I'm in Ghana!!!!!!

I’m in Ghana and I could not be happier! I have been here since Saturday and it has been an adventure from the start. I left London and then flew to Brussels then Germany and I finally made it to Accra, Ghana. I met 4 people from my program in Germany and that was very nice so we could arrive all together. When we got to the airport, we had to go to passport check and customs. It was interesting. They had each of us look into a camera for about 5 seconds and I didn’t know if I should smile or not. So I smiled.. I was sternly told not to do that. Oops. When we went to get our bags… mine didn’t arrive. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So I filed a report and ended up leaving the airport without my stuff.

We arrived at the International Student Hostel and we were welcomed and assigned our rooms. My roommate is great. Her name is Lena and she is from Chicago. I’m pretty glad that I have an American roommate so we can go through the culture shock and crazy experiences together. Our room is decent. Not at all close to what I lived in my freshman year at Chico State. But it works and it is a safe place to sleep. Our whole program is basically on our floor so that is fun. Everybody in my program is super great. I really could not have asked for a better group! Very social and funny. We also have “buddies” who are Ghanaian that hang out with us and help with everything. We are extremely thankful for them. For the first couple days, they have fed us breakfast, lunch and dinner and unfortunately tonight’s dinner will be our last meal. Tomorrow we will have to fend for ourselves. The food is different. We have been having some sort of meat with rice. It isn’t bad, but it is something that I will have to get used to. We have a really fun outdoor market outside our hostel where you can get just about anything so that is super convenient. The women selling things are extremely friendly. As a respect thing, we need to call anyone older than us "Auntie" so I have met many aunties around the hostel. I love it! There was a lady also outside who would size us for traditional African clothing for extremely cheap! Let me know if you want anything! :)

We have had orientation the past two full days explaining security, safety, clubs, immigration, health and just about every little thing we need to know. It was long but informative. Most of our group did a campus tour together yesterday but a girl Shea and I had to go to the airport to see if our luggage had arrived. Peter, our buddy, went with us and we took a “Tro-Tro” which is basically a van with 9 seats but they fit as many people in as they can. There is a driver and another man who is hanging out the door yelling where they are going. For example, if the van is going to Accra (main city), the man will yelling “Cra Cra Cra!” and people will wave them down. It was quite the experience. We got to the airport and MY BAGS WERE THERE! I was so happy that I didn’t have to sleep in jeans again. Those two nights were miserable! After talking with the airport people for a long time, I finally got them and I was so excited! We took a taxi back and then we had a campus tour with just us three. The campus is HUGE! It took an hour and we didn’t even do half of the campus. Very pretty and I’m excited to get a bike!

Today was the most interesting day. We took another Tro-Tro to a place called Medina Market. (Google it) To be honest, it was a little bit overwhelming. There were hundreds of shops which were all very close together. They sold everything from phones to pig feet to LARGE snails to mango to shoes. As we walked by people, some people would grab us so we could look at their clothes, others offered to buy us and some were even proposed to. Many people, actually just about every child we walked by called us Abroni which means foreigner. It isn’t an insult but I was surprised about how often we were called it. One girl in my group broke her sandal right in front of shop that sells used shoes and sandals so we watched her and our “buddy” bargain which was extremely interesting. It was an incredible market but it also really opened my eyes. There was a sewer along the rode and I full on gagged twice. There was feces and trash and it smelled awful. The whole market wasn’t very sanitary and many of the children were running around. It was something I have never experienced. It wasn’t “bad” but VERY different to the American culture. Very interesting to see how other people live and survive.

Anyways, I am seriously having a BLAST! I can already tell that I made the right decision to spend 5 months in Ghana. If anyone has skype, feel free to add me. (Janaenaee22) I would love to see your beautiful faces!!!

PS, I gave up on wearing sweaters! Way too hot! 

Much love,

Janae