June 1st, 2014
Waiting to board in Johannesburg
As many of you probably know by now, on June first I embarked on a plane to America, to learn from one of the photography greats; Zack Arias (he would say otherwise), but we all know the truth right? :)
So, a hop, skip and a jump later I find myself in America the next day. Well, not entirely of course. 28 hours later I found myself here, only to find that the world had changed... All the people had become crazed zombies, like in that movie, remember? 28 days later? I would later find out, that it was just Newark, New Jersey.
June 2nd,
Taking the bus to the terminal.
After not really sleeping on the flight to Heathrow, London, coz let's face it; - who the hell can sleep on a plane unless you're in first class? - I was waiting in line at the customs area, scooting along at a very leisurely pace not in any particular rush until I reached the ticket counter and the lady was like; uhh, you'd better run coz that flight just finished boarding. So with a 10kg (or 22 pound) camera bag and other little miscellaneous crap I was running down a bloody mile long corridor with no end in sight; I eventually made my flight. This felt even longer than the flight to London coz I was fully conscious the whole 7 hours instead of semi, like on the way to London.
Just before sprinting a damn mile to board the flight to Newark
Dehydrated and exhausted I await take-off
America!! Land of Eagles & Americans & Mexicans. That is Manhattan in the background (I think).
We eventually made it to Newark and getting to my next flight on time was a breeze, the customs folks were actually pretty nice and I didn't really have an issue, which was my biggest concern. Two hours later I landed in Atlanta where I was expecting great fanfare to my arrival, you know like in the movies where people are standing there with signs and balloons saying, "Welcome to America" or something? Instead, I was like a wild deer with big eyes looking for Zack and the terminal for baggage claim. No grand gestures or a white piece of paper with my name on it. Luckily Zack was easy to spot, with his signature goatee, a DedPXL T-shirt and for the first time I was like holy shit, Zack Arias is in front of my eyeballs. At first I was like; "what do I do with my hands"? "Do I shake his hand? Give him a hug? Fist bump? Come on man, react, make a choice"! In the end we had a firm handshake. Always default back to that when in doubt. So we grabbed my suitcase and drove to his house so I could meet the rest of the family.
I am happy to say that they are all flipping awesome human beings. Meghan deserves a medal and thanks to her I am here. (I stuck out my hand at first to greet her and she just gave me a big ass hug). She was like; "this guy", when they had received my letter and I am so thankful for that. On top of it she is a kick ass mom and Zack is a kick ass dad and the kids are rad.
From Caleb, to Joshua to Hawke "Danger". I am yet to meet Phoenix, but I am certain he is just as awesome :)
That's it for now though, but keep your eyes peeled and thanks for reading.