Arrived alive

I have officially landed again in the beloved Motherland of Africa. Though my journey wasn't as bump-free as my one to Durban in 2006, I'm hoping a rough journey makes for a better time?!

When I got to the Toronto airport, the line was so huge and they were taking forever to check people in- so because of this, I had to literally RUN to my boarding gate, which I made in the knick of time!! My stopover in Amsterdam was fine, but my arrival in Ghana was challenging.

Firstoff, the plane was 2.5 hours late, so when I got here to Accra and looked for a sign reading, 'Jody- HelpAge Ghana' by my boss and saw no one I was slightly panicking! But before I even reached that point, I waited and waited, then waited a bit more for my 2 pieces of luggage to come off the belt... my bag pack came off quickly but my suitcase was NOWHERE to be found?? So again, just slightly freaking out (and already scared then too, that my boss had given up on me) I went to one of the baggage worker's and he went looking for it. I went to go register it as 'lost' and here he came back running, 'Miss... sissy! I have! I have' He had my bag!! Turns out some crackhead had it on HIS own cart!! Though I doubt he was trying to steal it, it likely looked like his or some nonsense.

But my heart and stomach just sank when I didn't see my boss waiting for me, now 3 hours later in this foreign country. Then by the blessing of God, I was led outside to the warm Ghanaian air in pitch dark (power outage) and he recognized my shirt and called me out. WHEW!!

He told me he had been standing there waiting the whole 3 hours b/c they don't let people into the airport for security reasons (can you imagine?) and it was 'no problem'! He also insisted on carrying my heavy-ass bags for me.
He seems very, very kind & easy-going.

I was also happy to see my roomies from Ottawa and my digs are pretty nice... TOO nice for Africa!! I have my own room, my own bathroom, toilet that flushes how ours do in Canada, my own running cold water shower and of course my friends, the gecko lizards. Oh, and a few cockroaches too.
But I am also paying a pretty price for these lovely lodgings and the girls and I are going to look into something closer to where we work: Osu... closer to the other Canadians too. But for now, this is luxury and I'm living it up!
It is part of a doctor's clinic, so of course is gated as well.

And I arrived during a power outage, but our place has a generator (another luxury) so all is well.

My overall impressions of Accra are that it reminds me a lot of my days in Zambia. And the heat reminds me of what I don't miss about Durban! But I am still so new here... my adventure has just begun.

I go into the office tomorrow with the girls and may even get a cell phone soon! Let me know if you want my number.

For my family...
I am being as mindful as I can with jetlag about that water and malaria situation. I killed 2 mosquito's last night after my refreshing shower and am drinking out of purified water bags (called 'sachet's here).

I think that's about it for my update for now, as I have emails to reply to too.

I love you all and am carrying you close at heart with all your words, thoughts, prayers and well wishes for this journey of mine! Feel free to leave your comments if you have any, it's always great to hear from you.

With love from Ghana,

Jody