It's hot.

I am now in full regret for not having unlocked my phone when I was in Wichita.  I took a multitude of pictures as we entered Ghana as well as on our first tour yesterday.  Unfortunately, my locked phone will not give up it's holdings.  Fortunately, we have an old school camera that we brought as well, and Pat was on it.  

To start at the beginning, our trip to Africa was long.  As anyone who has done it will understand, the long hours on the plane as well as the inevitable layovers in foreign lands do take its toll.  We were pleasantly surprised at the level of entertainment on board (it's all free on international flights), as well as the food.  Pat was treated to his Gluten Free meal about 20 minutes prior to the rest of us, which only served to alienate him more based on the amount of glares coming our way after the aromas wafted past the hungry passengers!  His food was really delicious.  So was mine, eaten much after his!

One of the things that made it long for me was the lack of sleep, even after taking sleeping pills.  That was disappointing.  It made me groggy, but I just couldn't get past that stage into sleep.  My legs did not like the lack of room on our flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam.  When we deplaned in Amsterdam, I was out of it enough to leave my kindle and a book in the seat pocket in front of me.  Only after my 4 hour nap in the freezing airport (it was snowing and blowing outside) did I search and discover these missing items.  I was less than happy.  We asked about it, discovered it was not at the top-level lost-and-found, which meant it had been taken to the below level lost-and-found, or it had simply been taken.  I made an inquiry via email (one is not allowed to go to the below levels), and then talked to a very helpful flight attendant who personally made an inquiry to the below levels.  Finally we made our way to the extra security line before we boarded our plane to Accra.  We just passed security when I heard my name called.  I had to go back out of security, but I was told they found my items and were bringing them up to me!  I almost cried.  I was tired and emotional people.  I figured Jesus knew I needed a boost.  

So, we made it to Accra with all our belongings!  We were warned about the potential of aggressive "helpers" at the airport, but we must have looked extremely capable, because not a single person approached us to help us.  Ever.  We were not greeted with what I had read was to be an exuberantly friendly greeting, though there was the impressively humid wall of very warm air as we stepped off the plane.  I was impressed with the speed at which we moved through immigration and customs.  It reminded me a little of how we boarded and disembarked on our cruise.  It was clear, however, that there was no real system of processing people.  I didn't mind, though, as it made our trip through fairly smooth.

We made our way to our guest house with the help of the men of Vytrak and a Ghanaian driver, Abreham, who navigated the ridiculous roadways with ease.  Who needs rules of the road?  There may be rules, but no  one seems to follow them.  I'm not sure if there would be a time when I would be confident enough to drive here.  I was amused to discover that roads are often wherever one chooses to drive.  

Yesterday, after a surprisingly decent night's sleep, we all headed out to see the city.  We took a few stops along the way to check out various sights.  Below is a stand where one can "top off" with cell phone minutes/data.  It's mostly pre-paid, so when you get low or run out, you stop at any number of top-off booths and buy what you need.  

 Erin took an opportunity to sing a hand-slap/chant with a little girl who was super cute!

 We checked out different neighborhoods in areas that we may locate.  It was interesting to see the various stages of building.  We learned that many people build houses as a retirement investment, building a little at a time over decades.

 I'm sure you know there are goats in the area.  They alert us to the time of day with their braying (I have no idea if that is the right term).  They are pretty stinkin' cute out there!  We plan on naming them things like dinner, snack, and the like.

 This is our room!  I actually made the bed.  Sort-of.  It took me a few hours today to settle ourselves, since I put bits and pieces of everything in each piece of luggage.  Now I am organized and it feels much better!!

 Though there are water bottles, we mostly drink from bags of water.  It is an interesting form, but very common here. You have to drink it all in a pretty quick manner (which is not difficult), because you open the bag by biting off a corner.  I think the waste is much less by having small collapsible bags, though these are all over, too.  

 The guest house where we are staying is quite lovely. There are flowering bouganvillia over the entry with all sorts of other tropical trees and plants around.  No grass, which is a positive since that is where bugs nest.

 This is the window just outside our room.  It's really quite lovely to see the palm shadows!  I like the mother-in-law's tongue below the window - it's not a houseplant here!  This is why I won't know much of the plant material here; I did very poorly with houseplants and exotics.

 The water is piped in to these water-towers.  The city supply is opened somewhat randomly.  Today we checked the tanks as our water pressure was low, but it seemed we have enough for a bit.  Having so many in one house will make a difference!

 There are lizards, but I rarely run into them.  They scurry away quickly so we haven't had to come to a head.  We do have to be very careful with crumbs as the ants are quick to discover them.

So, here are a few pictures of what we've been up to for the last couple days.  I wish I had more, but this will have to do for now.  I hope that internet will keep up!  We did experience our first power outage last night, which made for an excessively hot evening (no fans or a.c.), but it came back on at 10pm, so we were spared an excessively sweaty night!  Today Pat is out with the guys checking out an ITV option and I took the day off to catch you up!  I thought I just heard thunder, but I am questioning the refreshment factor that it could bring! I'm thinking it may just make it muddy and more humid!  Oh, well.  The electricity is on, so I'm good!