Second week of classes

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I got a bit lazy, and I've been having some serious issues with my internet. I am not sure what's up with that, but I'll figure it out eventually.

Anyways, so Monday I had one class, Playwriting at 1:30pm. So I slept in a bit and then went to our ISEP wrap-up session which was pretty much just talking about trips/festival opportunities to come and volunteer options. I definitely think I am going to volunteer at the Beacon House Orphanage. In fact, I'm planning on calling them today to set up a time to go over there. It's pretty exciting because it's actually pretty close to school and they said that they are in need of contributions for the children, so once I get started I will definitely try and find out what they need most and let everyone know. It would be really amazing to have care packages for the kids here, and I am sure the orphanage would appreciate it.

Anyhow, so after our little meeting, I went to class, which was AWESOME!! The class is REALLLY small. It was just me and one other girl, then the TA and the professor. So, yea, pretty nice. I am the only white girl in the class (big surprise) and there are only supposed to be like 2-3 other students in the class. (The first couple weeks of school here are really really laid back, so pretty much it's hit or miss for Ghanaian students always showing up for class). It was a good class though. The professor for playwriting is the same as for my History and Dev. of Theatre in Ghana course, so that was cool. He is really, really nice too. So, we basically sat there for two hours discussing playwriting, and the need for good plays in Ghana and all over the world. The need for new "Shakespeares" in our time and what not. It was a cool discussion. We also read over the professor's recent article in the paper concerning the dramatization of history. He wrote a play called "Death on Trial" which is based in the history of an area in Ghana, where I man supposedly fought with death and won, making it so that for 3 years no one could die and no one could give birth. After 3 years the villagers begged the man to give death back the power to take souls away, and he did. But his punishment was that Death never came for him. His body withered and withered beyond possible recognition, but he couldn't die. So after all that time, the village decided to bury the man alive. The professor had all this research and pictures of the village and the grave of the man, where he apparently still lives today. It was really amazing. So we talked about that for a while. And the TA was like, you know I really like this story, I think we should do it. And just like that, they decided to put up this show. They even decided to do it this semester so that I could be a part of it. It goes up in October, which should be cool. I'm amazed at how quickly they just decided to put on this show. It seems like that is possible here though. There are so many students that you never have problems double-booking actors like in Fairmont, and they have a few different venues for shows. Plus, as far as I can tell they try to stay away from more complex sets. They don't actually have an indoor theatre, which is probably part of it.

Anyhow, so after talking about the play, I was assigned to read all these African plays so that we had more material to discuss in class, and we shared some poetry as well, so next week I have to bring some poems and plays that I've written to share with the class. I'm pretty stoked about it actually. So that was a great class.

Then after that class, I went back to the hostel to meet up with some friends and go to the Accra Mall to find a rice cooker and some tape/tacs for putting up pictures in my room. We went to the mall, and I found the rice cookers but they are pretty expensive 35 cedis I think was the cheapest, and it cooks A LOT of rice. So I'd be paying like $24 US for a rice cooker, that I am not positive I could bring back to the states. It would be a good investment for the future if I could bring it back, since I like rice and I'd probably use it all the time. But I'm debating about putting the money into that. Does anyone know how much it costs in the US for a rice cooker? Just so I know if I'm actually saving money by buying it over here.

Then I bought some groceries and my tacks, went the the market outside the mall to look for sandals, but my feet were too big for all of the ones I liked :(  So, I continued back home with my two friends and then put up pictures and stuff in my room which was exciting. I finally feel more settled in here and my room feels like home I guess. Well, it feels like MY dorm room, which is better than it feeling like some sort of holding area. i took pictures of my wardrobe and my picture collage. : D

Home sweet Home

Then Tuesday, was pretty eventful. I went to the bookstore and bought a bunch of African plays so I can catch up with the theatre students here, who all seem to know the plays backwards and forwards. I also got some more postcards and then headed over the post office. I sent out a bunch of stuff, so I guess in a few weeks professors as Fairmont will be receiving their promised postcard from Ghana. : D

After sending my postcards, I went over to the seminar room where my directing class would be held and read "Edufa" by a Ghanaian woman outside for a bit. Got part-way through when a Ghanaian guy I just met walked up. He is in my directing class so we talked for a while, and he introduced me to some other theatre students. Then he got me invited to a poetry night thing that they have over at Jubilee Hall, which is right next to where I live. They meet like the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month and read poetry and sing and stuff. Basically a group of about 15 people sharing their artistic sides. They said the only requirements are that I bring a poem, bring a friend, and a cold drink. So, I'm excited for that. The first one is coming up on the 4th of September, so that should be a lot of fun.

Then we had directing class, which seems pretty legit as far as the professors go. They are really cool and very down to earth. It's interesting hearing the same words Jeffery told us in our directing class coming out of a Ghanaian professors' mouth. But the class is pretty small, about 10-15 people, but I think 2 of us are auditing, and I believe a few aren't allowed to take the class. They just now started requiring directing students to take the acting class before they jump into directing. As they were talking, I was suddenly exceptionally grateful for my small school in Fairmont and for my amazing professors. Most of the students in my class have never been able to act on stage. Some have only seen the shows and been in theatre classes. And some don't even see all the shows. I'm astounded at how basic some of their knowledge is, even at the 400 level. Not to say that I feel like I know more than they do about theatre, but I think that it is definitely to my advantage having had as many experiences acting as I have. I mean, I had high school theatre and community theatre and then college theatre before I even decided to direct. For them, some of them were able to act in high school and a handful of the theatre students in the program have acted on the main stage, but there really isn't community theatre here as far as I understand. I mean, so much of their culture and society is performance based with all the ceremonies and festivals and whatnot that they have, but when it comes to formalized theatre practice, they have the national theatre and then schools. I now understand why my friend Daniel from the internet cafe said that there was very little room in Ghana for theatre artists. Because realistically there isn't. The only things that they have to look forward to are moving to film, radio and tv, or working at the university level where they need a masters at least anyhow. And there are only so many universities in Ghana that even have a theatre program. Again, I will just say that I was suddenly incredibly thankful for my opportunities in Fairmont. As the class moved on though, I realized that the students in the class are all there for a year-long course and so they are preparing, throughout the semester, to direct a play by the end of the year. I asked the professor if I should find a play to use and analyze in the class, and he said basically that since I wasn't going to be here 2nd semester I wouldn't have to, but if I wanted to direct before I left, given that I have a little experience, that I could possibly work something out with the theatre staff. I was shocked to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to have the opportunity, but the fact that they would let me direct s play here when they don't even know me or my background or how much real experience I have was shocking. Sooooo, now I am brainstorming some different plays I could do here. Ideas so far are Lysistrata, Wit, and Medea, but I'm obviously still thinking on it. I'm not even sure of the details yet, like when to do it or whether it's supposed to be full-length or one act, but I'm brainstorming all the same. It's an amazing opportunity that I'm not sure that I can afford to pass up.

