Departure Day

Well, it's departure day.  It's a cold blustery day in Toronto and perfect for leaving for a warm tropical climate.  After a (too) brief a night's sleep Joanne and I arrived at the airport and after a few hours of ticketing issues, flight delays and a rough ride into NY we are now settled in for a lengthy layover.  It's all good though.

It's funny the things that you stress about prior to departure...from making sure the car has gas (even though no one will be driving it for a month) to finding jungle worthy PJ's and making sure I have room for all my token gifts (and hair products) with the baggage weight restrictions.  I had to cut back on shoes :-) and thank heavens as I came in only half a pound less than limit.  Now that's efficient!

In getting everything organized for the trip I made a point this week of treating myself to all my favourite snacks before I left.  I'm sure Ben & Jerry's NY Super Fudge Chunk and Vanilla Bean Sugar Free Soy Lattes and Raspberry White Chocolate Scones from Second Cup won't be available in Tema, Ghana....  I ran 3 times this week to make up for it!   I am though just as excited to be trying some new Ghanian foods come Saturday such as Fufu, Kelewele, Farowe and lots of fresh seafood.

I also had a chance this week to talk with some friends and colleagues who have connections in Ghana.  I'm looking forward to meeting my new Ghanaian contacts thanks to Bob and Amesika.  It's amazing just how small the world really is and how we are all interconnected in some way.  It's so true what they say about the "six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon".

On the home front, the girls shed only a few tears so that's goodness.  They're just excited that I stocked up on treats while I'm gone....hopefully the treats last through the first week!  Doug, Chris, Kim, Rose and Mom are all lined up to manage things while I'm away.  They say it takes a village to raise a family and they're right.  I'm so grateful for my village!

Our Corporate Service Corps (CSC)  coordinators Keith and Tasha as well as the CDC coordinators Barbara, Huld and John have been a wealth of information and have prepared us all very well for what's ahead.  I want to thank them for their tremendous support!  For those of you who hadn't heard already, we recently learned that our Ghana VI team has been selected to represent IBM's 100th CSC team to deploy which also marks IBM's 100th Anniversary year.  Our team is very excited for this honor and are certainly up for the challenges and adventures that await us on this assignment.

Well, time to go.  I'll be sure to blog again on my first impressions of Ghana.  For all of those in Toronto suffering through what is hopefully the last storm of the winter, drive safe and I'll talk to you on the other side of the Atlantic!