The first days

I left home this past Thursday and have experienced and seen a ton in the past 5 days, starting with a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam and ending with eating ice cream out of a plastic pouch. From Amsterdam to Accra was a 6 hour flight so I landed in Ghana at around 8pm on Friday. Luckily after I grabbed my luggage I was so relieved to see my new friend holding a CIEE sign..happiest moment ever!

I am now in my permanent housing, the international student hostel at the University of Ghana.  Some things I have to remember while living here..to tuck in my mosquito net under my bed before going to sleep (the first night I failed to do so and got attacked by a mosquito), bring toilet paper with me to the bathroom, don't freak out when lizards decide to join me for the night, and the lady at the entrance will most likely be my new best friend (so friendly and nice!).

My favorite thing I've experienced so far are "trotros,"  basically mini vans that are way too overcrowded for their own good. Theres a guy who serves as the drivers mate who hangs out the window yelling which direction their going in, so you have to listen carefully (especially because they don't say the full word. "Accra" = "cra cra cra").  So you listen, wave em down, and hop on and your on your way!  Around rush hour the trotros become way too intense for me right now.  Yesterday a couple people from my program and I went to the mall around 5pm and where planning on taking a trotro back.  When we saw the amount of people running towards the trotros at a time, we decided itd be in our best interest to take a taxi.  I think I'll need a little bit of practice with the trotros before traveling during rush hour.  One big surprise to me is the language.   Although english is the official language, no one speaks it!! The locals all speak Twi, and I know about..2 phrases.  Luckily I'm taking a Twi language class so I won't be the typical obruni who only knows english.

So far the things I have learned:
1. The term vegetarian does not exist
2. A smile and a hello goes a long way
3. A bar is referred to as a spot
4. I will be eating a lot of rice
5. Red Hot is not spicy..Ghanian food is spicy
6. There are very few rules when driving. So far it seems you can drive on whatever side of the road to avoid potholes
7. Road rage does not exist.
8. Being called an "obruni" is not offensive.
9. Must watch out for the obruni traps (gutters on the side of the road)
10. You can get all of your shopping done while waiting in traffic
11. Ghanian women have impressively good posture and balance (carrying giant bowls of anything on their heads)
12. There are no street names or maps. Know landmarks and a local will be able to point you in the right direction.