Going to greet the chief

1-20-11
Arrival Day:
After a long 10 hr. flight from D.C. to Accra, with only about 2 hours of sleep even after taking  a valium, we landed in Accra! I knew we were in Africa when I felt the airplane window and it had changed from frigid to burning up.  The moment we got off the plane it was a rush of heat and humidity...let the sweating begin.  Customs was simple enough as we just had to show them our passport and then came the waiting for our bags and thank the Lord I wasn't "that:" person whose luggage was lost. 

We then made our way to the International Student Hostels (ISH) where we will be living for the next four months.  The rooms were bigger than I expected but I am already learning that "clean" here is not going to mean the same thing as in the states.  Right now we are in the season where the Harmatan winds are coming down from the Sahara so EVERYTHING is covered in the red dust, but at least it is cooler!
We walked down from ISH to Tasty Treats where got some delicious Ghanian food for dinner and passed our new monkey friend chillen in the tree on the way.  There are about 30 of us ISEP students and next week we will get our Ghanian roommates :-)

Some lessons I have already learned...
1) Be careful when walking on the roads, cars will not stop for you, you must move for them.  This is def. not like any American college campus where students have the right of way.
2) Don't drink/brush your teeth with the tap water or swallow it when talking a shower...at least for now.
3) Toilet paper is your friend, bring it everywhere because most places will not have any.

1-21-10:
Day 2:
Got up for another awesome breakfast at Tasty Treats of a sweet roll with jam, oatmeal, omelt, coffee, and delicious pineapple juice.  Then we headed over to the ISEP building on campus and got a talk from the doctor and one of the linguistics professors on campus about Ghanian etiquite and culture. Lets just say that we were all sufficiently freaked out by the doctor and I will definietely be taking my malaria pills religously.
The professor taught us to make sure not to use our left hand for greeting or really anything because that is disrespectful and I now know how to request to go to the bathroom: "Merekokyea": I am going to greet the chief.  Yeah way cooler than saying I gotta pee.

We also got a tour of campus...yeah its huge and I am pretty sure I'm going to get really lost for awhlie.  There is a soccer field/track right in the center of campus that we can use at any time that I'm pretty pumped about. 

1-22-11:
Tour of Accra:
Today we loaded up onto the ISEP bus and headed for a tour around Accra.  We started at the Accra mall which was pretty crazy and really nice, and the moment you walk in its like your right back in the US.  We got to exchange our money for my first Ghanian cedi's!  The tour took us to a beautiful art gallery that was overlooking the ocean, to W.E.B DuBois house/museum, to the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum (Ghana's first president), and then to Osu which is a section of Accra.  We had a delicious Chinese lunch at a fairly traditional restaurant and then we were set free to check out the streets of Osu.  This was definitely a sensory overload as we were bombarded with street vendors where I have already been proposed to I think...and ripped off as we basically have a sign on us saying "American fresh meat!"
My favorite part was the stop by the beach and all the "soccer fields" or dirt areas with kids playing soccer. I wanted to jump out of the bus and start playing!

So far I have sufficiently embaressed myself on numerous occasions trying to speak Twi (the most popular Ghanian dialect), but at least I'm trying!  I'm really excited to go to church tomorrow with one of our Ghanian ISEP leaders and then to the beach!

Even though it has already been a long and overwhelming few days I am loving every minute :-)

Tomorrow!

So I have finally created my blog as promised...
I just want to begin by saying that I apologize in advance if it takes me a long time to update blogs or if updates are very sporadic because I don't know yet how often I will be able to get online/what the wi-fi situation will be like. But I will do my best!

Tomorrow is the big day.  It is really starting to hit me that I will be getting on a plane tomorrow and within hours be on a completley different continent, for 4 months not knowing a single person...yet.  My packing is nearly complete, which is a huge step for me, with my bags just barely under the 50lb. weight maximum.  I have also been checking the weather conditions for at least the first week I will be there and the average temperature will be around 90 deg. with at least 75% humidity...oh my.  Yeah that will definitely be a change from the 20-30 degree weather I have gotten used to, what up equator!

I have mentally been preparing for this for months and I am feeling both excited and nervous for what God has in store for me this semester.  Although it is a scary thing to put myself on a completely different continent and be immersed in a largely foreign culture, I have faith that this it is where I'm meant to be and I can't wait to be pushed beyond my comfort zone and hopefully grow in ways I can't even imagine yet.

When I tell people I am studying abroad in Ghana I have been met with mixed reactions ranging from "thats awesome!" to "Ghana?" (where I must then explain that Ghana is a country in Africa).  I know some people may wonder why I chose Africa, well....I have had a desire to go there for years as I have always been fascinated by the people, the culture, and the beauty of those two things (and being in a place where people actually get excited when I talk about soccer is def. a plus).  I also have felt a strong desire to help those around the world who are less fortunate than me because I have realized how incredibly blessed I am.  And although I go into this situation wanting to help and volunteer as much as possible, I also acknowledge the fact that just because I am an American doesn't mean that I know anymore or am above anyone in Africa or around the world.  I have a feeling I will be learning a lot more from the people I meet than I could ever dream of offering them.

I hope this wasn't too long or boring...until next time!