Worst Day Ever

Probably the worst travel experience I’ve ever had:
•Almost missed my flight out of Lilongwe because I wasn’t paying attention.
•Had the middle seat on the 2 hour flight to Joburg.
•The guy on the aisle was all over the armrest.
•Got into Joburg 10 minutes early!
•Stood in the immigration line for an hour and forty-five minutes until my flight said it was boarding on the screen.
•Asked an employee to help me get through because I still needed to get my boarding pass, go through security, and find the gate.
•She helped me but kept asking me to buy her lunch – but not there, only past security where there was food.
•She got me through immigration and dragged me to the check in line.
•She took me to Botswana Airlines, not South African.
•The lady at South African Airways told me I was too late and couldn’t check in. They could book me for a flight two hours later if I paid or put me on the 6:10am flight the next morning for free.
•I’m not paying.
•The lady who got me through immigration took me to security because I still didn’t have a boarding pass.
•She stayed with me past security, to where the food was and kept talking about lunch. “Or maybe just a drink.”
•I left her in the elevator because she couldn’t go any farther.
•Bought the cheapest watch I could find – about USD 28.
•Bought a book I wasn’t really interested in to keep me busy – about USD 40.
•Contemplated getting an airport massage.
•Staked out the best place to sleep.
•Bought dinner, called my parents, called Austin, called Erin.
•Walked around aimlessly.
•Looked in every shop for an alarm clock because my cell was out of batteries and I had to be up at 4am to check in.
•Typed up emails I couldn’t send without internet.
•Tried to sleep but couldn’t. So I read.
•Had some yummy chocolate!
•Finally went to sleep. Slept for a solid two hours, until about midnight, when I woke up shivering. I wasn’t at all prepared for the freezing airport.
•Woke up every 20 minutes until 3:30am, when I decided to walk around until check in at 4:30.
•Finished my book.
•Walked back out through security, where the doors were open to the outside so it was even colder.
•Was told the check in counter didn’t open until 5.
•Shivered for 30 minutes.
•Had a security guard ask for my number, and then email address when I wouldn’t give it to him.
•Checked in and was interrogated as to why I hadn’t flown out the day before.
•Went through security.
•Couldn’t buy breakfast because nothing was open.
•Found my gate.
•Loaded onto the bus that would drive us to the plane and shivered in the wind.
•Found my seat on the plane – a window seat with no one next to me!
•Slept until the last 20 minutes, when I found a boxed breakfast waiting for me.
•Had to take the meat off the croissant.
•Forgot to take my malaria meds.
•Shivered.
•Landed and had to walk through the wind to the airport.
•Filled out immigration papers and got hassled by the lady who didn’t believe I was here to study. She made me show her documentation to prove it.
•Didn’t see my bag on the conveyer belt.
•Checked with the information desk, who pointed me to the SA office.
•The lady told me to wait twenty minutes for the guy with the keys to come, she’d come let me know.
•No one from Pitzer in sight, even though they were supposed to meet me at the airport.
•Thirty minutes later, I returned to the SA office where the lady was eating with the entire luggage staff. I looked through the window and she held up one finger, telling me to wait, and then pointed to her sandwich. “Until I’m done.”
•A man came out to help me, still munching away.
•No sign of my bag, so I filled out a missing luggage form.
•Still no sign of anyone from Pitzer.
•I went back to the information desk to ask about a pay phone so I could call to see if someone was on their way.
•There was no public phone and the women didn’t have airtime – no way to call.
•20 minutes later, a woman walked up with a Pitzer College sign.
•20 minute drive to the place where orientation was taking place.
•I was given 5 minutes to freshen up before classes started.