Finding my stride: After a month in Ghana
My fifth week here I felt a real comfortable connection. I knew what I was doing everyday and had a purpose of why I was doing it. I understood my place in the classes and I knew how to prepare for each class, with notes and getting handouts. Funny story about the handouts, for each class the professor gather’s information important for the class and requires everyone to buy a photocopy of the hand out, which is plagiarism in the United States. You think the handouts would be in the department’s building WRONG…some are and some are not. So for the first couple of weeks I wondered around trying to find where my handouts were. NOW, though, I can find all my handouts and I know when the professor for each class will actually teach AND when they will finish.
TOGO
Excited, thrilled, and determined…Alexandra (a girl from a different program CIEE) headed off to Togo with no expectations and excitement to use our French. Before going, we tried to prepare as much as possible…and with that…was exchanging the Ghanaian CD for the Togolese CFA. This was EXTREMELY CONFUSING. So about 500 CFA are an American dollar…so I exchanged 100 US Dollars to make sure that if I ran into trouble I wouldn’t encounter any difficulties.
Getting there by Tro-tro (mini-buses that the locals use)
Alexandra and I meet at Uponglo Station (which is near ISH (the hostel I live in)) at 7am and hopped on a tro-tro to Timus station, which is the MAIN bus station in Accra. We searched the station for a tro-tro that was going to the border city of Ghana, Aflao. We waited two hours as the tro-tro slowly loaded up with people. We then took the the four our journey to the border…which in American terms…with American roads…should only take 1-1.5 hours. BUT this is Ghana and the roads are FULL of pot holes and mostly dirt. There was the PRECIOUS little girl that fell asleep on Alexandra’s shoulder HOW CUTE. ☺ It is the little things on this adventure that make my day. Hehehe. Then half way there…EVERYONE (except the driver) got off the tro-tro. This was at the city Ada Foah…which I would like to check out sometime in May BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE SEA TURTLES HATCH THERE! Any ways…the rest of the trip there was a mate (someone that collects money and sits in one of the middle seats controlling when the tro-tro stops). AND THEN WE WERE IN AFLAO. Confused and crazied by the idea that we ACTUALLY did it…we got the courage and asked the driver, which direction to the border.
Cross the border
Luckily as we asked the mate where the border was…there was a senior high (high school in the United States) girl going to Togo to see her family that was willing to hold our hand (almost LITERALLY) through the border. Her name was Precious and her name fit how much I ADMIRE HER! Crossing borders is a stressful event. We approached the first building where we “checked out of Ghana” it was the same form that we filled out when we entered the country. Then, they stamped us out of the country and scanned our passports. After that, We went to the Togo building where THANK GOODNESS, the forms were in English and French…just so we could double check our French…this is NOT THE PLACE TO MESS UP. The two men in uniform hit on us at the border wanting to marry us. GROSS! We both said we were married…he he he he. We bought our visas and WERE OFFICALLY IN TOGO…the land that is ohh so small and FRENCH (and colonialized by Germany). We were also in Lomé, the capital of Togo.
Hotel discovery
After making it across the border Alexandra and I decided to take a taxi to the “supposed” hotel we were staying at…Precious helped us bargain for the taxi…even though we DID get ripped off…because the hotel was LITERALLY WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF THE BORDER. We checked into the hotel and took a look at our room. A nice Queen sized bed for us to share and a toilet that seemed solid. ☺ We went down stairs to find a place for some food…BECAUSE WHEN TRAVEL…YOU ARE ALWAYS HUNGRY!
Chinese…in Togo?
This nice gentleman (in his late 40s) recommended this Vietnamese place…and gave a back up of Chinese. YA WE COULD NOT FIND THE VIETNAMESE PLACE. We meandered for thirty minutes all around the area…hoping to run into said restaurant…NO LUCK. So we settled for this Chinese restaurant. This was the first time I had Asian food…since my last meal with my family in Colorado. I got hot and sour soup and spring rolls…BEST CHOICE EVER. Both were fabulous and filled me up completely. Filled to the rim we were READY FOR ANOTHER ADVENTURE.
Market adventure
We caught a taxi to the Grande Marché. He took us to the tourist section, full of arts and crafts. I managed to buy a bracelet…my first one in Ghana and a bead made out of metal. Alexandra bought a voodoo doll with nails sticking out of it, but claimed to protect her throughout her travels in Africa…and beyond. It was THRILLING and exhausting…to bargain in French. We then wondered to the REAL market where we asked about different fabrics and soaked in the atmosphere that was similar…yet different to the Ghanaian market. In lack of better words…it was more French. The city in general WAS CLEANER than Ghana. Yet, it was A LOT smaller…than Ghana. While in the market…I ALMOST DIED…good thing Alexandra bought that doll. There was a HUGE truck that crashed in the overhang of a store. This overhang came crashing down in little pieces. ONE OF THESE LITTLE PIECES AVOIDED MY HEAD BY INCHES…very scary indeed. Luckily I avoided the hospital…in Togo…by a little bit. By watching the Taxi driver’s every move we walked back to our hotel (or at least attempted to) from the market (once we got our heart’s content of bargaining). As walking back we conversed with locals in French and observed the culture around us. Before we knew it…we could see the border buildings…now this was NOT right. Our hotel was not in sight of the border buildings. LUCKILY…just at that moment, we spotted 4 white people loading into a car. We approached them and asked if they could point us in the direction of Hotel le Gailon. They said their house was right next to there so we hopped into their car (me sitting on Alexandra’s lap…poor Alexandra). We conversed in French with these friendly French people living it up in Togo. So…with some chaos along the way…we made it back to the hotel…thank goodness.
German Man with PASTA
As we entered the hotel, the nice man in his late 40s was still sitting in the same place. He invited us for drinks. We said sure…WHY NOT…YOU ONLY HAVE ONCE TO ENJOY IT EH? We talked for an hour about his life…he has traveled ALL over the world and was able to give us recommendations on when and where to travel in Togo and Benin. He was fluent in English and happily chatted in English, which was relieving after spending earlier bargaining in French. We ordered pasta…which I GOT REAL CHEESE WITH…and we gobbled down the GREATNESS. We then headed for bed…exhausted for the delightful day.
Ocean sunrise (or sleeping “in”)
Alexandra woke up for the sunrise as a slept in a bit more. As I was crossing the street…from my hotel to the ocean…there was a HUGE RACE going on and besides that ALMOST everyone on the beach was running. TOGO IS THE PLACE FOR RUNNERS…LET ME TELL YOU! But once I got out to the ocean I witnessed the blissful beauty of this Togolese sun and ocean combination. Alexandra and I sat on a turned over boat and enjoyed watching people and the ocean. We ate sandwiches and watched Togolese fishermen pull a boat to shore. It was EXACTLY how the sawyer crew I was on this summer pulled down trees that were stuck into other trees.
Beach adventures
After our taste of the ocean we walked across the beach for a couple miles watching and observing everything that came across. We ran into a coconut man…very plentiful in Ghana as well…where we enjoyed a coconut and ACTUALLY WATCHED A MAN CLIMB UP A TREE FOR COCONUTS…CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? We then got popcorn off the street and Alexandra got a bread donut (basically sweet fried bread). We declined the French sandwiches…but I plan on coming back to have them…especially if the salad on them is AVOCADO…so good. ☺ As we were on the beach we accidently created a crowd of boys curious and ambitious for something. It was interesting. These beaches were MUCH cleaner than Ghanaian ones…yet there were piles of trash in certain sections…and MANY TRASH BINS (which is a RARITY in Ghana).
Another hotel…with A/C treat
We then found this VERY FANCY HOTEL. The place we were staying at was a little hotel with people having extended stays there…the hotel we wondered into for a brunch was VERY FANCY! Our hotel was 4 US dollars a night per person…and this hotel HAD TO BE FOUR TIMES THAT. We had orange juice and fruit and basket in the A/C.
Crossing the border PART 2
We then headed back to our hotel and checked out. We then walked to the border…a VERY quick journey. We went through the Togolese section and said goodbye to French…for now and then checked into Ghana, which gives me another two months in the country. So every two months I either need to leave the country or I need to pay a 40 CD fee…might as well get an experience and travel outside right?
Discovery of a…BUS YES, YES, YES…WITH AIR CONDITIONING
After the border was crossed we luckily ran into a bus that was going to Accra…GLORIOUS. So we paid 10 CD for the trip (it costs 9 CD for a tro-tro so one extra CD was worth it). We went in and out of sleep taking pictures along the way. When I arrived back at ISH it was GLORIOUS to be home because I was greeted by all of my ISEP friends and I got to catch up on their weekends. This is indeed a home for me now. ☺
Bacteria Infection PART 2
So…suddenly Sunday night…after the WONDEROUS JOURNEY TO TOGO…I became SEVERLY ill. (please don’t read the next sentence if you don’t like to hear about bodily functions) I vomited and had many bloody wet stools…so in the morning…IT WAS THE HOSPITAL AGAIN. I waited in and out of rooms for 5 hours and then ended up in the treatment room where I was hooked up to an ivy of water and antibiotics. For the next 5 hours I was in and out of sleep and confusion. Miss Katie was a TROOPER…a THANK YOU AND SHOUT OUT TO HER! She waited 10 HOURS AT THE HOSPITAL WITH ME AND EVEN took my urine sample to the lab room. WHAT A FRIEND…IN fact, her and Emma have been troopers helping me through the hospital visits.
The treatment room
So in this room I was on a hospital bed where I was hooked up to an ivy. This ivy changed from water, to antibiotic, to water, to antibiotic, to water, and water again. This process took 5 hours and in that 5 hours I saw MANY THINGS. One man came into the hospital with SEVER MALARIA. He could barely get out of his wheel chair, let alone get onto a bed. He was rushed to a special room where they could give him treatment immediately. This was scary to see indeed! You always hear about the sever cases, but never see them. Then, there was a girl that came in. She was 18 years old and was vomiting ALL OVER THE PLACE. She almost vomited on me AND my shoes, which is NOT sometime I wanted while I was sick. Her vomiting did not help my nauseated stomach and I can now understand why they have separate rooms in hospitals. The nurses, while I was in the treatment room, were EXTREMELY NICE and helpful for what I was going through. The only problem was THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO PUT A NEEDLE IN MY ARM! They had to do it 3 TIMES…which was a very TIA (This is Africa) thing to happen. They told me that they didn’t understand a white person’s veins…oh boy, but they were very sweet to me. Finally I was released for home with plenty of antibiotics. Since I didn’t eat all day I gobbled down some oatmeal and slept for 13 hours straight.
Tuesday Feb. 28
The good news is I feel A LOT BETTER today! I have been sleeping and eating the entire day…and I hope to be doing something productive soon…like by this weekend because my program (ISEP) is going to Kumasi…and that is NOT a trip I want to miss out on. Kumasi is the second largest city (Accra the city I live in right now is the largest) and is known for it’s art work: wood carvings, fabric, and beads.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
A month into it ALL
Fourth Week in Ghana: I CAN’T BELIEVE IT HAS BEEN REALLY FOUR WEEKS!
Oatmeal, soymilk, and cinnamon: the meal for EVERY BREAKFAST THIS WEEK.
Waking up in the morning for a run at 5:30 in the morning and then coming back STARVING…the best thing to do is to get a quick and easy breakfast. Yum, Yum, Yum.
The Coffee Cue situation
Katie, Emma, and I decided to treat ourselves to a glorious lunch at coffee cue…but SADLY they decided to charge Katie and I over an EXTRA CD for our meal…so we have…sadly decided to only purchase iced tea and iced milo from them EVER again.
Classes: THE LAUGHING STALK
Classes here are SO DIFFERENT. I have always been raised to participate in class and be involved in any way that would benefit my education. Here, I don’t feel like participating AT ALL…because every time I open my mouth THE ENTIRE CLASS LAUGHS AT ME …including the teacher sometimes. I have participated in every class just to see the reaction of the students and teachers in each one…and EVERY SINGLE ONE LAUGHS. The problem is I participate like I do in the United States with intellectual thoughts, but here my vocabulary and speech is to advanced and fast for the Ghanaians to fully catch what I am saying…so they are complimenting me, sort of…but I can’t help but feel like I don’t have ANY say on what is going on or I have ANY CONTROL over my education here. The classes are an adjustment because the professor repeats everything several times…making a two-hour class be able to be covered in 30 minutes in the United States. It is hard to swallow the laughing and pay attention to the content of the lectures. I wonderful if I should just be a quiet student or if I should pursue speaking until they adjust to me attempting to participate every week.
Chocolates day
This Tuesday was Valentines Day …but interestingly enough it is called Chocolates Day because it is too scandalous of a reference for Ghanaians to handle. They think that it encourages sex before marriage…everyone is VERY RELGIOUS HERE. I think it is cute though…and I received an amazing BROWNIE FROM THE ISEP OFFICE…EPIC…I love how sweets here ARE LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY.
To Run or not to Run that is the QUESTION:
So running here is very challenging. Waking up at 5:30 in the morning and taking on whatever the coach asks, and then trying to perform to the best of my ability is challenging…especially when my stomach is VERY sensitive to morning running, even in the United States. It seems to be running my life and making the rest of the day drag on.
Meeting people from the students on the ship, and how I portrayed word vomit…oops
It was very odd on Wednesday Emma and I ran into a group of 6 students from the study abroad by ship folk. They are going to a bunch of different countries for a semester. We got to share our experiences with these folks. I ended up sharing it all in a big blob and finding myself talking too much. I am a little scared when I get into the United States that, that’s all I’ll want to talk about…my experience in Ghana…and how different and wonderful everything is. I am not totally sure how to approach not talking about it all the time…but hopefully I’ll find a balance…I do think it is important to understand that Ghana will always be a part of me because I will have lived here for four months.
The one MONTH BLUES: Hospital, Malaria, Bacteria Infection, and the Runs (wet stools)…but ice cream and chocolate cake can make things better.
Signs for hospital
Thursday I made it to cross country practice, but I ended up having some stool problems. Then, later that day I got a fever and a temperature and it seemed like I was showing the signs for either a bacteria infection or malaria. My temperature got worse and I was asleep by 6:00pm that night. I woke up the next morning starving at 11am and rushed down stairs to get something to eat. It took so much energy to even get down stairs. I knew I had to go to the doctors…sadly. Emma and I made the journey to the hospital at 11:30am on Friday. We went to the hospital that ISEP recommends…something like NYgoen clinic.
