congratulations shea!!

my little sister made the travelling soccer team!! i'm so excited for you shea-shea! soon you'll be the one playing on the jmu club team and winning nationals. i love you!

weekend trip to the volta region

our original plan was to leave accra saturday morning around 8am, visit the Wli waterfall and then travel to the hotel. we were going to then go to the monkey sanctuary on sunday and return to accra. but a boy on the trip got sick friday night and needed to go to the clinic to get meds so our departure was delayed about four hours. our guide, awuku, decided it was best for us just to travel for the hotel so that we could watch the ghana vs. usa game and to see both the waterfall and monkey sanctuary on sunday.

it took us around 3 hours to reach the Chances hotel in the volta region. i love driving through that area because it is so mountainous and beautiful, not to mention the times we drive past the volta rivers. the hotel was a little strange; the hallways were huge and the rooms were baren. it had a very hospital-like feel to it. the doors could only be opened and locked by a key, so for example, saturday night i wanted to go to bed early while my roommate wanted to go out and celebrate, i told her to lock the door. i fell asleep and about an hour later woke up because i thought someone was knocking on the door, it then dawned on me that i couldnt open the door without the key and was literally locked in that room. i was pretty freaked out because we're all pretty sure it was some sort of mental hospital.

to watch the ghana game, we were invited into a big room of the hotel with a projector showing the game on a large screen. there were a lot of really nicely dressed men already in there, and they welcomed us with open arms. they went out of their way to make sure we were perfectly comfortable. i found out later that they were all the ministers of ghana, like the minister of water conservation, the minister of sports, etc. we got to watch the ghana-usa game with key members of the government.

the next day we went to the Wli Waterfall. it was about a 45 minute hike to the waterfall. our guide showed us all of the plant life that grows on the side of the trail, like cocoa, coffee, and papiya. the waterfall was easily the most beautiful place i've ever been to. it's the tallest waterfall in western africa. it fell into a small lake and then meandered into a river. it was so peaceful to sit and stare up at the rushing water. some people went into the water, but there could be parasites in it so i opted not too. i got great photographs and videos of it all.

we then travelled to the tofi atome monkey sanctuary. this village coexists with the local monkey population. we got a man from the village to bring us to the monkeys and to tell us a little of the history behind the village and it's becoming a monkey sanctuary. he made a really loud, almost kissing sound and all the monkeys came bounding out of the trees. most were small and really cute. they made funny squeaking noises. we got to feed them bananas.

this weekend was full of amazing experiences. i saw the most beautiful waterfall and got to feed a monkey. i'm sad it's over but i miss my kids at glona and can't wait to see them tomorrow.


by the way, the Stephanie i referred to in a previous entry is an actually person. my mom thouught i was referring to myself but i wasn't. there is a black girl on the trip who was born and grew up in ghana and then moved to the US and is now on the trip with us. it's really helpful to have her because she speaks the local language and serves as a cultural bridge between us and the ghanaians.

visit to the chief's palace

yesterday we went forty-five minutes east to the volta region to visit a more traditional style village. because of the rain (and our guides being late) we arrived two hours after we should have. luckily, the chief forgave us and allowed us into his village. we were met at the tro-tro by his spokesperson, a man draped in colored cloth and holding a golden staff with a sankofa on top. the sankofa is a bird looking backwards (i'm sure you can google it to see) and it represents a return to your beginning, to your roots. he led us into the palace (essentially just a bigger house, nothing dramatic) to meet with the chief and his elders. the chief spoke to us through his spokesman: he forgave us for our tardiness and told us that if he hadn't understood why we were so late we would have had to make a sacrifice of a ram to appease the ancestors. good thing he understood because i couldn't see us killing a mouse, let alone a ram. he then gave us water, which is customary when any visitors enter any house. he asked us the reason for our coming and we told him then gave him gifts. we brought shnapps for the ancestors and school supplies for the village school. the spokesman then performed a ritual of giving the ancestors the gift we brought for them. it was really cool to see such traditional village life in action.

