So I have officially been in Ghana for one week but it seems like I have been here for ages already--I can't decide if this is good or bad. These first days have been a whirlwind of activity. We got into Accra late on Monday night and spent Tuesday getting phones, exchanging money, and getting to see some of the city. It's not so much a nuclear city as it is a very spread out urban hub. We (April, Ashley, and I) were taken around by Isaac, who used to work at the Navrongo Health Research Center (NHRC) but has since moved to Accra to become the NHRC liaison there. It was during this outing that we had our first true Ghanaian meal which consisted of goat and tilapia in a very spicy stew served with fufu which is a dough like substance that is generally made from cassava. That same evening we were told by Dr. Liese (a Georgetown professor) to stock up on the "European" food in the buffet at the hotel because it would be the last we would see for a long time.
Early Wednesday we flew up to Tamale, a 1 hour flight, and then had a 2 hour drive from there to Navrongo. Despite being squished into the backseat of a pickup (a very common mode of transportation here) we managed to take tons of pictures of things we have since realized will be surrounding us for the next three months. Everyone in Ghana has been so welcoming, and that includes the staff here at the NHRC. Before we even stepped foot into our apartments we were greeted by various people all offering helping hands and words of advice (i.e. always close the door quickly unless you want wall geckos everywhere). We have two separate apartments--Ashley is at one end of the 3 apartment block, April and I at the other. They are spacious living spaces--living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom (complete with bed nets!). After unpacking, briefly meeting one of our supervisors, and getting our internet set up, we had a quick bite to eat in the guest house here with a Ghanaian soap opera playing incredibly loudly in the background.
Dr. Liese said good-bye the next morning and we have been on our own since. Later Thursday afternoon Rosemary took us to market (market is every 3 days) where we bought some yams (which we attempted to cook later...it was disastrous), some tomatoes, amazing bread, spices, rice, and even pasta. She gave us a good introduction to the market although none of us are ready to brave it on our own yet. Friday was our first set of field visits. Dr. Williams (one of the supervisors) sent each of us to a different project and we were told to tag along with the teams. I was with urban malaria/IPT-i (another malaria program). That first day I went to Bolgatanga, the next biggest city, about 30km away with 3 of the workers here. We visited a number of compounds, first checking to make sure the Community Based Agents (CBAs) were doing their jobs of testing/treating malaria and then to a few compounds where children had been treated to see how things had gone. It was, needless to say, a little overwhelming.
Over the weekend Dr. Williams took us to Bolga where we did some grocery shopping and wandered around after which we ate lunch at a local restaurant. That evening, Francis, who works with the Navrongo Demographic Surveillance System (NDSS), showed us around town a bit, pointing out where we can get toilet paper, the cheapest bagged water, etc. and he also drove us by the Catholic cathedral which is beautiful (entirely made of mud and 100 years old). Sunday was a lazy day. Yesterday (Monday) I was back in Bolga doing visits similar to the first day--this time I was slightly more comfortable with things. Today I went to Paga (home of the Paga crocodile ponds and last town before Burkina Faso) with one of the field workers. She was interviewing a young mother about her experience with IPT-i (which refers to 3 doses of anti-malarials given in the 1st year of life and shown to reduce occurrence of malaria during the first years of life). The worker then showed me the crocodile ponds (I think we are headed there for the true tourist experience on Saturday) and took me to the border to show me what that was like.
Despite things being so very different here, I have to say that there hasn't been any huge culture shock--more culture confusion. When a Ghanaian is welcoming you to their home or country or whatever, they say "you are welcome" which the first few times confused us immensely because they were saying you're welcome and we hadn't said thanks. Other things we have learned: African yams are not at all like "yams" in America, cold showers can feel great when taken after a particularly hot day and not all stove tops light themselves, to name a few. Overall, the experience so far has been great and I can't wait to see what the next weeks bring (hopefully an end to our perpetually upset tummies!!).
