Akwaaba!

A sigh of relief exits my lips as I see this much anticipated greeting plastered above my head at the Kotoko International Airport in Accra.

I have now been here for two days, but I swear it feels like weeks! Ghana is like no country I've ever seen before. All of the buildings here are very spread out, making tro tros a much more appealing option than walking. Tro tros are the public transit here, but they aren't like any train or bus in the States. A tro tro is a large van that crams around 22 people inside, give or take a goat or two. I've only been on a tro tro once so far but I really enjoyed it! People are really good drivers here, or at least better than Israel and India. However, there are no pedestrian laws so if you're gonna cross the street you better be ready to run!

In terms of what Accra actually looks like, I dont know if I can put it into words. Colors look different here. I'm convinced it's all the dust in the air. Everything is softer on the eyes, except the browns, there are a million shades of brown! I find myself enthralled by the ground below me, unable to look away from the rich indian clay colored dust. But I may also be focusing on the ground because of the open sewer system that runs down the sides of every street. I think I'm more endanger of falling into a gaping hole here than getting malaria! Walking down the street last night was like playing Russian Roulette, between the lack of street lights and the need to watch traffic, the odds of falling in a pit was pretty high - not a pretty thought. But I made it home ok and slept safely in my bright blue mosquito net until 6 am this morning when I was promptly awoken by mother nature's personal alarm clock... roosters. Just one more thing that I'm sure I won't even notice soon enough.