Soooooo, I haven't posted in a while, which is not entirely my fault, as I will explain, but regardless, I'll take it from the top.
So, Friday was pretty boring on account of the fact that I had no class and nothing really to do. So I sat around pretty much all day. But then in the evening I heard about music department event where a bunch of pop bands were playing, including a group of international students who had formed a band. It was actually a lot of fun, and the bands weren't too bad. I video-taped a traditional African band that was playing and some guys who were dancing, so you can get a sampling of African dance forms. But it's pretty interesting. (Video to come later)
Saturday I left Accra with some friends to go to Boti Falls, which is a natural waterfall about an hour and a half drive from here. Sooo, at about 10:30ish we left the University and walked to catch some trotros to Madina, where we would get another trotro to take us to Koforidua, which is the closest town to Boti Falls. We ended up having to split into pairs to get on the trotros, cause Saturdays are Market days at Madina so the trotros were always mostly full when they got to us. I paired off with a Canadian girl I just met named Lianne. So, first off, Lianne and I get in the trotro to Madina, and we are riding along for a while when I start thinking "you know, I am not sure where we need to get off and I don't recognize this area." So I ask Lianne if she's ever been to Madina before, and she says no, so pretty much I was supposed to be our guide and I think I've f'ed it up. So, we end up just riding until the end of the line, and then calling Matt, who was also on the trip with us. Turns out we ended up exactly in the right place, dropped off right near the station we had to be at. We met up with Matt and his partner in travel, Marianne, another Canadian I met. So the four of us met up and go in search of a trotro to Koforidua and in transit we have to leap across a trench (which Lianne has nicknamed an obruni trap simply because there are holes and gutters everywhere, and the locals are always avoiding them is ease, but white people are always getting hurt.) On a side note, Lianne ended up with stitches in her leg after falling into one of these obruni traps on campus while she was running. So, you can see the dangers.
After we crossed the trench, we had to ask several people where the trotro station was, and we ended up with a random guy leading us there and then expecting payment, which we had be warned and told not to give by our guides before. After we got in the trotro and got on the road the trip itself was pretty pleasant. We talked the whole way there, and I really got to know my two new Canadian friends. After the long ride to Koforidua we called the other group of travelers to see where they were and found out they had arrived much earlier and gotten a taxi to the bead market, only to find that its only open on Thursdays. So, while they were on their way back we wandered around the city center for a while and then picked up a trotro to Boti Falls.
I wasn't sure how spectacular the falls were actually going to be, and the park itself where the falls were was relatively undeveloped, with few stands to buy snacks and a few benches to sit in the general park area. As we journeyed down the steps to the falls and got our first glimpses, it was well worth the trip. The area was gorgeous and you couldn't take a bad picture. We ended up climbing a bit away from the crowd to get pictures of the falls and then getting ambushed by Ghanaians who wanted to take pictures with us. After having my picture taken with about 10 different Ghanaians that I had never met before, I saw a few of the people from our group venturing out on the rocks and such behind the waterfalls. Taking a bold step myself (as I was wearing only flip-flops), I decided to follow them. It ended up being a truly amazing adventure crawling around on the rocks behind the water falls, disappearing into the roar and the mist of the water. There were rainbows created by the falls as well. After all my adventuring, and admittedly hanging back to take pictures, I was soaked but sated. I had been craving a chance to get back out into nature and just have a bit of connection with the earth again, and Boti Falls definitely delivered. I was even able to take a moment all by myself to meditate and just listen to the falls, taking in the beauty and thanking my Creator for all of the blessings I had been given.
After our little falls adventure, we went in search of food, which ended up taking us back to town and Koforidua. Again, we ended up splitting up as some people were more interested in returning home to Accra before dark and some of us were into more adventures. So, it ended up being Matt, Marianne, Lianne, Emily, and I wandering around Koforidua, replacing Lianne's bandage for her stitches a bit shadily at a pharmacy on the street. Then we followed the guidebook and went to a place called Chris Cafe for food. It was pretty delicious and they had bathroom to change out of our damp clothes which was nice. After eating a delicious meal of vegetable fried rice and spring rolls, we paid our bill and I ended up being dragged into yet another awkward cultural blunder. One of the guys working at Chris Cafe asked Matt (when he was paying the bill) to have me come up to the counter. When Matt told me this, I was confused and thought I had messed something up with the bill. Only I came to find that he just wanted my number. When I told him I didn't give out my number, he proceeded to hand me a piece of paper which he had previously written ALL of his contact information (including his number, email, and facebook ID). I was a bit shocked and somewhat flattered as something like this had never happened to me (and honestly, I didn't think that sort of thing happened in real life). I told him I was engaged and wasn't interested, to which he replied that he only wanted to be my friend (doubtful). Don't worry this isn't the end of his involvement in the story.
