First Impressions

I was fortunate enough to come a few days before the program actually began so a small group of us had some time to get acclimated, relax and have some fun before everyone arrived. We met Yao (our Program Coordinator who plans our day-to-day activities) and he showed us some nice places to go out. It was great to be able to experience the city and the hoppin’ night life of Accra. The people are incredibly friendly and open. This photo is of a group of us that went out one night with some of Yao’s friends. (Yao is the one in the black and white shirt)




We rode the tro-tro to Osu. The tro-tro is a mode of public transportation, basically a van packed full of people with a man hanging out the window yelling where it is going. It only costs a few cents to ride most anywhere. The photo below is of me and Valerie (my friend and current roommate here in Ghana) in the back of the tro-tro. We look deceptively comfortable. People are packed very tight and there are seats at the end of the rows which cleverly fold up. You can see my knee which I had to prop up in order to make room for the person sitting in front of me.



Now that the program has started our days are packed with activities! We met our Ghanaian peers (they will be working with us on our service projects), have had lectures about development in Africa and specifically Ghana and have toured the University of Ghana – Legon (Kofi Annan now serves as chancellor of this University) and the city of Accra.

We have been around a bit now and have experienced the market, which was an amazing cultural experience. People hustle here to make money and sell goods. The busy streets are filled with people who are carrying things on their heads, as you can see in this picture:




Ghana loves Obama! His name is everywhere and his image can be found in many art pieces, as I saw at the market:



We also visited the beach:




I feel so renewed here! I am happy and just excited about each new day!