Advertisement
Published: January 15th 2009
Wow...I'm in Ghana. It still hasn't fully set in just yet! Okay, so I have about a 20 stories to tell and I've only been gone for four days. Unfortunately this is my third try at this, because the internet here is not just slow and limited, but it's also a little fickle too. I'm also on the clock right now so I'm going to have to make this short. I promise that my next blog will be much longer, more detail, less scatter brained with the possibility of some pictures and maybe even a video.
Alright so, flights went really well, got through security no problem, no turbulence or cancellations, in fact everything was really smooth...until I got to JFK. So what was originally supposed to be a three hour layover turned into eight hours. First our flight was delayed an hour and when it finally did come in, they had to defrost it. Apparently when the plane flew through the clouds the condensation on the wings froze creating an extremely hazardous situation. Who knew? Sooooo, they had to call in the guys to defrost the wings, no prob...except they all had gone home at that point...which was about 1:30am...and we should have left at 10:00pm...good times. But that aside, let me say that British Airways is definitely the way to go. Good food, good service, free coffee and tea, wide selection of TV shows, Movies, and music, complimentary eye masks, tooth brushes, and socks, you know, all the good stuff!
It was really great when I finally did arrive in London because I was able to meet up with a lot of people from ISEP (the program I'm traveling with). It was such an awesome experience to be surrounded by people who were just as excited as me about this trip...if not more! The trip to Ghana from London was long but the people I'm traveling with made it a wonderful experience.
We arrived in Accra, at about 9:15 pm, you could tell because as soon as we descended and went under the clouds you could see all of the city lights...and the windows fogged up because of all the humidity.
First Impressions of Ghana? Beautiful. It is simply gorgeous! Sunny blue skies, lush green trees, tropically warm temperatures, comforting cool breezes, and tons of smiling friendly faces. The University of Ghana is MASSIVE!!! We had a tour of the campus today, and by tour I mean we pointed out about a quarter of the buildings and walked by the rest. We started around 1:00 pm and didn't finish until 6:00pm. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't eating so many carbs and starches, I'd lose twenty pounds from just sweating and walking. But that is definitely all part of the Ghanaian charm. Every day is new and exciting, the campus is beautiful, and the people are friendly and helpful. Time here just seems to melt away. No one's in a rush, everything is really relaxed. And me being the kind of guy I am, fit right in. I can tell this semester will see the return to my every other day nap schedule! My one big regret is not packing a hammock, because this is a premium environment! And the people here are so warm and helpful. When we get back to our Hostel the women at the front desk always say "welcome home!" Does it get any better?
For the most part lectures and speakers have made up orientation. Our first real travel experiences won't happen until this weekend, but I'm still having the time of my life. The people I'm traveling with are all really nice, fun and exciting. My Ghanaian roommate should be arriving this weekend also, so that will be another great contact that I'll have pretty soon. I can already tell this is going to be a great semester!
So yeah, lots of highs, there have been some lows here and there, but nothing too major. I'm really sorry that this took so long guys, like I said, Ghanaian Internet = slow, fickle, unreliable...all that stuff. So I'm not going to promise you an exact date as to when my next entry will be. At any rate, I'm doing great, and having the time of my life, miss you all, and I hope that life is treating you all well!
Until we meet again, stay frosty
Jonathan
p.s.
My new ISEP name is Johnny Kansas...pretty sweet, huh? Don't worry, I know you're all jealous 😉
Advertisement
Tot: 0.147s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 17; qc: 63; dbt: 0.0956s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Q
non-member comment
yeah Johnny Kansas. i like the sound of that. it sounds like the name of a movie star. i am glad to hear you made it to Ghana safely and things are going great. i am excited about reading the next post. take care and have a fantastic time. p.s. take a lot of pictures. i can scrapbook them for you when you return home :) ciao! Q