Fewf! I made it :)

And so it begins,

I’m sitting here not having a clue where to start because this entire experience that I’ve had so far and what lies ahead seems so surreal. Am I actually staying in Africa for 2 months? I cannot even describe how thankful I am to be able to accept this opportunity. Mom and Dad, thank you so much. Now let’s hope I can find a way to communicate with you guys to share my experience on a regular basis :) 

My first step off of the plane immediately gave my face an extra layer of stickiness! I was greeted with a great big hug by Ezekiel, a program representative, who then brought me to a hotel for the night where I met the first 3 of my roommates. We got up in the morning and travelled 4 more hours by bus to Takoradi with a little preaching for bus entertainment! Being a Christian is really big in Ghana and was actually one of the first questions they (Ghanaians) ask everyone. When we got to the house we got to meet all of our other roommates and hear some pretty cool accents! Right now, there are 5 Americans, 4 Canadians, 4 from England, and 1 from Scotland -- in all of that there is 1 guy! Oh yeah, how could I forget my favorite roomies: lizards. The rest of the day we just wandered around our new home and town to get a feel for their culture -- hot, dirty, friendly, but very content. Everyone calls us ‘Brunies’ which means white people and they laugh at us which apparently is a form of appreciation! All in all, it was a good first day in Africa and, although it took some time to fall asleep in the humidity, I was able to sleep pretty well!

------This is the house with the views looking to both sides.

And continues because I still don’t have internet.....

Monday was full of orientation. We went to the hospital in the morning to meet our supervisors and tour the hospital. Very VERY unsanitary and there is no privacy at all! Everything done here is basically a big ‘no no’ back home when it comes to treating people! The next orientation was of Takoradi itself. We were shown the market circle which is basically mass chaos that I will describe more when I actually go venture around the area rather than drive through it. We went to a couple of beaches and harbor bay to see a variety of places we could spend our free time. Chances are, the beach will be seeing plenty of me!

Food. The food is really good! Although I’m not quite sure how authentic it is, our cook at the house makes some very tasty meals! We choose between pancake (which is actually a crepe), omelette, or porridge for breakfast and our first dinner was chicken and fried rice! Tuesday nights dinner was rice with some type of bean mixture that looked a little sketchy but tasted pretty good. Wednesday nights dinner was pasta with egg sauce -- interesting but good! Thursday we had a barbecue which consisted of grilled chicken and goat (weird but good) with rice and a pasta and bean salad!

Tuesday was the first day at our placement. The physical therapy here is..... I don’t even know the words to describe it. There are no appointments. Patients are told to come in on a specific day of the week but they can come at any time during the day from 8-2. When they are here the physical therapist ONLY diagnosis them and doesn’t go through the treatment with them. Rather the assistants teach the relative of the patient how to take them through the exercises. So nobody certified is actually working on the patient. Strange. The rest of the day we spent at the beach which felt like absolute paradise! It’s a whole new world when you are next to the ocean because of the breeze. I think the beach and I will become close friends in the next couple of weeks! Yes, this is a real picture from where I was sitting in Ghana.

Vienna Beach

Wednesday I spent more time at the clinic and then was finally able to figure out my phone and internet situation! If you would like to get ahold of me please do via skype, tango, viber, or what’s app!

Thursday was my favorite day so far! We were only in the clinic for a couple of hours but in that time I was able to get some hands on experience with some of the kids who were in for treatment! After that excitement we made 14 orphans very happy and took them to the beach! It was so fun, peaceful, and heartwarming to see them playing carelessly with whomever would take them. We then packed 30 people into a tro-tro (van) and made our way back to the house for a barbecue with African drummers and dancers!  After getting my groove thang on I was ready to settle down and start reflecting on the fact that I have almost completed my first week here! Crazy how fast it’s going already.

The African drummers

At the beach with the kids from the orphanage!

Hope you are all relieved now that you know I am alive, safe, healthy and loving Ghana :) I miss you all and hope the crummy weather in the states isn’t keeping you down! I’m sure I’m getting enough sun for everyone :)

NEVER TAKE AIR CONDITIONING FOR GRANTED

Much love,

-Ghanaian

Random tid-bits:

The water is not drinkable, therefore I brush my teeth with a bottle of water.

Pot holes here are more like creators and cause unnecessary traffic.

Driving here is insane. There is constant honking.

All the men want to marry white women -- not as creepy as it sounds. Although they are very serious, they are very nice about it when you turn them down.

Breast feeding is not hidden.

Peeing is not hidden and is happening everywhere you look. So often that there are signs specifying where you can and cannot urinate.

We have a security guard outside of our house 24/7.

Taxi prices are bargained for. Along with almost everything else.

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for my weekend adventure!