3 Flights Later

I made it!I checked and double checked my bags, made sure everything was underweight, then threw in a few last minute “I might need” items. I hugged the dogs (several times) and my roommate Carrie took me to BWI. Luckily Carrie is also a global traveler so she ran me through the last minute check lists, threw an extra pair of sunglasses in my bag, dropped me off and went home to take care of my house and very high maintenance pups for almost a month. (Carrie, you are the best!)Of course Delta’s systems were down, so check-in and checking bags took forever. The lady who checked my bag told me she wasn’t sure if my bag would go through to Accra or I’d have to recheck it in Amsterdam. Please take a second to imagine the look on my face. On top of this my first of three flights was delayed and we (there were several of us connecting to get to Amsterdam) only had 40 minutes between flights. By the time we landed in Detroit (now that I’m typing these posts on my phone and have limited data, I can’t link so my students will have to use their agency and inquiry skills to do some research on the places and things I write about. I put some suggested topics in italics. You know, utilizing those text features!) we only had 12 minutes to get from gate A66 to gate A46. I used all my cardio skills and hustled to make it. The flight to Amsterdam was overnight, and as nice as it could possibly be sleeping in a chair surrounded by strangers emitting various levels of odors. I slept for about 4 hours, and got several hours of reading in. I woke up in time to see Ireland pass by underneath. The cliffs and field patches are unmistakable. The in flight tracker helped to confirm this though.

Landing in Amsterdam was beautiful. You could see energy windmills (zoom in on the picture), fields, beautiful small buildings, small water ways between farmer’s fields, and a distant city. When we landed I had 3 hours before my flight to Accra, so luckily I had time to brush my teeth and put in new contacts.

So, very slightly refreshed I boarded another plane, but happily knowing it was my last one for at least 2 days! I’m a committed window seat flyer. How often do you get to look out at the tops of clouds? I love it. Unfortunately for this leg of the trip I got trapped in the dreaded middle seat. By the time we landed in Accra it was dark, so at least I didn’t miss any great pictures.

I still feel like I missed out on some cool views.

After talking to my team leads I was prepared for some chaos when I landed. They said people will try to carry your bags but expect a tip before they give them back, and there are lots of people there to pick up so you have to be sure you get the right shuttle. In reality my journey through immigration and customs was pretty seamless. I even got my checked bag quickly and without issue! I exchanged money, got a sim card for my phone and found my shuttle pretty easily.

By the time I checked in at the hotel it was late, and I was pretty exhausted. Everyone I met at the hotel was very nice, happy, and welcoming. My stomach was killing me from the lack of real food available on airplanes and in airports. My students know I love green food, and I hadn’t had anything green in quite a while. I asked if I could get something without cheese at a booth in the Amsterdam airport and the lady looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Snack bars will only get you so far so, I settled in at a table by a small pool and ordered a tuna sandwich, which luckily ended up being mostly vegetables. I did a lot of writing in my journal, and came upstairs to crash. This morning I woke up, did some towel yoga (a term I made up for replacing a yoga mat with a hotel towel) and jumped some rope. I went back down to the pool to have some breakfast and wait for one of the fellows who arrived this morning to meet me.

Once S’Asia, the other fellow, arrived we asked the front desk about walking around to explore. Apparently we are pretty far from the city and the only thing in walking distance was a small mall. My new friend was pretty exhausted. She had just finished 2 days of travel, so we just walked to the mall. The streets were packed with traffic. The mall happened to have a grocery inside. I love grocery shopping at home, and really enjoy seeing grocery stores in other country. This one was just like ours, with a few different brands. We each bought some lunch and headed back to the hotel pool. This time we swam a bit and got to talk about our backgrounds. S’Asia, used to teach in the United Arab Emirates, and a ton of different settings in the US. We had a lot of teacher philosophies and stories to trade. Soon we were joined by Janet, another fellow on our trip with LRTT. Janet used to teach in New York, but now teaches in Nigeria. So I spent my evening getting to know two really wonderful women!

Tomorrow morning we leave to fly to Tamale, meet our team leads, and a bunch of other fellows! Hopefully I still have wi-fi!

*Please excuse typos, missing punctuation, etc. I’m now typing as fast as I can on my phone, and sometimes the drafts save, and sometimes they don’t.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Ms. O