Yesterday, I took a 6am flight into Atlanta (which sounded like a much better plan when was I was booking the flight than when I was waking up at 3:30am) and was picked up from the airport by Lauren—a close friend and co-founder of MedPLUS. We spent the morning meeting with a nonprofit called MedShare (www.medshare.org), which was a great opportunity to discuss issues of expiration dates, placing a monetary value on supplies, dealing with customs, etc with a leader in the field of supply recovery. Then, on to an amazing lunch at Flying Biscuit (check it out if you are ever in Atlanta!) and back to the airport to wait for my evening flight. Aside from a patch of heavy turbulence, which elicited a few screams from nervous passengers, my flight to Ghana was easy and I managed a grab a few hours of sleep.
Busy Streets in Accra (This is the location of the Ghana episode on the Amazing Race!!)
I arrived in Accra to a shock of thick hot air, the burnt red dust of Ghana’s dry season, and lots of welcomes …“Akwaaba!” After passing through customs and immigration (which consisted of smiling at officials as they waved me though), I employed my most successful strategy for navigating in Ghana…calling someone who knows where things are, handing the phone over to the taxi driver, and sitting back to enjoy the ride. Thirty minutes, and a few stops at an atm and phone store later, I arrived at Habib’s uncle’s house, my home for the next few days. His house is fantastic and is decorated with an interesting mix of eclectic artwork—a glowing fish tank, huge paintings of panthers, a collection of Buddhas, the requisite framed photo of Obama. The breeze from the porch is awesome because….the power is out…shocking ☺