Akwaaba- Welcome

Ayaan- Welcome to our blog! For the next four months we will be studying abroad at the University of Ghana at Legon Campus. It is located right outside the city of Accra. We landed the morning of Thursday, January 14th around 7:00 am after a nine hour flight out of the JFK airport in New York with two other girls from Elon. Our Resident Assistant Moses and another contact from Ghana, Clarence, met us at the airport holding up and Elon University sign. There we piled into a van and headed towards the university. We pulled up to our dorm, the International Student Hostel II which was pretty exciting. It looked just like the picture online. The hostel is four floors, but most of us were fortunate enough to be on the ground floor. Kaya and I ended up next door to each other (of course), although we are not roommates (thank God!). Neither of our roommates have arrived yet, but many are not expected to arrive until Monday. After checking in we headed to the International Programmes Office (that’s how it’s spelled here), or IPO, where we registered and took pictures for our ID cards. We had to return Friday to register the rest of the girls who arrived later in the evening. After registering we went searching for a place to eat. Campus does not really open until Monday so we had to find somewhere. We ended up finding a place where all they had was chicken and rice, both of which were spicy. With that we had bottled water. Then we headed back to the hostel which was about a half hour walk in the hot weather because we didn’t really know where we were going. Our plan was to rest for awhile, but Kaya and I wanted to check out the internet situation since we were getting a little homesick already. Across a large courtyard is the International Student Hostel I where the internet is located on the first floor (second floor in the US) is where the closest internet is supposed to be located. When we got there it wasn’t set up so we couldn’t use it and we were quite bummed. In the IPO there is wireless but we needed the password. Once we get the password we can use the internet anywhere in that building. They do have a couple of computers set up in there also, so we were able to email our parents to let them know we arrived safely. After searching for internet we went to our rooms to take a much needed nap. After it was time for dinner so Moses was kind enough to take us off campus where a gas station had pizza and chicken. Kaya and I shared Peri Peri Chicken Pizza, which was spicy, and we each had a water. Moses had to pick more people up from the airport so we walked back to campus, showered and went to bed. The people here are very nice for the most part. I am excited to start classes and get into the swing of things because for now most students are not on campus and there is not much to do. I am looking forward to this semester: classes, trips, people, etc. while at the same time I am hoping the semester goes by fast. I have realized that America has spoiled us and I feel like I am missing a lot of the conveniences that are offered in the states (like toilet paper- we have to carry around our own because most building do not have any). I also worry about Malaria and Cholera. However, as someone told me on the airplane, I have to leave my American mentality on the plane because in Ghana people learn how to survive on their own and not rely on conveniences. If I do not, I will not enjoy myself and I will give off the impression that I am better than the Ghanaians which is not the case. It is only the beginning so I know it will be an experience I won’t forget!