One day, on a nice hot afternoon when all of the chickens and roosters are fast asleep in the sun, I'm going to run outside and start screaming at the top of my lungs for 3 hours. This is exactly what they do to me every single morning at 3 am! It's NOT sunny at 3 in the morning. It is not even close and yet every day I hear those stupid birds starting up and then its all over. Its actually funny, and I think by the time I leave here I will be able to sleep through anything!
Life in Kumasi has been interesting, hot and very educational. Last week we went to the clinic as usual and saw a lot of very ill patients. Some of these people have to wait for 8 hours in the clinic for the one HIV/AIDS specialist doctor to come and give them their medications and check-ups. It must be so hard.
The kids at Fiayse, the school for vulnerable children are the cutest things- though quite insane. They get us more dirty than I could imagine. I left last week and my whole outfit was brown- and I'm not exaggerating! I brought them some little dollar store jungle animals and they were so happy! They usually spend the whole day beating the hell out of each other when we don't completely occupy them, but when you give them toys they actually sit down and stop hitting each other. They don't have anything here- so it was really fun to watch them play. They are also learning the alphabet- though I think they understand the song- they definitely don't understand the concept. I could definitely see myself adopting when I'm older- these children need so much love and there are many people who could offer them an education, and proper health care. I'd never really thought about it before but with the amount of orphans in Ghana and worldwide I would definitely consider it . There are these twin girls here that I'm in love with and would love to take home with me! The other older girls at the school are also apparently getting pregnant more frequently so we are trying to increase our sexual health talks and teach them how to prevent pregnancy. It think it is very discouraging for Agnes the coordinator because she works so hard trying to teach them skills that they can use instead of just having babies. It is a "country without fathers" as she said, because most men want nothing to do with the babies they are creating so the woman is left to look after the children alone.
I wasnt feeling well last week (I'm pretty much the same this week and though I dont feel horrible by any means my stomach is not happy to be here and will probably stay like this for the next month!), so me and my host sister who was also not feeling well were convinced by my host mom Agnes to see the doctor while we were at the hospital. Let me just say that I am praying I never get very sick here because I think I would have a huge freakout if I ended up in the hospital. These poor people wait in line all day to be seen. The dark waiting room was full of crying babies, had a vomit bucket in the middle of the room, and people with bloody stumps were just sitting and waiting for the doctor. It was not a place I could have spent a lot of time without going insane. Because I was a volunteer and sadly I think because I'm an obruni I got in to see the doctor ahead of a huge line of very sick people. I felt really bad because I was definitely in better shape than most of the people there. The doctor asked me about 3 questions, asked for my address in Canada (he wanted help getting his son a Visa apparently!) and gave me a prescription without any tests. I went to the pharamacy and asked what the prescription was for and it was for blood thinners and malaria pills! Note: I have literally no symptoms for malaria. It was very strange so I'm definitely not taking them, but I think its the norm here. If youre sick, its malaria no matter what. Funnily enough, Gill (my friend from Western who is here with me) just found out she has malaria today with only one week left. It totally sucks and I think she's disappointed, but at least she caught it before she got really sick and she seems to be doing okay. I will do my best to look after her!
This weekend me , Gill and Femke another Dutch volunteer all went to Cape Coast. We took the 4 am bus so we had to get up really early to make it to the depot across town. After almost getting stuck in a very sketchy motel we managed to get a room in a beach resort for only 60,000 cedis a night- about 6 USD. It was nice, had outdoor bathrooms and a shower but the rooms were clean looking and it was right on the water. We went to the Cape Coast Castle- a major port for the translatlantic slave trade. It was really interesting because I had learned a lot about it in my postcolonial classes so it was really informative to be there. We went to the dungeons where they held slaves and got to see "the door of no return". It was quite the bizarre experience, but they had a really good display on the history and it was such a sad and yet really educational place to visit. I would definitely recommend anyone interested in the slave trade to visit this historical site. It was unbelievable how many people went to their deaths in this place, or were completely ripped away from the only life they knew to travel to the Caribbean and Americas. We also met a huge group of European volunteers and went to Kakum National park. We did a canopy walk over the rainforest that was so beautiful and was built by Canadians!
It was nice to meet some other obruni's because we do stand out quite a bit and it was nice to share our hilarious travel stories. We also ran into 3 medical students from Germany, Austria and Sweden. You should have seen us when we found out they were medical students. We literally jumped all over them, showing them rashes, telling them symptoms, asking questions. As I learned from my 30 second doctor appointment its hard to get good medical treatment here so the whole group was asking them questions. We even coerced them into going to see one of the Swedish girls who had been having a horrible fever all weekend. It was a truly funny experience and I've never seen people happier to encounter doctors!
