This is going to be a bit of a rant, then I'll cut to the good stuff. I’m really frustrated with my community service placement. And it’s not because I haven’t had experience working with Autistic children in the past. This is mostly to do the with center and the fact that there is really nothing for us to do. I don’t feel appreciated and I don’t feel like there is really anything that I can do to make the program any better since I’m only there one to two times a week. Victor, our community service placement advisor, came into AACT today to talk to Marta and I about our experience there. Not only was that awkward and the worst environment to do it in, but it wasn’t very helpful either. To frankly talk about my experience somewhere where I’m not necessarily happy, I shouldn’t be in that place talking about my frustrations around the people/staff that I’m frustrated with. But Marta and I still got a little bit in about how we felt. We talked to him about how the directors never really gave us any direction and the most help we’ve had since we’ve been there are the other foreign volunteers who are sometimes just as lost as we are. The Ghanaian staff seem to really dislike our presence there and never talk to us and when they do its very unfriendly. The organization of the whole program isn’t very conducive to the children’s learning. Half of the time the children don’t even do anything productive. For instance a few weeks ago we went in on a Friday morning, their arts and crafts/”fun” day. I was really looking forward to doing art with the kids because I think that it is so therapeutic and helpful for them. When we got there, they had US, the VOLUNTEERS, doing the art project. It was a tedious task where we make beads out of magazines, so the children wouldn’t have been able to help, so they should’ve given the kids something to do, right? Well, no they just sat around and did nothing while we made these beads. The only thing that was redeeming about making the beads is that they are going to make them into necklaces, etc. for fundraising, but still, they should’ve had some activity… anything! for the kids to do while we were doing this. So I’ve concluded that the only thing I enjoy about the program is the kids. I’m pretty certain I’m going to ask Victor if I can move my placement elsewhere after spring break, because I really want to do something that is helpful, where I actually feel like I am doing something. Somewhere like maybe an orphanage. Even Emily, a volunteer/intern that has been there everyday for the past couple of months, has said that the program is a lacking and that they definitely don’t need manpower – they have plenty of people working there; they need people who actually know what they’re doing and that can help the other workers to make a difference in these children’s lives. So after hearing Emily say that today, I really think that my ‘help’ there isn’t needed and I will get experience with Autistic children in the future, somewhere where my help can be put to better use. Emily also mentioned that a lot of orphanages in Ghana aren’t doing so well so they could probably use the help more anyway. So I’ll see how that goes.
Another thing that made me angry today is that when we were saying bye to the director, Marta and I were explaining to her that we wouldn’t be in for a while because it was our spring break and we weren’t going to be in Ghana. So she said that was fine, but then out of nowhere she asked us “How do you do laundry?” So we told her we have washers and driers at our hostel/house/dorm/whatever you want to call it. And to that she said you guys aren’t getting the real Ghanaian experience. You need to be doing things like Emily and Sophia and living with families and doing the real thing here. And this just really frustrated me. I know that we are especially spoiled living in this beautiful complex in a developing country, and when people say stuff like that its really annoying. Like don’t you realize that we know that we are fortunate and that really do appreciate everything about this experience. And just because we’re not hand washing our clothes, making fufu every week, living without A/C, and “living the real Ghanaian way” (whatever that means) with Ghanaians, doesn’t mean that we’re not getting any less of a great experience as anyone living with a Ghanaian family or any of the like. This is where NYU houses us and we pay for it, so this is where we’re going to live. Also, we’re here studying abroad just like anyone in Paris or Rome. We’re here just as much to immerse ourselves in the community and to learn about the way people do things just as much as anyone else in any other country, if not more, because coming here is SO different than the US whereas in some other countries, the lifestyle is more similar. People don’t make snide comments to other students studying abroad and living in resident halls, just because they’re not living with families and getting the “real” experience. We’re living just as much of a “real” experience in A/C and with wireless internet is just playing into the stereotype that Ghana and even Africa are not developed. “Real Ghanaians” live this way too, it just doesn’t happen to be the way that stereotypical Ghanaians live. If anything its wonderful to be living this lifestyle in a place that most people wouldn’t expect it because it shows how advanced this country is and how much its growing. Like Tina just said, “I think its demeaning to limit yourself to thinking that the African experience is just some primitive way of living, especially after all they’ve come through to get to where they are now.” Ugh, I don’t even know if I’m making any sense any more, I just really don’t appreciate it when people say that kind of stuff to me. It’ll be nice to be on spring break and have time to just relax and reflect on the past couple of months. I’m very happy here. So don’t let this post make you think otherwise, I just think that some people are very close minded and don’t see all sides of the situation.
Phew, back to the exciting, fun stuff that I’ve been up to. This weekend was absolutely wonderful. We got off to a bumpy (literally) start, but it ended up being just so marvelous.
Thursday night, Gaby and I went to get a drink with her friend David from Ashesi University. She met him in her dance class. We were originally going to go to his friend's birthday at some club, and he was going to pick us up but he ended up being stopped by the police because his car wasn't registered and he was like 3 hours late, so we just said, um... no club, let's just go talk. And he said he'd much prefer that, he only wanted to take us to the club to not let us down. At the bar, we just talked and it was so nice. He is very educated and quite privileged too and he had a lot to say about Ghana and America and life in general. He's been to the US a bunch to visit some family that he has there and says that one day he'd like to move there. But not for his whole life - just for a bit. He had many observations about that US... most of which were very true. He said that when in America, people don't really have the time of day for you. And that's true. Here in Ghana people are SO willing to help you out, to talk to you, to spend time with you - they simply like your company. Whereas in the US if you were to ask someone in passing "How are you?" it's expected that its a short answer, "Good", and you both go on with your day. Here, to some extent, that's true, but people also just LOVE to talk to you also. So if you were to walk by a stranger and say "Ete sen?" (How are you?) and they reply "Eye." (fine) (hopefully you remember this all from the earlier Twi lessons)... you might actually have a full conversation with them about their day, their family, their life/your day, your family, etc. That's somewhat frustrating about the US... but I guess I'm used to it, and I might be irritated if everyone I said hi to in passing actually wanted to have a full conversation with me about my day. David also observed that people just looove to eat and watch t.v., i.e. obesity in America. It's too bad that we have that reputation. We then talked about how many people have an expectation that when they get to America... their life is made. That they are set for the rest of their life. When no, that is not true at all. People have problems in the US too. They have to sacrifice a lot also. There are a lot of opportunities in America, but it's not necessarily easy to achieve. So that was nice talking to David. It was also nice to get approached by the waiter saying that this creepy, thuggish Ghanaian man wanted to give me his number. Ew. So I took the piece of paper with 'Charles'' number on it and asked David if I should do anything - he said basically to just acknowledge that I got it. And then when Charles was on his way out he came over to our table bent down by me and said "I'll be expecting your call soon" yucckkkkk. Charles and I haven't hung out yet, I'm going to call him tomorrow.
The next day was Ghana’s Independence Day! Happy Ghana Independence Day – March 6, 1957! Fifty two years of independence and peace – how exciting. That morning, we were off to Green Turtle Lodge, a little beach resort outside of Takoradi for Gillian's 21st birthday. To get to Takoradi, we took the intercity bus. It was 6.5 cedi. We met at Labone Coffee Shop (a 'famous' coffee shop near the house we live in) at 8:15 in order to get to the bus station by 9, to hopefully get on a bus by 9:30... even 10 would've been great. Soooo, we get there, all buses are sold out until 11:30. Okay, cool. We'll wait, we're in good company, right? 11:30 rolls around when over the intercom we hear "Passengers on the 11:30 bus to Takoradi are going to have to be patient." ... haha, only in Ghana. 12:30's here, and we finally get on bus. Mmm.. maybe one of the worst rides. Gaby was so generous to let me have the window seat so I could sleep since the night before we stayed out with David and the night before that I had just gotten back from my 20 hour ride from Burkina Faso - yeah I was pretty sleepy. The bus: no useful A/C just warm air blowing at us through the vent, lady behind me putting her knees in my back, couldn't open the window for air because the lady behind me had a child (since when does it matter if the window is open because you have a child?) = very little sleep, soooo sweaty in the sleep that I did get, so uncomfortable (those knees are nothing like the massage chairs at the Asian nail places). The only thing good about the bus is it got us to our destination. After a 4.5 hour ride.
So the bus ride was over. How about the tro tro ride there after. Quite difficult to find the tro tro to Akwidaa. Every taxi driver ever approached us about taking us to the Green Turtle Lodge. They all know that Obrunis are going to the Green Turtle Lodge. This would've been a great offer had it not been 30 cedi. So finally after finding the tro tro station, the one tro tro that was going to Akwidaa had to literally be put back together. It was actually taken apart before we got in it. The car had been used to transport a LOT of something - we're still not sure exactly what - but in the process they had taken out all the seats. So when they heard we needed to stop at Akwidaa, they put it back together and we were on our way.
The tro tro ride was really great, although Gillian, the birthday girl, would disagree. We didn't really know if this was going to take us to the right place. It was getting dark so there was really no way to tell if we were getting anywhere productive. And the people driving and operating the tro tro had no idea what the Green Turtle Lodge was. But I had a good time, and I just reallllly wanted to get to the Lodge. Also, the tro tro conductor was talking about how life was beautiful or something, I don't really remember, but it was fun, nonetheless. Okay, so we got dropped off at Akwidaa. Now what do we do... no sign of Green Turtle Lodge, except another swarm of taxi drivers offering to take us to the Lodge for some pretty steep prices. Finally we settled with 15 cedi because apparently it was pretty far and that's the lowest anyone would go.
