So I just returned from my 5-day travel excursion to the Ashanti and Northern Regions of Ghana. I have never seen something so beautiful in my life. If I could imagine what the Garden of Eden looked like, it would look a lot like the countryside of Ghana. This place is unbelievably gorgeous. Apparently Eastern Africa is even better according to some guys we met on our safari this weekend, but more on that later.
Friday I woke up bright and early in order to be on the bus by 6:30 a.m. I made sure to bring my pillow though so I pretty much slept the entire 5-hour drive to Kumasi, waking only for the rest stop and lunch with the CIEE Legon kids. We did our Kumasi field trip with the CIEE (my program) students that go to University of Ghana in Legon. 70 obronis? Oh lordy. It was actually fun though. We split up after lunch. 2 buses went to the cloth villages and 2 buses (including mine) went to the Palace Museum and market. The Palace Museum was ok. It used to be the palace of the Ashanti Chief until they built a new one. The coolest part of it (to me, anyway) was that the grounds of the palace had peacocks!! Sooo cool. Quick side note: Ashanti is the name of the region. Asante is the name of the people in the region. After both buses took our tours of the palace and received a little history lesson on Ashanti chieftaincy, we went to the largest open-air market in West Africa. It was pretty cool I guess. Not much different than any other markets I've been to, just on a much larger scale. I did see people selling chickens, holding them upside down by their feet. I've decided I'm not eating fish here since everyone sells it on the street, with all of the exhaust. Gross. Afterwards we all went back to the hotel and rested until dinner. Our hotel was amazing, even by US standards. The Golden Tulip in Kumasi. When Holly and I got to our room we inspected everything in amazement. Our balcony was huge, we didn't have to turn on the hot water heater for hot water, there was actual water pressure(!), there was plush carpet, and the sheets felt truly clean. It sounds like my standards have dropped, but seriously. SUCH a great hotel. Anyway, dinner was sooo good. Amazing food. The Ashesi kids split up and sat at various tables with Legon kids so we could all get to know each other. Uneventful until everyone was finishing up eating and some people started to leave. I ran over and jumped to kneel on a chair to talk to Gannett (a girl in my program). Holly got a bit overexcited and ran over too, and tackled me. She allegedly thought that I still had one leg on the ground and wouldn't fall, but I definitely ate it. In front of everyone. I have a huge bruise on my shin to prove it. All the Legon kids looked at us like we were crazy. Fun times. Anyway, ended the evening watching CNN curled up in the comfy beds.
Saturday was a LOT of fun. We woke up, got breakfast, and then the 2 buses in my group went to the Kente and Adinkra cloth villages. We were shown how they weave Kente cloth and then went around and made our souvenir purchases. Kente cloth is sooo pretty. I went a little overboard buying stuff. Oops. I got to practice my bargaining skills and for some reason a guy I bought a necklace from kept giving me free stuff! I'm sort of tired of constantly being asked if I'm American and an Obama supporter so my new thing is I'm Canadian and voting for Nader. Because Canadians can vote in the US elections and all. They never question me, though! We also met our Twi professor's son as we were leaving and were shown his house. We then went to the Adinkra cloth village and were shown how they make the dye that they put on the cloth. Some of us were able to try our hand at weaving on the loom. I have a great picture of me attempting to do that. I even had my own cloth thing made. I picked out the 2 Adinkra symbols I wanted, the cloth, and had it stamped for 5 cedi. Everyone in both the villages were very very nice. After that, all the buses met at a lake that was created by a meteorite centuries ago. We had lunch there then a bunch of people jumped in and went swimming. It was shockingly very very warm. After a couple hours of that, Mr. Gyesi bought a few bottles of palm wine for all of us to try. I really liked it. It was a lot sweeter than I expected. Before going back to the hotel, my bus stopped by the bus station to buy our bus tickets for the next day. Anyway, we got back, had dinner and then I ended up hanging out with a bunch of Legon kids until wayyy too early in the morning. It was fun getting to know new people.
Sunday we all woke up bright and early to get breakfast before getting to the bus station by 9:30. We had a long bus ride from Kumasi to the Mole Junction, then got off there to wait for the other bus to come by and take us to Mole. The bus to Mole was old and ridiculously crowded. We waited for 20 minutes after getting on the bus for it to start and I'm pretty sure I sweated out all the liquids in my body. Grossss. It was a very bumpy 4 hour bus ride. We finally got there and got our room. Not as nice as the Golden Tulip and the power was out when we checked in, but it wasn't terrible. Showering and getting ready for bed in candlelight isn't too bad.
