Today I will take a bus to New York where I will spend a short 24 hours. I will then take an overnight Virgin Atlantic flight (boy am I excited for those in-flight entertainment options) to London Heathrow. At this point I will try to stop time in order to make a connection to an Afriqiyah Airlines flight leaving from Gatwick. The Gaddafi-bankrolled Afriqiyah Airlines recently made headlines for a crash that left everyone dead except a young dutch boy. Their propensity for delaying flights may work in my favor while dashing between London airports, but it could also be disastrous during my Tripoli layover.
I am going to get off the plane in a country that is going ballistic. Ghana, fielding the youngest team in the tournament, is in the quarterfinals of the world cup. It is the first time Ghana has made it this far and only the 3rd time for an African country. To make things more dramatic, they are the last African team standing in the first world cup on African soil. I am anticipating guaranteed euphoria and mayhem up until friday night, at which point the excitement will either increase enormously or disappear altogether. I will try as much as possible to report the experience.
I have a one way ticket to Accra and my trip is deliberately open-ended. I have a few projects/ideas that I will reveal in a few weeks, but other than that I am going to make it up as I go. I don’t know how long I will be gone for, nor do I know where exactly I am going (beyond Ghana of course). I could also end up stranded after the first leg.
This departure is bittersweet and I will miss everyone in ways I can’t describe. I would encourage you to meet me anywhere I may be. And when I come back, we will have round two of this:
Much love to all, and see you soon!
– Phil
I tried to call you! I’m def meeting you somewhere during your travels 🙂 please keep me/us posted!!
Super envious of your endeavors. I was in Cape Town when Ghana beat the USA… the city went nuts. The vuvuzelas were blowing all night long. You’re going to have a crazy good time. Please don’t get malaria again. Or infected legs. Although I bet that thing looked sick. I just signed my committment to start a Masters in Nursing at Case, and I had to identify what specialty I’m thinking about. I asked them if they had Nursing in grossology… the doctoring of gross stuff. They were not amused.
Can’t wait to hear more about your trip! Totally going to be living vicariously through you until I save up enough cash to join you. gooooooooooooooo GHANA!!!
Oh PS- Guaranteed you’ll be humming Shakira’s Africa song in your sleep after a few nights in Ghana. The Africans are obsessed with that song. That and Single Ladies. Which just came on my radio! Insane timing.