My flights were great to Ghana and I was able to see some pretty cool things too. I saw the Swiss Alps, the Meditereanian Sea, and a first look at Africa! We landed safely in Accra, Ghana. Then, we went through customs. Now, I was the first to go through customs. I walked up to the booth, and the man took my passport and asked my why I was here. I told him to teach in Tema. He asked how long, and I replied "Two months." He looked me straight in the face, and said "I'll give you one month."
At this point, I about had a heart attack. I didn't know what I was going to do! I turned around to look at my coordinator for help, and then I heard the strangest noise... I heard laughing!
!! The customs man was laughing at me!!! He told me he was just kidding and then let me through. It was awful at the time, but a great memory to have.We all grabbed our luggage and the packed into a van to head to Tema. It was about 20 minutes. We were greeted with a snack of chicken and then we all crashed in bed. I'm staying in hut number 11 with my suite mate Nicole.
The next morning, we woke up at 7 am and got a tour of the SOS Primary School. Some of the kids sang us welcome songs that were really cute! After that, we had a little bit of a break which was very nice. After lunch, we headed out for a tour of Tema. We first stopped at the SOS International College, my school. I found out that I'm teaching GRADES 10 - 13, not ages!!! I'm excited about that, but also nervous!
After the SOS HGIC (me school), we had our tour of Tema, and I purchased my first object, Hello Panda cookies (similar to a Koala Yummy). They were yummy. I also brought a map of Tema, some cookies, and a Ghana scarf at a market. We finally got home for dinner, which was delicious. After dinner, we relaxed and hung out!
The next day, HALLOWEEN (which is not celebrated here), we traveled by van to Kakum National Park. We walked through a canopy walk and I saw my first monkey!!! Upon finishing the walk, we went to the Coconut Beach Resort in Elmina (al-me-na). Elmina is a big fishing city. We were SOOO spoiled here! Our resturant overlooked the ocean. So, we were sitting in a cabana... the coconut groove cabana (I personally thought of it as the coco cabana ;)) eating lunch. I also went in the Atlantic Ocean!!!
After that, we headed to Elmina Slave Castle. It was so amazing. Words cannot really describe it. We then started home to Tema. It took us VERY long because we were stuck in traffic, but some of us played Euchre to pass the time.
Today, we had a totally relaxing day. We woke up and ate breakfast at 8. Then, some of us went swimming. Some of the kids joined us, so it was really fun!! Then, we ate lunch and headed over to Barbara's (my coordinator) hut. She lives in more of an apartment. We played Blind Baseball and Spoons for 3 hours! It was really fun and a great way to get to know my fellow classmates. We then played with the SOS kids for 2 hours! I LOVED IT! Here is a picture:
So far, I love it here! It has b
een amazing and I feel great! I miss everyone and I hope you are all doing well and had a safe and fun Halloween. God bless you!!!