Fifteen cedi was worth it. This ride was "cray-cray" (in the words of Gaby, aka crazy). SO long and SO bumpy. It was especially wonderful in the pitch black. We had no idea if where the taxi driver was taking us was legitimately going to the lodge or if he knew where he was going or if we'd end up at the lodge at all. This ride was so long. It was probably like 1.5 hours on the bumpiest road through little villages every once in a while. Finally! We made it. We ended up paying the driver 20 cedi because 15 just didn't seem like enough, especially since he'd have to make the drive back with no one in his car, so he'd obviously not be making any profit.
We finally made it to the Lodge after 12 hours of traveling (any future travelers to the Lodge - it really shouldn't take that long... just don't get on a late, late bus or look for a tro tro for too long, it’ll significantly prolong your experience). Getting to the Green Turtle Lodge was the most incredible thing. This place is so beautiful and just so serene. It's literally on the beach. The bar, the restaurant, the rooms, the tables, the everything is in the sand on the beach. Aw... what a place to end up at after such a tumultuous ride here. It was lovely. When we got there, Elizabeth talked with the man at the reception desk. She had originally booked three rooms but a few people bailed, so we only needed the two. He wanted to charge us for all three but Elizabeth explained to them that she had tried contacting them many times to cancel it but the phone service at this place = nada. Because it’s in the middle of nowhere. But we finally got him to agree that we wouldn't be paying for the extra room, and thank goodness we didn't because if we had. We might not have made it home this evening at all.
Having said that, no one budgeted enough money for the trip. I mean I guess we had JUST enough money! The first night…out of two nights.. there we started to realize that money was an issue. Soooo we all just pooled our money together and started a very strict budget. It was actually quite hilarious. We set aside the money we each owed for the hotel room and put it underneath the fan, obviously the most safe place. Then since all the food is on the tab, we would set aside money for our food. Then we set aside our money for the trip home. Then we set aside money for dinner and breakfast – we’d share both, two dishes for the four of us.. Lunch wasn’t going to be an option, we didn’t think. So this was the beginning of our little stay at Green Turtle and, really, thank the Lord that they didn’t charge us for the extra room. That would’ve been seriously bad news – aka NO food for us.
Our first night was great. And so relaxing. We ate dinner on the beach. This was before we realized the money crisis and ALL six of us got dinner. (There were six of us the first night… Mallory and Gillian ended up leaving on Saturday morning because Mallory’s mom was coming to town and the poor birthday girl didn’t feel well). After dinner, Gaby and I put on our suits and just laid on the beach and walked in the water. It was so peaceful and calm. We just listened to the waves crash on the beach and the palm trees rustle against each other. It was so quiet. So empty. And just so still. We took a short nap on the beach and just set our alarm so that we’d actually wake up and go to the room. Going back to the room was the worst part of the night. Gaby and I went to our rooms – we were both in different rooms, both sleeping on the floor. Hot hot hot hot hot hot night. The windows were open but almost literally no ventilation. And I sweat so much in my sleep. I almost got out of bed and woke Gaby to see if she’d like to go sleep on the beach, but I was just too lazy. She had the same thought in the middle of the night, but she was too scared to leave the room haha. So we both slept miserably and SO HOT.
Although the room was hot. It was an awesome room. It had a great shower, a bed, and a ‘green’ toilet. Everything was solar powered. The toilet was self-composting – so no water, also meaning that the waste is broken down and decomposed organically – you’d love it Greer! And you couldn’t put anything down the toilet but toilet paper. To make it smell less, we had to put ashes over the waste. It was so nice. I really want a self-composting toilet! And solar power. Which was lovely. Except at night when it goes out, because there is no ..sun. This was only a problem night two when Gaby and I actually got the bed and the fan – but the fan worked probably twenty percent of the night. Just our luck.
Finally, it was time to get up. We ate breakfast on the beach – just some toast, because by this time we realized the budget crisis. After breakfast, Gillian and Mallory left to go back to Accra. Sad times. But the rest of the day was so unbelievably wonderful. We just laid on the beach. Played some beach volleyball. And laid more. It was really hot so we spent most of our town under the little shades. Half way through the day we decided we NEEDED to fit lunch into our budget so we had a “budget meeting” – we held these frequently throughout the day with the little money that we had. We decided we could fit two cheese sandwiches into our budget. We ordered them. But then ended up waiting so long for them – they had to make the cheese, grow the tomatoes, and um .. make the bread. Not really but it really seemed like we waited forever. I think it was because we were so hungry from our small breakfast. We got our cheese sandwiches which were good. Definitely not filling though. So we put our order in for dinner and you have to tell them the time you want it – so we ordered the cheapest – two pastas with tomato sauce at 7:30. We had a great afternoon laying the beach, playing the water. The waves WERE HUGE. They took us down like sumo wrestlers. We, I think, all actually thought we might die. After being thrown down by a wave I had so much sand in my bottoms – it was like I had severely poopy pants. After that we decided those waves were too cray-cray. So we just hung out. We played cards and did our best at playing dominoes – anyone know how to play dominoes? No? Yeah me neither. So we didn’t really play dominoes. Dinner time slowly came. As we were waiting we saw another table get the pasta. We anxiously peeked at it. Wondering how big so that we wouldn’t expect too much or too little. We got the zoom camera out and took a picture of the pasta to inspect the size of our upcoming meal. It seemed like a good size. About an hour later we received our two pastas and devoured them. It was SO delicious. All we wanted was more! We could see that pasta across the way still. The girl at the other table didn’t finish her pasta. Our eyes ogled at it just wanting it in OUR BELLAY. Unfortunately, we weren’t feeling creepy enough to ask her if we could have her leftovers. Sooo instead, in honor of Gillian, we had another budget meeting and splurged 2.5 cedi on fruit and fondue! They said it was my birthday so the waiter who brought over our fondue started singing.. whispering happy birthday to me. It was so funny but so yummy to have our fondue made of mouthwatering Ghanaian chocolate. We had fresh pineapple and banana to dip in the chocolate. It was perfect for our little hungry tums. After this we were all so exhausted from the sleepless night before and all the sun from the day, so we went to bed at 9pm.
The next morning as we were eating our breakfast, this guy Sean came to sit with us. He had just been discharged from the PeaceCorps because of the governmental travel alert and the military coup. It was so nice to talk to him. At first, we thought that he was European, he kind of looked it, but then we found out he was from Illinois. He was in Mali to do work in a village with their water and sanitation. Ironically, he had two amoebas from drinking contaminated water. He realized the stupidity in drinking the water and just said that getting back to the States was going to be hell with all the medicines he’s going to have to take to get rid of everything foul in his body. He was very soft-spoken and so informative. He told us about the Peace Corps application process and how in depth it was. He talked about how he was planning to go to Mali and had these huge projects to put wells in and help with the sanitation of the water, etc. But when he got to his village, they really didn’t need help in that area because they already had funding from somewhere else, so he essentially just “hung out and drank tea” the whole time. The people you meet traveling around Ghana are just so great. It was so nice to talk to him. Unfortunately we only got to talk to him for about an hour before we had to check out.
Checking out was kind of shady, because we had to pretend like Tina wasn’t with us or they were going to charge us an extra 5 cedi for the extra person. So Tina and I hid in the room as they checked out and we ended up having JUST enough money. Then we were off to the STC station – another hour and a half on the rocky rocky road. But we had an incredible taxi driver named Frances. Frances was a such a fun little man. He was fun to talk to and wanted to teach us a little Twi, even though Twi isn’t really widely spoken in the Western Region where Takoradi is. He also asked us all if we were married or had boyfriends and our ages. When I told him I was 21 and didn’t have a boyfriend, then Tina said she was 19 with a boyfriend, he asked why I didn’t have one even though I was older than she is. He then told me he was going to find me a Ghanaian boyfriend from Green Turtle Lodge. How that’s going to work… I have no clue. But it was cute nonetheless.
At the STC bus station, we met a Ghanaian girl who was obsessed with American culture. It was hilarious and sad at the same time. Hilarious because of her obsession and what she was obsessed with. Sad because she’s left so much of her culture behind. Her name was Esi. Esi talked about how foreigners all think that Africans live in trees and hang out with monkeys and elephants, but really people aren’t like that… obviously haha. She said that the American stereotype was that females are all promiscuous. … unfortunate. Anyway, she was hilarious. She LOVES Sex and the City and wanted to know who all our favorite characters were. She loves Miranda because she’s blunt. She also said that she checks Perez Hilton EVERY time she gets on the computer to check the latest gossip. She loves Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and she’s not a fan of Jennifer Aniston. She asked us if American men liked big butts.. and we told her mostly they like big boobs. And to that, I said well I have neither.. and Esi points to my boobs and says “Oh, you can get that fixed” and I told her that I didn’t want plastic surgery at all and she said, “Well if you have the money, why not?” Oh man, she was awesome. It was also unfortunate though because she didn’t know her family’s language. She didn’t really know her roots. This was appalling to me just because I feel like I’d love to know all of that stuff, and its just a shame to see her throwing it away for American gossip. She did make a good point that not knowing the language was also kind of bringing Ghanaians together because its like they al have one unified language so everyone can communicate. But this is a good example of a “real” Ghanaian experience – not all Ghanaians live primitive lifestyles… hers actually seemed quite luxurious.
