home at last...

the day i stepped off the plane into cape town, it was pouring. the day i left to get on the plane for home, it was pouring. fitting.

anyway.

the last fun activity i did in cape town was african drumming lessons--it was actually pretty sweet and i felt like my drum skills translated rather slightly above than mediocrely onto the african drum haha

i really want one now...i could develop some sweet chops on that thing.
which made me think...have i reached that phase where i enjoy drumming more than playing guitar? uh oh dilemma!

but that was that...saying goodbye to everyone was hard and i hate doing it. so i made it real quick and left the club we were at.

the flight from cape town to johannesburg was an uneventful 2 hours except delta is gay and charges you for your 3rd checked bag. i had to drop like $80-90 to check a small little backpack which they wouldnt let me take onto the plane. bah. anyway, otherwise, uneventful. arrived in joburg where my next problem began.

i was starving so i went to get some food at a restaurant in the airport--i had the most incredible chili pasta and banana/ice cream crepes. but when it came time to pay, i find my visa credit card is maxed out thanks to paying for that checked bag earlier...and i dont have enough cash to pay the bill...and i dont have an ATM card. shit. i made several frantic calls to my mom at 6am phoenix time and the various banks and had my credit limit increased by $100 just for today. the bill was only $8 or so. thats how bad it was haha

anyway, that was crazy and got that taken care of. boarded the plane for the long 16-hr nonstop flight to atlanta.

*********about an hour in, i hear commotion through my headphones and i turn around...and some guy is having a heart attack in the aisle like two rows behind me. they make an announcement over the PA for doctors and a few rush over...but there's not much you can do for a heart attack 36,000 ft in the air. he died and it turns out he had 3 daughters he was returning to. his wife was flying with him but bless her heart she was real strong about it. fucking crazy man...

i arrived in atlanta totally wiped...16 hrs nonstop is the longest i've gone. i had an hour and a half to make my connection to phoenix. unfortunately, the bags took literally forever. they kept switching the carousels they were supposed to come out of and when i finally did get them, i had about 45 minutes to make it to the gate. unfortunately, i had to go through customs as well. bastards thought i had agricultural products even when i clearly marked NO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS so that was a fiasco. i tried to get through security...and just when i had almost made it through, an airport guy grabs me and moves me and everyone behind me to another line to "speed things up." well fuck, i was JUST about to go through! and i get put in a security line where AN ENTIRE FUCKING PLATOON OF IRAQ SOLDIERS are going through--god bless their service and all, but seriously i was not happy. each one took forever cuz they have to remove their badges, hats, laptops, boots, belts blahblah. i was fuming.

i ran to the gate and literally made it as they were about to close it, kinda like in a movie.

but here i am after traveling for 30+ hours...back in beautiful sunny and HOT phoenix.

i guess this is the end of this blog since my adventures in cape town are over...what an incredible two months.

peace out y'all
live long and prosper
or something.