We got a taxi and arrived. I filled out some paper work and gave them my ISEP insurance…but they said they didn’t need it. So they told me I had to pay 53 CD to see the doctor…what? I thought my insurance would cover some of that. I got out my insurance again and then they got angry because they said they needed that at the beginning…even though that is WHAT I DID…TIA…so I actually only paid 40 CD for the doctor. While filling out the forms I GOT MY FIRST MARRIAGE PROPOSAL IN GHANA…in the guide book it said I would get that ALL the time…but this was my first one. I told him I was already married and he didn’t believe me. He proceeded to ask for my number…it was really awkward because he was the “professional” guy behind the counter and he wanted to marry me…grrrr. But later on he saw me as I was waiting in the blood test room and he winked to let me know things were going to be okay…so all my negative thoughts were resolved at that point. I was then sent to the waiting room. I waited 3 hours to see the doctor. The doctor then sent me to get some blood tests. I waited in the blood test room for 1 hour and the went back to the waiting room with my results…waiting for my doctor to tell me what they meant. I waited 3 more hours and then FINALLY found out what was wrong with me…during all this time of waiting I watched VERY ODD Nigerian films…they seemed to be a mix of Bollywood and Asian…very interesting…half in English and the other half in a local dialect. I couldn’t follow the plot, but they were ALL SOPAPERAS, where there was so MUCH DRAMA going on.
Anyways…the RESULTS:
So apparently one of the ONLY side effects of Malarone…the malaria pill I am on…is that it takes an extra week for the malaria to show up in the blood work. So…low and behold, malaria did not show up in my blood work…but in my blood work a bacteria infection was present. He suspected that I had both…and if I felt EXHAUSTED AFTER TAKING THE medicine he gave me…that I would indeed have malaria.
A SHOUT OUT TO EMMA…THANK YOU FOR COMING AND WAITING WITH ME AT THE HOSPITAL. She was such a trooper!
After this experience, I know how to get to the doctors and what to do. Their system is very interesting and it seems to be a family event in Ghana with EVERYONE accompanying the sick one.
Friday and Saturday SLEEP AND BOY MEETS WORLD
So the rest of Friday and Saturday I was bed bound...going in and out of sleep. I was pretty bummed because a lot of ISEP were going to Coco beach this Saturday…which is what I was planning on doing before I got sick. But hey…rest is good too.
With this exhaustion, I did have malaria and a bacteria infection together.
SO my luck FOR THE FIRST MONTH IN GHANA…I get sick to the MAX
My dreams while I was sick were very odd…I dreamed that I had marshmellow lips and I tasted food very vividly.
Probably the most frustrating thing was being inside ALL DAY. I am here to go out and explore, but I was stuck inside. Hopefully the world will become better sooner rather than later.
37th and Mall adventures on Sunday
So I decided on Sunday to go out with Lisa, Emma, and Katie for a couple hours to easy myself out for a bit…because I WAS GOING CRAZY SITTING IN BED.
We went to 37th..which has A WONDERFUL VEG AND FRUIT MARKET…and the ladies gave us some free vegs too. We got a HUG BAG FULL of carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avacodos. We then went to the “obruni store” (the store for white people) where we treated ourselves to a WONDERFUL LUNCH. I got hummus, vegs, and pita…and we are talking AMAZING HUMMUS. We then took a tro-tro to the Accra Mall…WHICH WAS VERY SURREAL GOING INTO. This was probably the ONLY PLACE in Ghana that reminded me of the United States. It was like a mini-American mall. There are clothing stores, a movie theatre, and a food court. It made me actually feel sick to my stomach (even though I was sick that day). I really wanted to leave there as soon as possible because the commercialism scared me. This makes me really nervous going back into the states where commercialism is the CENTER OF ATTENTION.
We shall see how that goes because in three months I will be facing that.
Light at the end of the Tunnel Monday
I woke up Monday feeling A LOT BETTER. It seems like there is a light at the end of this malaria tunnel.
Reflection: OVER FOUR WEEKS
I can’t believe I have been here this long. I think it has gone too fast! I love it here. I love the culture, the adventure, and the freedom. At school I am tied to so many commitments and promises that it is refreshing to let go and go with ANYTHING I WANT TO DO. If I want to go running I can or if I want to travel ALL weekend I can. This freedom is wonderous. I LOVE MY ROOMMATE. SHE IS SO SWEET. She gave me a mango for lunch and constantly checked up on me while I was sick. She is a very busy individual, but manages to include me in anything and everything. I love two of her friends, Susie and Jospehine. They are light hearted and just want to get to know who I am. I am ever so GRATEFUL for Shadrach because he is one of the ONLY Ghanaian guys I trust at this point because the first words out of his mouth weren’t…can I have your number or “oh Obruni”.
I am ever so grateful for EVERYONE A PART OF ISEP…whether it be Susan Theresa or ALL THE ABROAD KIDDOS…they are all VERY NICE.
I can’t wait for what will come next…three more MONTHS HERE WE COME!
I hope they are as eventful as the first month.
Oatmeal, soymilk, and cinnamon: the meal for EVERY BREAKFAST THIS WEEK.
Waking up in the morning for a run at 5:30 in the morning and then coming back STARVING…the best thing to do is to get a quick and easy breakfast. Yum, Yum, Yum.
The Coffee Cue situation
Katie, Emma, and I decided to treat ourselves to a glorious lunch at coffee cue…but SADLY they decided to charge Katie and I over an EXTRA CD for our meal…so we have…sadly decided to only purchase iced tea and iced milo from them EVER again.
Classes: THE LAUGHING STALK
Classes here are SO DIFFERENT. I have always been raised to participate in class and be involved in any way that would benefit my education. Here, I don’t feel like participating AT ALL…because every time I open my mouth THE ENTIRE CLASS LAUGHS AT ME …including the teacher sometimes. I have participated in every class just to see the reaction of the students and teachers in each one…and EVERY SINGLE ONE LAUGHS. The problem is I participate like I do in the United States with intellectual thoughts, but here my vocabulary and speech is to advanced and fast for the Ghanaians to fully catch what I am saying…so they are complimenting me, sort of…but I can’t help but feel like I don’t have ANY say on what is going on or I have ANY CONTROL over my education here. The classes are an adjustment because the professor repeats everything several times…making a two-hour class be able to be covered in 30 minutes in the United States. It is hard to swallow the laughing and pay attention to the content of the lectures. I wonderful if I should just be a quiet student or if I should pursue speaking until they adjust to me attempting to participate every week.
Chocolates day
This Tuesday was Valentines Day …but interestingly enough it is called Chocolates Day because it is too scandalous of a reference for Ghanaians to handle. They think that it encourages sex before marriage…everyone is VERY RELGIOUS HERE. I think it is cute though…and I received an amazing BROWNIE FROM THE ISEP OFFICE…EPIC…I love how sweets here ARE LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY.
To Run or not to Run that is the QUESTION:
So running here is very challenging. Waking up at 5:30 in the morning and taking on whatever the coach asks, and then trying to perform to the best of my ability is challenging…especially when my stomach is VERY sensitive to morning running, even in the United States. It seems to be running my life and making the rest of the day drag on.
Meeting people from the students on the ship, and how I portrayed word vomit…oops
It was very odd on Wednesday Emma and I ran into a group of 6 students from the study abroad by ship folk. They are going to a bunch of different countries for a semester. We got to share our experiences with these folks. I ended up sharing it all in a big blob and finding myself talking too much. I am a little scared when I get into the United States that, that’s all I’ll want to talk about…my experience in Ghana…and how different and wonderful everything is. I am not totally sure how to approach not talking about it all the time…but hopefully I’ll find a balance…I do think it is important to understand that Ghana will always be a part of me because I will have lived here for four months.
The one MONTH BLUES: Hospital, Malaria, Bacteria Infection, and the Runs (wet stools)…but ice cream and chocolate cake can make things better.
Signs for hospital
Thursday I made it to cross country practice, but I ended up having some stool problems. Then, later that day I got a fever and a temperature and it seemed like I was showing the signs for either a bacteria infection or malaria. My temperature got worse and I was asleep by 6:00pm that night. I woke up the next morning starving at 11am and rushed down stairs to get something to eat. It took so much energy to even get down stairs. I knew I had to go to the doctors…sadly. Emma and I made the journey to the hospital at 11:30am on Friday. We went to the hospital that ISEP recommends…something like NYgoen clinic.
We got a taxi and arrived. I filled out some paper work and gave them my ISEP insurance…but they said they didn’t need it. So they told me I had to pay 53 CD to see the doctor…what? I thought my insurance would cover some of that. I got out my insurance again and then they got angry because they said they needed that at the beginning…even though that is WHAT I DID…TIA…so I actually only paid 40 CD for the doctor. While filling out the forms I GOT MY FIRST MARRIAGE PROPOSAL IN GHANA…in the guide book it said I would get that ALL the time…but this was my first one. I told him I was already married and he didn’t believe me. He proceeded to ask for my number…it was really awkward because he was the “professional” guy behind the counter and he wanted to marry me…grrrr. But later on he saw me as I was waiting in the blood test room and he winked to let me know things were going to be okay…so all my negative thoughts were resolved at that point. I was then sent to the waiting room. I waited 3 hours to see the doctor. The doctor then sent me to get some blood tests. I waited in the blood test room for 1 hour and the went back to the waiting room with my results…waiting for my doctor to tell me what they meant. I waited 3 more hours and then FINALLY found out what was wrong with me…during all this time of waiting I watched VERY ODD Nigerian films…they seemed to be a mix of Bollywood and Asian…very interesting…half in English and the other half in a local dialect. I couldn’t follow the plot, but they were ALL SOPAPERAS, where there was so MUCH DRAMA going on.
Anyways…the RESULTS:
So apparently one of the ONLY side effects of Malarone…the malaria pill I am on…is that it takes an extra week for the malaria to show up in the blood work. So…low and behold, malaria did not show up in my blood work…but in my blood work a bacteria infection was present. He suspected that I had both…and if I felt EXHAUSTED AFTER TAKING THE medicine he gave me…that I would indeed have malaria.
A SHOUT OUT TO EMMA…THANK YOU FOR COMING AND WAITING WITH ME AT THE HOSPITAL. She was such a trooper!
After this experience, I know how to get to the doctors and what to do. Their system is very interesting and it seems to be a family event in Ghana with EVERYONE accompanying the sick one.
Friday and Saturday SLEEP AND BOY MEETS WORLD
So the rest of Friday and Saturday I was bed bound...going in and out of sleep. I was pretty bummed because a lot of ISEP were going to Coco beach this Saturday…which is what I was planning on doing before I got sick. But hey…rest is good too.
With this exhaustion, I did have malaria and a bacteria infection together.
SO my luck FOR THE FIRST MONTH IN GHANA…I get sick to the MAX
My dreams while I was sick were very odd…I dreamed that I had marshmellow lips and I tasted food very vividly.
Probably the most frustrating thing was being inside ALL DAY. I am here to go out and explore, but I was stuck inside. Hopefully the world will become better sooner rather than later.
37th and Mall adventures on Sunday
So I decided on Sunday to go out with Lisa, Emma, and Katie for a couple hours to easy myself out for a bit…because I WAS GOING CRAZY SITTING IN BED.
We went to 37th..which has A WONDERFUL VEG AND FRUIT MARKET…and the ladies gave us some free vegs too. We got a HUG BAG FULL of carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avacodos. We then went to the “obruni store” (the store for white people) where we treated ourselves to a WONDERFUL LUNCH. I got hummus, vegs, and pita…and we are talking AMAZING HUMMUS. We then took a tro-tro to the Accra Mall…WHICH WAS VERY SURREAL GOING INTO. This was probably the ONLY PLACE in Ghana that reminded me of the United States. It was like a mini-American mall. There are clothing stores, a movie theatre, and a food court. It made me actually feel sick to my stomach (even though I was sick that day). I really wanted to leave there as soon as possible because the commercialism scared me. This makes me really nervous going back into the states where commercialism is the CENTER OF ATTENTION.
We shall see how that goes because in three months I will be facing that.
Light at the end of the Tunnel Monday
I woke up Monday feeling A LOT BETTER. It seems like there is a light at the end of this malaria tunnel.
Reflection: OVER FOUR WEEKS
I can’t believe I have been here this long. I think it has gone too fast! I love it here. I love the culture, the adventure, and the freedom. At school I am tied to so many commitments and promises that it is refreshing to let go and go with ANYTHING I WANT TO DO. If I want to go running I can or if I want to travel ALL weekend I can. This freedom is wonderous. I LOVE MY ROOMMATE. SHE IS SO SWEET. She gave me a mango for lunch and constantly checked up on me while I was sick. She is a very busy individual, but manages to include me in anything and everything. I love two of her friends, Susie and Jospehine. They are light hearted and just want to get to know who I am. I am ever so GRATEFUL for Shadrach because he is one of the ONLY Ghanaian guys I trust at this point because the first words out of his mouth weren’t…can I have your number or “oh Obruni”.
I am ever so grateful for EVERYONE A PART OF ISEP…whether it be Susan Theresa or ALL THE ABROAD KIDDOS…they are all VERY NICE.
I can’t wait for what will come next…three more MONTHS HERE WE COME!
I hope they are as eventful as the first month.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Volta Region and traveling in Ghana
Thursday Feb. 11
Classes and Dance
Not much happened today besides dance class and other classes. I was busy doing that and I also enjoyed some WONDERFUL COFFEE CUE. This day was very nice because I could relax and reflect of Mawuvio’s before I adventured out into the place again the next day.
Friday Feb. 10
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! YOU ARE AN ADULT NOW!!!!!!
I attempted to call my brother, but the phone didn’t seem to want to cooperate. So later in the day I CALLED HIM ON MY DAD’S PHONE…happy the birthday to my LITTLE BROTHER CHARLES RAPPE!
Volunteering at Mavious with the kiddos playing FOOTBALL
I entered the building (which I should have pictures in a couple of weeks) and the children and one of the teachers was leading a worship service. I don’t know any other word of how to describe it other than it was REALLY intense. The children were told about Joseph, the King of Dreams, which is the story from the Bible I WAS OBSESSED WITH AS A CHILD. And they were told to hang in there through all the tough moments.