Getting home was way easy this time. And when we got home, there was a huge rainstorm, and we went out to dinner for Gillian’s birthday. It was delightful and so nice to celebrate her real birthday!
Today… besides having a hard time at volunteering, I lost my phone and I’m pretty sad about that because I lost the numbers of some Ghanaians that I don’t think I’ll be able to get again. Hopefully it’ll show up somewhere. If not… oh well! Who needs a cell phone in Africa anyway.. I mostly only used it for an alarm anyway.
I'm now starting a blog entry about my homestay, Burkina, and um everything in between. Catching up on this blog is quite a pain in the b. So I'm going to try and start updated more daily than monthly.
love peace loooove
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
monkeys climbing trees and i'm racist
So its been a while. Lots to update! Okay... well, after last time I updated, Andrea and I hung out with Akirash, a Ghanaian artist from Nigeria. We hung out with him at first because I asked him I could take photographs of him for my photo class - for this project we had to spend 8-12 hours with a Ghanaian. It ended up being such an incredible experience. At first, when I talked to Akirash on the phone about this, he was hesitant because he thought I was going to publish the pictures, but when I explained to him it was simply for my class and nothing commerical, he agreed!
When we got to Akirash's house, we hung out for a bit then left to run errands at the market and in the village that is outside of his house. Andrea and I both took our cameras and we had told Akirash about how shy we both have been so far in Ghana when taking pictures because we don't want to offend anyone or make anyone think less of us for taking pictures. When we said this, Akirash giggled and told us not to worry and to just take as many pictures as we want and not to worry about what others think. Since we're only taking pictures for ourselves and not publishing them or anything its not a problem. I dont know how often this happens but he said that people get angry when someone takes their picture then it shows up in a magazine or a travel guide, etc. and they get no recognition or monetary benefit from it. But I can assure them, my pictures aren't going to be published... except to my facebook or my blog.
Walking around with Akirash was so enjoyable and such a learning experience. We had so much fun! He bought food to make for dinner, we went with him to one of his art studios so that he could pray - he's Muslim. Watching his Muslim practice was so interesting... first washing himself with a tea pot of water outside the house, then praying on his mat indoors. It was so incredible to be able to observe that part of his day and that he let us be part of it.
After he was done praying, we walked around some more, went to an internet cafe where he checked his email, and just saw a bunch of his friends. He knew so many people in the village! We visited a few of his friends - went into another Muslim house and met this very nice, interesting man and his family. He had the most beautiful daughter, and his wife was so nice and welcoming also. They also allowed us to take pictures, so I got some cool ones there.
At some point while walking around, I tripped, nearly fell flat on my face, but was able to keep myself up. The only thing I was scared about was my camera - not even my face... but thankfully, both are fine. I did stub my toe though and it was bleeding. It didn't really hurt, so I didn't think anything of it, but when Akirash saw that it was bleeding, he was very concerned and said that we had to go wash it and wrap it up so that it wouldn't get infected. We went back to his studio where he washed it off with the same tea pot that he washed himself with before praying and he wrapped my toe with a little piece of fabric. It was so considerate of him to do it and he was so, so nice and caring.
After that, we walked around even more. All the school children were just getting out of class. They were all so excited to see us "obrunis" and everywhere we walked we'd hear "obruni, obruni!" And "snap us!" - meaning take my picture. I got so many great pictures of school children that afternoon. Akirash also helped both Andrea dn I be more bold - so we both were asking all the locals if we could take their pictures - most of them were happy to have their picture taken, others not so fond. But I did get some really good ones of people around the town. I wish I remembered the name of the town - but its been so long that I forgot. I really need to update for frequently. I think it started with an M... maybe something along the lines of Mamaba?
Well after leaving the village and getting so many great pictures of the local people and of course of Akirash, since that was my assignment in the first place, we went back to Askirash's house where we hung out for a while. Akirash made Andrea and me these delicious beans with some ground up white stuff on top - I'm not exactly sure what it was - something he bought in the market, but it was so delicious. We watched some Godzilla movie... interesting. I think Matthew Broderick was in it. This movie was so bad though, I can't believe he'd be in it, but we're pretty sure it was him. The DVD that it was on was one of the bootleg copies that you can buy on the streets here with like twelve other movies on it. I think the other movies were like "Tyranasaurus Rex" and "Aragon"... all my favorites, of course.
After eating and watching Godzilla, we went to the Alliance Francaise to dance and listen to live music there. It was so fun and the music was so good! There was also an art exhibition where one of Akirash's friends was showing some work - and the work was really good. It was mixed media and a lot of weaving different matierals together - hard to explain but brilliant.
We then spent the weekend, or some of it with Akirash. On Friday, Andrea and I went to Akirash's house to hang out, learn how to cook, and to spend the night. Our original plan was to spend the night Friday then wake up really early Saturday and go to Kokrobite, then go to Aburi gardens on Sunday. We ended up just hanging out on Friday, Andrea and I fell asleep really early.. and woke up after about 12 hours of sleep. And when we woke up Akirash had left a note for us saying that he had to go get medication for his friend in a city outside of Accra because they couldn't find any for him here. Instead of going to Kokrobite, Andrea and I went back to Chruch Cresent and I ended up spending my Valentines hanging out with a lot of people from the program and then going out to a very nice Italian dinner with a bunch of girls. Sunday, when Akirash was back from picking up the medication, he took Andrea and I to Aburi Botanical Gardens which is about an hour outside of Accra.
Something important about the weekend: Bathroom talk. Peeing sucked at the house because we had to pee over a hard surface squatting where you inevitably get pee all over your feet - while getting a wonderful hamstring workout. But I seriously had the LONGEST PEE EVER. It wouldn't end!! My legs were shaking and I was sweating like crazy just trying to hold myself up so i wouldn't fall in my pee haha. Ugh! Then pooing was an adventure too. We had to go to an outhouse type thing. There was an actual toilet, but no running water. We had to fill up a bucket before we went to the bathroom in order to flush the toilet. This was fun when I had to go at like 5 am haha. Basically I am so thankful for toilets in close proximity to my bed and just in general in America, but toilets are hard to come by here in Ghana.
Aburi and the surrounding city were so beautiful. The drive there was gorgeous - it was up a hill so we saw so much of the city from a higher altitude. When we first got off our tro tro, we got to a wood carving village. There were so many great masks, statues, and other wooden things - very cool. Everyone was trying to sell us stuff, but all I ended up buying was a small mask. After leaving this little market (if it could even be called that..), we walked to the Aburi Botanical Gardens. One of the most hilarious things happened as we were buying our admission to the park. So the sign said something like: Non-Ghanaians - Child: Free, Student - 1 cedi, Adult - 3 cedi. Ghanaian - Child: Free, Student - 50 pesewa, Adult: 1 cedi. So Andrea and I were like cool - 1 cedi. But apparently, student only applies to student through high school, so we were expected to pay the 3 cedi. We bargained down to 2, but still. A students a student. Whatever. So that wasn't funny, but then the lady told Akirash he had to pay, but Akirash decided he didn't want to pay. He told her that because he's there so much and because she always brings foreigners, like me and Andrea, he shouldn't have to pay and just walked in. We just laughed so hard once we got in the park because I really have never seen that happen and in the US i don't think that'd ever fly. Like I don't want to pay... soooo, yeah, I'm not going to. We joked about it with him for a while and he just laughed in his little infectious giggle, and then walked through the park. We bought pineapple from this lady in the park whose kids loved our cameras. The children really wanted to take pictures of us so we let them use our cameras and take pictures of us with their siblings and it was so fun and cute. The children were just so beautiful and full of life. After this we walked around some more than came to this tree. This was no ordinary tree. It was only the most incredible tree I've ever been to... it was hollow on the inside and had holes in it so we could climb INSIDE THE TREE. I got so many awesome pictures. I actually used one of the ones I took of Akirash for my photography project. That one got me into trouble, yet again. Geez, my photography teacher. That's all I'm going to say.
Last week, I also got some of my dresses back from Marjorie! I need to get more fabric so that I can make more stuff... but I'm started to realize that although its cheap, it adds up. I've made a couple tank top, a skirt, and two dresses. But i'm in love with all of them!
We watched Hotel Rwanda too. I forgot how good and moving it was. It was so sad too. I cried. But I'm very happy that I watched it again.
Then last weekend was my Ghanaian homestay. This is a whole post in itself. AH... I really should update more often, this is stressing me out. Maybe I'll post this, then write about my homestay, and then I'll write another one about this most incredible movie that we watched tonight for my recitation. I would highly recommend Traces of the Trade. It was just so phenomenal. But I seriously just think everyone should watch it.
This weekend, I'm going to Burkina Faso for FESPACO! 20 hours on a small Ford bus, each way. So many films to see. And a new stamp in my passport!
When we got to Akirash's house, we hung out for a bit then left to run errands at the market and in the village that is outside of his house. Andrea and I both took our cameras and we had told Akirash about how shy we both have been so far in Ghana when taking pictures because we don't want to offend anyone or make anyone think less of us for taking pictures. When we said this, Akirash giggled and told us not to worry and to just take as many pictures as we want and not to worry about what others think. Since we're only taking pictures for ourselves and not publishing them or anything its not a problem. I dont know how often this happens but he said that people get angry when someone takes their picture then it shows up in a magazine or a travel guide, etc. and they get no recognition or monetary benefit from it. But I can assure them, my pictures aren't going to be published... except to my facebook or my blog.