The next morning we woke up crazy early to go on a SAFARI! Gannett and I were walking to find breakfast and a babboon walked right by us! Close enough to touch! It was just hanging out, getting scraps of food from the ground. Omg it was crazy. We also had a ton of African deer and warthogs all over the place eating the grass. We then went on our safari where we got really close to wild elephants, bush buck, African deer, warthogs and monkeys! Warthogs are my new favorite animal. They're so ugly they're cute. Anyway, we had a walking safari through Mole National Park and took a ton of pictures. Afterwards, we took a nap until this amazing lunch a woman that lived in the village nearby made for us. Omo tuo is my new favorite Ghanaian dish. It's a rice ball in groundnut (peanut) soup. Sooo good. Later that afternoon, some of us went and swam in the pool. Babboons were playing in the trees right next to us! One even walked right by me as I was laying out. Another one stole a roll of toilet paper from the hotel office. Crazy times. That afternoon we went to the oldest mosque in West Africa in Larabunga. We walked around and got the history of the place as well as information about the village it was in. There was also an NDC political rally going on right next to the mosque which was cool to see. Apparently Larabunga speaks some language that nobody else in Africa speaks. Later on we got back to the room and played card games while it rained until dinner.
Tuesday morning was another early morning seeing as we had to be on the bus by 4 a.m. Not fun. At least this time we were the first ones so we were guaranteed seats on the crazy crowded bus. We had a lovely 4.5 hour bus ride to Tamale. We had some trouble trying to get a hotel room for 5 people so we ended up lying and saying that there were only 4, but I was a friend already staying in Tamale. However, Evelyn and I were supposed to show up later as if she was the one who picked me up and took me to the hotel. It took us half an hour to find the hotel since we started going the wrong way and got lost in Tamale for awhile. Tamale is a predominantly Muslim city where I have never seen so many people on motorcycles in my life! It's surreal seeing people in traditional clothing riding motorbikes. It was hard trying to get directions to our hotel though since the few people I stopped didn't speak English or Twi. After we finally arrived at AlHassan (our hotel), I napped for a loooong time before we walked around a market nearby. They were selling the weirdest stuff. I walked by a vendor selling cow heads and hooves. Ick. I got some sweet shades for my Halloween costume. Then the 5 of us just hung out, having a good time playing cards, singing Lion King songs and playing that childhood game, MASH. Good times.
Wednesday morning we had to be at the bus station by 5:30 to get on the 6:30 a.m. bus to Accra. I bought some nice leather flip flops for only 7 cedi, which is exciting. Then we had a 13-hour bus ride to Accra. I slept most of the way and listened to Dane Cook with Emily. They played this crazy Ghanaian movie so by the time we were almost to Accra, Gannett and I had a loud, running commentary. It ended like Hamlet-everyone died. The quality of the film and the acting was sooo bad, it made it hilarious. It was not very family-friendly though. A woman sleeps with her husband's brother b/c her husband is impotent and they want children? ick.
This was probably my favorite trip so far. I went to so many neat places and had such a great time with the group of girls I travelled with. I really want to go to this village in Western Ghana that is built on stilts in the river. Apparently just the canoe-ride to the village is worth it. It's supposed to be gorgeous. I also really want to spend the night in the rainforest one of these days.
I'm sure everyone else abroad is having a great experience as well, but I honestly think that Ghana has such amazing scenery and we've had such great experiences. Waterfalls, rainforests, SAFARIS, indigenous villages, etc. I love this place, although I really want to learn more Twi. If anyone ever gets the chance to visit Ghana or Africa, do it. I want to travel around the rest of the country, although my class schedule won't allow it this semester. :( Still, I'm having such a great time.
P.S. The election is in 2 weeks! Abroad kids - get your absentee ballots in. For most of y'all, it's the first presidential election we're eligible to vote in. We need more youth to vote, no matter the candidate. People back home - don't forget to vote! I'm planning on watching election coverage well into the early morning here at a friend's house. Should be exciting!
Sorry for the crazy long post. It was just such an amazing trip. Hope everything is going well for everyone else!
Love from Ghana!
Tidbits of the day: Brofo is a fried ball of dough that is delicious and sold all over. It's like a donut, but much bigger and without the sugary covering. Yum.
There are certain Ghanaian words and phrases that rub off. For example, people call other people Charlie, but pronounce it Cha-lay. They also call people my brother and my sister (pronounced: seesta). My favorite is when somebody says something and someone else replies by smacking their lips and saying 'eyyyyy. Sort of like if someone in the States says "come on. seriously" in a fun manner.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Why did the chicken cross the road?
I have no idea the answer to that question, but I DO know that on my way to the computer lab, I saw a chicken run back and forth across a road no less than four times... and that's just when I was walking up to it.
Anyway, this week has been pretty standard. I've just had class and studied-ish. I had two mid-terms today in my Africana classes. They were both essay exams so hopefully I did alright. I watched Caddyshack the other day and had flashbacks to my cousin's wayy too long graduation from A&M and watching that movie on an ipod with my brother and cousins. Fun times.
