Akwaaba

this is my sixth day in the new country that would be my home for the next couple of months. i've been acclimatizing gradually. it gets dark by 6 PM and its bright already by 5 AM. my system is still adjusting to the time difference. didn't know one hour could make so much difference.

i'm still curious when it comes to the people. they seem laid back, carefree, friendly. i'm a bit cautious watching my words expecting the usual 'shine your eye' characteristic from home country to pop up any moment. i haven't met many ghanaians though. the few i have met are very polite and friendly. i went to get a link to the web. the sales person was very courteous kept apologizing because i had to wait a few minutes for the guy with the store key to show up.

maybe i'm just carried away by the euphoria of the new place. maybe i came with a very positive view about them so i'm yet to see something out of place. but all in all, there is a certain sense of security here. the estate i'm temporarily staying in has low walls, well kept lawns, flowers, constant electricity and its very quiet. you can actually hear those long forgotten bird sounds. it reminds me of my village , serene but modern.

the streets have interesting names, cheery lane, kiwi, plum, sour sop, raspberry lane etc. good drive ways, paved side walks. there is a pervading sense of security. it almost seems like robberies are unheard of. i only got to see policemen when i looked very hard. there are no check points ( in fact the only one i saw was apparently illegal. the cops came in a taxi and began checking passing motorists - this was a day before christmas). when i'm more acclimatized i would really ask if there were incidents of robbery.

the few times i've listened to the radio, they reports have been on the current political primaries and accidents on the road. they have a large billboard showing the number of accidents and casualties for 2006 on the major motorway. i noticed that people seem to keep to the speed limits and obey the traffic lights even on traffic sparse christmas day. there is also a billboard decrying domestic violence against women. it's interesting that here they think it important enough to cry out against it on billboards. i'm however finding it hard to relate these calm people to violence. maybe there's something under that calm exterior after all.

so far the experience has been great. time will tell if my opinions will change. so far i think this place is nice. water, power and internet is the barest minimum i need to survive and so far in six days i haven't been disappointed.