GHANA LIFTOFF, TAKE TWO, NOVEMBER 11-12

Well, we're on board again, having breakfasted at the hotel and made it through security in time to wait two hours before boarding.

A scant two hours late, we're airborne at last. Finished The Filter Bubble, a troubling, but important, book, and switched to the delight of beginning to read Michael Ondatje's new novel, The Cat's Table, which is immediately engrossing. Won't mention the two gamespof gin rummy that I lost to Carol.

We've lost 18 hours from a short trip, but, depending on what flight connections we're able to make to Kumasi in Accra, we may not have missed too much. In any event, it is what it is (or will be what it will be). The hour flight to Kumasi will certainly be an uptick from the bumpy four or five hour ride we had last year.

I'd like, someday, to be able to develop more of the attitude towards time (and life) we encountered in the Sheraton Hotel lobby in a man we struck up a conversation with there. The flight cancellation had made it impossible for him to meet up with the people he was going to Nigeria with, so he'd been forced to cancel the trip. When I commented on what a shame that was, he shrugged and said he was just glad to be safe. He'd reschedule the trip for another time. This is an attitude borne in an accepting nature and in the deeply held belief that there is a plan for everything. We encountered a similar attitude in people who we rode on the bus to the Sheraton with early this morning. As one man put it, "if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan."

We have a real sense of returning home to old friends, though, of course, we spent only about a week in Ghana last year. Still, the people we met were so warm, and the connections the Kipharts have forged with them over the years so strong and genuine that it's like returning to family, without the mishagas. We'll be met at the airport in Acra by Peter Eduful, who has organized the trip itinerary and is the Kipharts' main contact in Ghana. Formerly with the government's department of children, he's recently come to work full time for Dick and Susie. We've been in regular email contact with Peter from the States.

Our friend, Valerie Lewis, is on this trip with us. She has a very long connection to Ghana, since she taught English in a girls' school there in 1965-66, in the English equivalent of our Peace Corp. Four years ago, she returned to Ghana with her husband, Michael, to witness a cataract surgery project run by their friend, Jeff Tabin. Valerie knows Dick and Susie, having met them through us, and she and Michael met the people we'll be seeing on this trip.

The flight is long (about 10 1/2 hours), but uneventful. One of the Kipharts bags takes some time to appear, but it does and we clear customs and are met by Peter Eduful and walked over to the domestic flight to Kumasi. It's now about 7:30 AM on November 12.

More fun. The 9:30 and noon flights are sold out. The first available flight 4:40 PM leaves us almost eight hours in the domestic terminal. We look into chartering a flight, but that would cost $3000, so we pass. We'd have been willing to pay $2000, the thought of which absolutely mortified Peter.

Next test is whether we can take all of our luggage, as Dick and Susie have four duffle bags full of soccer balls and other gifts. We're told that we're allowed 20 kilos each, and our total weight, excluding all of our carry-on luggage comes to 126 kilos, because, fortunately, Peter has no luggage. By the time we get to the Four Villages Inn in Kumasi, it will have been 48 hours, door to door, from our house in Evanston, not optimum for a ten-day trip.

We finally made it to the Four Villages, after a very short and comfortable flight (once we survived the wait and cancellations). Warm greetings at the airport from old friends, including Alex the contractor and three of Peter's nephews, including Jonathan and Freedom. Passing through a stretch of heavy, dusty traffic, we arrived at the inn only half an hour before dinner, greeted by Chris and Charity, the proprietors, who showed us to the same room we'd had last year.

Dinner, prepared by Charity, was excellent and the company, including the amazing and energetic Dr. Annie, who runs a big health clinic in Kumasi, her beautiful 15-year old daughter, Saint Anne, Dr, Addai, who runs a rural health service, and Will, a graduate if the Berkeley school of music in Boston, who is the son of one of Dick's partners and is studying, performing and teaching music in Accra for 4 months. Great and varied discussion, followed by an early retirement, since we are all exhausted.

The long description of our trials and travails reflects the joy of traveling. Ultimately, though, the experience is so enriching that the travails are either forgotten, or enhance the story. I expect that will happen on this trip, as well.

NOT JET LAGGED, NOVEMBER 11

Well, it's the morning after and the good news is that Carol and I are not jet lagged. The bad news is that we're in Virginia. After sitting on the plane at Dulles for three hours, told at half hour intervals that we'd be getting updates on a hydraulic problem, they announced that the flight was being postponed--for thirteen hours, until 2:45 PM today. Pile off the plane, stand in line for hotel and meal vouchers, walk to main terminal, outside to wait for Sheraton bus (last to come), ride to hotel, stand in line for room, find out that our dinner vouchers (by now it's 3 AM) will not be honored for breakfast the next morning (why? because they're for DINNER, of course), get poppy seed muffins (3), chocolate chip cookies and a croissant for a dinner voucher, up to our room and to sleep. I've actually made this out to be worse than it was. Hotel is fine and, if we get off tomorrow as planned, this all will have been an adventure we can laugh about later. Gotta run now to meet our friend Valerie Lewis for breakfast (Kipharts, being business class are at a presumably nicer hotel), where I can argue with the restaurant about honoring our dinner vouchers. One must get one's pleasures where one can. Stay tuned.

TAKE OFF, NOVEMBER 10

[Note: I'm told by my daughter Wendy that if you care to get email notifications of new posts you can do so by putting your email address into the blank place at the top of the blog.]

Aloft on the first leg of our flight to Ghana, a short hour and a half to DC. Time to reflect on the travel experience a bit.

The way I'm personally most directly affected by terrorism is the airport experience. You now have to arrive early, endure the lines and indignities involved in passing through security and getting to the gate; identity checked, everything out of your pockets, shoes off, belt off, coat off, toiletries out of the bag, electronics separate, arms behind your head in the plastic booth, endure the overly important TSA agent (actually, they've gotten nicer), etc. By the time you reach your gate, typically located half way to your destination, you feel assaulted and exhausted. Then the flight's delayed, and you don't even get some damn peanuts because they cost too much and somebody is allergic to them.

There, now that's out of the way. Yes, I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking.

Technology everywhere. Our friend, Dick Kiphart, has boarded before us, calls on my cell to check that we've made it. He stops by to ask whether I got the article he's emailed me a few minutes ago. I have, and since I've downloaded it, I can read it on the flight. But first I read more of The Filter Bubble, a VERY scary book I've downloaded on my iPad about the affects the Internet are having on us as individuals and a society that we're completely unaware of. Highly recommended. And, of course, writing this blog post (which I now need to continue on our next flight, since "our captain" has told us that we need to "put away all electronic devices in preparation for landing").

THE DAY BEFORE

Well, trying again, and hoping, this time, for lift off (unlike our recent non-trip to Myanmar).

Part of final preparations--packing, starting the malaria medication that I hope won't make me puke--is trying to get this blog in shape, and letting folks who might be interested know about it. Then comes the test of whether I'll actually be able to write, publish, add photos, etc. once we take off.

Worth a try, though, in any case. A high tech replacement for the written journals I used to keep. Worked pretty well on our trip to Ghana, Egypt and Jordan last year. And, after the trip, you can print up a little book with the journal entries and photos. What will they think of next?