Ghana chapter one!

Okay so this will be a proper blog I hope! I will try to include everything.

*warning - very long blog!!!*

Right so I was picked up from the airport at half 4 by Sheila who is an ICYE representative. In the taxi she told me I would be living in Accra with other volunteers and working at Osu Children’s home! The other volunteers are Maria and Anna who are from Germany and have both been here six months already so they really know the ropes! Anna is travelling at the moment so I have not met her yet. Then there is Katharina (Denmark) who has been here two weeks already and is here for another three and a half months so I’m really pleased that there is someone knew to share everything with! As well as us four there was Katrina (from USA) and Frederika (from Italy) who arrived a few days before me but have both gone to Kumasi today to start their projects. Katrina is here for six months too and when me and Katter travel we hope that we will be able to visit her!

I guess if you imagine everything about living in Ghana then you will not be far off from how I am living now! I never thought I would take air conditioning for granted, but I do, and as it is just SO hot I am just constantly sweating!! It means I am pretty much dirty all the time as it is dusty on the roads and everything just floats and sticks to my suncreamed arms and legs! The heat is okay but it is just so constant, and you can’t escape it! Sleeping is the worst because I am on the top bunk and there is no ladder so once I’ve got up and fixed my mozzy net into bed I am sweating more than ever! But last night was much better than the first night. The bed shakes too which isn’t great so we’ll see what happens when Anna returns!!

So anyway back to the house…. When you go in there is a small little entrance bit with a table where we sit. There are the two rooms where we sleep and a kitchen and then a wash area with separate shower and toilet. Of course there is only occasionally running water so we have three HUGE water containers, one for the kitchen and two in the wash room, and we have to just pour the bucket over our head to shower and pour the water into the toilet system to flush it! Actually that is okay, and the shower I had yesterday was actually amazing because it cools you down for about 30 mins after so it is totally worth it! I am already looking forward to my shower for today!

In terms of food we get lunch and dinner made by this cheerful little Ghanaian woman who lives about 2 mins away called Gladys. We have to walk with this yellow wash basket and cloth to cover the food with as apparently it would not be right for us to just walk with the tupperwear on show! I do not know why!! Next door there is a lovely woman called Hetty who shares the yard with us and is always our sweeping and calling to us by name and asking me whether I know Twi yet! Through the fence there are two (or three?) little boys who always call “hello how are you!” when we go by! In fact, lots of people do that. You can get stopped and get your hand shook so many times, and we got honked at all the time but then again everyone honks like crazy here. They drive mad!

So the ICYE office is round the corner and I had a few language lessons but I think I will just try to learn the basics at first as everyone does speak English so it’s okay. Today I got my allowance which is good because I was having trouble withdrawing money but today I MANAGED IT!! So I am just so pleased about that!

I went to the project with Annie (ICYE representative) and met the director lady. She is everything you would imagine a director to be – all stern looking with glasses! – but I really warmed to her because she asked me if I was affected by the credit crunch and seemed to find this really funny, but I have no idea what I had written on my application to make her say that because it was such a long time ago!!! She also asked me about Romania and then after said that I should be in the school part teaching so I was totally happy with that. I went to the school part too and met the Ghanaian teachers and saw there was another volunteer from Sweden and an American lady who they called “granny” but who is 75!! She is leaving in 2 weeks and said she would show me the ropes. She seemed totally mad and good fun!

This is turning into a right long essay but I want to write everything down so I have covered everything for this blog and then I wont need to write so much after this! I suppose I should say that things are obviously hard and I go up and down like a yo yo! At the moment it’s weird because I have no drawers or anything to put my clothes in because the other girls are using them so my clothes will probably just stay on the floor or on my rucksack. Also because I am on the top bunk there isn’t really anywhere to go to chill out. Luckily the volunteers who left today were in this big room with only mattresses on the floor so that is where me and Katharina are chilling out now and we really hope they wont lock the room. I am going to plead my case if they try to but it is where all the short term volunteers stay and those volunteers who have arrived but are going someplace else so they want to keep it empty I think…

So me and Katter went into Osu today which is the area that we are in. We went to a kind of western supermarket and got icecream! From the house the orphanage is only about a 10 min ride on a tro tro and is in the “circle” which is basically the immediate area. The tro tro is a crazy experience in itself actually… they are mini buses that are so broken it is untrue! There is a driver and then a guy who waves his hand out the door to indicate where they are going – a twisty wrist means the circle and a pointed finger means central Accra (I went yesterday with Annie and the other new vols). This guy then jumps in when the thing starts moving and drags the door shut (normally affixed by some rope with the metal exposed and broken and twisted!). These things fit 17 people in at full capacity with two by the driver and all the foldey seats in the isles used! But they are cheap and hilarious!

So I’m going to finish this now! I am actually writing this in the house on Katter’s laptop because whenever I’ve been to the internet café I’ve had headaches and felt too weary to type so much. We are going to bed early and I will be starting work at 7 or 8 so I will be tired come evening. I really look forward to starting work as I really need to just settle in and get into the swing on things!

If anyone wants to text me on my Ghana sim my number is ¬+233 546703714 (I think that is right!).

I’ll write again in a few days, after I start working for real!

Sal xxxx

(p.s. if you have snow in the UK then thing about how I sweat all the time and how hot it is and pile on the jumpers!! I’m not saying I want the freezing cold but I’d sure like air con!)
(p.p.s the water comes in 500ml bags, it is really weird!)
(p.p.p.s now I have money I am really looking forward to buying loads of pineapple and mango and basically living off that!)