Obruni Girl

well
I am here
I am in Ghana
at an internet cafe that charges 70 cents an hour
The experience so far has been rocky, to say the least
but I am here to stay

I arrived in Accra after a slow ten hour flight
tired but extremely excited
I had already chatted for hours with the nice ghanian man
on the plane, and I was already starting to get a lot of attention
due to my err... color? I didn't mind though. That was one thing I
expected. I met one of the volunteer coordinators at the airport
and hopped on a taxi to the Accra bus station. Accra is often described
as being disgusting, but I honestly thought it looked like a lot of fun. The bus station had hundreds of vans called TroTros everywhere, none of which would stop for pedestrians. There were also tons of people carrying everything from loaves of bread to hard boiled eggs on their head hisses at all the people to get their attention. A few people called out to me, "Obruni!" which means white person (I am actually more like super-obruni), but it is more of a curiousity thing here though, rather than sexual or derogatory. i then took a four hour bus ride to Kumasi. The first 20 minutes a man rode with us and actually delivered an entire sermon, in both Twe and English. I would soon understand that Ghana is an insanely Christian country. Along the road I spotted 'God's Gift Hair salon', and 'Jesus Is Our Savior cellphone company.'

I arrived in Kumasi and made my way into the volunteer office where I met my fellow volunteer Meridith. She is 23 and we are pretty much already like sisters--(or Obruni sistahs!). I instantly liked Kumasi. It was crowded, loud, and hot, but I am a city girl. I didn't mind the men shouting at me or the cars driving 100 miles an hour. I loved that it was lively and busy and just full of life. Too bad I wasn't going to stay there.

I was supposed to stay in Kumasi, but things aren't really done here with much exactness. No one wears watches. Everyone waves hello to each other. It is really very nice and relaxed, except the part where no one has any organization or sense of commitment. They were about to ship Merdeith and I, 3 hours away to a small village, when I spoke up. Appaarently Kumasi was packed with volunteers, and they didn't need anyone. Then they decided to send us 30 minutes away to a village called--don't quote me on the spelling--Sechuway ( I called it Sechuan chicken in my head though.)

At this point I was optomistic. I hopped in yet another 3 dollar taxi and rode with Meredith to this village. We found ourselves on a dirt road passing acres of lush greenery. Finally, we stopped in front of a small wooden building. This was the oprhanage. I was instantly greeted by 6 or 7 tiny black children all hugging me. A boy who was missing an arm took my bag. There were chickens and cats running around, and some older children making a fire. No one was wearing shoes. I was shown my room with Meredith. It was a baed with a mosquito net and a closet. I was shown the bathroom, which was a small outhouse with no toilet paper. I realized there was no running water, instead I shower by pouring a bucket over my head, or as I like to call it: "getting my bucket on."

There were 17 children in the orphanage. Off the top of my head there is: Miracle, Augustine, Gladiss, Blessing, Floor, Atah-Kofee, Solomon, Abraham, Junior, and Soh-foo. 2 of them are missing limbs and I often confuse the boys and girls because everyone has the same haircut. There is another volunteer, Steve, who is leaving friday. "You will learn to live like Adam and eve," he said, "the simple life."

The entire time i was freaking out in my head. Trying to figure out how I had gotten into all this, and Meredith was just peachy as kids clung to us asking questions. I went to bed and cried.

I awoke at about 6:30 this morning when all the kids had gone to school. I at a breakfats of flavorless oats and bread (FYI. all they eat are carbs here) and felt a lot better. I walked around the village and some little babies started to cry because they had never seen a white person, which was as hilarious as it sounds.
I am tired, and I have many mosquito bites, but I think I am getting used to it here, and I think I may just be fine.