we were then allowed to go see the school and children, while our lunch was being prepared. none of the students spoke very good english, but we found ways to communicate. i played soccer with a bunch of the boys and i think i surprised them with the fact that i could actually play. it was crazzyyy to play soccer on the top of a mountain, with beautiful views all around, on a grass field, aiming for bamboo stick goals. one of the teachers reffed the game, and he called penalty kicks to end it. i scored mine and my team when crazy. the boys i was playing with asked for my email and address so they could write to me. we only got to play for about half an hour; i wish i could've stayed for weeks. the students then sang a prayer for us and performed a dance. the little kids (four and five year olds) are so funny because they can DANCE. they swing their hips like nothing i've ever seen. it is really cool to see a culture that is so involved with dancing and singing. everyday i see people dancing, wherever we go.

we got back to the palace to eat lunch and there was dancing and music being played. the first few dances were reserved for the elders, which was hilarious. one man was very very old but he could still move! his wife came up to him while he was dancing and wrapped her third cloth (they keep it around their waist) around him. this is a signal that she approves of his dancing and thinks he is doing a good job. we had just learned about traditional dancing in class a few days before, so it was awesome to see it happen in person. we danced after we ate for about an hour, then asked the chief for permission to leave. our professor said that the way ghanaians term leave is that they ask if it is okay to just step out side for a moment, until they return again.

on the way back to accra, we hit traffic. traffic in ghana is like nothing i've ever seen. there are barely any lights, and people don't exactly adhere to lanes or normal driving rules. it took us over two hours to get back to our hotel, and i swear an hour and a half of it our tro-tro was completely still, stuck in the worst traffic we've seen yet. it's worse because the rains have been particularly bad, and the roads are a mess. there are HUGE holes everywere. we're lucky if we get a smooth road. for an hour or so after we returned, i still felt like i was being jostled around in the back of the tro-tro.

today we're heading up to kumasi to see the Wli waterfalls and then a monkey sanctuary. we won't be back until sunday night so i don't think i'll be able to update until then. it's a five hour bus ride (and five hours is obviously relative depending on the traffic that we hit).

glona day 4

it was a more difficult day for me at glona on thursday. the kids had a hard time focusing and i was the only teacher in the room for most of the class. i discovered that most of them don't know their alphabet or the phonetic sounds that match the letters so we had to re-learn something they should have already known. moses, the child i helped so much last classes, didn't show up to school that day, the day we were going over things he didn't know. it was really frustrating to have him not show up. i felt bad too because solomon is way too advanced for learning the alphabet. he's bored, but if the other children don't know the basics, they won't advance either. this experience of teaching has really opened my eyes to the difficulties i might face if i do get accepted to the teach for america program.

Ghana vs. Germany

we knew we wanted to go to osu (a section of accra close to the beach) for the game, because that is where they pull the big screens down in front of the buildings and project the game onto them. we got there around six, about a half an hour before the game was supposed to start, and it took us twenty minutes to walk about twenty feet. we were swarmed by vendors, face painters, and children begging for money. everyone wanted to be our "friends". it was stressful. thank god we found duncan (another one of our local friends who have been with the program since the beginning) and he brought us to a sports bar called Cels Bridge. we had to pay 3 Ghana Cedi to get in, but we got a free drink coupon. the bar was PACKED. and i mean PACKED. like sardines. annd we were the only white people. it was awesome. i was really surprised that everyone was so excited for us to be there, and welcomed us to spots on the floor. they actually squished themselves (the people on the floor already) more so that we could have room to sit. if any ghanaian had done that in america during the superbowl, i don't think they would have been allowed in the bar even. it was so cool to watch the game in that environment, even though my ears just about bled from the horns and noise makers, as well as the sound system blasting the commentary. it was probably a good thing ghana didn't score because the roof may have collapsed from all the cheering and dancing. i was disappointed in their play, but whatever, we qualified. its funny that ghana plays the US next. GO BLACK STARS :)

you'd never see this in america

before glona classes started yesterday, all of the students at the school were called in for 'worship'. once they were all assembled in the classroom, one of the girls from our group, Stephanie (she's ghanaian but lives in the US and goes to JMU) led them in a song for the Black Stars. they sang and cheered and danced for a while until one of their teachers led them in more songs. the children were so excited to sing for their country's soccer team. they were then led in a prayer session for the black stars. they all had to close their eyes and pray. the intense looks of concentration and hope on their faces was incredible. you'd never EVER see that from any american children. the ghanaian soccer team has become a beacon of unity for the country, and a source of pride for them because ghana is leading the african nations, once again.

