An unexpected safari in Dubai, then onwards to Ghana!

COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Tara Deer & Ghana Girls 2012

Hello from Ghana! We have at last all safely arrived, after some delays that left half of us stuck in Dubai for a couple of nights. At first this seemed like a disaster, but the girls involved perked up
after enjoying a camel safari through the desert. Sarah was the only one who managed to arrive on time and had three days by herself in Accra, whereas Tori took a detour through Istanbul. Sophie managed to travel according to plan, which was a surprise, especially because she ended up arriving before the other six who were stuck in the Middle East.

Our two days in Accra were well-spent touring around the city, involving drumming and dancing lessons, explorations in markets, and swimming at Kokrobite beach. Staying at the hostel was a great chance for us all to get to know each other and try out the local language and food. Most notable was the fufu, which is like playdough made out of cassava and drowned in very spicy sauce. We practiced having showers out of buckets, responding to being called "OBRUNI!!" (white person, or literally, someone from over the horizon). On Friday we said an affectionate farewell to Tina, Felicia and Bright who all took very good care of us.

We've now spent three days in Swedru, getting to know our host families and exploring the local area. We all had a full-on weekend with wedding ceremonies, church services, and Sarah and Tori changing homes on Sunday. We're now all really enjoying our host families, who feed us extravagant amounts of food, such as fried plantain, egg stew, and palm nut soup. The church services have been hilarious, preaching interspersed with loud gospel music and dancing in the aisles (Sophie was great at this!). We're all really keen to get our hair braided and get clothes made up in bright and beautiful African fabric!

We've all just come back from our first visit to the orphanage, having travelled there in the back of a ute. The kids were so thrilled to see us, and jumped into the ute to greet us. We spent around an hour meeting and playing with them, singing, hand clapping games, or just having a cuddle. There were about thirty kids of all ages, between two and ten. We'll be spending the rest of this week there before heading into our teaching placements, except for Margie and Annie who are staying on at Helping Hands.

We're all having a FANTASTIC time here, embracing the Ghana culture.
Talk to you again in a couple of weeks, much love, Ghana Girls 2012!