Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I posted. And what a busy couple of weeks it has been! Since we last left off, Jeremy and I enjoyed a weekend in Kumasi and the lovely Lake Bosumtwi, about a 45 minute drive from the city. We didn't get to spend much time in either place, but we did have a great time exploring the markets in Kumasi and then playing drinking games with the other volunteers while at the lake. However, we were definitely ready to go home, so we woke up Sunday morning eager to hit the road and begin our journey back to the United States. That journey sucked, though, as it took several days to make it home. Allow me to elaborate...
Chapter 1: We departed Lake Bosumtwi in the town of Abono around 10AM on Sunday, July 24. We had to walk 2.5 KM along a muddy dirt road to make it from our hotel to the main road, where we hoped to flag a taxi to get us back to Kumasi. The only taxi option we could find was a shared taxi that had seen better days. We waited about an hour for three other people to join us in the shared ride before our driver hot wired the car (apparently the starter was broken...) so that it would start. Then, we were on our way.
Chapter 2: The driver told us to get out in the town of Kuntanase, about 15 KM from Abono. He wasn't sure his car would make it much further, and we weren't sure we wanted to take our chances, anyway. So we hopped into a tro-tro and enjoyed a relatively boring ride for about forty minutes, when we were again told to get out of the bus, as the bus was not going the entire way to Kumasi. Somewhat stranded, we luckily found another bus pretty quickly, which took us the rest of the way to the city.
Chapter 3: Upon arrival in Kumasi, we headed to the long distance bus station to find our bus back to Accra. We were willing to pay 20 Cedi each for the VIP bus that we took to get to Kumasi on Friday, however we were approached by a man driving a smaller bus that did have air conditioning. And at half the price, it was a good deal. So we snagged what we thought were the final two seats in the last row. Then the driver squeezed in one more traveler next to me in the middle of the back row, as well as one other person on a chair of sorts in the front of the bus. I could tell it wasn't going to be a pleasant five hours.
Chapter 4: It wasn't a pleasant five hours. The road to Kumasi, which we thought was shit on Friday, was a lot better than the road to Accra. Same road, yes, but in the smaller bus, we felt each bump in the road even more. I routinely felt my bottom leave the seat as we bounced around. Jeremy hit his head on the ceiling of the bus. The bus again played some Ghanian soap operas that we found mildly offensive but made everyone laugh. It was miserable, but we arrived back at the VPWA house by 5PM just in time to shower and grab dinner before heading to the airport.
Chapter 5: I hate United. Our flight was cancelled. No explanation. No other option to fly home until Tuesday morning. We were stuck in Accra for two more nights! Curses!
Chapter 6: We woke up on Tuesday morning at 4AM Ghana time to head to the airport. We almost had to bribe a few policemen to let us through one of the roads at 4:50AM, as it wasn't supposed to open until 5:00AM. However, as a gift from the Ghanians, the policemen let us pass without a single Cedi. I could tell our luck was turning! We boarded our flight at 7AM and discovered we had been given EXIT ROW seats! Seriously, our luck had turned! As soon as I sat down, I popped an Ambien and slept for the next seven hours. The flight from Ghana to Washington, DC was great!
Chapter 7: Upon arrival in DC, we went to the bathrooms and practically hugged the toilets. I love toilets! I love public toilets! I love American public toilets! I don't think there is a single gas station in this country that I won't pee in now. Not after my summer in Africa... While we waited for our next flight to San Francisco, we stopped and had a glass of wine and some olives. Not quite American food, but we had nothing like that in Africa for a few months. It felt good to be back!
Chapter 8: The flight from DC to San Francisco was again, rather uneventful. And we were again seated in another exit row. Rather amazing. And after we landed, we received gift certificates as an apology for the cancelled flight. Those plus the exit rows almost made me not feel mad at United anymore... Almost! So after collecting our luggage, we taxied up to our garage in San Francisco, picked up our car, and then drove to Palo Alto to stay with our good friends, Amanda and Noah.
Chapter 9: After catching up with Amanda and Noah, we took hot showers. Glorious! Then we went to bed. Tuesday, July 26 at 11:00 PM. In Ghana time, that would be Wednesday, July 27 at 6:00 AM. About 69 hours later than our departure from Lake Bosumtwi. Longest journey ever!
Chapter 10: We woke up on Wednesday morning and immediately began our drive down to Los Angeles at 6:30 AM. We arrived five hours later, and immediately began our apartment search. Brentwood? Santa Monica? Brentwood? Santa Monica? After quite a few viewings, we decided that we preferred to live in Santa Monica. And after seeing about 100 apartments - I don't think I'm exaggerating - we signed a lease for a cute one bedroom in the Wilmont neighborhood on 18th Street! We are close to the cute little stores on Montana Avenue, the Big Blue Bus Line on Wilshire Avenue, and only a mile from Palisades Park and the beach! We are so happy to have a home again. Now if only we had furniture for it...
No comments:
Post a Comment