London to Accra

I woke up and it was dark, all the shades were down but I couldn’t help but peaking. Just a glimpse that’s all. Ow! Light flooded in and my eyes regretted opening. After a few moments, they adjusted and I could see we were pretty much surrounded in clouds. Just about everyone was asleep: Karlie, our Greek friend, the Brazilian (just a guess) guy across the aisle, and especially the oh so content, snoring person (assumed to be male) behind me. I checked our flight status on the screen on the back of the seat in front of me and saw we had about two hours until we reached London. I went back to sleep. Breakfast came and I saved what I could because I figured we wouldn’t want to spend money in the airport.

When we began to land in London, the cloud cover was still present. Even as we descended, it was completely grey and dreary around us. We were informed that they were receiving rain. Heathrow in the rain: not such a beautiful sight. But just the same, we were happy to be halfway there.

It sounded as if Lew was the DJ for the airport, because all they seemed to play was American music and the same songs Lew had been playing and replaying in the car since we got back from Tech. I couldn’t help but laugh and sing along. We debated about finding a pay phone to call him, but decided it was too early there. We found the flight listings board and guess what… our flight was delayed. Not bad, an hour or so, but we really didn’t have anything to do. We walked for a while. We say for a while. We admired how simply different we are from the English. Everything was just so here. It was quite a fashionable airport. You could definitely pick out the Americans; we were the ones in jeans and t-shirts. Everyone else was so far ahead of us.

Finally they posted our gate number and we followed the signs to the bus/rail/thing. Boy was it fast. We got there and instantly knew we were in the right spot because nearly everyone waiting was very obviously African. What beautiful clothes the women wore! We were really excited.

We finally boarded and after 7ish more hours, a few movies, and some quiet time with God, I saw the city lights. Accra! We were almost there. It was surreal. Was this really happening? I could barely contain my excitement. Karlie just laughed at me. We landed and everyone clapped. They were all so happy to be home.

The doors opened to the sticky air. It had just rained here as well. The ground nearly steamed. It was a welcome change of environment. It took us a while to all to find our luggage, and get through customs and immigration, but we managed. Soon we found ourselves readjusting our load for the final trek out to the (hopefully) waiting ISEP representative. As I reached the corner, there before me was a familiar face. Ozzie! (Dr. Abaye) We ran and hugged her in amazement. She had managed to change her departure date at the last minute. She had a sign to welcome us and we quickly said our goodbyes as our ISEP friends escorted us to the van. We planned to meet her tomorrow.

I couldn’t believe it; she stayed for us!

We met Libby (of Montana), Shadreck (one of the orientation leaders), and the driver (whose name I still do not know) as we threw our luggage into the van. They gave us our orientation folders, toilet paper, bottled water, and food from the campus famous Tasty Treats (see pictures on facebook). We arrived and signed in to the hostel and in all the chaos attempted to call home. They didn’t answer. I couldn’t believe it. I have to admit I was a little sad. I couldn’t wait to tell them that we were there safe and sound. I left a message and gave Karlie the phone to call Mummum. Apparently Aunt Jane answered the phone and then passed it off to Mummum, which only confused us more as we passed the phone back and forth on our end too. I wish we could have talked longer but we were borrowing a phone and it was very late. We then began the voyage up to the fourth floor (which is the third in UK because you start with zero) to our room. I couldn’t believe how awesome the room was. It opens to an outdoor hallway (motel style) on one side and to a private balcony on the other. Two beds, two wardrobes, two desks, two bookshelves, two chairs, two end tables. Nice. We dropped our bags and turned on the fan. We only unpacked a little and then decided to get showers and call it a night. We would meet everyone for breakfast in the morning.

Predeparture to Take Off

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of those with whom I have failed to keep in contact. Things have been unexpectedly hectic and I have not had a chance to catch up on my journals nor have I had enough internet connection to keep up with the blog or post pictures on facebook. Slowly, however, I am learning the system here and I am beginning to catch up. Bear with me as I try to explain all that has happened here thus far. Caution: it may take several entries.

