Akwaaba!!

Well, after a very very long day of travel, I arrived at the Kotoka airport in Accra safely. As I stepped off the airplane, a very humid and hot wall of air hit me. I looked around, and all I could see was red dirt everywhere with a few palm trees and a giant sign reading "Akwaaba!" (welcome in Ghana) It was a little hectic at first. I grabbed my bags and exchanged all of my U.S. money. At first, I didn't see Dr. Amartey there with my name on a sign. I was frantic, but it turned out he was waiting behind customs for me, I just couldn't see him. Needless to say, I was very relieved to see "Marinda Morgan" in big bold letters. Before I met up with him, I had Ghanaian men trying to help me with my bags left and right. They were trying to offer help so I would pay them. When I found Dr. Amartey, he shooed them away, but as we hastily got into the car, they were banging on the windows telling us to give them money. They followed us all the way out to the entrance! I was happy to be in an air conditioned car. As we drove through the city, I could barely concentrate on the small talk I was making with Dr. Amartey because everything around me looked so different. The streets are lined with people balancing things on their heads to sell. There are countless booths with peopl e in them selling goods. Lots of people just standing and talking and laughing. I love it, the city seems to be so full of energy, and at 7:30 in the morning! The driving here is crazy! People drive literally inches away from eachother but speed along like it is no big deal. There are no lanes on the roads, so you just have to swerve away to narrowly miss other cars. The roads are all red dirt that flies everywhere as you drive on them.
    After about a half hour of driving, we finally arrived at the Amartey's house. We honked the horn, and the house boy came to open up the gate. Dr. Amartey explained that he is like a butler who lives with them. He is deaf and dumb, as he put it, so he is hard to communicate with, but very very kind. He helped me with my bags and stepped inside.The Amartey's have a very nice house as far as Ghanaian standards. My room has a full sized bed with electricity. There are TVs in the house, and a flushing toilet, and nice red velvet couc hes. As soon as I was situated, Dr. Amartey had to leave for work at his health clilnic. His wife is a doctor also, so she was gone already, and their little girl had gone to school. So, I was left on my own with the house boy. I was exhausted, so I quickly ate some corn flakes and bread they had put out for me, and went to my room to try and take a nap. For some reason, as hard as I tried, I couldn't sleep. So, I decided to go find the house boy and get to know him a little better. He was out in the backyard with chickens running around ironing laundry. I shared some Mike and Ike candies with him, but he didn't like them. He said they were too sweet. haha. I also brought some playing cards out when he was finished and we sat in the front yard on the dirt and I taught him the game of War using hand motions. I think he  can read lips a little bit. It was a lot of fun. He likes to laugh a lot. He ended up beating me quite a few times! After an hour or so of playing, Mrs. Amartey came home and started preparing dinner. Shortly after, Dr. Amartey and their little daughter, Naa, who is 3 years old arrived home as well. She is the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She keeps coming up to me and hugging me adn wanting me to come play with her. I blew some bubbles with her on the back porch lastnight. She apparently met a white woman once named Lee, and so she calls me "Auntie Lee". Children here refer to all elder woman as "Auntie"..and then their name. But she can't seem to understand that I would be Auntie Marinda. haha.
       We all sat down to a dinner of fried plantains (banana-like fruit. Very very delicious!), rice, chicken, and a spicy red chile sauce, and strawberry kiwi juice. Mr. and Mrs. Amartey love hearing about American's perceptions of Africans. They think all Americans believe that all Africans sleep in trees and hunt lions. haha. I told them that is not too far from the truth for those who don't read about African culture. I showed them pictures of my family and home. They loved hearing and seemed very interested in what I had to say. I talked with Dr. Amartey for some time about the differences in political aspects and society of Ghana vs. America. Oprah was blaring in the background. He said they watch a lot of American cable shows. He asked me if Jerry Springer is really how Americans act. haha. I told him, that's really extreme and for the most part, acted out. We had a good laugh about it. I brought M and Ms, a calendar By 8:30pm, it was about time for bed. They go to bed early and rise early here. Mrs. Amartey brought out a bath sponge that they had bought for me to take a bath. The house boy heated up water for me, and I took a bucket bath. It was nice to be clean. IT is so hot here, that I sweat a lot. I plopped into bed and fell right asleep.
      This morning, we got up at 6:00am and had a breakfast of bread, fried egg with flour (kind of like crepes) and tea. They drink a lot of tea here, herbal and regular. Then, I was to come to work with Dr. Amartey at his health clinic. It took about an hour to get to his clinic. There is so much traffic in the morning because people just drive wherever. There are vendors that walk through the traffic and try to sell things like newspapers, gum, DVDs. Dr. Amartey bought me a map of ghana from a vendor to keep so I can see where everything is. Now, I am sitting in the very nice health clinic. They have let me run all of the diagnostic tests for Malaria. I am doing blood sample and urine sample testing  and recording the data.Malaria is very common here. About 90% of the patients who have come in today came in for Malaria. The nurse explained a lot about the health system here to me. They have a national health insurance here. She showed me around, and took me to the back to show me the animals she keeps. She has some parrots she has owned for 37 years!! and some weird looking deer-like animals that I have never seen. It was cool! There are cocoa trees and coconut trees everywhere.
       Anyway, I need to get going, but I just wanted to update. I am enjoying my experience so much here so far. Everyone is so kind to me and they make me feel very welcome. I think I am going to like it here a lot. I already feel so comfortable. Later today, we are going to the town. Until next time, goodbye!