Then the children sang and did another prayer and suddenly we were on our way to the football pitch. 5 children grabbed onto me, wanting to get closer and closer, hoping that I would develop love for them: WHICH I ALREADY HAD. We made it there and then I realized I was suppose to play with the children. We acted out different animals and had fun laughing at everyone’s faces. Then I played duck-duck-goose with the children, which they never played before…VERY INTERESTING RIGHT? We played that for 50 minutes, which surprised me that their attention was kept for that long. (At the same time children were playing football and attempting at baseball.) The field is dirt so I found myself COMPLETELY COVERED IN DIRT, after playing with them. Then it was lunch-time so we headed back, with 5 or 6 children on top of me. I did feel like I belonged. I LOVED EACH INDIVIDUAL SMILE. The afternoon we watched Dora the Explorer and I enjoyed observing the children’s reaction to the Spanish and English portions of the video.
INDIAN DINNER
There is this SPECTACULAR Indian restaurant in Osu. The food seemed like it came straight out of India. I got butter chicken, curry chicken, balsamic rice, AND LOTS OF NAAN! The meal was VERY expensive…okay not that expensive, but expensive in Ghanaian terms. The meal turned out to be like 16 CD, which is only 10 dollars for a WONDERFUL meal…worth it? I think so. The atmosphere did appear to be a fancy dress-up restaurant, which made ALL of us feel a little dressed down, besides the couple that DRESSED UP HARD CORE. ;)
After this fabulous Indian treat, I went back to hit the haystack because we had a LONG day ahead of us traveling to the Volta region.
Saturday Feb. 11 and Sunday Feb. 13
ADVENTURE IN VOLTA REGION
This adventure was our first outside Accra without a student guide and a charter bus guiding us the entire way. But Leann and Grace, people that are here for a year, were kind enough to guide us through this voyage.
Getting there: Hohoe
We hopped on a tro-tro with our backpacks full of everything and anything we would need in the next couple of days. We then stopped at Madina and endured the journey of finding the group of tro-tros that was going to Hohoe. This city is the main city in between all three of the sights we wanted to see. We loaded up on snacks because we did not know the next time we would encounter food. The LONG four hour tro-tro was an adjustment because I don’t choose to be very uncomfortable for four hours straight, but it allowed me to understand what Ghana’s go through often. I sat near a mother and her baby. Her baby was beautiful (I am in love with African babies…and Emma and I want to take one home). This baby WAS VERY WELL BEHAVED THE ENTIRE TRIP…he never cried. The mother breast-fed the baby quiet often not caring what was going on around her. This indeed is Africa. For part of the tro-tro ride my eyes were glued to the outside world wanting to absorb every detail of the transition between the Accra region to the Volta region…but my eyes became VERY heavy and I was soon fast asleep….or attempting to sleep. Before we knew it…we had arrive to our first mark.
Then Grace and I HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. One of the main issues I’ve noticed about being in Ghana is public restrooms are far and between. We found this “urinal” where we paid 10 peswase and peed on cement…it didn’t make ANY SENSE AT ALL…there was no hole in the ground. I was completely confused how to use it.
Waterfall: Wli Lower falls
After our sort of successful pee experience we caught a taxi to the waterfall. It was a fairly inexpensive ride because 5 of us piled into the taxi…SORRY MOM AND DAD. The good thing is cars are far and few in this area of Ghana so an accident shouldn’t happen. We made it to the trail head, paid some money, and did the 20 minute walk to the lower falls. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL...down a couple of posts is the GLORIOUS PICTURES OF THE ADVENTURE. It was so refreshing. I didn’t get into the water because I was convinced I would get a fungal infection, but the power of the water reminded me how lucky I truly am being here. I AM EVER SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.
Pick-up Truck ride
We waited twenty minutes outside the waterfall in hopes to run across a tro-tro or a motto-taxi (a motorcycle taxi). Fortunately, after thirty minutes, we hitched a ride from a pick-up truck and all sat in the back. SORRY MOM AND DAD AGAIN…we survived through the bumpy road…and the best part was, IT WAS FREE…so we saved a bit of money. Riding in the back of a truck it was great to see everything NOT through a glass window. I experienced the dust and dirty clogging up my glasses and the taste of the dry season: dirt mouth. The truck ALMOST dropped us off at Hohoe, but it turned out that they were actually going to the monkey sanctuary TOO. So we joyously received another ride. I’ve noticed that Ghana outside of Accra is VERY DIFFERENT. People are A LOT nicer and are here to help…and not automatically judge me for my skin color.
Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
We arrived at the monkey sanctuary and then went to guest rooms. Get this for 20 CD (about 15 American dollars) we get a dinner, a night in the rooms, a breakfast, and play with monkeys. SUCH A GOOD DEAL. So I PASSED OUT for an hour extremely exhausted from all the experience thus far. And was woken up for a walk over to dinner. We were served rice, tomato spicy sauce, and hard-boiled eggs. It did appear to be blood and eyeballs in the dark. We scarfed down the meal and headed back for some sleep. We had to wake up at 6am because that is when we catch the monkeys before they go WAY out into the forest. We walked to the edge of the forest with our guide. He made this sound with his lips…that I sort of learned how to repeat later (it is like a mix between a kiss and a whistle). About twenty monkeys greeted us. IT WAS AMAZING. Out of everything we did this weekend. This was my favorite event BY FAR. The guide gave us bananas and we fed them the bananas. They climbed ALL over us and fought for our bananas. It was SO COOL. I have never been super close to a monkey…let alone FED ONE. There was a monkey with her baby in her pouch…SO CUTE. The chaotic…yet wonderful experience was great! Then we trampled through the forest as the guide told us about the organization and how great this tourist attraction is for the economy here (I agree…but strongly disagree at the same it). We then FEASTED on a breakfast of rice porridge, toast, butter, tea (with cream and sugar). IT WAS GLORIOUS TO ACTUALLY EAT SOMETHING. We then attempted to go on our way…
Afadjata 885m and the highest mountain in Ghana
We waited 20 minutes for a motto-taxi (motorcycle taxi)…and none came…so we managed to hitch a taxi to the junction to get a tro-tro to Hohoe. One of the Ghanaian said we couldn’t get a tro-tro on Sunday…YA HE WAS REALLY WRONG. I sat in the front…and it WAS GLORIOUS. I got to understand how difficult it is to drive a tro-tro with how poorly maintained the roads are…with millions of potholes.
We then got a taxi to the mountain and got a VERY GREAT DEAL of paying 8 CD for a ride there and back, while he waited for us…he actually ended up hiking it himself.
Leann told us it would take two hours to get up the mountain…OHHH GOODNESS. I wasn’t worried because compared to this summer where I hiked with a backpack and saw up a mountain this would be easy. It wasn’t bad at all. We got up the mountain in 30-45 minutes. The trail was HORRIBLY BUILT…yes I looked at the trail…because I have been doing trail building for three years. It would be neat to come back at help restructure the trail.
The only problem with hiking this trail during the dry season is we can’t see much at the top…because it is SO DUSTY AND CLOUDY. But we did it, and it felt great to actually hike again…as a BORN COLORADOAN…I always love a good hike. There were signs along the way up that encouraged you to keep going…it was very cute.
But now I can say I summited THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN GHANA
We made an exhausting ride back to Hohoe where we stocked up on lunch food…which we were starving because it was 2pm and we hadn’t eaten since 7am. Bread, fancaco (this is frozen milk in a bag), bananas, and ground nuts (peanuts in America) was our lunch. We peed again in a “urinal”…still confused about what you are suppose to do with these. Lol.
Getting back to Accra
We found a tro-tro heading to Accra. THIS TRO-TRO SEEMED FINE…BUT CREATED MANY PROBLEMS FOR US! There were about 4 kids on the tro-tro which I made faces at the entire ride to try to give them something to laugh about. The TRO-TRO DIED ON US…ABOUT HALF THERE. Ya that’s right…we were in the middle of nowhere and had to wait and hour and a half for them to fix the tro-tro…the clutch was broken. It died on us several more times through out the journey…making the 4-hour ride, a 6-7 hour affair. During one stop there was a coconut man that cut and gave me a coconut for only 50 peswase…which is like 30 cents…REDICULOUSLY AMAZING! I made faces at a little boy and he cried…oops…I must have scared him. Sometimes little Africa children are scared by Obrunis because we are very pale and look like ghosts (just a guess).
We FINALLY made it back and had some night market beans, joliff, plantains, and vegs.
Classes and Dance
Not much happened today besides dance class and other classes. I was busy doing that and I also enjoyed some WONDERFUL COFFEE CUE. This day was very nice because I could relax and reflect of Mawuvio’s before I adventured out into the place again the next day.
Friday Feb. 10
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! YOU ARE AN ADULT NOW!!!!!!
I attempted to call my brother, but the phone didn’t seem to want to cooperate. So later in the day I CALLED HIM ON MY DAD’S PHONE…happy the birthday to my LITTLE BROTHER CHARLES RAPPE!
Volunteering at Mavious with the kiddos playing FOOTBALL
I entered the building (which I should have pictures in a couple of weeks) and the children and one of the teachers was leading a worship service. I don’t know any other word of how to describe it other than it was REALLY intense. The children were told about Joseph, the King of Dreams, which is the story from the Bible I WAS OBSESSED WITH AS A CHILD. And they were told to hang in there through all the tough moments.
Then the children sang and did another prayer and suddenly we were on our way to the football pitch. 5 children grabbed onto me, wanting to get closer and closer, hoping that I would develop love for them: WHICH I ALREADY HAD. We made it there and then I realized I was suppose to play with the children. We acted out different animals and had fun laughing at everyone’s faces. Then I played duck-duck-goose with the children, which they never played before…VERY INTERESTING RIGHT? We played that for 50 minutes, which surprised me that their attention was kept for that long. (At the same time children were playing football and attempting at baseball.) The field is dirt so I found myself COMPLETELY COVERED IN DIRT, after playing with them. Then it was lunch-time so we headed back, with 5 or 6 children on top of me. I did feel like I belonged. I LOVED EACH INDIVIDUAL SMILE. The afternoon we watched Dora the Explorer and I enjoyed observing the children’s reaction to the Spanish and English portions of the video.
INDIAN DINNER
There is this SPECTACULAR Indian restaurant in Osu. The food seemed like it came straight out of India. I got butter chicken, curry chicken, balsamic rice, AND LOTS OF NAAN! The meal was VERY expensive…okay not that expensive, but expensive in Ghanaian terms. The meal turned out to be like 16 CD, which is only 10 dollars for a WONDERFUL meal…worth it? I think so. The atmosphere did appear to be a fancy dress-up restaurant, which made ALL of us feel a little dressed down, besides the couple that DRESSED UP HARD CORE. ;)
After this fabulous Indian treat, I went back to hit the haystack because we had a LONG day ahead of us traveling to the Volta region.
Saturday Feb. 11 and Sunday Feb. 13
ADVENTURE IN VOLTA REGION
This adventure was our first outside Accra without a student guide and a charter bus guiding us the entire way. But Leann and Grace, people that are here for a year, were kind enough to guide us through this voyage.
Getting there: Hohoe
We hopped on a tro-tro with our backpacks full of everything and anything we would need in the next couple of days. We then stopped at Madina and endured the journey of finding the group of tro-tros that was going to Hohoe. This city is the main city in between all three of the sights we wanted to see. We loaded up on snacks because we did not know the next time we would encounter food. The LONG four hour tro-tro was an adjustment because I don’t choose to be very uncomfortable for four hours straight, but it allowed me to understand what Ghana’s go through often. I sat near a mother and her baby. Her baby was beautiful (I am in love with African babies…and Emma and I want to take one home). This baby WAS VERY WELL BEHAVED THE ENTIRE TRIP…he never cried. The mother breast-fed the baby quiet often not caring what was going on around her. This indeed is Africa. For part of the tro-tro ride my eyes were glued to the outside world wanting to absorb every detail of the transition between the Accra region to the Volta region…but my eyes became VERY heavy and I was soon fast asleep….or attempting to sleep. Before we knew it…we had arrive to our first mark.
Then Grace and I HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. One of the main issues I’ve noticed about being in Ghana is public restrooms are far and between. We found this “urinal” where we paid 10 peswase and peed on cement…it didn’t make ANY SENSE AT ALL…there was no hole in the ground. I was completely confused how to use it.
Waterfall: Wli Lower falls
After our sort of successful pee experience we caught a taxi to the waterfall. It was a fairly inexpensive ride because 5 of us piled into the taxi…SORRY MOM AND DAD. The good thing is cars are far and few in this area of Ghana so an accident shouldn’t happen. We made it to the trail head, paid some money, and did the 20 minute walk to the lower falls. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL...down a couple of posts is the GLORIOUS PICTURES OF THE ADVENTURE. It was so refreshing. I didn’t get into the water because I was convinced I would get a fungal infection, but the power of the water reminded me how lucky I truly am being here. I AM EVER SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.
Pick-up Truck ride
We waited twenty minutes outside the waterfall in hopes to run across a tro-tro or a motto-taxi (a motorcycle taxi). Fortunately, after thirty minutes, we hitched a ride from a pick-up truck and all sat in the back. SORRY MOM AND DAD AGAIN…we survived through the bumpy road…and the best part was, IT WAS FREE…so we saved a bit of money. Riding in the back of a truck it was great to see everything NOT through a glass window. I experienced the dust and dirty clogging up my glasses and the taste of the dry season: dirt mouth. The truck ALMOST dropped us off at Hohoe, but it turned out that they were actually going to the monkey sanctuary TOO. So we joyously received another ride. I’ve noticed that Ghana outside of Accra is VERY DIFFERENT. People are A LOT nicer and are here to help…and not automatically judge me for my skin color.
Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
We arrived at the monkey sanctuary and then went to guest rooms. Get this for 20 CD (about 15 American dollars) we get a dinner, a night in the rooms, a breakfast, and play with monkeys. SUCH A GOOD DEAL. So I PASSED OUT for an hour extremely exhausted from all the experience thus far. And was woken up for a walk over to dinner. We were served rice, tomato spicy sauce, and hard-boiled eggs. It did appear to be blood and eyeballs in the dark. We scarfed down the meal and headed back for some sleep. We had to wake up at 6am because that is when we catch the monkeys before they go WAY out into the forest. We walked to the edge of the forest with our guide. He made this sound with his lips…that I sort of learned how to repeat later (it is like a mix between a kiss and a whistle). About twenty monkeys greeted us. IT WAS AMAZING. Out of everything we did this weekend. This was my favorite event BY FAR. The guide gave us bananas and we fed them the bananas. They climbed ALL over us and fought for our bananas. It was SO COOL. I have never been super close to a monkey…let alone FED ONE. There was a monkey with her baby in her pouch…SO CUTE. The chaotic…yet wonderful experience was great! Then we trampled through the forest as the guide told us about the organization and how great this tourist attraction is for the economy here (I agree…but strongly disagree at the same it). We then FEASTED on a breakfast of rice porridge, toast, butter, tea (with cream and sugar). IT WAS GLORIOUS TO ACTUALLY EAT SOMETHING. We then attempted to go on our way…
Afadjata 885m and the highest mountain in Ghana
We waited 20 minutes for a motto-taxi (motorcycle taxi)…and none came…so we managed to hitch a taxi to the junction to get a tro-tro to Hohoe. One of the Ghanaian said we couldn’t get a tro-tro on Sunday…YA HE WAS REALLY WRONG. I sat in the front…and it WAS GLORIOUS. I got to understand how difficult it is to drive a tro-tro with how poorly maintained the roads are…with millions of potholes.
We then got a taxi to the mountain and got a VERY GREAT DEAL of paying 8 CD for a ride there and back, while he waited for us…he actually ended up hiking it himself.
Leann told us it would take two hours to get up the mountain…OHHH GOODNESS. I wasn’t worried because compared to this summer where I hiked with a backpack and saw up a mountain this would be easy. It wasn’t bad at all. We got up the mountain in 30-45 minutes. The trail was HORRIBLY BUILT…yes I looked at the trail…because I have been doing trail building for three years. It would be neat to come back at help restructure the trail.
The only problem with hiking this trail during the dry season is we can’t see much at the top…because it is SO DUSTY AND CLOUDY. But we did it, and it felt great to actually hike again…as a BORN COLORADOAN…I always love a good hike. There were signs along the way up that encouraged you to keep going…it was very cute.
But now I can say I summited THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN GHANA
We made an exhausting ride back to Hohoe where we stocked up on lunch food…which we were starving because it was 2pm and we hadn’t eaten since 7am. Bread, fancaco (this is frozen milk in a bag), bananas, and ground nuts (peanuts in America) was our lunch. We peed again in a “urinal”…still confused about what you are suppose to do with these. Lol.
Getting back to Accra
We found a tro-tro heading to Accra. THIS TRO-TRO SEEMED FINE…BUT CREATED MANY PROBLEMS FOR US! There were about 4 kids on the tro-tro which I made faces at the entire ride to try to give them something to laugh about. The TRO-TRO DIED ON US…ABOUT HALF THERE. Ya that’s right…we were in the middle of nowhere and had to wait and hour and a half for them to fix the tro-tro…the clutch was broken. It died on us several more times through out the journey…making the 4-hour ride, a 6-7 hour affair. During one stop there was a coconut man that cut and gave me a coconut for only 50 peswase…which is like 30 cents…REDICULOUSLY AMAZING! I made faces at a little boy and he cried…oops…I must have scared him. Sometimes little Africa children are scared by Obrunis because we are very pale and look like ghosts (just a guess).
We FINALLY made it back and had some night market beans, joliff, plantains, and vegs.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Back Tracking From Last Week: jUST LlIVING THE LIFE AS A GHANAIAN STUDENT
Tuesday Feb. 7
6am Run with Turner
So after an eventful day at Mavious I slept surprisingly soundly. I woke up and went on a VERY EARLY RUN with Turner. He is a cross-country runner for another D 3 school. His slow is OF COURSE MY MEDIUM SPEED, but it was nice to chat with him and go that fastest I have gone in Ghana yet. Poor Turner had to end the run early with a bathroom break and I managed to bolt back to ISH to go to my EARLY CLASS.
7:30 am class FIRST ACTUAL LECTURE…for geography: RESOURCE ANALYSIS
This class had about 100 students and the only two OBRUNIS IN THE CLASS WERE KATIE AND I. We stood out like sore thumbs. In fact at the beginning he asked where we were from IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Later in the lecture he asked us for an answer, but Katie and I didn’t have the confidence to answer it. THIS CLASS I WILL HAVE TO SHOW UP TO EVERY DAY BECAUSE KATIE AND I WILL BE WATCHED! Later in class though, I did manage to make a comment. He asked for a summary thus far and I think I did a fairly good job, but after my comment he asked if anyone could top that off and THE ENTIRE CLASS LAUGHTED. I felt embarrassed even though it truly was a compliment. There were several situations where the teacher made a joke, but we didn’t get it and the rest of the class laughed. The lecture was good and fairly simple. I don’t think this class is anything to worry about.
Getting there, lunch, and teaching Mavious for the REST OF THE DAY
After this class Brendan (another ISEP kiddo) and I made the trek to Mavious by Tro-tro. We ended up waiting 20 minutes for one that would go to Kisseman junction, but we did it. We got their around 10:30 and we took 4 kids aside that needed help with writing 1-100. They could do it to 20 but then after that they got REALLY confused. I LOVED WORKING WITH BRENDAN! He is such a nice and thoughtful individual! These kids LOVED US. It was so cool to use what I learned in my P-4 Math and Science class because they really didn’t have a good understanding of number recognition after 20. They were literally just writing random numbers down and going from there. Brendan and I worked on showing them that there is a specific pattern to the numbers and why it is important to count to 100, but I think three of the four didn’t get it. DANG LANGUAGE BARRIER.
Before we knew it, it was lunch time and they had the same thing as yesterday: white rice and a sauce with fish in it. Many on them said “your invited” basically telling us that we could help them eat their meals. THIS HIT ME HARD. Their only meal for the day and they want to share it? This is pretty messed up! I was SHOCKED by how generous they were.
After the lunch Brendan and I co-taught a class together for the rest of the day. This was so much fun, but a REAL challenge!
I was able to teach the children RESPECT and sing the song…YES I MADE THE KIDS SING IT. We also related respect to the classroom and the environment outside. I taught them conservation and preservation and tried to explain to them the difference between the two. They really didn’t get that so I tried to illustrate it on a level of respect for the environment, preservation being more, but conservation allowing more people to enjoy it. They seemed to understand that…somewhat.
Then we taught them about DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANIMALS into different categories: reptiles, insects, fish, birds, and mammals. Although this was very simplistic it did expose them to different vocabulary. They did a fairly good job at classifying the groups.
After the ANIMAL adventure we talked about classroom behavior…and then did something SUPER FUN…hang man! They had a BLAST playing hang-man and I can’t wait to do it with them again!
Twi Class and Dance class after a full day of teaching
TALK ABOUY EXHAUSTING…I don’t know how I will do this next week WITH running in the morning. I will have to miss some of the Twi due to the time of my dance class…but I will get at least an hour of Twi a week. We learned about want Twi is on the spectrum of African languages and what areas of Ghana it is spoken in. Then dance class was HARD! I felt completely lost the whole time…but I STILL HAD A BLAST even though I was CLUELESS. I just love seeing everyone else dance and me trying to keep with the beat and move my body in a Ghanaian way. It is hard to describe how Ghanaian’s move their body. It is very modern, yet warrior like. I will hopefully get some to film our final performance so you can see what I mean by the different movement.
NIGHT MARKET AND MILO…making our days brighter
I was so exhausted that the night market seemed to be the ONLY option to eat at. We crawled over there and shoved our faces FULL of rice and beans. Then…just as things seemed to be dark…THE SAVIOR AVERY…asked Emma, Katie, and I to join her for some iced milo. Milo is a drink that entails, chocolate power, milk, water, sugar, and ice. It is like chocolate milk…but requires less water than than…but it is AMAZING! I PRACTICALLY got down on my knees thanking Avery for this glorious sweet.
Wednesday Feb. 8
DOWN DAY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LAST FRIDAY…HORRAY!!!!
I was actually able to blog and enjoy a bit of facebook and email for the first time and a very long while…but it was well deserved. I think anytime I am near a computer with internet I am a ZOMBIE. So I could buy internet at ISH for 20 CD a month…which isn’t bad at all…but I am too cheap and I want to save that money for traveling…some I have to walk over a mile to actually get internet…and this internet is only available from 9am-4pm week days. So on rare occasions like this Wednesday I got to bask in the glory and become a computer Zombie for an hour or so.
But I still managed to go on a RUN.
I still seemed determined to get ready for Ghanaian cross country that I woke up around 7am and went on a hour run…which was very pleasant. I find running here the best way to get out all my feeling…without crying.
How Ghanaians cut Grass
As I was going on my run I observed that Ghanaians in fact cut the MAJORITY OF GRASS WITH THEIR HANDS! They use a machete and cut of chunks at a time. Imagine motivating yourself to ACTUALLY cut grass ALL DAY BY HAND. This is a look back into the oldin’ days of the United States before it was industrialized.
Encounter with Professor and April 14th
I ran into a Professor at a college in Accra. He was very delightful (and a white person). He asked where I was from and it actually made me feel good to talk to someone that has been here for years, but understands what I am going through. He invited me to this convention at their school…and then I realized after the encounter…this was when Susan’s wedding is…OOPS!
Two BACK TO BACK ACTUAL CLASSES…and the football game that Ghana loses
One class didn’t happen…the professor canceled in, which allowed Emma, Brendan, and I to watch the Ghanaian football game. Then, right as the last 15 minutes happened…when the score was still 0-0 (the winner would progress to the FINALS OF THE AFRICAN CUP) we had to go to class. BOO and the professor made us miss the last part, which…probably because we weren’t watching…GHANA LOST. So disappointing because I would have liked to have seen how nuts Ghana would have gone if they would have won.
PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE
After Emma and finished the class WE HAD WONDERFUL PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE…that the WONDERFUL Avery and Katie made for us. IT WAS GLORIOUS TO HAVE RED MEAT…and it was only 3CD for the meal…not bad…not bad at all.
6am Run with Turner
So after an eventful day at Mavious I slept surprisingly soundly. I woke up and went on a VERY EARLY RUN with Turner. He is a cross-country runner for another D 3 school. His slow is OF COURSE MY MEDIUM SPEED, but it was nice to chat with him and go that fastest I have gone in Ghana yet. Poor Turner had to end the run early with a bathroom break and I managed to bolt back to ISH to go to my EARLY CLASS.
7:30 am class FIRST ACTUAL LECTURE…for geography: RESOURCE ANALYSIS
This class had about 100 students and the only two OBRUNIS IN THE CLASS WERE KATIE AND I. We stood out like sore thumbs. In fact at the beginning he asked where we were from IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. Later in the lecture he asked us for an answer, but Katie and I didn’t have the confidence to answer it. THIS CLASS I WILL HAVE TO SHOW UP TO EVERY DAY BECAUSE KATIE AND I WILL BE WATCHED! Later in class though, I did manage to make a comment. He asked for a summary thus far and I think I did a fairly good job, but after my comment he asked if anyone could top that off and THE ENTIRE CLASS LAUGHTED. I felt embarrassed even though it truly was a compliment. There were several situations where the teacher made a joke, but we didn’t get it and the rest of the class laughed. The lecture was good and fairly simple. I don’t think this class is anything to worry about.
Getting there, lunch, and teaching Mavious for the REST OF THE DAY
After this class Brendan (another ISEP kiddo) and I made the trek to Mavious by Tro-tro. We ended up waiting 20 minutes for one that would go to Kisseman junction, but we did it. We got their around 10:30 and we took 4 kids aside that needed help with writing 1-100. They could do it to 20 but then after that they got REALLY confused. I LOVED WORKING WITH BRENDAN! He is such a nice and thoughtful individual! These kids LOVED US. It was so cool to use what I learned in my P-4 Math and Science class because they really didn’t have a good understanding of number recognition after 20. They were literally just writing random numbers down and going from there. Brendan and I worked on showing them that there is a specific pattern to the numbers and why it is important to count to 100, but I think three of the four didn’t get it. DANG LANGUAGE BARRIER.
Before we knew it, it was lunch time and they had the same thing as yesterday: white rice and a sauce with fish in it. Many on them said “your invited” basically telling us that we could help them eat their meals. THIS HIT ME HARD. Their only meal for the day and they want to share it? This is pretty messed up! I was SHOCKED by how generous they were.
After the lunch Brendan and I co-taught a class together for the rest of the day. This was so much fun, but a REAL challenge!
I was able to teach the children RESPECT and sing the song…YES I MADE THE KIDS SING IT. We also related respect to the classroom and the environment outside. I taught them conservation and preservation and tried to explain to them the difference between the two. They really didn’t get that so I tried to illustrate it on a level of respect for the environment, preservation being more, but conservation allowing more people to enjoy it. They seemed to understand that…somewhat.
Then we taught them about DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANIMALS into different categories: reptiles, insects, fish, birds, and mammals. Although this was very simplistic it did expose them to different vocabulary. They did a fairly good job at classifying the groups.
After the ANIMAL adventure we talked about classroom behavior…and then did something SUPER FUN…hang man! They had a BLAST playing hang-man and I can’t wait to do it with them again!
Twi Class and Dance class after a full day of teaching
TALK ABOUY EXHAUSTING…I don’t know how I will do this next week WITH running in the morning. I will have to miss some of the Twi due to the time of my dance class…but I will get at least an hour of Twi a week. We learned about want Twi is on the spectrum of African languages and what areas of Ghana it is spoken in. Then dance class was HARD! I felt completely lost the whole time…but I STILL HAD A BLAST even though I was CLUELESS. I just love seeing everyone else dance and me trying to keep with the beat and move my body in a Ghanaian way. It is hard to describe how Ghanaian’s move their body. It is very modern, yet warrior like. I will hopefully get some to film our final performance so you can see what I mean by the different movement.
NIGHT MARKET AND MILO…making our days brighter
I was so exhausted that the night market seemed to be the ONLY option to eat at. We crawled over there and shoved our faces FULL of rice and beans. Then…just as things seemed to be dark…THE SAVIOR AVERY…asked Emma, Katie, and I to join her for some iced milo. Milo is a drink that entails, chocolate power, milk, water, sugar, and ice. It is like chocolate milk…but requires less water than than…but it is AMAZING! I PRACTICALLY got down on my knees thanking Avery for this glorious sweet.
Wednesday Feb. 8
DOWN DAY FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE LAST FRIDAY…HORRAY!!!!
I was actually able to blog and enjoy a bit of facebook and email for the first time and a very long while…but it was well deserved. I think anytime I am near a computer with internet I am a ZOMBIE. So I could buy internet at ISH for 20 CD a month…which isn’t bad at all…but I am too cheap and I want to save that money for traveling…some I have to walk over a mile to actually get internet…and this internet is only available from 9am-4pm week days. So on rare occasions like this Wednesday I got to bask in the glory and become a computer Zombie for an hour or so.
