The Whirlwind, Part 1

As I sit here reflecting on our vacation, I took a look back over my “bucket list” (as some of you called it, though at the time I wasn’t entirely sure why), and I am gratified to say that, with only a single exception, I fulfilled all of my desires. And then some. What an amazing whirlwind (yes, despite the fact that we were there for amazing 42 days, it was still a whirlwind) trip we had to the states.

The flight out of Accra was uneventful (thank God), and the children and I touched down at Philadelphia Airport right on time and walked out to find our stretch limo (the best part of the trip so far) waiting to take us to my mother’s house. The limo pick-up was a gift from my lovely mom who couldn’t wait to see her favorite (just kidding, sweet sister!) daughter and her ready-to-be-spoiled-even-more-than-they-already-are grandchildren.

Mom and her significant other, Harry, and their little (and hyper!) Boston Terrier, Buddy, waited for us on the porch and rushed (well, as much as a septuagenarian and her octogenarian partner could rush) down to meet us at the curb. The homecoming was the one of my dreams, and I didn’t even try not to cry. You can’t stop the tides, can you? Our first day involved a lot of hugging, eating, talking and laughing. Maybe even a little bit more crying. As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect first day, one that I ended with the hug and kiss I'd wanted to give so badly.

Now, I don't want to give you a blow-by-blow of the events (you do have a life, elsewhere, don’t you?), here are some (Part 1) of the Bucket List highlights of our trip.

Fast food! I am somewhat chagrined to admit that we indulged in fast food more than once (truth be told waaayyyy more than once). Why, we hadn’t even left Dulles Airport and we’d eaten at Wendy’s twice that very first day (breakfast and lunch)! Suffice to say that I clearly understand why I weigh 20 lbs less in Ghana than I do in the U.S. By the end of the trip, we’d visited (in no particular order of favoritism) Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Chick-Fil-A, White Castle and Pizza Hut; some of them more than once (waaayyyy more than once).

Coffee! Oh, did I ever enjoy real coffee, in every way, shape and form (caffeinated, half-caff, with milk, with flavored cream, hot and iced). I now know how to operate nearly every brand coffee maker in the U.S. – a skill I had to learn as the early riser in nearly every home we visited overnight. Besides regularly ingesting fresh brews at mom’s house, Christine’s house, Pattie’s house, Heather’s house, Fran’s house (and Frannie, that is a really cool coffee maker you’ve got there!), I grande-ed at Starbucks, 7-11 and Dunkin Donuts (naturally, I had to buy some donuts while we were there... doest that count as fast food?).

Diet Coke! If I ever see another can of Diet Coke again I will throw up. Just kidding! I have to admit I drank through many, many cases of Diet Coke. But, hey, when you can buy four 12 packs for only $10, how could I resist?

Gasoline! Pumping my own gas is totally over-rated. And so is buying gas in gallons, for that matter. We were fortunate enough to have the use of my brother’s amazing Ford Excursion while in the states, and it was a dream to drive and easily held us and all of our junk. But that car sucks down gas like a diabetic with a high blood sugar drinks water (sorry, my CWD friends, I couldn’t resist). I was constantly stopping to fill or top off the tank, to the tune of nearly $600 worth. Still cheaper than a rental, right?

Pizza! We indulged in pizza more than once (including on the first day), and it was kind of interesting to note that it didn’t really matter where we bought the pizza from – it was always still better than Ghana pizza. Except for Pizza Hut – that was gross – my pizza is better than Pizza Hut.

Mail Delivery! Every day (except Sunday, of course) there was mail delivery. And more often than not there was Debbie, a sweet lady and my mom’s personal mail courier (just kidding, she really does work for USPS), who was bringing boxes and mail for us, either from stuff we ordered or diabetic supplies being donated.

Credit Cards! Better I should have buried them in a block of ice… Target, Walmart, BestBuy, Game Stop, RiteAid, PayLess Shoes, American Girl Store, Nintendo World, etc., etc. Need I say more?

To be continued…