Elmina Fish Market
Sliding on to the cool leather seat, a cool rush of air fills the sticky-hot night and at last, we breathe. We feel an overwhelming calm as we sail through the streets of Accra, observing, through tinted windows the world outside as the BBC catches us up on a world seemingly a million miles away.
After a fairly uneventful 10 (not 8 as I for some reason thought) ride from DC to Accra, we arrived. Given there was only minor plane-sickness (me) and an almost lost passport (almost), we made it easily through security and got our bags (not lost!).
In T-10 hours we’ll be on our DC-Accra redeye. Now, we’re in D.C. on a 24 hour layover. Which, I haven’t ever done, on purpose anyway (reluctantly remembering the Atlanta stopover after Peru), and I have to admit, I really like it. A chance to regroup (and shower) before the international leg, which is a an easy eight-hour flight that I hopefully will sleep through. So far this hasn’t felt like an absurd international trek, rather two easy flights, neither of which involve getting up early or spending 20 hours in planes/airports. I think this is a method to keep. Plus, it minimizes the probability of lost luggage, though Accra has a bit of a history with this, so we’ll see.
Ghana Sunset
Today was an incredible day. For two reasons, first Alex graduated from USC with a Master’s degree!! He’s worked incredibly hard, and I am extremely proud of him. And second…we booked flights to GHANA!!! We’ll be leaving at the end of July and staying through the end of August. A short 5 weeks, but I couldn’t be more thrilled. I can’t begin to express how excited I am, and how thankful I am to be able to make this trip. These international volunteer ventures mean a great deal to me, in some sense, I live for them. Ever since my first day in Africa two years ago, I’ve had such an insatiable wanderlust, something I hope never leaves me. This time, I’m not sure if I’ll use an organization for volunteering, or just find something once in country. I’m still unsure about how I feel about foreign aid in general. And, it’s an “easy” country to travel too, especially for Africa, and I feel comfortable now on my own, but we’ll see. I’ve found some great conservation/agriculture sites that I’d love to participate in. Alex will be doing a medical internship, so he’s set. Regardless, I’m sure it will be an incredible experience and I absolutely cannot wait! Already counting the days-73.
Colliding With The Earth 