Charle, Wote North! (Lets go to the North!)

I think it hasn’t hit me yet that I leave Ghana in a week. I have my days all planned out - when I will write my last paper, study for my last exam, beach days and touristy shopping days - but I'm still waiting to fully realize that I am leaving this place that has been my home for the past 4 months. Maybe it will never sink in. But I guess all I can do is go with it and make sure I am taking in the fleeting moments I have left. 

I came back yesterday morning from a whirlwind four days in the Northern and Upper West regions. The trip, I have to admit, was not all good. It was amazing in so many ways, but it was much more difficult to navigate, to negotiate and to avoid being scammed that I have ever experienced in Ghana. I felt like every other turn we were getting ripped off or received wrong information. I have developed a happy medium between weary and trusting, in which I feel I can gauge when I am being treated differently or unfairly, but this trip blew that out of the water. One example is that on our bus ride from Tamale to Mole we were told 1. that we needed to give the conductor a "tip" to make sure we would have a seat on the bus (this is something I have had to do on route to the Jewish community, so I knew it was a valid practice), and that we had to pay the full fare even though our stop was halfway through the ride. Once we got onto the bus it was half full so we didn’t need to “tip”, but the driver informed us that we actually only had to pay 5GHC, not 13GHC, and once he had change he would give us each our 8GHC: 40GHC in total. When we were getting off the bus at our stop, the bus driver gives me 10GHC - 30GHC short of what he owed us. We started arguing with him and it turned into a screaming match between us and local passerbys on our behalf, and the driver. It ended with the driver speeding away and me left with a measly 10GHC in my hand. This was one of many similar instances where I felt that because I was a foreigner, white, a woman, who knows why, I was being treated differently and it was a huge disadvantage. However, we made a conscious effort to not let these inconveniences damper our experience. 

After 20 hours of traveling from Accra to Tamale, we arrived in Larambanga, a small village outside of Mole National Park. We stayed at the Salia Brothers Safari Lodge. The Salia brothers (twins) and their "nephew" Inusah were amazing and so hospitable. We got a tour of the village and the local mosque, which is rumored to be the oldest building in Ghana. 

Mosque of Larambanga

Of course the tour included hoards of screaming children wanting to take photos and asking for goodies. We then went to Mole National Park to go on SAFARI! Unfortunately we did not see elephants, which they warned us about, but we did see plenty of warthogs, kobs, bushbacks (in the antelope family) and even some monkeys. So we decided to come back the next morning to see elephants and OH did we see them! They were so beautiful and HUGE! It made the already amazing time in Mole even better. 

We then waited for a tro-tro to Wa in the Upper West region, but none were passing. So, after an hour or so of waiting we had no choice but to go by pick up truck. It was a bumpy ride but resulted in a very nice tan, so I can't complain. Wa is a neat town - lots of motorcycles, no cabs and oodles of mosques. However, our hotel was atrocious, never go to the Kunetah Lodge, the room was infested with bugs and manned by idiot brothers that were inconsistent, inhospitable and rude. I normally would not speak so bluntly, but they were really awful - thankfully we were only there for one night. However, Wa itself was really cool. On Wednesday we got up early, jumped on a tro tro to Wechiau and went on a river safari to see HIPPOS. 

Hippos wading in the water

I think we were pretty worn out and sunburnt by this point so the group energy was low, but it was still really cool! We saw hippos wading in the river - they are so much bigger than I imagined. You cant see them on land because they are nocturnal and apparently really really dangerous! The river safari was in the Black Volta river, which happens to be the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso, so after seeing some hippos we hopped over to Burkina Faso to take a photo

The rest of the day we hung out in Wa and toured a beautiful mosque near the bus station. We got   the tour from this funny old man who knew no English but kept saying “Wow” every other sentence (definitely making fun of me), and his grand daughter who translated and lead us around. 

