Time Travel

From the moment I stepped off the plane in Ghana I knew I was in a different world, (probably because I was stepping onto the actual runway with no building in sight) but as the humidity engulfed me, this Florida girl uttered aloud, I'm home.

After standing on the runway a few minutes with the other exhausted and confused passengers, a few busses came to drive us to the airport building. As we stood in line waiting to prove we had the necessary paperwork to enter the country, I looked around and thought I had traveled back in time. The office looked more like a makeshift VBS registration than official immigration. Everything was so loud, hot and stuffy and yet at the same time, very concrete and cold.

After registering fingerprints and getting documentation approval, we headed to baggage claim. There were only four carousals, but none of them were marked so everyone was wandering in this small space searching for their luggage. Kristen, Penny and Mike all found their bags quickly. However, between Katy and I, we were 0-4 bags - meaning no luggage between the two of us. After we were convinced our bags were not on that plane, Katy instructed the others to get through the airport and we would meet them after we figured out what to do about our lost luggage.

Truth be told, I saw this coming. Like I said, I am no stranger to domestic travel and up until this point I have had a perfect record of zero missing bags. However, as I was sitting on the plane in Boston, I looked down to see the airport staff pulling bags off the plane. I immediately recognized my bags, and saw the staff throw them both to the side and not on the cart with the other pieces of luggage.

It was such a helpless feeling. I could see it happening, and knew there was nothing I could do about it, except to sit on the plane, take a photo, and tweet it. :)

Anyway, back to Ghana - Katy and I headed to a small office and filled out (yes, pen and paper) a lost luggage report. Even though the bags obviously had barcodes on their tags, the Ghana office staff was unable to locate them for us. The only information they could offer was that one International flight arrives each day and we should just come back to the airport at the same time the following nights until our bags arrived.

Bottom line, you do not want to lose luggage in a developing country. Unlike in the U.S. you are faced with the reality you may never actually get them back. I did not care about my clothes or other belongings, but I was nervous I would not have any gifts for my sponsored child. Still, there was absolutely nothing I could do about the situation and I was determined it would not ruin my trip.

Once Katy and I felt we did all we could to ensure our luggage would be located at some point, we made our way through the airport to find Kristen, Penny and Mike. Our tour leader JoAnn was waiting for us and ushered us out to the van. It was not until we were in the van headed toward the hotel that I finally believed, This trip is really happening. I am really in Africa and this is really my trip.