to finish, we sang the cutest song on the planet. the children here have trouble pronouncing "th", so they usually just say "t". the song is called 'one little thumb' but they all sing it as 'one little tumb'. it goes, one little thumb is moooooving, two little thumbs are mooooving, as we are praising god. then the song continues to include hands, feet, head, stomach and buttocks. they love this song.

glona day 3

i can't remember if anything exciting slash interesting happened before glona. i don't think so, classes were long as usual and we played with the hundreds of kids before we taught. this little boy named joshua has decided that he is my personal body guard before glona and he sticks to me like glue. he holds my water bottle for me when i play clapping games with the girls.

oh, i have noticed that in ghana violence is much more widely accepted than in the US. if a kid doesn't want another one near him or her they just whack the other person. the teachers threaten "beating" but they never really do it. the kids actually think its really funny. one of the teachers i work with, Madame Rose (she's Ghanaian), asked me yesterday if she should keeel the children who weren't paying attention. she said: Madame Stephanie, should i keeeel them? and all of the children started laughing.

glona just keeps getting better and better. i'm excited now that i've started to form bonds with my kids. they are doreen (17), moses (16 i think), solomon (16), samira (11), hannah (12), and benedicta (14). we taught them to spell the numbers eleven through twelve again. i noticed that moses was having a really tough time spelling any of the numbers. i pulled him to the side and asked him to phoenetically sound the word out. i discovered he couldnt match any phonetic sound with any letter. i asked him if he had been in school for that lesson and he said yes, but since i didn't believe i asked solomon and solomon said that he had been absent. this just shows how difficult it is to teach at glona: the students can't have set terms because they stop coming to school for periods of time. then when they come back, they are far behind the others. so moses, who was trying to learn how to spell numbers with everyone else, was really struggling because he couldn't sound out the words to match them to the letters. once he got it correct, though, was soooo amazing. everyone was so excited for him and he was excited too. it took them a long time to learn it all but everyone was SO happy when they did. i loved the feeling i got from know i helped them learn and was able to pinpoint the root of his struggle.

glona day 2

i had a MUCH better day today than i did before. i think it is because i know what to expect now from glona. the day started off as my other one had ended, where i was sitting on a desk watching the german 'madame' teach. (all the students call me madame too). i tried to remember her tactics for when students got something wrong or if they were unruly. then she had to go teach in another class and i took over. i reviewed teaching them the months, which they tend to memorize so i wrote them on the board all mixed up and tried to get them to focus on the letters of the words, not just remembering what the third month is. then i taught them all how to spell eleven through twenty and double checked their notebooks after they'd copied it down. when i get home, i'm going to mail a big package of school supplies to them. they really don't have enough. all of the notebooks are old and torn, there aren't enough erasers for the classrooms so it becomes a competition, the pencils they use are broken and unsharpened. its hard enough to learn when they come from bad homes, but they don't even have the materials they need.

pre-glona

so in order for our group to get to the schools we're volunteering at at the right time, we have to drop the kids off for new horizons then drive to glona. we end up getting at glona about an hour early right as the public school kids (who we borrow classrooms in the building from) are getting out of school. there are literally hundreds of kids. the first day we went, my friend brad and i tried to play soccer with them. it was hard because it would end up being about 20 on 1. they decided brad wasn't good so when i tried to play, they told me white people could play soccer. i made them give me the ball and kept it away from them for about a good minute (which was pretty good when i had 20 converge on me and more coming by the second). this one kid wouldn't stop making fun of me so i nutmegged him and everyone started cheering. they decided i was good and wouldn't let me not play. this one little boy joshua kept making fun of me because i was tired. (it was also about 95 degrees and 100% humidity).

the second day we got there, the children all knew what the white tro-tro meant and surrounded the van before it stopped. i played with girls yesterday (tuesday) and danced and learned different clapping games. they think its soooo funny when i dance (a. because i'm white and b. because i can't). everyone in the Akan ethnic groups names their children based on what day of the week they were born. A boy born on thursday, for example, is Yaw. so they sang a song, if you were born on monday come in and dance. then they'd form a circle around the people dancing. brad made the mistake of throwing a kid in the air and then catching him. he had to do it about fifty times after that. we also played the largest game of duck duck goose on the planet.