But I still managed to go on a RUN.
I still seemed determined to get ready for Ghanaian cross country that I woke up around 7am and went on a hour run…which was very pleasant. I find running here the best way to get out all my feeling…without crying.
How Ghanaians cut Grass
As I was going on my run I observed that Ghanaians in fact cut the MAJORITY OF GRASS WITH THEIR HANDS! They use a machete and cut of chunks at a time. Imagine motivating yourself to ACTUALLY cut grass ALL DAY BY HAND. This is a look back into the oldin’ days of the United States before it was industrialized.
Encounter with Professor and April 14th
I ran into a Professor at a college in Accra. He was very delightful (and a white person). He asked where I was from and it actually made me feel good to talk to someone that has been here for years, but understands what I am going through. He invited me to this convention at their school…and then I realized after the encounter…this was when Susan’s wedding is…OOPS!
Two BACK TO BACK ACTUAL CLASSES…and the football game that Ghana loses
One class didn’t happen…the professor canceled in, which allowed Emma, Brendan, and I to watch the Ghanaian football game. Then, right as the last 15 minutes happened…when the score was still 0-0 (the winner would progress to the FINALS OF THE AFRICAN CUP) we had to go to class. BOO and the professor made us miss the last part, which…probably because we weren’t watching…GHANA LOST. So disappointing because I would have liked to have seen how nuts Ghana would have gone if they would have won.
PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE
After Emma and finished the class WE HAD WONDERFUL PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE…that the WONDERFUL Avery and Katie made for us. IT WAS GLORIOUS TO HAVE RED MEAT…and it was only 3CD for the meal…not bad…not bad at all.
THIS IS WHERE I BELONG
This is Where I belong: this reminds me of the Movie Spirit (yes the cartoon horse movie) where the horse know’s his place. I think I have found my calling. These children at Mawuvio’s ARE AMAZING. I LOVE EVER SINGLE ONE OF THEM. The way they accept me and want to get to know who I am reminds me of why I want to become a teacher. They are so pure and bliss of many of the evils…even if these poor children are enduring EXTREMELY horrible lives. Their smiles, as one volunteer (who is also a sprinter and mind you is GOING TO THIS NEXT OLYMPICS) noticed, are beautiful but extremely different, showing the variety of diversity each child possesses. I want to drop everything, more than ever, and teach these children for the rest of their lives (good thing my major in early childhood education hahahaha).
I plan on going to see these kiddos three times a week. Full days on Mondays (8:30am-4:00pm), Almost full days on Tuesdays (10:00am-4pm), and full days on Fridays (8:30a,-4:00pm). I didn’t end up going on Feb. 13th because I discovered…after you go on a weekend trip somewhere…an you haven’t done laundry for OVER a week…you kinda need to do some laundry. I can’t wait to read to these children and just become a mentor for them…someone that will show them the light and let them know that I truly believe in each one of them.
I can’t wait for more stories about these precious children and I am asking Sheryl Burt, the other early ed. Major at Hendrix, to do a fundraiser for these precious kiddos.
I plan on going to see these kiddos three times a week. Full days on Mondays (8:30am-4:00pm), Almost full days on Tuesdays (10:00am-4pm), and full days on Fridays (8:30a,-4:00pm). I didn’t end up going on Feb. 13th because I discovered…after you go on a weekend trip somewhere…an you haven’t done laundry for OVER a week…you kinda need to do some laundry. I can’t wait to read to these children and just become a mentor for them…someone that will show them the light and let them know that I truly believe in each one of them.
I can’t wait for more stories about these precious children and I am asking Sheryl Burt, the other early ed. Major at Hendrix, to do a fundraiser for these precious kiddos.
Being a minority in a WHOLE NEW WORLD
Being a minority in a WHOLE NEW WORLD
How I wish I could change the color of my skin.
Stares, dirty looks, negative remarks, and stereotyping, as I walk down the street EVERYWHERE in Accra I know people are thinking these things, but there is BARELY ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE THEIR MIND.
I have heard the word “obruni” so many times (it means white person), it has made me sick. I know many people just see this as a way of saying…hey there is someone that is different…but why can’t the immediately ask for my name and not look at the color of my skin.
I know what I am experiencing isn’t dreadful, but it does wear-down on me after a while. I can’t help but feel the stares on campus. And SO MANY Ghanaians wonder why international students stick together? It is because you automatically assume you know who I am before you EVEN ASK FOR MY NAME.
I can now start to comprehend how other minorities feel in the United States. How can a Hispanic individual endure someone accusing them of being an illegal immigrant when they have been in the United States their whole life. Or how can someone swallow the fact that their friend’s parents won’t let their child go home with them because there are black?
All of these questions make me think. I would like o change the color of my skin…and possibly my gender, but I won’t get into the sex treatment here yet. I think the African Americans in my group are defiantly treated differently, then the Caucasian ones. I would like to go through Madina market, this is where I heard the most people call me Obruni, and really see the difference.
People need to classify each other. I understand the need for that, but I would like to break the miss conception of who I am just by the media they have been exposed to. Goodness gracious…if you think of the TV and other media that Ghanaians are exposed to about Americans…WE WOULD ALL BE ASHAMED. For example, someone asked me if I wanted to be like Brittany Speare…and I was thinking…REALLY?
If that’s who they use as their knowledge of the United States, then that is just sad. AT LEAST COMPARE ME TO OBAMA.
I am curious how well I will adjust to this difference. It has been one month and I would like to see after three more if I build a resistant or a way of coping with this ever enlarging wound.
How I wish I could change the color of my skin.
Stares, dirty looks, negative remarks, and stereotyping, as I walk down the street EVERYWHERE in Accra I know people are thinking these things, but there is BARELY ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE THEIR MIND.
I have heard the word “obruni” so many times (it means white person), it has made me sick. I know many people just see this as a way of saying…hey there is someone that is different…but why can’t the immediately ask for my name and not look at the color of my skin.
I know what I am experiencing isn’t dreadful, but it does wear-down on me after a while. I can’t help but feel the stares on campus. And SO MANY Ghanaians wonder why international students stick together? It is because you automatically assume you know who I am before you EVEN ASK FOR MY NAME.
I can now start to comprehend how other minorities feel in the United States. How can a Hispanic individual endure someone accusing them of being an illegal immigrant when they have been in the United States their whole life. Or how can someone swallow the fact that their friend’s parents won’t let their child go home with them because there are black?
All of these questions make me think. I would like o change the color of my skin…and possibly my gender, but I won’t get into the sex treatment here yet. I think the African Americans in my group are defiantly treated differently, then the Caucasian ones. I would like to go through Madina market, this is where I heard the most people call me Obruni, and really see the difference.
People need to classify each other. I understand the need for that, but I would like to break the miss conception of who I am just by the media they have been exposed to. Goodness gracious…if you think of the TV and other media that Ghanaians are exposed to about Americans…WE WOULD ALL BE ASHAMED. For example, someone asked me if I wanted to be like Brittany Speare…and I was thinking…REALLY?
If that’s who they use as their knowledge of the United States, then that is just sad. AT LEAST COMPARE ME TO OBAMA.
I am curious how well I will adjust to this difference. It has been one month and I would like to see after three more if I build a resistant or a way of coping with this ever enlarging wound.
Pictures from the VOLTA REGION AND MORE
Above: My roommate Anita, her best friend Susie, making fried plantains, one of the performances at the Durbar, AND OF COURSE THE BEST RESTAURANT EVER COFFEE CUE! :)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Finding my place in a different world
Sunday Feb. 5
Shadrach’s church with SOLO…and they want to me to sing again in the northern region
I DRAGGED MYSELF out of bed excited for another day at Shadrach’s fabulous church. This time Shadrach helped us catch a tro-tro to 37th and the go to the police station, where his church is SUPER close to. Then from there we walk down a dirt path to a school, which is where they hold their church services. The church service started earlier that morning, we were late by 30 minutes (Oops) and they were talking about the wedding where Mary had Jesus perform his first Miracle: water into wine. It is so fascinating to see Bible school happen with these adults during service and then AFTER the discussion the kids are brought in for a sermon, song, and dance.
(Disclaimer this is really the first time I have ever publicly discussed the Bible not in a church setting so bare with me)
We discussed if Mary was showing off or if not what the purpose was. I made my FIRST EVER comment at church in Ghana with how she wasn’t and the purpose was to show how this boy is different and his goal is to share his power with the world-every single human being. Shadrach’s mother disagreed, but for the first time discussing the Bible in MY ENTIRE LIFE, I was fascinated by her answer of in fact Mary was showing Jesus off. This is all interesting to me because I realized there is no right answer. I take the Bible as very symbolic and some people take it very literally, but that’s PERFECTLY fine because we all create an interpretation that is fascinating and VERY SIGNIFICANT TO OURSELVES.
So after we discussed for a bit more the children were brought in and we IMMEDIATELY BROKE OUT IN SONG. Ciarra, Audra, and I looked at each other, unsure what to do. I think I may ask Shadrach to teach me some Twi so I can sing with them…HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE? The rhythm and PASSION that each member of the church illustrated made me want to get a jar and capture it and pull it out any time I have doubts why I am here in WEST AFRICA.
These Ghanaians are beautiful. They all have traditional clothing and explode with energy praising the lord. The conviction and sincerity that they display makes me question if my faith is as pure and sincere as theirs. I guess the only way to find out is to explore my faith with people that are very convinced and see if I can hold that conviction.
Several church girls brought us bottled water…HOW CUTE, although it did make me feel slightly guilty that I could not give something back as a thank you. These girls used the tamberine and created beautiful music while we (or really the church) sang.
Then, there were several solos that performed…and YES I WAS ONE OF THEM! :D
Shadrach did a solo and he was AMAZING! He said he wasn’t a good singer…LIES…hehehee.
And then they asked me to sing…ohhh boy. What was I thinking? So I pulled out my default song: Lean on Me by Bill Withers and THEY LOVED IT! I just sang from the bottom of my heart and the drummer and the keyboard player managed to make a tune behind my voice. I FELT SO FREE AND COMPLETELY EMBRACING THIS WONDERFUL CULTURE. They gave me a STANDING ELEVATION and they actually asked me to sing in their eastern region church. YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME…I am not good singer…BUT I GUESS THEY THINK SO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
So hey I get to go to the eastern region sometime soon and share my “voice” with them. I really do believe in what I am singing, but I never thought it was worthy of an actual performance.
We had some difficulties getting out of the church area. We took a taxi because Shadrach had a LOAD of things to bring to school. The first Taxi died on us and the second received a HUGE BUMP from a rock…LETS JUST SAY THE ROAD NEXT TO THE CHURCH WAS NOT IN GOOD CONDITION. But we made it back alive.
Making Red-Red with my roommate Anita and her friend Susie: AMAZINGNESS
Once I made it back to ISH I was greeted by my wonderful roommate to MAKE RED-RED SO SHE COULD TEACH ME THE SECRET OF THIS VERY TASTY MEAL. This meal entails fried plantains in palm oil and beans in a red sauce (and just for the one we made we had fish and vegs in them YUMMY). I don’t think I am that confident in making it yet…but hopefully soon. Emma and Katie joined me with my roommate and her best friend. The food WAS SPECTACULAR! I ate to the moon and back…literally. I had a very present food baby. Hehehehehhe. THIS MADE ME REALIZE HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE SUCH AN AMAZING ROOMMATE! She is LITERALLY the nicest person I have ever met.
NAP TIME
After filling my tummy, I took a LONG nap to recover me from the eventful church service and a FILLIN meal. What could be better that the feeling after a successful nap? BEING IN AFRICA! ;) DOUBLE HAPPINESS. I think this is truly where I belong.
Monday Feb. 6
“Traveling Solider” Dixie Chicks
This is a very sad, but truthful song. My first time at Mavious was very sad, but WONDERFUL.
VOLUNTEERING AT MAVIOUS OUTREACH PROGRAM: Worked with Felicia and a couple other kids in a group.
So we took a taxi to Kisseman junction and waited for Renee, then we made the 10 minute walk to the school, which is NOT A SCHOOL IN AMERICAN STANDARDS. The school had two classrooms under a canopy, one under a tree, and the fourth classroom (which should actually be two, but they don’t have the space to make a fifth class) is on the porch of the school. Their seats are made out of wood and about 4-7 kids can fit in each row (pending on the size of the child). There are three teachers and two people that run the show (one Ghanaian and one American (Renee).
The class was working on numbers and math when I got there. The oldest class was working on division. The two middle classes were working on writing the written form of the numbers and the youngest class was working on write 1-100 in order.
Renee had me take Felicia, one of the kids who is 10 years-old aside. She was struggling with understanding the difference between forty and four (fifty and five etc). I made up a song about the ones place and the tens place, WHICH SHE LOVED…It was really difficult to remind myself constantly that English is her third language and I HAD TO GO SLOW FOR HER TO UNDERSTAND ME. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said the next Ghanaian President (but later she said a teacher, which makes sense for a 10 year old). Her smile was sincere and I immediately loved her, almost as immediate as she loved me. SHE SAT right next to me holding my hands while I taught her the song. I was amazed how easily she opened up and how I became her hero. I want to steal her. HONESTLY. She wants to learn, but is struggling and you know what…I DON’T THINK I COULD MAKE IT AS FAR AS SHE DID IF I HAD A LANGUAGE BARRIER.
After we worked on that for a while, I then worked with her on pronouns vs. nouns and why we use pronouns in English. IT WAS PROBABLY THE LEAST SUCCESSFUL LESSON I EVER TAUGHT. The language barrier with grammar makes their understanding VERY SLIM. None-the-less, she was convinced to show me that she learned what I taught her. I think this motivation actually helped her learn some of it.
Then we were called for lunch. Their lunch today was rice and a sauce with fish in it. FOR SOME THIS WILL BE THERE ONLY, I REPEAT ONLY MEAL FOR THE DAY! How can we Americans be overweight and these children trying so hard to learn only get one meal a day.
HOW SPOILED I TRULY AM THAT I CAN EAT 3 MEALS A DAY! It was a brutal slap in the face, but I tried to keep my head up for the rest of the day because right now its NOT ABOUT ME, BUT RATHER THESE STUDENTS.
