I figure people might want to hear another opinion on Ghana. Megan is fresh from the States and apparently I’ve become numb to a lot of what I do because she thinks some of it’s crazy. So here are Meg’s thoughts on Ghana:

After being here for almost a week and a half, I think that Ghana is indescribable. No matter how you try you will not do it enough justice and it can vary so much from village to city. You can go from a big city with a mall, movie theater and amazing American food, to villages with mud huts and no running water or electricity and everything in between. Pictures cannot capture its beautiful landscapes and amazing sites.
The most remarkable historical building we visited was the Cape Coast Castle. Obama visited here a few weeks ago. The architecture there was unbelievably beautiful, but the story behind it is heartbreaking. This fort was built in the 1600’s and played a major role in the slave trade industry. People that were captured for slavery were sent into the slave dungeons for three months before passing through the Door of No Return. After touring this building I was almost speechless. It is hard to believe that what happened in that building was allowed to occur!
While we were in Ghana’s Eastern and Central regions we visited a waterfall and Kakum Nation Forest. The hike to the waterfall took a little more than an hour. We stopped many times to take in the sites and the small villages along the way to the top. As we were getting near we could hear the water flowing down the falls. The water rushing down and the mist in the air was an incredible! While at Kakum National Forest we went on the Canopy Walk. It is a boardwalk that is suspended above the canopy level of the forest about 100 feet up. The boardwalk was made from rope and ladders with wooden boards to walk on. Once again the view was marvelous!
Ghana is not only filled with amazing sites, but also wonderful people! The kids are kind and love to play and learn sports. Everybody is incredibly welcoming! They even call to check in on Dan when he is away, just because they haven’t talked in a few days.
Ghanaians love President Obama! All over the country there are signs with President Obama and President Mills. Michelle Obama is even on a few! At market you can purchase Obama t-shirts. You can even get into a cab and hear a song written about Obama. Today the neighborhood kids sang the song and translated it for me! Hopefully this song will make it out to the United States!
But Ghanaians love football (soccer) more than anything in the world! The kids love to play it and everybody talks about it. We watched the Manchester vs. Chelsea pre-season football game in the TV hut last week. The hut was packed and incredibly hot! The excitement in the room was incredible! Dan and I wanted to leave early, but were forbidden because of the excitement. After regulation it was a 2-2 tie, Chelsea won in a shoot out. There were so many cheers and high fives in the room. Remember, this is a pre-season game! I have never seen anything like this in the States. The closest thing to compare it to was the Stanley Cup Finals. In the States we have so many different sporting events/teams that we can chose from that it almost takes way from the excitement of watching games or following teams.
Over the course of my visit I have gotten the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people, see beautiful sites and learn a new way of life. The biggest thing I have learned from this experience is don’t ever set your mind on anything- you need to be flexible! You cannot just walk into a gas station and grab a Nutra-grain Bar or Snickers bar. You can’t even be upset if the water goes out at the hotel you are staying at. There is nothing you can do to get it back on and complaining about it really isn’t going to help!

Quote: I was walking to the garbage to throw out a mushy banana. Michael says, “Ahh, let me feed that to my goat.”