Waiting

It has been a month since my last post, when I said my goodbyes to Singapore. The long flight back to the UK and the preparations for Christmas and New Year seemed to fly by in a flurry of tinsel and baubles. Before we knew it January 4th had arrived, time for most people to return to normality. For us that meant Peter flying to Accra, in Ghana, to take up the next phase of his work project. As for me, well, I was left behind in London. This is not our normality. 

We are learning things don’t happen quickly in Ghana, they meander along at a pace that suits them. There is an element of this which is frustrating of course, but I have come to accept that frustration gets me nowhere useful.

People who know me know that I am very much into doing. We are moving to Accra so let’s go and get on with it, together. Alas this is not under our control, although there are worse places to be waiting than in London. So for now we wait. We wait for visa’s, ID, our shipment, housing, tax registration, the list goes on and on. Of course these things were all initiated some time ago, in October and November, but perhaps not soon enough for Accra’s laid back approach. It took them twelve weeks to decide we couldn't have the house we chose in October, setting us back to square one on that front with no particular explanation as to why they couldn't have worked that out sooner.

For me I can see 4 to 5 months (at least) disappearing just trying to manage this process and waiting for 'stuff' to happen. I try to make the most of being in the UK, seeing family and friends for example and planning a nice weekend away. Doing some free MOOCs online, anything to make me feel like I am achieving something. For me this maintains my sanity during the upheaval. Of course things are no easier for Peter, his work load is crazy as the vessel relocates to Ghana and he has no choice but to live, temporarily, in a hotel whilst also trying to squeeze in house hunting. As I try to remain patient and do what I can to coax the process along I am starting to feel that moving from Singapore to Accra may have to be my achievement for these ‘lost’ months. This is by no means a complaint, I accept that this is all part of the adventure we are on and this is only the beginning of getting used to African ways. I am far better at remaining patient, calm and pragmatic about these things than I used to be, this is one of the many positive influences our travels have had on my life.