Renee gave us some rice and sauce. I felt guilty eating it, but she said they were leftovers any ways.
Sadly I had to bolt after lunch in order to TRULY FINISH THIS STUPID THING CALLED REGISTERATION, which I successfully did HORRAY DONE WITH REGISTERING FOR EACH DEPARTMENT!!!!!!
Then, at 5:30 I had a class.
And first Ghanaian HISTORY class
Which was a NO SHOW, which I managed to make two Ghanaian friends while waiting and discovered that Ciarra is in my class HORRAY! :)
MANGO FOR DINNER and a sub dinner with my roommate of leftover red-red. YUMMY! I am convinced this roommate is A KEEPER! ;)
Shadrach’s church with SOLO…and they want to me to sing again in the northern region
I DRAGGED MYSELF out of bed excited for another day at Shadrach’s fabulous church. This time Shadrach helped us catch a tro-tro to 37th and the go to the police station, where his church is SUPER close to. Then from there we walk down a dirt path to a school, which is where they hold their church services. The church service started earlier that morning, we were late by 30 minutes (Oops) and they were talking about the wedding where Mary had Jesus perform his first Miracle: water into wine. It is so fascinating to see Bible school happen with these adults during service and then AFTER the discussion the kids are brought in for a sermon, song, and dance.
(Disclaimer this is really the first time I have ever publicly discussed the Bible not in a church setting so bare with me)
We discussed if Mary was showing off or if not what the purpose was. I made my FIRST EVER comment at church in Ghana with how she wasn’t and the purpose was to show how this boy is different and his goal is to share his power with the world-every single human being. Shadrach’s mother disagreed, but for the first time discussing the Bible in MY ENTIRE LIFE, I was fascinated by her answer of in fact Mary was showing Jesus off. This is all interesting to me because I realized there is no right answer. I take the Bible as very symbolic and some people take it very literally, but that’s PERFECTLY fine because we all create an interpretation that is fascinating and VERY SIGNIFICANT TO OURSELVES.
So after we discussed for a bit more the children were brought in and we IMMEDIATELY BROKE OUT IN SONG. Ciarra, Audra, and I looked at each other, unsure what to do. I think I may ask Shadrach to teach me some Twi so I can sing with them…HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE? The rhythm and PASSION that each member of the church illustrated made me want to get a jar and capture it and pull it out any time I have doubts why I am here in WEST AFRICA.
These Ghanaians are beautiful. They all have traditional clothing and explode with energy praising the lord. The conviction and sincerity that they display makes me question if my faith is as pure and sincere as theirs. I guess the only way to find out is to explore my faith with people that are very convinced and see if I can hold that conviction.
Several church girls brought us bottled water…HOW CUTE, although it did make me feel slightly guilty that I could not give something back as a thank you. These girls used the tamberine and created beautiful music while we (or really the church) sang.
Then, there were several solos that performed…and YES I WAS ONE OF THEM! :D
Shadrach did a solo and he was AMAZING! He said he wasn’t a good singer…LIES…hehehee.
And then they asked me to sing…ohhh boy. What was I thinking? So I pulled out my default song: Lean on Me by Bill Withers and THEY LOVED IT! I just sang from the bottom of my heart and the drummer and the keyboard player managed to make a tune behind my voice. I FELT SO FREE AND COMPLETELY EMBRACING THIS WONDERFUL CULTURE. They gave me a STANDING ELEVATION and they actually asked me to sing in their eastern region church. YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME…I am not good singer…BUT I GUESS THEY THINK SO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
So hey I get to go to the eastern region sometime soon and share my “voice” with them. I really do believe in what I am singing, but I never thought it was worthy of an actual performance.
We had some difficulties getting out of the church area. We took a taxi because Shadrach had a LOAD of things to bring to school. The first Taxi died on us and the second received a HUGE BUMP from a rock…LETS JUST SAY THE ROAD NEXT TO THE CHURCH WAS NOT IN GOOD CONDITION. But we made it back alive.
Making Red-Red with my roommate Anita and her friend Susie: AMAZINGNESS
Once I made it back to ISH I was greeted by my wonderful roommate to MAKE RED-RED SO SHE COULD TEACH ME THE SECRET OF THIS VERY TASTY MEAL. This meal entails fried plantains in palm oil and beans in a red sauce (and just for the one we made we had fish and vegs in them YUMMY). I don’t think I am that confident in making it yet…but hopefully soon. Emma and Katie joined me with my roommate and her best friend. The food WAS SPECTACULAR! I ate to the moon and back…literally. I had a very present food baby. Hehehehehhe. THIS MADE ME REALIZE HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE SUCH AN AMAZING ROOMMATE! She is LITERALLY the nicest person I have ever met.
NAP TIME
After filling my tummy, I took a LONG nap to recover me from the eventful church service and a FILLIN meal. What could be better that the feeling after a successful nap? BEING IN AFRICA! ;) DOUBLE HAPPINESS. I think this is truly where I belong.
Monday Feb. 6
“Traveling Solider” Dixie Chicks
This is a very sad, but truthful song. My first time at Mavious was very sad, but WONDERFUL.
VOLUNTEERING AT MAVIOUS OUTREACH PROGRAM: Worked with Felicia and a couple other kids in a group.
So we took a taxi to Kisseman junction and waited for Renee, then we made the 10 minute walk to the school, which is NOT A SCHOOL IN AMERICAN STANDARDS. The school had two classrooms under a canopy, one under a tree, and the fourth classroom (which should actually be two, but they don’t have the space to make a fifth class) is on the porch of the school. Their seats are made out of wood and about 4-7 kids can fit in each row (pending on the size of the child). There are three teachers and two people that run the show (one Ghanaian and one American (Renee).
The class was working on numbers and math when I got there. The oldest class was working on division. The two middle classes were working on writing the written form of the numbers and the youngest class was working on write 1-100 in order.
Renee had me take Felicia, one of the kids who is 10 years-old aside. She was struggling with understanding the difference between forty and four (fifty and five etc). I made up a song about the ones place and the tens place, WHICH SHE LOVED…It was really difficult to remind myself constantly that English is her third language and I HAD TO GO SLOW FOR HER TO UNDERSTAND ME. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said the next Ghanaian President (but later she said a teacher, which makes sense for a 10 year old). Her smile was sincere and I immediately loved her, almost as immediate as she loved me. SHE SAT right next to me holding my hands while I taught her the song. I was amazed how easily she opened up and how I became her hero. I want to steal her. HONESTLY. She wants to learn, but is struggling and you know what…I DON’T THINK I COULD MAKE IT AS FAR AS SHE DID IF I HAD A LANGUAGE BARRIER.
After we worked on that for a while, I then worked with her on pronouns vs. nouns and why we use pronouns in English. IT WAS PROBABLY THE LEAST SUCCESSFUL LESSON I EVER TAUGHT. The language barrier with grammar makes their understanding VERY SLIM. None-the-less, she was convinced to show me that she learned what I taught her. I think this motivation actually helped her learn some of it.
Then we were called for lunch. Their lunch today was rice and a sauce with fish in it. FOR SOME THIS WILL BE THERE ONLY, I REPEAT ONLY MEAL FOR THE DAY! How can we Americans be overweight and these children trying so hard to learn only get one meal a day.
HOW SPOILED I TRULY AM THAT I CAN EAT 3 MEALS A DAY! It was a brutal slap in the face, but I tried to keep my head up for the rest of the day because right now its NOT ABOUT ME, BUT RATHER THESE STUDENTS.
Renee gave us some rice and sauce. I felt guilty eating it, but she said they were leftovers any ways.
Sadly I had to bolt after lunch in order to TRULY FINISH THIS STUPID THING CALLED REGISTERATION, which I successfully did HORRAY DONE WITH REGISTERING FOR EACH DEPARTMENT!!!!!!
Then, at 5:30 I had a class.
And first Ghanaian HISTORY class
Which was a NO SHOW, which I managed to make two Ghanaian friends while waiting and discovered that Ciarra is in my class HORRAY! :)
MANGO FOR DINNER and a sub dinner with my roommate of leftover red-red. YUMMY! I am convinced this roommate is A KEEPER! ;)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
FINDING THE RHYTHM OF MY OWN DRUM
Thursday Feb 2
Today is the PRESENTS OF 2s 2/2/2012 hehehehe
“Restless Dream” Jack’s Mannequin
I woke up thinking of this song thinking it related to how I am feeling with missing home, but enjoying it here as well.
COFFEE CUE REPEAT
I think I found my LOVE HERE. This Coffee Cue is WONDERFUL. They have everything from noodles, to French toast, to CHOCOLATE PANCAKES (crepes with nutella on them), to iced tea (which reminds me of MY BELOVED CHAI TEA). All the chairs are under a canopy tent and the atmosphere is so POSITIVE. Emma and I found a WONDERFUL solution of her ordering French toast and I ordering pancakes so we could enjoy our splendid occasion. It is a time for several of us to reflect on our adventures in Ghana and inquire about different things. For example, there was a little boy wanting to talk to us so we ended up playing hand games with him, which was absolutely positive.
Madina MARKET, just a Tro-Tro ride AWAY…in search of dance clothes
Avery, Emma, Katie, and I set out in search of dance clothes, vegetables, and fruits at the amazing YET VERY CHAOTIC Madina Market. We, as an ENTIRE ISEP GROUP, went there a week earlier with our student guides holding our hands the entire way.
So this time we were only able to find two tro-tros that could take two people so…we split up into twos. Avery has been here for over two months and Katie, Emma and I are on our second week here…so clearly the expert is Avery. Emma and I went together and Katie and Avery took another tro-tro. When we hopped on the tro-tro WE REALIZED WE DID NOT DISCUSS WHERE WE WERE GOING TO MEET IN MADINA…so once Emma and I got off the tro-tro we managed to find the meeting place of the time before THE POLICE STATION and then we called Avery and Katie where we were. Not the greatest plan…but hey we made it out alive. They finally found the police station and we were able to get A HUGE PINAPPLE for 1 CD, 2 mangoes for 1 CD, and 5 oranges for 1 CD. Avery got plenty of vegs. NOW FOR THE CLOTHES…ya good will is fine for clothes…but the problem with these clothes is you don’t know if they were washed or if someone was sick in them…so I decided to hold off on that until we went to A REAL STORE…which should happen soon.
For my dance class we have a “uniform” of white tops and black bottoms…but I only have one pair of black shorts and NO white tops…so I am borrowing Katie’s white t-shirt and re-wearing my black shorts…GROSS…but hey I am NOT DOING LAUNDRY TWICE A WEEK.
Laundry isn’t horrible, it takes up a couple hours, but I don’t mind re-wearing once in a while and it is nice to know I am saving money for food and TRAVEL.
FIRST DANCE CLASS…I kinda missed the first one
SO DANCE CLASS…was AMAZING…ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT U OF G!!!!!!! We learned a dance…I don’t remember the name…and we had to listen to the beat (which was hard), while moving around. I LOVED IT…the class was packed with OBRUNIS (white people). The way Ghanaians dance is like a mix between martial arts in an athletic position (triple threat for basketball and the STANCE THAT ELLIE KARVOSKI HAS taught the hockey team to do ALL THE TIME ☺) and a modern dance. It felt so great I was learning such a cultural dance that required singing a tribal language and feeling the drums. I don’t think I will be very good at it, but I figure it will allow me to get closer to the culture and embrace something I can’t experience ANYWHERE ELSE IN THIS WORLD (cause Ghanaian dance is specific to…well Ghana). I really like the TAs and how all of us in the class…besides some pro dancers…look like IDIOTS …so its okay ☺
Going out? AFRODEGEACT…not a repeat
So…I was convinced by Ciarra…because it was her birthday…to go out to a club. There were about 8 of us there. I had a bit of wine before hand…not very good Rose wine if you ask me…but going out was very fun…and VERY INTERESTING. We get to the club at around 11pm…just as it opened. We WERE THE ONLY ONES THERE. So I ran to the dance floor and convinced my group to come join and have a bit of fun. Then people started to show up…IT WAS A BUNCH OF 40 AND 50 YEAR OLDS AND HOOKERS…WTF!!! What were we suppose to do. Once they hit the dance floor we backed off and looked at each other in complete amazement. This place didn’t seem like it was for 20 year olds AT ALL. I never saw people that fit the perfect definition of prostitution before this. So Katie, Emma, and I bolted…we did not want to see where this night would go so we caught a taxi and headed back to campus. The taxi driver was VERY WRECKLESS, cruising at 50-70 miles per hours in a 40 zone. There was a moment where I felt completely safe only because I was grasping Katie and Emma’s hands firmly and knew we were there for each other. I am SO GRATEFUL for them completely!!!!! We made it back and I crawled into bed contently.
Friday Feb 3 WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You add 10 today and it is Friday the 13th…don’t ask it must be the water
DROPPING ENGLISH CLASS…SO I am only in 6 courses instead of 7
I DECIDED I WANT FRIDAY OFF SO I CAN VOLUNTEER…so I am taking 6 classes and auditing the Twi class so I can do the dance class.
Registering…the dreadful continues
I HATE REGISTERATION! IT IS SO HARD NOT TO GET FRUSTRATED AND GIVE UP… Things are SO SLOW HERE AND I JUST WANT THINGS TO GET DONE SO I CAN MOVE ON AND…WELL DO SOMETHING ELSE
But I know I will get registered…sooner or later. I was able to register for a couple different departments…at U of G you have to register for the school and then EACH INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT….DREADFUL…because each department requires a passport photo…why? I HAVE NO CLUE.
MY FIRST WEDDING EVER…AND IT’S A GHANAIAN ONE!!!!!
My WONDERFUL roommate invited me to one of her friend’s wedding…which is TODAY! So I put on my only NICE DRESS AND GOT SUPER EXICTED FOR A GHANAIAN WEDDING. This wedding was not a traditional one, but rather the church one. They usually perform two and I was just seeing the second. The decorations were very modest and simple. The wedding was suppose to start at 1pm…but of course it didn’t start until 2pm hehehehe…TIA…then the groom walked in and sat down. Then the bride marched in with a camera following her the entire way…a bit odd…but that’s how it is sometimes hehehehehehehehehehe. She WAS BEAUTIFUL…she had a very large white dress and the groom and best man were in brown suits. The maid of honor was in a brown dress with orange trimming. The marriage ceremony continued…just like in the movies (this was my first wedding ever so I never experienced a REAL wedding first hand. After the bride and groom exchanged rings the preacher preached for an hour about love and the duty they have for each other. I felt bit weird going to a church service with a wedding…but apparently that is how A LOT OF WEDDINGS ARE HERE. THEN THERE was a donation time and then A BUNCH OF DANCING…WHICH WAS VERY PLEASANT…besides the fact I didn’t know the language lol. After the wedding we had some treats and we left before the cake was cut…but it was YUMMY…I HAD AN ICE COLD COKE AND SOME WONDERFUL CHICKEN AND BREAD YUMMMMMMM ;D
I was extremely tired from the night at the club (we got back at around 12:30) that I HAPPILY SLEPT FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT!
RELAXING with a rash ALL OVER MY BODY: there seems to be a very present rash ALL OVER MY BODY…I think it is a heat rash because whenever I am hot it becomes pretty darn bad…Hopefully it will get better or I will just get used to having it for the next 4 months.
After my nap I had a dinner downstairs and happily went back to sleep…AFTER EMMA, KATIE, AND I PLANNED WHAT WE WANTED TO DO IN AFRICA ;)
The plan is to go to Togo and Benin (two different countries), go up north TO SEE ELEPHANTS, and see where the wind will take us :D
Saturday Feb, 4 the day of minimumal plans
I planned on having this day FULL OF RELAZATION…but I seemed more motivated than I thought I was…
Laundry yet again. I did some laundry…a task that occupies several hours of hard work…especially since I live on the fourth floor (EXHAUSTING CLIMBING THOSE STAIRS…I’LL TELL YA!) I am getting a hang of washing my clothes and I feel really good that I am doing it and saving money! ;D
Coffee Cue…YET AGAIN
Emma, Avery, Katie, and I decided to treat ourselves to some Coffee Cue…AMAZINGNESS TODAY! I love the Iced Tea…GLORIOUS! It was so nice just to sit back and relax. ALTHOUGHT IT IS EXPENSIVE I DO THINK IT IS WORTH IT ;D
DUNBAR DINNER WELCOME TO UNIVERISTY OF GHANA
After the coffee cue I relaxed for a bit and took another nap. Then I got to shove my mouth FULL OF FOOD…GLORIOUS GLORIOUS SURPRISE INDEED! We had a buffet of Ghanaian food and a showcase of performances. Ciarra (ISEP girl) did a REMARKABLE POEM, Patrick (another ISEP) was the announcer, we had some step dancers, and CIEE do a dance, and then a Ghanaian tribal group performed singing, dancing, and drumming. WHICH WAS A SIGHT TO SEE! MY EYES WERE GLUED TO THEM HOPING I COULD REMEMBER THE MOMENTS FOREVER! The vivid clothing and the dynamic movements of the Ghanaians reminded me how lucky I was to be here. There were little breaks in between the performances where all the international students that felt like grovin’ danced to the music. It was fun to be silly and get to know some other international students. I want to immerce myself with Ghanaians but having an international student once in a while is nice.
Drinks with Renee
After the PLENTY OF FOOD, Katie, Emma, Brendan, Turner, Patrick, Avery, and I hit the best bar in town, Jerry’s, with A BIRTHDAY GIRL, Renee…who is the organizer of the organization I am going to volunteer for this semester Mavious Outreach Program. We got to kick back, have a beer, and just listen to music and talk with her and her two friends (one helped create this Mavious).
Today is the PRESENTS OF 2s 2/2/2012 hehehehe
“Restless Dream” Jack’s Mannequin
I woke up thinking of this song thinking it related to how I am feeling with missing home, but enjoying it here as well.
COFFEE CUE REPEAT
I think I found my LOVE HERE. This Coffee Cue is WONDERFUL. They have everything from noodles, to French toast, to CHOCOLATE PANCAKES (crepes with nutella on them), to iced tea (which reminds me of MY BELOVED CHAI TEA). All the chairs are under a canopy tent and the atmosphere is so POSITIVE. Emma and I found a WONDERFUL solution of her ordering French toast and I ordering pancakes so we could enjoy our splendid occasion. It is a time for several of us to reflect on our adventures in Ghana and inquire about different things. For example, there was a little boy wanting to talk to us so we ended up playing hand games with him, which was absolutely positive.
Madina MARKET, just a Tro-Tro ride AWAY…in search of dance clothes
Avery, Emma, Katie, and I set out in search of dance clothes, vegetables, and fruits at the amazing YET VERY CHAOTIC Madina Market. We, as an ENTIRE ISEP GROUP, went there a week earlier with our student guides holding our hands the entire way.
So this time we were only able to find two tro-tros that could take two people so…we split up into twos. Avery has been here for over two months and Katie, Emma and I are on our second week here…so clearly the expert is Avery. Emma and I went together and Katie and Avery took another tro-tro. When we hopped on the tro-tro WE REALIZED WE DID NOT DISCUSS WHERE WE WERE GOING TO MEET IN MADINA…so once Emma and I got off the tro-tro we managed to find the meeting place of the time before THE POLICE STATION and then we called Avery and Katie where we were. Not the greatest plan…but hey we made it out alive. They finally found the police station and we were able to get A HUGE PINAPPLE for 1 CD, 2 mangoes for 1 CD, and 5 oranges for 1 CD. Avery got plenty of vegs. NOW FOR THE CLOTHES…ya good will is fine for clothes…but the problem with these clothes is you don’t know if they were washed or if someone was sick in them…so I decided to hold off on that until we went to A REAL STORE…which should happen soon.
For my dance class we have a “uniform” of white tops and black bottoms…but I only have one pair of black shorts and NO white tops…so I am borrowing Katie’s white t-shirt and re-wearing my black shorts…GROSS…but hey I am NOT DOING LAUNDRY TWICE A WEEK.
Laundry isn’t horrible, it takes up a couple hours, but I don’t mind re-wearing once in a while and it is nice to know I am saving money for food and TRAVEL.
FIRST DANCE CLASS…I kinda missed the first one
SO DANCE CLASS…was AMAZING…ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT U OF G!!!!!!! We learned a dance…I don’t remember the name…and we had to listen to the beat (which was hard), while moving around. I LOVED IT…the class was packed with OBRUNIS (white people). The way Ghanaians dance is like a mix between martial arts in an athletic position (triple threat for basketball and the STANCE THAT ELLIE KARVOSKI HAS taught the hockey team to do ALL THE TIME ☺) and a modern dance. It felt so great I was learning such a cultural dance that required singing a tribal language and feeling the drums. I don’t think I will be very good at it, but I figure it will allow me to get closer to the culture and embrace something I can’t experience ANYWHERE ELSE IN THIS WORLD (cause Ghanaian dance is specific to…well Ghana). I really like the TAs and how all of us in the class…besides some pro dancers…look like IDIOTS …so its okay ☺
Going out? AFRODEGEACT…not a repeat
So…I was convinced by Ciarra…because it was her birthday…to go out to a club. There were about 8 of us there. I had a bit of wine before hand…not very good Rose wine if you ask me…but going out was very fun…and VERY INTERESTING. We get to the club at around 11pm…just as it opened. We WERE THE ONLY ONES THERE. So I ran to the dance floor and convinced my group to come join and have a bit of fun. Then people started to show up…IT WAS A BUNCH OF 40 AND 50 YEAR OLDS AND HOOKERS…WTF!!! What were we suppose to do. Once they hit the dance floor we backed off and looked at each other in complete amazement. This place didn’t seem like it was for 20 year olds AT ALL. I never saw people that fit the perfect definition of prostitution before this. So Katie, Emma, and I bolted…we did not want to see where this night would go so we caught a taxi and headed back to campus. The taxi driver was VERY WRECKLESS, cruising at 50-70 miles per hours in a 40 zone. There was a moment where I felt completely safe only because I was grasping Katie and Emma’s hands firmly and knew we were there for each other. I am SO GRATEFUL for them completely!!!!! We made it back and I crawled into bed contently.
Friday Feb 3 WEDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You add 10 today and it is Friday the 13th…don’t ask it must be the water
DROPPING ENGLISH CLASS…SO I am only in 6 courses instead of 7
I DECIDED I WANT FRIDAY OFF SO I CAN VOLUNTEER…so I am taking 6 classes and auditing the Twi class so I can do the dance class.
Registering…the dreadful continues
I HATE REGISTERATION! IT IS SO HARD NOT TO GET FRUSTRATED AND GIVE UP… Things are SO SLOW HERE AND I JUST WANT THINGS TO GET DONE SO I CAN MOVE ON AND…WELL DO SOMETHING ELSE
But I know I will get registered…sooner or later. I was able to register for a couple different departments…at U of G you have to register for the school and then EACH INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT….DREADFUL…because each department requires a passport photo…why? I HAVE NO CLUE.
MY FIRST WEDDING EVER…AND IT’S A GHANAIAN ONE!!!!!
My WONDERFUL roommate invited me to one of her friend’s wedding…which is TODAY! So I put on my only NICE DRESS AND GOT SUPER EXICTED FOR A GHANAIAN WEDDING. This wedding was not a traditional one, but rather the church one. They usually perform two and I was just seeing the second. The decorations were very modest and simple. The wedding was suppose to start at 1pm…but of course it didn’t start until 2pm hehehehe…TIA…then the groom walked in and sat down. Then the bride marched in with a camera following her the entire way…a bit odd…but that’s how it is sometimes hehehehehehehehehehe. She WAS BEAUTIFUL…she had a very large white dress and the groom and best man were in brown suits. The maid of honor was in a brown dress with orange trimming. The marriage ceremony continued…just like in the movies (this was my first wedding ever so I never experienced a REAL wedding first hand. After the bride and groom exchanged rings the preacher preached for an hour about love and the duty they have for each other. I felt bit weird going to a church service with a wedding…but apparently that is how A LOT OF WEDDINGS ARE HERE. THEN THERE was a donation time and then A BUNCH OF DANCING…WHICH WAS VERY PLEASANT…besides the fact I didn’t know the language lol. After the wedding we had some treats and we left before the cake was cut…but it was YUMMY…I HAD AN ICE COLD COKE AND SOME WONDERFUL CHICKEN AND BREAD YUMMMMMMM ;D
I was extremely tired from the night at the club (we got back at around 12:30) that I HAPPILY SLEPT FOR TWO HOURS STRAIGHT!
RELAXING with a rash ALL OVER MY BODY: there seems to be a very present rash ALL OVER MY BODY…I think it is a heat rash because whenever I am hot it becomes pretty darn bad…Hopefully it will get better or I will just get used to having it for the next 4 months.
After my nap I had a dinner downstairs and happily went back to sleep…AFTER EMMA, KATIE, AND I PLANNED WHAT WE WANTED TO DO IN AFRICA ;)
The plan is to go to Togo and Benin (two different countries), go up north TO SEE ELEPHANTS, and see where the wind will take us :D
Saturday Feb, 4 the day of minimumal plans
I planned on having this day FULL OF RELAZATION…but I seemed more motivated than I thought I was…
Laundry yet again. I did some laundry…a task that occupies several hours of hard work…especially since I live on the fourth floor (EXHAUSTING CLIMBING THOSE STAIRS…I’LL TELL YA!) I am getting a hang of washing my clothes and I feel really good that I am doing it and saving money! ;D
Coffee Cue…YET AGAIN
Emma, Avery, Katie, and I decided to treat ourselves to some Coffee Cue…AMAZINGNESS TODAY! I love the Iced Tea…GLORIOUS! It was so nice just to sit back and relax. ALTHOUGHT IT IS EXPENSIVE I DO THINK IT IS WORTH IT ;D
DUNBAR DINNER WELCOME TO UNIVERISTY OF GHANA
After the coffee cue I relaxed for a bit and took another nap. Then I got to shove my mouth FULL OF FOOD…GLORIOUS GLORIOUS SURPRISE INDEED! We had a buffet of Ghanaian food and a showcase of performances. Ciarra (ISEP girl) did a REMARKABLE POEM, Patrick (another ISEP) was the announcer, we had some step dancers, and CIEE do a dance, and then a Ghanaian tribal group performed singing, dancing, and drumming. WHICH WAS A SIGHT TO SEE! MY EYES WERE GLUED TO THEM HOPING I COULD REMEMBER THE MOMENTS FOREVER! The vivid clothing and the dynamic movements of the Ghanaians reminded me how lucky I was to be here. There were little breaks in between the performances where all the international students that felt like grovin’ danced to the music. It was fun to be silly and get to know some other international students. I want to immerce myself with Ghanaians but having an international student once in a while is nice.
Drinks with Renee
After the PLENTY OF FOOD, Katie, Emma, Brendan, Turner, Patrick, Avery, and I hit the best bar in town, Jerry’s, with A BIRTHDAY GIRL, Renee…who is the organizer of the organization I am going to volunteer for this semester Mavious Outreach Program. We got to kick back, have a beer, and just listen to music and talk with her and her two friends (one helped create this Mavious).
Monday, February 6, 2012
More ADVENTURE
Wednesday Feb. 1
The BUCKET GIRLS
The other day when the ISEP girl group was walking back from PIZZA TUESDAY there were two about 7 or 8 year old girls following us with big buckets of water on their head. I turned around and smiled at them. The instantly grinned back at me. It HIT ME…the simplicity of a smile can go A LONG WAY…one of my teachers in high school wrote down when I graduated…”if only you knew how much you effected people with your smile”…and I FINALLY understood what she meant by that. Smiling and acknowledging these beautiful children is way to impact the world while I am not in the classroom teaching. They continued to follow us so a couple minutes later I turned around and waved at them with a HUGE grin on my face. They waved back…MIND YOU I DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH…and one girl dropped HALF THE WATER from her bucket…yep I DID DAMAGE TO THIS POOR GIRL UNINTENTIONALLY MIND YOU. They didn’t seem to mind and just giggled and waved…sadly they had to go back to the river next to the Pizza Inn and refill their water. At least they didn’t think I was evil…so next time I will think through what I do so I don’t damage the other person.
Another situation a girl came up to me another day when I was walking to IPO (heaven for internet and AIR CONDITIONING). I smiled at her and said “How are you?” in Twi (yes thank you very much I am SLOWLY picking up on Twi :D). She responded “Good” in Twi. Then, she asked me where the information center is…I knew what the building was but I wasn’t exactly sure where it was….in denial I gave her directions confidently…YA I WAS TOTALLY WRONG…5 MINUTES LATER…IF SHE stayed with me…WE WOULD HAVE RAN INTO IT…OOOPPPPPs. Sooo those are the two VERY embarrassing stories thus far.