a few things i thought of

so living in a hotel is interesting. every so often the electricity shuts off and we're stuck in the dark for a few minutes. this morning the water didn't work, good thing i showered last night. my shower head isn't attached to the wall so i have to hold it the whole shower. everytime we walk on the street taxis honk at us, and there are a LOT of taxis.

first day of glona teaching

i don't know what my problem was today but i could not pay attention in the morning lectures. they were interesting and engaging i just couldn't focus. the first was about mental health issues and how they are dealt with in ghana. this was a good lesson for those who are teaching at new horizons. there is a very strong stigma attached to mental illness in ghana, so strong that a man would not marry a woman who has a brother or sister with a mental illness. ghanaians are very suspicious people and the belief is that most illnesses are the work of the gods because that person had done something to deserve the illness. their karma is immediate. the second lecture was about the politics of ghana and the most interesting thing from that lecture is that they have a policy of decentralization. it's funny because our country seems to be traveling in the opposite direction.

today was the first day of teaching at glona. i don't know what i expected but it definitely wasn't what happened. we got to choose the class we helped out with; i choose the "special" class, which is basically for students of all ages who have never had any schooling before. we teach them literacy and numeracy. kelly and i walked into class and there was no teacher. i guess the teacher was sorting out some monetary problem that she had, because she didn't show up for like fifteen minutes. we were kind of thrown into a classroom with no instruction, without knowing what the students had done before. finally the teacher came and told us they needed to learn the months and then left again. we taught the students the months, which was great. it was kind of a test run to see what worked and what didn't. we didnt have a great control of the class, but they learned! the teacher came back after about half an hour and she took control. she taught them phonetics for a test they have tomorrow while we sat in the corner and watched. it was kind of a 180 and i didn't really like it. i wish that the teacher had given us some sort of information on what our role in the class actually is. i was pretty disappointed but we'll see what tomorrow has in store. we're allowed to switch classes if we want and i'm considering it. i'm still undecided so i'll figure it out tomorrow. i'm ridiculously tired. oh, i bought a cell phone so i'll be able to make more phone calls when i get it tomorrow.

sunday night's activites

my roommate lauren and i were waiting for prosper (our local guide and friend) near our hotel. when he found us, he told us we had to go visit his friend's who live right next to our hotel because their grandmother just died and they were having the wake. we were welcomed with open arms into the home, despite being a different race and complete strangers at a time of loss. we had local dishes with the family (it was soooo good) and they made sure we were completely comfortable. it was so incredible that the family welcomed us in without any questions and made us feel like we were a part of the family.

after that we went to the local billiards bar that is very popular. we were on the deck looking out and the children who we have been playing with (they live right next to the bar, and the bar is called Neighborhood) were playing in the yard. the were doing miss mary mack, just like we taught them. it was great to see them playing the games that we taught them even without us being there! we ran down to them right away and got huge hugs from everyone. i brought my camera because they'd asked me to take pictures of the akosombo dam for them.

i was kneeling on the ground, holding the camera out as far as i could so everyone could see, and i probably had fifteen children and their parents watching as i showed them. they love my hair, so as i was going through and explaining the pictures, i had about twenty hands grooming me at the same time. those kids are so cute. they saw the video of shea playing the flute and i told them that she was my sister and they got very excited. they said: "next time you come to ghana, you bring her. we want to meet her. she is beautiful." i told them i'd see what shea said. then Annie (she's 11) asked me if she could come home with me and my heart just about broke. i wish i could show them all america.

longest day of my life

i'm sorry i haven't been able to update yet, we just got back to the hotel from glona and we only had time for lunch between classes and glona. now we're being carted off to another lecture. i'll update tonight or tomorrow morning.

missed holidays

HAPPPYYY BIRTHDAY NANNYYY!!!! 94 :) i love you!


