weekenders

Hey loves,
I figured it was about time for another post (mainly b/c I'm bored and have time). Not much has happened since the last one. I finished my first week of school. I'm sort of scared about African Music and Dance b/c we're going to have to get up in front of the entire school and perform!! At least I'll be getting credit for it at Trinity and I won't ever see most of these people again. I'm really excited about my Leadership Seminar. We get more information about the community service requirement tomorrow. My Africana classes with our African-American professor should be quite interesting, but I'll try to suffer through. Hopefully the readings will help with the discussions. I also start my Twi (pronounced: chwee) language classes tomorrow! Now I can understand what everyone is saying!!
This weekend was a weekend of learning experiences. I sort of learned how to wash my clothes by hand on Friday. I don't think I rinsed them well enough, but oh well. I'll learn. After that, 5 of us CIEE girls went to Frankie's (a very popular restaurant/bakery/ice cream shop) for dinner. On the way there, we were followed by sketchy Ghanaian boys for a long time. They kept telling us we were like angels and proposing. I got annoyed b/c they wouldn't stop, but oh well. I also had my first encounter with a street urchin. At first I thought he just wanted to play, but a guy came over to disengage him from my leg and told me he was begging for money. It made me sad b/c the kid was too cute. He followed us for awhile too. After dinner, we got ready to go out with some Ashesi guys that we've met. They took us to this popular club that unfortunately is frequented by a ton of European tourists. It was absolutely packed and everyone was sweating a ton. Gross. I jumped in the shower immediately when we got home.
On Saturday, Holly and I went grocery shopping with 2 Ashesi boys. It's helpful going with Ghanaians b/c they can make sure the cabfare is fair. I owe her money b/c my stupid credit card won't work at an ATM and credit card fraud is wraught here so I refuse to use it as that. We ended up cooking dinner that night. It was exciting. We introduced our apartment-mates and CIEE girls from the north to breakfast tacos. Yum! I've also decided that toast with nutella is heaven. In return, when the Ghanaians cooked, they let me try their yams and garden-egg stew. I ended up watching movies on Akousea's computer with a bunch of people all night. Disturbia freaked me out. Maba (my Ethiopian apartment-mate) got really freaked out too. haha.
Today will just be a relaxing day of reading for class. I have a ton to do, so it should be fun. Tonight we have our Akwaaba (welcome) dinner. They will serve us real Ghanian food and we get to watch traditional African dances. I'm excited. The food here is amazing.

Everything is going really well. I've been making sure to stay out of trouble and ignore all of the sketchy guys that like American girls. Most of the CIEE students are trying to avoid sitting near each other in class so we can get to know other Ashesi students. Most of them here are either Ghanaian or Nigerian, although we have some from Ethiopia, Mali, Togo, and various other African countries. I'll try to update again soon! Hope everything is going well back home and the election coverage isn't getting too grating. :)

Love love love from Africa!!

machiavellianism?

So it's my 2nd day of classes and I think I've definitely made an impression in my leadership seminar class. We were talking about what makes a good leader and this guy said something about it's ok to kill 50 people as long as it'll help your country in future years. i flipped out (of course). I used Hitler as an example by saying that he was technically a successful leader b/c he stabilized Germany's economy and unified the country, but his moral compass wasn't exactly pointing due north. The guy started to say something else and I went on asking the (hypothetical) question of whether or not it is alright to kill 12 million people - 6 million Jews - for the good of the country. Machiavellianism is NOT the way to go, especially when attempting to be moral. The teacher agreed with me sort of. They kept talking about how to know when you've passed the mark, which I'm guessing means crossing the line. I wanted to ask exactly when you would know when the line has been crossed, but there are a couple of guys who talk a bunch and I didn't want to interrupt the teacher. And a bunch of people laughed b/c I became all spastic when I went on with my rant for the whole 60 seconds. I've definitely already realized how different Africans' thought process is, especially when it comes to leadership and politics. Mom and Dad - don't worry. I went to the guy that made the argument that I completely refuted after class to make sure he didn't take it personally. He told me not to worry because that's what the class is supposed to be. Oh and we talked about how in Africa, even when a leader makes mistakes, everyone makes excuses for him, which is quite different than in America where people recognize the mistake and don't allow it.
One of my roommates has finally moved in, which is great. She fixed the fans AND figured out how to charge my phone. Hooray!! She also told me that she will teach me to cook by December. I'm too old to not know how to cook basic meals. hahaha. I'm really excited about my classes so far. I'm taking 2 Africana classes (Africa in the International Setting and African Philosophical Thought), a leadership seminar where community service is required and is 40% of our grade, African Music and Dance, and a Twi (pronounced chwee) language class. I'm super excited about this semester. Especially my Africana and leadership classes. The debates should be interesting with all of the different perspectives. I'll try to update next time something else noteworthy happens. Love from Africa!!

P.S. Some guy just walked into the computer lab with a popped collar. Apparently there are quite a few things that cross oceans. Greeeeeat.

GHANA!!!!

view outside my balcony

fighting with Thomas in the airport

Hey guys!!
Well I have safely arrived in Accra and have already gone through the basics of orientation. Today was sort of my first day of school. We toured Ashesi, got our student IDs made, and talked to the Registrar. I'll be going to various classes that I'm interested in the next couple of weeks before i actually register. Unfortunately they're not offering as many poli sci classes as I had been hoping so i'll probably have to just take some Africana classes. There's a leadership seminar that I'm definitely going to take that has a community service requirement! Unfortunately, that is only for the 2nd half of the semester so I'll try to volunteer at the local orphanage until then. I'll let y'all know what i decide.
My roommates still haven't moved in yet. My apt-mates are here though, so that's fun. Everyone has been pretty friendly. The only annoying parts are: no hot water, aggressive street vendors, and this being a cash-based economy. Other than that, it's alright. The children are absolutely adorable. I can't get over how gorgeous everyone here is. The past week or so has been pretty busy, and I have to go to an internet cafe to get wireless for now. I'm going to try to get my comp configured by the IT guys on campus soon.
Ghanaian food is really good and VERY spicy. I don't know how to spell anything and can only barely pronounce it, which is unfortunate. I'm trying to get some of the girls that also live in the hostel to cook some real Ghanaian food for me soon! I get my fruit from the street vendors. Fresh mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and papayas galore!! Some of the girls in my program and I went to a bar a few nights ago (it was saturday night, we had to do SOMETHING besides sit and talk in our rooms). We met some sketchy rasta boys. They were ridiculous... from what I could understand anyway. It is very hard to understand what some people are saying, but I'm getting better. :)
That's about it for now. My favorite thing about this city is that there is ALWAYS music playing. Everything is so lively here. I love it. The only thing y'all have to worry about is me either getting hit by the crazy Ghanaian drivers or falling off my bunk bed. :)

en route

It is 12:20 p.m. I am leaving in exactly 10 minutes for the DFW airport and will be on my way to Africa!! I have 2 huge suitcases filled with mosquito repellant-treated clothes, enough meds to open up my own pharmacy (as well as a suture kit), mosquito net, and a small bottle of holy water (courtesy of my mother :) ). I don't think it's hit me yet that I will be in Africa for 4 months, although I absolutely cannot wait to go. Everything will be drastically different when I get back, but here are some things to remember right now.

Oil price: $3.38 a gallon in Sherman.
President: George W. Bush
Weather: rainy, 77 degrees.
Thomas' height: one inch shorter than I.

Anyway, time to go to the airport! I'll try to get post again either in Germany or once I finally get there. Peace out America.