off off and away

I leave for South Africa tomorrow night. Actually, I'm driving up to NJ tonight and South Africa at 5:20 tomorrow night. For some reason I am unaware of, we're supposed to be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Since the traffic to JFK can be horrid, my poor dad is taking the day off to drive me and one of my cohort/co-travelers to the airport. I'm reasonably sure that if we leave at noon we'll be there by 2, but poor Dad is going to hit serious Friday afternoon traffic leaving the city. Oh well.

I also just found out this guy I went to college with is going to some sort of rugby camp in Durban the same time I'll be there. Our paths won't cross, since I'll be in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but its still sort of cool. (Not that having half of my cohort come on the trip isn't cool too!!)

I'm really excited. It took a while. This has been in the works for so long, its almost snuck up on me. I've spent a good portion of today printing out our "recommended readings" to read on the plane, since that just hasn't happened. At least I finished Mandela's autobiography...and I did manage to pack without staying up half the night (probably over pack at that). I'm pretty convinced I forgot something though. I don't need contacts anymore, so its not that. My passport and tickets are in my purse, so not that...my earrings are lost at the gym (so I might buy myself a present abroad!)...I know my camera and charger is in my backpack along with the converter, and my roommate is bringing an Ipod plug and a blackberry (eek, but could be useful)...oh well. Not like I'm going on Safari.

On a side note, lets note how not flat South Africa is...I was reading a little blurb recently about a woman who set a new world record for time (as in total days) to run a marathon on every continent. She remarked that the Soweto (just outside Johannesburg) marathon was not only crazily hot, but also really hilly. Runners World mag also did a write up on the Comrades Marathon recently. Its not actually a marathon, but an ultra -- 50+ miles and HILLY, hills that according to the article, dwarf Boston's Heartbreak Hill. Scary. The elite take 6 hrs to finish, and the training programs on the site aim for sub-9hr and sub-11hr. I'll pass, thanks :)