Walking around with Akirash was so enjoyable and such a learning experience. We had so much fun! He bought food to make for dinner, we went with him to one of his art studios so that he could pray - he's Muslim. Watching his Muslim practice was so interesting... first washing himself with a tea pot of water outside the house, then praying on his mat indoors. It was so incredible to be able to observe that part of his day and that he let us be part of it.
After he was done praying, we walked around some more, went to an internet cafe where he checked his email, and just saw a bunch of his friends. He knew so many people in the village! We visited a few of his friends - went into another Muslim house and met this very nice, interesting man and his family. He had the most beautiful daughter, and his wife was so nice and welcoming also. They also allowed us to take pictures, so I got some cool ones there.
At some point while walking around, I tripped, nearly fell flat on my face, but was able to keep myself up. The only thing I was scared about was my camera - not even my face... but thankfully, both are fine. I did stub my toe though and it was bleeding. It didn't really hurt, so I didn't think anything of it, but when Akirash saw that it was bleeding, he was very concerned and said that we had to go wash it and wrap it up so that it wouldn't get infected. We went back to his studio where he washed it off with the same tea pot that he washed himself with before praying and he wrapped my toe with a little piece of fabric. It was so considerate of him to do it and he was so, so nice and caring.
After that, we walked around even more. All the school children were just getting out of class. They were all so excited to see us "obrunis" and everywhere we walked we'd hear "obruni, obruni!" And "snap us!" - meaning take my picture. I got so many great pictures of school children that afternoon. Akirash also helped both Andrea dn I be more bold - so we both were asking all the locals if we could take their pictures - most of them were happy to have their picture taken, others not so fond. But I did get some really good ones of people around the town. I wish I remembered the name of the town - but its been so long that I forgot. I really need to update for frequently. I think it started with an M... maybe something along the lines of Mamaba?
Well after leaving the village and getting so many great pictures of the local people and of course of Akirash, since that was my assignment in the first place, we went back to Askirash's house where we hung out for a while. Akirash made Andrea and me these delicious beans with some ground up white stuff on top - I'm not exactly sure what it was - something he bought in the market, but it was so delicious. We watched some Godzilla movie... interesting. I think Matthew Broderick was in it. This movie was so bad though, I can't believe he'd be in it, but we're pretty sure it was him. The DVD that it was on was one of the bootleg copies that you can buy on the streets here with like twelve other movies on it. I think the other movies were like "Tyranasaurus Rex" and "Aragon"... all my favorites, of course.
After eating and watching Godzilla, we went to the Alliance Francaise to dance and listen to live music there. It was so fun and the music was so good! There was also an art exhibition where one of Akirash's friends was showing some work - and the work was really good. It was mixed media and a lot of weaving different matierals together - hard to explain but brilliant.
We then spent the weekend, or some of it with Akirash. On Friday, Andrea and I went to Akirash's house to hang out, learn how to cook, and to spend the night. Our original plan was to spend the night Friday then wake up really early Saturday and go to Kokrobite, then go to Aburi gardens on Sunday. We ended up just hanging out on Friday, Andrea and I fell asleep really early.. and woke up after about 12 hours of sleep. And when we woke up Akirash had left a note for us saying that he had to go get medication for his friend in a city outside of Accra because they couldn't find any for him here. Instead of going to Kokrobite, Andrea and I went back to Chruch Cresent and I ended up spending my Valentines hanging out with a lot of people from the program and then going out to a very nice Italian dinner with a bunch of girls. Sunday, when Akirash was back from picking up the medication, he took Andrea and I to Aburi Botanical Gardens which is about an hour outside of Accra.
Something important about the weekend: Bathroom talk. Peeing sucked at the house because we had to pee over a hard surface squatting where you inevitably get pee all over your feet - while getting a wonderful hamstring workout. But I seriously had the LONGEST PEE EVER. It wouldn't end!! My legs were shaking and I was sweating like crazy just trying to hold myself up so i wouldn't fall in my pee haha. Ugh! Then pooing was an adventure too. We had to go to an outhouse type thing. There was an actual toilet, but no running water. We had to fill up a bucket before we went to the bathroom in order to flush the toilet. This was fun when I had to go at like 5 am haha. Basically I am so thankful for toilets in close proximity to my bed and just in general in America, but toilets are hard to come by here in Ghana.
Aburi and the surrounding city were so beautiful. The drive there was gorgeous - it was up a hill so we saw so much of the city from a higher altitude. When we first got off our tro tro, we got to a wood carving village. There were so many great masks, statues, and other wooden things - very cool. Everyone was trying to sell us stuff, but all I ended up buying was a small mask. After leaving this little market (if it could even be called that..), we walked to the Aburi Botanical Gardens. One of the most hilarious things happened as we were buying our admission to the park. So the sign said something like: Non-Ghanaians - Child: Free, Student - 1 cedi, Adult - 3 cedi. Ghanaian - Child: Free, Student - 50 pesewa, Adult: 1 cedi. So Andrea and I were like cool - 1 cedi. But apparently, student only applies to student through high school, so we were expected to pay the 3 cedi. We bargained down to 2, but still. A students a student. Whatever. So that wasn't funny, but then the lady told Akirash he had to pay, but Akirash decided he didn't want to pay. He told her that because he's there so much and because she always brings foreigners, like me and Andrea, he shouldn't have to pay and just walked in. We just laughed so hard once we got in the park because I really have never seen that happen and in the US i don't think that'd ever fly. Like I don't want to pay... soooo, yeah, I'm not going to. We joked about it with him for a while and he just laughed in his little infectious giggle, and then walked through the park. We bought pineapple from this lady in the park whose kids loved our cameras. The children really wanted to take pictures of us so we let them use our cameras and take pictures of us with their siblings and it was so fun and cute. The children were just so beautiful and full of life. After this we walked around some more than came to this tree. This was no ordinary tree. It was only the most incredible tree I've ever been to... it was hollow on the inside and had holes in it so we could climb INSIDE THE TREE. I got so many awesome pictures. I actually used one of the ones I took of Akirash for my photography project. That one got me into trouble, yet again. Geez, my photography teacher. That's all I'm going to say.
Last week, I also got some of my dresses back from Marjorie! I need to get more fabric so that I can make more stuff... but I'm started to realize that although its cheap, it adds up. I've made a couple tank top, a skirt, and two dresses. But i'm in love with all of them!
We watched Hotel Rwanda too. I forgot how good and moving it was. It was so sad too. I cried. But I'm very happy that I watched it again.
Then last weekend was my Ghanaian homestay. This is a whole post in itself. AH... I really should update more often, this is stressing me out. Maybe I'll post this, then write about my homestay, and then I'll write another one about this most incredible movie that we watched tonight for my recitation. I would highly recommend Traces of the Trade. It was just so phenomenal. But I seriously just think everyone should watch it.
This weekend, I'm going to Burkina Faso for FESPACO! 20 hours on a small Ford bus, each way. So many films to see. And a new stamp in my passport!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
a thousand words
Taking pictures here is actually really hard. I get really shy behind the camera here just because locals sometimes get either angry, embarrassed, or too camera-happy when I have my camera with me. I try to take as many pictures as possible here, but most of my pictures are from our excursions or weekend trips where we are in touristy areas because it is expected that people take pictures. Day to day life here people don't really appreciate having their pictures taken. In addition, we've been told that some feel like we are trying to exploit the under-development of the country, when really I appreciate every aspect of Ghana, even the less developed parts. So yeah, not as many pictures as I would like... but I do have some:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110264&l=c9583&id=10808707
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110752&l=06eaf&id=10808707
To make the pictures bigger, click on them..
So formatting photos on blogspot is probably one of the most frustrating things ever, so these are the places I went in order of the photos - Kakum Canopy Walk (at top), Elmina Castle, learning how to batik, then the beach outside our hotel):
Monday, February 9, 2009
jesus cares snack spot
So I’m writing this with no internet and I have to be up in five hours for Cape Coast. Really no rhyme or reason for me to write this right now, except that I want to. I probably won’t be able to post this until I’m back from Cape Coast either (if the internet is even working)… Well I’ll do a day by day since I’ve been slacking, and that’s easy.
Thursday: Popular African Music class – such a wonderful professor and we get to listen to really cool African music. I wish I could download all of it, but I don’t this much of it will be on iTunes =(. Then Marlee, Marika, Caroline, Leah, and I went to Makola market to buy more fabric. Took the “Craaa Craaa” tro tro, which is to “Accra Central,” of course. This was quite the experience. To get to the fabrics, you have to go through literally every other thing in the market, including my least favorite – fish. I was leading the way through the market and lead us down a path that was literally yucky fish smell for what seemed like FOREVER. But we were on a mission. Fabric. Finally, after seeing salted fish, fruits, veggies, shoes, pots and pans, and I’m pretty sure I saw some dead bats, we got to the fabric! There are a trillion fabric vendors. - each one having a huge variety of different fabrics. Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’s so hard to pick one that you want because they’re all so unique and beautiful. Every lady at each booth picks a random fabric and tells you that it’d look nice on you and that you should buy it. It gets a little overwhelming and basically you just have to find the best fabric at the cheapest price or tell them that you’re not interested. Marika and I ended up buying one fabric a shared it and now I’m getting a tank top made out of it, yay!
