i'm here! flights were long but went smoothly...i passed the time by watching about 4 movies and playing trivia against fellow passengers on the plane's
excellent in-seat entertainment system. flying into accra was really interesting...we landed at dusk and the landscape from the air was so different than in the US. no golf courses, swimming pools, high school tracks or grid-patterned highways could be seen. instead, about 20 shades of green with the occasional brown dirt road pushing through. it wasn't until we were directly over accra that i could see any lights, and even then it was only about 1-2 per city block area. getting through the immigration lines took about an hour but i had no trouble. i was met at the airport by bev, one of the ward coordinators from england, and andres, a guy from south africa who has been with mercy ships for 10 years. we all hopped in the mercy ships land rover and drove out to tema, where the anastasis is docked. once on board i was escorted to my room...pretty small but sufficient. i have two roommates: jessie--nurse from connecticut and rachel--dental hygenist from australia. both are really nice and have been super-helpful so far. in fact, everyone i've met on the ship has been so friendly...so far i've met lots of brits (love the accents) as well as americans, a lady from jamaica, some south africans, a dutch guy and some aussies.
i still don't have many details about ghana, the ship or my job...i fell into bed last night, slept about 10 hours and am now just hanging out until my 1pm ship tour, at which point i'll be given more information. will also try to get some photos in the near future. i'm hoping the tour will be over by 2pm so that i can watch the US-ghana world cup match...there's been a lot of trash talk already as most of the ship's non-american crew are rooting for ghana. i don't have a strong preference either way...obviously i like to see the US win but at the same time i know how important soccer is here in ghana and i think that it would mean more for this country than for us.
off to find the cafeteria for some lunch! love and miss you all!
# posted by Jenn @ 7:15 AM