HAPPYY FATHERS DAY DAD! i love you very much and i know you would absolutely love it here. i hope you had a good day, i'm sorry i couldn't have been there.

dodi princess cruise

the next morning (sunday) we went on the dodi island princess cruise. we travelled for about two hours on the volta lake to reach dodi island, then the two hours back. there was lunch and drinking and dancing and a live band on the cruise. on the way to the island we all danced and made fools of ourselves. the island was a bit of a disappointment. i didn't know what to expect, but i thought we would be let off in a town or something. the island was essentially still natural with a very small town far from where we docked. we followed a path to the other side of that part of the large island, and then walked back. but along the way, the people who live on the island lined the trail and played music and asked for money. i wish i had known that that was going to happen because i would've picked up more pesuwas (ghanaian cents, pes-oo-ways). on the way back to the dam, everyone fell asleep. it was a long weekend.

we had another two hour drive back to accra. on the way we passed villages that had been displaced because of flooding from the rainy season. it was so sad. i suppose this happens alot, there are two rainy seasons every year, but it was still very scary to see all the people lined up along the side of the road, while their houses were half under water and others tried to get their cars out of the flooding. it was a very sobering experience.

i have more to tell about yesterday night, but i've got to go to class now. i'll update again as soon as i can!

akosombo dam

it took about two hours to drive to the akosombo dam. the dam is huuuge! it's completely natural, being that it is made from rocks and sand, not concrete. the dam has created the largest land made lake in the world, volta lake. after touring the dam and taking tons of pictures, of course, we went to the continental hotel for lunch and to watch ghana play australia. after lunch we drove up to our real hotel, volta hotel, which is at the very top of a mountain near the dam. the view from the hotel was amazing! just stepping out onto the balcony of my room i could see all the surroundng hills, the volta lake and the akosombo dam.

at the hotel we found these huge centipedes. they were as long as my foot and about an inch across. they were so disgusting and everywheree. it was the first big bug that i've encountered so far.

we hung out by the pool for a while, it was great to get into water that wouldnt give us parasites, then went to dinner. there was a night club at the hotel so we decided to venture to that. it was hilarious. no one was there but us and there was a dj and strobe lights and dancing. good thing there were no ghanaians because our dancing was horrible.

the most amazing little kids

after the coffins, lauren (my roommate) and i went out with her friend prosper. he's a local that she met and he has been taking care of us when we want to explore. we explored with him for a little and we ended up in this area deep from the main road. alot of the people there had never seen a white person before! ha, it was funny to be on the other end of the camera. i now know how they feel to have us constantly taking pictures. we ended up close to our hotel where a bunch of kids were playing in the street. i gave them lollipops and immediately they wanted to be our best friends. we taught them duck duck goose and they kept saying joose! and running. then we played miss mary mack, and i swear i did that rhyme 30 times. they sang us songs, tried to teach us a dance (which by our standards would be ridiculously inappropriate for girls that age, but damn, they can dance! and its just a part of their culture, and one that i am very jealous of!) they thought it was hilarious when we tried and failed to imitate their moves. one girl, by accident i think at first, touched my hair and she was amazed at how soft it was. alllll of the kids then proceded to touch it. some were rubbing their hands in the dirt at the time and reached right up to grab it. they had never seen hair with so many colors, they said too. it was such an amazing experience. those children were so cute and friendly and adorable. i love them already and can't wait to come back to play with them on monday! we're off to akosombo to see the electric dam for the weekend then go on a cruise on sunday. i will be able to post again sunday at the earliest.

crazy coffins

yesterday after class, we had the opportunity to visit some coffin makes about half an hour from the hotel towards kumasi. these specific guys make coffins in the shapes of things that people like, or that represented their occupation. it took us an hour to get there because we hit this insannnne traffic. crazy in twi is obodam....(oh-boh-DAM). i've been in some obodam traffic in ghana but nothing like this before. it was like five lanes (and i say lanes loosely because there aren't any) trying to squeeze down into one. we were literally touching another tro-tro on either side. oh, and roads here don't undergo much up keep. every ride is a bumpy ride. and this one was especially bumpy. so we finally go to the coffin making shop and we're informed that all the coffins had been removed the day before. there was one in the shape of a fish that they were working on, but we got to see pictures of the finished products. some coffins were shaped like chickens, beer cans, houses, pipes, hammers, or there was even a holy bible and an AK-47. it was hilarious but inappropriate to laugh because these are peoples coffins!

