Jake's Itinerary

I thought it would be fun to post a little bit about Jake's itinerary for the trip. Grandma, I know you like to keep track of flights, so here you go:

Wednesday, February 11
-Plane departs from Des Moines Airport @2:40pm (United Airlines Flight UA 7051)
-Plane arrives at Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport @ 4pm
-Next, Jake catches a flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany (United Airlines Flight UA 0940). This flight leaves at 6:40pm from Chicago and arrives in Frankfurt at 10:15am on Thursday, February 12

Thursday, February 12
-Plane departs from Frankfurt Int'l Airport @ 11:25am (United Airlines Flight UA 9002)
-Plane arrives at Accra Kotoka Airport @ 6:35pm. YAY!

So, basically Jake travels from Des Moines, to Chicago, to Frankfurt, to Accra (capital of Ghana). I think I noted on some earlier posts that a family friend, Chris Gardner will be traveling with Jake. Chris builds homes for a living (owner of Bella Homes - his website just got finished - check it out on the link on my sidebar) and has long had a passion for using his talents for missionary work. When he found out about Jake's connection with Right to Dream he told Jake that he would give his services to help build the gym. Jake called Chris yesterday and asked him what Chris got him for Valentines Day. Chris told Jake 14 hours of movies for the flight. Jake also asked me to download a bunch of songs for him to my IPOD so that he can keep his mind occupied off of flying (he is a very anxious flyer) during the trip. His playlist 'Jake Ghana Trip' is all ready to go, so between he and Chris, they should have the media outlet covered for the long flights.

Okay, back to the schedule of events. When they arrive in Accra, Pastor Sam (the adoption coordinator that works with our agency) will be picking them up from the airport. Immediately from the airport they will take a 2 hour drive to Ho, a village in Ghana where Jake will get to meet Solomon and his family, and also get a tour of his home village. Jake asked Chris if he wanted to go with for this, or make arrangements for Right to Dream to pick him up from the airport, and Chris said he wanted to go with. He said, "Janel told me I had to take pictures of when you meet Solomon." THATTA BOY! For the meeting with Solomon and his family Jake will be taking a photo book that we put together for Solomon...in adoption lingo it is called a Welcome Book. Basically it is just a little book that we put together on Shutterfly with pictures of us, our extended family, home, pets, car, house, places we go, etc. These types of books are recommended for international adoption so that the adoptee won't be shocked by what he sees when he gets here. Hopefully it will give Solomon an idea of what to expect, and things will look more familiar to him once he is here. Jake will also be taking a letter that I wrote to Solomon's mother, and probably some sort of stuffed animal or something for the little guy. Jake said, "I don't want to be Santa Claus", but we want to bring him something.

The first night (Thurs the 12th) they will stay at Freedom Hotel (you have to check it out! Click here: http://www.freedomhotel-gh.com/facilities.html) This is also where we will be staying for the second trip that we all take to Ghana. The next day, Friday the 13th, Pastor Sam will help Jake start processing all the adoption paperwork. This is when he will submit our dossier, which are all the documents that I have been gathering the past couple of months (birth certs, marriage certs, bank statements, medical clearances, home study docs, letter to social welfare, etc.). We are still waiting on the biggest piece of the dossier, our approval from U.S. Immigration Services which should be arriving any time by mail. We can always process that piece on our second trip. Jake will also get to meet the Director of Social Welfare Services in Ghana during this part. After the official paperwork is completed, Pastor Sam will take Jake and Chris back to Accra where Right to Dream will be picking them up for the next phase of the trip.

As of this morning, Jake didn't have his itinerary emailed to him yet for the Right to Dream part of the trip, but here are some things they will be doing: touring RTD's current soccer academy, meeting with RTD students, sitting through a day of their school, and putting together a construction proposal for the basketball facility. Jake and Chris will be staying in a different hotel than the one I noted above for this phase of the trip.

I will post their return flight information when it gets closer, but they will begin their trek back on Tuesday the 17th. It is a 6 hour difference between Iowa time and Ghana time (they are 6 hours ahead). With the advice of many, Jake just left for U.S. Cellular to check out options for either getting an international phone or calling card. We'll see what he comes up with. Tonight we have one last Sullivan Family hoo-rah before the big trip. We are headed to Build-a-Bear at Jordan Creek to make JJ a bear with Jake's recorded voice in it, and then it is off to our family favorite....Olive Garden! I'll post some prayer requests regarding the trip tomorrow!