Orientation (January 19-20)

I arrived in Ghana around 3pm local time on Tuesday, Jan. 19th, the heat welcomed me as I welcomed it back!  I was taken to my new home for the next two months in the north part of Accra. My roommate is from Norway and her name is Rikke. There are 4 more volunteers staying at the house. Everyone is super friendly and very nice. The hosting family is very accommodating and nice as well. On that night, I went to the local pub with my housemates and then off to the Projects Abroad quiz night and met most of the other volunteers that are working in Accra.

The next day Daniel from Projects Abroad gave me my orientation by showing me how to get to my placement, as well as informing me of all safety precautions and tips for living in Ghana. He also took me and another volunteer that just arrived from the UK for lunch where had a  traditional meal.  I’ll talk more about the food on another blog posting.  The main attraction of the day was riding on one of Ghana’s cheapest methods of public transportation which is on the Tro Tro. Let me tell you it’s a ride worth taking! It’s this mini van/bus that seats approx..12 or more (who ever can shove themselves in), has the driver and conductor who is basically a guy yelling the destination and collects your money. You do have to pray before going on one of those things since all the vans are really old and the drivers there live dangerously.  Watching the colourfulness and the orderly chaos on the streets from the window was very entertaining.