Then it was time to head back to Accra. I feel that we rushed through our trip a bit, but considering I only have a few days in Ghana I wanted to get back. We had to take an overnight bus  to Accra because there are no other options, but it was nice because we thought the ride would be 22 hours and it was actually 12, so we got back to Accra Thursday morning and had the day to sleep off the trip. The bus was the nicest bus I’ve ever been on, but that was cancelled out by the AC blasting (I got a cold!), the music blaring from midnight on and that the driver only stopped twice in 12 hours for less than 10 minutes.  

Now I only have a week to do everything I want to do and study/write papers. I did a bunch of shopping yesterday and I almost have all my clothing made (I’ll post photos later)! Since I am leaving early to meet Mommy in Europe, a bunch of friends and I are going to the beach for two days! It should be fun, and a good motivation for me to get my work done before Wednesday so I can enjoy the beach!

I am going to post one more time (now that I wrote it I have to!), so look out for my parting thoughts and a list of my favorite things about Ghana

Volta Region

Only 3 weeks left and I'm trying to cram in all that I want to do, plus travel, plus buy gifts, plus take exams too, I guess.



But first, I just got back from an AMAZING trip to the Volta Region, easily the most beautiful region I've been to yet (which I knew could have guessed because my host family is from there, so it must be amazing, but now I know from experience). We started out Saturday morning from Madina station outside of Accra heading to Hohoe in the Volta Region. This seems to be a reoccurring pattern; it was originally supposed to be just three of us, but as we went along people started tagging onto our plans and we ended up being a group of 7, which is always really fun.  Once we got to Hohoe we took a cab to our hotel, quickly checked in and headed to the Wli Water Falls. There are two falls, the Lower and Upper Falls. The lower falls is barely a hike and the upper falls is very challenging, so since were badass we went to the Upper Falls. The hike was definitely challenging, and I grossly underestimated the time it would take, so I kept thinking I was almost there and when I realized I wasn't it was very frustrating. But once we got there it was so worth it. The falls was straight out of Planet Earth or something: a beautiful waterfall, a rainbow, beautiful towering wall of rock and lush greenery.

 We spent some time relaxing, splashing and taking very silly photos, but we had to head back down because it was going to get dark soon. I definitely dislike going back down the most when hiking. Its hard on the ankles and my toes and its not exciting or physically challenged, I just wanted to get down already. On our way out we stopped by the Lower Falls and saw a whole flock of bats, I've never seen so many bats in my life!!

The tour guide made some raquette and they flew everywhere it was kind of terrifying. After the hike we rewarded ourselves with some cookies and a nice dinner at our hotel. Of course the food took forever and I was starving and if you know me you know that I do not handle being hungry with pose in any way, so I was cranky and pathetically picking the bones off my friend's tilapia until my dinner came. But it was delicious after over an hour wait. I passed out almost immediately after dinner, in preparation for our next big adventure on Sunday.




Sunday morning we hiked Mountain Afadjato, which is supposably the highest point in Ghana, even though there was a much taller mountain right next to it, but I'm choosing to believe that one's in Togo.

 After our hike we packed up our stuff and headed to the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. We had a perplexing issue when paying for the tour. We each paid separately and at the end of all the change exchange the receptionist was short 10 cedi. Of course if this was the states the tour company would chalk it up to their mistake and we would be on our way shortly, but of course it was an hour long conversation which ended with each of us paying an extra cedi and the company paying 3 cedi to make up the difference. I still don't understand what happened or why it needed to be such a big deal, but that's Ghana for you. But the monkey sanctuary itself was AWESOME. The tour guide gave us bananas and all these monkeys jumped on us and were eating the bananas right out of your hands.

 It was so fun I wanted to stay all day and play with the monkeys. It's also really cool that there is such great eco-tourism and animal protection efforts in Ghana, when in Accra everything feels so industrial and detached from nature. After the monkeys and a tour of the surrounding forest and village (a percentage of the profits go to the nearby village) we headed to Ho.