The beach at Cape Coast was really beautiful, but as I've learned beaches in Ghana are basically public bathrooms and dump sites. So while you see the beautiful ocean you look to the side and see a small child going to the bathroom and a huge pile of garbage. Its very sad and not great for their tourism.
Thats all for now, I have to run but will try to post or edit this later so it hopefully makes more sense. I miss all of you!
Jesus is my seatbelt...
Holy crap. The internet in Kumasi, how do you say, SUCKS. It takes an hour to open up one email and its making me insane. Luckily I only get the chance to use it once a week, haha. Well life in Ghana is wild as usual.
I wrote a blog update earlier this week but the computer crashed and it was all lost. Things have been really busy! I have now been in Kumasi for exactly a week, and I actually like it a lot better than Accra. It is very green, and full of lots of lizards and beautiful plants and its actually cooler- if thats possible at 40 degrees in the shade. My homestay is really cute- at first I was a little freaked out because it was so different, but my room is nice and fairly cool, and the kids are all super nice. There are 5 kids in the family, some of whom are away at school or in and out of the house. The house has power sometimes, and rarely any running water. We get our water from a well outside. I feel like I'm in Little House on the Prairie, but the water seems clean and is great for some classy bucket showers. The Opoku's are also all super religious. If I hadn't had a fairly strict Roman Catholic upbringing their zeal for God would probably terrify me, but I'm dealing fairly well.
I went to church for 3.5 hours last weekend! A guy named Lord, I kid you not, was translating the Twi mass for me. It was a lot of people shouting to themselves for a while, but then they read the bible and it was nice and cool in there so I didn't mind sitting and listening to scriptures in another language! My host mother Agnes is amazing. She is so sweet and concerned about me, and even made me a salad! I got kind of sick this past week and she brought me oatmeal in bed, haha.
My work with the African Hope Foundation of Ghana is going really well. This past week I had quite the orientation. My first day I got to sit in with one of the nurses while she did HIV tests on pregnant mothers. They have a strip here that can give you results within 5 minutes. They prick the patient's finger, get some blood on this strip, put some drops for a chemical reaction, and then call the person back in. I was so freaked out- I've never been happier to hear the word "negative" before! I sat in with her for about a half an hour and none of the pregnant woman tested were positive. I was literally watching a moment that could have altered their lives and those of their children forever. I am learning a lot about HIV/AIDS. We helped take the vitals of patients waiting to see the one doctor at this HIV clinic- the patients then wait all day until she comes in later in the afternoon. We saw patients that looked completely normal, and then some who were wearing sweaters in the heat and were so thin. A CD4 count is the level of someone's immune system basically- I'm not in science so I'm stating what I know and am aware it is very amateur. A normal person has a CD4 count in the thousands so I'm told- patients go on ART (antiretroviral treatments) when their CD4 count drops below 300. Some people who came in had ones as low as 8- Gill saw one with a count of 3. I don't know how they are still alive. One ten year-old girl came into the clinic and it was just beyond my grasp, that someone so young is battling something so scary. It is quite the amazing clinic.
I also get to teach at two different schools for vulnerable girls- they really want to learn more English and sex education so I'm going to do my best. Many of them have had parents who have died of AIDS or are at risk for behaviour that could lead to their infection. Wednesday was one of my favourite days this week. We went to the area of commercial sex workers to give a presentation on HIV/AIDS. The women live in small blue dorm style rooms with curtains so their customers merely need to stroll through. Think, red light district of Kumasi. There were kids running around and it seemed to be pretty cramped. The women were so nice though, offering us food and coming out to say hello to Agnes. We did a presentation on how you contract HIV, how you can prevent it, and how you do not spread the disease. We also demonstrated how to use condoms on a lovely wooden penis that always get a few laughs. They all knew to use condoms, but many had no idea about a lot of ways to become infected or may have had sex with many men without one. The women all wanted condoms, and we barely had enough for them. NOTE: if someone can get in touch with Western they always gave out free condoms, maybe they would be interested in donating some? We also take women to the hospital to be tested for HIV or if they are sick or think they may already have it. One woman had just had a baby and found out that day she was negative, even though if she'd known earlier she could have tried to prevent mother to child transmission...things work very very differently here. We also did a presentation to the men in the area, and so many started to crowd around us- so many questions that they had no answers to. It actually felt great to clarify the fears of so many people.
