My Summer in Ghana: July 2014

I stood in the ladies room at the Eugene airport on the morning of my departure for Ghana with my hands held under a faucet waiting for the water to flow. I did that thing where you wave your hands back and forth under the faucet with increasing urgency expecting something to happen and nothing does. So I checked to see if this is one of those manual ones where you actually have to use the handle to turn on the water. It wasn’t. Finally I looked up to see a huge orange sign that read, “Out of Order. Use next faucet”. I should have guessed that this would be an interesting journey.

“Man plans; God laughs.” I first heard this saying when I was in Israel and it has become one of my favorites. No matter how much planning I do it always turns out just as it is supposed to; despite how I thought it should be!!

I boarded the plane for the first leg of the flight; Eugene to Portland. Everything was okay so far. We taxied to the runway then slowly backed up to the terminal. Something was amiss with one of the generators and we needed to wait for it to be inspected. 40 minutes later we were off to PDX. I had a four hour layover at the Portland Airport so no harm done.

I arrived in Portland 35 minutes later and hung around the airport until time to board the plane for New York. Boarding went as usual then we hear an announcement that the flight had been delayed. “Severe weather” on the East Coast was causing problems at JFK. Four and a half hours later, after sitting on the plane the entire time waiting for clearance, the flight was canceled and we were finally allowed to get off the airplane. Nearly 10 hours after leaving my home in Eugene I was still in Portland! Even after having spent 5 hours on an airplane.

This looks a lot how I felt. (Picture taken in Amsterdam.)

So, to customer service where I was told that the only flight to Ghana that had an empty seat was Sunday; it was only Tuesday. I was nearly in tears from frustration and figured that the universe was trying to tell me that Ghana was not a good idea. Just before the tears started to flow the very kind woman who was helping me said, “Wait, we just had a cancellation on a Ghana flight and we can get you there on Thursday (one day later then scheduled) but you’ll have to go through Amsterdam.” I’ve never been to The Netherlands before so what a bonus. “I’ll take it!” I said.

So, Minneapolis, to Amsterdam, to Accra; and I’d only be one day late. And, I got a layover in Amsterdam.

After arriving in Amsterdam I took the first hotel transport bus I saw not having a clue where I was going. Wound up at a Best Western. It was nice, affordable, and they had a room. Since I had such a short time in The Netherlands as soon as I dropped off my luggage in my room I turned around and took a train into the city. I walked into a shop and asked the very nice guy working there what he would suggest I do with only 3 hours to spend in Amsterdam. His answer was, “Go to Old Amsterdam.” Which
I did; it was about a 20 minute walk.

What a beautiful city. I wish I’d had more time there. Actually, perhaps I don’t really wish that. I would love to go back though but with someone I could share the experience with. Leave it to me to find the one thing that truly appeals to the glutton in me, I found a cheese shop with a thousand different types of cheese.

The Cheese House

All with free samples!! I was in cheese heaven. My favorite was the Gouda with fresh ginger. Oh my goodness what scrumptious treats. I’m sure the shop owner was most happy to see me leave.

The next day I was finally on a plane with the next stop Ghana. This flight took me over the Sahara Desert. Wow, it is huge. We flew over it for at least 3 hours. You could literally put the entire continental United States within the Sahara Desert and still have a few thousand square miles of desert left over. The only larger desert on the planet is Antarctica.

Sahara Desert from airplane.

Finally, 54 hours later, I arrived in Ghana. Dan and Agnes O’Laughlin were waiting for me at the airport and I nearly wept with joy at seeing them. The sights, the sounds, and the smells of Ghana all came flooding back to me. Finally, my feet in Ghana!!