In Ghana

After a long flight from Toronto to Frankfurt, some sub-quality napping in the airport, and then another long flight from Frankfurt to Accra. I was so tired on this flight I slept through most of it. At one point a flight attendant was asking my friends if they thought I wanted a drink for when I work up. They decided that they would get me orange juice since I had that on my previous flight. I “heard” all this conversation and was conscious enough to know that I actually wanted apple juice, but was too tired to talk or move. When I woke up a few hours later, I drank the orange juice. Once we started getting closer and closer to Accra, the flight became emotional, with tears welling as we touched down. All I could think about was the fact that I was here. I was in Africa. At 27, I was about to complete another one of my dreams. Amazing. I was also very pleased that we got to walk off the plane and across the tarmac, just like in the movies. (The little things really make me happy).

We made it to Accra, I met my friend Rachel who was in Ghana for the past two months with Canadian Lawyers abroad, albeit, briefly, at the airport. She gave me her cell phone and we went on our way to the Guesthouse we were staying at for the night. We headed out for a walk down towards Oxford Street in search of an ATM and some dinner. My first dinner in Ghana was a very large platter of chicken and rice. If that was what all the food was like, I’d be ok. I’ve since learned that there’s a lot of other things, a lot involving fish, so I’m still trying to figure things out.

Yesterday we set out on a very very long bus journey from Accra to Tamale. On average, most think the ride takes about 12 hours, but road construction (read: large potholes on a bumpy dirt road) and a bus break down turned our journey into one closer to 18 hours. The bus driver was strategic and found us a “village” to break down in (or stop when he knew the break down was imminent). So, we spent 6 hours playing with probably 50 very excited kids. While there were times I was really annoyed about being broken down in the middle of nowhere, in retrospect, I think it was a great cultural integration experience.

There is so much more to write and share about my first 48 hours in Ghana, but I still struggling to find the words to express what I see and what I am feeling. So, in the meantime, just a few pictures …

Somewhere just outside Accra. The roadside village where our bus “broke”

The kids just loved having there picture taken. As soon as they saw a camera, everyone wanted to be in the front. Their mothers just stood at the side laughing and laughing, and then when it got to be too much, they would yell at them, something which I am assuming was along the lines of “be quiet, settle down, don’t scare the white ladies”, because they would back off … for about 10 seconds.

These two girls were some of the older ones in the group, probably about 13 or 14. They were intrigued with the games we were playing with the kids, but kept their distance, in order to retain their “grown-up-ness”. The girl on the left had recently gotten this purple weave, and kept wanting to have pictures taken to see it. She was quite proud of it, and at the same time was equally interested in my red hair.

And one last, very enlarged (hence poor quality) picture. I was so happy, and unusually comforted, to see this familiar sign (top of photo, middle), even though I have no idea where it was. I was impressed I was able to whip out my camera fast enough to capture it as we drove past.

(For those who don't recognize the sign, don't worry. For those that do, you'll know what this meant to me).

I will be in Tamale for the next two days for my EWB Sector Strategy and country training, and then I will head up to Lawra to officially begin my position with MoFA.