Somehow between the last few days of training and arriving in Accra I became ready. Not like ready-for-anything-bring-on-scorpions but the ready that I needed to feel to be able to approach this placement from where I wanted to be. The last night in the EWB house, I stayed up practically until sunrise. I'm not sure how to describe it... I was sitting at a table by myself in the kitchen/living room area just writing some emails and writing in my journal and I looked up. There were over 20 people in the house who all cared about making the world a better place. There were photographs with scenes of Canadians working with local Africans all along the ceiling. Right in front of me was a map of Ghana - broken down into districts. At my feet was a duffle bag full of books, the top one read "The Betrayal of Africa" ...I had read this book awhile ago on a flight from Vancouver to Montreal... for a quick second I thought it was mine...
I took all this in and then just smiled. In a completely unfamiliar setting I found myself feeling like I belonged.
The following day and a half were a bit of a blur. I made my way to the airport basically following my steps exactly backwards from when I arrived in toronto. I met my mom who so kindly was there to give me my laptop and a last minute hug. I also ran into a few unexpected former Aeroplan colleagues! I would have posted the pictures BUT turns out somehow I lost my camera...
After saying "see you soon" to my mom again, it was through security with the girls, and to our gate. A few phone call and text messages later and we were taking off from Canada.....HERE WE GO!
The flights were very smooth, I bought a camera in Frankfurt, and before we knew it we were landing in Accra. What a feeling to touch down and know that this land will be "home" for the next 4 months!
I took all this in and then just smiled. In a completely unfamiliar setting I found myself feeling like I belonged.
The following day and a half were a bit of a blur. I made my way to the airport basically following my steps exactly backwards from when I arrived in toronto. I met my mom who so kindly was there to give me my laptop and a last minute hug. I also ran into a few unexpected former Aeroplan colleagues! I would have posted the pictures BUT turns out somehow I lost my camera...
After saying "see you soon" to my mom again, it was through security with the girls, and to our gate. A few phone call and text messages later and we were taking off from Canada.....HERE WE GO!
The flights were very smooth, I bought a camera in Frankfurt, and before we knew it we were landing in Accra. What a feeling to touch down and know that this land will be "home" for the next 4 months!
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