This is getting long, but I'm almost done- so much has happened! This past weekend we went to Mole National Park. It took 8 hours of driving on a very bumpy dirt road, but the organization organized a driver for us so we didn't have to take the public bus and it was not exactly cheap so we won't be doing that again! The Mole Motel where we stayed was cute- it overlooked a watering hole where all the elephants came to bathe and drink. It took about 3 hours to get your food though at any meal, and they usually got it wrong, but it had its perks I suppose! We did a few walking safaris and saw baboons, warthogs, bush bucks, birds, and tons of elephants! They were so majestic and beatiful. It was a really cool opportunity. Well thats all for now, who knows when I will write next.
Oh and Jesus is my seatbelt is because of Kersten my supervisor. To explain Ghana's roads in one phrase- she asked a taxi driver if there was a seatbelt and he responded "Jesus is your seatbelt". It's less than safe on these roads!
But I miss all you guys, and hope things are good at home. I can read most emails if I can open them but responding takes sooo long!
You can also call/text my cell at (233) 024924 5944 and hopefully I can get it, reception is not great.
Lots of love and wish my tummy a better week!
Madness in the Market
T
"I need to get out of here," gasped the Dutch girl. "I am going to freak out." This is the only way I can describe the market in downtown Accra. Yes, I am posting again, because the power AND water is out at the house, so enjoying the internet at a cafe with a generator is pretty much my only option besides sleeping with the mosquitoes right now.
Things have been WILD here, to say the least. Today we had our first "real" market experience. The last time we walked past I was terrified. Let's just say that I almost had a nervous breakdown. The smells, the amount of people, the different things to look at- it was so overwhelming. There are many dark alleys filled with random things to buy, people sleeping, children playing, bathroom areas, and anything and everything. It is also extremely hot. Everyone is carrying their possessions on their heads and you have to duck to avoid getting hit in the head with a giant bowl.
We walked past food I didn't even know you could eat. My supervisor Kersten warned us about the "food section" of the market and I think she vastly underestimated. Can I just say that I owe Dallas a huge hug for her shoe advice! These Keen sandals have kept out dirt, sewage, glass and would probably protect me from real toe damage in the open sewers I am so afraid of falling in. I am a huge germaphobe, and this experience has made me realize that even moreso, haha. Back to the food section- I saw pigs feet melting in the sun, tons of dehydrated or "fresh" fish all over the place, giant slugs, cured bats, and bush rat. You heard me, BUSH RAT. I was like, "um Slyvia, I think I just saw some beavers for sale over there." Hahaha, that is what they looked like, until someone told me what they actually were. It was quite the experience to say the least. I would need a lot more time to get accustomed to that. I can deal with the rusty tro tros and eating with my hands, but I just can't eat cow skin that is rolled up in a bucket at the market. I just cannot. I'm sure everyone at home is getting a kick out of this. But I did learn to pound fu fu today and everyone laughed at me, but it tasted good- especially with meat-free ground nut soup.
Oh, quick sidenote. The language most people speak in Accra besides Twi is Ga. Did you hear that Patrick? You could be "Gaaaa! ing" all over the place. Sorry random Ga joke. Twi lessons are improving.
There is no way to describe reggae night besides amazing. We got together with a bunch of Kersten's Ghanaian friends who took us there and we danced until 4am! I know, potentially sounds unsafe, but we had a whole entourage or I would never have attempted that. We listened to Bob Marley, Regga (sp?), high-life and lots of grooving tunes while dancing away on the beach. I got a few bug bites, but the cool breeze and warm sand were hard to resist. It was such a good night. If we hadn't had a lot of the local guys with us though- it might have been trouble. As an obruni (white person), Ghanaian men will want to marry you because they think you are rich- said one guy I met that night (but of course he just wanted to give me his email... riiighht). Whether or not this is true, we got attacked by dancing reggae lovers about every 3 seconds. The guys we went with were part of an amazing dance team though so they did their best to protect us from potential booty-grabbing guys. It would have been hell had we not had some "protectors" who took taxis with us there and back home. I am definitely learning how to shake it- and I am practicing like mad at the local places. Reggae night was like a huge hotbox outside. I inhaled more ganja (sp?) than in a cafe in Amsterdam and it was not at all by choice. Besides some 7 foot tall guy who took a liking to me and tried to "take me to the other side of the beach to write down his phone number" we were safe and had tons of fun. Our cabbie almost killed a dog on his way home, and didn't even slow down, but I think my screams made him realize it was not a good idea.
