33 days! I leave for Ghana in 33 days!
What a whirlwind it has been since I was informed on December 10 that the pre-work phase had begun for my CSC Assignment. I am thrilled to be part of the Ghana 6 team departing Feb 25 for Tema Ghana.
I am one of 11 team members from 8 countries that make up Ghana 6. Of course we dont know each other yet, although some team members have been fortunate enough to have met. I had coffee with Kristina Bryson before Christmas since we are both from the Toronto, Canada area. The team has weekly calls, as part of our pre-assignment preparation, and we are starting to get to know each other through these calls. Everyone is so enthusiastic and looking forward to the CSC experience - I really cant wait to meet everyone in person.
With just over a month to departure, the last 2 weeks have been hectic with logistics - booking flights, getting travel documents, letters of invitations, introductory letters together so I can apply for a Ghana Visa. Kristina and I have decided to stay in Africa for a week after our CSC assignment to visit Egypt. Neither of us has been to Egypt before so we are both very excited - but that is adding significantly to the flurry since that entailed that we book the flights ourselves. (CDC will reimburse us for the cost of a return trip from home to Ghana). So, over the last 2 weeks we have researched and booked airfare (Toronto to Ghana, Ghana to Cairo, Cairo to Toronto), booked hotels in Cairo and Luxor, booked a tour in Egypt, got my travel vaccinations (4 shots), got passport photos taken for my Visa, arranged for a Letter of Invitation from my Manager, and assembled an application for my Ghana Visa which included a completed application along with passport, Letter of Invitation for CDC, and about 6 other artifacts. It is going in the mail to the Ghana High Commission in Ottawa today. Whew.
