I'M IN AFRICA!!

akwaaba! (welcome)

The flight went really well. The take off was much more smooth than any flight i've ever been on. we got a quick meal and then i fell asleep for probably five hours. then i got to watch alice in wonderland and valentine's day. we arrived in ghana and got through customs just in time for ghana to score their winning (and only) goal against serbia. the entire airport errupted into yelling, singing, music, dancing, and blow horns. it was amazing! and really loud. we got to stay at the airport until the game was finished, which they won, and was followed by more singing, music and dancing.

on the way to the van with all of our luggage, we were hounded by men trying to earn (or bum) a few dollars or anything they could off of us. our guide (awuku...ah-woo-koo) made sure all our luggage was safe. he told us the men were trying to make enough money to go down to south africa and see some games.

the drive to the hotel was really interesting. there are some beautiful houses followed by areas of not so beautiful houses. the nice houses, we were told sell for around 600,000$, were surrounded by huge walls topped with barbed wire or broken glass. everyone waved to us as we drove by, and there were lots of kids playing soccer in the streets.

the hotel is nice; i'm in a triple room with two girls from long island. we have a tv and fridge and the bed is comfortable. i haven't figured out how to use the phone with the calling card yet, but i'll probably try to tackle that after dinner. for dinner i ordered grilled lobster with rice. we have a big menu that we can choose from and around 5pm a sheet goes to all the rooms to take our orders and we eat at 7pm.

tomorrow we are leaving the hotel at 9am to go to the US Embassy. i'm defintiely going to bed right after dinner, i'm exhausted!