After directing, I wandered over to the Bush Canteen where I had some red red, which wasn't bad. Not my favorite either though. It was a bit awkward though, cause I didn't know anyone, and for whatever reason NO ONE talked to me. I sat with a ton of Ghanaians and no one said a word, to anyone. I was weird. Usually at mealtimes it seems like eating and talking is what Ghanaians enjoy, but for whatever reason that wasn't the case here. Anyhow, I finished up eating pretty quickly then wandered around for a bit in the shops, before stumbling on my friend Aquia's hairdressing parlor again. She invited me in and I ended up watching her put blue and purple extensions in a girls' hair and seeing her shear it to be short with a razor blade, which is apparently what they use to cut hair. It was pretty awesome to watch. They braid your hair to your scalp in a certain way and then sew the extensions into your braids, then they use a razor blade to cut the hair. It was pretty intense. I also saw her do someone's eyebrows, which they also apparently do with a razor blade. I don't know if I am brave enough to actually have that done, cause I'm not so sure I would be comfortable with a blade that close to my eye. But anyhow it was cool. And after that I walked back to the hostel, changed clothes and went to dance class, which was awesome, once again. And on the way back to the hostel afterwords, we discovered a bunch of frogs in the gutter, so I took pictures.

Frogs swimming around in the gutter

Frogs trying to hop out of the gutter

Wednesday, I was pretty busy with classes. I had a traditional songs class, which is about 5 people and I am the only white girl again. It was really cool and I learned a bunch of different songs. The hardest part for me though is combining the song with clapping. You see, all the traditional songs are call and response, so someone sings a part and then everyone else responds, and all of them also have a clapping rhythm that goes along with it. So, it gets pretty complicated (at least for me) to keep up. I can get the song and even the language, but once I have to clap a rhythm at the same time I'm a goner. It's something I have to work on for sure. I had to sing on my own in front of the class as well. Like after we all learned the song and had it down he went around and called on a different person each time to start the call so that we could all respond. The first time I had to do it was a bit nerve-wracking, but I got better so I was okay. I also found out that at the end of the semester our final exam is that we come in and he will randomly pick a song that we learned that semester, it can be anything from the first day to the last, and then we have to sing it to him from memory. That was a pretty scary realization. So, my traditional songs class (which I thought wouldn't be too difficult) is actually one of my most difficult courses I feel. I also have to record the songs for myself or I will forget all the melodies and the clapping rhythms cause they don't have it like sheet music. It is just words written down on the board and he teaches you the song from there. That kind of threw me for a loop. I also have to find two folk songs to teach to the class by next week, so that should be interesting. Ideas?

Anyhow, so after traditional songs I went all the way across campus to New N Block for my Theatre in Ghana lecture, during which I realized that in some ways I feel like my theatrical education (as far as western theatre goes) is much more complete, while in other regions (like performative cultural experiences of Africa) I am completely lost. For instance, in class the professor asked them to list the elements of theatre. I immediately thought of Aristotle's six elements (plot, character, music, spectacle, theme, and language). Then as I listened to the answers they gave I realized that it wasn't any sort of defined or formalized list like Aristotle's but a list of all the thing that are/can be involved in theatre. They had director, characterization, plot, performers, puppetry, dance, music, dialogue, props, scenery, on and on. The list was stopped at about 25 things. In that sense, I realized how much more defined and formalized my theatrical education has been. But then they started talking about performances in Ghanaian and African society, and I had absolutely nothing to say. I found out that they have ceremonies for just about every major turning point a a persons' life, including pregnancy, birth, naming ceremony, coming of age/puberty, college, marriage, death, and some in between as well. It's amazing to me how much ceremony is still just built into their culture. No matter how hard they try to be western at times, with their Christianity and western clothes and whatnot, their African-ness is just built in. I think it's amazing personally. And I think that, at least with the theatre staff, they are trying to promote more AFRICAN-ness in their students. None of the professors dress in western style clothes and they all are highly promoting African artisanship, which I think is awesome. Hopefully, it catches on though. 

After that class I went on to my drumming lessons, which were fun as well. I found out that we are actually always going to be moving at a pretty intense pace, so again, I need to record the classes, and practice practice practice to get it. So much for an easy semester.

Thursday, I only had my dance class in the evening, so the plan was to just run some errands, but I ended up being dragged along with my friend Evelyn to volunteer at a school. It was a good experience to have, and I thought the students were just amazing fun. But it was also very disheartening. The situation is that these two study abroad students set up this school last semester with some of their Ghanaian friends. They built the school and most of the kids have been there for about a year. However, the students who started it were only here for a semester so they left and now it's in the hands of these Ghanaians who are Rustafarians with seemingly no real teaching experience. I admire the students who started it, and also think the guys who teach there may have noble intentions, but I don't think I can be involved there. I mean, the guys who run it aren't real teachers so they can only do so much for the kids. I taught for a bit in a math class and found out that out of 10 kids only 2 understood the concept of adding, and the others only knew how to count to 50. After a year of school with these guys, a 12 year old who was there still didn't know how to add 3 and 5 together without you counting it out with him. It was very sad and really hard for me to see. Also, these are mostly street kids, some are orphans as I understand, and they live in extreme poverty, but somehow these guys are giving them school supplies. I'm not sure where the money is coming from for it, but I don't really trust them. They also live at the school, and there are some random guys who just hang out there (don't actually teach, just bum around with the kids). Also, they spend equal time learning to dance and sing as they do on learning words and math. Most of the teaching is just repetition and call and response memorization. I couldn't tell how many kids actually had a grasp on the meanings of the words they learned or anything. My friend, Evelyn is all about working there though. She really trusts the teachers, but has worked only with the upper-level students who are obviously doing much better than the others. It just seems to me that without real teachers there the students won't be able to truly progress. And I don't think these Rusta guys can teach them forever. Also, they have no legitimacy and backing, but as far as I can tell they don't want it either. I understand the concept of keeping kids off the street. But they can't stay in school forever, and at some point they are gonna end up back out there in the world. The question is whether or not this school will actually give them tools to survive and make something better for themselves. As far as it goes now, I think the answer is no, not without real teachers with real benevolence and charity toward these kids, not without some legitimate help. I thought about staying there to teach and work with the kids, but my problem is that I really don't feel I can trust the 3 teachers who run the school. They are nice, but I can't work in support of something that I am not sure is really helping the kids, where I feel like any work that I could do would be counteracted the moment I left by the bad influences of the Rusta teachers. Anyhow, that's been on my mind for a while now.

