Akwaaba Ghana!

I will only posting from internet cafes from now on I think, so ...

Well, the travels from Cobourg, Ontario to Accra, Ghana were superlatively uneventful, just as I wanted it to be. The most exciting thing that happened was that I sprayed a man behind me on the second plane with my orange juice when I opened it. He was rather gracious about it, and all was well. The next best thing was my banging my head on the overhead compartment in the tiny plane from Toronto to New York. It hurt only for about ten minutes. The whole trip from Cobourg to the SIM guest house in Accra was twenty-one hours. I slept a wee but on the second plane, but I mostly passed the time reading P + P and talking to some folks also travelling from Canada to Ghana.

My time in Ghana so far has been splendid. I have had orientation with Sherri, the SIMmer in charge of that. Orientation basically means pseudotourist. We rode around the city in tro-troes (transit vans)and went shopping all over. Sherri also has many friends, so we hung out with them during the evenings. They are all nice and sociable, so it always a good time. One her friends has a chicken and rice stand, so we ate there once. It was fabulous. The next day we ate out somewhere and I tried red red, which is just black eyed peas topped with fried plantain. It was good, but it flew out of me some four hours later. I would eat it again though. Friday night we went to watch a play called Traffic Jam. It was about a girl with four boyfriends and she had quadruple booked herself for a date with them and her friends had to bail her out of the "traffic jam" at her house. It was funny, but the theme was surprising. In true Ghanaian fashion, the play started an hour and twenty minutes late, but it was a fun night overall. Saturday, we went to the beach just outside of the city. The waves were perfect for riding on boogie boards (oversized flutter boards). I donned my Ghana swimsuit and I have pictures to prove it. As soon as I figure out how to upload pictures, I will do that. Saturday night, I watched American Idol with some of Sherri's American friends. It was an interesting experience. I don't know anything about North American pop culture, so I really felt out of place with all of them. Sherri says it's her escape to America each week; I haven't been here long enough to need to escape from Ghana. This morning, I went to Sherri's church with her. It was all that I expected it to be. Loud music, cute kids and, friendly people. Her friend, Solomonm translated the service for me (from Twi), so I did get something out of it. Now I am just waiting for the washing machine to finish with my clothes so I can hang them up.

Monday (tomorrow) is my last day of orientation and then early (0500h) on Tuesday, Sherri and I will drive up to Tumu, Upper West Region where I will stay and work for the rest of my time here. That will be two days' drive.

I had a get a cell phone (peer pressure; everyone has one) so if you feel like calling just send me an e-mail and I'll give you the number.

Thanks for reading ~*