MacArthur Returned in Two, Prof Took Three - But I Have At Last Arrived!

We touched down at Kotoka International Airport in Accra a little after 8:30am yesterday. The flight from Charleston to JFK was really enjoyable. I had the good fortune to sit next to a local high school student named Anna who was on her way to join others for two weeks of an Peace Corps sponsored Elephant Conservation experience in northern Thailand.  I had spent a week in that part of the world back in 2007 and so had a chance to share with her how marvelous her experience was going to be and how beautiful she was going to find northern Thailand.

With the exception of some minor (though not at the time) issues with respect to my Ghana Visa at the JFK boarding gate (and I greatly appreciate all the emergency prayers that were sent up and for the Divine resolution just before take-off time) the flight from JFK to Accra was as pleasant as 9 hours in Coach can be. I sat across from a couple returning to Kumasi for a holiday--the husband is a professor of Chemical Engineering at Florida State Univ; and the woman with whom I shared an "empty" middle seat (an additional bonus) was from the Univ of Rhode Island on her way to work with the USAID fisheries conservation programs they sponsor in southern Ghana.  

The best part of the flight though was having my own personal TV in front of me.  Happy Camper! Bach and then some Jazz for dinner music and reading, a couple of movies of MY choosing, a few news reports, and a little sleeping.  :)

My checked luggage for this trip consisted of two small suitcases and 3 bins of donated school and childrens's books (primarily from one SC teacher when she retired two years ago -- they'd been stored in my garage since then) and 5 out-of-service laptops donated by the Director of Technology at CSU. I was greatly relieved to find they all made it to Accra.  Each had been opened by TSA somewhere along the line but the bins had been re-zip tied and were undamaged. I won't open these until I get to Cape Coast on Tuesday. There was no individual inspection of my luggage as there sometimes is on exit from the terminal only a check to make certain my luggage tickets matched the numbers on the items.

Bettina Boateng Afari and a couple of friends met me outside and took me to her home where I was able to crash for a few hours. Much of that time was on her front patio dozing on the couch, listening to Ghanaian music from the Chop Bar a couple of doors away, smelling wood smoke and the cooking food, hearing voices of people as they walked by on the dirt street in front of the house. I was truly back in Ghana again.

Those of you who were with me in 2010 and 2011 will remember Dr. Paul Amamoo and his wife, Gwen, Bettina's "adopted" Ghanaian parents. Paul is Ghanaian but earned his undergrad and M.D. degrees in Birmingham, AL, and has practiced medicine there for over 40 years. They have a house here in Accra  and spend a few weeks each summer back home in Ghana. In 2010 we met them at Kakum Canopy Walk in Cape Coast one afternoon and then they hosted the 2011 Team for a meal at their home.  Bettina and I spent a few hours there yesterday afternoon - enjoying some delicious spicy peanut soup with beef and fish over rice balls. M-m-m.

Bettina's husband, Yaw Sakyi Afari, heads up a sports media company in Accra and was one of the honorees and nominees at last night's Exclusive Men of the Year Awards-Ghana ceremonies. He did not win in his Sportsmanship category (lost out to the former captain of the Black Stars - Ghana's national soccer team) but he thoroughly enjoyed the elegant black tie affair with 1000 of Accra's and Ghana's leading men and Dr. Paul as his guest. That's Yaw on the right and Dr. Paul on the left.

This afternoon I accompanied Yaw to the Ghana TV3 studio where he hosts a live Sunday afternoon sports and comment show each week.  It was great fun being in the studio with the cameramen, Yaw, and his guests and watching them do the show.  (No photos, sorry)

It's been a good first day. Tonight we're all going to dinner at a new restaurant that Gwen Amamoo wants to try. Tomorrow I'll be out and about on my own doing some "school shopping" for Mr. Baidoo. He called just now (on my little Ghana phone that I've had for 5 or 6 years now) to say that his son, Peter, living in New York had arranged for some of his old THIS classmates to purchase a number of white marker boards and install them in the school classrooms - to replace the painted-on chalkboards.  Now Mr. Baidoo needs markers, erasers, etc.  He's e-mailing me a list tonight.  (Pictures to come in a few days)

Had my first Alvaro this afternoon (for those of you who know about this unique carbonated non-alcoholic beverage found only in East and West Africa).  Sorry I can't share with you but I'll be sure to have several over the next two weeks on your behalf. 

Until tomorrow...

Nana prof