Friday: Back to Makola market! This time I bought a couple batik fabrics and one other. I’m getting a long dress made out of one of them. But, I’m not too sure what I’m going to make with the other two, but I’m sure I’ll be inspired soon enough. The tro tro ride to and from from Makola were most literally the hottest car rides I’ve ever experienced. We managed to get the same tro tro both ways. Terrible ventilation, way too many people crammed in, and the engine was making the framing of the car so so hot. Friday night was the Social Mixer with Ghanaian students from both University of Ghana and Ashesi. It was a lot more fun and a lot less awkward than I thought it would be! Everyone was so friendly and I’m looking forward to making more Ghanaian friends in my Abnormal Psychology class at UG.
Saturday: Winneba!! How I love thee. The bus ride to Winneba was very easy. However getting on the bus, not so easy. The people at Kaneshie market were not so helpful this time around, like they were for Kokrobite. They lead us astray a few times, but finally we got in line for the 90 pesewa ride to Winneba. The bus ride was fun, we played lots of games, like name every country we can of every letter in the alphabet, then GHOST which I don’t feel like explaining, and um.. a little black magic, Marlee and I are psychic. When we got to Winneba, we checked in to our ‘hotel’ (similar to a dorm setting – no real windows, just slats; bathroom down the hall; communal showers; two twin beds). Then off to the beach. Awww… how wonderful. We were the only people on the beach, except a few Ghanaians who hung out with us and some others who were selling food. This beach was breathtaking. There were millions of shells on the beach and palm trees growing from the sand. Marika and I spent no less than three hours in the water just enjoying the waves. Then we played with these gorgeous children on the beach who were just so cute and they taught us some traditional African dance. A few others opted to sleep on the beach – resulting in serious burning, e.g. Marlee. That night, we laid on the beach for a couple of hours just listening to the ocean and looked at the stars because there is absolutely no air pollution. I think we saw very star in the night sky. I saw a shooting star too! On our way back in our breaking down tro tro, a yellow Lambourghini sped by us. It was disgusting. Seriously? Do you need that in Ghana? Do you need that in America? What a waste of money! You could feed propably the entire impovershed population in Ghana with that car. Rude. …I’ll pick up after we’re back from Cape Coast. I’m sleepy. Goodnight!
Monday: Funday! Not. Just had Abnormal psychology. Our first one. At first when the professor started talking, Leah, Andrea, and I looked at each other like, “Eff, there is no way we’re going to understand this man, especially learning about ‘abnormal’ psychology” because of the professor’s Ghanaian accent, but then as he started lecturing more, we caught on.
Tuesday: Marlee, Caroline and I went for Terrific Tuesday at Pizza Inn and got four large pizzas for 22 cedi. Completely worth it, in fact, we’re going back again tomorrow! Peri-peri chicken is my favorite – and this week I want to see if they can do a peri-peri chicken with PINEAPPLE! After Pizza Inn, I went to my interview at the Autism Awareness, Care, and Training center where Jasmyn and I got a tour of where we are going to be volunteering and met some of the other volunteers. Emily, a girl from Canada who has been volunteering there for about a month, is so nice and very helpful! She texted us directions on how to get to and from our neighborhood to AACT by tro tro… we ended up getting lost this week anyway, but oh well! Later that day, with my documenting class, we went to Jamestown – this very poor part of Accra. Jamestown used to be the main hustle-bustle part of Accra. Then unfortunately there was a huge earthquake and not so nice anymore. It was so wonderful. Yet so so destitute. We had these big video cameras and all the children were in awe and wanted to be videotaped. We walked by women making kenke, a traditional food here and it as so great to see the rhythm that they had while making the food and the joy they took in making it. The beach was so busy and beautiful. There was a fishing village on the beach and so many people were bustling around and doing their fishing business. It's so bizarre how gorgeous these beaches are but it’s where all the poorest people live. In the US these beaches would be lined with multi-million dollar mansions, but here these beaches are occupied by the poorest of the poor, just making a living by fishing. Its really unfortunate too because some of these beaches have so much trash on them... the waste management here is close to non-existent, and most people just burn their waste on the side of the road (all throughout Accra, not just Jamestown). So many people in Jamestown were playing football (not American) just in open courtyards, and they were all so good, like professional good. We also saw people boxing, which was really cool too. Hmm... it was just so much to take in. All the architecture was great. I really wish I had my camera camera with me so I could take pictures. Hopefully I'll go back soon though.
Wednesday: Photo class and then nothing.
Thursday: Woke up early and made the most delicious French toast with Marlee. Debby’s, one of the CRAs, mom makes the most delicious bread. We buy it in bulk. I’ve never been a bread eater (maybe that’s because I thought I was gluten intolerant for so long) but I seriously eat so much of Debby’s mom’s bread here. She sells each loaf for 2 cedi and my house went through like ten loaves of bread in like a week. Its so hard NOT TO EAT! So if I’m a trillion pounds when I get back from Africa, please excuse me, the bread is quite wonderful here. Went to Champs for Trivia Night and did pretty well. We got there a round late, so we only got 9th place, but next week we’re going to DOMINATE! Outside of Champs, we talked to a couple kids who are here strictly for volunteering. It was very eye-opening to hear about their experiences since they've been in Ghana and how they drastically differ from ours. I kepk thinking about how spoiled we are with our air conditioning and how we get angry when the internet isn't working, while they're in small villages helping families out and paying out of pocket for the villages chicken pox vaccination becuas the villagers couldn't afford it. They said that these people live on less than 50 pesewa a day - that's less than 50 American cents A DAY! I had to remind myself, well Marlee reminded me, that our stay here is no less significant, but just significant in a different way because we are here for our university education.. while they are here specifically to volunteer. I'm happy I got to talk with them because it sounds like something I'd be very interested in doing sometime in the future. ...now I'm going to sound completely vain and materialistic...
Friday: To sugar or to thread. That is the question. Nafisa came in today. Nafisa is the most wonderful blessing to Church Cresent since Marjorie, our dress maker. Nafisa came to our residence hall to sugar and thread (two different forms of hair removal) basically every girl in Church. She couldn't have come at a better time, since we were off to Cape Coast the next day! There were about ten of us who got these services all in the living room, mind you - leg sugaring, arm pit sugaring, bikini sugaring, eye brow threading, mustache removal/threading, and that's it. We all shed a few tears, and have now vowed, no shave February so we can all get our legs and armpits sugared in a couple of weeks. When in Africa.... That night, I videochatted with Erin and Allie!! Well minus the video. We conferenced called. So lovely to talk with my roomies =).
Up at 6am Saturday. Bus trip to Cape Coast/Elimina where we did a ton of stuff. Right when we got in, we had brunch on the beach, it was so glorious. We had a bunch of good breakfast foods like omelettes, croissants, cereal, looooots of pineapple, orange juice, and a great chocolate drink here called Milo, yum. After we ate, a bunch of us went on the beach and just played around on the rocks and in the water. It was just so beautiful. So that was the start of our day, next we were off to Elmina Castle (St. George's Castle back then) where thousands of slaves where held throughout history. It was so terribly hot that when we were listening to the tour guide, Emma fainted. It was so crazy because her water bottle dropped then she dropped, but thankfully Tanisha was there to hold her up. It was so bizarre to see someone faint. Needless to say, after that, they made sure we were drinking plenty of water and staying in the shade and sitting whenever we felt too hot. The tour through the castle was so sad. We were told the history of the actual castle - it was built by the Portuguese, but then taken over by the Dutch who maintained the slave trading, then the British who stopped the slave trading then gave Ghana its independence in 1957, when the castle was for the first time Ghana's. First we went to the women's quarters where we saw where hundreds of women were kept in very small quarters with no where to use the restroom, no where to sleep, and no where essentially to move. These women were forced to be in this room all day and all night where they would urinate, poop, menstruate, and vomit. They had to sleep in it and walk in it and just wait. They would wait until they were called to get on the slave boat to Europe or America. They were also sometimes forced by the governor to sleep with him. Some became his mistresses if they became pregnant, but otherwise they'd just be thrown back in the castle. Next we went to the mens' quarters which were very similar, but no forceful sex. Lastly, we went to the top of the castle where the views of the beach were absolutely incredible and the rooms were so nice. This is where the governor and his family lived their life in deliberate obliviousness to what was going on just floors below them. It was all so sad. Just thinking about where we were and how people had been tortured, raped, and killed on the very same floors that we were walking on was very eerie and disturbing. I just can't even imagine how people were able to treat other human beings the way they did. Our tour guide emphasized the importance of education about this in order to ensure that it never happened again in history. As we were leaving, some guy told Christa Sanders, the assistant director of our program, that he thought I was ‘nice’ (everyone is ‘nice’ here) and man did Christa show him – “You know what! She is her own woman…” then I got in the bus and let Christa take care of him.. what a character!
Next, we were off to Kakum National Park where we did a canopy walk! It was so incredible and so fun. I know I say this a lot, but I really don't think I've ever sweat SOOOO much in my life. We've estimated that we each probably sweat about a gallon of sweat. But for some reason, our pictures don't actually look too bad - we just look so shiny! Kind of like Edward in Twilight (for you Twilight fans =)). We were about 130 feet in the sky and walked over huge expanses of rainforest. It was quite unreal and so fun. I love heights and thrill like that.. and even people who were scared of heights went! Yahoo. After this sweat fest, we went back to the hotel/beach resort (very un-study abroad like) and went swimming in the pool and walked along the beach. For dinner, we had a buffet on the beach then there was birthday cake for all the February birthdays and then a bonfire on the beach. Very camp like – lots of games like “down by the banks” and “freeze tag” haha. No scary stories though =(. Sunday, we BATIKed!!! This was so so fun. I’m not really about to try to describe this so I’ll let wiki do it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik. I also took a bunch of pictures. Our fabrics came our beautifully and I’m so happy that we got to opportunity to do this activity. For one last time, Andrea, Gaby, Monica, and I went in the ocean and then in the pool. So refreshing.
