Well, I made it to Ghana safe and sound. My flight on North American Airlines went well. I was one of maybe 6 people who weren't black. And some of my fellow passengers were quit dressed up for the flight. This meant women with vertical hair (feathered up, frowed, and my favorite the stiff stack of curls reminiscent of the candied ribbons on fancy cakes). The headphones that they gave out had to clip on your ears because a band over the head wouldn't have worked.
I got picked up at the airport and settled in to the Hostel. The porters were cleaning my room while I was unpacking which was a little unsettling. I was taken on a bus to the medical school, only to find my contact wasn't in her office yet. So I wandered around. I tried to get money at some ATM's but they were broken. Then wandered into a currency exchange but they were still mopping the floor. Ever feel like you're not wanted? But the people are all very friendly. When I went to buy water, all I had were 10,000 cedi notes (don't get impressed, that's the value of 1 American Dollar) but they couldn't break it and so the woman offered to give me the water for free and have me pay it back later today. Very friendly. I promised to buy water tomorrow and then bought from another stand a kind of overpriced (thus they could break my bills) but wonderfully large (1.5 liter) bottle which I'm halfway through.
What I've learned so far:
1. Not a lot of white people in Ghana
2. It's hot here
3. Even in Accra there are periodic loss of electricity and water so we all have buckets to store water just in case
4. Ghanaians are very friendly
Right now I'm travelling alone, but tune in tomorrow when my fellow med student from home joins me, fashionably late as always.
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