So after eating we grab a cab to a cheap hotel in Koforidua where Matt and Marianne got us a room, while Emily, Lianne, and I hid (since there is a law here that you can only have two people in a room, but we didn't want to pay any more). Then as we settled into our little hotel, which randomly had a picture of an Asian baby on the wall, Matt finds out that he has lost his cell phone. There are two places it could be Chris Cafe or the taxi. Soooo, whilst the rest of us as laughing at him and talking, Matt calls his own cell phone to see if he can locate it. Someone picks up (as if it were their own phone) and Matt awkwardly tries to explain that he is the owner of the cell phone that this guy is talking on. At this point we are all laughing at Matt, and simultaneously trying not to be too load so he can hear what the guy is saying. Whoever it is, tells him that he will call Matt back because he's at work. This leads Matt to believe that he left it at Chris Cafe. So, minutes pass, Matt goes out to the main lobby to find out if we can get snacks from anywhere nearby (and btw he is gone for like 2 hrs talking to the guys in the lobby where he tells them that Marianne- who he got the room with- is not his wife, which causes much scandal). Then over the course of the evening we scoot the two double beds together and play cards while Matt is intermittently freaking out about whether to call this guys back or not, since he hasn't called him. After a while they go to the circuitous route and call the guy from Chris Cafe who gave me his number (his name was Samuel btw) and try to find out if a phone was left there. To make things interesting, they use Marianne's phone to call, which makes him think that she is me, and Marianne freaks out after she realizes this so she tries not to sound like herself and ends up randomly talking like a Valley Girl on the phone. After that hilarity, Matt is again going back and forth between calling or not calling, ends up picking up Marianne's phone when Samuel calls, confusing him with the driver who called earlier and has his phone. (btw, Matt called his phone from Marianne's phone earlier when he called the driver) So everyone is confused, Matt is thinking that his phone is lost forever, especially when he tries to call it again and its turned off. As we all finally go to bed, Matt randomly wakes up at 3am and calls his phone, speaking with the driver, finding out that he left his phone in the cab and not at Chris Cafe, and trying to arrange for the guy to bring it back to him. Throughout the nite Matt is then coming in and out revealing that the guy is gonna bring his phone and whatnot. At some ungodly hour of the morning Matt goes out to wait for the cabby, runs back in a few hours later to ask for money, and runs back out to pay the cab driver for bringing him his phone, then comes back in with a hilarious happy dance or retrieving his phone, which ends in him collapsing onto the bed, which btw is not very comfy and holds 4 other people. Needless to say it was a cramped night, but quite hilarious. To top it all off, when we woke up in the morning, Marianne gets a call on her cell phone from none other than Samuel, our favorite worker at Chris Cafe, who is off work and wants to hang out with me (even though he's talking to her). She tells him we are leaving Koforidua, and after an awkward moment when he is trying to find out where we are to say goodbye, she hangs up. Boy oh boy was it an interesting weekend.
So, we travel back into town, realizing in the taxi that we left the two beds pushed together and Matt told the attendants that Marianne and him weren't married so not only did that commit a cultural crime by sleeping in the same room, but know they will probably assume that they got wild together in the hotel. HAHAHAHA!! So, we went to breakfast back at Chris Cafe then wandered in circles for forever trying to find the infamous trotro station to Accra. When we finally found it, through a back alley, we got on the trotro and headed home, quickly falling asleep. As we neared Accra, traffic got heavier and we entered a section of highway that was under construction so no one could sleep. To make things even more interesting, our trotro hit another trotro that was trying to cut us off, and every Ghanaian in both trotros including the driver started raising and shaking their fists at those in the other trotro. HAHA!
We returned home safe and sound though by Sunday afternoon, and I lounged the rest of the day, annoyed with the internet connection, which wasn't working. I stayed up late Sunday watching movies with Daniel in the internet cafe, and was awoken at 7am by the playwriting professor who I didn't recognize over the phone. I started freaking out thinking he was calling me to see if I was coming to class (since we had discussed moving the class from 1:30pm to the early morning slot, which in my stupor I forgot doesn't even start til 7:30am anyways, but regardless). I was freaking out looking for clothes when I lost my connection, hanging up on my professor and causing even more of a freak out. Luckily when he called back he told me that the class was being moved back to its original time due to some scheduling conflicts he had. After that frantic episode, I was glad to go back to bed and sleep in for a bit. I went to Playwriting class and had an interesting time discussing some hot topic issues in Ghanaian culture that people were interested in writing about. I missed the memo though because all of the playwriting ideas I had were definitely not socially driven like the others we discussed. After class, I walked with the TA from that class a bit and found out about a film audition, which he talked me into doing right then. I had no idea what I was walking into as an audition, but was told by my friend, Chief, that it was just cold readings from the script. When I got into the room though, I was asked to improvise. As the film centers around a very seedy part of town, and the only female roles are for prostitutes, guess what I ended up having to improvise. BINGO! I was acting like a prostitute propositioning a male for money in return for favors. BAHAHAHA! Needless to say it was bar-none the most interesting audition I have ever had. In fact, I am pretty sure that I made the only female in the room very uncomfortable, since she was the one who said "That's good. We've seen what we need, thanks!" LMAO. I might have played it a little too forward for Ghanaian culture, but what the heck. After our auditions, Chief and I went to the Bush Canteen so I could get a pot and then he walked me back to ISH1 where I live, and I found out he lives just across from me in ISH2.
