Kakra-kakra ;-)

Sunday 3rd April - Happy Mothers Day to all you Mothers out there. I hope you are all being especially appreciated today:-)
Slowly, slowly (Kakra,kakra in Twi) is how I am settling and adjusting to living in sub-Sahran Africa.  I have been in my new home on Mango Tree Avenue, Asylum Down, Accra for 3 weeks now and I have recovered from my  initial shock and distress at having an unreliable water and electricity supply along with a level of dirt and grime I have not had to live with since I left Walton St. Leicester!!!!. Slowly, slowly I am learning to adapt to the conditons and accept that life here poses many new experiences and challenges to test me. I can't control the physical sweating but I can learn not to sweat the other small, small stuff! 
This week I have finally managed to get hold of a Dongle and have been chatting to people on Skype and it really helps to reduce the isolation and pass the time. We don't have a TV or radio and I have worked my way through all 5 novels that I brought with me already.  I will have to go and raid other vols bookshelves very soon.  For those of you that haven't sorted out Skype please do as it isfab just to have a chat and catch up with what is going on at home. I feel that I am living in a little Ghana bubble.
I have been playing around with Picassa photo  software and e-mailed a link to photos of my house to some people so maybe you can let me know if you got them. I can upload them quicker through Picassa than on to this blog so it might be a better option, let me know what you think!!
Breaking news.... we have got some new Chinese neighbours!Tthey appear to be moving into an apartment of a house opposite. Maybe I will invite them over for a drink. There are a lot of Chinese people working here helping to build new roads, dams etc.  There is  some debate as to whether they will become the new colonial masters of Ghana in the future. Presently they appear to be supporting the development efforts in a very tangible way; time will tell what conditions may be attached and if this works in the best interests of Ghana. At the moment Ghana is happy to look beyond Europe and USA for development support. In fact they have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chile, who have achieved great things in their health programmes, who have agreed to send some of their Doctors here to help Ghana improve its hospitals and public health. 
There has been a big outbreak of Cholera in parts of Accra and we are being warned to maintain high levels of hygiene - no shitting in ditches or shaking hands! 

The Ghaniaan handshake. This is one of the most fascintating and challenging greetings I have ever experienced. It is like a regular handshake but as you part hands your index fingers kind of slide and click. It's exraordinarily difficult to master and always creates hoots of laughter from your Ghaniaan friend.  I will enjoy trying to teach some of you this method of greeting when I return.