Live from Accra

So after all of the fuss I'm finally at the International Student's Hostel (henceforth known as "the Hostel", or "ISH"). It's pretty barebones here. The building is a giant square, with a lovely grassy courtyard in the middle, which gets used often for frisbee and the like. The individual rooms have desks, chairs, a pancake-shaped bed and a balcony. From my third floor walkout, I have a lovely view of the countryside (or the bush, I suppose) and a lovely breeze comes in through my windows.

But there was no time for that when I arrived. I quickly became acquainted with some of the Americans living here (and there are many coming here, 9/11 be damned) and I went out with them to a bar downtown. The cabbie got lost, so we raced around Eastern Accra until we finally got there. It was Saturday night so it was very busy. I was pretty jet-lagged, so after a few hours I left with some on my newfound friends and went to sleep on a bed that I wasn't sure was mine at the time, since I had signed in for the weekend as a "Visitor". I wrote en e-mail to assure Maleaha and my parents that I saw safe and sound. As much fun as the night was, I found myself somewhat in the homesick state and opened my giant photo album that Maleaha made for me, opened some letters inside to cheer me up (thanks to Nikki and Emeka! I really appreciated them) and fell asleep on my backpack.

Down the street from the Hostel, there is a little strip of vendors known as the Night Market. It's a great place to find cheap meals, basic necessities and get hassled by old women who want you to speak in Twi, the local language. I had the most declicious fresh mango for breakfast.

Since it was Sunday, evertyhing was closed, so that people could go to church, which almost everyone does here. Otherwise, they play football (you know, the kind without downs and helmets?), so Joe, John, Catherine (from North Carolina) and I went downtown to the stadium for the Sunday afternoon match between... the blue team and the white team? Nobody scored, but there were no less than 12 injuries on the field and every time, a stretcher team would race onto the field and carry them off. We think that they had the biggest workout.

From the field, we could see a giant golden arch (not that kind), so we decided to go and see it. It was the famous Independence Square, a Soviet-inspired open space that appears to have a giant empty parking lot surrounded by grandstands. I'll bet it was great for military marches, but until Independence Day comes in March, it'll be an eerie monument to a time long past. I plan on posting a photo of it someday.

In the evening we took it easy, had some dinner (fried egg on a bun is delicious and nutritious) and pretty much hung out, swapping stories.

So there is was, my first full day in Accra. And the second was even more exciting, but it will have to wait a day. Cheers to all back home, because I wish you could be partying with me.