In January, I got to fulfill an item on my life bucket list - R & I went to Africa for 10 days! Sometimes I still have to pinch myself to believe we really were blessed enough to be able to take this trip.
It really started about 10 years ago when we started sponsoring a small orphanage in Ghana. A mission board member would bring us pictures of the kids periodically and encouraged us to go meet them. For at least 5 years our response was "not interested", but gradually the idea grew on me. Then we had friends move to Ghana as missionaries 3 years ago and my interest in visiting Ghana ramped up. But there was still the hurdle of convincing my less adventurous husband he wanted to go with me. :)
There were 2 things of major concern to me- 1. would I be able to cope with being in a plane that long? I'm not one of those who is afraid to fly, but I had never been in a plane for hours & hours... what happens if about 8 hours in one gets stir-crazy?? And #2. how crazy is it for 2 people who absolutely don't do spicy food to travel to a country that majors in spicy?
Tickets were purchased in fall 2015 for January 2016. In the midst of the holiday rush, we navigated the process of applying for visas and getting immunizations. Early January was a flurry of making sure all the secretary work [business & school] was taken care of so things would keep flowing in my absence. And the packing of 6 suitcases we were allowed -mostly gifts for our missionary friends.
Sunday morning, Jan. 10, our family escorted us to the airport and we were off! (Along with a youth girl traveling over with us and staying 2 months.)
We flew to JFK, then a direct flight to Accra. The very foggy weather in NYC had us circling above the clouds until we started recognizing clouds. (Our oldest son was tracking our flights from home and knew we were circling before we did). It's a funny feeling to be descending and descending... wondering when you are going to hit the ground... to literally not be able to see it until you bump onto the runway, 0 visibility. Departing from NYC was rather turbulent and I got airsick, which lasted the entire 10 hour flight. Being nauseous made that I didn't trust to eat much of the food they served; the empty stomach compounded the problem. I did not freak out [about being in a plane that long], but neither was I able to sleep so it was a very l-o-n-g night.
We landed in Ghana Monday morning. A very warm Africa. Hazy from the harmaton.
We blundered our way through immigration & customs, showing our documents over & over, without a clue what we were doing and only a partial comprehension of the Ghanaian English. Thankfully, all our luggage arrived with us. At last we broke free of the airport and were greeted by familiar smiling faces outside. Next a 3+ hour drive from the airport to the mission compound, with yours truly concentrating on not throwing up the entire way. That part of the trip is a carsick fog.
A nap and some coconut water (see below) went a long way toward restoring my equilibrium. I was spared the jetlag R. was hit with; I think the Lord knew I was miserable enough on the way over!
Our friends did a wonderful job of packing as many African adventures into our short stay as they could. We went to market... sat in on a Fanti (language) class at the school... took lessons on pounding fufu...
toured a slave castle...
went to Kakum National Park and did the rope walk...
(yes, this lady who gets light-headed at heights really did this! True, I held on tight and didn't look down after the first section, but I did the entire walk! It's a lot higher off the ground than it looks in the photo and the whole thing sways with every step.)
got an unplanned tour of a cocoa plantation...
the source of chocolate, where life begins!
paid 1 cedi (about 30 cents) to pet a crocodile...
I've been asked why we would do this. I don't have a good reason besides it's cool to be able to say we did.
walked to and observed an African church service...
(I say observed because we could only understand about half)
took time off for a belated anniversary get-away at the lovely Coconut Grove Resort...
Very refreshing reprieve from the heat
visited the orphanage we sponsor (presenting gifts for the kids to the director)...
It took some effort on the part of our friends, but definitely a highlight for us!
We got to experience going without electric in the sweltering heat frequently. It literally got hotter every day we were there; we saw as high as 85% humidity. Meanwhile it was snowing back home; try explaining snow to nationals who have never seen it! We also got to take a bucket bath more than once when the water was off. And the internet connection was unreliable. (A bit unnerving when the daughter back home is sick and we're worrying it might be pneumonia.) Cultural experiences we wouldn't trade for all the tea in China!!