Three of us were going to visit Carrie, an American photographer that Jesse's mom connected me to that has a photography non-profit in Ho. But on meeting her we learned she does much much more than just teaching photography! We spent Monday day with her, visiting her home and her daughter, an orphaned girl she met in Keta (village in Volta Region) and has been living with her and attending school. They had an interesting relationship that resembled the typical Ghanaian mother-daughter relationship in which the daughter is expect to help with household chores and serve the mother, which was strange in juxtaposition with her relationship with her dog, Puppy, who she definitely raised like your typical, pampered American dog. However, I feel like their unorthodox mother-daughter relationship works for them, and probably fits their cultural understandings as a Ghanian daughter and Ex-pat living in Ghanian society. After some coffee and bombarded her with questions, Carrie took us to meet the children she is funding to go to school in the cured leprosy village. That is just one of her projects. She also assists in chief events, works with the New Horizon School of the Bling in Ho, teaches in local schools, and does other side projects like creating a tourist book for Ho, that she would lightly mention. It is really amazing what she is doing for that community, and she is constantly facing obstacles, like the children's cameras being stolen or waiting for funding for children's school fees because the donors are traveling to India. As we tagged along on her daily life I couldn't help wonder if I would be happy living the way she is in Ho. I'm still not sure but it was good to see an alternative lifestyle and career choice that I would have never before been exposed to.




It's so crazy, but I only have one more trip (Tamale and Mole), 3 exams, 2 papers and 3 weeks left in Ghana!! I'm looking forward to everything, but also really freaked out that it's almost over. Hopefully I will be able to do all the last minute things I want to do before my vacation with Mommy in Belgium and the Netherlands, which I am so so so so excited for!! Half of me wants May 20th to never come, the other half of me wants the time to hurry up already so I can see mommy! Regardless, its going to happen whenever it does and I just have to enjoy the time I have.

"God's pencil has no eraser"

I have been thinking about this a lot, not just in Ghana, but in Guatemala and even at Clark. Especially after spending a Ghanaian Passover I think about it even more and this thing is RELIGION. 

Ghana is a very Christian country, from Catholic to Pentecostal, and I put RELIGION in all caps because in this country, like many others, it is in all caps, always important, constant overwhelming presence. I see Christianity in the names of stores, on posters, billboards, in the words of sermon preachers on my 7am bus ride, on signs in the campus library that reads "Please be quiet. Don't forget to pray," from strangers when they greet me with "Hello, how are you? What is your name? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I chalk these experiences up to cultural learning. I often ignore them because, even though I don't like to admit it, all the religion stuff freaks me out because I have no context in my own life to explain so much devotion to a single ideal by so many people. I try to reason out how people can believe in Christ by relating it to something that I believe in, such as medicine. Is it not true that if someone told me Advil did not relieve headaches, I would fight them on it, listing my experiences with its success and advocating for its use, even though I have no idea how Advil works? So how is that any different from religion? Just as I assume medicine and science explain the world around me and how my body functions, isn't that how religious individuals justify God's word?

But I cannot ignore the hypocrisy, the propaganda and the hate that I see perpetrated in the name Christianity. (Now, before someone gets offended, I am talking about Christianity specifically because that is what I have been experiencing. I understand that other religions and traditional practices hold similar stances but I have not encountered them in this way. I also am talking about Christianity as it has manifested itself in my experiences, which may not represent other forms).

For example, what strikes me about Christianity in Ghana is the mix between Christianity and spirituality, which presents itself with speaking in tongues, demon possessions and over the top sermons in community spaces. In Ghana in particular, God is not a part of your personal life, but a fixture in communal life that is not open to other options. It is a stark contrast to New England, where I would be surprised to see a single billboard advertise a religious event, of which I see at least 10 on my commute into Accra. 

