A Warm Welcome

As I get to the bottom of the stairs and take my first steps onto the tarmac, I’m greeted by a warm and familiar air. The air is hot and thick. It goes beyond the smell sensed in my nostrils and the taste left in mouth. It’s an air that you feel on the pores of your face and the hairs on your arms. At first the air is so thick, you feel like you are walking through an invisible curtain.

“It’s good to be back” I say to myself. Though I’ve never been to Ghana before, all tropical countries I’ve travelled to (Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Zambia, and Ghana) have a similar air to them. It’s that sharp and superficial distinction that immediately tells me that training is over, and this is for real. After five weeks of preparing for this highly anticipated moment, it has finally arrived.

We make our way through customs with no problems at all, and exit the airport terminal into a gauntlet of welcoming guests. All I know is that I am meeting a man named Rafik, who will take us to our lodging for the night. “EWB”, written in black felt on a folded piece of cardboard gives way to a sigh of relief. After working our way through a mob of very helpful airport porters, our bags are carried to the cabs that Rafik has waiting for us. Negotiations and bartering follow to reach an agreement with the porters on a suitable price for their services. Five confused Canadians new to Ghana were surely taken advantage of, only to be expected.

After getting some food with Rafik, we all go to bed early following a moderate commute from Toronto of 20hrs. I lay in bed thinking of what’s happened over the last six weeks. How all that built up excitement over training in Toronto has now been given its chance to realize the reality of what were previously manifestations in my mind. Though I am not anxiously anticipating the 12 hour bus ride that awaits us the next day, from Accra on the coast to Tamale in the interior, I am excited to see more of this new place I will soon come to call home.

(February 25)