a whole new alphabet

Last night we had our Akwaaba (welcome) Dinner. It was an absolute blast. We were served real Ghanaian food such as banku, fried plaintains, and jollof as well as a ton of other things that I have no idea how to pronounce. Then we all went outside and watched a performance of traditional African dances. They showed us 3 of those and then 1 modern dance. Afterwards, the dancers dragged us all on stage to teach us a few moves. Let's just say there is a reason that many say that white people can't dance. Hopefully my African Music and Dance class this semester can help me with that ... or my apartment-mates. Once we got home, some of us were talking about Ethiopian dancing (there is an Ethiopian guy in my Music and Dance class that showed us how he dances back home. Lots of shoulder moving.) and we asked our Ethiopian apartment-mate to show us how it's done. Holly (the other CIEE girl living in my apartment) and I probably looked ridiculous, but it was a ton of fun.
This morning we woke up bright and early for our very first Twi language class. It's held every Monday and Tuesday at 8 a.m. Greeeeat. Our professor is this tiny Ghanaian man who is very happy all the time. He taught us how to say a bunch of the basics. For example, Ashesi means beginning. He also explained the reasons behind naming a child. One of their names is either the male or female name for whatever day of the week they were born. For example, I was born on a Monday, so my name would be Adjoua something something something. Afterwards I had my Leadership Seminar where we talked about the reasons many people get into leadership positions, especially related to politics. It's interesting comparing the American and Ghanaian views. I also sort of made some rice tonight, although Kate and I put wayyy too much rice into the rice cooker. Oh well, I'm still learning. I think Holly and I will make a huge batch of breakfast tacos for dinner tomorrow. They were a hit last time and this time we'll make them properly.
Tomorrow I have 2 Africana classes with an African-American professor that I (as well as most if not all other students) am not very fond of. We'll see how this week goes. It's very frustrating to take a class about AFRICA and have to constantly have it related to the African-American experience. If I wanted that, I would take African-American studies back at school. That is not the reason I chose to study in Africa for the semester.
Ok. Enough venting. Positive thinking is key. Hopefully it will get better. Everything else is going well. It's been fun getting to know other Ashesi students and the CIEE students have another field trip this weekend! Once I get my computer hooked up to the internet, I'll post pictures.
Hope everything back in the states is going well!

Love from Accra!

p.s. here's a youtube video that sort of shows ethiopian dancing. notice the shoulder movements! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoAaTcPQnxs&feature=related