Last night I realized that all the carbohydrates were sitting like rocks in my stomach. I wasn't able to have much fun because of this at a local place, but everyone was so concerned. One of the guys wouldn't let me and the other Canadian girl go home early on our own so he took a cab home with us to make sure we were okay. We also realized we had no way of making sure we were going the right way in the dark. But so far I am safe and well and will post some pics now if I can get them to work. Some are of the local kids, who absolutely love having their pictures taken. Sooo cuteee!
I miss everyone and am scared for Kumasi because it is most definitely different than Accra, and because there is one bathroom break on a six hour bus ride, and it might be at the side of the road. Ah, public toilets/no toilets. The bane of my existence. Enjoy the pics that I can't figure out how to rotate or format!
Learning how to move my bum
Hey everyone!
So I think its day 6 of my trip? I'm not sure, I'm definitely losing track of time. I miss everyone at home, but have thankfully been busy enough not to freak out. I keep forgetting I am in Africa until I leave our house and look around me. Its the weirdest feeling to think I will be here until April.
I've tried lots of Ghanaian foods so far such as banku (its like a ball of maize that you eat with your hands), red red (fried plantains and spicy beans) and lots of fried rice. I am going to be a huge fatty when I get home. All I eat is literally carbohydrates- white carbs- which are fine but not exactly nutritious! I have decided to go back to being a full vegetarian while I'm here because I do not see any refrigeration of meats. Like none. So besides the chickens eating raw sewage, the fish they sell on the streets sits out there and isnt refrigerated all day? Hmmm, so I'm skeptical to say the least.
We have been taking drumming and dancing lessons and I'm actually not bad! I have never seen such amazing dancers. We went to the cultural centre to see some of our friends dance and HOLY. They danced for about 3 hours non-stop and it was the most intense thing I have ever seen. I can't even imagine moving that way! But a friend has been coming by to teach us, and he's really patient, and I'm learning! It's a hilarious and a hot way to pass the time. The power keeps going off - as it did all day in our house. We also keep having our water turned off, so bucket showers are necessary. I am more concerned about the handwashing and using water that has been sitting outside collecting bacteria in buckets for such emergencies. I dont mind the power being off except that it means the fans don't work- so if the fans don't work the water better work so you can at least shower off the buckets of sweat that are happening! And the mosquitoes aren't deterred if the fans are off. I have random bites on my back- I guess its the one spot I forgot to put bug spray. One of the girls got sick last night- one volunteer down so far. Another guy in our house potentially has typhoid. Yes the shot only works 70% of the time! So, I don't want that at all- and malaria is huge here. I am being cautious but also trying to enjoy myself- I can't even tell you what we talk about at dinners! The most digusting stories of everyones illness and bathroom adventures, haha, especially while eating. But the people here are amazing. Just the nicest, friendliest people.
A guy said to me today when I told him it was my first time in Africa that black and white go together like a keyboard, haha. Hilarious. We get a lot of that. But not too many creepy people, just a lot of people that want to meet us. The Ghanaian handshake is my FAVOURITE. You shake hands and as the handshake ends the person uses your middle finger to snap- it makes me laugh every time. We spent last night playing with the neighbourhood kids- sooo cute, and I realized my concept of poverty here is so much different than actualy poverty here. What I consider poor is nothing compared to the reality. But people here don't seem to dwell on it. I get lots of advice on how to remain happy in life.
Tonight we are going to the reggae night at the beach- Kersten has lots of Rasta friends that make sure we are alright if we go anywhere at night so they are coming with us. I am grabbing the opportunity because once I get to Kumasi I dont think I will be going out much- especially when Gill is no longer there. Going out at night alone or even with another white girl is not recommended by pretty much everyone. That's all for now- my internet might stay up or I might disappear when I leave the capital on Saturday. I am getting a cell- if it ever happens- and will give people my number so they can text me or call and I can keep in touch. They are really big here. Wish me luck, and I will talk to you all soon!
I miss everyone!
