And I'm Finally Here

I am finally able to write, even though I have been here almost a week. I am staying with 11 other exchangees, all from different countries (although there are 4 from Denmark.) We stayed in Accra for 2 days, then left for Kumasi for our Orientation Camp. All the people here are really amazing. Its such a cool thing to have such a strong bond right from the start because we all have made this choice, this sacrifice. We are all bound to have different experiences because most of us are in different cities and doing different projects, but we are still going to share this immense weight of being a Westerner in this very different culture. My room mate and project partner is Lisetta (20 yr, Denmark.) We are going to go to our project on Saturday, which is in Wieomasi (30 minutes outside Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region.) I think I get along best with Elisabet (20 yr, Iceland) because we have a really similar sense of humor and outlook on this experience. The other exchangees are Rikke (pronounced Raggae-I know how awesome is that??) who is 19 from Denmark, Stine (like the end of Chri"Stine") 20 from Denmark, Sara 20 from Switzerland, Sanna 21 from Sweden, Toon (like Thom with an "n") 24 from Belgium, Caro 23 and Helen 20 from France, and Liane 18 from Denmark. We all get along really well, and its so nice to have them around. We are having language courses at our orientation camp for 6-8 hours a DAY!! Elisabet and I just sit in the back and read because the teacher talks so slow and there is absolutely no rhyme and reason to the lessons and we don't learn jack...bothers the shit out of me, but honestly its Africa, they have such a different way of doing things here. The exchangees always talk about "africa time" because everyone is ALWAYS late here. On our way to Kumasi we were supposed to leave at 8 am, but didn't get on the bus until noon. We managed to shove 13 people into a trotro (a van the size of a VW- yay 10K!) and all of our luggage. Don't ask me how. I almost suffocated, but I guess its all part of the experience. I brought SO MUCH luggage compared to the others. They are only granted 20 kilos at the airport TOTAL, so they all just brought backpacks. I am going to send half my stuff home with my mom when she comes in November. There is a beautiful baby girl, Niko, at the "inn" we are staying at now. She is the daughter of the cook, and she lets me take her and play with her whenever I want (when I am not passing out from boredom in language class.) She gets me so excited to be able to work with kid for 6 months. I can't wait to get to my project where I can get settled and unpacked and get a better feel for things. I am planning on getting a bike to make my way around as well, so that should be fun (not only that, but a bike should cost like $20 here...everything is unbelievably cheap...like I am paying 60 cents to use this computer for an hour.) It still feels a little like the West because we are all together, and in a "hotel" (not at all what most of you are thinking.) Things will change significantly in a week. Enough for now, I have to let my parents know I am still alive.