Our Humble Abode

So our house is located in a middle-upper scale neighborhood in a section of Accra called East Legon. Since there are hardly any formal names for streets here, the locals have appropriately named the street we live on American House Road.

Our “villa” is surprisingly large and spacious, especially compared to the majority of Ghanaian residences. It is guarded by a security guard 24/7 and the entire compound is surrounded by a fence with a maybe unnecessary amount of barbed wire. However, these luxuries may be unneeded, as we have never successfully opened the front door on the first, second, or even third try.

We have an accommodating living room artfully rearranged by Michael using the age-old art of feng shui. And by feng shui I mean we worked hard to ensure every piece of furniture can be reached by the life-source of the room, otherwise known as floor fan, 1984 model. Many happy times have been spent in this living room where we eat together, sweat together, and curse the extremely slow Internet together. We have actually learned that it is much cooler and the Internet goes much faster out on our front porch, which is illuminated by a large sign that references Christ as the “head of this house, “the “unseen guest,” and the “silent listener to every conversation.”

There is indeed a dining room and a kitchen complete with two small fridges which, split between 14 hungry Americans, do not provide nearly enough space. We have all managed to piece together relatively normal yet modest food collections including and pretty much limited to peanut butter, bread, various fresh fruits, pasta, eggs, and a milk stand-in found only in poorly designed cartons. Of course everyone also has their secret stashes of pop tarts, granola bars, and plentiful ramen hoarded away in various cabinets, a behavior comparable to that of hungry squirrels.

We have six luxurious rooms that each accommodate anywhere from one to three people and up to 37 geckos. So far only a single gecko has chosen to make residence in one of our rooms, and that room just so happens to be mine. I sleep on the top bunk and the only thing that separates poor Ariane and me is one concave foam mattress and several faulty and precariously bowing boards. Meanwhile Elise sleeps like a queen on her single bed in the corner, which I only allow because she is the closest to both windows and therefore will distract all the bugs/mosquitos away from me and my failed attempt at putting up a mosquito net.

The best part of our lavish villa is that each room comes complete with its own deluxe bathroom where the water flows like cold, cold wine. As in it literally trickles out of the showerhead. In fact, Elise broke our showerhead on the first day and up until today we have been showering with what resembles a hose. Though the lack of water pressure is a bit discouraging I think just about everyone has had at least one semi-successful shower by now, though Patrick’s was interrupted by a large cockroach who apparently resided in the drain.

Other than that… we have a pretty big yard but it’s too hot to do anything other than hang the laundry we wash in our bathtubs or while showering. Oh, and we have a super awkward room adjoining to our living room that no one has quite figured out a use for yet… if any readers have suggestions throw us a bone.

-Megan