The classrooms, set up for dance class

Free range chickens at the school

School's goats

After working at the school for a bit, I came back for dance class in the evening and then went to my first theatre production on campus. They were having graduate students' one-acts performed. It was very interesting and informative as far as learning about Ghanaian acting styles and the audiences. There were 2 comedies and one drama, set up in that order. The audience laughed at everything in the comedies, and then laughed at everything in the drama, even things that I wouldn't consider funny at all. Like the play would be at a serious moment and then the audience would burst out laughing. Also, the drama was very presentational so the characters sometimes addressed the audience, and I noticed that the audience answered back. In Fairmont, it was difficult to ever get the audiences to talk with us, even in a talk back, much less during the show. But here the audience is very interactive. They wanted to comment on the show the whole time, and they certainly let you know when they were bored and wanted to go home. It reminded me a lot of Fran Kirk's class on children's drama and our discussion about the differences between an adult audience and a child's audience. This was much more like children's theatre it seemed. The audience was easy to laughter, even after the billionth time something was repeated, and quick to comment on things they disliked. I also noticed that the acting style was never really rooted in Realism. They all used very large gestures and over-the-top expressions. It was hard to watch at times as a student of realism. But I think I also realized what truly Brechtian theatre would look like. It was hard for me to see Brecht in Fairmont, especially with all of us so solidly steeped in realism works. But here, that is pretty much the only style of acting. If I do decide to direct while I am here, that is definitely something to keep in mind.

After the show, I ended up talking with my Playwriting professor again which was cool. He asked for my cell phone number and I gave him that. He even greeted me with a hug. Let me just say, it is kind of nice to just get a hug from someone the size of your Dad every once in a while. Even if it isn't your Dad, it's nice to know that someone is willing to step into that affectionate role for that moment in time.

Akwaaba Weekend

For your info, Akwaaba means Welcome in Twi. I didn't do a whole lot this weekend, but Saturday evening was the Akwaaba Party for International Students.

So pretty much, Saturday I sat around in my room, did some more laundry, uploaded pictures to facebook, fixed some of the layouts on the blog. I didn't have much going on. I was so busy being lazy in my room that I forgot to go out for lunch and ended up buying a can of baked beans, some Pringles, and cheese to eat for lunch. It felt like freshmen year all over again. lol. Then after doing a whole lot of nothing, one of my friends (Evelyn) texted to me to ask to borrow my guidebook on Ghana. I brought it up to her and when ended up discussing a trip to the Volta Region in Ghana to go to Wli Falls and the two highest peaks in Ghana. The plan is to go this coming weekend, so I am pretty stoked. I must admit I'm also a little nervous because this will be our first excursion from Accra on our own, but I know we'll be fine.

After chatting with Evelyn for a while about traveling in Ghana and around while we are here, I went to the market to pick up some essentials, including some bread and eggs and a tomato to make myself some dinner. I borrowed a pan from another friend and got to work. It was pretty interesting, seeing as I didn't have any butter or oil, but it worked out well. It was a pretty good egg sandwich actually. And I eat the whole tomato. It was so fresh and tasty I couldn't help myself. While I was cooking one of my Ghanaian friends found me in the kitchen listening to Jazz music and cooking and decided to come and help, meaning talk to me and sing along with my music (randomly deciding at time to pull me into a dance) lol. It was fun, and I ended up hanging out with Fifi (the friend I was talking about) and Ike (another friend I met through Fifi) for a few hours. After eating, I realized it was getting late so I went to my room and got ready for the Akwaaba Party.

I know a lot of people complained about the party cause they said it was slow or whatever, but to be honest I had a really great time. I danced pretty much the entire time I was there. So from like 10:30pm to 3am. I was NUTS!!!! So much fun though. Ghanaian music is made for dancing too so it was a great time. There were a few scary moments though when guys I didn't know tried to pull me over to dance with them, but luckily I had Fifi and Ike to save me whenever that happened. The only time I was really scared though was with this one bouncer for the club who kept being super creepy and asking for my number and where I lived. At one point I was outside the club and he stopped me to talk then when he couldn't really hear me because of the music he asked to move away from the door. I was fine with that, but then he led me all the way to the side of the building almost out of the sight of the people out front. I was SUPER creeped out and got out of there as soon as I could. Then later he came into the club and tried to grab me from Fifi and Ike to dance, but they got him to leave me alone. Then right before we left, Fifi and I were sitting on a couch practically falling asleep and then Fifi went out to see if we could leave yet, and this guy can back as soon as Fifi left and grabbed my arm and tried to make me come with him, but I wasn't that dumb so I ended up escaping on to the dance floor with a friend from the hostel, named Sam, who was from Costa Rica. He is a nice guy, and he had no problem trying to keep me away from this guy, but I think he expected a little more than friendship cause he got really defensive and didn't want to let me leave with Fifi and Ike later on. But anyways, overall it was a good night. I enjoyed myself. Danced the night away. Ended up not waking up until like 1pm today then got an egg sandwich did another load of laundry and since then I've just been listening to jazz music and hanging out. I have absolutely no plans for tonight, but I am thinking about starting a book. I have WAY to much extra time on my hands right now.

My Saturday Afternoon

P.S.- I posted a link on the sidebar to Cynthia's Blog. She is in our group of international students and she has some amazing pictures, plus I am featured in her blog (as the pocketpurse picker). Check it out. :D

Whole Room View from main door

Whole room view from the balcony

Ike and I outside the club

Chillin' like a Villian

FRIDAY!!!

So, yesterday evening/afternoon after I wrote was pretty fun. I went around to the dance department and music department trying to figure out other courses I could add for the semester. Also, on the way to class I met these 3 really sweet Ghanaian little boys (one was 5, another 7, the last 8). They were playing basketball at a house that I walk past and one of them (the five year old) came to the edge of the driveway to wave at me. So I stopped to say hello. They were really sweet and told me how old they were and all about playing basketball. It was a good moment.

Then I continued on to my dance class, which was really fun (as always), and signed up for a traditional African songs class. Another a random but funny note, I was pulled into a dance studio right before dance class by one of the music students I had met in passing, and I was handed a bell to keep a rhythm on for a few dancers who were practicing. Needless to say, he picked the wrong person to keep a steady beat. He ended up giving up on me and getting someone else to play. It was cool to watch the dancers for a bit though.

On another cool side note, I had worn a few of those "Livestrong" style bracelets to dance class. They were free ones that I had gotten from Fairmont State (which I brought to maybe give away), but I found they matched my outfit so I wore them. Well, a few young Ghanaian girls sell water and things right outside our dance room, and usually during class they come and dance with us bit, which is fun. Well, one of the girls saw my bracelet and said that she liked it. So, I asked her is she wanted it (which I am still not sure if this is a Ghanaian custom to give people things when they say that they like them) and she said yes so I gave her one. Then her friend came over and asked for the other one, so I gave away that one as well. Soooooo, it is official that I am the BEST promoter for Fairmont State and the Honors program in the history of EVER, because there are now two young girls in Ghana with bracelets saying Fairmont State University Honors Program on them. And you know that they are going to show their friends and their brothers and sisters and their parents and relatives and teachers and everyone the new bracelet they got from the obroni (pronounced like o-broo-nee which means foreigner or white person) girl in dance class. Also, it felt pretty awesome to give those girls such a simple joy. I mean, to me its just a silly bracelet from my school that I got my Freshman year, but to her it could mean something special. It could be that she had a rough day and feels better after having been one of the lucky ones to receive my simple gift. It could be that this is a stepping stone for her and being more willing to trust Americans or foreigners and open up to them. Maybe that simple bracelet could have a much more complex and profound ripple effect in life. I have no way of knowing, but it is nice to know that I could bring a smile to a few little girls' faces by giving a little bit of home away.

