Accra, Day 1

Hello friends! First off, I'm alive. It was a crazy journey and it feels like it took me forever to get here! But it was worth the journey! I left Paris early (a little early than planned actually). And I got to buy some small souvenirs at the airport! Even though I was barely in Paris, it was still not a bad place to get stuck. As the plane left, I had the most amazing view of the city, it was actually heartbreaking. I definitely want to go back and explore the city. After Paris, I got to Amsterdam and really only had just enough time to get to the plane. It was little strange because I scanned my boarding pass, went through a door and then had to go through security. Then I was on my way to Ghana! When I landed (about 7 hours later), I saw someone from my program, Isi, literally in the row next to me. I followed her to the bus and it was nice to see someone familiar and to go find our hotel with! We got through customs, which was kind of intense. As soon as we got off the plane, we had to show our vaccine card to prove we had the yellow fever vaccine, even though I had to get it to get my visa. Ghana does not mess around with yellow fever. Then I had to wait in a line for about 45 minutes to get my picture taken and finger prints as I was let into the country. For those of you who don't know, I have the tackiest luggage ever. My bag is leopard print and pretty much the size of me. It got ripped over Christmas break (Thanks American Airlines!) so there is also bright pink duct tape on the side. It really is hard to miss. So when I didn't see it on the carousel, I wanted to cry. We had to go to lost and found, fill out a form and they said they would call the hotel at 8:30 am the next day. We went to leave the airport and saw someone from NYU Accra (he was wearing an NYU shirt and had a sign) and we said "Hi" and he told us to sit on some seats. We did and waited for another 45 minutes before we left. When we were on the bus, Kingsley (who was in the NYU shirt and told us to sit in the back) didn't realize who we were and thought we were missing! So we waited for 45 minutes for people who were with us the whole time! Kingsley felt really embarrassed but we were glad just to be going! We got to the hotel and I immediately smelt salt and humidity. We were right by the ocean! I met my roommate, Sheng, took a shower and went to bed very soon after that! I think I went to bed around 12:30 am, I was exhausted from all the traveling!

NYU Accra! Where we will be having class

The next day, we woke up and ate some breakfast and then went to orientation! We met some other students from NYU Abu Dhabi who were also studying abroad. They were taking an economics class that gave me a headache just from hearing the name! At orientation we toured the campus, saw our classroom and learned some of the customs in Ghana. The campus is very small since it only houses about 100 students per year. Most of the students are from other NYU campuses and are doing some type of study abroad program. We learned some cultural references such as: how to hail a taxi, how to say please, how to say come here, and some terms that you should never say (for example, shut up is considered to be the most rude thing you can say). We also got our official itinerary and then went to lunch! We had lunch at Headlines Hospitality and ate "official" food from Ghana! I ate peanut soup, plantains, rice, fried red snapper and fresh orange juice! It was very good, but the peanut soup was very spicy. When we got back to campus, we talked about disabilities and "assessed" the campus for someone with a wheelchair. Spoiler alert: NYU Accra is not most wheelchair-friendly place. There are a lot of uneven sidewalks and small pathways. Also the stairs are very steep and would require a very long ramp to be accessable. After class we went back to the hotel where I could not get a hold of the baggage claim. Ethan (who was also in my art class so I knew him a little before) also got his luggage lost by the same airline (KLM who is also operated by AirFrance and Delta). So we decided to go to the airport later that night (along with Abigail who is our guide from NYU Accra and the nicest person I have ever met) and see what was happening. At the hotel, I went down to the beach to take of picture of the sunset. It is extremely humid here and very muggy. So the sun was very red behind the clouds. I went with some others in my program to dip our feet in the water. I was amazed by all the trash in the ocean. There were literally two tires in the sand. I don't think I would want to swim in the water because there is so much trash. Lots of plastic bags and bottle and even dog poop were around us. The water felt nice, but I don't think I could go in past my ankles ( even though in about 5 posts I will probably talk about how I went swimming in the ocean). It also made me kind of sad because it was so beautiful but just surrounded by trash. After that we went to dinner at Tante Marie and pretty much had the same dinner as we did lunch! It was very good though. After dinner, Ethan, Abigail and I went to the airport and successfully got our luggage! I have never been so happy to have clean underwear!

Headlines Hospitality; where we had lunch!

A typical Ghanaian meal: peanut soup, red snapper (fried), rice, plantains!

Overall the only way I could describe the first day was surreal. When we pulled away from the hotel for the first time, it was strange to see all the people on the side of the roads and the houses. There are no sidewalks and a lot of the roads are bumpy and narrow. The people have been incredibly welcome and it is considered rude not to make eye contact or say hello to people on the street (pretty much the opposite of New York City!). Also, one of the administrators at NYU Accra had told us that "patience" is going to be our new middle name and she is very right! The people are very laid back and take their time (especially when it comes to food service). There are long gaps in our days to not only have enough time to eat, but also that is how life is around here.