Today, Jasmyn, Marta, and I went to our first day at AACT. It was so fun and such a learning experience. I can already tell I’m going to need a lot of patience and love to do well with the children and help them like I would like to.
In other news, Marlee, Caroline, and I have solidified our Spring Break plans. Cape Town, South Africa for 4 days, then Windhoek, Namibia for 4 days. Ah! I'm so excited.
Welp, that’s all folks.
Love peace love
Thursday: Popular African Music class – such a wonderful professor and we get to listen to really cool African music. I wish I could download all of it, but I don’t this much of it will be on iTunes =(. Then Marlee, Marika, Caroline, Leah, and I went to Makola market to buy more fabric. Took the “Craaa Craaa” tro tro, which is to “Accra Central,” of course. This was quite the experience. To get to the fabrics, you have to go through literally every other thing in the market, including my least favorite – fish. I was leading the way through the market and lead us down a path that was literally yucky fish smell for what seemed like FOREVER. But we were on a mission. Fabric. Finally, after seeing salted fish, fruits, veggies, shoes, pots and pans, and I’m pretty sure I saw some dead bats, we got to the fabric! There are a trillion fabric vendors. - each one having a huge variety of different fabrics. Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’s so hard to pick one that you want because they’re all so unique and beautiful. Every lady at each booth picks a random fabric and tells you that it’d look nice on you and that you should buy it. It gets a little overwhelming and basically you just have to find the best fabric at the cheapest price or tell them that you’re not interested. Marika and I ended up buying one fabric a shared it and now I’m getting a tank top made out of it, yay!
Friday: Back to Makola market! This time I bought a couple batik fabrics and one other. I’m getting a long dress made out of one of them. But, I’m not too sure what I’m going to make with the other two, but I’m sure I’ll be inspired soon enough. The tro tro ride to and from from Makola were most literally the hottest car rides I’ve ever experienced. We managed to get the same tro tro both ways. Terrible ventilation, way too many people crammed in, and the engine was making the framing of the car so so hot. Friday night was the Social Mixer with Ghanaian students from both University of Ghana and Ashesi. It was a lot more fun and a lot less awkward than I thought it would be! Everyone was so friendly and I’m looking forward to making more Ghanaian friends in my Abnormal Psychology class at UG.
Saturday: Winneba!! How I love thee. The bus ride to Winneba was very easy. However getting on the bus, not so easy. The people at Kaneshie market were not so helpful this time around, like they were for Kokrobite. They lead us astray a few times, but finally we got in line for the 90 pesewa ride to Winneba. The bus ride was fun, we played lots of games, like name every country we can of every letter in the alphabet, then GHOST which I don’t feel like explaining, and um.. a little black magic, Marlee and I are psychic. When we got to Winneba, we checked in to our ‘hotel’ (similar to a dorm setting – no real windows, just slats; bathroom down the hall; communal showers; two twin beds). Then off to the beach. Awww… how wonderful. We were the only people on the beach, except a few Ghanaians who hung out with us and some others who were selling food. This beach was breathtaking. There were millions of shells on the beach and palm trees growing from the sand. Marika and I spent no less than three hours in the water just enjoying the waves. Then we played with these gorgeous children on the beach who were just so cute and they taught us some traditional African dance. A few others opted to sleep on the beach – resulting in serious burning, e.g. Marlee. That night, we laid on the beach for a couple of hours just listening to the ocean and looked at the stars because there is absolutely no air pollution. I think we saw very star in the night sky. I saw a shooting star too! On our way back in our breaking down tro tro, a yellow Lambourghini sped by us. It was disgusting. Seriously? Do you need that in Ghana? Do you need that in America? What a waste of money! You could feed propably the entire impovershed population in Ghana with that car. Rude. …I’ll pick up after we’re back from Cape Coast. I’m sleepy. Goodnight!
Monday: Funday! Not. Just had Abnormal psychology. Our first one. At first when the professor started talking, Leah, Andrea, and I looked at each other like, “Eff, there is no way we’re going to understand this man, especially learning about ‘abnormal’ psychology” because of the professor’s Ghanaian accent, but then as he started lecturing more, we caught on.
Tuesday: Marlee, Caroline and I went for Terrific Tuesday at Pizza Inn and got four large pizzas for 22 cedi. Completely worth it, in fact, we’re going back again tomorrow! Peri-peri chicken is my favorite – and this week I want to see if they can do a peri-peri chicken with PINEAPPLE! After Pizza Inn, I went to my interview at the Autism Awareness, Care, and Training center where Jasmyn and I got a tour of where we are going to be volunteering and met some of the other volunteers. Emily, a girl from Canada who has been volunteering there for about a month, is so nice and very helpful! She texted us directions on how to get to and from our neighborhood to AACT by tro tro… we ended up getting lost this week anyway, but oh well! Later that day, with my documenting class, we went to Jamestown – this very poor part of Accra. Jamestown used to be the main hustle-bustle part of Accra. Then unfortunately there was a huge earthquake and not so nice anymore. It was so wonderful. Yet so so destitute. We had these big video cameras and all the children were in awe and wanted to be videotaped. We walked by women making kenke, a traditional food here and it as so great to see the rhythm that they had while making the food and the joy they took in making it. The beach was so busy and beautiful. There was a fishing village on the beach and so many people were bustling around and doing their fishing business. It's so bizarre how gorgeous these beaches are but it’s where all the poorest people live. In the US these beaches would be lined with multi-million dollar mansions, but here these beaches are occupied by the poorest of the poor, just making a living by fishing. Its really unfortunate too because some of these beaches have so much trash on them... the waste management here is close to non-existent, and most people just burn their waste on the side of the road (all throughout Accra, not just Jamestown). So many people in Jamestown were playing football (not American) just in open courtyards, and they were all so good, like professional good. We also saw people boxing, which was really cool too. Hmm... it was just so much to take in. All the architecture was great. I really wish I had my camera camera with me so I could take pictures. Hopefully I'll go back soon though.
Wednesday: Photo class and then nothing.
Thursday: Woke up early and made the most delicious French toast with Marlee. Debby’s, one of the CRAs, mom makes the most delicious bread. We buy it in bulk. I’ve never been a bread eater (maybe that’s because I thought I was gluten intolerant for so long) but I seriously eat so much of Debby’s mom’s bread here. She sells each loaf for 2 cedi and my house went through like ten loaves of bread in like a week. Its so hard NOT TO EAT! So if I’m a trillion pounds when I get back from Africa, please excuse me, the bread is quite wonderful here. Went to Champs for Trivia Night and did pretty well. We got there a round late, so we only got 9th place, but next week we’re going to DOMINATE! Outside of Champs, we talked to a couple kids who are here strictly for volunteering. It was very eye-opening to hear about their experiences since they've been in Ghana and how they drastically differ from ours. I kepk thinking about how spoiled we are with our air conditioning and how we get angry when the internet isn't working, while they're in small villages helping families out and paying out of pocket for the villages chicken pox vaccination becuas the villagers couldn't afford it. They said that these people live on less than 50 pesewa a day - that's less than 50 American cents A DAY! I had to remind myself, well Marlee reminded me, that our stay here is no less significant, but just significant in a different way because we are here for our university education.. while they are here specifically to volunteer. I'm happy I got to talk with them because it sounds like something I'd be very interested in doing sometime in the future. ...now I'm going to sound completely vain and materialistic...
Friday: To sugar or to thread. That is the question. Nafisa came in today. Nafisa is the most wonderful blessing to Church Cresent since Marjorie, our dress maker. Nafisa came to our residence hall to sugar and thread (two different forms of hair removal) basically every girl in Church. She couldn't have come at a better time, since we were off to Cape Coast the next day! There were about ten of us who got these services all in the living room, mind you - leg sugaring, arm pit sugaring, bikini sugaring, eye brow threading, mustache removal/threading, and that's it. We all shed a few tears, and have now vowed, no shave February so we can all get our legs and armpits sugared in a couple of weeks. When in Africa.... That night, I videochatted with Erin and Allie!! Well minus the video. We conferenced called. So lovely to talk with my roomies =).
