Catching up/ CJW

It's my first ever blog posting. I'm sure it won't be nearly as interesting, well written or funny as John's, but I'll try.

My plane trip has been more harrowing than any travel around Ghana so far. What started off as an early arrival in Detroit (which led to thoughts of trying to get on an earlier flight to Amsterdam to spend time in the city) turned into a 7 hour ordeal. Our flight was redirected to Detroit due to lightening strikes at the airport. We were circled twice then had to land in Grand Rapids for refueling. For some reason, the fuel trucks kept coming over to our plane, only to fuel a plane nearby then leave. The pilot and crew kept telling the angry passengers that we were next in line to be refueled and would be on our way only to be proven wrong time after time again. Some angry customer remarked that it was like the boy who cried wolf and she would never believe the pilot again. I say that's analogy is slightly off-- I'd liken it more to the network t.v. coverage of a presidential election. An earnest call made too early.

Anyway, we had a brief reprieve with the flight to Amsterdam during which the flight attendant gave me a double gin and tonic for free (international flights rock!) But the flight to Accra was also delayed and we got in two hours late, made all the worse by the hour and fifteen minutes it took for our luggage to arrive.

But the next morning, we got an early start to the Cape Coast. (See John's post about that.) The troubled travel continued as I had my first introduction to the frequent police stops to check your car for appropriate licenses. It's a little intimidating when a man walks up to your car with a big machine gun, even if he's standing next to a sign that has "Police Stop: Foam Rubber, Your Partner for Life" on it. At our first stop, the officer tapped our luggage and asked what was inside. Our driver told him it was our personal items, but the officer asked us at least 2 more times. Had he opened it, he would have found suspicious looking medical supplies such as syringes and catheters, and I'm not sure if an international incident would have been on our hands. Our driver was very upset by the experience, saying that we should not have been hassled because all of our paperwork clearly indicated that we were tourists going between two hotels. He insisted that this was an indication that the officer was looking for a bribe.

Other than that, the only other interesting incident of note was when I was hit on by a smelly, vaguely European tourist at our hotel at the Cape Coast. While waiting for the front desk man to help John and me with our internet connection, my solicitor asked for his room key, greeted me then promptly asked me for my room number. I made up some response that I was staying in the "R" building. When he asked for clarification, I said that my HUSBAND and I were staying in the R building. He quickly backed off then. The next morning, we saw him and his buddy with a woman who was quite clearly a prostitute. I can either feel good that I drove him to this desperation, or worry that he thought I was his 'ho for the evening.


I spent my day Monday going around with Dianne and establishing contacts with the agencies that we'll be volunteering with this week and finding people on staff there who can be contacts for future U of U medical groupies such as myself. A very moving day, but you'll have to wait until I have more time to post on that.

Most inadvertently disturbing religious sign: Thy Will Be Done Licensed Chemicals