I have been trying very hard to be open minded and culturally tolerant in my perceptions of religion in Ghana. But, if I'm being honest, it makes me annoyed and sometimes really angry. I don't like that I feel I have to avoid the topic when people ask me if I'm Christian because I feel they will judge me. I don't enjoy watching preachers on Christian television chant at people, sending them into a seizure, curing them from an obsessive eating of uncooked rice. I don't like it when a little girl tells me she doesn't like Obama because he is the anti-christ. But I have calmed these minor annoyances from become anger or elitist frustration, with some exceptions. I cannot avoid being angry when a 3 year old boy comes to the Police Hospital with a broken leg and whipping marks all over his body because his step mom had a vision at her church he was possessed by the devil, and decided to take care of it through violence.

But I understand that I cannot judge any society and the people within it from a superior lens. My way is no better than anyone else's. Because everyone perpetrates hate, but perhaps not everyone uses a book and a prophet to back it up. Everyone fears the unknown, dislikes uncertainties and is selfish, but some conceal these sentiments behind the curtain of Jesus and others don't. It was very timely that I stumbled upon this article while I was mulling over these conflicting emotions: Im Christian, unless you're gay  because it captures the religion conundrum much more eloquently that I can hope to. 

Despite all this - the hate, the propaganda, the violence perpetrated in the name of a belief, the is most important thing to note is that all Christians are not the same. They are not all conservative, creationist Republicans that push their Christian agenda as a vehicle for political sway and bigotry. Now written out that seems obvious, but I don't think this understanding is often put into practice. If you have ever read Half the Sky you will learn that we would have no charity and very few people traveling around the world trying to help those less fortunate, were it not for religion. There would be no Martin Luther King Jr., no Mother Theresa. What I have learned more than anything is that there are many remarkable people that do not fit the stereotype but are very devote believers in Jesus Christ. I met these people in Guatemala, I met these people at Clark and I am meeting them here in Ghana. These people defy my own conceptions that to be liberal you must be secular. That to be conservative you must be preachy. These are people that are using faith to do great things while being tolerant and culturally understanding and without imposing their beliefs upon those they do good work with. It is those people that I feel are misrepresented in our society, in the media and in highly religious countries. 

This is a heavy one, I'll follow it with a light one in a few days (lets be honest, it'll probably take me over a week) where I'll share all my favorite things about Ghana!!

REALLY QUICK UPDATE:

Kumasi was great - I bought too many gifts! This weekend we celebrated my friend Rachel's birthday! This week is my last week of classes to be followed by a trip to the Volta Region where we will visit Kekeli Inc. among other things, and then I have my Traditional African Dance exam and Twi exam!! Yikes, it's like real school. Yebishiya bio! ("see you later," not the correct spelling). 

Just another Passover...

This past weekend a group of us traveled to a rural Jewish community in the village of Sefwi Wiawaso.   I think I mentioned this in a previous post but if not here is a website that explains how what why when of the Jewish community: http://www.kulanu.org/ghana/visit_to_ghana.php

After traveling from 5am-7pm which included 3 hours waiting, 2 bus rides and 2 taxi rides, we arrived at the village in time for dinner and the evening service. Upon arriving we met this group of 5 gap year students that had been in Ghana since September. They spent the first few months in Accra and since January they've been teaching in a rural village outside of Kumasi. Although they are getting such an amazing cultural experience, they are having issues with their directors and are really cut off from other American students. We also met a student who is on the NYU Ghana program, which is very different from CIEE. They have their own campus near Accra and have all of their classes on site, which would seem very structured, but apparently they have very little programming after orientation. It was interesting to see how different each program is and it definitely made me appreciate how wonderful CIEE is - both the programming and the staff!

