ARRIVED IN LONDON

I am here safe in London.

My last day in Ghana went smoothly. I had quite a few things to do, and, thankfully, I got them all done. One little funny point was getting on a tro tro that was supposed to be going to circle, and finding that the driver decided to go through Tema (to get more passengers) and East Legon (to avoid the traffic that wasn’t actually on Spintex Road) which got us stuck in a traffic jam. Usually, I would have gotten frustrated sitting in traffic for an extra hour, when I had a half-dozen places to go in a couple of hours. Instead, I was relaxed. At one point, I told the collector that I had just wanted to go to circle, and that I didn’t know they were doing tours of Accra. He began to crack up laughing, and so did a few others. That really blessed my heart.

As for the rest of the day, a lot of unexpected twists occurred – from the lady who had the t-shirts I was to pick up not bringing them, and taking me back to the place I had come from (oh, and her shoe broke while we were rushing back from where the t-shirts were) to going to Auntie Elizebeth (Cathy’s Aunt) and finding a huge lunch of fufu on the table and a stack of fully woven kente garments to bring back to her sister in my bags.

In the evening, Bella came by and helped with the last touches on my packing. I was able to see a friend from church around the corner, and sit drinking a malt and talk, before heading back to the house. Together we same a few hymns and prayed, then packed into the car and headed to the airport.

In the car, I was very surprised to get a call from Kary who was waiting to see me off at the airport. She helped me to rearrange some of my luggage, which was just under the maximum weight by about three pounds.

Once I checked in and we said our ‘go and comes’, I got one last opportunity to experience the green shirts of Ghana Immigration. The line of passengers boarding four different flights stretched around the entire upper floor of the airport. I was part a group of the final ten people to board the plane.

It was about 11:30PM when we began to lift-off.

Being on the plane and flying away was not a dramatic moment. The plane headed out over the southern coast, and then turned around heading back over the lights of Accra.

It was not until we were over Spain that I could see any sights. To the east was the silhouette of some mountains, made black by the rainbow that the soon to rise sun had cut into the horizon.

With very little sleep (I stayed up watching Babel), I arrived in London and passed quite smoothly through the passport check.

I was grateful for Mawulom (who is the sister of Elikem and who I had met once at their mother’s 60th birthday party back near Christmas time) came at 6:30AM to meet me at the airport and escort me on the train to where I was to meet my Great Uncle John. Without much of a hitch, we met him.

The cool tempetature inspired a shiver in my body, and my ears were cold for the first time in about a year. I sat in the ‘driver’s seat’ (the left side) of his car, as a passenger, and we proceeded on the left side of the road to his home on Craddock Road.

The area is neat and tightly planned. The houses are small and close together, and all look like they are from another era. Many of the trees were blossoming, but I was unsure of how flowers fare in the cool breeze.

Uncle John’s home struck me with a musty scent, but that soon passed. The room I am staying in is bright, with a huge window facing the east. There are books on shelves around the house, which seem to cover a good portion of the English literary cannon.

Uncle John is a short white haired man, whose wife passed six years ago. He is the brother-in-law of my Grandmother on my father’s side. As his hobby’s, he is a gardener, photographer, cyclist, and an editor. He also has done quite a bit of research on family history through visits to various record keeping offices. When I suggested that I would like to see a family tree(not thinking it was a possibility), he pulled one out that dates back to 1807.

After settling in and taking a nap, I was headed out to meet Mawulom and to go to a program at her church. Having mixed up the directions and waited at the wrong station (plus I don’t have a cell phone here) I caused a two hour delay to our meeting, and I put her through quite a bit of worry. When I finally went back home and called her, realizing that I had been at the wrong station, we decided that we would meet eachother.

To my surprise, we arrived at a service to celebrate Ghana’s independence. That was surreal. The day that I leave Ghana, and come into the drastically different city of London, I find myself back with a piece of Ghana. The music, the languages, the clothing, and the people reminded me of so much. The many smiles that were brought to my face…

After the service, we went to McDonald’s and then I took a few trains back home and made it without a hitch back to Uncle John’s place.

That is what I did.

How I feel. On the plane I did not feel sad. On the train, talking with Mawulom, I did not feel sad. However, when I was in the car with Uncle John, and everything around me seemed to be a bit too cool and still, sadness touched me.

I thought of Mawulom’s words about Ghana as home and her saying that there is no place like it. Later on, in the evening, when the church was lit up with praise in Twi, music and the colours of kente and the flag from corner to corner, she repeated that sentiment.

A day later, aside from my cold toes, I am settling into London. The pace of life (highlighted in the line at McDonald’s were I struggled to match the firing pace of the cashiers questions), the conduct of the people (yelling in public places, bumping into you and not saying a word about it to you, and the PDA’s – highlighted by a man in a line-up with his hand feeling up his girfriends backside) have all been something to adjust to.

It is exciting, being here and seeing this city. Mawulom has extended herself so much to me, Uncle John is a great host (and such a quirky guy), and the city of London has been a feast for my perceptions and reflections.

I miss Ghana though. The desire to return has already begun to rise in me. Ahead of me now though, is the wonderful chance to be in Toronto – a city I love.