January 14, 2010-- From Idaho to Ghana!

The whole flight was very long. It took 26 hours and a migraine followed me the whole way. It was beautiful to see the farm country as I flew from Salt Lake City to Chicago. The Great Lakes seemed what looked like waves frozen in ice formations. Chicago was a huge airport, the biggest I have gone to. The plane from SLC to Chicago was very small. One isle and two rows of chairs on each side. Thankfully I had two seats to myself. The plane from Chicago to Frankfort, Germany was huge. It was a Boeing 777. 5 seats in the middle and 2 on each side. That was an 8-hour flight, and I tried very hard to sleep because it was Ghana’s nighttime but I could not. I meet Jessica, who sat next to me. She is originally from Germany and visiting for business and I also meet I think David. He is in the Army and going to the base there. The wait in Germany seemed very long. It was nice thought to be able to call family and friends. One the way over I was amused by how many times I was asked to make my orange juice a mixer. I had forgotten you could drink alcohol when you are 18 in Germany. The last flight is from Germany to Accra, and I just really wanted to get there. Waiting in the terminal was fun. I got to see many Ghanaians heading back home and meet some other volunteers. The flight to Ghana was also long because now I wanted to sleep but I shouldn’t because it was daytime for Ghana. I get to Ghana, having met a volunteer and we stuck side by side to make sure each of us got our things together. Got my Visa stamped and went a bought a phone, SIM card, and phone minutes. Getting off the plane was so different from Idaho weather. It was humid and hot, even though they call this the dry season. Elvis, my coordinator, to pick me up was not there, so I became a little worried. Many people offered taxis, and some called me over as if to Say “I’ll give you ride” so someone who worked there helped me call Elvis. My phone did not work at first so we used his. After I hung up, his friend next to him said, “Tip”. O gees, I knew that a tip was not required, and they were just getting money from a tourist, so I argued a little politely can gave one cedi, or one dollar since they buy minutes and it is not like our cell phone services.

Elvis finally comes, and he brought his friend, I forget her name now, but she is very nice. We get in the car and traffic is horrible. We wait in a round-about for 25 minutes with what was supposed to be one lane going around the circle to 3 lanes. People just honk to communicate to other drives and the merge you just put yourself out there so that you are only an inch away from the bumper. If you do not do that, you don’t get in. Many cars would zoom by going the wrong direction honking their horn and flashing their lights. It was a common thing I saw 3 times on the way to the hotel. The houses are metal sheets or thin wood. Everything is very different. You have street vendors that walk between the cars of traffic selling everything and anything from toilet paper to chocolate to cell phone minutes. I talk with Elvis and find out he is active in his faith and is a politician. He wants to start a Sister City program with Idaho Falls and Ghana. We get to the hotel, and I find that it would look very unsafe in America, like a place you would never find yourself, but it is one of the safest around. I have a room to myself with a bucket of water to wash and curtains to pull over the windows that have only a screen. I trust Elvis to put me in a safe place and the people I meet out front seem very nice. I can tell this is a very nice hotel because it has an electric fan in the ceiling and two beds and tile floors that are green and brown. I do not feel at home yet though. Elvis says that all volunteers are like family; we are all family. They bought me chocolate and water. I wanted to save the chocolate for a later time because my stomach was in knots all day, and I realized that was kind of an insult to not at least try some. I hope they understand, which I am sure they do. Cars are honking and humming outside, and we are getting up in around 7 hours, 5:30 am to travel to the orphanage. My host family’s father is a priest, and they have a baby. They are Christian. I am very excited to learn. I believe that once I get my feet underneath me, I will be fine. Given a week, I think I will never want to leave this place. This is such an amazing experience. I just need some more sleep to fully appreciate it.I love you all so much. !!!!