adventure #1...

...gettin’ to ghana

i planned us a little adventure this summer to ghana. i wanted to see my parents and everyone knows that i want to see the world. so it was like killing two birds with one stone. i started by talking to my parents countless times making sure everything would work out. then i purchased flights (ouch!) then the real prep came. i was engrossed in 18 credits at school and starting a new job. ‘busy’ can’t even be used to describe the few weeks before the big trip. in my spare time i was desperately trying to tackle the three page, single spaced, list of things to pack. i started cramming for finals, skipping sleep and making sure bowen was ready for a two week stay with cousins. i was worried, tired, anxious and frustrated. then i got a phone call. the day before departure. my grandpa had passed. i quickly called my mom and we cried together for a while. departure day was the next afternoon. i had two finals in the morning, errands to run, and bags to pack. sleep got pushed to the side again. and i just prayed that everything would work out. i started picturing myself hugging my mom and feeling peace for the first time in weeks. i was ready for the break. sadness still lingered in me. i cried occasionally knowing that i would miss grandpa’s funeral and that i hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to him. but morning came and we rushed our way to the airport. we made it there at 6am. got to the front of the line with ease. finally, we were on our way! sigh.

then....

the woman asked for our visa’s. visas??? nobody told me we needed visa’s. mom or dad had never mentioned it in all our conversations. there was no indication on our itinerary. i had traveled out of the country before a couple times and visa’s weren’t not required. we had passports. but no visa’s. she politely told us, “you will not be getting on a plane today. but there is a way to get a visa online in 48hours.” 48 hours? are you kidding me. i was immediately sick, trying desperately to hold myself together. i ran to the corner and set up my laptop. trying to figure out this visa business. before i knew it james was yelling from the counter for me to bring over the luggage. there was a flight leaving at 3:30pm to atlanta then ghana and she said we maybe could make it. so tickets were bought (agian, ouch) and baggage was checked. this means that if we didn’t figure something out quick our luggage would soon be in Africa and we would be sitting home in Salt Lake City. i immediately called my mom who was on her way to the airport to pick us up which was hours away. she said she thought she could do some work on her side to get our visa’s faster and headed to the ghana embassy.

now was wait and worry time. we got to go back and see bowen, who was a little confused, but happy none the less. i was calling Africa Embassy, Delta, USA Embassy, and the Department Head of International Affairs and Immigration, trying to get us some help. and fast. i only cried twice. there wasn’t time for tears. soon, a call from my mom to fax our passports to the Ghana Embassy. five minutes later we were waiting agian. then a phone call from my dad. “marci, no matter what, you get on that plane at 3:30.” so another call to Delta. this time i wanted to know if we could leave SLC International without a visa. she read carefully the rules to me and sure enough we could fly. yay!

{frustration and anxiety}

at 2:30 we were at the airport and ready to board. hoping that everything in Ghana was working quickly for our arrival. if not, we would be deported out of the country and perhaps without our luggage. i was starting to get tired and hungry and sick of wearing the same clothes. 3:30 we were on the plane, row 13 A and B.

{excitement and worry}

the plane drove it’s way to the runway and james and i let out a sigh of relief. we were on our way....somewhere. then the pilot came on, something was wrong with the planes communication probe and we had to turn back for 30 minutes. i fell asleep. i woke up two hours later and we were still sitting there. minutes later, they decided to have everyone exit the plane, cause it would be a while. (“a while” in airport time can be days.) so all that trouble getting on that flight was crushed we were stepping off, still in SLC international airport. Delta gave everyone a voucher for dinner and james and i grabbed a pizza at california pizza kitchen before standing in the massive line at the desk. we knew if the plane did not leave in 30 minutes we would miss our connecting flight to Accra, Ghana. when we got to the front, they started checking flights for us. there was a flight leaving in the morning to new york. so we got tickets (agian, ouch.) then james, told her about our de-lima that morning. that we were turned away, then later found out that we didn’t actually need a visa to leave SLC. she felt horrible. she gave us $400.00 and an immediate upgrade to first class, both to new york and to Accra, Ghana. (yay!) i called mom again, we would be arriving a day late. meanwhile they were sitting in the Ghana Embassy, starring at the workers until they would do something for us. Daniel Aboe was working at warp speed to get emergency visa’s for us. we drove back to my brothers house and saw bowen again. (double yay!)