I'm really excited for this coming weekend and week. Tomorrow morning we leave at 6:30 a.m. to drive to Kumasi in the Central Region for (at least) 5 hours. On Friday, we will go to Manhyia Palace Museum to learn about the prestigious chieftaincy institution of the Asante people. After that, we will go to the Kumasi Central market, which is the largest open-air market in West Africa and is about 90% controlled by women. On Saturday, we will visit the Bonwire Kente-weaving village to watch the weavers weave the kente cloth as well as try the loom ourselves! After that, we'll go to Ntonso, the Adinkra cloth village and taught the steps of making a certain piece of cloth. Finally, after that we'll go and swim in Lake Bosomtwi, which was formed centuries ago as a result of a meteorite.
After all this, since next week is Mid-Semester Break, a group of us will be getting on a different bus on Sunday to go to Mole National Park and Temali (sp?). We'll stay a couple of nights in Mole and hopefully go on a safari! Then we'll go to see the oldest mosque in Western Africa outside of Temali. After all that, we will finally be on our way home by Wednesday. I think it'll end up being a 10-hour bus drive if it doesn't break down. Yay public transportation!!
I'm super excited about these next 5 days and will definitely update once I get back. Hope everybody is getting excited about the election in 19 days!! I went to the U.S. Embassy this morning and dropped off my ballot so that it will for sure get mailed. I'm so excited about this because I have now officially voted in my first presidential election! Hopefully I'll be able to go over to someone's house to watch election coverage. It should be a great experience.
Hope everything back in the states is going well! I saw on CNN today that the Asia-Pacific stock market has had their worst single-day drop in history and in the U.S. stock market, they had their 2nd worst day. Fabulous. Good luck everyone!
Tidbit of the day: The policemen here carry AK-47s around. Sweet. Not disturbing AT ALL.
Burning hot oil HURTS. Be careful when frying.
Love from Accra!
Anyway, this week has been pretty standard. I've just had class and studied-ish. I had two mid-terms today in my Africana classes. They were both essay exams so hopefully I did alright. I watched Caddyshack the other day and had flashbacks to my cousin's wayy too long graduation from A&M and watching that movie on an ipod with my brother and cousins. Fun times.
I'm really excited for this coming weekend and week. Tomorrow morning we leave at 6:30 a.m. to drive to Kumasi in the Central Region for (at least) 5 hours. On Friday, we will go to Manhyia Palace Museum to learn about the prestigious chieftaincy institution of the Asante people. After that, we will go to the Kumasi Central market, which is the largest open-air market in West Africa and is about 90% controlled by women. On Saturday, we will visit the Bonwire Kente-weaving village to watch the weavers weave the kente cloth as well as try the loom ourselves! After that, we'll go to Ntonso, the Adinkra cloth village and taught the steps of making a certain piece of cloth. Finally, after that we'll go and swim in Lake Bosomtwi, which was formed centuries ago as a result of a meteorite.
After all this, since next week is Mid-Semester Break, a group of us will be getting on a different bus on Sunday to go to Mole National Park and Temali (sp?). We'll stay a couple of nights in Mole and hopefully go on a safari! Then we'll go to see the oldest mosque in Western Africa outside of Temali. After all that, we will finally be on our way home by Wednesday. I think it'll end up being a 10-hour bus drive if it doesn't break down. Yay public transportation!!
I'm super excited about these next 5 days and will definitely update once I get back. Hope everybody is getting excited about the election in 19 days!! I went to the U.S. Embassy this morning and dropped off my ballot so that it will for sure get mailed. I'm so excited about this because I have now officially voted in my first presidential election! Hopefully I'll be able to go over to someone's house to watch election coverage. It should be a great experience.
Hope everything back in the states is going well! I saw on CNN today that the Asia-Pacific stock market has had their worst single-day drop in history and in the U.S. stock market, they had their 2nd worst day. Fabulous. Good luck everyone!
Tidbit of the day: The policemen here carry AK-47s around. Sweet. Not disturbing AT ALL.
Burning hot oil HURTS. Be careful when frying.
Love from Accra!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Wli Waterfalls and a Monkey Sanctuary
I am so blessed. I kept realizing this as we drove to the Volta Region for our field trip this weekend. The Ghanaian countryside is unbelievably gorgeous. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. The closest I can get is a mixture between the Hill Country in springtime and Colorado in summer, but on a much grander scale. It's lush and green with such a variety of plant life. Absolutely breathtaking. At one point, we had to slow down because there were some men shepherding cows and sheep alongside the road. One guy was even holding a baby lamb! Also, most people in the area lived in thatched-roof huts. I wish I got a picture.