guest speaker part 2

one of the stories the guest speaker told was about a group of hunters in the northern region of ghana. they went out to explore the local forests and stumbled upon 4 monkeys guarding a sacred totem. they returned to their village and informed the king of their findings. they thought the monkeys to be sacred and that they should not be harmed. the king did not believe them, and went hunting for the monkeys. it is said that sometimes, when the king would slay a monkey, its body would turn into a man. the people did not like the king's rampage so they rose up against him and beheaded him. after that, the people formed a community around the monkeys, and even to this day, people in this region live together with the monkeys. they are allowed to roam freely throughout the villages and enter peoples' homes. the people often feed the monkeys and the two species are connected in a culturally important way. their identity is infused with that of the monkeys.

the professor, aside from telling very interesting stories, reminded us that in many parts of africa, the protection and preservation of sacred groves is woven into the very cultural being of the people protecting them. nature and humanity don't stand apart, with humans either protecting or destroying nature. the trees (or in that story's case, monkeys) are more than trees; they have cultural importance to who these people are. it would be amazing to be able to visit some of these places! our professor was very lucky, he'd seen many sacred groves in ghana.


and i can't BELIEVE the celtics rolled over in the fourth quarter. ugh. congrats lakers. i hope the game was at least interesting to watch for those who could watch it. remember, ghana plays australia today! go black starsssss!

guest speaker

before i came on this trip, i was mainly focused on predicting what it was going to be like once i was in africa and what connecting with the ghanaians would be like. i forgot that i'd be making some strong bonds with the kids in my study abroad group. i'm surprised at how fast we've all gotten so close. it's definitely enhanced my experience here, and i can tell that these friends are going to continue to do so but at the same time i am sometimes being forced to choose to focus on one or the other. like do i go to the mall with my friends or focus on learning more about ghana? i think that we'll be able to find a way to even it all out as we get going. i think the seven or so people i've become really close with are all volunteering at glona with me, so we'll be able to have both. i start volunteering on a regular basis on monday.

tonight we had a guest speaker lecture us for an hour. he spoke about sacred groves and global environmentalists. he told some crazy stories about how the local people personify plants. i'll have to explain them tomorrow when i have more time, because i just got really tired.

second day of classes and glona

ughhh class was hard today. our first professor didn't show up until 45 minutes after he was supposed to and even though we were supposed to have another lecture on time after the first, he taught for the full amount of time (an hour and fifteen min) about the culture of ghana. he mostly talked about how everyone is very communal and usually the most successful member of the family takes care of everyone else. then he spoke about female genitalia mutilation and how it occurs in some parts of northern ghana, but not as severe as eastern africa. the second professor spoke clearly, but SLOWly. he spoke for 45 minutes longer than he was supposed to. unfortunately, i've already learned about the akan speaking states of the pre-colonial ghana region from my african history classes at jmu and that is excatly what that professor talked about for over two hours. it was cool seeing how the information i learned directly related to my trip, but it was pretty boring, seeing as how i knew it already.

we went to local place for lunch because their sign advertized pizza AND their menu said they had many different kinds, but when we went to order the man said there was no pizza. ha. so we had sandwiches. last night i had a local dish that is really popular, called fu-fu, which is dough that you use to scoop up soup and meat. it was reallllllllyyy spicy. i struggled through most of it, but the meat (goat) was great. i think i'll try banku (bawn-koo) tonight which is fermented corn in a dough instead of just regular dough.

WE FINALLY WENT TO GLONA! its about fifteen minutes further from our hotel than new horizons, but totally worth the drive. we only toured the classrooms today (all five of them) so that we will be able to make a decision about where we want to volunteer; half the class is going to new horizons and the other half to glona. the kids were so sweet. they all seemed very excited to see us. all of the classes are taught by team teachers, usually a local ghanaian and then a foreign volunteer. three of the classes were taught by german volunteers who stay a year in ghana teaching. i'm going to start volunteering for real on monday and i can't wait!


alsoooo, last but definitely not least, HAPPYYYY BIRTHDAY SHEA SHEA!!!!! i'm so excited that youre ten! i hoped you like the coloring book! don't color it in too fast. i miss you and love you very very much! (and of course got you great presents from ghana that i'm bringing back) i love you!

