It's amazing how quickly one can settle into a place. I feel quite at ease walking along the busy streets, grabbing taxis to wherever, and making silly conversation with everyone I encounter (I often tell them my name is Rumplestiltskin, from Antarctica. They believe absolutely anything!). Exciting, because that's what I aspired to and it's come quite quickly. Easier when you're on your own, I suppose. I'm also getting used to the orphanage and finding myself somewhat useful and appreciated. They think I'm an amazing artist (hahaha!), beatboxer, and chameleon. That is, they figured out that when you touch my skin, it turns white for a while. That entertained them for the entire day, and they got especially excited when I pointed out that you could make smiley faces.

On tuesday night (despite us both being exhausted) my host dad took Alice and I for a drink, which he is apparently wont to do, and just about tried to drown me in beer. Apparently Ghanaians really like their alcohol, so I sampled the local favorite. It comes in an enormous bottle! He's really good at getting you to eat or drink more by guilting you into it and so he just kept ordering more. He's pretty much a ridiculous, lovely man. He told us that black people don't get sunburnt because they are working when they are in the sun, and so the sweat forms a protective shield. This man is highly educated...

Yesterday was not a good day and I decided early on it wouldn't be good to write about it. I sucked it up and threw myself into work and rewarded myself with lunch with volunteers. The lunch put me in an even worse mood, as it made me feel even more alone here than before. We also had dinner at this fantastic indian place (we considered it incredibly expensive because it was like $13 for the entire meal), and all 30 of us had to cram into one tro-tro (their busses...kinda like a really badly made mini van) to get there. Oh yeah - so on wednesdays we have a meeting, and I met some new people which is like the most comforting thing that has happened since I got here. I hate being the only one who doesn't belong or doesn't know how to do something and I am far better at including people than being included. So I happily introduced myself and quickly had them going on about their homes and what they want to be and what they hope to accomplish here. I like making people feel welcome. There are few things more pleasing to me than engaging that kid standing awkwardly off to the side in conversation, and I know from way too many experiences that one person being nice to you can completely make or break your impression of a place. I've realized that the volunteers here, especially the group I have been hanging around, are extremely cliquey. Bleh. But whatevs, I composed a group of mostly newbies to go traveling with me this weekend. It will do me good to be the one with the most knowledge, because I'll have to organize stuff and make most of the decisions. We're going to a place called Green Turtle, which is supposedly this amazing carribean-esque resort on the beach where you can go canoeing and the like. I dunno if I can handle that much relaxation, but I could probably do with a bit right about now. Plus I should probably give my roomie some space. I feel like I'm probably driving her crazy.

I've been thinking about writing some post cards but you can't find any here. I'll keep looking, though...Oh and if you wanted to write then send it in the next week or so or it won't get here in time.

May I mention how much I enjoy washing by hand? It's how I end most days at the orphanage, which is nice because it gets my hands the cleanest they can get here. This is sad, but it reminds me of rowing. There's a technique to it, but once you get the repetitive motion down it's soothing and somewhat mindless. You can get out your frustrations and simultaneously be productive. It gives me a chance to think while looking preoccupied. If you're doing it with someone, you have to get your timing right so that the rinsing and the washing are synchronized. It makes your hands red and raw and the water is dirty but it feels good. Sigh.

I am way behind on reading and writing emails and the computer is so slow and broken that it takes ages to look at anything. I have been trying for an hour to look at my facebook profile and read my wall posts, but to no avail. Oh, ghana! Oh, btdubs, "it's ghana!" is the answer to everything. Absolutely everything. Have I only been here a week?

I think I'll go buy another hour, as I won't be on the computer again until at least Sunday. Oh and tell me which parts of this are the most interesting/boring and I'll try to talk about similar things in the future.