Goodbye, Ghana! Part II

I wanted to wrap up the last day in Ghana after I last wrote, because it was really sweet. I had the most amazing goodbye! Big Mama and Gloria (her adult daughter, also lives in the house) each got me necklaces as goodbye presents. I got many, many hugs. I totally cried -- knowing me, how could I not? And all the volunteers came outside when we drove away and sang that cheesy nanana heyheyhey goodbye song...it was priceless. Big Mama and Gloria drove me to the airport, which generally isn't supposed to happen, so it was really sweet for them to offer.

I was waiting/reading in the airport and this Egyptian guy in a business suit came and asked if he could sit at my table. His name was Hashim (I think) and he had just come to Accra to sign a transfer agreement for 45 million U.S. dollars that his late father's business had accrued somehow (hopefully not shady). He felt compelled to show me all the paperwork, which was pretty funny. He got a Coke and two glasses for us to share and we chatted. He was a odd guy...he'd hated Accra because he's terrified of mosquitos (er, well, the diseases they carry, to be more specific) and barely left his hotel room. Quite the opposite experience from mine...especially the $45 million part. I got some Egypt recommendations, too, so that was helpful.

When we were waiting at our gate, everyone heard singing and other commotion outside, and went to the window to look. Apparently the plane that just came in from Cairo (also the one we were taking to Cairo) had carried Madam Fathia, the recently deceased wife of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah. She was Egyptian. Her death was very big news in Ghana while I was there. Anyway, there were a lot of people crowding around the government hearse, singing and praying. It was pretty amazing to see. Someone also said that the current president was down there, too, but I couldn't see.

The flight was fairly empty so I had a whole row to myself! I stretched out on 3 seats and dozed for most of the 6 hour flight. I think those 3 airplane seats were more comfortable than my bed in Ghana!