Day 3

Day number three was the start of orientation week at the International Organization for Migration in Accra, Ghana! It was packed with activities and field trips out of the office. Dyane welcomed us warmly and gave a brief overview of the IOM globally and in Ghana. I was even more impressed with the organization than I had been before; it's truly a wonderful place that creates so many successful projects on positive and regulated migration. Soon after, we went to the United Nations to get briefed on security in the field. We'll be living out in the field, in a fishing village on the coast called Immuna, for six weeks. It was great training! Learned a lot and felt really prepared to be living in this country.


After that, we headed to our meeting with IOM Partners UNHCR. They explained their role and how both organizations work together. It was so much information that I wasn't expecting! We truly began understanding how the IOM works.

Patience and our driver Emmanuel took us to the market in Osu to show us how crazy it really can be. Every seller is coming up to you trying their hardest to get you to buy something.

From paintings to a bracelet with your name on it, in which they make while they're trying to convince you to buy it, the market has a ton of stuff. The men try and learn your name and if you don't buy something they'll try and give it to you "from the heart".

Some actually mean it, the rest let you take it and then try and hassle you for money until you say no and they put it in your hands, say "it's from the heart" and the process starts all over again. It's hilarious and can get quite hectic. They even came up to our van afterwards and tried to sell from there. We could barely close the door!

After that, we were off to the office. But first!


We had freshly chopped coconuts. We drank the water and Emmanuel explained how to use a piece of the coconut to spoon out the "meat" of it. Very fun experience.

Back at the office we ate lunch which was a typical rice and chicken combo. Patience, who has quickly become our motherly figure, went over our cultural orientation. We discussed many do's and don'ts. For example, whistling at night or using your left hand is really looked down upon, while saying "How are you?" (or "Ete sen?") is a great idea! When little kids call you "Obruni!" (white person), you're allowed to shout back "Obibini!", which is the opposite, but not offensive and they'll often giggle. We also learned a couple of dances and just how much Patience loves to dance! It was a lot of fun and very informative. Then Dan Sam came in and explained IOM's work on migration and development in Africa.

That night we went to a traditional African food place, FINALLY! We had been itching to get our hands on some local dishes. We went to Chez Afrique, an outdoor place that is down the road from our hotel. We had been told to only go their on Fridays and Saturdays, as the live music scene and dancing is really great those nights, but we just could not wait. We were three of a few customers, it was quiet, but very nice. It felt like you were sitting under a black light with the large mosquito zapper overhead and party lights all around. It's a place you could really see being situated on a beach and has a very tropical, laid back feel. Also, the mosquitos haven't really been existant yet!

Anyway, we ended up having a dish that many Obrunis like, "Red Red". It's a slightly spicy blend of beans, red pepper and red palm oil, served with sweet fried plantains. Absolutely delicious! You can get it with tilapia, chicken, or even goat sometimes.

With the Red Red, we felt it necessary to order the best Ghanaian beer. Our waitress recommended Club beer, so that's what we had! They're big bottles, and the flavor is pretty good! So we ended up drinking two and had a relaxing time during our first real night out on our own. We headed back to the hotel and fell quickly asleep for day number four.