In Ghana!!

Wow - I don't even know where to begin but I don't have that much time so I'll keep it short and to the point. :) I'm in GHANA!!

It was a LOOOONG trip to get here though, my god... it seemed to take forever. The first AND second flights were 7 hours each and we had a few hours in between to kill in the Frankfurt, Germany airport (at least I can say I've been to Europe, albeit the airport... I was outside a little though so it wasn't all that bad). By the end of the travelling time, everyone was exhausted. The plane service was great though, ate lots (didn't know when we'd see that kind of food again), drank lots too, well, I had a bloody mary and a baileys with ice... just to say I did. :)

We got in last night just after 5:30pm (so 1:30pm your time), and drove 2 hours to where Godwin (our coordinator) lives. It was a long, bumpy ride. We made it though. It was really dark so it was hard to see anything at first, it was VERY intimidating and very very African simple... but we brought our bags in and met 2 other volunteers who are staying at the same place (they're from Switzerland). We could barely see anything but did our best and a lady made us rice and sauce for dinner. Let me tell you, when you're sweating buckets (at 28-30 degrees), and then eating really spicy food, it gets REALLY hot! It was so uncomfortable but we ate up regardless, we were tired and hungry.

The first night was a little rough with sleep, didn't really get more than a few hours I'm sure. It was soooo hot. I was protected by a bug net that entrapped the heat but kept the bugs out. Meghan and I shared a room outside of Godwin's place (which is kind of like a bungalo with no doors or windows, except for a few doors on the inside for privacy of a few rooms), so we weren't with the others but about 25 feet away.

Every noise we heard last night creeped Meghan right out and so I ended up laughing at and with her (but secretly fearing that something would come to get me too, I'm pretty sure we were convinced a lizard was making eerie noises along the ceiling). We managed and even had a 'shower' this morning. We each received a bucket of water and stood in a concrete/wood type of box... closed the windows and then bathed.. it was a pretty laughable experience. Had to make sure we dried ourselves to avoid the parasites... scary stuff. But worse than that one, was going to the washroom. Oh man. It's a wooden box that's relatively open with a shady kind of door. There are a couple of pieces of wood that surrounds a hole in the ground which you stand on and squat over to go pee. Brutal, but doable... it's got to be, I don't have any other choice!

We had porridge for breakfast this morning (hot - hard to eat when you're sweating at 6am). And then we toured the school and watched their morning worship.

We found out that 3 of us will be staying at this location and this school, and the other 3 will leave to 3 other villages and schools. I was one of the ones to stay but I traded with Meghan (because she doesn't think she can handle another move) and because I want a totally different experience, so I'll be changing villages later this afternoon, to a new school and a host family. Should be interesting, albeit maybe a little lonely if I'm not with anyone. We'll see!!

I don't know when I'll have access again to internet - Godwin wanted to make sure our families know we're safe and sound.

I'm sending my love, and lots of warm thoughts your way!!

Love bunches,

Amanda