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The last post was pretty deep and I'm really glad I got to share what's been on my heart since traveling began. I'm pretty much all settled into our house now so I'll let y'all read a bit about daily life... or what I know of it so far.

Ghana is similar to Zambia culturally it seems: relational people, helpful people, religious atmosphere, not rules-driven at all, etc etc. However, Ghana differs significantly in terms of wealth. Of course there are poor parts but there are poor parts in every city even in America. It's strange to see the same road-side stores but this time with dresses for sale for 60 cedis (pronounced seed-ies) which is about $45 USD. Mercedes Benz and Range Rover SUVs filled the grocery store parking lot, which sold food at outrageous prices. Like $12 USD for Black Cat Peanut Butter (the cheapest brand ever which was a luxury in Zambia for $6ish). Women wear the most beautiful and creative Ghanaian (guh-nay-un) dresses with brilliant colors and patterns. Clothing stores operate as couturiers with custom tailoring and dress-making for the same price as the dress is off the rack. Last night I was taken out for pizza by my boss, Renae, to this incredible restaurant which was amazing. But I kinda felt like I was cheating. Poverty still exists in this capital city I just haven't seen much of it yet. Of course there still are indicators that I'm in Africa including: the rotten smell of hot eggs and milk mixed with burnt trash, goats and chickens running loose, small vendors selling mixed merchandise: anything from toothbrushes to $10 Corn Flakes to hangers to homemade beans and rice, incredible fresh fruit such as mango, bananas, plantains, papaya, etc, lively music coming from every stand and house, so many advertisements for cell phones and food, dried fish (or not dried) sitting out with flies on it, children running around mostly as salesmen, huge baskets on women's heads and the list could go on and on.

We live in a gorgeous house though. It used to be a restaurant and lodge so it actually feels kinda like Kamloops (for all my Zamfriends who may be reading along- Tennis biscuits and Nutella just aren't the same with out y'all!). The house is all one level but has different wings closed off from each other. I'm in the section just for volunteers and interns. I sleep on the bottom bunk of a room with 2 bunk beds next to a bathroom which we share with the other bedroom of 3 people. Our bedroom is the only one that has A/C so we're thankful for that! Showers are 5 mins or less to avoid running out of reserve water with Accra's water outages which are frequent and often lasting for days, even weeks. Water is always cold but it actually feels good with the intense sun, heat and humidity of being on the equator. We've just entered rainy season here so it'll rain a bit every day but last night it was just a torrential downpour for like 10 minutes then stopped. It's looking like it'll rain here again soon as the sun's already starting to go down (it's 5pm here now). I cannot describe the suffocating heat here; it's just intense. We don't have A/C in any other part of the house so it's just hot. The main house has everything else in it: huge kitchen, living/seating areas, Global Mamas office, Renae and her adopted 2 year old son's room, outdoor patio for seating and a beautiful backyard with a big pool, hammocks and reading chairs. We're really spoiled here but it feels great to be living here knowing we'll also be working here most days. We're still in a compound-type house with walls and barbed wire with an iron gate with a guard for both day and night. We have 1 parrot, 2 ducks, 3 giant dogs: 2 mastiffs and one Spanish Weimaraner which are prettyyy scary looking. They're starting to be my friends now after the noticed that I'm not trying to hurt Ben (Renae's son); I just want to play with him.

Last night I got dinner with Renae and Ben then just hung out and unpacked a lot of stuff. I'll be here for the next 7 or so weeks before my parents come when we'll be doing some traveling and then off to Zambia! My third roommate, Tori, arrived late last night so we just stayed up talking with the other volunteer we live with, Jess, who has been here for about a year now. Today we slept in to catch up on our missed sleep from flights and went off on our first adventure. About a block away are tons of vendors lining the street with anything you'd ever want- mostly food products. We got a tour of the place from Jess as she pointed out who her favorites are and where to find what. We bought fresh bread and mango that tasted like a chunk of heaven. Incredible. I only tasted it after I was taught how to properly slice mango to get the most meat of out it which took a solid 20 minutes so that may have added to the deliciousness. We enjoyed eating mango on the patio with Grace, Ben's nanny who is a local here and brought her daughter to the house to play with Ben too. Grace is very sweet and I can't wait to get to know her better this summer. Then along with Maria, a woman from Spain, we took off on our first big adventure. We went to a downtown part to see the Global Mamas retail store, do some other shopping and stop in at the lavish grocery. We met up with 2 women from Germany and one from Australia to do some shopping for the barbecue tonight. We've been invited, along with lots of other Americans, to a house owned by a couple who works at the US Embassy to meet other Americans and enjoy a traditional Ghanaian evening with music and food. All of us are encouraged to wear traditional Ghanaian clothes so I've borrowed a dress from Maria to wear until I can find a Ghanaian dress that I love enough to make my own. I've gotta get ready now so I'll type more later as play comes to an end and work begins. I'll hopefully post some photos soon, too!

Please continue to pray for my time here in this new place with new people and a new job that God will be glorified above it all.