The Beginning of a New Adventure

So when I landed in Accra (the capital of Ghana) and stepped off the plane the heat just hit me like a door. It was so hot, but luckily I went inside the airport and it had air conditioning. I had to go through immigration and customs, both a piece of cake, and then continue on to collect my bags. Needless to say, I am a very impatient person and after almost 45 minutes of waiting at the baggage claim I finally got all of my bags. I met one of the volunteer coordinators outside of the airport and we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. One thing that I have quickly learned is that the restaurant service in Ghana hardly exists. I’m not sure if it is because one does not tip in Ghana, but it literally took 2 hours to order and receive a TAKE-OUT order. Like seriously the waiter was just chilling and taking his time talking on his cell phone. Anyways, the volunteer coordinator took me back to the guesthouse (a small motel) in Accra to stay the night. I got as settled in as I could after my 11 hour flight from Washington, D.C. and proceeded to eat my lunch. I was taken aback by the “packaging” of my food because I ordered Beef Red Red, which is smashed black-eyed peas with small chunks of beef type concoction, and a side of fried plantains. I loved the plantains, but I no doubt didn’t finish the rest. Back to the point, the “packaging” of the Beef Red Red was in a plastic baggie and I had to poke it with a fork to open it. It’s really similar to the way I have to drink the water here in water satchels. The water is not potable in Ghana and so you have to buy a small Ziploc-bag type of satchel that is filtered water. In order to drink it you have to bite off one of the corners and you’re good to go. The main thing that I have noticed here is that the people here are extremely warm and friendly. They want nothing more than to be your friend and show you their country and culture. Of course, my first day in Ghana would not have been complete without the power outage we had at the guesthouse. I knew it was going to happen, and I was prepared with my little flashlight and lantern. Luckily it was only out for an hour, and afterwards another intern, Hayley, came from the airport to go with us to Cape Coast the next day. It took me awhile to fall asleep because I had so much going through my head. I can’t believe I’m in Africa right now! The people are so awesome and they are constantly saying that I will be a real Ghanaian after my 3 months stay! I hope so because I can barely understand anything they say, even when they speak English. In Accra they speak Tree (I don’t know how to spell it but it is pronounced like that), while in Cape Coast they speak Fante. But, like I said it is very difficult to understand their English so let’s hope that my language lessons here help!