Anyway, we had a lovely 2-hour bus ride to our hotel, an early lunch and then off to the waterfalls! We took a 40-minute hike through the rainforest where it started pouring on us about 10 minutes into it, which is why I have very few pictures. We pretty much got soaking wet simply walking there. Had some fun singing songs from musicals and such and splashing each other by jumping into puddles. My tennis shoes are muddy and disgusting. Once we get to the breathtaking waterfall (the tallest in West Africa!) we all pull off our already soaking clothes and jump straight in. The water was freezing, but it was pretty shallow so I could walk to the falls. We ended up getting really close to where the falls hit the water, but had to walk backwards to it b/c the spray kept getting into our eyes. We probably spent about half an hour playing in the waterfall pool (I don't know what else to call it) before hauling our freezing selves back to somewhat dry land. It sucked having to put our muddy, wet tennis shoes back on to walk the 40 minutes back. Sherrick, Holly and I had a great time reminiscing about our favorite Thanksgiving foods. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pecan pie... yummmm. After we got back, we had to board the bus and had a cold, wet hour and a half drive back to the hotel. I ended up getting a hot shower FINALLY.
The next day we all woke up early and jumped in the pool at the hotel. It was hot and sunny outside so the pool felt GREAT. Got some sun. :) Then went back and had the best shower I've had in 7 weeks. We had lunch, then went to the Monkey Sanctuary! At the Monkey Sanctuary we went near this "sacred" forest and fed monkeys bananas. They got so close to us and actually peeled the bananas as we held them in our hands! Such precious little things. There are hundreds of them in the forest. There were also a ton of baby goats running around so our tour guide caught one for Sasha so she could pet it. I have never heard something sound so awful as it screamed. :( Evelyn has a picture of me on her camera pouting as I pet the terrified thing. After the Sanctuary, we had a fabulous 3 hour drive back home. At one point as we were driving, our driver slowed down b/c there were monkeys in the road! They were a different species from the ones we fed and it was about 2 hours into the trip. Soooo cool.
I am absolutely loving this country. Everyone is so nice and there are so many different things to do here! Next weekend we're going to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. I know we'll be going to see how kente cloth is created, but I'm not sure what else. It'll be a loooong trip. 5 hour drive at least... and we'll be going with the CIEE kids from Legon. Greeeat.
I also had some Ethiopian tea tonight. It was really good, but must have some caffeine in it because after I drank it, I became really hyper. Which is why I'm in the Internet Cafe at 11:45 p.m. No worries, I'm not by myself. I still have common sense... ish. :) Ghana is amazing and everyone should come and experience something like this in their lifetime.
Tidbit of the day: There is a really big Lebanese population here. Most restaurants that serve a variety of food have a pretty sizeable Lebanese section.
The whole thing about there being a dry season and rainy season is complete crap. Ghana weather is like Texas weather. It rains whenever it pleases, no matter what season it's supposed to be.
Love from Accra!!
Anyway, we had a lovely 2-hour bus ride to our hotel, an early lunch and then off to the waterfalls! We took a 40-minute hike through the rainforest where it started pouring on us about 10 minutes into it, which is why I have very few pictures. We pretty much got soaking wet simply walking there. Had some fun singing songs from musicals and such and splashing each other by jumping into puddles. My tennis shoes are muddy and disgusting. Once we get to the breathtaking waterfall (the tallest in West Africa!) we all pull off our already soaking clothes and jump straight in. The water was freezing, but it was pretty shallow so I could walk to the falls. We ended up getting really close to where the falls hit the water, but had to walk backwards to it b/c the spray kept getting into our eyes. We probably spent about half an hour playing in the waterfall pool (I don't know what else to call it) before hauling our freezing selves back to somewhat dry land. It sucked having to put our muddy, wet tennis shoes back on to walk the 40 minutes back. Sherrick, Holly and I had a great time reminiscing about our favorite Thanksgiving foods. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pecan pie... yummmm. After we got back, we had to board the bus and had a cold, wet hour and a half drive back to the hotel. I ended up getting a hot shower FINALLY.
The next day we all woke up early and jumped in the pool at the hotel. It was hot and sunny outside so the pool felt GREAT. Got some sun. :) Then went back and had the best shower I've had in 7 weeks. We had lunch, then went to the Monkey Sanctuary! At the Monkey Sanctuary we went near this "sacred" forest and fed monkeys bananas. They got so close to us and actually peeled the bananas as we held them in our hands! Such precious little things. There are hundreds of them in the forest. There were also a ton of baby goats running around so our tour guide caught one for Sasha so she could pet it. I have never heard something sound so awful as it screamed. :( Evelyn has a picture of me on her camera pouting as I pet the terrified thing. After the Sanctuary, we had a fabulous 3 hour drive back home. At one point as we were driving, our driver slowed down b/c there were monkeys in the road! They were a different species from the ones we fed and it was about 2 hours into the trip. Soooo cool.
I am absolutely loving this country. Everyone is so nice and there are so many different things to do here! Next weekend we're going to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. I know we'll be going to see how kente cloth is created, but I'm not sure what else. It'll be a loooong trip. 5 hour drive at least... and we'll be going with the CIEE kids from Legon. Greeeat.
