Arrived in Ghana!
I'm here in an internet cafe off the camp near the PCO office - and it's SLOOOOW. Don't know if I have the patience for it- or the $$. It won't get me to blogger so am not sure how to save it.
All went well with the journey - an interesting mini-chat at JFK with a fellow in an elevator. To get to my flight toAmsterdam I had to leave the secured area and trek in darkness outside and to an elevator to a train to the terminal. Clearly I was not thrilled with it - and as he approached me he clearly sized me up. "You have a lot of stuff." Yup. "You need to be careful." Cool. Warning from a not-mugger.
Anyway, highlights: my luggage is not here except for the excessively heavy carry-on backpack that I no longer feel silly for. I was met at the airport by Fred and Emanuel of PCO, and then the taxi got booted when we were getting in because the driver stopped in the wrong place. Fred and I walked some distance as the others worked things out with the police and a wad of cash changed hands.
We stay in a guest house which is ... rustic. I'm thrilled for electricity since my flashlight is in my luggage. There's no refrigeration (or shelving - food lies around tables) and the entrance is a courtyard where our clothes hang to dry. It's a nice layout with the courtyard and Amass cooks dinner for us. She's great - everybody is.
There are several international volunteers - from US, Canada, India. They seem a very nice group. Emanuel is the head of the organization and he's sharp as a whip. His parents tell him he's 25, but he thinks he's older (I'd agree) but there's no birth certificate or any such thing. He's Liberian, as they all are at the camp (though he lives in the guest house with us). We had nice political conversations in the taxi last night and while I see he annoys the others at time I see good times ahead for us. He's underthrilled with taking me in to Accra again tonight - it's a long hour taxi ride - to check on my luggage, but he's being a good sport.
Today Mercy, the assistant director of PCO, has taken me all around - meeting UN and camp bigwigs. I queried the clinic personnel about HIV transmission and such, and they're very with it We just had a yummy lunch of "kallar" (collard) greens with herring/chicken and rice. Very spicy. I tried the fufu which is cassava pounded and boiled and such - it was yummy. All good with food.
It's hot here though not extreme - I'm sweating up a storm with everybody else, but I'm having a skirt made right now and that will help. While I really do hope for my luggage, I'm resigning myself to the possibility that it may never arrive - and one pair of pants simply will not do.
It's going to be hard for me to check/respond to email because it's very slow and I need to ask everybody to not send me email forwards.
The level of friendliness here is very comfortable - polite and welcoming but not pushy.
Anyway, don't know if this is too long to post, but I'll try now before my time runs out. And then pick up my skirt, go back to the house and have a nap maybe, and then back to Emanuel to the airport.
We had a meeting today about the projects and it looks like I'll be able to lend a helping hand with several different projects - both children's and adult literacy - and school set-up, so it will all be good. I'll be going house-to-house this week speaking with parents about children enrollment, so that will be nice intro to people.
All went well with the journey - an interesting mini-chat at JFK with a fellow in an elevator. To get to my flight toAmsterdam I had to leave the secured area and trek in darkness outside and to an elevator to a train to the terminal. Clearly I was not thrilled with it - and as he approached me he clearly sized me up. "You have a lot of stuff." Yup. "You need to be careful." Cool. Warning from a not-mugger.
Anyway, highlights: my luggage is not here except for the excessively heavy carry-on backpack that I no longer feel silly for. I was met at the airport by Fred and Emanuel of PCO, and then the taxi got booted when we were getting in because the driver stopped in the wrong place. Fred and I walked some distance as the others worked things out with the police and a wad of cash changed hands.
We stay in a guest house which is ... rustic. I'm thrilled for electricity since my flashlight is in my luggage. There's no refrigeration (or shelving - food lies around tables) and the entrance is a courtyard where our clothes hang to dry. It's a nice layout with the courtyard and Amass cooks dinner for us. She's great - everybody is.
There are several international volunteers - from US, Canada, India. They seem a very nice group. Emanuel is the head of the organization and he's sharp as a whip. His parents tell him he's 25, but he thinks he's older (I'd agree) but there's no birth certificate or any such thing. He's Liberian, as they all are at the camp (though he lives in the guest house with us). We had nice political conversations in the taxi last night and while I see he annoys the others at time I see good times ahead for us. He's underthrilled with taking me in to Accra again tonight - it's a long hour taxi ride - to check on my luggage, but he's being a good sport.
Today Mercy, the assistant director of PCO, has taken me all around - meeting UN and camp bigwigs. I queried the clinic personnel about HIV transmission and such, and they're very with it We just had a yummy lunch of "kallar" (collard) greens with herring/chicken and rice. Very spicy. I tried the fufu which is cassava pounded and boiled and such - it was yummy. All good with food.
It's hot here though not extreme - I'm sweating up a storm with everybody else, but I'm having a skirt made right now and that will help. While I really do hope for my luggage, I'm resigning myself to the possibility that it may never arrive - and one pair of pants simply will not do.
It's going to be hard for me to check/respond to email because it's very slow and I need to ask everybody to not send me email forwards.
The level of friendliness here is very comfortable - polite and welcoming but not pushy.
Anyway, don't know if this is too long to post, but I'll try now before my time runs out. And then pick up my skirt, go back to the house and have a nap maybe, and then back to Emanuel to the airport.
We had a meeting today about the projects and it looks like I'll be able to lend a helping hand with several different projects - both children's and adult literacy - and school set-up, so it will all be good. I'll be going house-to-house this week speaking with parents about children enrollment, so that will be nice intro to people.
posted by NOLA at 6:27 AM
2 Comments:
Hey, girl!
Great to get some news...thanks for taking time to blog!
Hope your luggage comes through!
Gosh! I missed you terribly when I realized I needed one of your famous spins...I just can't remember for what now. Ho hum.
My phone and internet aren't working at home, but my life has become a sort of introverted paradise because of it. No complaints here! Just naps and Netflix at my house--Everything's going as planned! As gummie would say: Muahahaahaa!
Mom and I just had dinner at Templo--it was my first time back since our famed farewell breakfast. I could still make out our skid marks on the carpet in the back....
Love ya!
Jen
Aghhhh! You're in Ghana, and posting from there! Yay! =) Thus is Heidi's first step into the international world for this year's most excellent exotic world tour! =)
*gasp* That's me! "gummie!" I think. =) Muahahahahaaaa! =)
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