Washington D.C. Breaks Up the LONG flight to Ghana

When I boarded the plane from Los Angeles and headed for Washington D.C., it was on time and ready to travel the five hour flight over the United States – well, sort of on time and ready to go.  We boarded on time and it appeared that we were ready to go…but not quite.  Something was wrong with the plane, a mechanical failure of some sort so we hurried up to wait.  Thirty minutes late and we were in the air, the pilot promising to make up the time.

My sister and Gilles, her boyfriend, were at Reagan National to pick me up.  Actually, I walked by myself – they “picked up” the overweight pounds of luggage I brought…books, lots of textbooks.  I not only had books in my luggage, but I had one in my backpack and one in my computer carrier.  I never realized how heavy a 600 page hardbound book is until now.  It seemed like a good idea when I volunteered to bring them.

I landed on Tuesday night and planned to stay until Thursday night when my plane left for the ten hour flight to Ghana.  The problem is the plane left without me.  But we will get to that in the next post.

Wednesday was a packed day.  Janyn and Gilles live on Capitol Hill – walking distance to almost everything.  It’s nice leave the car behind although it is hot and humid and the air conditioning would have been nice.  We set out for the Peace Corps Office on the other side of the White House.  Don’t ask me which other side, I just know that we walked around it so the side we walked around is the other side. 

Anyway, the reason we went to the Peace Corps Office was to meet a good friend of mine – who actually, I’ve never met.  She came across my blog maybe three or four years ago.  She was throwing the idea of Peace Corps around.  She told me she was living in Charleston, SC.  “Great!  I have a friend, Elaine, who served with me, happens to live in Charleston and would love to meet you Amy.”  The two of them met and before you know it Amy was headed for her Peace Corps Volunteer Philippines assignment. She accomplished some amazing things for her village some of which can be viewed on this short YouTube Video  

She has since completed her service, we’ve stayed in e-contact, she got a job at Peace Corps in Washington DC and so – to make a very long story understandable in one sentence:  Janyn and I walked to the Peace Corps Office in Washington DC to meet Amy for lunch.  

Then on to see an African Exhibit at the Smithsonian and the MLK Memorial.  The long-over-due memorial is thoughtfully crafted with many inspirational quotes on the walls, most are still relevant today.

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."

Stay tuned for my next post which I believe explains how I got to where I am now - Accra, Ghana.