I also had some Ethiopian tea tonight. It was really good, but must have some caffeine in it because after I drank it, I became really hyper. Which is why I'm in the Internet Cafe at 11:45 p.m. No worries, I'm not by myself. I still have common sense... ish. :) Ghana is amazing and everyone should come and experience something like this in their lifetime.
Tidbit of the day: There is a really big Lebanese population here. Most restaurants that serve a variety of food have a pretty sizeable Lebanese section.
The whole thing about there being a dry season and rainy season is complete crap. Ghana weather is like Texas weather. It rains whenever it pleases, no matter what season it's supposed to be.
Love from Accra!!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Texas Fight! Texas Fight!
I apologize now for the really long post.
So I have officially gotten sick in Africa. I'm not sure what exactly it was. I think it was just a bad cold, but my friend Emily and I both got it within a few days of each other. It was awful. I felt like death and ended up skipping both of my classes on Monday in order to sleep. I experienced yet another example of cultural differences while sick though. I feel like back home, most people are very sympathetic if their roommates are sick and clearly look like death. Yeah my roommates got up early that morning, woke me up to ask me if I was going to class that day (to which I replied "NO. I feel terrible and really want to sleep all day with no interruptions." ha), then kept the light on while they got ready. This I still do not understand. It's ridiculously bright outside and there is no noticeable difference in the mornings whether or not the light is on. It does make my bed hotter since I'm on the top bunk directly below the light. Anyway, they kept the light on, turned on music, talked wayy too loud and sort of made me want to stab my eyes out. They kept waking me up to ask me questions too. If looks could kill.... Some random chick also came in asking if she could borrow my nail polish remover and then started looking through my makeup bag. I was livid and if I had had the energy to sit up and yell, I would have.
Anyway, that was my Monday. Tuesday we just had class. Nothing special. Tried out this place called Venus later that evening. I tried this really good generic Red Bull. It's called E-Energy. Red Bull just has a bull on the can. E-Energy has a bull, a rhinocerous (sp?), a kangaroo, and a horse. Let's just say I was bouncing off the walls after one of them. I can only imagine what the E stands for...
Wednesday was amazing. I took a field trip for my Leadership class most of the day. We left at 9 a.m. to go to this place called Village of Hope in Gomoah Fetteh. It's near Cape Coast so it took us a good hour by bus with no traffic to get there. The director gave us a basic overview of their mission and then gave us a tour of the school, houses, and nursery classrooms. Village of Hope is a children's home/orphanage that also has a school and offers a ton of other programs. We were able to tour the houses that the children stay in with their Christian "parents." It was a really impressive organization. We also peeked in on the pre-school rooms and nursery and I just wanted to take all of the adorable children home. Sorry Mom and Dad. :) Afterwards, we took a class vote to convince the bus driver to take us to the beach (our professor is at a UN Conference. She is on a panel representing Africa), but he wasn't as cooperative as we would have hoped. It was a really great experience though and I'm sad that it's so far away from Accra.
Thursday was just class and stuff. After dinner, some of us were working on our Leadership papers and decided that playing music would be a good idea. After blasting "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, our papers were abandoned for yet another karaoke session. A girl in our program, Tomoko, turned 20 today so we did the whole birthday cake thing and then took her out to a bar called Bywel's for a lovely little celebration. When we got there it was mostly older people listening to the live music, but as the night went on, the crowd became younger and filled more with college-aged kids. I found my Texas sports-watching buddy. Even though he's an Aggie fan, we've agreed to watch the UT-A&M game in complete silence for 3 hours so that we'll still be friends afterwards. :) Best part of the night: I was able to successfully tell off a guy so that he had no response. Soooo empowering.
Today I just had Music and Dance. We learned to play some drums!! Unfortunately, at the end of class, our prof split up the girls and guys and made us do some dances. Then he made us each do a solo dance move of our own. Soooo embarrassing. I was also able to successfully finish my Leadership paper on time and made it under 1500 words!
I'm really excited for this weekend: Wli Waterfalls (that we can swim in!) and a Monkey Sanctuary (where we can feed the monkeys). It should be a really fun trip. Oh, I also got my absentee ballot yesterday! I am really excited about finally being able to vote in a major election. I just need to make sure to send it in soon!
Tidbit of the day: I don't think I will ever get used to seeing people just pee wherever they see fit. Most of the time guys will turn their backs from the main walkway, but sometimes.... ewwwww.
On a brighter note, the fruit here is absolutely unbelievable. It is delicious and sooo cheap. The bananas are tiny, but sooo much better than bananas back home.
