Listen inside, Listen outside...

Greetings from Ghana!

I have arrived safely in Koforidua, after spending a few days in Accra. It's pretty warm, but I'm not finding it as difficult as I had imagined. I have no idea what the temperatures have actually been, other than hot!

On the flight flying into Accra I witnessed an incredible lightening storm! Upon arrival there was a light rain, which felt pretty great after sitting on a plane for nearly 7 hours. I had no problems with luggage or getting through "customs"!

Freddie (a senior project manager) was there to greet us, and from there were went straight to the hostile we spent 2 nights at. The first two days basically consisted of orientation, although the first morning Freddie took us on a "Cole's Notes" tour of Accra.* We had lunch at a restaurant that rested near the Atlantic (the title of this post is from one of the walls at this place...even thought it was pertaining to the fact that in the night time it's a dance bar, I thought that it might make for an interesting mantra for the trip...). ESSTers - the amount of plastic collecting in the water was heartbreaking! We need to do better! Other sights included Black Star Square, the Freedom Arc, and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's Mausoleum.

The drive to Koforidua was beautiful! We drove through mountains, forest, and even passed by Bob Marley's wife's house!

The home stay is pretty great. I am sharing a room with three girls, and have the pleasure of sleeping on 2 of the sketchiest sets of bunk beds I've ever encountered. If I don't come home, it's because they broke, and I've been flattened.

(If you look close - that's a map of Nova Scotia hanging on the wall...and I didn't bring it. It was just waiting there for me!)

The food is AMAZING! Lots of spice! Unfortunately, there aren't many fruits or vegetables, but we're trying to get as much in as we can.

I'm sorry if this seems rushed and kind of all over the place! I feel like I have so much I want to share with you all, but can't process it enough to actually make coherent sentences!

This coming week we will be meeting with our partners. The group is also making plans to spend the long weekend in the north, as well as another trip to Cape Coast. I'm super excited to be here, and am looking forward to seeing what the next 11 weeks will bring. As of now, it looks like I will only have internet access once a week, so I'm hoping I will be able to update you all at that time!

I hope all is well back home!

-Abena (the Orange Canadian)


*Note: For those of you too young to understand whats Cole's Notes are, it's a condensed, easily digestible version of something, generally a book, but in this case a major city.