After that I spent another evening fighting with my internet and then trying to just do a system recovery on my computer. So, here's what happened after that. I woke up in the morning on Tuesday and my computer wouldn't come on which was odd and annoying, but I wasn't in the mood to worry about it so I went on with my day. I went to directing class where I found out that my teachers want me to direct something in Ghana this semester FOR SURE. So, I had that rolling around in my brain. Then I went to the ISEP office to sign up for a trip to the Cape Coast festival happening this weekend and check my class schedule with them. It turns out I was signed up for Twi, which I thought I had crossed out because of a schedule conflict. I'm hoping that gets worked out or I've been missing a bunch of class. Also, I realized that I am not 100% positive that I have more choral class on there, which I need to give me the right amount of credits transferring back to FSU. I'll have to figure that all out. After that, I walked back to ISH deep in thought about ideas for plays to direct, really wanting to bounce ideas off of someone in the theatre department at home and ask some questions of a Ghanaian theatre student as well. Lo and behold, as I walked back Chief was out on his friends' balcony and yelled down at me. So, I asked if we could talk about directing and I ended up hanging out with him and his friend Abdul for several hours. It was a fun time for sure, even if I did forget to go to my dance class that evening. I got a better idea of what I was looking for to direct and Chief is getting me some One-Act plays to look at as well.
As I returned to my room I was greeted again with the problem of my computer not working, so I called home to try and talk to my Dad and see if he could help me find out what was wrong with it. To my chagrin, he is in Idaho Falls, so that didn't work out. Instead of being able to figure out what was wrong with my computer, I went to the night market where I was assailed by a random guy I met over a week ago after dance class, who apparently looked for me all night at the dance class. I was reasonably creeped out but tried to be polite until he tried to insist on getting my number and whatnot, after which I told him I was not comfortable with that. He in turn tried to justify himself and our supposedly "established" friendship by telling me that he picked me out of the crowd at dance class a week ago and followed me back to the hostel to talk to me when I was away from my group of friends. He kept saying he really wanted to be friends with me and whatnot, which just made this more creepy than ever. By the time I was leaving, his parting comment was that he would be around, watching me until I was more comfortable to give him my number, needless to say that is NEVER gonna happen. I ended up ranting for a while about it with one of my Ghanaian friends, Fifi, who offered to pose as my boyfriend if I needed him to.
The rest of the night was mainly uneventful, I made some rice and veggies, did entirely too many sudoku puzzles and fell asleep. Wednesday was a school holiday for Ramidan so I didn't have any classes, and I went to a market called Kaneshie with Emily, Matt, and Lianne. We had a good day of shopping. I got some cute sandals, more fabric, and some bracelets, also trying out FanIce which is basically vanilla ice cream in a bag, but it's really good. In the evening, I made some more rice and veggies, and I got to try a Canadian food called Putin, which is fries, gravy, and cheese and is DELICIOUS. Then I went to the internet cafe to try and use Daniel's tools to open up my computer and see if the fans were working, which was my best guess for the problem my computer was having. However, Daniel soon found out that I really didn't know what I was doing, and he called his brother, who fixes computers. He is coming tomorrow, so I am hoping I can find out what is wrong then, and possibly get it fixed for cheap. The rest of the night I spent watching movies with Daniel, and listening to a bunch of people complain because the internet is out at ISH until today or tomorrow. Someone stole the cables that connect our cafe to the overall network in Legon, main campus.
As far as today goes, I woke up incredibly late today, had a groundnut and blackberry currant jam sandwich (the equivalent of PB&J here), and then walked all the way to the International Programs Office where they have a free computer lab for international students. I'm not sure when I'll have a computer again, and I am just hoping against hope that I recover my pictures and whatnot, so we'll see. I'll try and keep you in the loop. Miss you all.
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