The Revival of a Blog in Ghana

It's been a few months since my last post... in fact, I haven't written since I started the MPA program back in October. I am now two months away from finishing my degree – and I'm spending it in Ghana! For the next 6 weeks, myself and 9 of my classmates will be living in Accra, Ghana and doing work placements in a local non-profit organization or government departments. I have been placed at a local non-profit called SEND West Africa, I have no idea what my assignments will be yet, but I should know more once I meet my supervisor on Tues or Weds.

The plane ride here was most interesting... We were flying with Delta Airlines, but had no seat assignments until just before we boarded. It was a full plane, and the seating arrangement was so disorganized that they were bumping people from their seats to other areas of the plane just to put us on the flight. At first, I was placed at the end of the plane, bumping the lady who was in my seat to first class. Then, within 5 minutes of me sitting down, the air attendant came by and started looking for single travellers – and so, for the first time ever, I was bumped into first/business class!! My 11 hr plane ride from New York began with a glass of champagne, and a chair with more buttons than I knew what to do with. The food was alright – the highlight was the appetizer to my dinner – a sampler with shrimp and palm hearts (tasted a bit like artichoke hearts). Unfortunately, it ended with a broken luggage – instead of cutting my padlock, someone decided it'd be better to cut my zipper clasp instead. Hopefully Delta will agree to fix it.

We arrived at around 9am, and pretty much just spent the day settling in and learning some of the nearby routes. The evening ended with live music at a local bar and finally tried some of the "red-reds" (fried plantains) that we've heard so much about – very tasty with the savoury sauce they serve it with (can't remember what it's called...), it's sweet but not as sweet as the baked bananas with honey that I used to eat when I was little. Tomorrow morning, we'll be going to a Ghanaian church for mass and will be exploring the city a little more. Stay tuned!