Pythons and some culture shock
I know I just wrote only over a day ago-I'm now on day 4 of my stay here, but I also dont know how reliable the internet access is so I want to write whenever I can. We had a twelve hour power outage last night that is now going to happen every 3 days so its hard to say when we will have power. That means no fans, which means, I woke up at 3am because I was sweating myself awake. Sounds disgusting, but its a reality. My bug net keeps falling on me because its precariously tied to the bunk bed above me and its completely not working. So I had about 3 hours of sleep last night because someone got really sick and I could hear them, and then a preacher came by at literally 4am, and started singing and playing a tambourine and yelling at the top of his lungs outside our house for over a half an hour. Everyone was awake and swearing under their breath, praying he would leave. It was kind of funny, and if it hadn't been so hot it would have been a lot more funny, but seriously it was the middle of the night. It is a loud place all the time, Kersten told us, and that we live in a quiet area. Roosters woke me up as well, who seem to all talk to each other and extremely loudly. haha, I hope I get used to it or I'm going to come home a basketcase.
Other than my tiring but interesting night, things are actually amazing. The town is so cool, and the people I've met are just so great. We went to a beach yesterday to clean up some garbage- it was everywhere- but people don't get it. They told us to leave it there- because you have to pay to have your garbage picked up- so I guess people just dump it down there. But we cleaned up as much as we could, it took about 5 minutes to fill tons of bags. Then we went home to clean up, and headed to Labadi beach, a pay beach that is a lot cleaner and was full of foreigners. We saw lots of performers, went swimming in the water that was kind of garbage free and had an awesome day in the sun. Every time a garbage bag or piece of floating "something" hit my leg in the water, I screamed, haha. There were a lot of very forward Ghanaians at the water, which we hadn't really encountered who wanted to "show us around" but I pulled the whole, "sorry I'm married and my husband wouldn't like that" line. We did get our picture taken by some random guys who jumped in with us and asked, and took one even when we said no. So me and some Dutch girls are probably floating around the internet somewhere in bikinis with guys we dont know, hahaha. I also put a python on my neck. Yes I know, what was I thinking? It was kind of asleep and it only cost a dollar to take a picture so one of the Canadian journalists convinced me, and I have the pic to prove it, haha. It tightened on my neck a little, but I managed to get out alive.
We went out last night with Kersten and some of her Ghanaian friends to Lizzy's, a local bar. It was so much fun, drank a Ghanaian beer that was pretty good- they come in huge bottles, and talked to some of her friends. One of them is the most amazing artist. They are getting a website and I will post a link because he does the greatest stuff and I'm definitely bringing some home. He has had no formal training and I've never seen art like it. So good. His name is Adams and he is part of a local cultural centre dance group. The other friend, Junior , also does woodworking so I'm going to get some from them instead of getting ripped off at a market. Junior had 15 brothers and sisters that he has to support. His dad got married 5 times so he has tons of different younger siblings and because he is the oldest he has to support all of them and his mother. He told me that he wasn't going to be with lots of women like his father did, and that the practise of marrying a women and then moving on is not as common anymore, but it has happened. It was interesting to hear how he lived his life, trying to support so many people. Literally, it was just amazing, and I really admire the talent and tenacity of the people I met. He gave money to begging children when he barely had any himself. We are going to see them all dance today at the cultural centre.
And now for a little sidebar about cultural difference that we got to experience first-hand. I wasn't sure how long I could have avoided this but we got thrown right in. Last night at the bar, me and Linsey another girl from Holland had to go to the bathroom. So Junior took us to the back and we just looked at each other. It was so dark and it was outdoors and we didnt even know where the hole was. A few girls went in ahead of us, and I got out my flashlight. After debating for a few minutes, we decided just to go for it, and it was quite intimidating because it was sooo dark and so um, scented? hahah but we survived and figured we'd have to do it sometime so thankfully we went through it together, haha. Thought people would think that was entertaining that I'm braving African toilets and blogging about it.
This morning we had dancing lessons and drumming. I'm not bad at the dancing, but the drumming was a lot harder. I want to bring home some music from here, I love it. I could never move my body the way our dance teacher did, but I can work on it. I'm also working on my Twi and whenever I say something people look surprised and then start speaking to me and I'm forced to just stare blankly at them, ahah. Anyways, might not have power again soon, so I don't know when I'll blog next, but I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss all of you, and thanks for any advice I have gotten so far... much love for now.
