A little update...

This week has been so crazy--filled with registering for classes and multiple orientations. (Above is a photo of the area of campus closest to our Hostel) Here are the classes I will be taking: Art History of Ghana, African Drumming I, Social Psychology, Statistics, Film/TV/Video Production, and Twi (a basic language class to familiarize us with the language of the Ashanti tribe).

We are experiencing so many new things each day that it's actually extremely exhausting to recollect and write about all of them. It's going to be difficult to put this trip into words. I cannot even begin to summarize the first week, and I cannot begin to imagine the thought of summarizing 18 weeks--an entire semester.

Let me share just one of the highlights so far...
My friend Greg spent a bit of last summer in Ghana and when he found out I was going he wanted to share his connections. And it has already been such a blessing that he did.

Two nights ago, Nicole Sims, an American missionary here in Ghana, picked McKenzie and I up from the university and took us to her house for supper. She lives only about 5 minutes (well, depending on the hour and the traffic) away from the University where we are studying. She and her husband have two boys, Eli and Aidan, and Gifti, a native Ghanaian woman, lives with them. It was so nice visiting this little "home away from home."

For "supper", Gifti cooked for all of us. We had fresh pineapple, salad (this was the first time I have seen it since we got here), and jolof rice (sort of like a spicy Mexican rice mixed with vegetables and meat). It was a delicious dinner and McKenzie and I felt so welcomed.

Nicole taught the two of us a lot about the Ghanaian culture. She tried teaching us songs and briefed us on some of the cultural norms/traditions. She asked us what our expectations are and what we hope to gain from Ghana (we mentioned working in an orphanage or at a school, attending different churches, participating in arts and crafts with the locals, etc.), whether we have experienced culture shock here yet (and the answer is yes, a little), and if we'd like to ride along with her and her family to go to church on Sunday (of course! and all the better that she's preaching!).

She said whenever we need to "get away" or need a "home" to go to, that her home was our home. She even gave me the number of a doctor to call if we get sick and has referred me to another family that might be able to connect us with an orphanage/ministry. I shared with her my Project Polaroid idea, as well as my love for photography, and her eyes lit up! She said that her family and some of the other missionaries could definitely benefit from my "services" and she thought the kids at the orphanages would eat up the Polaroids as well.

Nicole or Gifti are planning on taking McKenzie and I to Medina market sometime over the next few days, and we're looking forward to meeting Kirk, her husband, who is currently at a church conference.

Nicole is just one of the incredible people that has been placed in our lives here in Ghana so far and I know that we will feel like family before long.