So after chatting with the gap year students, who I think were really happy to talk to other Obrunis for a change, we went to the seder. The village itself is beautiful. It was so interesting to see what parts of Judaism are practiced by this community and which aren't. Unlike seders I'm used to, this seder was with the whole community, so it was more like a service with a seder plate. The plate had the egg, but everything else was different. Instead of horseradish there was pepper sauce, instead of charoset it was honey, instead of parsley and salt water it was this spinach-like vegetable in dirt-tasting water (I'm not even going to try to figure out what it was) and instead of the lamb bone it was legit lamb/goat/sheep. We never got a straight answer when asking what the various livestock were wandering the village. The village has a very large children to adult ratio. There were about 30 children to maybe 6 adults, 4 of whom were men, so it was a big mystery whose children they were.

I feel weird complaining about this but I was really excited to do a rural home-stay: I saw us staying with families and carrying buckets of water on our heads etc. However I was mistaken and we stayed in a very nice guesthouse for the price of the average hotel, which was equipped with running water and electricity. Despite my initial excitement, I quickly got over it when I didn't have to pee in a hole in the ground but a lovely (usually) flushable toilet.

The next morning we had passover services, which I have no idea how closely resembles American passover services since I've never experienced a conservative service in my life, but our more Jewish friends had to read the Hebrew parts of the service, so I know that Hebrew is not often used. After 3 hours we retired to our guesthouse with the instructions to return for the 2nd seder at 3pm. And surprise surprise the seder was not until 8pm, but there was a reason for this bout of Ghanaian untimeliness - they needed to slaughter a goat/lamb/sheep first! And of course, silly us, showing up at 3:30pm for the seder, got front row seats to the slaughter show. I will refrain from posting photos or going into detail, but it was really cool from the wanna-be-nurse perspective, but really sad from the animal-lover inside me. One interesting thing is that they follow the kosher law that the lamb is supposed to die in one knife stroke. However this tribe does it a little bit differently, purposefully not killing the lamb instantly. The butcher (probably not his real title) told me through a translator that they do this so the animal is "giving its life voluntarily" and so the spirit/energy remains in the animal instead of leaving the body when it dies instantly. So we stood there watching this poor animal die slowly for five minutes (it felt like an hour), but the process of roasting and cutting the meat was really cool!! The whole weekend was realy interesting, especially to see of how their Jewish practices have altered to fit their cultural context without the influence of the global Jewish community. I'm sure I am leaving stuff out but this post is already getting long. Leave a comment if you want to know more!

PANIC!

First off, I've been counting weeks starting on Wednesdays because that's when we arrived in Ghana, but since my flight leaves on a Sunday and its less confusing, I'm now starting on Sundays. So that makes this week ten in Ghana.

Here is the reason for my panic:

- TEN weeks in Ghana so far
- FIVE weeks of classes left (this is the really scary one)
- EIGHT weeks left in total

Have I done everything I've wanted to do? NO! Do I feel like I'm still actively pursuing my cultural education? I could do better.
So, since I'm me, I will make a...

TO DO LIST
- Go to Makola Market. Its a main destination in Accra and I haven't gotten around to it yet!

- Hula hoop. I have this hula hoop that Gideon gave me from an old CIEE student. I was contemplating bringing mine to Ghana, which I bought so I could start making hula hooping my new hobby since a friend in Guatemala introduced me to it, but I decided not to bring it. So I figure it's kinda fate that I was given this one, so I should use it!

- Learn to cook more Ghanaian dishes. I don't spend as much quality time with my host family as I think other home stays do, which is fine. I enjoy having a home stay and hang out with them occasionally, and feeling a part of the dorm community, kind of a best of both worlds. However, I do want to hang out with them more and I can use this as an excuse. My host mom taught me how to make red red (bean stew and friend plantains aka my favorite food), but I want to learn to make stews, pepper sauce and soups So I can cook them in the states.

- Hang out with my host brothers. This is along the same lines as above, but I barely spend time with my host brothers Lesley and Oliver, who are also in their twenties so we should be friends, but we're still on a small talk basis. But to be honest I was hoping they would initiate so I haven't been putting in the effort, so I guess I will initiate if I want to form a relationship with them.

