The First Two Days

I have arrived and am safe and sound in Ghana!!!!!! It has been a very powerful experience so far. My mind has been going through a lot of processing and trying to recover everything I have seen and experienced. Yesterday I got into Ghana. I was a bit stressful going from DIA to Washington DC because my flight was delayed by an hour. I made it to the gate to Accra successfully, but I was extremely afraid that I wouldn't make it. I sat around at the gate and saw some people that looked like students my age. They were indeed! They were not doing the same program; they were doing a University of New Hampsire one at U of G (which is University of Ghana). I miss everyone so much and I am going through a lot of emotions, but I love every minute! Once I got on the plane I sat next to someone that looked like a student as well. AND HE WAS DOING ISEP AS WELL! I was filled with relief that I knew someone to depend on to get through customs and find the ISEP people on the other side. His name is Patrick and I got to know him fairly well. Then I endured the long flight where I attempted to go in and out of sleep for the majority of the time. Not substantial sleep but enough to sustain me for the day. We received airplane food, which was an amazing experience! Then we landed and I embarked on the journey of going through the customs and checking of bags. I was very nerve wrecked that i would fail at doing something, but I made it through with a couple of bruises from the shoving. Then, I met up with the ISEP folks and we made the adventure to the bus. WHICH WAS A CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Omgoodness someone tried to grab my suitcase, which horrifying. I wrestled it back and then made sure that nobody approached me the rest of the way. Once I was in the van I was able to look out the window and we headed to the school. It was amazing! It reminded me of Cuba. There were people selling food on the street and people driving like CRAZY. My eyes were glued outside absorbing the commercial advertisment and the entirely new environment. Once we came back I happily made my bed and then we went to dinner at a place called tasty treats. The Ghanaian food was a mixture of Cuban, Indian, and Latin American. I love it. I think it will take a bit of adjustment to get used to eating it daily. After that i went STRAIGHT TO BED, which was very difficult because the electricty went out and came back on at midnight: TIA (This is Africa). I woke up at 10pm unable to sleep because of the heat and the noises outside. The sounds ecco from the parking lot to my room on the 4th floor. I am placed in a room by myself, in which a ghanaian will fill in a couple weeks, which is EXACTLY WHAT I WANT. I spent the next two hours awake writing in my journal and going through various emotions. From, excitement to nervousness, to crying myself to sleep. I think woke up in he morning and ran down stairs for our provided breakfast of omletes. Then we went from the first Ghana President Museum to the Accra Mall, to a very popular marketplace were I refilled on water, since I can only drink bottled water here. The day was exausting! When we walked on the streets people would persist to sell us things even though I don't EVEN WANT ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT. I am fascinated about how cute kids are here!!!!!! I talked to one for five minutes and it makes me SO EXCITED TO START VOLUNTEERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had dinner at the same place, tasty treats and a different variation of ghanaian food. All of the ISEP kiddos joined us. There are fourteen of us. Four were here last semester and one was here two months early. I LOVE EVERYONE. EVERYONE IS SO NICE!!!! The student guides are amazing as well! I ADORE THEM!!!!!!! I also just got a phone. I have yet to put minutes on it...soon to be. And IF ANYONE WANTS TO CHAT...WE'LL have to schedule a time to talk considering the 5 to 6 to 7 hour time difference. Butttt I promise to blog more later...I haven't showered since Wednesday night...about to experience THE ONLY SHOWERS ARE FREEZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But we shall see!! :) Tomorrow I am going to a Ghanaian church service and then the beach for the day. I don't know when I will have time to blog again but I SEND MY LOVE TO EVERYONE AND WILL TRY TO UPLOAD PICTURES...SOOOONNN!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxxooxxoxooxxoox