Is it Friday already??

Time flies! We have been here 5 days already...we are settling in well! Tonight we are staying at Francis's apartment. He and his family took us to the Pantea Hotel to swim and have dinner by the pool. It was awesome. We were the only one's in the pool and it was so refreshing! I believe the hotel is owned by a Ghanaian but it is from a South African chain. It seems that South Africa is investing a lot of money in developing Ghana. There are so many new buildings all around Accra.

Tony has decided he will drive and has found his groove back in the chaotic world of Ghana roads. He has mastered dodging potholes, taxis, gutters, vendors, and motorcycles and even answering the cell phone while shifting. If you relax and enjoy,just driving around town is an adventure.

No matter what time of day or night the streets are alive with people. In the dark of night the vendors have cans of kerosene with wicks to light their kiosks.

When you stop at a major intersection you can buy just about anything from the window of your car. The popular items for sale seem to be mentos, phone cards, belts, toilet papers, double florescent lightbulbs, Ghana chocolate bars, water, minerals (which means pop), and sometimes even puppies!

These past two days the kids have been having history lessons. We visited Achimota School where Tony's parents met and the house where he lived before he came to Canada. Then we went to Legon University where Tony did his undergraduate degree. We visited the dorm room where he lived, the bookstore and the Psychology department. At the Psychology Dept. we met Tony's old friend Charity who is a Professor there, I met her thirteen years ago when we visited and she was the first Charity I had met and I loved the name. It was fun for our Charity to finally meet someone with the same name.

We had lunch at a place on Campus called the Basement. The lunch was huge and it was so cheap...we were stuffing the food in until we would burst...Tony had Red/Red which is Beans and Fried Plantains, I had chicken and jollof rice and the kids had chicken and chips (fries)...YUMMY! I fear my clothes will get too tight and I'll have to go shopping!

Today Grandma came to visit for a few moments and brought some relatives with her. Tony was teaching the kids (and me) how all the family members connect to each other. It was interesting the history lesson will come in handy when we arrive at the village tomorrow.

Sunday's plan for Oliver's birthday is to go to church and then have lunch with some boys form the village who are Oliver's age. Hopefully they will chat and can learn about each others lives.

I have seen so many foreigners this time, especially at the university and at the Accra Mall. It seems things have changed a lot since last time I was here. Ghana is now the place to be.