Departure/ Plane Flight

WOW! I can’t believe that I am on my way to South Africa! My first time below the equator!
I am perhaps slightly over packed, but I am hoping that with all the goodies that I brought I will be prepared for all of our adventures and the South African winter. Therefore the weather will be sunny and in the 60’s during the day and around the 40’s at night. We are 6 hours ahead of American time.
Imagine an 18 hour plane flight. Jeeez! We flew with South African Airlines from JFK into Johannesburg, SA with a stop in Senegal in order to refuel and change flight staff. We are a group of 12 plus one leader. Unfortunately, one member from our group did not make the flight out of JFK and so he had to take the next flight out on the following day at the same time. He met with us on Monday night after arranging his own taxi ride to lodging. That was certainly an experience he will never forget.
The plane itself was impressive. Each person had their own television touch screen that came with a remote control that could be used when playing the games available. There were about 12 various movies to choose from (I was able to watch 4 films!), TV shows, music, etc. Ania you would have been in heaven! They feed us 3 full, balanced meals, which I enjoyed and provided South African spirits. It was very difficult to fall asleep, even with a blow up pillow and melatonin/chamomile sleep aids. Therefore upon leaving the plane and for the next day my bum was sore and felt bruised. It appeared that most of the group had some sort of stiffness/soreness and we were all ready to get into a bed ASAP.
Simply getting to know the stories, achievements, and goals of my peers has already been such an eye-opening part of this experience. I have enjoyed hearing about how some have been able to truly overcome personal struggles and develop altruistic means of sharing their talents with others and coming to peace with has happened to them. Additionally, each person comes from such a different educational background and teaching exposure. It was fascinating to hear how one of my peers will begin her teaching career in a truly differentiated environment where the students in the tech school learn their curriculum via group-based projects. What a privileged opportunity!Lesson learned: By listening and watching others today, I have learned that I need to learn how to be more ‘in the moment’ as I go through my daily activities. In order to better understand my environment and the people that I am interacting with I need to think less of mapping out future plans and stop and be where I am at that moment.