Love from Accra
So I have officially gotten sick in Africa. I'm not sure what exactly it was. I think it was just a bad cold, but my friend Emily and I both got it within a few days of each other. It was awful. I felt like death and ended up skipping both of my classes on Monday in order to sleep. I experienced yet another example of cultural differences while sick though. I feel like back home, most people are very sympathetic if their roommates are sick and clearly look like death. Yeah my roommates got up early that morning, woke me up to ask me if I was going to class that day (to which I replied "NO. I feel terrible and really want to sleep all day with no interruptions." ha), then kept the light on while they got ready. This I still do not understand. It's ridiculously bright outside and there is no noticeable difference in the mornings whether or not the light is on. It does make my bed hotter since I'm on the top bunk directly below the light. Anyway, they kept the light on, turned on music, talked wayy too loud and sort of made me want to stab my eyes out. They kept waking me up to ask me questions too. If looks could kill.... Some random chick also came in asking if she could borrow my nail polish remover and then started looking through my makeup bag. I was livid and if I had had the energy to sit up and yell, I would have.
Anyway, that was my Monday. Tuesday we just had class. Nothing special. Tried out this place called Venus later that evening. I tried this really good generic Red Bull. It's called E-Energy. Red Bull just has a bull on the can. E-Energy has a bull, a rhinocerous (sp?), a kangaroo, and a horse. Let's just say I was bouncing off the walls after one of them. I can only imagine what the E stands for...
Wednesday was amazing. I took a field trip for my Leadership class most of the day. We left at 9 a.m. to go to this place called Village of Hope in Gomoah Fetteh. It's near Cape Coast so it took us a good hour by bus with no traffic to get there. The director gave us a basic overview of their mission and then gave us a tour of the school, houses, and nursery classrooms. Village of Hope is a children's home/orphanage that also has a school and offers a ton of other programs. We were able to tour the houses that the children stay in with their Christian "parents." It was a really impressive organization. We also peeked in on the pre-school rooms and nursery and I just wanted to take all of the adorable children home. Sorry Mom and Dad. :) Afterwards, we took a class vote to convince the bus driver to take us to the beach (our professor is at a UN Conference. She is on a panel representing Africa), but he wasn't as cooperative as we would have hoped. It was a really great experience though and I'm sad that it's so far away from Accra.
Thursday was just class and stuff. After dinner, some of us were working on our Leadership papers and decided that playing music would be a good idea. After blasting "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, our papers were abandoned for yet another karaoke session. A girl in our program, Tomoko, turned 20 today so we did the whole birthday cake thing and then took her out to a bar called Bywel's for a lovely little celebration. When we got there it was mostly older people listening to the live music, but as the night went on, the crowd became younger and filled more with college-aged kids. I found my Texas sports-watching buddy. Even though he's an Aggie fan, we've agreed to watch the UT-A&M game in complete silence for 3 hours so that we'll still be friends afterwards. :) Best part of the night: I was able to successfully tell off a guy so that he had no response. Soooo empowering.
Today I just had Music and Dance. We learned to play some drums!! Unfortunately, at the end of class, our prof split up the girls and guys and made us do some dances. Then he made us each do a solo dance move of our own. Soooo embarrassing. I was also able to successfully finish my Leadership paper on time and made it under 1500 words!
I'm really excited for this weekend: Wli Waterfalls (that we can swim in!) and a Monkey Sanctuary (where we can feed the monkeys). It should be a really fun trip. Oh, I also got my absentee ballot yesterday! I am really excited about finally being able to vote in a major election. I just need to make sure to send it in soon!
Tidbit of the day: I don't think I will ever get used to seeing people just pee wherever they see fit. Most of the time guys will turn their backs from the main walkway, but sometimes.... ewwwww.
On a brighter note, the fruit here is absolutely unbelievable. It is delicious and sooo cheap. The bananas are tiny, but sooo much better than bananas back home.
Love from Accra
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Reggae, CNN, and Karaoke
The past few days have been pretty uneventful. Wednesday night I went to Reggae Night at Labadi Beach. They have it every Wednesday. They play a bunch of music and there are a ton of rasta boys around. Even old ones. Although I did see an old white guy making out with a Ghanaian hooker. Grossssss.
Thursday was class and then Emily and I met up with a guy we met on Wednesday that goes to University of Ghana in Legon. We ended up going to the Purple Pub with him and then this place called Bywell's where we met up with a bunch of kids in the NYU program. It was fun hanging out with them, mainly just hanging out with people outside of Ashesi. I ended up meeting a guy from Texas who is in the ISEP study abroad program. That was great. We reminisced about food, country music, and the people. I'm missing steak a TON. I did find out that this sports bar called champs has a steak special every Monday night though. AND they have what they call Tex-Mex, which I'm sort of tempted to try. Anyway, met a bunch of people, made new friends, went home.
Friday I ended up getting some laundry done... exciting! I also finally saw The Departed which was very very intense. Hung out at a friend's house and was able to finally watch CNN on his TV, which I was ecstatic about. Went home pretty early and was in bed before midnight. Yesssss.
