Going... Going... Ghana! May 28, 2015

Today my father and I left the house in Sharon at 11am. We drove to New York City so I could leave from the JFK airport, and the drive went by surprisingly quick! We parked in the short term parking lot at John F. Kennedy Internationl Airport. We were planning on having lunch before I went to the gate, but unfortunately there were no restaurants until after security. We checked my bags at 3:45- one of them weighed 50 pounds and the other weighed 52 pounds. The lady was nice enough not to charge us $100 for two pounds! I hugged my dad goodbye and got into the security line. It took about 15 minutes total to get through security, but it would have taken longer if it was a normal security. This is the second time at JFK that I got lucky with this special security. You don't have to remove your shoes, laptop, or phone from your bags! All you have to do is put them completely full through the scanner and walk through the metal detector... It's SO easy and the line moves pretty quickly! Thank goodness it does because my bags feel like they weigh 2000 pounds! They even left marks on my arms and bruises on my shoulders!

After I got through security, I had to walk past 40 gates to get to my gate! I felt like I was going to keel over and die before I made it to the gate! It took me half an hour to walk from security to my gate, and I was walking pretty quickly. I stood to the side, and waited for them to call Zone 2. My mom called me while I was waiting, and told me that Michele and Kaylee had been trying to FaceTime me. When I was on the phone, I heard the gate attendant say that everyone needed a stamp on their boarding pass, which I didn't have yet. I quickly got off of the phone and went to the desk to get a stamp, and while I was waiting they called my zone to start boarding.

I got in line and got on the plane, and I was still struggling to carry my bags. When I got to my seat, a nice gentleman helped me put my 1000 pound bag in the overhead bin. I didn't even think my backpack would fit under the seat because it was so stuffed! Then I realized that there was someone in my seat. I told them that I was in 35G, and the lady in my seat pulled out her ticket, and it turns out she is in 35E, though I'm pretty sure she already knew that! The lady next to her then sat in my seat and I said again, "I'm in 35G" and she let me into my seat. She is from Ghana, but moved to Virginia 8 years ago!

We were then waiting for the grounds crew to fill up our plane with water. The captain came over the speaker and told us that we were ready to leave.

Not even 2 minutes later, he came over the speaker again and told us that U.S. Customs pulled a passenger from the plane, and that his 5 bags had to be found and removed fr the belly of the plane. It has been over 45 minutes and they have only found 3 out of the 5 bags!

The sights and sounds around me are fascinating. I see so many beautiful African people. I am one of less than 10 white people on the flight!

I hear English and another language (I'm guessing Twi) being spoken. I hear the lady to my left singing a song in that language. I can't wait until I'm in Ghana to see and hear even more new things!

It is now 6:26, when we were supposed to leave for Ghana at 5:05. I hope IVHQ is tracking my flight since we will definitely be arriving late. 

They just passed out immigration forms. 

We are finally leaving! I'll write later today!

Goodbye to Miss Kaylee for 11 weeks...

Ummm... I leave three days from today? What is Happening?!

This past weekend I went camping with my fiancé, mother, and her friend for Memorial Day weekend. My sister and my niece, Kaylee, were supposed to come camping too, but unfortunately they weren't able to come. Today I am saying goodbye to my niece for 11 weeks, and I am extremely sad. My niece is my world and it is going to be so hard to be away from her for that long. I'm sure that I will make some new friends at the orphanage that will remind me of Kaylee, and they will be my niece in spirit!

To My Love, Kaylee Lynn:

Nay Nay is leaving to go to Ghana to help some kids that need some love. I am going to miss you so much, but I will be thinking of you everyday while I'm gone. Maybe someday when you're older, you can come back to Ghana with me and meet my new friends! I'm sure they would love you and that you would learn a lot. If you miss me, just give the pillow I gave you a big squeeze and I will feel your love all the way in Africa. I love you so much baby girl, and I will never forget about you. 

Love you so much,

Nay Nay