My flight left that Sunday, Feb 28th 2016 at 8:40 in the morning. I left last minute.
I had a three and a half hour stop in Chicago which meant I was leaving the airport because why not. I had never been to Chicago before. I had low expectations. I talked with an incredibly friendly black dude on the train into town who had worked racing horses. He went on and on about how great America was and lucky we were to live in it. To say the least I liked the guy who left me with a nice impression of Chicago. I spent a little over twenty minutes running around and then got back onto the train.
As I ran around, I was surprised how many tourists there were. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as I was in the middle of town. All of my pictures were taken by tourists from Europe and Asia.
In Africa I would show these pictures to many people as an icebreaker. They would want to know what the place was like where I was from, and as I did not bring any pictures with me, the picture I took of Chicago served the purpose. Africans generally thought Chicago looked very beautiful and that I am from an "advanced country".
It was a cold day and these pigeons had learned to adapt.
I got back to the front desk at the airport with an hour to spare. The lady at the front desk got very angry at me. Said that she had already closed check in and that she did not have to let me through. She started grilling me, asking me where I had been and why I had not checked in before. I guess I had not checked their rules or policies or whatever, but never had I had trouble getting onto a flight an hour before, especially when my bag was already checked in. And the dutch woman (as this was KLM) the dutch airlines, was repulsive in how she treated me. She "managed" to print my ticket (she and the french airlines lady were doing nothing before and after I left) and then I proceeded through security in like 5 minutes. I then waited for almost an hour to leave.
The airplane to Amsterdam was HUGE and maybe half full. There were a bunch of Norwegian high school kids on it. I told them I descended from Norwegians and that I was interested in their country. They could have cared less and ignored me. I ended up having some nice conversation with an American instead.
I got to Amsterdam in the morning and had a six hour interesting layover there. I saw TONS of tourists. But again, I was in the middle of town. Amsterdam is a funny city. EVERYONE was on bikes. Makes sense though as their streets are small and have no parking. The have many canals laid out in an organized manner. In these canals there are little houseboats that people live in and are kinda cute. There is no space between houses and at the front and top of each house is a pulley for hauling furniture to the upper levels of these apartments/houses.
I talked with some Americans on a study abroad "around Europe" and they reminded why I don't usually like Americans. (Rich liberal east coaster white kid vibes if you know what I mean).
I was asked for directions from other tourists.
I talked to a Peruvian guy in an outdoor market in Spanish (after hearing him speak Spanish) I asked him in Spanish where he was from. That pissed him off because he was "from Amsterdam". Sure he is "from there" now....
Soon after I had a conversation with a white Dutch guy about Amsterdam. He went on a rant on how Holland was being taken over by foreigners and how their government is selling them out. That the foreigners would not adapt to Dutch culture and lived of welfare in housing projects in the suburbs. Lol. Maybe that is why the Peruvian guy was so touchy.
I "wandered the street" for a few hours and found myself a bit lost. I had a map and so asked a Dutch lady walking a dog in a park for some help in orienting me. As she pointed at the map, she let go of her leash and her dog freaked out and ran away. She was distraught, saying she had adopted it a couple of days ago from Romania and that it did not know where home was. I felt terrible so I went looking for it for like an hour. Eventually the dog lady found me and said she went home and found the dog there on the doorstep and had spent almost an hour going around on her bike looking for me to tell me she had found it. Very thoughtful of her.
I spent ten euro to go into some old fancy palace or government building which I instantly regretted and I only bought bread in a supermarket as I thought everything was terribly overpriced.
Back at the airport I waited and waited at my gate. It was so odd as there were only a couple of people there, also going to Ghana. I thought maybe not a lot of people were going to Ghana? Twenty minutes before the gate was supposed to close, I told the people from Ghana I did not think the plane was leaving from there. I found the correct gate (which was different from my ticket) and found it PACKED. Apparently the flight had been oversold and no one wanted to be bumped. They ended up giving out 600 euros in a flight voucher AND a trip through (in my case it would be to) Kenya!!!!! I had missed it. SO FREAKIN SAD as I had four months to explore and see Africa and so was not in a hurry. Still mad about this writing this a couple years later.
So for those that know me somewhat well, they will know that I am OBSESSED when it comes to looking at the window. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Generations of men (and women for those who are politically correct) have dreamed what the world looks like from the sky, and those who can afford to fly in a plane get to see it. Amazing!
I was sandwiched between to Ghanian girls. The one at the window wouldn't let me have that seat but would let me look out which was nice enough, and even looked out herself from time to time (something most people DON'T look out the window which has always perplexed me. I figure people are stupid and take everything for granted). The girl who had the aisle seat was repulsive. She was extremely sensitive to anything I did. She went to the bathroom and I must have bumped her bag or something because when she came back she accused me of stealing. She then went through her stuff to make sure it was all there. I mean what the heck. Why would some American guy who can afford to fly to Africa freakin go through some chicks purse on an airplane to steal her stuff from her bag. The window girl told me some people are just that way. She took her bag with her the next time she went to the bathroom. Seriously was an odd experience.
The Sahara was something amazing. It was so vast. It was crazy! Miles and miles of sand with nothing. Some cliffs and mountains here and there. But dry and sandy. I saw a couple roads and even a couple buildings. I remember one house in particular that was clearly inhabited but had no other houses to be seen around it in any direction. I still wonder who lives there and what their life is like. So interesting. Would be crazy interesting to actually visit a place like that if not that place. But life is short and so that will probably never happen.
Getting off the airplane in Accra, Ghana, there was an interesting scuffle while waiting for the bus to pick us up. Two black Ghanians got in a fight right on the tarmac!!! Freakin nuts. It was broken up. The guys who were fighting each other were in very fancy stylish clothing (which I would soon learn is how they do it in Africa). A white Dutchman next to me went on a little rant about how he hated having to put up with this country and couldn't believe I was visiting it for any other reason then to make money from it.
The airport was crap. Lol. Upon walking out of it there were a freakin ton of Ghanian people all yelling stuff at me. It was a bit overwhelming. I had arrived and was ready to start one of my life's greatest adventures.