After all that I walked home with some other ISEP students, stopped and the store, only to decide not to buy anything at all. (hahaha) And then helped one of the girls carry a big bag of water home. After that I guess it was a pretty uneventful evening. Now that I have my own room I actually spend quite a bit of time alone which is slightly odd. I am usually a very social being, but I guess I haven't really found a particular niche for myself in the international students group. I'm not as worried about it now though, because honestly I have been thoroughly enjoying my adventures alone, meeting people on campus.

So, then today, I got up early because I wanted to try out a Research Methods class that I was thinking about taking at 11:30am, and I wanted to drop by the music department to ask about choir again, and possibly audition. So I got up early and had really amazing fresh oatmeal with bananas, and then took off for the music department. Well, first off I didn't have to audition (kind of a relief, but a little bit of a let down) AND I can get credit for Choir so I don't have to take the Research Methods class on Friday (which I also found out would be pretty pointless for me anyways since it is basically just learning how to write a serious research paper). Since they don't have General Education credits here, some of the things that are basic which we have to learn in high school or our first semester of college, they don't learn unless they take that academic route in their major. As far as I can tell most humanities majors have a some sort of Research Paper course to teach about all that. But since I know how to write a research paper I didn't want to take that class anyways. Also at the music department I found out about some other ensembles that I might be a part of. One is an African Traditional Ensemble which does strictly African songs and it is a lot of clapping and rhythm and stomping as I was told. That sounds really awesome, so I might try that out. But then I also found out that they have "Pop Band" ensemble, which is basically just a bunch of musicians forming different bands. I heard they have 3 right now, but 1-2 singers, so I might try and get in on that, since my friend is in one of the bands.

After all the work I did on my schedule, I officially turned in my registration for classes. I am auditing a 400 level playwriting course as well as a directing course. Then I am taking the traditional African dance class and the traditional drumming class, as well as the traditional sons class, and my Theatre in Ghana class. I am pretty happy with my classes, though a bit stressed about my Wednesday class, as I have my first class in the theatre which is close to my hostel, but then a class 10 minutes after that one that is 3/4ths of the way across campus. Then after that class I have 10 minutes to run all the way back to the fine arts department for drumming. It's a mess I know.

Anyways, after figuring out my schedule, I talked to Awushi, my student guide, for a few hours in the ISEP office. We talked about a bunch of stuff, including cultural nuances, volunteer work, where to shop for certain things, and Ghanaian naming ceremonies (which is similar to a Mormon, baby blessing, but different in that only close family and friends are allowed to be present). After to chatting away for a few hours, I went to the Bush Canteen where I picked up some dorm room essentials, like a mirror and a sponge. I also stopped to watch a hairdresser doing hair twists for a woman. While standing there I ended up meeting the hairdresser and her assistant. They were both very nice and showed me how to twist hair, and they talked to me about dancing for a while. They also gave me a small container (which I was going to buy) to use as a pencil holder for my desk. They were very friendly and I felt very safe with them. I did get asked  to hand over my dress after my stay in Ghana (which I am getting the feeling that its not a formal as just telling someone you like something and then being obligated to give that item to the person, I feel like I have actually been asked to give over different articles of my clothing at the end of my stay in Ghana a few times now. It's a very interesting difference in culture.

I've noticed how truly communal their culture is. I found out that if you are hanging out with a group of people and they have food or drink they might say "you're invited" which means you are able to partake of whatever food or drink it is. I messed this up twice in a row today. I was offered to drink some pineapple juice at the hairdressers' place, and later I was asked to share some dinner with a few Geography students. So, backing up a minute, I messed up and refused the drink at the hairdressers' place, nearly offending the women I had just met. Then, I walked back towards the hostel, quite hungry. I decided to stop at the market to see if I could get some redred on the street like a REAL Ghanaian. So, after asking around the market a bit I found a place to eat, but I didn't understand how to order. I just asked for redred and then the lady asked "how much", but I didn't know what she meant or what the measurements were so I just sort of fumbled out something about one bowl. That obviously wasn't the right answer because she looked at my funny and then asked again. I told her I didn't understand and by this time there was a sort of line forming of Ghanaians who actually knew what they wanted. So she attended to them first, while I tried to watch and intermittently ask questions to figure this out. Meanwhile, I left like every Ghanaian in a ten mile radius was probably laughing their butt off at me, but I got over that pretty quick (best cure for embarrassment is hunger). Finally I found out that you order by telling her the amount you want to pay. So I would say 50 pesawas and that equals a certain amount. Then I messed up again, once I got my beans, because I got moved down the line to where the chicken, fish, plantains, noodles, and all the side options are. The woman there had no idea how freaking awfully clueless I was about ordering, so when I asked for plantains she gave me like 3. Apparently, most people ask for several different sides and get a bit of everything. So when I just said plantains she assumed I just wanted a few, not like a whole sides' worth. When she asked what else I wanted, I told her just plantains, but I don't think she really understood until I gave her the money. The beans and 3 plantains were very tasty. lol. But I can't really complain. It was an experience I've learned and grown from AND it only cost me 80 pesawas for a whole meal, which I didn't get sick from. (p.s. that's one meal for about 53 cents. Let's see Mcdonald's beat that!)

On a side note, I just remembered another cultural blunder I had to day in the Bush Canteen. I was looking for a mirror, but didn't see one in any of the shops, so I stopped to ask a woman if she could point me in the right direction. She brought me over to another woman whom I repeated my inquiry to, and then that woman brought me to ANOTHER woman who listened to my inquiry and then brought me over to her stall. I could tell right away that there was miscommunication going on because her stall was for cooking food. Apparently, when I say mirror, it sounded like mineral or something, because this woman kept trying to give me soda. But I kept trying to explain that what she had was not what I was looking for. But then she tried giving me a juice box. It was a big language gap for them to understand the concept of a mirror. I tried to explain it as best as I could. I said a looking glass. I told her they usually hung in bathrooms (which is still true in Ghana). I kept talking about seeing your reflection like to see how you looked, and I even referenced looking at the back of a spoon. It was quite the mix-up, but finally she gave up trying to understand me and pointed me towards a young man, who apparently spoke better English than her. Obviously I did end up getting a mirror, but I thought it was a noteworthy blunder.

As my final note for the evening, I hand-washed my laundry tonight. It took a few hours and lots of wringing and powerful arm strength, but I did it. They are hanging on the clotheslines now. Very exciting. I've got some pictures from my day alone on campus as well. Enjoy!!

African Studies building

Water sac

LDS church we saw in Cape Coast

Theatre Department

The main gate (where you go to get on a trotro)

My new room set-up (ignore the dirty laundry)

Moved stuff into the Wardrobe

Yes, I did that!