Saturday I was a complete bum. Watched two movies, two episodes of Freaks and Geeks (which is quickly becoming my new favorite show. Too bad there was only one season), and took a nap. HOWEVER, I successfully made a really great dinner. I made some chicken teriyaki and then sort of grilled green beans and carrots in a frying pan. It was soo good. I made it all by myself and everyone really liked it. I'm definitely going to make it more often now that I know how and I'm going to try to make some honey-lime marinated chicken soon. I'm actually learning how to cook! Yay!! After dinner, a big group of us went to Champ's. I finally took a picture of the Stars jersey hanging above the bar. It still makes my night everytime I see it. They also play a ton of games on Saturday night so I was able to watch some friends go up on stage and make fools of themselves. It was pretty chill for Champ's. I successfully only drank Sprite the entire night, but for some reason was still pulled on stage for karaoke to Ice, Ice Baby. What a fool.
Sunday (today) I got up at 7 a.m. and went to mass! I also was able to do some laundry, which always instills a sense of accomplishment. I'm pretty excited about this coming weekend. We're taking a field trip to the Volta Region, which I think has the monkey sanctuary. And in another couple of weeks we're going to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region with all the Legon CIEE kids. It should be pretty fun to meet new people!
I'm still loving it here. It's getting easier and easier to understand Ghanaian accents and their way of speaking. It's getting ridiculously hotter though. Did you know they only have two seasons? Wet season and dry season.
Tidbit of the day: Everybody has a mixture of traditional clothing and Western-style clothing in their wardrobe. No... traditional clothing does not mean loincloths. They are actually almost completely covered up. The men wear a loose, long-sleeved tunic shirt over loose pants. The women have a bit more variety in their clothes. Most of the time it's a shirt, over a skirt in matching fabrics. Sometimes it's a dress. It's funny, though, going to church and see families matching in the exact same fabric. That's one way to not get separated.
Love from Accra!!
Thursday was class and then Emily and I met up with a guy we met on Wednesday that goes to University of Ghana in Legon. We ended up going to the Purple Pub with him and then this place called Bywell's where we met up with a bunch of kids in the NYU program. It was fun hanging out with them, mainly just hanging out with people outside of Ashesi. I ended up meeting a guy from Texas who is in the ISEP study abroad program. That was great. We reminisced about food, country music, and the people. I'm missing steak a TON. I did find out that this sports bar called champs has a steak special every Monday night though. AND they have what they call Tex-Mex, which I'm sort of tempted to try. Anyway, met a bunch of people, made new friends, went home.
Friday I ended up getting some laundry done... exciting! I also finally saw The Departed which was very very intense. Hung out at a friend's house and was able to finally watch CNN on his TV, which I was ecstatic about. Went home pretty early and was in bed before midnight. Yesssss.
Saturday I was a complete bum. Watched two movies, two episodes of Freaks and Geeks (which is quickly becoming my new favorite show. Too bad there was only one season), and took a nap. HOWEVER, I successfully made a really great dinner. I made some chicken teriyaki and then sort of grilled green beans and carrots in a frying pan. It was soo good. I made it all by myself and everyone really liked it. I'm definitely going to make it more often now that I know how and I'm going to try to make some honey-lime marinated chicken soon. I'm actually learning how to cook! Yay!! After dinner, a big group of us went to Champ's. I finally took a picture of the Stars jersey hanging above the bar. It still makes my night everytime I see it. They also play a ton of games on Saturday night so I was able to watch some friends go up on stage and make fools of themselves. It was pretty chill for Champ's. I successfully only drank Sprite the entire night, but for some reason was still pulled on stage for karaoke to Ice, Ice Baby. What a fool.
Sunday (today) I got up at 7 a.m. and went to mass! I also was able to do some laundry, which always instills a sense of accomplishment. I'm pretty excited about this coming weekend. We're taking a field trip to the Volta Region, which I think has the monkey sanctuary. And in another couple of weeks we're going to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region with all the Legon CIEE kids. It should be pretty fun to meet new people!
I'm still loving it here. It's getting easier and easier to understand Ghanaian accents and their way of speaking. It's getting ridiculously hotter though. Did you know they only have two seasons? Wet season and dry season.
Tidbit of the day: Everybody has a mixture of traditional clothing and Western-style clothing in their wardrobe. No... traditional clothing does not mean loincloths. They are actually almost completely covered up. The men wear a loose, long-sleeved tunic shirt over loose pants. The women have a bit more variety in their clothes. Most of the time it's a shirt, over a skirt in matching fabrics. Sometimes it's a dress. It's funny, though, going to church and see families matching in the exact same fabric. That's one way to not get separated.
Love from Accra!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Simon says....
