Im there!

We landed in Accra, Ghana at about 9:30, after several days. The King of the Ashanti (sp) tribe was on the plane, which delayed us arriving at the gate as he got out whilst on the tarmac, and we were delayed leaving Heathrow - problems with baggage + passengers. So far the experience has been very hot, and very hot. The people are sooo welcoming; everyone has smiles and a friendly attitude. There are 6 volunteers here so far - one more will arrive next Saturday. We range from stays of 4-6 weeks, almost all of us are teaching except for one guy who wants to do some building and stuff as well. I don't know where I will be teaching yet but i think I will be assigned to a class not a subject. We have met lots and lots of children all ready - they are very keen to come and talk. Their English is generally very very good. A couple of them have excellent English - one boy called Robert wants to be a doctor and his English is almost perfect. The adults sometimes don't have as much English as their children, which can seem a little odd; but that's why we are here I suppose. Mostly we have talked to the children, and the parents have been busy working.

The accommodation is pretty good. Its a guest house inside a compound that houses a couple of families. There is a fan in each room which makes it just about bearable at night, except when the power is off. The power is on a 24/12hr cycle - for 24hrs its on, then off for 12. Changeover times are 7am and 7pm. Last night the power was off; tomorrow morning the power will be off. The food is excellent. We eat at the beach resort's restaurant which has won awards for its food. The volunteers eat free, but we do have to pay off our bar tab every so often. The local food is very spicy, but quite filling; rice cooked fruit and some kind of meat is typical. To drink its normally either fruit juice or beer. The beer comes in 625ml bottles - at %5 which is a little much, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Tomorrow will be our first day at school. Tonight we will decide what we will be doing. I'm still not sure what exactly I want to do, but I'm sure Ill find something useful to do. I'm kinda looking forward to teaching now...but kind of nervous at the same time.