I'M BACK BABY!

Bri is once again abroad! I am relaunching this blog due to new travels. I will be in Ghana for a month on a study abroad seminar. I am currently a graduate student in Boston but have chosen to explore Ghana with a program based out of Seattle. The anticipation has lasted about seven months as I applied, contacted coordinators, arranged transfer credit, looked over study material for the course,and finally gotten visas and vaccines. So really my journey began long before I got on a plane, however, that is when the excitement started.

Saying goodbye was hard. My partner and I haven't been apart longer than maybe a week and I knew I would miss him a lot. He even took the days off prior to my depature so he could help me prepare. Then we took the long train ride to the airport where we ate dinner and said a sweet goodbye. Jarien commemorated our goodbyes with some selfies at the train station.

I connected with two other students when I transferred flights at JFK. As the boarding line formed I overheard a pair discussing academic libraries and research and asked if they had come from Seattle. I am grateful for the eavesdrop because I would not have recognized anyone else in the program, having only met them via skype. Prior to the trip there had been three orientation sessions with the other students and accompanying faculty, but skyping with ten people was not conducive to proper introductions. I was glad to have the support of fellow students before landing in Accra, Ghana.

The ten plus hour flight across the Atlantic went smoothly. An overnight flight with the usual salty food and plenty of entertainment. I had intended to get more readings done but I chatted a little with my seatmate, watched a movie, then slept for most of the journey. Even customs was easier than I expected, especially considering the current health concerns. My flight from the U.S. was not likely to have anyone infected with ebola on it but I would have expected more precautions.

I found the fellow students I had met at JFK, Twanna and Angie, and we grabbed our luggage and found our way to the exit. Our professor, Araba, came and greeted us. She was surprised and relieved to see me with the others because she would not have recognized me. As we stepped out into the city of Accra the air was heavy with humidity and smelled of smoke, but it was warm and breezy and we found a taxi to take us to our temporary home at Yiri Lodge on the University of Ghana campus.