Haze

When we landed in Lagos, Nigeria en route to Accra, Ghana, I tried to get a good view of the landscape but was thwarted by a hazy mixture of fog, sand and pollution. Over Ghana's capital I could only make out pinpricks of bright blue light that didn't cast very far and left most of the landscape in darkness. It was like looking down at the stars. This all wouldn't be worth including unless it were (you guessed it) metaphorical for my first impressions. I ache with the desire to figure out my surroundings so I can just glide through them observing without worry, but that will take time, so I'm re-learning an old lesson: enjoy the chaos. They say that every day is a new adventure, and that's especially true for me here. I expect that I wil continue to be surprised by the cultural divide until my plane ride home, but I hope that this serves as a fun story for you to read as it unfolds as it will be a relieving reminder of home for me. I miss you all and have faith that this experience will teach me a lot that I can bring back, including how important all of my relationships are. Be well.

First Twenty-Four Hours

I've found that I always notice more at the beginning in a new place, but I'll try to keep this to the highlights. My flight landed and I got off for (hopefully) the last time in several months. I'd spent 28.75 hours in the air over the last four days and another 10 waiting around at airports, so the thought of not flying for a while seemed foreign. I cleared immigration and customs easily (everyone was very nice and they didn't look through my bags), and met a driver from my hotel outside. I checked in and met/chatted with the owner Ramiz who is Lebanese but an American citizen born and raising a family in Ghana. I had some dinner at the hotel resteraunt (fetuccini + the second of hundreds of malarone tablets- a malaria prophilaxis), took a shower and in a bout of homesickness watched CNN for an hour before falling asleep (including one commercial with the catchphrase "Get a vasectomy and smile all the time"). They were doing exposes on the most depressing subjects, but it still felt like home. I slept through the night and woke up today naturally at 8, organized my bags a little and got my complimentary breakfast. A guy who works at the hotel, Richard, is a little older than me and invited me to visit him in Ho by Lake Volta (where I'm planning to go anyway). To experience the town, I headed to the lighthouse at James Town (the title for this blog was almost "to the other lighthouse" as a tribute to Judy) and within five minutes of walking out of the hotel the cutest child approached me and stuck his hand right in my pocket! I was pretty heart-broken because I had to face the desperation of this city and couldn't even trust a four year-old. I took a tro-tro toward James Town (the driver was slow and the van was not overcrowded, plus other drivers were nice about giving directions). I walked the rest of the way sipping from a freshly cut coconut, got directions from a friendly man and arrived at the lighthouse. The view from the top was of a large section of the town, tin roofs, dusty side roads with flea markets and cars speeding around. I think I was looking to the lighthouse for some clarity or direction, but realized that, like everything here, it has a complex history of transforming from a guide for slave ships to (hopefully in the future) a beacn for cargo ships signalling economic development. It was a fairly depressing site. I tried to love this place, but I'm going to have to settle for just accepting it, at least for now and I still have hope for Legon. To make matters worse, the guy who took me up tried to block my exit unless I paid him more money, but I refused and the woman who I'd paid originally helped me out. I took a taxi back to the hotel, napped, and walked over here to email and blog it up. It's been a tough day, and I'm looking forward to meeting the other students at the airport tonight. It will at least be less lonely. I know I'm going to eat those words after living in a roommate in the dormitory for a few months, but I'm sure I'll adjust. The only other reflection I have to leave you with is that I'm white. Really white. And I've encountered a total of 5 white people today, including at my hotel. I get cat-called, every taxi honks at me, and hawkers make a kissing noise to attract my attention. Confronting my race is going to be an interesting process. I'll be sure to keep you updated. Cheers!

PS- I can't plug in my camera here, so I'll include pictures next time