It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Well it is currently POURING here in Accra and I find myself wondering how Andrés (another YEI Intern) is doing North of us in Salaga. There has been massive flooding in the North of Ghana and minor flooding throughout most of the regions, save the Greater Accra Region. It's nice that it is cooling the temperature down, but many people have been devastated by the loss of their homes, etc. in the rural villages.

Meanwhile I sit here on the internet typing about it. It seems so odd to me. I was on a roll keeping a daily account of my activities up until we moved into the Canadian Volunteer Abroad House in Labadi last Friday. Then again, it's nice to be slightly disconnected from the internet. I have been doing more living and interacting since we have been here. Maya & I are sharing a room until Sunday and then I get my own room for most of the remainder of my stay. (I offered to allow volunteers to bunk in with me for their one week of Orientation the second week of every month. In exchange I will get a break on rent.)

Canadian Volunteer Abroad House
This house is incredible. There are 4 bedrooms inside which are occupied by Ann-Kristin (German), Popo (Ghanaian), Ned (British), Darrell (Canadian & leaving tonight), and Maya & I. Then outside, there are 4 additional rooms which belong to Daniel (Ghanaian who works here), Kersten (Canadian, the Co-ordinator for Volunteer Abroad in Ghana), Sam (Canadian), and a couple that we have not yet met. We have one two piece bathroom (toilet & shower) and then two additional toilets and two additional showers. There is a kitchen, a dining room, a common area, an office, and a patio in the front and in the back. We also are enclosed by a gate that is locked at all times. Someone is always home. It is VERY SAFE (this is your indication - you know who you are that requested & needs it)!

My favourite thing about my new residence is the fact that I live 2 seconds away from the beach. Granted it is a very polluted beach front (garbage is EVERYWHERE here), but at night we go to Tawala (an area with a bar, grill, and playground) and sit at a table enjoying our dinner & beer and watching the waves roll in. I love it. The hopeless romantic in me wishes that I had someone to share the evenings with sitting on a park bench watching the waves roll in. Cheesy, I know, but I thought my close friends and family would get a kick out of having a reminder of me & my cheese!

Work at CUA
Work is going well. It is an entirely different atmosphere than back home. The pace of work is much slower. The machinery is MUCH older & slower, although we were very fortunate to have a brand new computer. The photocopier in our office is the bane of my existence. Everyone else seems to get it to work, but everytime I touch it, it breaks. The power goes out at least twice a week which proved to be quite the challenge today since we had to get everything printed off for the Conference we are putting on this weekend. But the people are absolutely wonderful! So friendly. We are in the process of taking Twi lessons (pronounced "Tchwee") so that we can be better understand our colleagues and converse at market and such. They get a kick out of us trying to speak the language. I am sure I am butchering it. It is unbelievable how difficult something such as organizing a conference is here. There are some things that I completely take for granted when planning camp, such as the number and quality of flipchart paper, nametag holders, having registration information complete & ready prior to arriving at the site, etc..

The communication system here is entirely different. There is only one computer at CUA with internet, and 3-4 lines out of CUA house. This makes it challenging to communicate with the schools. Ernest makes a lot of phone calls on his cell, but we also had to visit a number of the schools in person to confirm their attendance. We learn new things every day such as different ways the businesses operate or nuances in how the English language is understood over here.

Marriage Proposals
I have heard "I love you", "I want to marry you", and "Marry me" so often here! I expected it, but I guess not to the extent that it has come. Today at Tema Station (where we go to catch the tro-tro home), a man grabbed my arm and followed me telling me he loved me and that he wanted to marry me. It was a bit pestering. But most of the time it just comes as calls on the street as we are walking by.
However, there is one guy at work named Tony Montana that has also said he loves me and wants to marry me. He calls me his wife to people around the office. I think it is hilarious, but we had a conversation one day and he told me that he wants me to come back to his village in the Eastern Region to meet his family. He asked me if it was a possibility that we get married. I think he might actually be serious. Which is difficult because I like to think of it as joking. We were supposed to go to lunch because I told him that I don't fall in love right away. I have to get to know someone before love will come. So he said I would have to get to know him. Nice enough guy, but I don't think I could see myself living in Ghana for the rest of my life! It would be interesting to date a Ghanaian though. Who knows, still 5 and a half months left. Maybe I will have a Ghanaian date!

Anyways, I am going to make more sporadic posts from now on since I have been busy enjoying the life! Still hunting for the perfect organization to donate the CYLers Snack Shack proceeds to. Not as easy as you would think it would be since organizations are not as easy to get in touch with here. Will keep you posted!

Until next time readers! (I have no idea how many of you there are, but I appreciate your interest! Wish I could take video footage of everything that I see and experience to share with you all!)