The plane ride to the layover in Atlanta was punctuated by the airplane dropping in mid-air. My passport, which was tucked into the pages of a book I was reading, disappeared and was found under a neighbor's seat. People screamed. I thought it was the end. The plane was from the 1950s- had all of us died, our souls might have become trapped in some sort of time warp. Arriving at the Atlanta airport, I was whisked away to zone E by the trains running throughout the airport, where I gorged myself on vegetable soup, fruit salad, and a tasty looking Caesar salad (which looked good in the display, covered in the Parm cheese, but when I got to it the lettuce was brown so I didn't eat it). Sitting at gate E2, a creeper came up and started talking to me. Even responding in one word syllables didn't stop his endless tirade about the slave trade and how interesting it was. While waiting for a flight. Full of Africans. Then he started talking loudly about Obama and how Africans love him, how he didn't vote for him, and he likes to visit old plantations in Georgia.
Side Note:
Creeper is mine and Katie's word for creepy old men. It can apply to younger men as well, but generally the older variety.
Texting to Katie during said conversation:
DANI: No first class :( at least I am on the aisle seat. This guy keeps talking to me and it's creepy.
KATIE: that is sad. make up a language and only speak in that, no english.
DANI: Haha KATIE: tell him you're an alien!!
DANI: I don't think that will work unless I pull out a laser gun and take first class by force.
KATIE: oh, well i meant to ward off the creepy guy, but i also think that is a good idea.
KATIE: do you have anything that looks like a laser gun?
KATIE: did you bite his hand?
DANI: I should have!
KATIE: stupid flight! maybe you can sleep
DANI: I hope so, the plane from dc to Atlanta was 100 years old, and there's a crying baby
KATIE: ew. i bet it'll be newer. smother the baby
DANI: heh
KATIE: i am full of this sort of practical advice
I hopped on the red eye(s) to Ghana, an 11 and 1/2 hour flight. I tried to bump myself up to first class, asking if it was possible to upgrade, but the woman at the desk told me it would be anywhere from $1,000 to $12,000. I told her I'd giver her $50. The ride in coach wasn't too bad for 11 hours- I actually ended up sleeping for quite a bit of it.
I gorged myself in Atlanta so I wouldn't have to eat the airplane food, but to my surprise there was a midnight snack bar with Milano cookies, small turkey sandwiches, yogurt, bananas, and orange juice. Also, there was no one sitting next to me, and sitting in a row of 3 seats, a really cool guy named Ed sat on the opposite end. His wife was supposed to be sitting there, but cancelled at the last minute. He works for a company called the Rafiki Foundation, and had been living in Africa for the past 10 years. Rafiki means 'friend' in Swahili.
http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/
When I arrived at the Ghana airport in Accra (pronounced acraw) the air was humid and hot, and there was a haze over everything, but a strong wind blowing in from the water. A bus picked us up and drove for about 29 feet where it dropped us off in a small open air room where I went through customs, and there was no one waiting for me with a sign as promised. I ended up taking a taxi (recommended by a guy at the airport who kept trying to take my bag, and when I finally let him carry it the last 5 feet to the car, he wanted a tip) to the Congress Hotel.
When I arrived, a guy walked in and told me he was he driver who was supposed to pick me up at the airport, He had a wide toothy grin. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there. Were you there waiting for me?" He turned to look at me with the same toothy grin. "No" he said, and promptly began asking me if this was my first time in Africa. African time- what can you do.
As soon as I got unpacked, I took a taxi to the IFPRI office that is just down the street. I meet everyone, went over what was going to happen the rest of the week, and with evening creeping on, walked down the street to hail a cab. As soon as several kids from a small street stand saw me, the ran out to touch my arm and ran back grinning. Adam (who will be driving me around tomorrow to take some video) told me I would stand out being white, so in some spots he might have to take photos instead because it would be too conspicuous. Also, when I told the guy in charge of the IFPRI office I needed B-Roll of migrating birds, he told me there are bats that fly out near the hospital every night that look like birds.
Time for a shower.
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