{anger and annoyance}

5am my phone rings. it’s my mom, she said, we had an email of a receipt we had to show at the gate in New york and had to print it now. we quickly printed the paper and took off to the airport for the third time, this ti

me determined to get on a plane and get off the ground. so when our 8:30am flight to new york lifted off the tar mat we were both excited and yet scared to death. we were now going to try and enter a country without the proper documentation. and in new york non the less, a place neither of us are very familiar with. but first class was SO NICE! i needed that. a comfy chair, a hot towel, a nice breakfast, and a good movie. i was feeling a little better. next stop, new york city!

we arrived at JFK International airport with only one hour before boarding. my legs were beginning to shake. we went to the front desk, told the man our situation and and showed him the receipt. in his, african american language he explained that it wouldn’t do, we needed the actual documents. he said, he would give us 15 minutes to have the documents in our hands or he would pull our bags and we would be stuck in JFK. i tried desperately to keep that tear in my eye, but one escaped as i frantically called my mom. she said she would call daniel and call me back. i waited. james paced. soon the phone rang and she explained that we had it on our email. daniel had sent it while we were on the other flight. i quickly found a place on the floor to plop down and open my laptop, that now had 6% battery life. no internet. no free wi-fi. so out came the credit card and we payed for internet right there, all the while battery life was depleting. finally i pulled up the email, sure enough...it was there. yay! i butted to the front of the line and showed the man. “NO! i need it in a paper form” so i turned to the line and begged someone to tell my where the printer was. they gave me a blank stare, as if they didn’t speak engligh. (most didn’t) then one lady, said something. “there may be one in the sky room.” now our 15 minutes was down to 2. i raced for the elevator. luckily i had seen a sign for the sky room when i went to the bathroom. (i know, like i had time to pee right?) we raced in there and plugged in our computer. printer was broke. i ran back down to our terminal and showed him that i had the documents but they wouldn’t print and i had no other way. then i turned on the tears. he grabbed our passports out of our hands and stamped our tickets. we looked at him puzzled as he motioned for us to board the plane. (i have a feeling he didn’t want to look for our luggage!)

{relief and relaxation}

the flight was long. but i’m telling you first class is the only way to go on an 11 hour flight. we had some of the best food of our lives. i read a good book, ‘eat pray love’ and watched a good movie before laying my seat back into ‘sleep’ setting (that’s right...just like a twin bed!) pulled up my full size comforter and pillow, put the complementary socks and eye mask on and drifted into dreamland. i awoke to the smell of gourmet frenchtoast and used my complementary toothbrush and face wash to freshen up in the bathroom. i was still wearing the same clothes i put on three days earlier. but when the plane landed in Accra and we exited the plane, i felt as though my legs were not going to work. we made it. but we still didn’t have the proper paperwork printed off. we walked silently to the immigration office. both of us were terrified.

at first the lady behind the bared desk was not very nice. she couldn’t understand why we didn’t have them printed. and of course there is NO printers in a third world country and we knew that that would be to much to ask. i had the thought that maybe my parents had the paper copy so i asked if i could call them. however, my handy dandy t-mobile phone was picking up ZERO service. there are no land lines in ghana and the lady was reluctant to let me use her “personal phone”. so i did the only thing i thought would work and slipped her a twenty. yep, she let me call right away. (even though it wasn’t in her currency.) after she talked to my dad she had a security guard take me to the entrance to identify the person coming. (i could have just said, “he’s white”!) i had to stay back with guards while she went to talk to my dad. i could see from where i was that he had no papers. i wanted to cry. we were going to be deported. meanwhile, james was working his magic with the lady back at the desk. he was smart enough to learn a little of the language before coming and as soon as he started his friendly greetings on her, she sweetened right up. (maybe cause of his flirting, maybe cause of the fresh 20 in her hands.) when i came back they were willing to use the online version i had on my email and stamped our passports into the country.

we were in. i can’t describe the relief. now, we just prayed that our luggage had made it too. we had heard some crazy horror stories and ours were filled to the brim with supplies for orphanages, schools, and my parents. sure enough, they were there! Before we knew it we were traveling the crazy roads of ghana and experiencing the new world of Africa!

{joy and exhaustion}