I'm watching a cricket match right now

FINALLY. After a six hour flight to London, followed by another six-ish hours in the Heathrow airport, followed by ten hours on another plane, I FINALLY made it to Johannesburg! I ended up deciding to get here earlier than when my program officially starts, so right now I'm chilling in a lovely guesthouse by the international airport. The owners have been nothing but kind to me, and for that I'm definitely grateful. Especially since I'm still not really sure which way is up or down at this point.

While I was sitting in the gate waiting to board for Johannesburg, a lady came and sat down next to me. We got to talking (about how difficult it was to even find the gate, let alone anything else in that airport), and then she took me under her wing. She had grown up in Johannesburg and now lived in Atlanta. She was coming back to visit friends here and she was just thrilled that I picked South Africa to spend my time studying abroad. When it was time to board, she made me stand with her so we wouldn't be trampled by everyone wanting to board. And as luck would have it, she ended up sitting next to me on the plane! Thank goodness, because I was a hot mess on that plane.

For those of you that do not know, I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder when I was a senior in high school. Because of this, I am prone to get pretty bad, paralyzing anxiety attacks, and one of those happened while I was on the plane to Johannesburg, It was because I was so sleep deprived; when I get tired, especially that tired, it usually sets off an anxiety attack. But I'm not writing about this for you to pity me or to get worried about me (I'm looking at you, Mom, Dad, and Grandma) but to talk about how I was able to talk myself out of it and eventually get some sleep. I don't think I've ever been more proud of myself for managing to get myself out of a pretty difficult round of anxiety. I'm still feeling pretty anxious, but I'm feeling better knowing that I can help myself out.

The lady on the plane that I talked about earlier helped too. She was continuously watching out for me, which was very wonderful of her. I'd tell her what I was worrying about and she'd help show me that it wasn't really something I should worry about. She even held my hand during landing -- I hate landing. She even stayed with me all through passport security and customs, and she made sure that I had been safely with the person who was giving me a ride to the hotel I'm staying at. She was the absolute best and I'm upset I didn't get her name so I could email her or something.

So now, here I am, at a small hotel in Johannesburg. Right now, it's 70 degrees and rainy, which I will take ANY day over snow. I have the TV on and there's a cricket match on. I do not understand this sport at all, but it's the first channel I found so I'm sticking with it. On Friday, I'll finally meet my entire study abroad group. Until then, I'll need to find something to keep myself entertained with. I don't think that will be an issue: I have wifi now, so I'm basically unstoppable :)

Here's to new adventures!