Travel + First Day (and a marriage proposal!)

 Hey!

It's currently the night of my first full day in Accra, but wow I feel like I've done so much already! Here's a rundown of my trip so far.

I flew from SeaTac to London leaving around 2:30pm and arriving at 7 am in London. The airport was super confusing and I had to go through security again and get my boarding pass and visa scanned etc which took a long time because several kiosks didn’t work. I had a few hours in the airport then I boarded the plane to Ghana. It seemed like mostly native Ghanaians but there were some Americans and Brits (mostly going people).
I slept on the plane some and we landed at 6:40 pm, it was already dark when we landed. 

That is the view of Accra from the plane. We got off and the passport control was fast but then I waited about an hour for my bag. It was very hot and raining slightly outside and me and a few others from my program took a taxi which took about 20 min to get to the house. The driving was not what I’m used to with lots of weaving in and out and people getting really close to cars! No turn signals and very few road signs but lots of honking and pulling in front of other cars very quickly. We drove thorough the town and some things we drove past were a teaching hospital, a Mormon temple, lots of small restaurants and shops, and small houses. 
We arrived at the house and I am staying in a small side house with 3 other girls (will be 4 if the 4th has her visa come). This is the house I’m in.

 It’s pretty small but we have a living room, a small bathroom and kitchen, and a small bedroom with 3 bunk beds. It is very hot and humid but luckily the bedroom has an AC unit we can pay to use. 

The main house has a bigger living room and kitchen with AC. We have a barbed wire fence around our plot and some platoon and banana trees. Some people have already been here for a couple weeks (maybe 5) but 8 people arrived the day I did so we’re a little cohort. Most of the people I’m rooming with are here for 4 weeks but some others are here for 2-3 months. Most participants seem to be grad students or PA school students, and all of my roommates are in the midst of applying to PA or medical school. I am the only west coast person here. There are two girls here from Princeton who are runners and my same age. One girl is a native Ghanaian who moved when she was 10 and this is her first time back. 
These are my roommates.

The first night, I feel asleep quickly but then woke up around 2 or 3 am because I couldn’t sleep and stayed awake in bed until I fell asleep at maybe 7 am. I used my data to text a bit (I have travel data I can turn on and pay per day but use a wifi hotspot mainly). We lost power in the middle of the night but luckily our ac stayed on and our coordinator was surprised that it went out and put on reserve power. 

We were supposed to have an orientation at 10am but the coordinator Roland needed to pick up another person from the airport and things were definitely running on “Africa time” (very normal to be late to things and a relaxed attitude about schedules here) and we ended up having the orientation around 1-2pm. But, the morning was a nice chance to unpack more and talk to my peers and play Uno- I won twice :).  

At our orientation presentation the coordinator talked about some local festivals and cultural rules like only eating with your right hand and greeting everyone you meet. We talked about optional trips we may go on and expectations for the program. We also talked about the history of Ghana (free from British rule since 1957) and the political system (it is a stable democracy). Since the borders in Africa are somewhat arbitrarily made by colonizers, there are over 17 different cultural groups in Ghana. The official language is English (all surrounding countries are French speaking) but the main local language also spoken is Twi (pronounced Chee and from the Akan cultural group). Ghana is over 70% Christian but there is a sizable Muslim population, especially in the North. 

Then, it was finally time for a late lunch. We took ordered Bolt cars (similar to Uber) and waited outside our gate. While we waited, there were several curious children who came out to stand by us and play with a soccer ball in the street. We also saw a cat and chickens wandering in the street. While waiting and driving away we heard several “Obroni!” remarks (the local name for white person). We took the cars to a restaurant about 15 min away called Papaye. They served mainly fried chicken and rice and it was a massive portion for less than 6 US dollars.

 Then, we walked out on the street for about 20 minutes and saw several small shops. Lots of people walked with us either trying to sell us something like canvas paintings or asking for something. We then waved down taxis and went to our next destination.

I was sitting in the front seat with my 3 roommates in the back and a few minutes into the drive the driver tapped me on the shoulder and asked for my name. I told him and then he told me his, then he said, “Marry me”? I laughed and said no to which he responded “why?” I told him I have a boyfriend (remembering that guidebooks said you’re supposed to say you’re married with several children but that felt too unbelievable for me) and he said “well where is your boyfriend?” I laughed and said not here right now and then he backed off and went back to dancing to the blasting radio while driving in the very exciting and slightly worrying fashion I described earlier. 

While on the drive, we saw the ocean (there were massive piles of trash that looked like had maybe been picked up from the sand) and several groups of small houses made with tin roofs seemingly. We did also pass by some massive modern banks and other large buildings.

We arrived at the Independence square, where there’s a massive parade and show every year on their Independence Day. They achieved independence from the British in 1957.  It was a massive plaza with stadium seats and a view of the ocean. There was a distant white castle further down the coast. VP Kamala Harris actually visited this square about a month ago apparently and it was very crowded. 

Today, it was not crowded but there were people taking photos or selling things, although there didn’t seem to be that many tourists.

 This monument was right next to Independence square. “Freedom and Justice” is also on Ghanaian Cedi cash. 

We then walked about 20 minutes to the art center. This was a long row of small shops selling arts related things. It was right next to a dirt soccer/‘football’ field where some boys were playing. Our coordinator took us to a drum shop where they showed us how to drum and do different styles for about 15 minutes.

Of course, then same the sales pitch and some people bought small drums. I bought an acrylic on canvas painting of Ghanaian fabrics for about $13 US (they said they were giving us a student discount already but one of us negotiated and got it brought down slightly). 

It was getting dark at this point and we hung around for a bit longer then went into a larger complex of shops in the same arts center. There, we waited for a bit for a man to come back (he was praying in a Mosque) then some of us exchanged currency through him (they ran out of cash by the time it was my turn; apparently banks are closed on weekends so he couldn’t get enough.)

Then, we finally left and went to the big street to try to get taxis. We tried for a while and even though a lot passed, none stopped. So, we ordered some Bolt cars. (This whole time, the guys from the drummer shop were with us and talking to us, one was called ‘Blink’). Unfortunately as we were getting into the car one of my peers steeped into a deep hole (we think it was a sewer system hole) and cut her knee. Luckily, this was a pretty good group to be with when this happens and when we got back one of the other program participants who has been here for a few weeks, a pediatric fellow, helped clean her wound and bandage it.

I showered (it was 87 degrees and 93% humidity so that + bug spray + sunscreen= feeling sticky and hot all day) then called family and finished writing this! Tomorrow (Monday) we have our orientation at the hospital.