(NOTE: View a larger picture by clicking on the photo(s) above.)
Ok friends, family, neighbors and all other blog-readers, sit back, get comfortable, get a finger on the down-arrow key or the mouse wheel-roller and get ready to scroll. It’s story time!! I suppose you already have a clue by the map above. This is another “distant place” story. The last such story I shared with you was set in South America. Now, we go to another continent, Africa. And, another decade, this time 1980.
This was the period in our life when I was working for the giant publisher Simon and Schuster. Actually, first it was Esquire Inc. (yes, the one with the magazine), then it became Gulf Western and then S & S. Now, it all belongs to CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), I think that is right, at least that is from whom I now receive my pension. At any rate, I was the International guy who directed five educational publishing companies handling kindergarten through college materials. Thus, I traveled the world. What I am about to relate was my first trip to Africa. My schedule called for me to be in Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa before going to Brazil, South America, then back home. All in all, a seven week trip.
It started this way. My plane first landed in Senegal, a former French Colony, on the northwestern coast of Africa. I had no business there, it was just the first stop in my trek. This was a place to change airlines, from a U.S. service to a smaller Ivory Coast (now known as Côte d'Ivoire) Airline. The passenger list included a mixed-bag of people with packages of all sorts to “stuff” around the plane. I was fortunate to have a window seat. There were no reserved seats. First come, first served. “Push and shove” seemed to be the motto to find a seat.
We took off from the Capital City of Dakar in gathering dark clouds that appeared to be a growing storm ahead. I noticed the gentleman sitting directly in front of me was wearing what I identified as typical Nigerian tribal dress, a colorful outer robe of varied design and a type of “pill-box” hat of the same design. The plane was to make a brief stop-over to disembark passengers in Conakry, Guinea. I’m sure you can find these places on the map. As we descended, the sky looked even darker and I thought it was going to begin raining at any moment.
When we landed it was announced that we could remain on the plane or get off for a brief fifteen minutes. I decided to stay in my seat. The gentleman in front of me (the one I thought to be Nigerian) decided to get off. I assumed he was just going to stretch his legs. Since I was on the side of the plane facing the terminal I watched the people descend to the tarmac below.
I noticed the Nigerian go off a ways from the other people, look around in the sky, take off his shoes and kneel on the tarmac putting his forehead on the asphalt, the normal position of a Muslim in prayer. After being in prayer for a couple minutes, the sun suddenly broke through the dark clouds. The gentleman looked up to the sky, got up, turned in the opposite direction, kneeled down again and proceeded with his pray. Funny, I thought, he was facing in the wrong direction for his prayers, which must be toward the east.
As the people were filing back on the plane, I noticed the Nigerian looking puzzled. He looked from seat to seat. He passed his own seat, and me, and continued on toward the back of the plane. Shortly, he returned and began opening various overhead compartments. He seemed to obviously be searching for his seat. I caught his attention and motioned to the seat directly in front of me. He returned to his row with a smile. He tapped his index finger on his temple and said to me, “Sometimes I forget.” The thought occurred to me, “No telling what can happen when your prayers go off in the wrong direction.” I just hoped he could find his house when he got home.
In due time I arrived at my first business stop in Monrovia, Liberia. As you may remember, if you paid attention in history class, Liberia was a settlement of freed slaves from the US which began in 1822. I won’t bore you with the details of my business in Liberia, but I noticed a nervous, unsettling atmosphere in the capital city. I left after a few days business on my way to Ghana. Just three days after I left the country, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in what was to be a decade of authoritarian rule. The airports shut down, the roads were blockaded and no one could leave or enter the country for weeks. I missed it by just that much.
Ghana was no picnic either. I’ll tell you about that next time. My difficulties on this trip were just beginning.
This was the period in our life when I was working for the giant publisher Simon and Schuster. Actually, first it was Esquire Inc. (yes, the one with the magazine), then it became Gulf Western and then S & S. Now, it all belongs to CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System), I think that is right, at least that is from whom I now receive my pension. At any rate, I was the International guy who directed five educational publishing companies handling kindergarten through college materials. Thus, I traveled the world. What I am about to relate was my first trip to Africa. My schedule called for me to be in Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa before going to Brazil, South America, then back home. All in all, a seven week trip.
It started this way. My plane first landed in Senegal, a former French Colony, on the northwestern coast of Africa. I had no business there, it was just the first stop in my trek. This was a place to change airlines, from a U.S. service to a smaller Ivory Coast (now known as Côte d'Ivoire) Airline. The passenger list included a mixed-bag of people with packages of all sorts to “stuff” around the plane. I was fortunate to have a window seat. There were no reserved seats. First come, first served. “Push and shove” seemed to be the motto to find a seat.
We took off from the Capital City of Dakar in gathering dark clouds that appeared to be a growing storm ahead. I noticed the gentleman sitting directly in front of me was wearing what I identified as typical Nigerian tribal dress, a colorful outer robe of varied design and a type of “pill-box” hat of the same design. The plane was to make a brief stop-over to disembark passengers in Conakry, Guinea. I’m sure you can find these places on the map. As we descended, the sky looked even darker and I thought it was going to begin raining at any moment.
When we landed it was announced that we could remain on the plane or get off for a brief fifteen minutes. I decided to stay in my seat. The gentleman in front of me (the one I thought to be Nigerian) decided to get off. I assumed he was just going to stretch his legs. Since I was on the side of the plane facing the terminal I watched the people descend to the tarmac below.
I noticed the Nigerian go off a ways from the other people, look around in the sky, take off his shoes and kneel on the tarmac putting his forehead on the asphalt, the normal position of a Muslim in prayer. After being in prayer for a couple minutes, the sun suddenly broke through the dark clouds. The gentleman looked up to the sky, got up, turned in the opposite direction, kneeled down again and proceeded with his pray. Funny, I thought, he was facing in the wrong direction for his prayers, which must be toward the east.
As the people were filing back on the plane, I noticed the Nigerian looking puzzled. He looked from seat to seat. He passed his own seat, and me, and continued on toward the back of the plane. Shortly, he returned and began opening various overhead compartments. He seemed to obviously be searching for his seat. I caught his attention and motioned to the seat directly in front of me. He returned to his row with a smile. He tapped his index finger on his temple and said to me, “Sometimes I forget.” The thought occurred to me, “No telling what can happen when your prayers go off in the wrong direction.” I just hoped he could find his house when he got home.
In due time I arrived at my first business stop in Monrovia, Liberia. As you may remember, if you paid attention in history class, Liberia was a settlement of freed slaves from the US which began in 1822. I won’t bore you with the details of my business in Liberia, but I noticed a nervous, unsettling atmosphere in the capital city. I left after a few days business on my way to Ghana. Just three days after I left the country, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in what was to be a decade of authoritarian rule. The airports shut down, the roads were blockaded and no one could leave or enter the country for weeks. I missed it by just that much.
Ghana was no picnic either. I’ll tell you about that next time. My difficulties on this trip were just beginning.
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