first impressions.

greetings from ghana! i have arrived. safely. it was a long trek to africa, but everything went fine and i am so happy to be here.

my first few days have been a complete whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion, sweat and sunshine. and i am smiling because i love it so much already. i arrived in kumasi after a bumpy 5 hour bus ride from accra (during which we watched a ghanian film about a little boy impersonating an adult... really strange)and was immediately hit by the hot hot heat. my organization took me to my host family, and told me that my host mom's father had just passed away, so the whole family is at my house. as we pulled up i saw a large house, with about a dozen teenage boys out on the front porch, staring at me. a bit intimidating, but i grabbed my pack, and walked up to say hello. my host mom, felicia, came and greeted me with a huge hug and smile, and ushered me into the sitting room to relax and talk. she called me her daughter, and told me that she is my mother. that i am to be free in ghana, and make this my home. it was so welcoming, and i felt very at ease right away. she showed me to my room, which is very simple; two cots and a plastic chair and table.

i learned that my roommate had already arrived a few days earlier, and is from canada. after i settle in, i was whisked off for "orientation" which basically consisted of taking us out to lunch and showing us where the ATM is. lunch was... interesting... but i ate it, because i refuse to wilt in africa (that's for you family!). after orientation i went home and was immediately shoved in a taxi with my host mom and brother to go to the market to get my dress made for the funeral. they asked if i wanted to come, and i said yes... but i had no idea what i was in for. i had to buy the fabric, pay the seamstress, pick out my design, buy a head-dress and shoes, and give an offering at the service. very expensive. but totally worth it for the cultural experience. after running around town to get everything ready, we came back to the house to meet erin, my roommate, who is just 18. she showed me around the house and took me to the internet cafe before bed.

on sunday, we got ready for the funeral around 10 am, but didn't end up leaving until 1:30. the three other volunteers and i wore traditional ghanian dresses and headdresses, and looked SO white. we all piled into a brothers van and sweat the entire 20 minutes to the funeral. when we arrived, we were told to sit down with felicia's family. everyone was interested in us, especially the camera boys. they held the camera on us for 5 minutes straight, multiple times. a little awkward. felica made an announcement, and had us walk around and greet all the families. later, we were asked to carry presents on our heads, the way africans do, and parade around the crowd. i'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous, but it was really fun. after that, all of the moms came and made us dance, two of the other volunteers were shy about it, but i jumped right in. it was amazing. they showed us how to dance the traditional way, and we showed them some of our moves... and we compromised somewhere in the middle. later, my host dad, nicholas, told us that we stole the show, and that everyone was so happy to see us dance.

the funeral lasted until 10 at night... and then our host brother made us go out to the club, at midnight... until 5 in the morning. it was a very very very long day/night. but it was great. an amazing introduction into ghanian culture.

on monday we started at the orphanage, just learning how to get there (its about a half hour away, and a dollar each way for the taxis), and where everything is. the kids go to school until 2 in the afternoon, so we didn't meet them until tuesday. i fell in love immediately with about half of them. they ran up to me, and the other volunteers, and gave us huge hugs and asked our names, where we are from and then they grabbed our hands and led us around the orphanage. they are so adorable. most are under 10, many under 5, and only a few older ones. on wednesday we spent more time with them, in the afternoon, and brought some coloring supplies and had an impromptu art session, which they loved. it was great, and i am so excited to spend three months with these children.

yesterday i woke up not feeling so great, so my family made me stay home and rest. in the afternoon i was feeling better, so my host parents drove me to the site of the new orphanage (they just bought land to start building a new orphanage with a school attached), i was doing fine until all the sudden, i wasn't. i started to get crazy overheated, and dizzy. i told nicholas that i wasn't feeling well, and that i needed to go back to the car. this would have been fine, except everyone is ghana walks SO slow... so, i didn't make it. i had to squat (i'm so embarrassed, i promised not to squat anymore... but i had to), in order not to faint. finally, my host brother kobie had to carry me, very embarrassing, to the car. my mom told me that i had to go to the hospital, and i said no. she told me that i had to because when you are dizzy it can be maleria. so then i said ok, i'll go. we got to the hospital, and i was barely pulling it together, my mom forced me ahead of everyone else, i felt terrible for cutting, but i think they took pity on the poor weak obruni (white girl), so they let me go first. the doctor just asked me what was wrong, took my blood pressure, and wrote me a prescription for dehydration salts, diarrhea (which i didn't have), and vitamins (which i am taking every day on my own). it was kind of silly, but the dehydration salts made me feel much better. they think i ate something bad, or was just overheated. i'm not sure... but it was a fun little experience, that has kept me from going to work today as well. i have been house-bound, and my family is taking good care of me.

unfortunately, this also meant i couldn't go to the cape coast this weekend with the other volunteers, instead i have to stay home by myself. but i'm sure i'll find something fun to do in kumasi, as there is lots and lots to do.

i am working on uploading pictures, but the internet is incredibly slow here... so i am told you have to do one at a time. i will figure this out as soon as i can, and upload pictures from my first week.

i miss you all, but am SO happy to be where i am.

love,
ashley