Ghana!!

Hey everyone! Well I finally made it to Ghana. I recorded a couple of videos so I can explain everything with out having to type a bunch with my (still) messed up hand. But the internet stinks here and it wont load the video's on the blog. So I'm going to type it all for you!!
Well, I arrived in Ghana about a week ago and was immediately thrown into trouble. Not trouble that you think, but almost got had by a local Ghana'n. They have these people here who they call professional friends. They play nice and then end up taking everything you have. Pretty messed up. But he asked who i was looking for and I foolishly said USAC. He said he was the program assistant and he would take me to the office. A minute later, the REAL program director swooped in and grabbed me and took me back before I could leave the airport. Wow talk about close calls. But wow, let me tell you, what an amazing place this is. Totally different that what I'm used to. The poverty rate in Ghana is 50% and it shows. You drive past the markets and you can see people sleeping in their stalls and little kids running around playing with broken toys and trying to sell stolen stuff. It's definitely a trip. But the taxi drivers and the tro tro drivers are a species of their own. First of all a tro tro is a bus that jams as many people in it as possible and drops people off. But the drivers of these vehicles are absolutely insane. The drivers just do anything they can to move ahead, Anything. They think of their car as a transportation piece rather than a valued piece of equipment. all of the cars have dents and scratches on them from the traffic here. Very scary stuff.
The people in my program are super nice and friendly and we are all getting along quite well. We are trying to get out and make friends with the locals and have not been super successful yet. However, just the other night, we met some locals who are living in the same hostel as us and they are taking us out tonight. They are really good people and I'm very excited to get a fresh eye at Ghana'n night life with good Ghana'n people. I also started classes yesterday. I taking an African Drumming class and African Dance. I am the only white person in my dance class and it is quite intimidating. But everyone here is super friendly and nice and always want to meet the foreigner. The word for white person in Obroni (pronounced oh-bruni) So everyone is shouting that in class wanting me to sit next to them. It's quite fun.
The food here is quite delicious as well. The custom is to eat with your hands, so I'm sure my mom would agree that my table manners from back home should fit perfectly here. Haha. But they have this rice called Jalafo rice, which is this spicy fried rice served with this tomato sauce called stew. Also they have fried plantains and yams that is served with it. Everything here has some spice to it which is very nice for me. But I'm having a hard time finding other things that is vegetarian. There are a few vegetarians in the program and we tend to stick together at restaurants and such. But the food here is very in expensive. A big plate of Jalafo, spaghetti, salad, fried plantains and yams, and stew is around 1 cedi, which is equivalent to around 73 cents. So it is very inexpensive to eat out. But i must admit the food here is quite delicious. But I am starting to miss some of the food from back home like burritos, cheese, and other things. But that's just coming with the mild home sickness that is starting to take hold, which i know is natural, but still stinks. I know that I'll get over it soon, once i start getting into a rhythm. We are traveling to Cape Coast this weekend to get a new look at Ghana'n fishing culture and beach life. I'm very excited for that.
Anyways I hope everyone is doing well back in the states and let me know if you want to know anything else about anything and I'll be sure to report on it next time I blog. Also, sorry this took a while (Aunt Sharon) but the internet connection over here is not like what we have in the States, which means it takes a while to log on and post things (even writing two emails is a 2 hour task). Anyways I hope to be informing you as much as possible as my journey continues. Peace!