The South Africa group has landed at JFK and everyone is feeling as good as they can following a 16 hour flight! The group will work their way through baggage claim and customs before boarding their bus back to Farmington. I will update you once they are on the bus and we have an ETA.

After a full last day at ALA and tearful goodbyes, the group is finally in air and en route to JFK International Airport on South African Airways flight #203. They are due to arrive on time at 6:40am EST tomorrow (Saturday) morning and should be back in Farmington by 10:45am.

Stay tuned for additional blog postings over the next few days as the students arrive back in the US and share their final reflections on their individual journeys over the last two weeks.

As part of the group’s orientation, they took a tour of the lovely and green ALA campus.

The group arrived in Johannesburg on time. After passing through customs, they boarded the bus for ALA where they were warmly welcomed by all.

Currently they are participating in orientation activities, meeting their Chommies (buddies) and moving into their dormitories. Though a little tired from traveling, everyone is doing well and enjoying the warm South African sunshine!

After a 4am departure from Farmington, the group arrived at JFK with plenty of time for breakfast and to change their USD into Rand before boarding their South Africa Airways flight #204 for Johannesburg. Amanda and MJ reported that everyone is in great spirits, a little tired but very excited to set off on their adventure.

Their flight is due to arrive in Johannesburg tomorrow, January 7th at 8:15am local time, which will be 1:15am EST tomorrow morning. I will update this blog tomorrow morning once the group has arrived in South Africa.

We are getting excited for this 11th grade InterMission class to begin their incredible journey to the African Leadership Academy in South Africa!

You can expect to receive updates once a day on this blog. Please keep in mind that South African time will be 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time so the postings may not happen on a schedule that makes sense in your time zone. This blog is the place to find pictures, videos and reflections from students and faculty on the trip, as well as to receive daily updates about the group’s activities and experiences. We are asking our faculty trip leaders to post all materials so that students can be present for every moment and so that they will not worry about posting to the blog in a timely manner.

We also strongly encourage you to keep your contact with your daughter to a minimum during her experience at ALA, which will allow her to fully immerse herself in the life and community of the school. Emailing periodically is a great way to touch base with her without disrupting her engagement in school and other activities. We strongly discourage texting and phone calls for the duration of this cultural immersion.

It is going to be a FANTASTIC experience for all and we look forward to sharing it with you on this blog.

Photos by Ashley Meltzer

Delta Flight #200 landed in Johannesburg! Everyone is doing well and happy to finally be in sunny South Africa. They are going through customs and then Santi will post to the blog once they are on the bus and en route to ALA.

The group is en route to LaGuardia and looking forward to an easier travel day today. Their flights have shifted by an hour both departing LaGuardia and departing Atlanta for Johannesburg.

Their updated flight details are as follows:

Delta Flight #2515 will depart LGA at 1:02pm and arrive in ATL at 3:51pm

Delta Flight #200 wil depart ATL at 7:00pm and arrive in JNB tomorrow at 5:16pm local time

If there are any changes, I will keep you posted.

What a day! Though cold, tired and finished with waiting for a plane and then a bus back to Farmington, the girls arrived on campus last night filled with energy and excited to get to ALA eventually!

We have been able to book them on a flight from LaGuardia to Johannesburg, via Atlanta, tomorrow. They will depart Porter’s in front of Main at 6am (they will need to be there by 5:45am) for LaGuardia. They will take Delta flight #2515 departing LaGuardia at 11:59am, arriving in Atlanta at 2:48pm. They will depart Atlanta on Delta flight #200 at 6:14pm for Johannesburg, arriving at 4:30pm local time on January 9th.

Everyone is looking forward to a smooth travel day tomorrow!

Students managed to get their luggage back and are now writing reflections in their journals about what Day 1 of their trip has been like for them.