Early Sunday afternoon, I met Heidi at Logan International Airport, where were were due to take off en route to Amsterdam. After checking my bag (which was carefully packed, weighing in at 48 lbs, just under the 50 lb limit!), I sat with my parents and my sister to grab a bite to eat before meeting Heidi and her family, saying my rather difficult farewell to my family from whom I had never been away farther than Providence, and heading through security to our terminals. 
Finally at the gate, we excitedly waited to board our plan for what was my first ever international flight!
My first Trans-Atlantic flight was almost as good as it gets, and almost spoiled us for our next two flights! The plane had many empty seats, and many people, including Heidi and me, got rows to themselves. This additional elbow and leg room, the wonderful flight attendants who kept coming by to check on us, and the complimentary movies made this flight one of the most enjoyable I've ever been on. In fact, as much as I was trying not to sleep, I couldn't help at least catching a nap because of the turbulence we experienced...yes, that rocking in the air that usually makes people uncomfortable rocked me to sleep. (My dad likes to remind me of the flight home from our last Disney World vacation when everyone was kept up by the bad turbulence except me, who asked "There was turbulence?" when asked if I felt it.)
Anyway, we left Boston at 4:45pm EST, and arrived at 11:30pm EST...but in Amsterdam, it was actually 5:30am. For someone who has never changed time-zones, this threw me for a loop and for the entirety of our 5 hour layover, I was pretty much a zombie...very, very tired. However, Heidi and I made it a point to check out the shops around the airport, since there was not enough time to leave, this being my first and only visit to Europe.
At 9:50am (which according to my internal clock was 4:50am), we began boarding our plane for our 10-hour flight to Johannesburg. Shortly thereafter, we began our taxi to the runway, and just as we were preparing for take off, we turned around and taxied right back to the gate. Since the announcements were first in Dutch, I, having no Dutch experience at all, had to wait for the second announcement to come in English, informing us that there was engine trouble. With no spare aircrafts, it took 3 hours to assess the engine problem, gather the parts, fix the problem, and refuel the aircraft before we could go, but the flight attendants were on their game, keeping the passengers happy with good and drinks. Finally, at 2:00, our 10:25 flight was on its way.
This flight was not nearly as comfortable as the previous one, but it proved to be just fine. I even was lucky enough to have an empty seat between me and the gentleman in my row, giving us both extra elbow room. I slept for probably 7 or 8 of the 10 hours, but while I was awake, I was lucky enough to make some friends! Sitting next to Heidi was a woman who recognized my Providence College sweatshirt and struck up a conversation. It turned out that Lagina was a PC Alum...what are the odds of that?! Just another thing to love about the Providence College Family...we are everywhere, and somehow manage to find each other.
After falling in and out of sleep for the 10 hours of the flight (plus the 3 hour delay), Heidi and I finally landed in Johannesburg. That night, we stayed in the Johannesburg Airport Grand Hotel, but missed all of the shuttles due to the delay, so we had to catch a taxi. Lucas was quite the interesting taxi driver, but I was so glad once we were checked into the hotel and in our room for the night. After what seemed like the longest day ever, we were finally able to get some sleep in a real bed before waking up, grabbing breakfast and catching yet another flight.
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