Ten days before traveling to Ghana, I am starting to consider all of the planning that has happened over the last year in preparation for the trip:

(1) Making contacts in Ghana (Beatrice and David have been wonderful)

(2) Collaborating with our Dean of Global Education (Doug Price has had great ideas and made the planning much richer)

(3) Securing funding (TCC Faculty Innovation Grant - supported through the TCC Foundation - has made this possible)

(4) Planning for the trip (securing flights and hotels has been tedious, but help from Mae Claybon and Linda Mann have made life easier)

(5) Vaccinations (oh my, the cost and the shots are something to remember ... I think only these last few days I am beginnning to feel those flu-like symptoms they say tend to happen after you take the shots. I had to rest --as in take a a nap - for a about 30 minutes just to function ... OK, honestly, maybe it was more like an hour. Yellow Fever, Hep A Typhoid, and some other one ... I mean really!!! I went to the doctor Monday morning to get Malaria immunizations so we can avoid contracting this disease. I was reading today that mosquitos transmit the disease but many of the diseases were more difficult to contain in some of the confined slave trade dungeons of the castles we are visiting as a result of the decomposing bodies and bodily fluids that were often present when 100s of slaves were confined in small rooms prior to middle passage voyages to the West during Slave Trades. Imagining the horror of those days is beyond my mind. How could anyone force another human to endure such a destiny.)

(6) Now the Visa thing was so tedious to apply. The cost of the application was $100 with a money order, and then you have to send your passport off with the application and include a trackable envelope for the return of the Passport and approved Visa ... well, that costs money. The timing was fairly quick since I paid the extra amount to have it returned within five days. So, now I have my Visa and have stapled the vaccination card into the back of it so I don't misplace it. I have heard of stories of people not allowed into countries when they lose those documents that prove vaccination.)

(7) Now, I'm starting to think of how/what to pack, how to make sure I can carry back whatever we bring, how much I should take (or not take). I spoke with Beatrice this evening. She lives in Ghana. She is going to check with the hotel there to make sure we have what we need. I am so glad she is there to help us and follow up on things. The time different sort of throws off our conversations; I tend to talk with her when it is night there. So finding the right time to chat is a challenge since we are using Skype for most of conversations.

I think I will mention to people that our last day or so there includes a trip to a place to buy trinkets. For those who want me to bring something back for them, I need to make sure they give me a budget. One thing is for sure, a trip has all sorts of costs--many of them unexpected.