Here we go

Well, I'm at O'Hare. I've got an hour and a half till my flight, check in was a piece of cake, there was no line at security, and my flight's scheduled on time. The TSA people didn't make me feel like a criminal, so that was nice. Saying goodbye to Patrick was incredibly hard, mostly because for goodbyes (especially actually AT the airport), I become a blubbering mess and can't really even say anything. But, now, in the terminal, I'm feeling calmer, and mostly just looking forward to the trip. We all miss people when we go away, but that's part of what makes coming home that much better. Right? Right?

These flights are going to be long - 9ish hours from ORD to Frankfurt, a four hour layover, and then another overnight 11 hour flight to Cape Town. The hope is that I'll sleep on the second one soas to arrive rested and ready to see penguins when I get to Cape Town at 5AM. After looking forward to this trip for so long, it's very strange that it's finally here. I did receive word from Mark, my boss, that it's quite possible I'll be traveling to Manakara with the Freudenbergers and perhaps some others from Sunday to Tuesday. All I really know about Manakara is that there is a railway restoration project between Fianar and Manakara, and that Manakara is on the ocean (East coast). Sounds like a promising first few days. Here's hoping 24 hours of flying doesn't drive me batty. :)

and now, for lack of pictures from my trip, here's a pic of patrick and i at my family's BBQ on saturday: