Hello from Accra!

I made it! Flying was amazingly easy and I really enjoyed it. Clouds are so beautiful, especially at sunset. As soon as I passed through security I found another student from my program, Christine Crowther, so we traveled together. I sat in seat 14b and thought about LOST as the plane began to move and the safety instructions scrolled on the screen. On the flight out from Dulles I sat next to a girl from UNC.

Linda Passah picked us up at the Accra airport. A beautiful woman with a pretty African dress and tiny dreds. Walking around I didn't hear much English. The ride home was fun. Beautiful paved roads with people on the street-side who walk by and offer goods when traffic stalls. The women had huge bags and trays balanced on their heads. I want to learn to do that.

The student hostel is a big hollow rectangle, with a beautiful grassy lawn in the middle. I will post pictures when I figure out how. There are a lot of other international students here about 6 that I have met from California. We don't have permanent room assignments yet but we did get a little bucket full of things to get us started. Buckets for bathing, a soap dish, plates and cutlery. They held up a mini bucket and laughed when we said we didn't know what it was for. Apparently, the shower water does not come from overhead and sometimes and you have to collect it in the big bucket and pour it over yourself. They don't have heated water or AC. I don't think I will mind.

We just had a great meal for $2 and now we stopped to get on the internet for an hour. Gaby is our tour guide and I am really glad we have one. We met a friend of Gaby's named William who went to NCSU College of Textiles. We did the wolf pack sign to each other. YES! Walking through campus the ground is a orange clay, the trees a deep green, the sky bright blue. Little white birds stand out against the backdrop of the trees. The people are all dressed nicely. The air smells a bit like copper. I like it here.

That's it. I am safe. Now you know ;)