Up at 6am Saturday. Bus trip to Cape Coast/Elimina where we did a ton of stuff. Right when we got in, we had brunch on the beach, it was so glorious. We had a bunch of good breakfast foods like omelettes, croissants, cereal, looooots of pineapple, orange juice, and a great chocolate drink here called Milo, yum. After we ate, a bunch of us went on the beach and just played around on the rocks and in the water. It was just so beautiful. So that was the start of our day, next we were off to Elmina Castle (St. George's Castle back then) where thousands of slaves where held throughout history. It was so terribly hot that when we were listening to the tour guide, Emma fainted. It was so crazy because her water bottle dropped then she dropped, but thankfully Tanisha was there to hold her up. It was so bizarre to see someone faint. Needless to say, after that, they made sure we were drinking plenty of water and staying in the shade and sitting whenever we felt too hot. The tour through the castle was so sad. We were told the history of the actual castle - it was built by the Portuguese, but then taken over by the Dutch who maintained the slave trading, then the British who stopped the slave trading then gave Ghana its independence in 1957, when the castle was for the first time Ghana's. First we went to the women's quarters where we saw where hundreds of women were kept in very small quarters with no where to use the restroom, no where to sleep, and no where essentially to move. These women were forced to be in this room all day and all night where they would urinate, poop, menstruate, and vomit. They had to sleep in it and walk in it and just wait. They would wait until they were called to get on the slave boat to Europe or America. They were also sometimes forced by the governor to sleep with him. Some became his mistresses if they became pregnant, but otherwise they'd just be thrown back in the castle. Next we went to the mens' quarters which were very similar, but no forceful sex. Lastly, we went to the top of the castle where the views of the beach were absolutely incredible and the rooms were so nice. This is where the governor and his family lived their life in deliberate obliviousness to what was going on just floors below them. It was all so sad. Just thinking about where we were and how people had been tortured, raped, and killed on the very same floors that we were walking on was very eerie and disturbing. I just can't even imagine how people were able to treat other human beings the way they did. Our tour guide emphasized the importance of education about this in order to ensure that it never happened again in history. As we were leaving, some guy told Christa Sanders, the assistant director of our program, that he thought I was ‘nice’ (everyone is ‘nice’ here) and man did Christa show him – “You know what! She is her own woman…” then I got in the bus and let Christa take care of him.. what a character!
Next, we were off to Kakum National Park where we did a canopy walk! It was so incredible and so fun. I know I say this a lot, but I really don't think I've ever sweat SOOOO much in my life. We've estimated that we each probably sweat about a gallon of sweat. But for some reason, our pictures don't actually look too bad - we just look so shiny! Kind of like Edward in Twilight (for you Twilight fans =)). We were about 130 feet in the sky and walked over huge expanses of rainforest. It was quite unreal and so fun. I love heights and thrill like that.. and even people who were scared of heights went! Yahoo. After this sweat fest, we went back to the hotel/beach resort (very un-study abroad like) and went swimming in the pool and walked along the beach. For dinner, we had a buffet on the beach then there was birthday cake for all the February birthdays and then a bonfire on the beach. Very camp like – lots of games like “down by the banks” and “freeze tag” haha. No scary stories though =(. Sunday, we BATIKed!!! This was so so fun. I’m not really about to try to describe this so I’ll let wiki do it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik. I also took a bunch of pictures. Our fabrics came our beautifully and I’m so happy that we got to opportunity to do this activity. For one last time, Andrea, Gaby, Monica, and I went in the ocean and then in the pool. So refreshing.
Today, Jasmyn, Marta, and I went to our first day at AACT. It was so fun and such a learning experience. I can already tell I’m going to need a lot of patience and love to do well with the children and help them like I would like to.
In other news, Marlee, Caroline, and I have solidified our Spring Break plans. Cape Town, South Africa for 4 days, then Windhoek, Namibia for 4 days. Ah! I'm so excited.
Welp, that’s all folks.
Love peace love
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
tro tro tro
So last I left off saying that we were going to get a tent on the beach. Well half of that happened. We went to the beach, but no tent. It was so fun! Seven of us - Leah, Marlee, Caroline, Marika, Jake, Catja, and me - impromptu-ly decided to go to Kokrobite (ko-kro-bee-tay) for the night and enjoy the beach. We all packed up our very touristy backpacks and went on our way. To get to Kokrobite, we had to take a taxi to Kaneshie Market and from there we got on a trusty tro-tro. Getting everyone to the tro tro was quite a trip - Ghanaians aren't really known for good direction giving, and well we experienced that. People were pointing us in every direction to get to the Kokrobite tro tro, and somehow we found it! Oh tro tro, how I love thee. How to describe a tro tro? A tro tro is a sort of public transportion and is extremely cheap (55 pesewas to Kokrobite, about 45 minutes away). Cheap for many reasons. The cars are relatively broken down, no air conditioning, fit about 20 people in them, and well... pretty unsafe. But reliable? Yes. While waiting for the tro tro to take off, all of us purchased FAN ICE from the vendors outside the tro tro!!! Best thing of my life. Fan ice. Fan Ice is packaged ice cream in a little plastic bag where you bite off the corner and enjoy the deliciousness inside. Its only 40 pesewas. There are three flavors - Vanilla, Choco-Ice, and Yogo-Ice Strawberry. All very good - Choco-Ice is my favorite its like frozen chocolate milk. Mmm.. just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I've had about 8 Fan Ices since that tro-tro ride. Its becoming a bit of a problem haha. But it's the best especially when its soooo hot.
Okay, enough Fan Ice. Back to Kokrobite. The ride to Kokrobite was very interesting. We drove through some extrememly poor villages and by some very wealthy places. The disparity between the two is so ridiculous. The villages we drove through were cute and everyone just seemed so content in their little huts. The wealthy places were like mansions from Scottsdale. When we got off the tro tro at the last stop, I guess we looked pretty clueless and very WHITE because all of the villagers knew exactly where we were going and pointed us directly to the little hotel - Big Milly's Backyard.
Marlee and Marika checked us in and got us the last room vacant for the night. A one bedroom - two twin beds, one double bed. All the beds had mosquito nets and we felt like princesses under them haha. The bathroom was quite nice until later in the night I found my LEAST FAVORITE CREATURE - a cockroach. Just lingering behind the toilet. I recruited Catja and Jake to kill it, because I just couldn't.
Off to the beach! We walk out of the hotel onto the beautiful sandy beaches where a bunch of fishing boats are on shore waiting to go off shore to fish. There were also many vendors and African children running around. We played in the warm, warm water then went to lay on the beach. A bunch of chidren came to sell us stuff and play with us. A few of the girls were obsessed with our hair so they braided it and oh man, they need to learn how to not pull so hard. They were so cute though... I couldn't resist!
For dinner, we ate at the hotel and got free reggae night entry with our meal purchase. Pros and cons with this reggae night. Dancing all night long = pro. Having your room ten feet away from speakers = con. This music went until what seemed like ALL NIGHT LONG! The music was still on when my alarm went off at 5:30 am (reggae music still playing) for our trip to the monkey sanctuary! Anyone want to go see some monkeys? Silence. Please, don't all raise your hands at once. Well... we went back to sleep, no monkeys this trip. Back to sleep until we got up for the beach.
At the beach, we were again surrounded by children... fun for a while until they started begging us for money. We all felt really bad, but what could we do? We supported them by buying their bread for breakfast and played with them (which I think is much more valuable than a few pesewas). It makes me so sad... but we can't give money to everyone who asks for it. After this we tro tro-ed home. I spent a grand total of 16 cedi on transportion, food, and room for the whole weekend out! Yay.
That night, we went for Chinese food at Tip Top. Obruni, obruni. This labelling as a foreigner in Ghana can be very good and very bad. When we got to the restaurant, we sat down and started looking at the menus. We had been told that this place was "very cheap with big portions". Not so cheap after looking at the menu. There were about nine of us and we started talking. We had heard before that some restaurants give "Obruni" menus - i.e. foreigner/white people menus where the food is more expensive. So when we were ordering, we asked the waiter, and he pretty much told us that these were indeed obruni menus... but didn't do anything about it. Which sucks. It sucks being discriminated against, but I guess that's what they're told to do. The food nonetheless was delicious and I'd go back for some lo mein and sweet and sour chicken.
This week was our second week of classes, my first being on Monday afternoon at University of Ghana, Legon. Leah, Andrea, and I got to class on time. This classroom was huge! It was a lecture hall and I swear there were about 300 people in there. It was incredible. Everyone is talking, they're handing out some handouts... and everyone is waiting, waiting. About twenty minutes later, someone comes to the front of the class and announces that the professor who is supposed to teach the class didn't know that he was in fact the professor at all, so class was cancelled until next week. So... yeah. Still haven't had my psychology class. Tuesday, I decided to drop Reporting Africa, the journalism class because I felt really unprepared because it was pretty advanced. So instead I'm joining Documenting the African city, a documentary making class, where the whole class is beginners and we're going to make a 10-15 minute documentary! So I'll be a film maker once I leave Ghana. Plus my teacher is a doll, I love her. Then today I had my photo class with my very rude professor. Today we had our first critique on our portrait project and Marlee and me (haha yes funny) got reamed by our (excuse my language) bitch teacher. Ah, I know this is only the second week of class with him, but I think it's going to be a long semester. Tomorrow I start Popular African Music... I'm dropping Studio Art because its with the same professor as Photography. Lame. Oh, and I have Fridays off now! Wonderful!
