Little shops like this are all over but they have names like "God is my shepherd Bakery",

or "Blessed Assurance Meat Shop", or like this one which is "Finger of God Mini-mart."

This is Rachel and my's room (my bed is on the right).

Coconut juice is drunk straight from the shell and goes for 20-30 pesewas (about 30 US cents). yummmmm.

Fresh fruit is found all over the place!! These are oranges, but my favorite thus far is papaya. They cut it right there for you and it's much sweeter than in the US. Again, about 20 pesewas.

This is a sideways picture of out shower (sorry!). You can see the smaller and bigger buckets we are given to shower with. Yay for conserving water!!

Soooo... today is officially day 6 of my time here in Ghana. I can't believe I am actually here and how much I love it all already. It's everything I could have possibly imagined and so much more- and classes and the business of life hasn't even started yet! The culture of Ghana is very kind and welcoming, but all the same I stick out like a sore thumb and am treated very differently. The local word for foreigner (or white person) is 'obruni'. So as I walk to campus or just around town, little kids especially, but people trying to sell things, will get my attention with 'Hey obruni!' or 'Obruni! Obruni!' It's pretty harmless but I will have to get used to the fact that I will never officially fit in here :)

I was placed with a homestay family and they seem to be welcoming me just fine though. I share a room with a girl named Rachel from my program. She is from Indiana and is so sweet and kind. It's perfect. I am so fortunate to live with them and it is so unique! There are too many family members to count, but my 'Mama' is Grace and she runs a fabric dying business there at the house. The factory is outside and the shop itself is right on the road. Charlie is my 'Papa' and he is in the construction business. But I think I am learning that he might just own the business or run it somehow because he never really seems to leave the house. Two little girls live there are well, named Stephanie (10) and Abigail (9), who keep us in constant conversation as well as provide entertainment of any High School Musical song you could think of. Alex also lives at the house, and is a young man who goes to the University too, and shares a room with Albert who is leaving to go to school in Kumasi (northern Ghana). The house is constantly bustling with people because of the business, but it is nice to meet and talk to everyone. It is customary that when you walk into a room, you must greet EVERYONE, so as you can imagine hands are constantly being shook and 'how are you?'s shared. It is a large house but basic in a lot of ways, I guess compared to American standards. But it is considered a very wealthy home here. And it is indeed very nice, but some of the things you would find in the US are not there- like shower heads, running water in the kitchen, AC, etc. But I love that! It makes it so obvious what is really necessary and what is not- and let's just say we as Americans are used to a lot of things that are NOT necessary.

The food here is excellent, but I think I may come back as big as a blimp if they don't stop feeding us giant-sized portions! Staying with a family, they serve us breakfast and dinner and then we are on our own for lunch. All the food is very spicy, but usually not too spicy for me not to enjoy it. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon. There is a lot of rice and chicken with spices, as well as starchy vegetables. Fresh fruit is rampant everywhere and absolutely delicious.

School does not start until Monday but classes will probably not go into full swing for awhile. The school system here is a little crazy so it will be interesting. Classrooms with no AC and packed with people is going to be quite an experience. The weather is very hot and humid, and I hear it only gets worse before the rain comes in a month and a half. Oh boy. Like I said, AC is no where to be found, so just imagine a Texas summer with no AC and BAM!- you've got Ghana.

Last night was my first experience of Ghanian night life and it was so much fun!! We went to this restaurant/bar called Chez Afrique. There was an excellent live band, it was all outside, and not that crowded. The dancing was fun and just really relaxed and kind of goofy- and that's my kind of dancing :)

Well, there is an internet cafe right across from house so it makes things a lot easier than I thought they would. I will try and update as much as possible. Ok, until later...