New Horizons

first of all, happy birthday nana!! i'm bringing you back a great ghanaian (GHA-nay-AN) present :)

after lunch we went to the new horizons special school. they have seven classes all focused on different groups of students who have similar needs. the students were SO excited to see us. it was a really emotional experience. i was really nervous at first, because i've never had much experience with people who have mental illnesses. i'm so happy i got to see what the school is like. it's such a beautiful place. the director said that all of the children (and adults, the ages vary) love to come to school. we visited each class. one student stood out particularly. Leslie is in a more advanced class and his life long asperation is to be president. Devon (a girl from our group) read his manifesto outloud. it was amazing. his policies all revolve around equality and bettering the lives of the poor. he called his party the peace party. if he ever ran for president, he'd have my vote. the school has a computer room, library and workshops. the workshops were really cool; the students can make quilts, jewelry, intricate woven baskets, stools, chairs, and table cloths. their work was really good! they sell the things that they create to make money for the school. i spent my first 10 cedi there. (the cedi is 1.42 to the dollar) i'm definitely going to spend more there later.

we visit Glona tomorrow (finallyyy) after classes. then we have the option of volunteering at either school. i have no idea how i'm going to choose! i think working at either is going to be a very rewarding experience. we're planning on going to a beach bar tonight with some local friends of the professors.

going to school

last night i stayed up late with a bunch of the friends i've made here. i adore my new friends. i'm so excited that such great people came on this trip! i don't think i've laughed so hard for so long in a lonnggg time. literally my abs were sore this morning.

we left the hotel at 8:15am to make it to the University of Ghana by 9am. we travelled in a tro-tro, a small bus. the classes were interesting and the university was much bigger than i expected. we had to be careful to be quiet because the local students were taking their final exams. in the first lecture we learned about the "petty trader" or street vendors, and the advantages and disadvantages they have over places with fixed locations and fixed prices. it was kind of like an early economics lesson. the second lecture was more difficult (because his accent was thicker and voice lower) and i didn't catch every word. he spoke on the agriculture in ghana. the main crops are oil palm, cocoa, rubber, and citrus. 90% of the farmers are small scale farmers, owning 1 or 2 acres. 70% of people in ghana are farmers or perform some farm related occupation. it was interesting to hear about the different exports and how farmers' daily lives are like.

i'm off to the New Horizons school, a local school for the mentally challenged of all ages. and it is absolutely pouring today. gotta love the rainy season.

bus trip to the mountains

the local people here speak so many different langauges! it makes me embarrassed that i know only english. the woman who works at the desk at our hotel speaks SIX. the main language here is twi and i've been trying to learn as many words as i can. medasi (meh-dah-see) means thank you, me di (meh-dee) means for me, and to get someone's attention you must yell ago! and they respond aman! i love learning it. there's acutally a man in the computer room right now from togo that i'm speaking broken french with.

so today we travelled outside of accra to the east to a mountain. it was neat to see the difference between the structures of the buildings within accra and outside of it. the bus drove up this steep, windy road (i was a little nervous but our driver is very good. he likes us to call him "my brother" and he calls me "my sister"). the view was breath-taking. we looked down on the Ghana Plains, a huge area where accra is located. once we got to the top of the mountain, we visited a botanical garden. we saw where cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa, bay leaves and this cool plant that you touch and within five seconds it shrivels up to protect itself. my favorite was a parasite tree that grows on a host tree, eventually choking it of water and sunlight. then when the host tree finally dies, the parasite tree is left in the shape of the host tree, essentially a hollow tree. we got to go inside a HUGE parasite tree. it was hollow all the way to the top! then we had lunch in a garden on a patio.

i love talking to everyone about soccer. everyone is beyond excited for the world cup. when ghana plays, they pull down gigantic screens (like three stories hight) on Oxford Street and people watch the game gathered in the street. we're going to do that when they play Germany (obviously their best competition).

i start class tomorrow and get to volunteer at Glona! i'm soooooo excited to see the little kids! i can't wait to play with them and have them destroy my confidence in my soccer ability.

