that is NOT a toilet

I'm up to my third day in Ghana and already i have learned a lot. One of my first and hardest lessons was that of the 'toilet'. In Akuapem Hills a toilet is merely a longdrop encased in a brick conclave with an old toilet seat placed on the top. By the toilet is a box to place the used toilet paper. It smells horrendous and the only way i can cope with going to the toilet is breathing through my mouth and holding my breath. I now try desperately to withhold any expulsions as long as i possibly can to avoid the bathroom.

A second tribulation over here is the driving. My first car ride i was so so sick and i thought surely it was the poor combination of weather, crowds and fumes. But I was wrong. On a drive today in a van with 12 people squeezed side by side, i felt desperately sick again. By the time we reached our destination I was choking back my nausea and quite literally struggling not to gag. The driving is erratic, the cars are cramped, seat belts are redundant and the roads are turbulent because of the uneven surface. My sickness wasn't helped by our destination. This place, I forget the name but it started with K, was the epitome of my imaginings of Africa. The throngs of people were easy to endure in comparison to the open sewerage along the roads that permeated the streets with an ungodly stench.

Another bad thing, to get them out of the way now, is the invasion of personal space by the locals. A lot of the males come up and give you adoring epitaphs which might be flattering if they weren't so damn creepy.

However, these are the most confronting of my experiences. Ultimately these first few days have been really easygoing. I have five other volunteers at my house (one other aussie), along with my five person host family and a smattering of other relatives in the house. The kids: Emmanuel, Hannah and Samuel, are a lot of fun. Emmanuel was heartily disappointed by my lack of rap, hip hop and RnB but found that he enjoyed La Roux which could be heard being hummed for a good three hours last night. Tomorrow, I start my first day at the daycare centre which will be daunting and exciting.

The food is a lot less challenging than I had anticipated. Chicken and rice, bread and eggs is the very crux of the food situation. It is what we are always given, I am told by everyone. I imagine the monotony of repition will become tedious after a while but for now I am relived to be eating food that won't turn my stomach. In the place I went today I tried a rice bean dish with fish on the side. It was ok, but I'd definitely prefer some KFC. There is a fruit that is a cross between a lemon and an orange which is pretty good and I'm loving the pineapple when we have it. Showering with a bucket was simple and because it's so hot i don't mind that water is cold. Although, at night time its not fun to do. Sleeping inside a mosquito net isn't as confining as i thought it would be either. In fact, i barely notice it.

My body clock over here is diametrically opposed to the one I had back in Adelaide. I wake up super early because of the roosters and chickens that are crowing and making noise at 5.30am. But work starts early anyway and I can go to bed early because there isn't much to do at home at night.

Well, until next time.