- Make a Ghanaian friend. I have some Ghanaian acquaintances from classes and people I am friendly with from the Police Hospital (two of whom have asked me to the beach/Reggae beach party, which I politely declined since the "friendship" I'm seeking involves me wearing all my clothes) and am close with the Upals, but I haven't made any Ghanaian friends that I hang out with on my own.

- Spend less time on the internet (ironic). Its so easy to sit on my computer every night at my home stay, especially if I'm home sick. I think I need to reinstate my rule that I only go on the computer if I have to for school or after my host family goes to bed. I spend so much time doing nothing on the computer, probably because it's comforting, but I don't really like it.

- Write more letters to receive more letters! I have a certain friend that will not be named that gets an ABSURD amount of mail and im JEALOUS and damn it, I want mail! So I've started sending postcards (look out gnomies) and I want to send more because its fun to send and to receive! So if you want a postcard, leave a comment, or feel free to send me one! It takes about 2 weeks for mail to travel between Ghana and the US. Here's the address:

Emma Craig - CIEE
c/o Kwasi Gyasi-Gyamerah
Private Mail Bag 31
Ground Floor, International House
Office of International Programmes
University of Ghana, Legon
Legon, Ghana
West Africa

- Observe every ward at the Police Hospital. Since I am doing my research I haven't been observing, unless you count waiting around the Children's Ward to interview people. I want to observe, at least for a day, the Maternity Ward, Public Health Ward and Out Patient Ward. I would also really like to go with the Social workers on their field assignments and do an ambulance shift, if possible!

- Do a rural home stay. This is actually going to happen so it's kind of cheating to put it on the list. Over Easter Break a few of us are going to a Jewish Community outside of the Ashanti region, where we'll be staying with families in the village. If you want to know more: http://www.kulanu.org/ghana/visit_to_ghana.php

- Volunteer at an orphanage. I need to go anyway for my research project so I might as well help out right?

- Read about Ghana. I have a very limited academic knowledge of Ghana, so I would like to read up more on the history and other aspects of the Ghanian perspective.

That's eleven things to do - I think that will tide me over for the month.  I'll let you all know as I tick each one off my cultural learning list.

In other news, I went on a hike outside of Accra yesterday - it was beautiful and so so so so much fun to go hiking for the first time in awhile. We saw ostriches ("saying hi," which was our tour guides euphemism for having sex two feet away from us) and baboons!! The hike was gorgeous and was a very different terrain that I'm used to in Accra.

Also, my host mom told me two students will be living with us for two weeks at the end of April, which is far away but I'm excited to show them around and have other Obrunis in the house for a bit, even though I'm planning to be traveling during that time.

This week I am finishing up my research on abandoned children and writing up a report. Hopefully I will start the recommendation to the Police Hospital and will begin the first steps towards initiating an actual project during April. Wish me luck!

Togo & Benin!

So last weekend I ventured to Togo and Benin (google it), traveling to Benin Friday and to Togo Saturday night until Sunday afternoon. I traveled with 6 other CIEE students, which I thought would be stressful but it was actually really great and pretty easy to navigate all of us.

This trip was full of hilarious moments, entertaining (and sometimes entertained by us) locals, lots of border crossings and delicious new snack food. The most impressional part of the trip were...
1. Cumbersome border crossings
2. Moto-taxis (Sorry, mom!)
3. Avocado and omelete baguettes
4. Fetish Market

Let me explain...

Our adventure began at 6am in Tema station (which we realized wasn't the best starting place, since the Madina station is closer to the border and closer to my home stay, but you live and you learn). After a few hours in a van and striking up conversation with a man with a Cheesecake Factory (no he has never worked there), we arrived at the Togo border. Crossing the Togo border was not seamless. The Benin border was even more obnoxious, mostly because the crossing guard claimed we were not allowed to come to Benin for a day, since "Why should you come to Benin for a day when I'm not allowed in the United States for a day?" but once our taxi driver talked to him he let us through and everything was fine. Some interesting sights on the way to Cotonou, Benin: informal gas stations that sold gas of varying grades and quantities out of reused wine bottles and jugs, the gorgeous coast line, and a ridiculous amount of trucks hanging out on the side of the road.

