Final Days

Note: I wrote this two days ago sitting in the airport. Currently I'm sitting in Germany waiting for my friend to get back from school so we can go EAT.

 

Our last concert in South Africa went off without a hitch. The building—Wits University Great Hall—nearly sold out, and the crowd was extremely enthusiastic. We had to do the song Bawo Thixo Somandla a second time in order to be able to record it properly. The audience’s whistles and yells of delight were so loud the first time around that the cameras did not pick up the singers adequately.

                On this concert I got to run a video camera on my own which was quite fun, and made me a bit nervous. What if I didn’t shoot the things that I was supposed to? But these are relatively unfounded worries, since my shooting in the previous rehearsal pleased the powers that be.

                The only problem about the final concert was that it got over a bit late, we then had an hour drive back to our lodgings, then we had to pack to leave. I ended up not getting to bed until after 1am, as far as I can recall, and unfortunately the lack of sleep allowed the bug I’ve been fighting to get rather bad today. I’ve had a slight fever, body aches, a very bad stomachache, and a stuffy nose all day. It got a bit better after Estee gave me some Tylenol and advil at the airport, but previously to that I was so tired and sick feeling that if someone asked me how I was doing, or said goodbye (since my flight is way after most of the other peoples’) I’d be fighting tears like mad. Post-medication I am feeling much more normal, but still achey and tired.

                Right after the concert was also hard, emotionally. All the African guys wanted hugs and photographs, and handshakes. It was quite hard to say goodbye and smile when I’ve grown to like them very much, and leaving was difficult! I managed, however, mainly by pretending that the tour had just started and that I’d see them all in the morning. Which I did not. Tis when the reality set in, methinks.

                Whatever else we did on the trip by coming, we at least helped change their lives. We shared stories, laughed, cried, had services together, played games, and color and/or race completely stopped mattering for everyone on both sides of the color line. Which is really more like a continuum then a line anyhow.

                So far (it’s 8:08pm) I’ve been at the airport ready to go since 4pm, and my flight doesn’t start boarding until 10:40pm. This is, truthfully, miserable. There was no way that I could have arrived later, since only two buses dropped people off, and the other would have put me here at 11:30am, which would have been even worse. Despite these tribulations I am in fine spirits and am very much looking forward to my plane getting here so I can pop a sleeping pill and be unconscious for a large part of my upcoming 10 hour flight to Amsterdam.

                But I haven’t mentioned the worst yet! Or at least, the most irritating to me. I am eighteen and a half years old, and on this trip I discovered that I have at least one baby tooth left that is working on loosening and falling out. Of all the indignities! I still haven’t lost all my baby teeth! I can feel the adult tooth working its way down, and the loose tooth is frustrating to no end. My teeth are so close together and tight in my mouth that it’s quite difficult to wiggle it at all, not to mention that trying to do so makes me feel like I’ve suddenly regressed in age about ten years. It’s been noticeably loose for about 2 days now, and I’m ready for the darn thing to fall out already.

                Wow, spoke too soon! I was just now working on prying it loose with the tip of my mechanical pencil and it popped out! Whoot! And not a minute too soon for my sanity. It is my pleasure to report that this was a healthy baby tooth; no cavities in it and the root was all deteriorated already. Congratulations may be directed to the comments and/or my facebook page. –bows to the fans- I may be the only eighteen year old in a first world country to still have had a baby tooth and it is your pleasure to know the young lady!

                Bother. The problem with not having a tooth in this spot is that now I can’t stop touching the place with my tongue. It feels funny and I haven’t had this sensation for yeeeeears. Didn’t miss it, either. My newest problem will be figuring out where to put this tooth so I won’t lose it. I’ve collected all my baby teeth and don’t intend to misplace this one.

                It’s nearly time for my flight to leave now, and if this post made less than perfect sense, chalk it up to lack of sleep and the presence of a fever.