My clean laundry out to dry

 

Salsa Adventure and Settling In

So, yesterday was pretty eventful. I went to two more classes. History & Development of Theatre in Ghana and Intro to Drumming. Before I went to my theatre class I ran over to the music department to try and find out about choir, which I found out they don't have a set time yet cause they plan it around the students. The professor I talked to asked about my repertoire and what experience I had and when I told him about my lessons and my repertoire book, he asked me to come in with my music. So on Monday I have a sort of audition so I've got some preparing to do this weekend for that. But I am very grateful now for the Voice Repertoire class I took last semester, and I am glad I brought a sampling on my music. After talking to that professor, I had to run to my theatre class which was halfway across campus, AND I got lost so it took a little longer than expected. But when I showed up the professor wasn't there, and there were only a few students in the room. It was an excellent class. Discussion based and pretty interesting for the first day. I was pretty tired though so I nodded off for a few minutes, and the professor totally called me out. It was somewhat embarrassing, but now I guess I know that I definitely can't get away with that in his class. lol. After that class I had to run back to the music department so that I could go to my drumming class. It was awesome! I got some drumsticks, which are really just two arm-length-ish pieces of wood. It was a really fun and very cool class. I am not the best at keeping rhythm, but I have known that about myself for a long time. I am better though when I practice more consistently, so I think this will really help me AND I think it'll help in my dance class as well (which is part of the reason I wanted to take it). It's a pretty large class, but I think it'll be good.

After classes I went back to the hostel and found Wilder quite upset, as he just found out that a bunch of the classes he had scheduled had their timetables re-arranged so that everything was messed up. He's gonna be here for a year, so he kinda needs to make sure he's getting credit for the classes he is taking which makes things somewhat restrictive. So, I went around to some different departments with Wilder, trying to help him out and keep him from freaking out too much.

After all that, I had red-red (which is red beans and fried plantains) for dinner. I'm pretty sure this is my favorite Ghanaian meal, and I have decided I have to learn how to make it, since I eat it so often. Then after dinner, I got a dressed up and went out with some other ISEP students to salsa night at a hotel called Coconut Lodge or something. One of our Ghanaian friends, Fifi, took us. It was sooooo much fun, and I danced so much. There are some freaking amazing Salsa dancers in Ghana. One of Fifi's friends, Ike, who is from Cote D'Ivoire, said that some of them are International Competitors. You can really tell too, these people are seriously fantastic. I learned so much in just a few hours. It was awesome. They also have some amazing line dances in Ghana, and those were also featured at salsa night, which was a lot of fun. To be honest, I couldn't keep up with half of them, but they were really fun. It was a pretty amazing night overall.

However, it ended somewhat bitter-sweetly. I found out that my roommate is moving out. She moved up to the 4th floor, which means I will be expecting a Ghanaian roommate sometime soon. It's exciting that I'll be getting a Ghanaian roommate, but it was sad to sort of say goodbye to my roommate. I mean, it's not like I won't see her, but still it's weird coming back to the room and having it always be empty. Oh, well.

Today, I spent most of the morning unpacking and rearranging my room. It actually looks lived in a bit now, which is exciting. Feels more like home than before I think. After working on that for a while, I decided to run to the dance department to buy some black leggings and a white shirt for my dance class. I also stopped by the ISEP office to ask about where to find tape and stuff. So, I have a little shopping list forming. I also had to get a new form for registering for my classes, which is a huge mess right now.

We just found out last night that we are all required to turn in our final registration papers by tomorrow. They originally were giving us until the 24th, but for some reason they changed their minds. That has sent a lot of people into a frenzy of sorts, myself included. I just recently decided rearrange my schedule to take 400 level courses instead of 300 level since I really wanted to get credit for my History and Development of Theatre in Ghana class, which is 400 level (and you can't take course in different levels unless you are just auditing them). So, I had this whole plan to take dance classes and this one theatre course and then audit a bunch of other theatre courses that were yearlong, so I can't get them for credit. However, I started thinking about my scholarships and realized that when I go back I need to have full-time student status in order to keep my financial aid. After looking at my WVU and ISEP contracts for study abroad I found that my audited classes won't even show up on my transcript to FSU. And because I am not getting credit for them, just auditing, they can't count towards full-time student status. So after realizing all of that, I have had to reassess my schedule. I am definitely keeping my drumming course, my dance course, and my theatre in Ghana course. But that's only 8-9 hrs of credit and I have to have at least 12. So, I am just about to head over to the theatre and dance department and figure out what other 3 credit hour class I am gonna take. I may have to take 2 more 3 credit hour classes actually to insure that I have enough credit transferring back to Fairmont. Anyways, that's the update. I gotta go do some shopping and figure my scheduling issues. I might post again tonight to let you know how that goes if I have time.

First Day of Class

Most of today I just lazed around. I didn't have anywhere to go really until 1:30pm. So I woke up and uploaded more pictures to the blog. But then I went over to the theatre department to register for classes, and things got a little nuts for a while. They said that I had to register for classes with the department by today at 4pm but then they said before I could register I had to show my admissions letter and proof of online registration. Which is backwards from the way I've been doing it with other departments and with what other Ghanaian students have told me. Usually you sign up with departments, then register online. But anyhow, I ended up running around with Kelly, another ISEP theatre student, to the International offices and what not, only to find out that they had blocked international students from registering themselves for classes online because they had had so many problems in the past. So, the guy and the international offices just told us that we should just keep going to classes normally and then register online with them next week when the international student registration deadline is. He basically said that they don't have the power in the department to not let you take the class just because you did the steps backwards (according to them). But interestingly enough we found out from another theatre student that actually the reason for the really stringent and strict registration policy is because they have had problems in the past being able to enforce attendance like they want to because they don't have the final lists for students attending a given class until much later. I thought that was interesting.

Then I went to my first class, African Indigenous Religions. It was cool for the most part. I really liked the professor and the material seemed interesting, but the class is pretty large and people are always talking in the back so its almost impossible to hear when you need to. I'm debating over whether to take it or not. After that class I went around to the ISEP office and picked up my meal stipend, then went to the post office and the bookstore and got some awesome postcards to send my professors back home. I'm excited. I promised I would send some. And the bookstore said that they would be getting in a bunch of new ones in a few weeks, so I'll probably go back every once in a while to send post cards to people. : D

After all that, I ate with some other ISEP students and then experienced another cultural blunder and almost had a HUGE mishap. I wanted to stop into the bathroom at the place we were eating so that I could change out of my skirt (which is acceptable attire for lecture classes) and into my yoga pants (which would be better for the dance class I had next). Well, I go through the only bathroom door I could see, and walk in on an older man zipping his pants. I was mortified. I almost turned back around to leave but he didn't even react to me being there really just washed his hands and left. But the bathroom had a stall in it and then a urinal up against the wall as soon as you walk in the door. I am still not sure whether I went into the wrong bathroom or whether its like a coed bathroom. I don't know, but I am just very glad that I didn't walk in on a poor old Ghanaian man trying to pee.