Predeparture:

Friday night (January 8th) I received a call from our STA travel agent who has faithfully checked on us and made sure things were squared away. He had just checked the flight schedule because London had been receiving a lot of snow, and discovered that along with several other flights, our flight had been cancelled. He recommended we call British Airways and see if we could reschedule. However, due to the amount of flights cancelled and therefore the number of people calling, we were unable to get through to them and decided instead to reschedule through STA. Because of our student tickets, the quickest flight we could get out was Thursday, January 14, which meant we would arrive in Accra, Ghana on Friday night around 10pm, missing the entire orientation! We were disappointed, especially since Dr. Abaye, our academic advisor at Tech, was already on her way to Ghana to meet us. Guess when she was scheduled to leave the country… Friday morning. So things weren’t quite going as planned; however, on the bright side we would get 5 more days with our family.

The next few days allowed me to tie up some lose ends: catch up with friends, spend more time with Mummum, buy new luggage, etc. We received daily updates from Dr. Abaye about her activities, who she met, and what classes she recommended for our semester here. It really helped to have her there making connections even though we could not be there ourselves. We really looked forward to her emails.

The week came and went and Thursday arrived. We were up early to finish getting together the odds and ends we needed and have breakfast with Mummum and the family. After an hour or so of hectic cramming and scrambling to get my suitcases under the weight limit, we were finally loaded in the car and took some pictures and said goodbyes. We stopped by Mummum’s to say goodbye to her. I had managed not to think about how long it would be until I saw her next but when she began to choke up as we hugged her, I began to realize the painfulness of our departure. As we drove away, I looked at Karlie and realized we were both hurting.

Three hours on the road and mapquest successfully led us to Bolling and Barbara’s house. I wasn’t sure I would recognize the house since it has probably been nearly 10 years since we last visited, but there she was, plain as day. We pulled up to Cookie barking at the front door. Aunt Barbara greeted us and we were all very excited to be there. We checked out all the latest additions to the house and caught her up on the plane cancellation situation. Uncle Bolling, Sam, and Petie arrived shortly and we all sat down to a meal that Aunt Barbara continued to reassure Sam she did not make herself. It was delicious! Ribs, asparagus (there’s a first time for everything), potato salad, bread and olive oil, salad, and then apple pie and icecream to top it all off. Yum. Soon we found ourselves wishing for more of this time together, and everyone began to talk about plans for trips to Ireland, Italy, and visits to Warrenton. I was so thankful we had a chance to spend some time with them. It wasn’t long before we were off to the airport. Petie stayed behind to answer the “Call of Duty” and the rest of us piled into the Lexus and headed to the airport. I found myself wishing I knew more of Warrenton and wishing I was more a larger part of their lives and they part of mine. It is funny how things change when you get older.

When we got to the airport, we pulled up just outside of the British Airways gate and unloaded. We took everything in and Aunt Barbara helped check us in while Uncle Bolling drove the circle and waited for us. We got our bags checked, which to my relief were apparently underweight (hard to tell when it’s in kilograms) and walked back outside to pray together before they left. I felt like we were on the brink of some great adventure, like it was some historic moment in my life, as we stood there, a family, hands joined together talking with God and praying for safe travel. The night was cool and I was beyond excited to see where this would lead.

We all hugged and said goodbye as Karlie and I headed off to go through security and find our terminal. Security was a breeze. My in domestic flights in the past have been more trouble than this was. I’m not complaining though. The airport was quiet. It was 7:30. It took us no time to get through and find our gate. Our plane was delayed about half an hour. We began to wait.

We called everyone. Momma. Amber. Momma. Daddy. Mummum. Daddy. Grandma. Momma. Lew. Karlie bought Sour Patch Watermelons and a water. We waited.

Finally we started boarding. I always enjoy watching the people board and guessing everyone’s story and where they are headed. We found our seats next to a very adorable, very kind, Greek woman who was returning to Greece after her yearly visit with children/grandchildren in Virginia. She was good company.

British treated us very well. We had good meals and we each were provided a blanket, pillow, and headphones to use for no additional charge. We were also given complimentary eye shades, toothbrush and toothpaste, and (here’s the real treat) socks! Needless to say, we were quite cozy. Take off was nothing short of magical. Yes, yes, I have flown before, but I have never left Dulles at night before. The lights were amazing. Beautiful colors lined the runway and danced as we navigated through their patterns. I remember thinking to myself. If something happens to this plane, I am ok with that. I thanked God for all the beauty of that day and especially that night and prayed that I would keep my eyes open for Him throughout this trip.

They began to serve supper. Karlie asked me if I wanted her cheesecake, but I fell fast asleep.