Akwaaba
Welcome to Africa! These were the first words I heard as we landed on Ghanaian soil. Ghana is unlike anywhere I have ever been. The plane ride was definitely one of my better. I flew a small plane from Toronto to New York (like under 30 people!) which actually made me kind of nervous but on my 10 hour flight from NYC I sat beside a really nice guy going to Liberia for his dad's funeral. He was born there but he hasn't been back in years and he honestly seemed more freaked out than I was! So we chatted for a bit about what it was going to be like, and how he wasn't sure what to expect. He left Liberia during the civil war, so he was not only nervous to be going to Africa he said, but nervous to go to Liberia, a place he barely remembered after living in the States for so long. The flight was spacious and there seemed to be other volunteers around, and I had a decent meal that made me feel slightly ill because I never eat plane food but ate the whole disgusting thing to take my malaria pill. I managed to sleep a little too. I woke up in the middle of the night seeing our plane on the monitor move closer to our African destination and had a mini panic attack realizing I couldnt go back!
The airport wasn't bad at all. That was one of my biggest fears because everyone told me it was super intimidating, but besides the woman questioning my visa for a while, I got through okay and customs joked around with me. I still have a Canadian apple with me- take that US security and Ghanaian! haha I just really wanted to have it around in case. Anyways, Sylvia the Ghanaian coordinator was waiting for me and we took a cab ride to the house. The house originally scared me a little- not because it wasnt nice, just because I had potentially expected it to be nicer? I don't know, but then once I explored the area I realized we were really living in luxury. I share the bottom bunk with another girl from Toronto, so its pretty decent. And the food they make is actually really accomodating to my sensitive stomach so far! (SO FAR, everyone who lives there has been sick or had a horrible story so I'm not counting on staying healthy for too long, oh God).
But my first day my supervisor took me around Accra and we even found a place where we could eat the salad, so I had some of that and some hummus and the town is pretty wild. We took a tro -tro which is like a cab/bus . Basically they put about 15 people in a car thats supposed to seat about 8 people max and then they try to close its rusty door and you pay for as far as you go. We went into Osu, an area of Accra and we wandered around, and I was able to go to the bank, which thankfully was air conditioned because it is going to be a very sweaty trip I'm sure. I met a lot of her local friends as well, who are all really nice and really cool. Ghana is hot- all the time- you sweat non-stop, in your sleep, practically the second you step out of the shower. So, I'm going to be going through a million water bottles a day.I'm also definitely going to have to learn more Twi- everyone here mixes it with english, so its going to be a lot more necessary in my placement in Kumasi.
Let me just give you a little description of Accra. Traffic is madness. There are areas so impoverished that its actually impossible for me to comprehend. Raw sewage flows in gutters and CHICKENS, yes chickens are swimming in it- making me very reluctant to eat any chicken while I'm here if they are eating garbage and poo. But the neighbourhood kids are all the cutest things I've ever seen, and just run around with no shoes and stare at me. I havent really stuck out here because there seem to be a lot of NGO's and a lot of foreigners around. We obviously have to be careful, but its not bad. The place is beautiful in such a different way. People in the area we visited today - Jamestown- live in housing I cannot even imagine. Like no roofs, garbage everywhere, nothing I've ever seen in real life. We visited a beach as well, that was just coated in garbage. They dont have recycling and I dont think they have a sustainable place to put garbage either because its everywhere. As a Canadian, I realize how naive I've been about the world. It is so dramatically different that its actually incomprehensible, like I could not even imagine if I lived my life like that. Ghanaians are super friendly- obviously not everyone- but in general I have met a lot of nice people. For the next week we will be here in Accra doing some cultural training, learning what to eat, and where to go and how to be safe. I'm actually terrified to take a tro-tro on my own- I would screw it up right away with the 10,000 cedi's etc conversion I'm almost always in the dark about the money. But it will come to me. Everything here is cheap- we took a cab all around the city for a few hours and it cost us 6 Canadian and my supervisor thought it was a rip-off!
Kersten my supervisor is from B.C. and she's really great. Knows a lot about the culture, but also recognizes the doesnt know everything. She's taught me a lot, just about safety and dealing with locals. There are twelve other people living in the house- some from Journalism for Human Rights and some from other NGO's. Everyone is young and pretty nice, from all over Canada and the world. Some girls from Holland are going to be travelling to Kumasi with me - thankfully- so we can brave our new city together and maybe travel at some point? Right now, things are sooo different, but I think I could grow to love it here with a little adjustment. I miss everyone at home of course, but I'll keep you all updated. I'm eventually going to get a cell phone, it just might take a little time. Nothing moves quickly here- especially not the traffic! But if I can get internet - if the power works which it tends not to do- I will send emails and updates to you all....Wish me luck!