(ps i thought we had planned to go to the US embassy but i guess not...ha)

tour of accra

today we went on a bus tour of accra. it was really cool to see more of the city! there are so many people everyywhere. vendors walk up and down the streets and try to sell their merchandise to cars that are stopped in traffic or at a light. i'm amazed that they don't get hit. all the women carry giant bundles on their heads. we saw them with bananas, nuts, water bottles, even a tv. we went to a museum (for a really long time, in 95 degree heat with no fans) and then to the house that W.E.B. DuBois stayed in when he studied at the University of Ghana. We went to lunch at some restaurant (we thought it was called Maddi but then we saw that same logo and name on a bunch of stalls so its probably a product title?) and i had a plantain (kind of like a big banana, that tastes like a combination of banana and potato), chicken, rice and spinach. most of their food is really spicy, so that stinks for me. everyone says we must try fou-fou, but i haven't had the chance yet. after lunch we went to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (my favorite stop besides the market). He was the first president of Ghana and helped lead them to independence from Britain. the park was beautiful! it had a huge fountain leading up to where his remains are being kept. they had a bunch of peacocks strolling around and a museum with various objects of Nkrumah's life.

our last destination was the most interesting. we went to a local market, set up almost like a flea market, under a roof with everyone having a stall and what they were selling was everywhere. the vendors were AGGRESSIVE. everyone immediately grabs your hand and says, hey friend whats your name? come see what i have to show you. i'll give you a good good price. then they yank you to their booth and show you what they are selling. and when i say show me, i mean put it on me. you have to say no very forcefully if you don't want to buy what they are selling. i didn't get anything yet but practiced bardering a little. i'm planning on getting a jersey, flag, earrings and paintings. they had the most beautiful paintings! and of course whoever was manning the stall claimed they painted them. when we were leaving, the vendors were even more aggressive. they blocked our way onto the van, trying to get us to buy their wooden carvings. then once we were on the van, they tapped at the windows trying to get us to come back out. it was a very different experience but it was really fun. i can't wait to go back and actually buy things.

on the drive back we saw the ocean for the first time and drove past the biggest muslim population center. that was the first i really saw of any houses (more like tin shacks) that were like the shantis that they show on tv depicting african life. alot of the houses are huge and really pretty. this area of accra was HUGE. it took us like fifteen minutes to turn away from the muslim area and the house-shantis went back from the road at least a mile. the area was HUGE. i'm curious as to what it would be like to live in a place like that. we also saw kids playing pick up soccer games in abandoned lots. i wanted to get out and play. i can't wait until i get to play with the kids on wednesday!

I'M IN AFRICA!!

akwaaba! (welcome)

The flight went really well. The take off was much more smooth than any flight i've ever been on. we got a quick meal and then i fell asleep for probably five hours. then i got to watch alice in wonderland and valentine's day. we arrived in ghana and got through customs just in time for ghana to score their winning (and only) goal against serbia. the entire airport errupted into yelling, singing, music, dancing, and blow horns. it was amazing! and really loud. we got to stay at the airport until the game was finished, which they won, and was followed by more singing, music and dancing.

on the way to the van with all of our luggage, we were hounded by men trying to earn (or bum) a few dollars or anything they could off of us. our guide (awuku...ah-woo-koo) made sure all our luggage was safe. he told us the men were trying to make enough money to go down to south africa and see some games.

the drive to the hotel was really interesting. there are some beautiful houses followed by areas of not so beautiful houses. the nice houses, we were told sell for around 600,000$, were surrounded by huge walls topped with barbed wire or broken glass. everyone waved to us as we drove by, and there were lots of kids playing soccer in the streets.

the hotel is nice; i'm in a triple room with two girls from long island. we have a tv and fridge and the bed is comfortable. i haven't figured out how to use the phone with the calling card yet, but i'll probably try to tackle that after dinner. for dinner i ordered grilled lobster with rice. we have a big menu that we can choose from and around 5pm a sheet goes to all the rooms to take our orders and we eat at 7pm.

tomorrow we are leaving the hotel at 9am to go to the US Embassy. i'm defintiely going to bed right after dinner, i'm exhausted!