Tuesday, June 17, 2008

"To me it is new"

Muse 'Fillip'

6.10.2008 1130pm

I still haven't slept yet, but I promised myself I'd write something every night. After we landed we had to wait around a little while because two people lost a bag and they had to file some papers. Once that was over we all piled into a couple PC buses and the police escorted us to the place we are staying. I didn't really like that we were being treated so well by having a police escort, because it seems like that's exactly what we're not supposed to be doing. But the trainers explained that it's because it would have taken two hours to get back, and with all of our luggage and stuff we would have made a good target for armed robbery. I guess it's ok then.

There were a lot of people walking around in traffic selling anything you can think of from baskets on their heads. We also passed a lot of what seemed like small markets, but it was dark so it was hard to tell. The place we stayed at was pretty nice, we had electricity and running water. They fed us some dinner too, rice and red sauce and fried chicken.

6.11.2008 10.50pm
We went to the ambassadors place for a reception, even though she wasn't there. It was a pretty swanky place. They are really easing us into the Peace Corps experience.

We had a long day, but breakfast started out good. They gave us a brown porridge type thing that tasted like peanuts but didn't have peanuts in it. Plus some hardboiled eggs and bread with homemade peanut butter. I've been feeling a little nauseous but it could be malaria medicine, lack of sleep, or anything.

We toured the office today and did some more medical stuff, nothing too exciting.

6.12.2008 8.05pm
Early night tonight, we need it. I think we're all a little sleep deprived. We had a lot of meetings about safety and health and stuff like that. Most of the stuff they told us about security is the same that would apply to any large city in the states.

I got to try my first Ghanaian food today, banku. It's made from corn and is slightly fermented, making it a little sour, and it's served with soup. It looks like a ball raw dough, but tastes pretty good with the soup. We had to eat with our hands which will take some getting used to. And I'm not allowed to use my left hand to eat with either, so that's also a small challenge.

I got my Vision Quest assignment, which means I go visit a current volunteer for a couple days. I'm going to visit one of the guys that is training me, Ernest. He's in the Eastern region. It should be fun, I'll get to see what the PC is really like.

6.13.2008 10.02pm
We had Accra Quest today, so they gave us some tasks and let us go explore the city. My group, Serena, Brandon, and me, had to take Serena to the Peace Corps office first because her hand was swollen from some kind of bug bite. We got really lost on the way there and got stuck in a major rain storm. By the time we made it to the office we were literally dripping wet, and the trainers laughed at us. The nurse wasn't even in so we left and went to the market.

Every 3 minutes the market women were yelling white girls or obruni, which means white person. We stopped and tried to use what little Twi we knew, and they laughed at us but were very friendly. I bought a mango and some plantain chips, both really really good. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the day but by the end I felt semi comfortable getting around on my own.

The main public transportation, tro tros, consists of thousands of 15 passenger vans that look like they are 20 years old and have never had a tune up. They usually jam 20 to 25 people in each and the 'mate' sticks his head out the window shouting the name of the place they are going. So if they are going to Accra it sounds like 'Accraccraccraccraccra.' And they have all kinds of hand signals to tell which place they are going. Everyone was pretty friendly when we asked for help on the tros too. Tomorrow Vision Quest starts.

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