Last off, I went to my African dance class, which was freaking huge for a dance class. There were about 100 people in there and the main instructor said that would be less that half that actually took it because most of the Ghanaian students weren't in class today. Crazy. But there are about 15 different teaching assistants in the class as well, so its really helpful when you get behind. But that class was sooooo much fun. We danced for like 2 hours straight and it was awesome. And interestingly enough I actually don't suck at this kind of dance. I was picking it up pretty quickly in fact. AND we also learned some traditional songs to go along with the dances. I'm not gonna lie I am pretty stoked for the next class on Thursday. It's just too much fun.

Day 10 & 11

First, let me apologize for not posting last night. I had no money to buy internet cause I ran out of Cedis; I also completely ran out of minutes on my phone. So, yea … I was pretty much broke last night. But here’s the update.

Yesterday was Sunday and apparently on Sundays like NOTHING is open.  But anyhow, my day started off pretty interesting. I went to a Methodist church here on campus with some other ISEP students. I’ll be the first to admit that I was incredibly uncomfortable and very confused throughout the service. First off, I was a few minutes behind the group getting ready, so they left without me. When I got to the church they were seated in the middle, but I really didn’t want to walk in late and try and sit with them, so I sat all alone in the back. Second, the service apparently starts at 6:30am which is crazy so we were all like super late, since we showed up at 9am. But it goes until 10. (And I thought the Mormons were nuts for getting up at 9am.) Third, I’ve never been to a Methodist church, but I think this one was very different from ones in the states, according to the Methodists in our group. Fourth, there is still a huge language barrier (not because they are speaking English) but I can’t understand the accent yet like at all, so I didn’t understand like 85% of the sermon. Fifth, I didn’t recognize any of the melodies of the songs, which I was really hoping I would, so it was awkward to stand and just sway when everyone else was like all into the song part of the church service. And Lastly, I didn’t know what was going on like most of the time and because I couldn’t understand the accent I thought everyone around me was speaking in tongues the entire time. So that was freaky, but when I finally figured out that it was English it got even more confusing cause I realized they were all saying different things in the “song”. It was like there was music playing as if people were supposed to be singing, but everyone was singing something different. Someone explained to me later that that was actually praying. To top it off, they did offerings, and I didn’t know what that was and because I was all alone I was just following the people in front of me, and then halfway up to the front I realized that I had nothing to offer up and felt really embarrassed so I tried to sneak back to my chair. To make it worse, someone caught me sneaking back to my chair and told me it was time for offerings, and I told him I didn’t have anything so he sent me back to my seat. It was really embarrassing and awkward. But I guess overall it was an interesting cultural experience. Perhaps it’s not one that I would like to experience over and over again. Nonetheless, it is a good story at the least.

After church, I hung around for a bit trying to get someone to walk around to classes with me, but then for the second time that day I got left behind at the hostel, so in the end I went alone. I still don’t feel like I really fit into any groups here. I know it’s only been 10 days, but I honestly only feel comfortable just hanging out with this one guy, Wilder, who I’ve been able to talk to a bit. But I feel like I need girl friends. I have trouble connecting with girls in general, but this is really not in my element. More on that later though.

So, I ventured out to figure out my class schedule on my own, which was actually pretty cool. It was nice to just be on my own schedule and not waiting around for anyone else and not feeling rushed by anyone either. I ended up walking to the theatre department with another group of international students who were really nice. So, I talked to them a bit. Then I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out my classes, because 3 of the classes I wanted to take were offered during the same time slot. I was so bummed. So after everything, moving around classes and trying to figure out what to take I have a drumming class I am auditing, a traditional African dance class, directing, playwriting, and history and dev. of theatre in Ghana. I am also thinking about taking a course called Indigenous Religions of Africa which my roommate is taking. It sounds really cool, and I was originally planning on taking one more course. ALSO, I was debating about taking choir while I’m here. I haven’t been in choir for a few semesters. But I enjoy it, and I feel like it would be an easy grade and a good way to meet people. I’m not sure, but I am gonna check it out tomorrow morning. Which, I have to go by the theatre department and register for all of my courses tomorrow, since I didn’t get the chance to do that today. I heard from someone that registration closed today, but then someone else said you could go tomorrow, which made me a little nervous. But either way, I think ISEP would help me figure it out.

While I was figuring out my dance classes schedule I actually ran into a couple of music professors (which is who told me about the choir), and they were really interesting. The woman, named Jemma, was really cool and nice; but there was this guy named Cofi, who I didn’t really know how to take. He was joking around a lot, but it was that kind of joking where you’re not sure if it’s serious or just a joke. That plus only being able to understand what he was saying half the time made it difficult to determine how serious the conversation was. But it was a funny experience because they ran into me after church so I was kinda dressed up, and I was wearing like the only blouse that I brought with me. And they said it was really pretty, but then they like asked me for it. And I didn’t know how to react, or how to say no without being rude, so I just treated it like a joke. But then they seemed serious about it and were like arguing over who deserved my blouse more which kind of cracked me up. But then they were joking about it a bit later so I wasn’t really sure how serious it was. I found out later from my roommate that her professor told her that there is some cultural thing in Africa that if someone says they like something you are wearing then you are supposed to just give it to them. But like to counter-act that you have to say “I wear it in honor of your father”. I’m not sure, but it was funny, cause then I started to think that maybe the professors were trying to really get me to take off my blouse and give it to them. Weird huh?

After figuring that out, I basically just walked around campus a bit. Took some pictures of some buildings on campus. Then walked back to the hostel before it got too later in the afternoon and stopped to buy another egg sandwich (delicious) and then did a bit of shopping at the market. I bought a bag for my notebooks and some bracelets.

My new school bag

Campus buildings (super tropical looking)

My new bracelets

The monkey I walk by on my way to classes

A statue outside the Balme Library

The Balme Library

The boulevard I walk down to class

More Campus Buildings

Campus Buildings

After all that, I just hung out for a while. Took a nap instead of doing laundry (lol). Then I tried to hang out with this group of girls that my roommate is close with, but I just don’t really fit in. For instance, one of the girls bought some coconut and was sharing with everyone, and even though I was standing right there, she offered it to everyone but me, until like 10 minutes later when it was almost gone and she noticed that I was standing there, like part of the group. It’s just awkward moments like that. Like grade school all over again, where I am always the last one picked and never in the “IN” group. I’m always the 5^th wheel. Always the one who is walking alone when everyone else is paired off in twos. I guess I’m getting used to it now, but I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. I really just don’t get along with most girls, and I don’t want all guy friends when I have a boyfriend waiting for me at home. I think they’ll get the wrong impression. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I talk too much or too little. Or I share too much personal information than people are comfortable with. It’s always something. I feel as if now I am starting to try too hard to make people like me. Like I said, it’s grade school all over again.

Full moon at Mama Mia

Full moon at the Italian Restaurant

Anyhow, so the group all went to a pizza place called Mama Mia cause we were craving Italian food. But the girl who told our group about it evidently didn’t tell us about the prices cause it was pretty expensive. It was like one pizza about medium size for 18 cedis at the cheapest. That’s about $12 US which is an expensive meal. Personally I don’t think the food was THAT good, but we were already there and we didn’t know where else to eat so we had to suck it up. So that is way I had no money, because between the 18 cedi for food and then 4 cedi for taxis there and back, I used up everything I had left. So then I talked to Ross on the phone for a bit, and ended up running out of minutes on my phone as well. It was pretty crazy, but I got over it.

