I am finally here in Accra, Ghana. After an exhausting flight from Newark to London, a very lonely eight-hour layover at Heathrow Airport, and a seven hour flight from London to Accra, I arrived at my residential hall at around 11 pm last night. It was love at first sight; Lila Yuen is in a relationship with Accra (Ghana).

Today was the first of many days of orientation (actually, there are only 5 more days but they are 10-12 hours each). The staff here is unbelievable; in fact, everything here is unbelievable. Abafun Crescent Complex is a huge house which I share with seven other girls. Elizabeth and I have the largest room with direct access to the balcony. Everything is super except for our air conditioner, which was deemed broken when it started to rain on my desk. Aside from that, I could not ask for more-- we even have avocado/banana/palm trees in our backyard.

I don't miss New York nearly as much as I miss the people living in it. However, Skype is making communication so much easier at the cost of two pennies per minute :)

I still cannot believe I am in Africa; it will all either become more real or surreal (perhaps both?) when I begin classes at the University of Ghana/Ashesi University and when I start volunteering at the Osu Children Center and hopefully the hospital too.

I guess I am waiting to come down from what John called the "Ghana high." I do not see it happening anytime soon.