June 4th

June 4^th 2010

Just jotting down some first impressions of Ghana. I was first struck by a brick wall of heat and humidity when I got off of the plane. I was relieved to realize that it was due at least in part to the airplane.

My custom agent was very friendly. I was worried that we was going to take my protein away, but he was mostly just curious about how you use it and the main ingredients.

They weren't joking when they say it's the “rainy season” it's been raining pretty much all day. Evans says that it rains almost everyday, but often times only for an hour.

The ride from the airport to my host family's house was awesome, it could have only been better if it weren't raining! There were many dirt roads and ruffage for a bit of the trip, but once we got to the town of Teshie (a section on the outskirts of Accra) the streets were decently paved (except one with a ton of potholes!) and lined with shops and people selling goods...mostly on their heads. I asked Evans and he said kids practice balancing things on their heads from when they are small. This one woman was balancing legit a 2 feet high, 2 feet diameter tray of bread, impressive.

I was delighted to meet my host mother, or should I say “grandma”. “Everyone calls me grandma, and I hope you will do the same”. I'm staying with a big family that includes “Grandma” her daughter, some grandchildren, and the men of the house who I have not met yet. Grandma owns a shop and I was able to snag a big bottle of water on credit until I am able to change my money, man that was convenient. Grandma made a point to tell me that I would not go hungry as a vegetarian and that she was very good at preparing tofu. Further, she would not make me any meat or fish, which was nice to hear b/c on the plane I was actually contemplating eating fish while I was over here...but I always shutter at the thought of eating animals.

While unpacking I met two American girls (law students at Fordham) who just arrived yesterday. They are doing similar work. One is from NY and the other from Kearny, NJ, not too far from me. After I finished unpacking I fell asleep for a couple of hours, woke up, and fell asleep for a couple more hours haha.

When I awoke I went to search for grandma so I can give her the table cloth I brought her from the States, when I entered the room 3 beautiful children (2 boys and the youngest child, a girl) informed me that she was at the shop, so I just went back to my room. About 10 minutes later they came rushing in wanting to play! The oldest (about 8) is named Michael. The next (maybe 5 or 6) is named Emmanual. And the girl was a 3 year old named Akku. Maybe I'm not around kids that often anymore, but I'm always so impressed by how smart they are. Especially akku, who was curious about all of my stuff from the first second (put this on your hand so I can see it re: my lotion). The three of them passed around my American Flag shutter shades , wrestling around on my roommates bed (sorry Pedro) and trying on my shoes. Soon there after I was invited to watch TV.

I tried to make a video of my room, but I was (welcomely) interrupted for dinner.

I had dinner with another volunteer woman from China(Born)/Singapore(lived for the past 10 years) named Dan. We talked about everything from our life before this experience (family, schooling, hobbies) to sports (she's a big steve nash fan) to her experience in ghana (she's been here for 4 weeks already). We shared our stories over Jaloff rice, which is rice in a tomato based sauce with Ghanain spices. Grandma made mine with tofu and sliced carrots (how nice of her!) and she made it with chicken for the other volunteers. Dan is here doing journalism, although her degree is in electrical engineering. Shes currently wrapping up a stint at a Ghanian newspaper, but in two weeks she's going to work at a radio station.

Pedro came home about an hour into dinner. He's a real chill guy. He talked to us about wrapping up his latest project, a data base tracking statistics for violence against women in Ghana over the past 18 months. He also shared his crazy experience getting home after a (free booze) event at the Canadian High Commission last night. After Dan went to sleep (she has work in the morning) Pedro and I went to Grandma's shop for a Ghanian beer. ( I was able to give Grandma the table cloth I got her and she loved it :) ) We were actually able to share one because they are like 24 oz each (for like a cedi). It weren't bad, especially since it was the only cold beverage I've had all day. I talked to Pedro about similar stuff that I did with Dan. He actually has a law degree, but is thinkng about getting a master's degree in development. After spending 5 weeks working on human rights, he feels like a general focus on Human Rights is too broad. He has a girlfriend back home and he called her for a couple minutes . Hopefully I'll be calling Terri by the time I post this.

We chatted with Shara and Andrea (the two American Girls) for a bit when they arrived home. Andrea has a connection at a beach house a couple hours away so the 5 of us may be taking a trip next weekend.

It's 10:50, and I'm not really tired (JEEEEEEEEEEET LAAG) but with nothing else much to do I'm going to try to go to sleep.