A Homecoming of Sorts pt.1

I left the USA for Ghana on the 4th of August 2009, roughly two years after I had first left for Princeton University, New Jersey and the first time I was going home since then. It felt, for lack of a more suitable word, weird. I think Ghana was beginning to cease to exist for me - it was becoming a land of distant memories, of a past that I could no longer dream of. I'd told myself and you (earlier) that I thought it was time to go home when I felt a distance growing between my family and I, when we talked over the phone. So the time had come and I was going. But yes, it still felt weird and surreal.Fingers crossed.
My last day in Princeton was eventful, to say the least.For some reason I can't quite make out, I'd left the most urgent things I had to do until then. I had to pick up malaria medicine, suspend phone accounts, say goodbye to quite a few people and run errands at the bank including informing the bank that I would be in Ghana (Just try using your bank card abroad without doing this - your card gets blocked! Good luck if you're trying to book a hotel!) Very predictably, I missed the last train out of Princeton that would get me to JFK on time so I had to take a taxi. Never mind that it cost $200 - it was the most hassle-free trip I've had to an airport ever. And it was probably a good idea because in retrospect, I cannot fathom how I would have made it to JFK with my clearly overweight bags, if I had to drag them even for a few metres when changing trains etc. Check-in was even smoother- I got to use the self-service machines for the first time (usually I can't because I'm not American or because I'm foreign, alien, untouchable, you-name-it) and the whole process took less than 5 minutes, instead of the usual half-hour or hour it usually takes for me. To make matters even better, my bags were not weighed at all - it appears KLM doesn't do it. Awesomeness! - because my bags were clearly at least 10 pounds over the limit.
In no time, I was onboard. Destination: Amsterdam. Exciting - my first time in Europe. Well, I would be in Schiphol Airport for at least 3 hours. I think that counts. The service onboard was amazing. Meals were frequent and great, seats were comfortable, stewardesses were pretty beyond imagination (or, perhaps anything looks good after you've flown American Airlines once or twice) and even the economy class had personal in-flight entertainment comprising about 100 hours of movies and a host of TV shows etc. (KLM, how I love thee!) My time onboard was mostly spent reading, though. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushie. Apologies to all who feel betrayed by this choice of novel - I just wanted to find out what all the hype was about. If you don't mind the content, Rushdie's possibly one of the most gifted storytellers I've read -- only Dickens and Garcia Marquez come to mind for comparison. Anyway, so my time onboard was spent thus: reading, eating, sleeping, repeat, repeat. Good times!