Wezon! Welcome!

After an 11 hour plane ride from New York to Accra, a 2 hour effort to get through customs and baggage claim and a 5 hour bumpy car ride... I made it to Hohoe. It was quite the adventure and needless to say, I was glad to make it to the 'Home-Base' where I'll be staying for the next 8 weeks with 7 other CCS interns and volunteers. Once at the Home-Base we took a quick tour, met the staff members who will make this place my home away from home, and tried to catch up on sleep. While I slept through the roosters that apparently woke everyone else up, I was excited to take a tour of the village and check out Hohoe during the daylight. Because most people were in church until late afternoon, most of the shops were closed so we won't get the full market experience until tomorrow.  We did get a chance to talk to a few of the local Ghanaian people and learn the standard Hohoe handshake. The key is the snap as your releasing the other persons hand. Trust me, it's complicated. The snap can't be too hard or too light and must be done using both hands.


Here are some other fun things I learned today:
- Almost every family has their own goats and/or chickens. These goats and chickens freely roam the streets during the day, but always find their way back home.
- "Colored People Time" or "Black People Time" is real, but really "African Time". African-Americans have learned this trait from our ancestors.
- Driving in Ghana is crazy. There are rocky dirt roads without lanes, street lights, stop signs or enforced speed limits. The horn is used to notify other drivers that you are going to pass, stop, speed up or just to say hello. The proper response to someone beeping their horn at you, is to beep back. It's just the friendly thing to do.
- It is unheard of for parents to only have one child. I told someone I didn't have any brothers or sisters today and he immediately responded, "Nooo, you need a brother. I'll be your brother."
- It is common for kids to call the white people "Yobos" which means White Americans. Apparently there is no special word for black people because the kids just call me "Black American".
- During the dry season in Hohoe it's always 90 degrees and breezy :)


Tomorrow is my first day at the Happy Kids School and our first drumming/dancing lesson. I have a full week ahead so stay tuned for more updates! Here is a picture of the Home-Base. I'll upload more pics once I can get faster internet connection.