:D
On a less HOPELESS NOTE…
DISCOVERY OF COFFEE CUE and SPLENDID Brunch with Alexandra
I met this girl Alexandra the other day next to the history department and we were venting to each other about the HORRIBLE system of registration at University of Ghana. I then discovered that she is a HOME STAY…which means she has a family that she sleeps with at night…which is EXACTLY WHAT Sarah H. is doing in Rwanda and what Heather Newell did for her training. We became FAST friends and decided to get together on this LOVELY Wednesday. She showed me this new Café on campus called Coffee Cue. IT IS SPLENDID! I got French toast and tea for 3 CD, which is about 2 dollars for a very filling meal. We chatted and I think I earned a visit to her host family’s house someday soon. :D During our duration at Coffee Cue, we ran into a group of like 40 people from Senegal that were going to 5 DIFFERENT AFRICAN CITIES trying to discuss how Africa can become a united front. I LOVED IT. I got to practice my French, which was SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITING! It gave me the confidence to use it when I go to Togo and Benin. I was able to talk about politics and how critical communication is between countries. Many pictures were taken by them because they were fascinated that 2 American girls were studying abroad in Ghana instead of Senegal. Even though their complements were geared towards getting my number…I do take pride in the fact that they complemented my French. :D The entire day felt accomplished just from this ONE exchange of words. Alexandra can speak French too, which made the conversations even more enjoyable!
Two classes back-to-back NO SHOW TEACHERS…but Central Cafeteria Room Manager SHOW
After this wonderful interchange Emma and I went to two back to back classes where the professors did not show up but I got to meet more students. At the second class we sat down and before we knew it a strange man approached us and started asking for our names and he shared his and the he gave us a 45 minute lecture about what we were doing WAS AMAZING and how we should enjoy every MOMENT WE ARE HERE…which is what I am trying to do. I was able to show off what I have learned so far in Twi…and he was pretty impressed. It amazes me if you open up to a Ghana first they will open up to you with open arms horizontal. He was wonderful and before I knew it the professor didn’t show up after an hour so we went on our way.
REGISTERING FOR EACH DEPARTMENT…critical information not told to us…told to us by a STRANGER…TIA
So while Emma and I were going around WE WERE INFORMED THAT WE HAVE TO register for each department…which will require A BUNCH OF HIKING AROUND…TIA, this got on my nerves…but once I took a couple minutes I realized it really didn’t matter…none of the teachers were showing up so of course we have time to do these things. We went to the Sociology department and the head of the department informed us that THERE WAS A PROTEST and that the office workers wouldn’t be in this week…TIA…so how were we suppose to register to each department? We couldn’t…ohhhh well…hopefully we will be able to soon.
The protest is because these office workers haven’t been paid sense December and they want their money. Hopefully that will be taken care of so we can go to classes….hahahahahahahahahaha…such an ADVENTURE!
SWITCH TO BAGGED WATER AND…THE NIGTH MARKET
So a big event for me today…besides speaking French and realizing that this protest may effect classes is I SWITCHED TO BAGGED WATER AND NIGHT MARKET FOOD…okay I know this is very confusing. So there are three different types of water in Ghana: tap water, bagged water, and bottled water. For the first two weeks I was on bottled water and today MARKS MY TRANSITION TO BAGGED WATER…This water goes through the SAME purification as bottled water it is just bagged so the surface of the bag may contain bacteria…but it is unlikely if you get the RIGHT bagged water…which I AM.
And Night Market food, this food is prepared outside by Ghanaian that might not have the best ideas of decontamination, but this food is VERY VERY cheap and mind you TASTES WONDERFUL. I got beans and joloff (seasoned rice) for 1 CD and was COMPLETELY FULL. This will allow me to stick to the 10 CD budget a day and have extra to use for Smoothies, Indian food, and traveling here and there.
Hopefully I won’t get sick…and if I do…TIA.
Ghanaian FOOTBALL GAME
Many of the ISEP kiddos got night market food tonight and so we all watched parts of the Ghanaian football game…I don’t know who exactly won…I will ask someone tomorrow (I went to bed early because I was tired and went on a run at 6am to get READY for running CROSS COUNTRY HERE).
I promise I will have the rest of this last week and this week up by the end of the week
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
The BUCKET GIRLS
The other day when the ISEP girl group was walking back from PIZZA TUESDAY there were two about 7 or 8 year old girls following us with big buckets of water on their head. I turned around and smiled at them. The instantly grinned back at me. It HIT ME…the simplicity of a smile can go A LONG WAY…one of my teachers in high school wrote down when I graduated…”if only you knew how much you effected people with your smile”…and I FINALLY understood what she meant by that. Smiling and acknowledging these beautiful children is way to impact the world while I am not in the classroom teaching. They continued to follow us so a couple minutes later I turned around and waved at them with a HUGE grin on my face. They waved back…MIND YOU I DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH…and one girl dropped HALF THE WATER from her bucket…yep I DID DAMAGE TO THIS POOR GIRL UNINTENTIONALLY MIND YOU. They didn’t seem to mind and just giggled and waved…sadly they had to go back to the river next to the Pizza Inn and refill their water. At least they didn’t think I was evil…so next time I will think through what I do so I don’t damage the other person.
Another situation a girl came up to me another day when I was walking to IPO (heaven for internet and AIR CONDITIONING). I smiled at her and said “How are you?” in Twi (yes thank you very much I am SLOWLY picking up on Twi :D). She responded “Good” in Twi. Then, she asked me where the information center is…I knew what the building was but I wasn’t exactly sure where it was….in denial I gave her directions confidently…YA I WAS TOTALLY WRONG…5 MINUTES LATER…IF SHE stayed with me…WE WOULD HAVE RAN INTO IT…OOOPPPPPs. Sooo those are the two VERY embarrassing stories thus far.
:D
On a less HOPELESS NOTE…
DISCOVERY OF COFFEE CUE and SPLENDID Brunch with Alexandra
I met this girl Alexandra the other day next to the history department and we were venting to each other about the HORRIBLE system of registration at University of Ghana. I then discovered that she is a HOME STAY…which means she has a family that she sleeps with at night…which is EXACTLY WHAT Sarah H. is doing in Rwanda and what Heather Newell did for her training. We became FAST friends and decided to get together on this LOVELY Wednesday. She showed me this new Café on campus called Coffee Cue. IT IS SPLENDID! I got French toast and tea for 3 CD, which is about 2 dollars for a very filling meal. We chatted and I think I earned a visit to her host family’s house someday soon. :D During our duration at Coffee Cue, we ran into a group of like 40 people from Senegal that were going to 5 DIFFERENT AFRICAN CITIES trying to discuss how Africa can become a united front. I LOVED IT. I got to practice my French, which was SUPER SUPER SUPER EXCITING! It gave me the confidence to use it when I go to Togo and Benin. I was able to talk about politics and how critical communication is between countries. Many pictures were taken by them because they were fascinated that 2 American girls were studying abroad in Ghana instead of Senegal. Even though their complements were geared towards getting my number…I do take pride in the fact that they complemented my French. :D The entire day felt accomplished just from this ONE exchange of words. Alexandra can speak French too, which made the conversations even more enjoyable!
Two classes back-to-back NO SHOW TEACHERS…but Central Cafeteria Room Manager SHOW
After this wonderful interchange Emma and I went to two back to back classes where the professors did not show up but I got to meet more students. At the second class we sat down and before we knew it a strange man approached us and started asking for our names and he shared his and the he gave us a 45 minute lecture about what we were doing WAS AMAZING and how we should enjoy every MOMENT WE ARE HERE…which is what I am trying to do. I was able to show off what I have learned so far in Twi…and he was pretty impressed. It amazes me if you open up to a Ghana first they will open up to you with open arms horizontal. He was wonderful and before I knew it the professor didn’t show up after an hour so we went on our way.
REGISTERING FOR EACH DEPARTMENT…critical information not told to us…told to us by a STRANGER…TIA
So while Emma and I were going around WE WERE INFORMED THAT WE HAVE TO register for each department…which will require A BUNCH OF HIKING AROUND…TIA, this got on my nerves…but once I took a couple minutes I realized it really didn’t matter…none of the teachers were showing up so of course we have time to do these things. We went to the Sociology department and the head of the department informed us that THERE WAS A PROTEST and that the office workers wouldn’t be in this week…TIA…so how were we suppose to register to each department? We couldn’t…ohhhh well…hopefully we will be able to soon.
The protest is because these office workers haven’t been paid sense December and they want their money. Hopefully that will be taken care of so we can go to classes….hahahahahahahahahaha…such an ADVENTURE!
SWITCH TO BAGGED WATER AND…THE NIGTH MARKET
So a big event for me today…besides speaking French and realizing that this protest may effect classes is I SWITCHED TO BAGGED WATER AND NIGHT MARKET FOOD…okay I know this is very confusing. So there are three different types of water in Ghana: tap water, bagged water, and bottled water. For the first two weeks I was on bottled water and today MARKS MY TRANSITION TO BAGGED WATER…This water goes through the SAME purification as bottled water it is just bagged so the surface of the bag may contain bacteria…but it is unlikely if you get the RIGHT bagged water…which I AM.
And Night Market food, this food is prepared outside by Ghanaian that might not have the best ideas of decontamination, but this food is VERY VERY cheap and mind you TASTES WONDERFUL. I got beans and joloff (seasoned rice) for 1 CD and was COMPLETELY FULL. This will allow me to stick to the 10 CD budget a day and have extra to use for Smoothies, Indian food, and traveling here and there.
Hopefully I won’t get sick…and if I do…TIA.
Ghanaian FOOTBALL GAME
Many of the ISEP kiddos got night market food tonight and so we all watched parts of the Ghanaian football game…I don’t know who exactly won…I will ask someone tomorrow (I went to bed early because I was tired and went on a run at 6am to get READY for running CROSS COUNTRY HERE).
I promise I will have the rest of this last week and this week up by the end of the week
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Just a regular day IN GHANA
Tuesday Jan. 31 FIRST LECTURE…NO SHOW
I dragged myself out of bed at 6am to make oatmeal before a 7:30am lecture…THAT WAS HARD! BUT OF COURSE THE PROFESSOR DID NOT SHOW UP…TIA (THIS IS AFRICA). And then we spent an hour in the classroom talking to two Ghanaians in our (Katie and I’s) Geography class. The walked us practically back to ISH which was really refreshing!
After this no show class…I did some more laundry—sheets are a CAHLLENG! And Miss Katie attempted laundry for the first time! ☺
After I washed my sheets and pillowcases I went to the post office and bookstore with Audra, another ISEP student. I am trying to slowly familiarize myself with the layout of the school. It is more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I was able to mail two letters and get a bunch of post cards.
After that I was walking back and A HUGE RAIN STORM CAME. I had my computer in my backpack so I was forced to stand under a tree for 30 minutes as it proceeded to rain. Luckily only a couple papers got wet and I was able to trudge through the mud to ISH. It literally started to rain from nothing. It seemed to be very similar to the weather in the Colorado mountains.
After I made it out alive from the storm, Audra, Turner, and I went to talk to the athletic coaches. Audra is going to play volleyball and Turner and I want to run for the track team. The runs will start next week with A START OF 5:30 OMGOODNESS! Sooooo early! I will try it and see what happens. BECAUSE IF I DO WELL I COULD GET A FREEEEEE TRIP TO NIGERIA TO RUN FOR U OF G!!!!!
After this short trip to the athletic center, almost all the girls in ISEP (including me) journeyed to this place called Bonjour, where we got a TWO FOR ONE PIZZA DEAL. This happens EVERY Tuesday and I think I will be a regular because it was only 3 CD a person…SOOO WORTH IT FOR A YUMMY DINNER!!!!
After we got back from this mile walk Avery, another ISEP student TREATED US TO SOME CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THIS LADY THAT MAKES CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!! Avery has an internship that on the way back she swings by and can get these delicious treats. There are these amazing coconut balls, peanut brittle twists, and caramels. She makes all of them from scratch and they are LITERALLY the BEST candy I HAVE EVER HAD!
After that I fell FAST ASLEEP FROM an eventful day. I do have a cold, I think from some bacteria…which is problem-some…but hopefully I will get better soon!
I dragged myself out of bed at 6am to make oatmeal before a 7:30am lecture…THAT WAS HARD! BUT OF COURSE THE PROFESSOR DID NOT SHOW UP…TIA (THIS IS AFRICA). And then we spent an hour in the classroom talking to two Ghanaians in our (Katie and I’s) Geography class. The walked us practically back to ISH which was really refreshing!
After this no show class…I did some more laundry—sheets are a CAHLLENG! And Miss Katie attempted laundry for the first time! ☺
After I washed my sheets and pillowcases I went to the post office and bookstore with Audra, another ISEP student. I am trying to slowly familiarize myself with the layout of the school. It is more challenging than I thought it was going to be. I was able to mail two letters and get a bunch of post cards.
After that I was walking back and A HUGE RAIN STORM CAME. I had my computer in my backpack so I was forced to stand under a tree for 30 minutes as it proceeded to rain. Luckily only a couple papers got wet and I was able to trudge through the mud to ISH. It literally started to rain from nothing. It seemed to be very similar to the weather in the Colorado mountains.
After I made it out alive from the storm, Audra, Turner, and I went to talk to the athletic coaches. Audra is going to play volleyball and Turner and I want to run for the track team. The runs will start next week with A START OF 5:30 OMGOODNESS! Sooooo early! I will try it and see what happens. BECAUSE IF I DO WELL I COULD GET A FREEEEEE TRIP TO NIGERIA TO RUN FOR U OF G!!!!!
After this short trip to the athletic center, almost all the girls in ISEP (including me) journeyed to this place called Bonjour, where we got a TWO FOR ONE PIZZA DEAL. This happens EVERY Tuesday and I think I will be a regular because it was only 3 CD a person…SOOO WORTH IT FOR A YUMMY DINNER!!!!
After we got back from this mile walk Avery, another ISEP student TREATED US TO SOME CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THIS LADY THAT MAKES CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!! Avery has an internship that on the way back she swings by and can get these delicious treats. There are these amazing coconut balls, peanut brittle twists, and caramels. She makes all of them from scratch and they are LITERALLY the BEST candy I HAVE EVER HAD!
After that I fell FAST ASLEEP FROM an eventful day. I do have a cold, I think from some bacteria…which is problem-some…but hopefully I will get better soon!
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