Yesterday morning I dropped Henry off for x-rays on his leg. The house was quiet while he was gone, no barking and no nails clip clopping on the floor. Nala and I slept while he was gone. I was able to pick him up at 2:15. The vets told me they could find only some swelling in the soft tissue. She said he didn’t even limp while he was there. He was also tested for Lyme disease, but we won’t know until next week. Right now he seems to be comfortable and is sleeping on the couch. He is taking pain pills and is getting a spray for his infection.

When I was a kid, we did mostly day trips for vacation. Going away was rare as it was expensive, but we did have one memorable vacation, to Niagara Falls. We got to stay in motels for the first time. We ate in restaurants or at McDonald’s. While at the falls, we had some excursions. We dressed in those ugly yellow slickers and walked under the falls. That walk was a historical thing, a family thing, as my father had taken the same walk with his parents and his two sisters. They even dressed in the same sort of slicker. I remember laughing at getting sprayed by the water. It was exhilarating. My favorite memory is about my father and Madame Toussauds’ Wax Museum. He went up to the wax teller and told her 4 adults and two children. He was ignored so he told her a second time, much louder the second time. Two old ladies were sitting on a bench watching and laughing. When he realized the teller was wax, my father was totally embarrassed. I loved it. There was a chamber of horrors at that museum. It was wonderfully bloody and macabre. It was my favorite part, after my father of course.

We went home through New York staying one night on the shore of Lake Ontario. I walked to the lake shore and remember watching a tiny wave hit the shoreline. It just seemed so small, used as I was to the ocean, but I hadn’t expect to see even a small wave on the shore of a lake. My father decided to drive home through the night. My mother was not happy. The four of us slept the whole way home. I suspect my mother might have napped as well. We arrived home in the wee hours, my father exhausted and my mother grumpy.

The heat is on. It has returned today and will hang around a few days. The humidity is at 76%. This afternoon we will have a rain storm which will morph into a heavy thunderstorm, but, for now, we have sun.

Henry has been limping for a few days. I knew he had to go to the vets, but I just didn’t have the money. I arranged to get some and off we went. Henry got checked, and it was decided he needs an x-ray. That will be tomorrow. Meanwhile, he is in pain so they gave him an ejection and he’ll start taking pain pills today. Also, he has a yeast infection. I won’t even describe his reaction to the spray on his groin. It wasn’t pretty. I am still aghast at the cost so far, and they have yet to diagnosis him.

This is the final installment of staging, the first step in Peace Corps training. My friends and I ditched a few sessions and did the tourist bit in Philadelphia. We went to the Museum of Art and pre-dated Rocky on the steps. We immersed ourselves in history, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. We went to the top of the William Penn Building. On one of the last nights, the psychologist I mentioned invited a few of us to dinner. It was a loud, fun evening and a last hurrah of sorts. The night before I left I called my parents to say good-bye. My mother cried. It broke my heart. I told her I would write almost immediately as I had no way to let her know I had arrived safely. I spoke to my father. We took a long time to say good-bye.

The next morning we left. Think about 120+ people with 80 pounds of luggage each and loading buses. It took a while. I remember the excitement. It was palpable. We boarded a TWA charter. The plane was full. I don’t know why, but I remember I sat towards the back. We flew over the cape. I remember the arm jutting into the sea and the water sparkling. Later, we had some food and many drinks. I think the drink cart was in perpetual motion. The film they showed was The Love Bug. That insignificant detail has stayed in my memory drawers all these years. We stopped in Madrid for refueling and a new crew. When we got back on-board, my seat belt was jammed, another strange memory which still hangs round 57 years later. After we flew out, the drinks began again before dinner two or three. We flew over the Sahara. I still remember the view.

We were exhausted when we arrived in Accra, but the excitement was greater. I remember walking out the plane door into the brightest sun. It was hot. The air smelled lush, of greenery. In the airport, we were greeted by Peace Corps and a Ghanaian official. We listened to the welcomes and had a libation of hot Fanta, the orange one. We then loaded the luggage and took off in buses. I snapped a few pictures of kiosks along the roadway and women in colorful cloth. I then promptly fell asleep and missed the long ride to Winneba, our first training site. What I remember most about arriving is the awe. I was in Africa.

I have a concert today.