Okay, so I mentioned that I'm in the Documenting class. Last night, we watched the four documentaries from last semester and they were so inspirational and so well done! I hope that my work comes out to be as moving! One of the films called At Post was about the 24 hour security guards that we have on staff at our two residence halls and at our academic center. It really showed another side of them and made me appreciate them and the work they do for us so much more. The film showed interviews with the guards about everything from their families to their working conditions and hobbies. Later on in the movie when showing the wages of many of the different jobs around Accra, i.e. phone card seller, fruit stand worker, clothes maker, etc. It showed the security guard wage to be $0.29/hour (80 cedi a month)! This was the least paid job of all of the mentioned ones in the film. This was so sad to listen to because they really do so much for us and work VERY long shifts - usually 12 hour shifts, but if someone doesn't come to let them go, they can go as long as 24 hours. This made us all very upset and we started to think of ways to help the security guards or make them feel more appreciated for what they do. We decided that we'd bring them home meals when we came back from dinner and two of the girls in my apartment are going to help them with English in return for help with their Twi homework. Talking with them you realize how much they want to do with their lives but how difficult it is. One wants to join the miliatary, another wants to go back to school, and another wants to get his driver's license so he can be a taxi driver. Yet, none of them have the resources to do these things with their lives. It's such a hard position to be in because we all want to help but we don't want to pitty them and at the same time at least they have a job - many people here don't even have that! It is ironic that we watched this documentary when we did because just the day before, Leah and I were on our way to UG when we were talking with Sammy, the driver, about how we, Leah and I, really haven't made in Ghanaian friends yet, when he started to tell us about how he has no friends. It was really sad and we tried to comfort him telling him that we were his friends and that if he went out he'd made friends. But he talked about how because of his job (driving us), he has no time to make friends and when he does make friends, they don't want to be his friend because he has no time to spend with them. Leah and I were just so sad and didn't really know what to say, but now we really want to show him how much he is appreciated and how we ARE his friends... so we're going to work on ways to do this! One of the other documentaries showed how Ghana has little to no middle class and therefore will never get its economy built up. Since so much is imported from the US and Europe, they have little room to build up their own economy because their own work gets put aside. Even things like their native language are "westernized" by using the Latin alphabet. These topics were so eye-opening and very informative, I'm happy we got to see the previous students' work.
Tonight, Marlee and I actually sat and talked with one of the security guards and one of his friends for a long time. It's so nice to get to know the people who do so much for you. We talked about his interests - Richard, the security guard, loves to sew and make men's clothing and loves soccer. Oti, his friend, is in school for engineering. Oti asked me what my birthmark is and when I told him it was a 'birthmark', he asked if a bunch of my relatives had the exact same thing. So, of course, I replied no, because noone else does. He went on to explain that a 'birthmark' here has the meaning of a physical trait that you have in common with a bunch of other people in your family. Like if Greer or Mom were to have the same birthmark. This was very interesting and fun to hear him talk about it!
Well... that's a lot! This weekend, we're going to Winneba - there's about 14 of us - to spend more time at the beach and maybe, if we're lucky, see SEA TURTLES!! But we'll see...
love love love
Okay, enough Fan Ice. Back to Kokrobite. The ride to Kokrobite was very interesting. We drove through some extrememly poor villages and by some very wealthy places. The disparity between the two is so ridiculous. The villages we drove through were cute and everyone just seemed so content in their little huts. The wealthy places were like mansions from Scottsdale. When we got off the tro tro at the last stop, I guess we looked pretty clueless and very WHITE because all of the villagers knew exactly where we were going and pointed us directly to the little hotel - Big Milly's Backyard.
Marlee and Marika checked us in and got us the last room vacant for the night. A one bedroom - two twin beds, one double bed. All the beds had mosquito nets and we felt like princesses under them haha. The bathroom was quite nice until later in the night I found my LEAST FAVORITE CREATURE - a cockroach. Just lingering behind the toilet. I recruited Catja and Jake to kill it, because I just couldn't.
Off to the beach! We walk out of the hotel onto the beautiful sandy beaches where a bunch of fishing boats are on shore waiting to go off shore to fish. There were also many vendors and African children running around. We played in the warm, warm water then went to lay on the beach. A bunch of chidren came to sell us stuff and play with us. A few of the girls were obsessed with our hair so they braided it and oh man, they need to learn how to not pull so hard. They were so cute though... I couldn't resist!
For dinner, we ate at the hotel and got free reggae night entry with our meal purchase. Pros and cons with this reggae night. Dancing all night long = pro. Having your room ten feet away from speakers = con. This music went until what seemed like ALL NIGHT LONG! The music was still on when my alarm went off at 5:30 am (reggae music still playing) for our trip to the monkey sanctuary! Anyone want to go see some monkeys? Silence. Please, don't all raise your hands at once. Well... we went back to sleep, no monkeys this trip. Back to sleep until we got up for the beach.
At the beach, we were again surrounded by children... fun for a while until they started begging us for money. We all felt really bad, but what could we do? We supported them by buying their bread for breakfast and played with them (which I think is much more valuable than a few pesewas). It makes me so sad... but we can't give money to everyone who asks for it. After this we tro tro-ed home. I spent a grand total of 16 cedi on transportion, food, and room for the whole weekend out! Yay.
That night, we went for Chinese food at Tip Top. Obruni, obruni. This labelling as a foreigner in Ghana can be very good and very bad. When we got to the restaurant, we sat down and started looking at the menus. We had been told that this place was "very cheap with big portions". Not so cheap after looking at the menu. There were about nine of us and we started talking. We had heard before that some restaurants give "Obruni" menus - i.e. foreigner/white people menus where the food is more expensive. So when we were ordering, we asked the waiter, and he pretty much told us that these were indeed obruni menus... but didn't do anything about it. Which sucks. It sucks being discriminated against, but I guess that's what they're told to do. The food nonetheless was delicious and I'd go back for some lo mein and sweet and sour chicken.
This week was our second week of classes, my first being on Monday afternoon at University of Ghana, Legon. Leah, Andrea, and I got to class on time. This classroom was huge! It was a lecture hall and I swear there were about 300 people in there. It was incredible. Everyone is talking, they're handing out some handouts... and everyone is waiting, waiting. About twenty minutes later, someone comes to the front of the class and announces that the professor who is supposed to teach the class didn't know that he was in fact the professor at all, so class was cancelled until next week. So... yeah. Still haven't had my psychology class. Tuesday, I decided to drop Reporting Africa, the journalism class because I felt really unprepared because it was pretty advanced. So instead I'm joining Documenting the African city, a documentary making class, where the whole class is beginners and we're going to make a 10-15 minute documentary! So I'll be a film maker once I leave Ghana. Plus my teacher is a doll, I love her. Then today I had my photo class with my very rude professor. Today we had our first critique on our portrait project and Marlee and me (haha yes funny) got reamed by our (excuse my language) bitch teacher. Ah, I know this is only the second week of class with him, but I think it's going to be a long semester. Tomorrow I start Popular African Music... I'm dropping Studio Art because its with the same professor as Photography. Lame. Oh, and I have Fridays off now! Wonderful!
Okay, so I mentioned that I'm in the Documenting class. Last night, we watched the four documentaries from last semester and they were so inspirational and so well done! I hope that my work comes out to be as moving! One of the films called At Post was about the 24 hour security guards that we have on staff at our two residence halls and at our academic center. It really showed another side of them and made me appreciate them and the work they do for us so much more. The film showed interviews with the guards about everything from their families to their working conditions and hobbies. Later on in the movie when showing the wages of many of the different jobs around Accra, i.e. phone card seller, fruit stand worker, clothes maker, etc. It showed the security guard wage to be $0.29/hour (80 cedi a month)! This was the least paid job of all of the mentioned ones in the film. This was so sad to listen to because they really do so much for us and work VERY long shifts - usually 12 hour shifts, but if someone doesn't come to let them go, they can go as long as 24 hours. This made us all very upset and we started to think of ways to help the security guards or make them feel more appreciated for what they do. We decided that we'd bring them home meals when we came back from dinner and two of the girls in my apartment are going to help them with English in return for help with their Twi homework. Talking with them you realize how much they want to do with their lives but how difficult it is. One wants to join the miliatary, another wants to go back to school, and another wants to get his driver's license so he can be a taxi driver. Yet, none of them have the resources to do these things with their lives. It's such a hard position to be in because we all want to help but we don't want to pitty them and at the same time at least they have a job - many people here don't even have that! It is ironic that we watched this documentary when we did because just the day before, Leah and I were on our way to UG when we were talking with Sammy, the driver, about how we, Leah and I, really haven't made in Ghanaian friends yet, when he started to tell us about how he has no friends. It was really sad and we tried to comfort him telling him that we were his friends and that if he went out he'd made friends. But he talked about how because of his job (driving us), he has no time to make friends and when he does make friends, they don't want to be his friend because he has no time to spend with them. Leah and I were just so sad and didn't really know what to say, but now we really want to show him how much he is appreciated and how we ARE his friends... so we're going to work on ways to do this! One of the other documentaries showed how Ghana has little to no middle class and therefore will never get its economy built up. Since so much is imported from the US and Europe, they have little room to build up their own economy because their own work gets put aside. Even things like their native language are "westernized" by using the Latin alphabet. These topics were so eye-opening and very informative, I'm happy we got to see the previous students' work.
Tonight, Marlee and I actually sat and talked with one of the security guards and one of his friends for a long time. It's so nice to get to know the people who do so much for you. We talked about his interests - Richard, the security guard, loves to sew and make men's clothing and loves soccer. Oti, his friend, is in school for engineering. Oti asked me what my birthmark is and when I told him it was a 'birthmark', he asked if a bunch of my relatives had the exact same thing. So, of course, I replied no, because noone else does. He went on to explain that a 'birthmark' here has the meaning of a physical trait that you have in common with a bunch of other people in your family. Like if Greer or Mom were to have the same birthmark. This was very interesting and fun to hear him talk about it!
Well... that's a lot! This weekend, we're going to Winneba - there's about 14 of us - to spend more time at the beach and maybe, if we're lucky, see SEA TURTLES!! But we'll see...
love love love
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