The Newly World Traveler

I don’t want to jinx it for the travel home, but I handled navigating 4 airports like a boss! I had some help along the way especially when I got to Ghana. The man who was sitting next to me on the flight made sure that I got everything that I needed. When we reached the baggage claim area he got me a cart and showed me where to stand to see where the bags first came out. He even waited to help me make sure that I found both of my bags before leaving that area. 

Navigating was one thing, but the flights were another. I learned a few things in my two shorter flights to ensure that my longer flight would go better. Motion sickness is something that comes pretty easily to me, and flying made no exception. 

1. Pepto Bismol is your friend. I got over my fear of taking Pepto Bismol real quick. (Last time I used it I got sick and threw up and haven’t touched the stuff in years.)  
2. Don’t look out the window during take off or landing,
3. Don’t try to focus on something during turbulence or rough air as they always called it over the speaker.
4. Always stay hydrated and have snacks. Almonds and water were my best friends when I had a very short turn around between my first two planes and still had an upset stomach from the first flight before the second flight took off.

One downside to the traveling was the lack of sleep. I got roughly 2 hours of sleep the night before and then during the course of the day/night I got about 4 hours of sleep if I’m lucky. The shorter flights I actually got more sleep than on the 10 hour overnight flight. Luckily there were screens for each seat and I could watch movies. 

I was met outside the airport by my host family. Auntie Agnes along with one of her sons and one grandson were there to greet me. They then were kind enough to take me to the super market to get me a few things to eat that I know I like, so that I have something to eat in case I don’t like something or mire likely that my body doesn’t like. One thing that I’m really going to miss is milk. Here they have something that they call milk that comes in a box and is not stored in the refrigerated isle. I haven’t tried it yet, but when I do I will let you know the outcome. 

I’m glad that we didn’t have too far to drive because the people around here drive like they are crazy. Everyone is impatient and always honking their horns. It seems that there is no real rules to driving even though there  are signs and even stop lights. One guy tried to drive in the dirt shoulder on the opposite side of the road, but was quickly met by the police. There was also a bus that had broken down and was just left in the middle of the road which we had to then drive around.

My first Ghanian meal was jallof. It is a seasoned rice that is made by cooking the sauce and then cooking the rice in the sauce. You can add some vegetables to the rice as well. It had a little kick to it which tasted delicious. Today we ate it with some fried chicken, and then for dessert we had oranges. The oranges here are a little different. The peel on the orange is actually the color green. Now after seeing this I thought the orange itself might be green also, but it was not. The peel on these oranges are tougher, and they typically cut it off instead of peeling it off clean. The orange then has the white coating around it and you cut it in half. Then you eat out the orange and drink as much of the juice you can. These green oranges taste about the same, but they have more juice than your typical orange oranges.

Something I found interesting:

People walk around with baskets on their heads! Picture a sporting event or the Medora musical where there are vendors walking around trying to sell you food and beverages. Now take that image to the streets. There are people that walk around and through traffic at stop lights and other places where traffic is held up trying to sell you food drinks and much more. And some of these people carry their items that they are selling on their head.