Ghana 1

Hi all!! I have been in Ghana for almost 4 days now. And man is it a trip... I am in Accra, the capital city. It is a very big city and have not made it to the town center quite yet. When we got here the whole group stayed togeter in a hotel for the first 3 nights. It was a modest hotel, but it was clean and they went out of their way to make sure that we felt at home. The food was good, lots of rice, cabbage and this spicy red sauce that I really liked. They were good about putting meat in a separate dish since about half of my group is vegetarian. There was a neighborhood right right there that we went for some walks in. Lets just say that it is pretty clear that you are not in America. All the roads are red dirt. There will be a nice house with a big fence around it next to a metal shack. Almost all the people were cooking out in front of their houses by the street, and trying to sell the food to the people passing by. You will be walking along and then all of a sudden a heard of goats will cross in front of you. On one walk we walked past a lady with a baby on her back. She was so excited invited us into her home. We walked into the gate a it turns out that her husban is a paster and they have a huge church in thier back yard. They were so happy to talk with us and wanted us to come back for a service. I hope that we are able to make it back before we leave Accra. We went to a market that was about a 20 to 30 min ride in a tro-tro, which is pretty much a big van that packes in the people and has moveable seats. They are really really cheap. About 30 cents for a ride anywhere. The market was crazy, caos really. People everywere moving in every direction shoving things at you and trying to get you to buy thier products. They get really offended if you try to take a picuture of the market, and yell at you to pu your camera away. We went with a big group which was just not a good idea.

Last night I moved in with my first home stay family. They are very nice, but it was a little wierd just going into someone home. There is a mom with a little boy and then her mother and 4 neices and another boy live with her. Her husband came in later in the night, but he was not really interested in talking and went to bed. For dinner they cooked me some sort of fish stew with mushrooms and some sort of cabbage thing. It was really slimy and I had a really hard time eating it. I ended up mainly eating the yams that were on the side. They served me by myself, and I had to eat alone. I am not sure if it going to be that way the whole time. Then it was time for my shower. Turns out that they use the water that they collect in a bucket and use another small bucket to pour over themselves. It was my first bucket bath... and it was cold! Then when I had to use the bathroom I found out that there is no water in the toilet, and that you need to collect the water that falls from your shower to put into the toilet. Oh and no toilet paper. Good thing I brought a roll :)

All the people in my group are very nice. Lots of personality around! Keeps things interesting and entertaining. I think that most everyone had a similar shower and toilet experience. We have quickly discovered that it is a huge luxury to have a flushing toilet!

I think that is about it for now. We will be in Accra for another 10 days or so before we move to Kumassi and have village life experience.

Miss and love you all. Sending love and hugs!