Yesterday should have been my first day of work at P&P Newspaper, but unfortunately, that didn't quite work out as planned.

I was supposed to show up at work at 10am and Phebe wanted to take me to the bank so I can finally withdraw my money as I will need it for transport to and from work as well as lunches.

For this, we took a trotro up the main

road to a petrol station that does have a cash machine for Barclays Bank. However, the ATM did not accept my Sparkassen-Card and I was told that the only place to get money from with my Mastercard would be the Barclays Bank branch on the High Street in Central Accra. So we went back to the house so I could get my passport - I needed ID to wirthdraw money over the counter. Together, we then went the other way and got a trotro into town.

The exchange rate from Euros to Cedis is mental! I got out € 150 to cover my 6 weeks in Ghana, and I am a millionaire (in Cedis!). As of today, the exchange rate is € 1 = GH¢ 11486,00 which makes my € 150 a total of GH¢ 1722910,00!! No wonder that this is one of the highest-valued currencies in the world!

Today was my first proper day at P&P and Anita had asked me to come in early, so we could start at 8am. Because I don't know my way around the trotros here yet, Phebe called a taxi for me. Trotros are very confusing. They slow down next to you, shout destinations or give hand signals that could mean absolutely anything. You then have about 5 seconds to check whether they go where you need to go and if they do, you pay your fare and get into the hopelessly over-crowded mini-bus. There are no official stops like bus stops or terminals. As far as I have been able to find out so far, there are just a few big markets etc. that function as trotro ranks or terminals, like the bus terminal, Lapaz market and Accra Circle. So far, I've found that you need to know exactly where you need to get off and notify the driver - this means, you must have been to your destination at least once so you know when to stop the trotro.

Getting to work this morning, I was the only one there. So eventually, I left a note and went across the street to an internetcafé (which didn't have any internet access...) and some shops. As I still had to get a few basic supplies, I thought I might as well get them from there. But as soon as I got to the front door, Anita found me and took me into town for a story.

We had to run across several markets, and I stopped at one stall to buy pen and paper for ¢ 4500 so I could keep notes. It turned out, we were on the way to court to cover a few cases there for the newspaper. This was my first experience of being in a court room, and I couldn't understand half of it. First of all,

most of the cases were held in another language. I've been told that it's local language Twi (pronounces "dshwee"). And then there were so many cases, I struggled to keep up. Because I couldn't understand a word, I sometimes even missed the verdict. We were there for 3 hours and I found that the accused didn't even get a chance to defend themselves. The way I saw it, the prosecution presents the case, hears a few witnesses and then the verdict is delivered.

The defendants stand in a wooden box in the corner of the room, while the lawyers sit in front of the judge and all of them looked very bored. The seats are thin wooden benches, which hurt when you have to sit on them for hours.

On the way back from court, we went across Tema Market to find a bus to take us to Lapaz. These markets here are incredible! You can get absolutely everything from toilet paper to food and even live chickens and goats! People run between the buses and selling their wares, which they carry in baskets on their head. Anita bought a pack of plantaine crisps for us so I could try them and they are really good! One of the passengers on our bus kept trying to flog all sorts of things ranging from chinese medicines to yoghurt gums.

Back at the office, we wrote up a story about a little, 6-year-old girl who was at court today. Her own uncle had beaten her to a pulp and she was still covered in bruises and open wounds. I doubt an abused child would have to show all her wounds and face her abuser in German courts without anyone from Child Services present! The uncle will hav to pay ¢ 3.6mio penalty or spend 6 months in jail. He will also have to pay ¢ 2mio to the girl in compensation.

The women at P&P all seem very friendly but I still don't know all their names. There are also a few guys, mainly Kenneth and another who seemed friendly but then kept making jokes in another language so I wouldn't be able to understand. Because Kenneth apparently doesn't live too far from Neoplan Junction, he called the office and said that he would be able to take me home and I should wait for him. He eventually called a taxi instead of flagging down a trotro.

When I got home, Reverend had already left. He wanted to make a daytrip to Togo to visit a pastor there that he is friends with. In the yard, Laura was surrounded by all the local neighbourhood kids. Together with all of them, Laura and I walked over to our local corner store to try and get shampoo, but unfortunately, they didn't have any. The kids kept taking our hands though, which is a sign of respect here, and they pointed out where they all lived. This seems to be a very tight-knit community.