Yes I'm Alive!

So, Day Two, Three and Four!! Well, the adventure has truly begun! I am not quite to Botswana yet, although I did get a breath of fresh Botswana air before they threw me back on a plane to Johannesburg, South Africa for the silly reason that I had lost my passport! So apparently, somewhere after I boarded the flight from Washington Dowles airport and before I disembarked the plane in Johannesburg, South Africa, I lost my passport and did not realize it until it was too late to get back on and search the plane. Unsure of what to do, I jumped on the connecting flight to Gaberone, Botswana thinking that at least I would be able to talk to the woman in charge of the program who was waiting for our group in Botswana. Well, unfortunately, I was not even given the chance to speak to her before I was ordered back on the next flight. After many tearful hours and phone calls, I was able to book a very expensive flight for Tuesday morning and at around two in the morning I finally got into the transit hotel in the Johannesburg airport for my first real good night's sleep since Thursday! Of course, without my passport I'm not allowed to leave the airport, and I am reminded ironically of the movie The Terminal in which Tom Hanks is an immigrant to the U.S. and has no passport or return passage, and must stay in the airport terminal until he can get either. I am a bit more lucky than Tom in that I will get a new passport issued by the U.S. Consulate tomorrow and be able to fly out on Tuesday. Thus, the situation has begun to work itself out and I am even able to laugh at myself a bit for getting into this position in the first place!!
Anyway, there's not much to tell other than that. From what I can tell, Johannesburg is a very interesting place, and I should love to come back and visit another time with passport in tow, and maybe a few friends and family to make sure that I'm not left stranded alone again! ;) The people are very friendly and have been trying very hard to make my stay more comfortable, and although the hotel is not quite the Brown Palace (Denver reference), it is suitable for the time being. I did meet a very nice couple who are also stuck here due to Visa issues, and they were the first (and only) non-staffers to reach out to me last night when I was sobbing on the phone and they offered to let me come sleep by them in the airport if I wasn't able to get a room. I saw them again today, and apparently they are stuck until tomorrow, so I think I might engage in conversation with them a little later.
I'll probably not write again until I'm in Botswana, but for those that might be worried, I am safe and will be taken care of until I reach Botswana. I hate to admit it, but with money anything really is possible out here! TTFN!