BECA Travels: Last Day in Accra
Last Day in Accra
After breakfast and trips to the internet cafe and the cash machine, we headed off to the art market in Accra. This is in central Accra, near the courts and next to the memorial park honoring Kwame Nkrumah. For me, a lover of handicrafts, this was paradise. Because we were down to our last cedis - but needing gifts, we spent carefully and thoughtfully. Vendors in Ghana don't take credit cards. But I wanted a particular mask I'd been seeking, and since I, like everyone else, was low on cedis, the vendor suggested going to a bank and getting money via my credit card. An hour, much paperwork, and 11 worried students later, I emerged from the bank with the mask and the happy vendor.
Soon after we arrived back at the guest house, Edem, Jessy and isabella arrived to see us off and to deliver the things we had left with them in Kpando. It was a treat to see them, to get a "baby fix" from Isabella, and to share our adventures with them. Most of us had to repack everything, given the additional luggage from Kpando and the equipment we were returning to SFSU.
At 6:00 PM, we again piled into a van, with luggage distributed between the van and Edem's car. It took us a full hour to get to the airport; the traffic was, again, horrendous. Outside the door to the terminal, we bade farewell to Edem, Jessy, Isabella and Eric - sad and bittersweet. (No one but travelers is allowed into the terminal.)
We checked in for our flight with the assistance of a KLM staffer. And then, in line to check our baggage, the next glitch occurred. Zisly, traveling on a Mexican passport, was told she could not fly because she did not have her green card, and as a result, would not be allowed back into the U.S.. To all of us, this seemed preposterous! Zisly and the rest of us attempted to work with the airport officials, including one particularly irritating State Department employee, to get them to allow Zisly to board the plane. We also considered all staying with Zisly in Accra. But Alex put in a call to Edem to explain the situation. The rest of us were encouraged to go to the gate to prepare for boarding. By the time we arrived at the gate, Edem had arrived at the airport and found Zisly. They arranged for a flight the following day, and Edem took Zisly to the American Embassy to get the appropriate documentation to allow her to board the plane.
It seemed strange being a group of 11, when we had been, for a month, a group of 12, but we boarded the plane and departed for Amsterdam.
After breakfast and trips to the internet cafe and the cash machine, we headed off to the art market in Accra. This is in central Accra, near the courts and next to the memorial park honoring Kwame Nkrumah. For me, a lover of handicrafts, this was paradise. Because we were down to our last cedis - but needing gifts, we spent carefully and thoughtfully. Vendors in Ghana don't take credit cards. But I wanted a particular mask I'd been seeking, and since I, like everyone else, was low on cedis, the vendor suggested going to a bank and getting money via my credit card. An hour, much paperwork, and 11 worried students later, I emerged from the bank with the mask and the happy vendor.
Soon after we arrived back at the guest house, Edem, Jessy and isabella arrived to see us off and to deliver the things we had left with them in Kpando. It was a treat to see them, to get a "baby fix" from Isabella, and to share our adventures with them. Most of us had to repack everything, given the additional luggage from Kpando and the equipment we were returning to SFSU.
At 6:00 PM, we again piled into a van, with luggage distributed between the van and Edem's car. It took us a full hour to get to the airport; the traffic was, again, horrendous. Outside the door to the terminal, we bade farewell to Edem, Jessy, Isabella and Eric - sad and bittersweet. (No one but travelers is allowed into the terminal.)
We checked in for our flight with the assistance of a KLM staffer. And then, in line to check our baggage, the next glitch occurred. Zisly, traveling on a Mexican passport, was told she could not fly because she did not have her green card, and as a result, would not be allowed back into the U.S.. To all of us, this seemed preposterous! Zisly and the rest of us attempted to work with the airport officials, including one particularly irritating State Department employee, to get them to allow Zisly to board the plane. We also considered all staying with Zisly in Accra. But Alex put in a call to Edem to explain the situation. The rest of us were encouraged to go to the gate to prepare for boarding. By the time we arrived at the gate, Edem had arrived at the airport and found Zisly. They arranged for a flight the following day, and Edem took Zisly to the American Embassy to get the appropriate documentation to allow her to board the plane.
It seemed strange being a group of 11, when we had been, for a month, a group of 12, but we boarded the plane and departed for Amsterdam.
posted by Betsy J. Blosser at
7/01/2012 05:26:00 PM
<< Home