Side story, after I posted last time I hung out in the internet café with the guy who sits at the desk, Daniel. Well, I had met this other guy, Chese (pronounced like Jesse with a ch), a few days before there. And he was there again. So I was talking to both of them and my friend, Wilder was also there like helping Chese fix his resume or something. Well, all of a sudden out of nowhere Chese looks over at me and tells me that I need to lose some weight on my tummy. At first I didn’t even understand what he said, cause I didn’t really think he said that. But he repeated himself, like totally seriously and then started showing me how to do these crunches in your seat. Needless to say I was a little taken aback. But we had been warned that some Ghanaians can be randomly blunt to the point of seeming very rude, but not really trying to be hurtful most of the time. So I just said, “thanks I’ll have to try that” and then changed the subject. But Wilder was like MORTIFIED. He just sat there for a second with his mouth open. It was actually kind of comical. And Daniel, I think also realized that there had been a blunder and he just started cracking up laughing at Chese, and Chese didn’t even have a clue. It was, yet another, amusing cultural blunder.

Moving on, today was pretty chill as far as my days have gone so far. I didn’t have class, even though classes officially started today. So I actually just got up and went to the ATM then hung out with Wilder and this girl from Colorado, named Evelyn. We hung out like most of the day. Found out that I get a meal stipend from ISEP that is $800 US worth of cedis. And I’ll be getting that tomorrow, so I will be rolling in the dough. Also, I found out that I don’t have to do as much as I thought when it comes to registering for classes, cause they said they would just register us online instead of having us do it, cause they already know that it’s really confusing. Also found out that there is 2 free hours of internet at a place called the ITC next to the library. AND I found out that the international offices I think have free internet and maybe even black and white printing for international students. So that’s pretty awesome. On top of all that, I am thinking about volunteering while I am here. Cause I really wanted to do that, but I was worried about how scheduling that would work. But I talked to our ISEP coordinators (which are freaking amazing here btw) and they said that once I’ve officially registered for all my classes online and have my final schedule then all I have to do is stop by the office and let them know what kind of service work I want to do and how far I am willing to travel and then they will give to contact information to set up a schedule directly with the organization. So, I heard about one where they are helping to build a school, which is pretty close by. That would be awesome. I also heard about another one that’s close by where they are affiliated with the ones building the school but they also read to the kids and make food for them and stuff. So I think I might volunteer with that organization and hopefully get to do all of that stuff, like working with the kids one week and then building another week or something. I don’t know exactly how it will work out, but it sounds amazing. And since it’s working around my schedule I can make it so that I still have time to travel on the weekends when I want to, which is really exciting.

After talking to our ISEP coordinators (p.s. their names are Suzy and Auntie Theresa, so I may just refer to them like that from now on), I went back to eat lunch, then just hung around doing a whole lot of nothing for a long time. Then finally around 3:30 or so we left for Accra Mall. First off let me say that Accra Mall is a sorry excuse for Ghanaian culture; however it is the only place that I know of to exchange money. I had originally thought that Ghana would be more like Mexico where there was lots of exchange places but not very many ATMS, however I soon found out that Ghana is the complete opposite. So, I had to go to the mall today to exchange the rest of my US money. It started out fine. All five of us in our group got in the same trotro to the mall. It was really scary crossing all the streets to actually get to the mall, but we survived. (p.s. there are no speed limits and next to no traffic laws in Ghana, so cars go really fast, everything is manual transmission, cars change lanes like crazy, almost no one uses their blinkers, everyone follows to closely, and cars break down in the middle of the road with nowhere to pull off. Pretty insane. And to top it off there are always people with merchandise balanced on their heads running around on the streets trying to sell things to the people in the stopped cars and trotros. You can buy pretty much anything you want right off the street and from the comfort of your own car.)

After getting to the mall, I got more minutes on my phone, gawked at some pretty cute little kids, went to the Ghana equivalent of Wal-mart only to decide not to actually buy anything there. Funny story about exchanging my money there- so I go in with $220 US. I was just exchanging all of it cause I really didn’t want to make multiple trips back to the mall. So I go to the bank ask to exchange the money and this woman gives me a HUMUGOUS stack of 5 cedi bills. Literally, she gave me 320 cedis all in fives. So I had a stack of 64 bills piled up in front of me. I totally freaked out cause I looked so ridiculous and like a huge target with so much money. It didn’t even fit in my money purse, so I just shoved it really quick into the bottom of my bag and was really hoping that no one wanted to steal from me that day. After that hilarity, I went to the fabric store and bought 6 yards of two different, really cool fabrics. I’ll post pictures so you can see. But I made a bunch of different designs of dresses that I think I want made for me while I am here if I can. But I was told my Awushi, my student guide, that I should buy from this place called Woodin, which is more expensive than off the street but it’s high quality fabric that doesn’t fade and fray if you wash it in the washing machine. Awushi is also gonna hook me up with a seamstress that she said is really good so I can get these dresses made. Right now, I have enough for two knee length dresses, and then I am gonna buy some solid colored fabric to make two more dresses that are half patterned fabric and half solid colored. I’m excited. :D

The sache water I drink

Sheep we passed walking home

My fabrics

After buying my fabric, I met back up with the group and we all went to try and take a trotro back to campus. Funny thing about that though is that at rush hour (which was when we were trying to get back) there is like no way to get on a trotro. There were literally people elbowing each other out of the way to get on. It got pretty intense. Also, usually when you go to get on a trotro there are these guys who are yelling out where the trotro route is going. So like they will yell “Osu, osu, osu, osu” about a billion times, and you know that that trotro is heading on the road to Osu. If you need to travel in that direction then you can get on that trotro. You aren’t always getting off at the last stop, so it’s important to know which direction you are going and then where you want to get off to get close to where you need to be. So, in other words I am pretty screwed on my own, because as anyone who knows me well will tell you, I am THE WORST at remembering directions or having any sort of mental map in my head. I get lost like ALL the time. So, yea trotros are my next Ghanaian hurdle.

After running around trying to elbow our way on to a trotro and always being thwarted by much more seasoned trotro riders. We gave up and walked back to the mall to find a cab, where a Ghanaian cabby totally tried to screw us over and asked for 10 cedis just to drive us like down the street to Legon where the school is. Which regularly would only cost like 3-5. We ended up paying 6, but it was rush hour and we squished 4 people into the back of the cab which is apparently totally illegal in Ghana. Needless to say, quite an eventful couple of days.

