9-08-2008 Accra,Ghana

I arrived in Accra, Ghana at about 20:30 local time. It was about a 6 1/2 hour flight from London. The plane was slightly smaller than the first flight which i think was a Boeing 747, so this one i think was a 767, but im no plane expert. I slept maybe 2 hours and ended up watching The Happening, which sucked. Im glad i didnt watch it at a theater, i wouldve wasted 7 bucks. But I also watched Ironman which was the third time a saw it, and still liked it.

When we landed we got out of the back of the plane, and went down the stairs to the tarmac. I could smell the pollution already. I also noticed there was no "High-Tech" equipment to transport luggage from gate to gate, just John Deer Tractors. The 4 of us got into the immigration line. They checked our passports, Visas, and looked(but not inside) of our immunization record. Mari, Alyssa, and I were able to get through without a hitch. But Wes wasnt able to get through because he didnt have an address. So we told him we would find and AFS staff member to help him after we got our luggage. I went to the extremely crowded luggage belt, looked around and saw my bag sitting beside of the belt. I quickly grabbeid it and was happy that it didnt get lost on the flight like it did in JFK. I waited for the girls to get there bags. Mari got hers, ans said shed go find someone from afs to help out wess. but right as she left he came out of the line. I think he must have found an adress or somehting of that sort. As i started walking toward him i noticed two men holding hands. I remembered it didnt meen your were gay, it was just the culture. It was still a bit wierd though. We finally got our bags and proceeded outside. when we got out side there were literally hundreds of people behind police fences. They were all screaming and shouting. they were watching a soccer, or i guess futbol, game. We saw the AFS piece of paper above everyones head. We walked to it and a man and woman gave us handshakes and led us to a white bus that held probably 20 people. as i was walking this random man grabbed my bag and took it to the bus, put it in there and walked away. I was kind of wierded out. but it was the beginning of "African Hospitality". We drove a while and arrived at the "PinkHostel". I ended up rooming with Wess, Pierre, and Boris. It was a very small room with a small bathroom. that night i had a very lonely night. i was sad becasue i wasnt at home. but luckily i fell asleep quite fast.

I got about 9 hours of sleep. so i felt real good that morning. we went downstairs and had breakfast. it was a very basic breakfast. eggs, toast, and rice krisp cereal. Kweku, the AFS volunteer(who was a very cool guy), started the orientation at about 10. We mainly talked about saftey and other things like that. by nooon we were on our way to Bojo Beach. I forgot my trunks, so i just wore some gym shorts, as well as wess. As we were waiting for the bus i saw my first lady carrying something on her head. my mouth dropped(not literally) when i saw her. It was one of the coolest things ive ever seen. she was carrying peanuts on a platter. It seemed like an art to me. being able to carry that, have a child strapped to your back and being able to walk normally. id say thats an art. As we got on the bus Kweku had a bag full of something. i wasnt sure at the time, but it ended up being bags of water. they were purified water in a sealed plastic bag. about the size of a sandwich bag, probably 15oz. You just bite a tiny hole in a corner and suck water out of it. bad thing is you cant really set them down, w/o it falling over.

We must have drove about half an hour. the ride was insane. It seemed to me that there was a lot of poverty but maybe its just a standard for ghanaians. whey they saw a van full if white people they would wave and say hi. there were so many people selling things on the street, lots of people were carrying things on there head, which still to this point amazes me, and probably always will. When we would stop(which wasnt often because they run red lights frequently and they dont stop for people. its like they speed up when they see people coming. haha) people would come up to the bus and try and sell things through the window. they were very nice though. they would try and start a conversation with you. they sold food,and different odds and ends. from mentos to screw drivers and huge pictures of jesus to q-tips. They came up to the windows and would wash the windows while stopped, for just a few peswas. Ghanaians are crazy drivers. but its funny when all you can hear sometimes is horns from cars.

The air pretty much smells of firework smoke, burning plastic, and trash. but then there are times where it smells so good, from different foods. pretty much every alleyway have stands in them. im not sure if anyone buys anything, becasue it seems like everyone is selling something.

we eventually got to the beach. it was a private beach,and was only a few cedi to get in. we had to get in a long boat to take us over to the ocean part of the beach. it was pretty oldfashioned. but it was fun.we all got dressed, or i guess undressed, and got in the water. it was warm and very trashy. it had all kinds of trash coming up onto the sand. but other than that it was very nice. we kicked the soccerball and played volleyball, normal beach activities. haha.

when we got back to the hostel our dinner was waiting. it was delicous. it was a type of rice with very hot chicken. spicy hot btw. oh and for lunch we had a mixture of black eyed peas, onions and rice with fish. that was also very good. i asked kweku how much it cost. he said about 2-3 cedi, approx 2 american dollars. but if you were to buy it in america, he said, it would be well over 6$.

We all had a great conversation afterwards. just learning about each other and i guess bonding.

yester day 9-9-08, we went to kwekus church. it was massive. The sermon was about 120 minutes and had well over 2000 people in it. and that was only the first service. I enjoyed it, there was lots of singing and dancing. i think i threw in a couple american dollars while the offering went around.

for lunch we had yams, plantains, and spiced beef. and for dinner we had a spicy noodle type dish. they were both very good. the way im eating right now, i dont think ill loose a pound!!!!! Ill gain it!!! hahaha. We went by the american embassy in accra. it was huge. the other americans thought it was ridiculous to have it that big. i think they were embarrased by it. personally, i wasnt embarrased at all. theyre not just going to build it for nothing, its there for something important. and dont you thing ghanaians might be happy america has a presence in ghana? because america is the worlds strongest and richest nation, we have responsibilites to help out other smaller nations. kind of like a "big brother". i dont know. maybe its just me.

but american politics are so prevelent here. someone asked one of the americans after church, "Hows Bush?". and on the radio they speak twi. so youll hear twi words then barack obama, then more twi words then mccain. Its kind of funny.

So i just exchanged some of my american dollars. i exchanged 250 american dollars and got back 275 ghanaian cedi. it was 1.1 $ to 1.16 cedi.

Well thats all for now. Take care!