a different me (first post from cape town)

wow. just wow.

i finished up the packing and the showering and the laundry, disconnected all electrical items, got dressed and walked to the lizard.

the party was great. brilliant music => LOTS of dancing and going crazy on the dancefloor, quite a few friends showed up (our team all going nuts together was quite the bonding experience), and we drank quite a bit. the mongoose's ex brought me some more of the still-undisclosed stuff, which is good.

she drove me home, where i quickly changed clothing (i partied a little too hard to go straight to the plane), and then to the airport. i walked in at 3.10am, and going through all the procedures took forever, and at some points was quite frustrating... i was soooooo wasted. the new airport is quite spanky, though.

ran into a dead sexy girl who just got released from our base (not the cute one i mentioned earlier), and the guy who took care of my group when i was in israel in '96.

that cute girl - never found her. i was dead / dying by the time (5.30am) we boarded, and all i could think of was falling asleep on the plane.

the flight sucked. i did fall asleep in bits and pieces, but aside from the seat being totally uncomfortable (causing me to wake up unable to move my head at some points), there was a baby two seats in front of me that didn't stop screaming the entire fucking flight. unbelievable. drove me mad. all in all i reckon i slept about 2 / 3 hours, and spent the rest of the flight in zombie mode.

speaking of zombie mode - from the time i got to the airport i stopped feeling like a soldier. as if i'd turned off that entire part of me that's been developing over the last year. freaks me out a bit, actually.

i did finish neverwhere - what a beautiful story. so wonderfully told. neil gaiman's sheer bloody genius.

and i started the adventures of tom sawyer, which is an absolute pleasure to read.

the food was actually okay! that was totally unexpected.

finally got to johannesburg, glided through passport control, waited forever for my bag, slipped through customs (i REALLY didn't have anything to declare :P), and took the long walk to domestic departures. the girl at the british airways ticket counter wasn't very helpful, but at the check-in the girl put me on standby for an earlier flight. and then, extremely helpfully, didn't explain to me what i had to do.

after some embarrassing run-ins with security, i managed to figure out where to go, and waited with the rest (11) of the stand-bys. eventually got onto the flight, went through security, and got to boarding. the girl at the boarding gate didn't have a cellphone (so i could inform my mommy of the change), and told me there wasn't enough time to go find a public phone. so i began walking down the ramp to the plane, when i realized i didn't have my bag with me.

DAMN. my hand-luggage contained all my important shit. so i legged it back to the boarding gate - not there - then SPRINTED to security, where it was still sitting on the side.

*PHEW*

close fucking call. very, very stupid of me.

someone on the plane let me sms, and then i took my seat.
and then realized my seat was in first class. NICE. not the first time british airways had flown me first class for free ^_^

the flight was very pleasant - comfortable seats, good food. i made the mistake of reading the newspaper. waste of brain cycles. i guess i slept about half an hour. i was exhausted.

got off the plane, stood breathing in cape town air before getting on the bus to the terminal, waited an inordinate amount of time for my bag... again... even though stand-by luggage is usually off first...

and then met my mum outside! happy moment :)

being back in cape town is like a lucid dream. i still don't feel like i'm really here.

supper was at my sister's. huge family do, with uncles and cousins here from all over the country, and my brother to boot ^_^ it was all very enjoyable. and the food was great. my second mom and i were as if i hadn't been away, which is nice.

long supper later, i dropped my bags off at my mom's (here), had a shower, got dressed, and got picked up by hyperviper and racer. we drove into town, picked up katelyn (that's what i *thought* i heard when i met her), and we went off to a really serious club where racer was to spin.

so many beautiful girls. rediculous, actually. lots, and lots, and lots of drinks. lots of talking. lots of seeing people i haven't seen in years. funky music. we left just after racer began playing, and came back here for coffee. my mom was going to sleep, and hysterics ensued when i introduced katelyn as "katelyn", and was informed of her actual name.

OH. penny dropped, there'd been some fun poked at her actual name earlier that had gone straight over my head.

coffee was amusing, they've just left, and i'm about to brush teeth and crash.

all-in-all, it was an awesome night. tomorrow we have breakfast planned, i *have* to do some shopping, i have to start getting phone numbers together, and i'm going to do my best to get through to schpatcon. and tomorrow night is a huge party that i've just happened to arrive in time for ^_^

hearing each wave crashing to shore brings me pure pleasure. seeing the outline of the mountain as i closed the door brings me pure pleasure. my beautiful bed invites me.