DC to Atlanta to Jozi to Cape Town to Stellenbosch

Hey all, I hope things up in the other hemisphere are going well.  I decided to start this blog at the suggestion of one of my good friends and found it to be an excellent idea.

I am here in Stellenbosch (Western Cape, South Africa) at the university (http://www.sun.ac.za/) to do research with Dr. Len Barbour (http://academic.sun.ac.za/chemistry/academic_lbarbour.asp), funded by a collaborative research grant from the International Center for Materials Research based out of UC Santa Barbara.  He is good friends with my current research advisor and has instrumentation that we don't have stateside.

Len has kindly set me up in a nice apartment (kitchen, bathroom, living room, beds, etc.) within a block from campus.  We grabbed a beer after a brief tour of the chemistry facilities and we discussed the roots of the university.  It was originally established by the dutch, but has seen an influx of english influence over the years.  There was a large push to maintain the dutch afrikaans language for the university's identity, however that has been largely ineffective due to the university's desire to establish its ethos in education by employing more prestigious faculty from around the world.

As for the flights, my bag isn't here yet.  I had to rebook my Atlanta flight to leave earlier so as not to miss my connection to Jozi (Johannesburg), though my bag stayed on the original flight.  I smell horrible.  The flight to Jozi was 15 hours and change and featured complimentary movies, games, etc.  I watched Limitless (meh) and Hanna (which was badass).  On a 'minor' note, I also fainted.  Here's the play-by-play:

1.  Eat dinner on the plane (some sort of beef with vegetables, etc.)
2.  Drink a glass of red wine with dinner
3.  An hour passes
4.  I start feeling nauseous
5.  I search for an 'air-sick' bag
6.  I start to make my way towards the lavatory in a sort of vertigo-stricken stupor.
7.  I tell the guy "I really need to use the restroo.....", that was when I fell down.
8.  I awoke probably a few seconds later to a bright light with kind south africans and stewardesses staring back down at me, along with a nurse and doctor.
9.  They lay me down and give me oxygen with those masks that typically fall from above in the even of loss of cabin pressure, they are not comfortable.
10.  My blood pressure is fine, as conjectured by the doctor and he determines that I probably ate something bad while in DC, not so much the wine.
11.  I head back to my seat, not really embarrassed, more just worried.
12.  Said doctor checks back up on me later, I am ok.
13.  Steward hooks me up with more fluids throughout the flight.
14.  I exit the plane, thank nurse and doctor, and head to baggage information to find out where my bag is.

On a good note, South African air was quite enjoyable to fly.

Tomorrow is a big day and it's almost 1 am here.  I miss everyone dearly and you all are on my mind.

CK