Alright, so after all the dreams coming true and all that, I landed again with a big big bang in Kotoka International Airport, Accra this morning. People gave the pilot a big hand of applause, praised the Lord for the safe flight and mumbled some prayers before switching on their phones and starting to fight to get off the plane. I caught myself saying “oh my God thank God” as well, as landing with big bangs is not my favorite.
Darling roommate Carole came to pick me up and took me out for coffee which was a much better welcome than hassling with a taxi driver. And now I’m back, just unpacked my extra suitcase stuffed with new clothes, camembert and parmesan cheese. Like me, from all over the world my fellow UNICEF JPO’s (Junior Professional Officers) had brought long lists of what food they wanted to bring back to Georgetown, Sudan, Timor etc. Some seem to live under pretty rough conditions, but others are based on the Fiji islands, which can not be too much of a hardship post. It was great to hear all of their stories and learn that even in Fiji people get frustrated with their job sometimes.
I developed some renewed appreciation for my own duty station, hearing about their safety restrictions, evacuations for medical reasons, regular car jacking and use of panic buttons in their houses (although I have one as well, which has only been used once when Taco thought he was switching on the light. In a few minutes half the Ghanaian army showed up at our door. We were quite impressed).
So, I’m back. Will pour myself a glass of red wine tonight and eat some cheese.
On another note; I have had a few complains about not writing this blog in Dutch anymore. Sorry about that guys, but according to statistics around 30 % of my readers now is from all over the world. I wonder who these people are and why they are interested in my futilities, but I like the idea :-)
