1 week...

So, one week ago today I left my home country of Canada and ventured into a completely foreign Ghanaian adventure... AAGGHHHHH!!! Who knows what I was thinking???!?!?!

It's been pretty good so far.. EXTREMELY hot (at least for me) and definitely different. I do, more often than not, wonder what the heck I am doing here, but then I just take a deep breath, remember my goals, and decide to press on through. I haven't felt too frustrated so far, only worried... worried about village stays and how tough it's actually going to be. No running water and no electricity will definitely take some getting used to.. (though I did hand wash my clothes today and I am getting pretty good at the whole bucket bath..) Two of my biggest struggles so far are the food and the heat. It's not that the food is bad, it's just a lot of fish and tomatoes.. two things that are really not very high on my 'like' list. And the heat is really quite overwhelming for me, and I knew it would be a challenge - coming from Saskatchewan summers that I barely handle. Right now, minus 45 degrees is sounding pretty good! I have no idea what the actual temperature has been, but the sun is so strong and it's so humid ALL THE TIME that it's pretty overwhelming. I've already been burnt well enough that my nose is peeling, although I am lathering on the aloe vera - by the way Blair, I brought your aloe vera... didn't think you'd need it over the winter.. thanks!! - and I keep bathing in the suncreen every morning. The only good thing about my burn (which is already a nice tan, may I add..) is that the only reason I burnt was because we spent a day at the beach and I played in the ocean.. and it was phenominal!!

We are now out of Accra (the capital city) and in Bedeku, staying with Dinah, a lawyer who's kind of a One World veteran. We started our Dangme (pronounced Deng-bay) language lessons yesterday, and I'm really enjoying it. I love talking with the kids and getting them to teach me how to say different things and having them laugh at me when I say them wrong! I've become friends with a little girl named Abigail and she taught me a lot of really useful words and phrases, so I taught her how to 'pound it', and we've pretty much been buds ever since!

Despite the miniscule challenges I've faced so far, I think I am enjoying it, though I do miss home often, and I do wrestle with the question of whether or not I can actually do this. I can feel all the love everyone from home is sending me, and I send it back ten-fold... I am thinking of you all very often! I have already met some really wonderful people here and they remind me so much of the incredible friends and family I have back home... I'm beginning to realize just how lucky I am to have all of the most amazing people concentrated in my life... it overwhelms me sometimes, and I definitely thank God for it everyday.

I suppose that's all for now... please let me know how life is back home, one way or another, and know that you are all here with me. Welcome, Mo ye!!!