We tried to help with mission work/everyday life where we could. We had a strong desire to be an encouragement, not a burden. R. fixed several bikes, a blender and worked on the temperamental school bus.
We got to try many African dishes: whole fried fish... (we ate everything but the head, our sense of adventure only stretches so far! )
fufu with a spicy sauce...
(fufu is eaten with one's fingers and swallowed without chewing; we gave it a shot but returned to our American ways)
boiled cassava & plantain with stew...
fanice (ice cream in a plastic pouch)
whole tilapia & fried rice
rice ball with smoked tuna & the spicy sauce
gari -prepared with peanut butter & milk, it's comparable to Cream of Wheat...
I'm not a big fan of bananas, but those mini bananas were just right for me!
R's favorite fruit was the sour adesmamba...
chicken curry with rice (l) and seafood pasta (r)
plantain chips
beans with fried plantain and gari...
We did not get our fill of fresh fruit. Pineapple, mango, papaya...
We are decidedly not fond of guacamole but in the spirit of being good examples to the little people in the house, we gave it a cautious try. It was good! A much better flavor than American guacamole.
There is drinking water in plastic bags readily available everywhere. One bites the corner off the sachet and drinks it. There is an art to biting the bag without getting squirted in the face, a skill we did not master.
All in all, we got along with African food better than expected. The maid was instructed to use "small pepper". It was still spicy but a different kind of spicy than Mexican. It burned my mouth at times but didn't make my stomach churn. They use lots of ginger, for example. Even a small whiff of ginger transports me to Ghana now. We found out we are a bit more adventurous with food than we thought and didn't lose a single ounce of weight.
All too soon, our 10 days were over and our hosts took us back to the airport. The line to check in was very long and the impatient Ghanaian man ramming our heels with his suitcase did nothing to speed up the process. You realize how small the world is when you bump into dads of your high school classmates in an airport halfway around the world. This is the only time I ever rode a shuttle bus from the terminal to the tarmac to board!
I fared a lot better on the return trip. No airsickness. We are now fans of long flights! 2 hot meals + a snack on every flight... hot face cloths... personal seat-back screen with a cool flight tracker and unlimited free movies... pillow, blanket & eye mask...
Makes that pack of peanuts or pretzels on domestic flights seem skimpy.
We had a layover in Amsterdam. I sorely wanted to do some sightseeing. I had my heart set on seeing the Anne Frank house until I realized it would be early morning [dark] most of the hours we were there and the museum wouldn't be open. I kept an open mind about venturing out into the city though, but upon arrival it was dark and freezing cold, that gave way to fog, freezing cold, and a general lack of interest on the part of my better half. Even if we had gone to the bother of exchanging money, renting a locker for our carry-on luggage, finding the correct train, then bus out and back, going through security upon return, the fog would've been so thick it would've been hard to see anything. So we curled up in the uncomfortable airport seats for a couple hours until our plane arrived, then watched the 2 hour process of preparing a plane for a overseas flight.
A. was especially happy to see us. For the boys, life went on like normal in our absence but she was the one who had to pick up the slack with laundry and cooking -in addition to school.
We made it home to our house at 8pm. After being awake for 42 hours straight, we couldn't think straight to answer the kids questions about Africa. But alas, we were both hit hard with jetlag and by 4am the next morning we couldn't sleep any more. Our first experience with jetlag. Imagine this niteowl finding it a major triumph to stay in bed till 5! It took a full week to recover from jetlag, then another week to recover from digestive issues caused by eating too much of that wonderful white African pineapple, and the overwhelming demands of catching up after a trip.
We have been asked what our impressions of Africa are. 1. It's very hot. 2. The people are friendly. (We were urged to visit Ghana again. I'm amused that even a worker along the road told R. he will pray we go home and get rich so we can buy land in Ghana and move there.) 3. The food is good.
We left a piece of our heart in Ghana and hope some day we can visit again.
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