Somewhere Over the Atlantic

(The following are our notes between leaving Los Angeles and our first arrivals in Accra, Ghana)

6/21/09
The packing of one’s life into an 8-foot by 10-foot by 8-foot cube is a bit humbling. As with most things in life, good friends with a quick wit and the promise of a Father’s Office burger and brew seem to make it a much better arrangement. We have to give a sincere thank you to the timely assistance from Joe, Amanda, Elizabeth, Brendan, Raoul, and Ryan all made our move out of 841 S. Serrano Ave. in Los Angeles possible. The closing of our storage locker in Culver City signaled the beginning of my realization that we were actually leaving Los Angeles for Accra, Ghana in four days – in between we need to have two deep teeth cleanings, one crown fitting, finish two jobs, collect one last paycheck, pack for three months, obtain one set of Malaria pills and find a home for any remaining material possessions. Ok, go.

6/26/09 1:00 AM
48 hours ago we broke down everything remaining to be done before our 3:45 AM pick-up this morning (two hours from writing this journal entry). The Volvo still needed to be fixed and was at the mechanic (Zen Volvo in Studio City – great place and great owner, Luis!). The main hurdle came from giving out our last "would you please borrow this from me" items to trusted friends. This actually just wrapped up about 5 minutes ago - we had a rolling band of well wishers coming through and taking things like our TV (Amanda), the keys to the Volvo (Oscar), clothes for the Salvation Army (Vikram), bicycle parts for the bike kitchen (Mike + Kim), and even a few bicycles (Gordon and Oscar again). Once I jot this down, it's literally off to the airport. And then...Ghana.

6/27/09 8:20 AM
So we've landed in Accra - a surprisingly easy 20 hours. The flight was hilarious - in my mind it was like an American version of coming to Ghana. We were perpetually looking for that first sign of a truly “authentic” African vibe, as though a blinking light would somehow go on over our heads somewhere off the coast of New York that said, “You are now really, really going to Africa.” Yet, when we boarded our fellow Delta passengers could pretty much be lumped into two categories: well-dressed Ghanaians or sweat-wearing college aged girls with missionary intentions.

Of the 20 hours in-flight, I managed to sleep for approximately 18.3. I somehow managed to avoid staying awake for either take-off or landing (Dad - those motorcycle rides in Jacksonville has paid huge dividends...I've also slept through two earthquakes in LA). I'm afraid to say that Meg's luck with sleeping hasn't gone quite as well.

Landing in Accra brought about a sense of awe, something kind of like your first day of school as a freshman. We made it with our completely over-sized carry-on bags to the main baggage pick-up before realizing the first of several misplaced items: Meghan’s glasses and a well-worn Detroit Tigers cap. I suppose it could have been worse but those are going to be two sorely missed items. The glasses especially!

After haggling with luggage and customs, we spilled outside to find a smiling and happy friend-of-a-friend named Percy with our names on his sign! Seeing him brought time back to normal speed, as though the past 24 hours since leaving Los Angeles were some time warp and we’d come out the other side with most things intact and a gregarious Ghanaian welcoming us.

Percy was telling us all about Ghana on our drive to the guest house at which he’d made arrangements to – the culture, the history, the humor – when suddenly a large pack of a few hundred men were running towards us. Meghan and I looked at each other and for that split second thought, “Dear God, is this how it ends? We’re young, lots of living yet to do, such a shame if…” And then again time caught up to us and Percy yelled out, “Look, it is the Vice President of Ghana jogging!” Literally, the Vice President of Ghana was running down the street in the opposite direction of our car for a public health campaign. Percy joked that he had arranged a welcoming party…I have a feeling he's not joking. He has that fun look in his eye.