Day 8 & 9

Sadly I wasn’t able to blog this weekend until now, because we were on a trip. However, I have lots of pictures, and lots to fill you all in on. Friday morning we left early in the morning to drive to Cape Coast where we visited the Cape Coast Castle and Kakum National Park over the weekend. We drove three hours to Cape Coast, discussing the Central Region of Ghana with a historian who came on the trip to answer questions we had and help in our tour of the area. We passed through a refugee camp on the way that was pretty rough. I’m not sure what these people are coming from, but the conditions aren’t the greatest. Huts and shanties abound and children play in the mud. But, they are safe from the wars that are tearing apart the many of the regions of Africa around Ghana. In all honesty though, they didn’t seem to be living any worse than the poorest of the Ghanaians, which I suppose is a good thing that they aren’t being left completely desolate.

As we drove on we also had our first encounter with a group of local children. They apparently LOVE pens. They all asked for them and whenever you gave out one, they always fought over it. At one point I saw a young boy steal a pen from the smallest of the girls because he wanted it. It was quite sad to think that it would come to that. But as we talked to some of the guides we found out that poorer children have a hard time affording any school supplies. So, as soon as they are of school-age and sometimes earlier they are scavenging for pens and pencils, which are quite expensive here. In all I think our group gave out about 12-15 pens and pencils. I think we succeeded in getting one to each child in the group there. The other part of it though was just seeing their faces as we drove away, each of them with a pen or pencil in hand, even the littlest girl who looked to be about 2 years old. They were so grateful and happy for their good fortune of having received a pen. I can’t even imagine an American child who would be truly grateful for receiving a used and very simple pen. But these children were grateful for every little thing. It was heart-warming and a wonderful moment for me to remember to always give thanks and be grateful for even the most simple of things.

We continued on to Cape Coast Castle which was first a Portuguese then a Dutch and finally an English fort holding on the coast of Ghana, which was once known as the Gold Coast. Ghana was also one of the biggest centers for slave trade. The Cape Coast Castle is one of several slave castles left standing on the coast of Ghana. In fact, from the Cape Coast Castle you can actually see Elmina Castle off in the distance about 9km away, I believe. Anyhow, as we entered the castle the mood had started out light and excited. As we toured the museum there we were all instantly sobered. The mood got more and more dark as we followed our tour guide through the dungeons where slaves were kept. The men and women were separated and then shoved into tiny rooms with hard stone floors and tiny windows more than 10 feet in the air, which would have been the only exchange of air that these people got. It was heart-breaking at first, but then as we moved to the next chamber and I walked past a Ghanaian student group it became absolutely unbearable. I couldn’t hold back the flood of tears that came as I was hit with the sudden realization of the cruelty and inhumane treatment of these people that took place in these exact rooms. It was all I could do to keep from sniffling the entire tour. It still tears me apart to think of all of the awful things that these people endured, only to be stuffed on to ships for weeks, many of them dying before they even reached America. I couldn’t help but feel guilty for this systematic degradation of other human beings that was enacted by people who may have been my ancestors. I can’t bear all of that guilt, and I know that I am not to blame in the slightest. However, something in me is sickened at the thought of the circumstances that were created for these men, women, and children. They tore apart families, tribes, destroyed entire cultures of people. What can be more cruel than taking away someone’s family, home, and humanity and then forcing them to abandon their native cultures, losing their native languages, their religious practices, and having all that is sacred striped from them and replaced by empty bible bashing religion. Now this isn’t to say anything against today’s Ghanaians for converting to Christianity, but I think it was incredibly wrong for Europeans to think that the “Christian” thing to do was force families apart, rob them of their humanity, and then blackmail them into converting to Christianity or else. Needless to say, I was pretty broken up as well as angry from the tour of this slave castle.

The Door of No Return

The symbolic Door of Return for Africans coming home

The slaves' last sight of their homeland

Shrine of offerings in the male dungeon

View of the sea from the Castle

The Castle battlements

The male dungeon entrance

After our tour at the castle, we preceded to our botel (no I didn’t misspell it). A botel is basically the word for a Ghanaian hotel that is on the water. Our hotel was actually on a sort of peninsula more than an island, but it was pretty cool either way. Sadly you can’t really tell that there is water on three sides unless you walk all the way around because of the actual hotel buildings blocking the view of the water. However, the REALLY cool thing about it was that there were crocodiles in the water. So I got a really cool picture of that. The night at the hotel was pretty awesome as well. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant (which was incredibly slow- it took about 2 hrs after I ordered to get my food- and they ran out of tilapia so I had a really weird fish that wasn’t really that good) but on the up-side I had lots of good conversations, there was a live band at dinner so we danced a bit, AND they let us make some music ourselves. So one of our group members, Bobby, got up and played the guitar. It was quite the hidden talent. He just started playing on the spot, just ad lib and it was pretty freaking awesome. The guy on the drums just went with him too. So that was pretty awesome. And I got an entire room of people to sing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which was A LOT of fun. To end the night we all got in the pool and tried to teach a few of our Ghanaian tour guides how to swim. You’d think that living so close to the coast one would learn, but apparently not. Then we eventually got yelled at my some Brits who were apparently trying to sleep in the room right next to the pool.

A tree on a little island by the botel where birds flocked

Our Botel

One of the crocodiles snapping at bread someone threw

Then today we got up early and had a complimentary breakfast at the botel, then headed out towards Kakum National Park for our canopy walk. I was most excited about this part because it was supposed to be a good hike in the woods. I was a bit disappointed at first because it was VERY touristy, with lots of loud people, including school groups. I wanted a quiet walk in the woods, and I got a loud romp through the woods on a stone walkway. By the time we got to the actual canopy part I was wholly un-thrilled. The hike was barely even 10 minutes and even though the steps were sometimes steep there was a constant chatter around me from the tourist so that I couldn’t just concentrate on the sound of my breathing and the breath of the forest. That was really frustrating. But once we got on the actual canopy walk I found out that only 5 people could be on a given bridge at once AND most people took the shorter route which was only 3 bridges instead of 7. Of course I went on all seven and thoroughly enjoyed it. To make things even better, it started to POUR as soon as we got up to the canopy so even more people turned back and the sound of the rain drowned out the sound of the humans. I took lots of pictures, loved the heights, the sway of the bridge, and the coolness of the rain. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to completely get rid of the other human beings and to have been able to take as much time as I wanted up in the trees. I also really wanted to do another tour which was specifically geared towards seeing the wildlife (including monkeys, all kinds of birds, and ELEPHANTS). Needless to say, I am definitely going to try and go back for that hike.

On canopy

My roommate Katie

ME!!

The Canopy Bridge

Wilder (a group member) on canopy

View from the Canopy

Awushi trying to protect her hair from the rain

The bridges

Our group on the canopy walk

Obed (purple) and Shaddrock (red) two of our guides

Soaking wet after the canopy walk in the rain

And yes I did!

All too soon we were done on the canopy and walking back down. We continued on to lunch at the University of Cape Coast, where I cleaned off the mud that had been splattered on to the backs of my legs and changed into a dry shirt which was quite heavenly. When we got back to campus three hours later, we were all hungry and on our own for the first time without meals provided by ISEP. So, to top of an absolutely magical day at Cape Coast, we ate some absolutely magical egg sandwiches from the night market that just hit the spot.