a lot of anxiety) however, we made it to the airport in plenty of time. I knew that Haley's goodbye was going to be the hardest, but I wasn't quite prepared for goodbye to the rest of the family, in particular Rachelley's. So in a way to make the transition easier I am going to give Rachelle shout out to the world--Good luck @ UVa next year! Although, you didn't choose the cream of the crop (Lets Go Hokies!!) I am extremely proud of you and know that you are going have a wonderful experience and make a huge difference for the Lord this coming year.

Flight from BWI to Boston Logan

Orientation

Alas, now to the travelling. After arriving in Boston I was picked up by a fellow intern and road with two other interns (one from Hawaii and one from North Carolina) to our orientation in New Hampshire. In NH we had a four day orientation which was absolutely incredible! For two days we were sequestered to a cabin in the middle of  the woodlands. The purpose of seclusion was to focus on getting to know and understand the fellow interns in the best possible way. The main reason we were able to bond so quickly was through lots of fun Energizers and team-building games. It was great to finally meet people who knew exactly how I was feeling. We all shared the same sentiment...What the heck am I getting myself into??
The first two days were dedicated to learning about the GRS United States staff  and the GRS culture: which is pure merriment. Everything that we do as an organization we do with a smile on our face which I am totally down with. The other part of the organization that I love is that we are always trying to improve. We are trying to improve the curriculum that is given to the kids, how it is delivered, how the coaches are taught, how the interns are used, etc...
After two days in the cabin we came back to our lodge, The Pierce's Inn. We were put up in bunks and given the best hospitality you could receive. We were given three glorious meals a day and the environment was so comfortable it reminded me of being in a ski resort in Switzerland. These two days were dedicated to the meat and potatoes of the organization. We were given an extensive overview of HIV/AIDS and any questions we had about the disease were answered. We then went into every possible way that GRS functions. For those that want an in-depth look at GRS please let me know and I can send you some ppts or word documents (matthus2008@gmail.com) otherwise I will move on to more travels.

Departure from Orientation

Our last day of Orientation was August 12th. We had a couple more sessions in the morning (going over finances and safety while in country), ate a quick lunch, and started our escapade by heading back to Boston to catch our plane leaving that left at 1020pm. I was lucky enough to catch a ride with a fellow intern that lives 20 mins outside of Boston. We went to his house (with two other interns) and were showered with even more hospitality. His mom made us a wonderful meal and let me use their computer to print out a copy of my vaccination card which i had left at home (whoops...thanks Haley!). Out of the 22 interns in the program this year, 19 of us were flying out of Boston Logan together. Arriving at the airport we had a grand time getting psyched to finally go to Africa! I made my last USA phone calls and texts before leaving. Our plane left on time and due to the intensity from orientation (we were working hard all four days), I slept like a baby during our 6 1/2 hour flight.

Plane from Boston Logan to London Heathrow

London

We arrived in London at around 9am (4am on the East Coast). While preparing ourselves for a 10 hour layover we discussed what our best course of action was. Should we stay in the airport? Should we go into the city? Whats the best way to get in/the most cost effective? Also keep in mind, we were arriving the first day after the Olympics had ended and had no idea how busy the city and airport would be. Although, I have seen London many times I decided that I wanted to go into the city because I would probably go stir crazy in the airport. And hey, this is the start of the adventure. Do something crazy! I heard that you could pay 10 pounds to get into the center of the city after about an hour of travel. Nine of the interns decided to go see the city while the rest decided to play it safe and stay in the airport. However, our group split again as some people wanted to take the London Express into the city which would only take 25 mins (but would also be 25 pounds --If you know that I'm my father's child you should know which decision I made). Yupp, that's right I took the cheaper version and took the tube.Frugality wins every time for me. Although, it took a little bit longer (47 min, yeah I stopwatched it) we had plenty of time to look around. We were able to see Trafalger Square, Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and stopped by the Thames for a Sausage and a chat. 

Matthew and I in front of Buckingham Palace  (more pictures to be posted to Facebook)

We arrived back at the airport in plenty of time to catch the plane and so we stopped with several other interns at a pub, relaxed, and tried to find as many Olympians in the airport as we could. The only one that I got to see just so happened to be my favorite basketball player--Manu Ginobili!! I very much wanted to catch a picture with him, but he ducked into the British Airlines Club before I could reach him. For those of you who play basketball with me you know that I rock the #20 Manu shersey (shirt/jersey) whenever I hit the courts.We waited with nervous anxiety for some of the other interns to arrive before the flight however, just before we boarded the plane everyone was accounted for. I settled into my seat ready to pass out and sleep for as much as I could but there was a problem with one of the toilets in the plane and after 1hr 30min of waiting we were told to abandon ship and wait for another plane.  We were done in by a toilet! As convenience by British Airlines we were given a 5 pound certificate for any food or refreshments that we wanted. Although, most people were really bummed about staying longer in the airport, I secretly enjoyed the experience. It gave us interns a little more time to hang out with each other, play cards, and come up with ridiculous scenarios of how crazy our night would be if they let us loose in London. Much to our chagrin,  after two hours we were given a new airplane and ready to fly.  The flight from London to Johannesburg was 11 hours, but like the last flight  time went by really quickly. I was completely satisfied with two meals, a Usain Bolt Documentary, and catching up on much needed rest.

Plane from London to Johannesburg, SA!

Johannesburg

We landed In Johannesburg about an hour after our scheduled flight to Port Elizabeth had already taken off (missed it due to the extra 4 1/2 hour layover). So the first order of business was figuring out how to reschedule our next flight. We went to the baggage claim for British Airlines and fortuitously it wasn't too hard to get new tickets. I was ready for my first battle in Africa, but didn't even have to fight one (if you want to read someone struggling to get a new ticket read my  fellow intern's attempts and failures to get to Lesotho Shane's Blog). We did have to pay extra baggage fees for South African Airlines, but no matter, the extra luggage was worth it. We paid a porter (that spotted us as soon as we got in the terminal) who helped us out, however we were scared to death that he was somehow going to steal all our luggage. Again, our fears were not reality and finally, we were on a much smaller plane heading for our final destination: Port Elizabeth. 

Final Plane: Joburg to Port Elizabeth (notice the South African Flag)

Port Elizabeth

After touching down in PE, I calculated that we had done 48 total hours of travel. That is a long time travelling!! Waiting for us in the airport were 4 local PE staff: Siya, VIP, Lavista, and Scott (a graduate student who will be our roommate for the next couple of weeks). As soon as we loaded the luggage and got to the cars, Siya asked if anyone could drive manual. It turned out between Kait, Barrett and me, I was the only one who knew how. So, after hours of travel and exhaustion I was ready to face my biggest fear: driving a manual on the other side of the road in an entirely different country. Although it was a bit bumpy I was able to drive back to the intern house without any blemish. After we got settled, Siya told us to get some rest because we were going to start work bright and early in the morning at 8am. Ahhh...its all starting to so fast! Luckily, our new roommate Scott made us dinner and answered any and every question we had about our new life in a new city, country, and continent. We had some wonderful chicken, veggies, and potatoes and then I was ready to hit the sack. 

Another blog to follow very shortly about my first few days getting to meet the staff of PE, our office, and the city!