Riding a Rollercoaster

Akwaaba!

... translation: Welcome!

I apologize for not writing earlier, but based on this blog you may understand why!

My Sister and I at the Airport!

I had a decent travel to Accra, Ghana leaving in the afternoon on Sunday and flying to Toronto and then to Amsterdam. I couldn't sleep on my way to Amsterdam so was forced to stay awake during my 6 hour layover in Amsterdam. It is safe to say that this is where my rollercoaster of emotions first started. I've never traveled alone before- or at least not that far and having a 6 hour layover by yourself- pretty much as boring as it sounds. My layover was just at the perfect time too- when everybody in Ottawa was sound asleep. At this point in time I really started to miss my family. If you know my family at all you would understand why- we're hilarious together and always have the best times traveling! There were funny moments that happened and I found myself looking around for someone to share them with- but there was nobody. So that was my first struggle- trying to adapt to being super independent and getting used to being on my own. In a way it is good and forces me to get out there and make friends, but familiarity will always win! Amazingly enough I made friends on both of my flights which began to prepare me for the incredibly nice people in Ghana- but that will be saved for the next blog!

After arriving in Ghana, I met up with the two other girls traveling with WUSC and we settled in at our hotel. The next morning, and for the following three days, we had orientation with WUSC. So we met all of the Ghanaian staff involved, had a medical briefing, security talk, transportation lesson, and even a Twi (pronounced chwee) language lesson which is pretty much as hard as it sounds… The orientation was great start but slightly overwhelming as expected. It provided me with a number of emotions beginning with “what was I thinking”… my recent trips have been extremely different than this one- I was always in a group and I was doing a building project of some sort- not working. So I felt very uncomfortable and out of my element for quite some time.

This emotion then turned to being incredibly scared and wondering how I am going to make it through three months of this. The public transit looks terrifying, I can’t speak the language, I have no idea where I am half the time because they don’t have street names- how will this ever work.

I also became very lonely, which- don’t get worried- I am okay with. I mean I am here for three months, its bound to happen sooner or later. I am going to work in the north as of Monday in a small town called Damongo. With that being said, there are no other volunteers up there. We had a meet and greet with other WUSC interns and everybody got to see who they are working with and make friends already… nope, not me. I felt very lonely and very insecure at this point. Who is going to be my “penguin” as we called at school- a penguin is somebody who is by your side and showing you the ropes on things! But it sounds like there aren’t many penguins up north for me…

Orientation has officially finished and today I had to go to the Accra Mall for some admin purposes. I bargained my own taxi there, got my cell phone fixed, managed to get passport pictures taken and paid for, and then bargained my way home and walked to the WUSC office. Safe to say I survived my first solo adventure!! (Hardly an adventure- I know). After doing this I realized that I really do need to stop freaking out. I am new here, and like every place, it takes time to settle in and get used to the way things work here. I am getting very comfortable with traveling in Accra and am starting to understand it more. However, I will have to go through this process all over again when I move up north- but lets hope it goes smoothly!

Rooftops in Ghana

Today we had a city tour with a local and we took TroTros which are basically mini-buses or minivans that load up people and travel from station to station randomly stopping along the road picking people up or dropping people off. As interesting and fun as TroTros can be- they’re extremely hot, bumpy, and hard to understand. There are no signs saying where the stop is, people just know where to stand on the street… oh and if you want to know what station the Tro is going to, just listen to the guy shouting out the window, he’ll tell you! They are quite fun- not going to lie, but they are definitely difficult to maneuver on your own, especially for the first time!

Overall, my mixed emotions are coming together and I am starting to feel more confident and comfortable in Ghana. I just had to sit back, relax, and take it all in- one day at a time. To be honest, I think it would be strange if I didn’t have these feelings- I mean I’m half way across the world and am totally okay with everything? How weird is that? I’m sure there will be many other times where I have mixed emotions but with the help of social networking and the millions of notes my friends and family wrote for me, it shouldn’t be hard for me to feel close to home again!

It is safe to say that this trip will be challenging and beyond educational and I cannot wait for it to really get started on Monday! I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and have no doubt it is going to help me grow as a person and especially encourage me through my fourth year of International Development next year. Can't wait to see what this trip brings! xoxo

Love Always,

Bianca