WOW!  I survived the 15+ hour plane flight!!   It was really intense.   Our flight from NYC to Johannesburg was very long and crowded.  There were approximately 317 people.  The layover presented a shock when one of my classmates had her trip cancelled accidentally.   But the matter was resolved with a phone call to the travel agent fortunately.  What a scare at first!   On the plane we had a really great dinner meal BUT THEN we had to close all of the windows.  The flight attendants said that it was policy to closed all of the windows.  WHAT?  It was only about 3:00PM.  From then on I felt trapped in a BIG tin can for the next 13 hours!!!  But we managed to make it to our destination safely.   The flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth was painless.

We finally made it to the airport in Port Elizabeth around 1:03PM.  We are staying in a lovely bed and breakfast with a really nice couple.  It is pretty cold here with temperatures in the 50s.  It is sunny during the day which makes it feel a little warmer.  It is now the winter season in South Africa and it it is taking some adjustment from the warmer weather we are having in the Carolinas.  Since it took an entire day to travel, we immediately cleaned up and got ready to go out into Port Elizabeth.  People drive on the opposite side of the street and on the opposite side of vehicles.  Today we visited the local beach area, stopped by a convenient store to get snacks for tomorrow, went to the bank to transfer currency, and ate dinners at one of the restaurants nearby.  It was a really great first day and we ended with a collective planning meeting for our first school visit tomorrow.