New Found Loves

When you move to a different culture and country you are told that you will go through stages of culture shock, the first of which is the "honeymoon" stage. I cannot say that I experienced the honeymoon vibe the moment I stepped off the plane. Everything was unfamiliar and overwhelming and it took me awhile to relax and get into the swing of things. Now two and a half weeks in, I can say that I've reached my own stage of admiration for Ghanaian culture which I call the "warm fuzzies" stage. In no particular order, here are some things that have made me comfortable and happy to be here:
- plantain and groundnuts roasting at the end of my street (so very very yummy)
- riding the trotro with other Ghanaians (even though it is often squeashy and sweaty)
- women who carry warm doughnuts on their head and sell them to you for 10 cents
- red red (plantain mix with beans and palm oil...heavenly)
- sharing a Star (Ghana's local beer) with my roomies
- washing my laundry by hand
- mango, mango, mango
- small children that come up to you in the street and say very politely "good afternoon" and then giggle and scurry away
- taking cool showers by candlelight when the power is out
- sharing a meal with my roomies and laughing about just about everything
- describing my dreams to people in the morning (anti-malarials make your imagination run wild)

...and the list goes on and on.