Hello from Ghana!!

Hello!!

Wow, I can't believe I've been here less than 48 hours. The last 2 days have been crazy!

Arrived in Ghana late on Monday night (few delays leaving UK due to weather, but nothing major). The airport was an interesting place - I received my first marriage proposal at the baggage area, had a bizarre experience with customs, was hounded outside for English pounds and then was squeezed into a bus that seemed a little too small for all the bags we UK people felt the need to bring... :-) However, we made it to the hotel safely and it turned out to be really nice. I'd heard horror stories beforehand so was a little nervous, but the people with the stories must just have had really high standards....! It even has a pool and the food is lovely!

We arrived a day late (flights rescheduled due to September 11th) so we're having to fit 5 days training into 4, which is seriously intense (considering we've had very little sleep). However, the sessions are all really interesting and there's air conditioning. Not that we need it at the moment - the weather is lovely! Warm but with a really cool breeze.

I've now had 2 rounds of language training, with another session tomorrow. So far so good I think, albeit my notes are filled with my spelling as opposed to actual spelling (to help me remember how to say things) and I can't speak anywhere near as quickly as I'm supposed to.... Hard going, but my first visit to the market is likely to be an interesting experience!

It is normal in the first week of induction to visit a typical apartment, which we did last night. Turns out it's going to be my apartment (I move in on Saturday). I met my new housemate too, Ronald from Kenya. We travelled to the apartment by Tro-Tro - van/mini bus with around 12 seats in it - and took a taxi back. Interesting experience....enough said! :-D

Tonight we are going to a 'cultural evening'. Not sure what it entails but will find out soon enough!

I have free internet access at the hotel, but it's very slow and can only access certain sites (blog and hotmail are fine; facebook is a no-no). It's been a long time since I've had slow internet - amazing what you miss!! So to those of you who have messaged me on facebook, I'm not ignoring you and I will respond when I can (may be a week or so yet). Skype is a no-no too at the moment but will hopefully get that up and running at the weekend (fingers crossed!)

Hope you are all well!!

Rachel x