These past few days have been sooo much fun. In Twi class on Monday my teacher brought us groundnut cakes, which tasted exactly like peanut brittle with more peanuts and less caramel. yummm..
Tuesday was the end of Ramadan, which is a national holiday so we got off from school. Yay!! It was an incredibly relaxing day. I woke up early and alternated all day between doing laundry (by hand!) and sunbathing on this 2nd floor balcony of our hostel. It's really big and gets a ton of sun so Emily, Holly and I laid out and listened to music on Emily's computer. We definitely had quite a lot of Ashesi students watching us, laughing at our obroni selves. We just kept telling them that we're trying to get rid of our obroni-ness. After doing that for a few hours (only an hour outside), I watched Freaks and Geeks on Emily's computer for wayy too long. It's become one of my new favorite shows. Thankfully there is only one season so it won't distract me for too long. Tuesday night a bunch of us cooked dinner and watched a few episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Then Holly and I decided to have an impromptu dance party after a few people left so we blasted music and grabbed Busola (my Nigerian roommate) from the room and made her dance with us around the living room. We live in the middle apartment on the third floor by the stairs so we definitely had a bunch of people walking by laughing at us. It was really fun. Pop, rap, oldies, country - all were good enough for karaoke and silly white girl dancing. Good times.
Today was the best. In my Leadership Seminar we took a field trip to this school about 30-45 minutes away. We all split up into various groups depending on what we wanted to be involved in. I joined the teaching group and ended up teaching some 3rd graders math and science for a couple of hours. They were soooo adorable and so sweet. It was so much fun. The school system is quite a bit different here. Three of us walked in to what I thought would be observing, but the teacher gave us some chalk, had us introduce ourselves and told us to get started. He didn't offer us a workbook until after we told him that we had no idea what level they were and what they had learned so far. The kids were so smart though. Everything we came up with to question them on, they knew the basics of. Multiplication tables, fractions, division, bones, taste buds, etc. Evelyn and I brought the game of Simon Says to Ghana. We played Simon Says with them a few times to help them review their different body parts. It also helped in getting them to be quiet and sit down. An Ashesi guy, Nii, came in later on and helped us too. We took a field trip outside to observe the different animals around us and whether or not they were herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. The children were absolutely adorable. I just loved it.
Tidbit of the day: the way people pronounce their English here is the British way. For example, Americans pronounce water without enunciating the t. Ghanaians and Africans in general pronounce the t in all words like that: water, bottle, etc. I had a guy make a comment on my American English when buying water sachets today.
Love from Accra!!
Tuesday was the end of Ramadan, which is a national holiday so we got off from school. Yay!! It was an incredibly relaxing day. I woke up early and alternated all day between doing laundry (by hand!) and sunbathing on this 2nd floor balcony of our hostel. It's really big and gets a ton of sun so Emily, Holly and I laid out and listened to music on Emily's computer. We definitely had quite a lot of Ashesi students watching us, laughing at our obroni selves. We just kept telling them that we're trying to get rid of our obroni-ness. After doing that for a few hours (only an hour outside), I watched Freaks and Geeks on Emily's computer for wayy too long. It's become one of my new favorite shows. Thankfully there is only one season so it won't distract me for too long. Tuesday night a bunch of us cooked dinner and watched a few episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Then Holly and I decided to have an impromptu dance party after a few people left so we blasted music and grabbed Busola (my Nigerian roommate) from the room and made her dance with us around the living room. We live in the middle apartment on the third floor by the stairs so we definitely had a bunch of people walking by laughing at us. It was really fun. Pop, rap, oldies, country - all were good enough for karaoke and silly white girl dancing. Good times.
Today was the best. In my Leadership Seminar we took a field trip to this school about 30-45 minutes away. We all split up into various groups depending on what we wanted to be involved in. I joined the teaching group and ended up teaching some 3rd graders math and science for a couple of hours. They were soooo adorable and so sweet. It was so much fun. The school system is quite a bit different here. Three of us walked in to what I thought would be observing, but the teacher gave us some chalk, had us introduce ourselves and told us to get started. He didn't offer us a workbook until after we told him that we had no idea what level they were and what they had learned so far. The kids were so smart though. Everything we came up with to question them on, they knew the basics of. Multiplication tables, fractions, division, bones, taste buds, etc. Evelyn and I brought the game of Simon Says to Ghana. We played Simon Says with them a few times to help them review their different body parts. It also helped in getting them to be quiet and sit down. An Ashesi guy, Nii, came in later on and helped us too. We took a field trip outside to observe the different animals around us and whether or not they were herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. The children were absolutely adorable. I just loved it.
Tidbit of the day: the way people pronounce their English here is the British way. For example, Americans pronounce water without enunciating the t. Ghanaians and Africans in general pronounce the t in all words like that: water, bottle, etc. I had a guy make a comment on my American English when buying water sachets today.
Love from Accra!!
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