Ghana is home!

After talking and planning the move to Ghana I finally arrived in July. Since then I have been 'settling in'.
The difference between life here and in Hong Kong where I was previously couldn't be more marked. There I lived in a 'shoe box' on the 23rd floor by the side of a busy main road. My building was on top of the MTR so all I needed to do was to go in the lift and I could conveniently get to virtually any place in Hong Kong I needed to go.
Now I am living in a beautiful 5 bedroomed house with garden and the only way to get to it is via a dirt road from the notorious Spintex Road. I came in February to look at it and was terrified by the traffic. I never thought I would have the nerve to drive but I am slowly accustoming myself to nosing out into a stream of oncoming cars and negotiating the roundabouts. I have driven to High Street but am yet to really get my Accra bearings so am limiting my journeys to the Mall and the market.
I previously lived in Ghana in 1990 -93 and my life now couldn't be more different. Then I lived in the 'bush' in Enchi Western Region and I was a volunteer. At that time there was no electricity and my water was carried every day by the students from the college. I did have a kerosene fridge but most of my cooking was on a coalpot until my now husband came to visit and saw how thin I had got and bought me a two burner gas cooker! I ate a diet of local food and the only luxury was powdered milk which was quite difficult to get at that time.
This time I can't believe that things that are available here - at a price - and there certainly aren't the privations I experienced as a volunteer. Now I have a washing machine and a microwave and we have made sure we have a back up solar system for the power and extra tanks for the water so are not affected by powercuts and water shortages.
So far so good! I am enjoying my life here and know it was the right move for me.