So the new volunteers have arrived, and it's great to finally have company!! They arrived here last Sunday, completed exhausted and utterly dishevelled from the tumultuous journey that they had been on to get here, both practically and emotionally! So the first few days were all about rest and recuperation - I remember my first few days and it really does take some time to catch your breath and absorb what's going on around you, before you start to feel like your feet are on firm ground again!

As soon as word got out that the new volunteers were coming, everyone was super keen to meet them, and many people even came knocking on my door to greet them before they had even arrived! I had to carefully tell them that the new volunteers would most likely need some time and space to settle in, two concepts that they are not too familiar with here, and which actually didn't really register. As soon as Janice and Nicole were through the door it began... a constant stream of 'helloO!'s and 'good MORning!', 'good AAFternoon' and 'good evEning's hollered by al the friends of the house and the passersby who were super excited about the new faces. I did warn them both about the way of life here; early starts, lots of greetings, so many people keen to get to know you, help you, ask you if you are married, if not then ask you to marry them, and if so then ask you to marry them too anyway, the 'I would loooove to come to your country!'s, and the 'do you believe in God?'s, and slowly I think they are getting used to it!

To be honest it as reminded me of how far I have come, especially when I see Nicole's face at some of the things that now come naturally to me such as sleeping through the 4.30am call to prayer and the 5am choir practice, watching as babies crawl about all over the dusty floors and as their mothers breastfeed them practically anywhere and anytime and swing their children about by their teeny little arms (something we would never dare do at home for fear that they would fall off!), and batting off some women's requests for me to marry their husband and become their second wife.

They've been welcomed so warmly by everyone around here, and are slowly getting used to the pace of life - up at daft o'clock with the roosters, slooooowly getting going at work, home to bed by about 9 due to the exhaustion from the heat and all the new cultural impressions.

I've managed to show them all about town - the hectic markets, the street life, the churches and mosques, the best place to find good street food, the best place to get a dress made, and some of the local schools that they'll be working in. We've been to Bolga and back, which is initiation enough for anybody here, and have slowly figured out how to live here without tripping over each other. It's literally been a week of questions and answers, and I have realised how much there is to learn and to discover when you come to such a different culture!

Some people here are still trying to figure Nicole out, as she is of Jamaican origin, and so many people here think she is Ghanaian and become very confused when she starts talking with a Canadian accent! On one of our walks we passed a tiny little compound house with a straw roof, that had little puffs of smoke coming out, a sign that food was cooking on a charcoal stove. A small bunch of women were sitting wrapped haphazardly in their colourful Ghanaian wraps, most of them falling off their shoulders and down off their waists due to the incessant heat and humidity. They got really excited when they saw us walking past, and all jumped up and started greeting us ad chattering away in Kusaal. One older lady took a real shine to Nicole, and started on some full blown conversation with her, even though Nicole had no idea what she was talking about. After about 5 minutes of rambling away, Nicol managed to get a couple of words in - "I'm from Canada", and the lady stopped short, sucked her lips in making a strange expression and held her breath whilst she thought for a while. "OoooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooH!" she said eventually. And all the other women fell about laughing. It kind of captured many people's reactions so far!

I really love finally having some company, it's so nice to come home and share some relaxing time with other volunteers. There's so much to process each day here that it's nice to have other people to bounce things off at the end of it all, we're quickly making our way through a lot of cups of tea and biscuits! I have to say with all the questions and answers I feel a little bit like the expert at the moment, which is a bit strange as I'm still learning so much too, but it's nice to be able to show them around and introduce them to the ropes of Ghanaian life. Luckily neither me or the many neighbours have not scared them off yet (although Nicole had the shock of her life when she got out of the shower and found an old lady peering in the window and hollering "TUMA TUMA!" at her), and they seem to be here to stay for a while at least J.

With love from Ghana,

Em

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