Enter the Heroine

I had spent the last half hour jockeying for position with a room full of anxious Beninese and other ex-pats waiting for a glimpse of a loved one or business partner who came in on this particular Air France flight. I'd spent the previous two weeks or so planing and re-planning my mother's first visit to the African continent. My goal was to fit three solid weeks of activities into 9 days and have everything come together perfectly.

Gathered around a nylon belt we all stretched and peered through the customs foyer and into the luggage room, like Sooners sizing up the Oklahoma landscape; I no longer cared about the perfect balance of tourism and real volunteer experience. I just wanted visual confirmation that my Mother, Colleen Banbury, had boarded a plane and now was planted firmly on Beninese soil.

On April 8th at 8:20pm (Cotonou, Benin) my mother stepped into the receiving room at the Cotonou Airport with a huge carry-on bag, a smile to match and a wonderful laugh that I hadn't heard in 21 months.

We waited around for the hotel shuttle to fill and talked about her harrowing trials in Charles de Gaul and the chaos of preparing for a trip such as this. At the hotel restaurant we ordered the last pizza of the evening and talked over draft Castel beer.

It was a good arrival, une bonne arrivée.