Day 1: From -1 to THIRTY ONE degrees

Snow cleared at Terminal 5

This first post would have been delayed a few days if Mother Nature had got her way. At Heathrow, mum and I (yes, Mum is here with me too...) were faced with departure boards that read - CANCELLED, CANCELLED, CANCELLED, CANCELLED, Delayed Check-In, CANCELLED, CANCELLED, CANCELLED. Thankfully, ours was one of the flights that took off from Terminal 5 despite all the "disruption" caused by ALL OF 2 INCHES of snow that fell in London.

Admittedly, the first 12 hours have been tough. The heat is exhausting. Getting off the plane at Kotoka airport was the first shock as I was slapped in the face by 28 degree heat (at 9pm GMT/Local Time-- there is no time difference!) Humidity makes the air incredibly dense. We've already experienced two powercuts (known as "lights out") each lasting about an hour but we're very lucky to have a back-up generator in our house. 

Everyone is really friendly but I stick out like a sore thumb- I asked a friend, Cynthia, why it's so clear that I'm a "Bloh-fon-yoh" (basically, a Brit) and she said "well, it's obvious, no? Your skin is so much lighter, your hair looks different (woo, the remi pays off once again!) and when you speak..." --say no more.

Not that sticking out is completely bad. It does seem at first to be quite a handicap (if some people realise that you don't understand what they're saying, they're more likely to be a little sneaky when it comes to buying goods in the market) but thankfully MAMA DIDN'T RAISE NO FOOL and I understand every word of Gha and quite a lot of Fante (two commonly spoken dialects in the capital). 

But it's not all been exhausting heat and sneaky vendors. For breakfast, my favourite aunt made me "Yaw Flor keh Kelewele" --hehee it's black-eyed beans stew and fried plantain. A little heavy for breakfast but, when in Ghana, do as the Ghanaians do. 

Family home in Dansoman, Accra

Ok, that's not how the Ghanaians do. I'm just being a little indulgent.