Lesson one: don't forget your camera

My first day in Accra, and I forgot my camera. Alas, I have no pictures to actually prove that I'm here and not writing this from an airport hotel in Newark, so you'll just have to trust my account of my first 24 hours sans photographic evidence.
After flying for what seemed like forever (which included 5 hours in the Frankfurt airport where I couldn't buy lunch because I didn't have any Euros.... not realizing I had 3 debit cards on me), I finally landed in Accra.

It's so beautiful over here, everything is so colorful and different. The traffic is crazy; there doesn't seem to actually be any traffic rules, cars just kind of go when they see an opening and surprisingly it works. I will never doubt a New York taxi driver again; they're only crazy by American standards. The people are absolutely amazing. Smiling is a legitimate form of communication, and everyone waves hello and is so nice and friendly. Even the immigration officers at the airport were friendly (unlike the time I was almost detained in Germany for talking to the officer too long). Immediately after stepping off the plane, I felt welcomed and calmed, and not so freaked out about the prospect of living in Africa for 4 months. That and upon leaving the airport, it was comforting to see a giant billboard welcoming President Obama to Ghana. Finally, a place where my Obama love will be shared.

Most importantly: our food is AMAZING!! As soon as I figure out what it's all called, I'll let you know. Lots of fried plantains, rice, and spices... there are no words for how delicious it is. And there's white pineapple. Seriously, its really weird looking, but is so much tastier than yellow pineapple.

Despite everyone's jetlag, orientation still went on. I had my first lesson in Twi, one of the 44 languages spoken in Ghana. I learned how to say

• my name (Me de Caitlin)
• ask what your name is (Wo de sen?)
• "I don't have money" (Me nni sika)
• and my favorite, "Grandmother, do you like the chicken?" (Me paakyew Nana, Wo pe akokonam, anaa?)

I got my cellphone today (bye bye Voyager, hello Nokia brick from 1999), and I'm almost tempted to call my grandmother just to ask her if she likes the chicken.

We also had an awesome lecture and tour of the city by Accra's former Mayor, Nat Amarteifo, who also teaches a class and, subsequently, has me questioning my course choices for the semester...The guy is awesome, I definitely wouldn't mind chilling with him for the semester and taking field trips around Accra with him.
We went to an old slave fort in Old Accra, and as terrible as it sounds, the first thing I thought was "So this is where the Feed the Children commercials are filmed". I then silently scolded myself for this, but beyond the fort having so much history, I was amazed to see that people had constructed homes in the ruins of the fort. They were having a church service in the old slave cells, and it was still being used. From there, we went to the back of the fort and I got my first sight of the Atlantic Ocean: the African perspective. This is right about the time I kicked myself for not having a camera. The beach was lined with painted canoes that are rowed to and from the fishing boats because the shore is rocky and the tide is so strong.

Now if the jetlag would just go away...