After almost 12 hours of traveling (everything always takes longer than it is supposed to), we arrived at our hotel just as the sun was setting. Our friend Ryan, who has a great sense of direction, lead us to a nearby restaurant we saw on the map, but we got lost. Apparently the crossing guard we asked about the restaurant, just to make sure we were on the right track, set us in the wrong direction, so Ryan knew what he was doing after all! We finally found the restaurant after a very nice couple flagged down some motorcycle taxis (called moto-taxis) for us and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of hummus, falafel and wine right on the beach.

The next morning we set out to find some cheap street breakfast and check out the fetish market! We asked this random guy where the nearest baguette stand was (the giant egg sandwich in the photo below was equivalent to $0.50) and he ended up not only showing us to some baguettes but touring us throughout the giant market, making sure our money was hidden, bargaining for us, and eventually led us to the fetish market. The fetish market was a varied selection of animal skulls, skins, herbs and what looked like dried up reptiles and rodents. There was also a man selling a small piece of wood with a string and a tack that fits into it, which was painted red with "sacrifice," that not only cures AIDS but keeps your husband loyal, and it was only $10! What a deal! (photo below)

After the market we made our way to Lome, Togo. After another round of boarder crossing, during which the power went out and the visa official needed to use my cell phone light to fill out the rest of my form, and a frustrating conversation with our taxi driver (we thought he was bringing us to the hotel, he thought he was taking us to the station and wanted to charge us more, even though it was closer!), we finally arrived at the hotel and had a relaxing evening with good food, great laughs and more wine!

Sunday we hit another market (we're obsessed) and got more baguettes (obsession number 2) on the way, which this time had avocado, tomato and optional bean or fish sauce, which I refrained from trying. It was Sunday, so the market wasn't very crazy, which was good, and I bought a lot more souvenirs and such since I wasn't being hassled and pushed around. I finally bought some fabric and I'm hopefully going to get some clothes made this week, but finding a seamstress that isn't expensive, does good work and doesn't take over a month seems to be a cumbersome task, so we'll see how that goes. A few of us also stopped by the beach for a bit, which was a five minute walk from the hotel, and witnessed a guy pooping on the shore, which is apparently very common, while Ryan climbed a tree and knocked down some coconuts (with help from a local). I love coconut water, so drinking it straight out of the coconut for free and not in an overprices juice box was heaven!

The ride itself was uneventful, but upon crossing the border and entering the tro-tro station I was literally dragged away from my friends by a crowd of 15 tro-tro driver trying to get the business of seven seemingly naive Obrunis (how wrong they were). I wasn't scared or concerned for my safety, they're harmless and just think that grabbing my arm and yelling at me is going to grant them my business, so I stood there and waited for them to stop yelling, at which point my friend Harrison stepped in and pushed them off me and started making fun of them by yelling at me to go on HIS tro-tro, and the comic relief calmed everyone down. After this fiasco I was able to board a van with all my limbs attached. Besides that the only bit of excitement was when we got pulled over and made to sign in with our passports at some check point, which often happens when white people travel, and Jeremy, Ryan and Harrison proceeded to try some street vendors undetermined meat. I don't think they ever stopped eating mystery street food for a minute the entire trip, Jeremy in particular. The resiliency of his stomach astounds me. 

Overall the weekend was hectic, busy and really really great! We did so much it was hard to remember everything for this post. There's nothing like a few days away from your daily routine with good friends and great adventure to make you feel refreshed!! Here are some photos from the weekend.

Attempting to impersonate "American Gothic" with our omelet baguettes

Apparently you can fit 4 people on a motorcycle (Don't look Mom!)

Fetish Market

This weekend I'm staying on campus for the most part, but I'm hopefully going on a hike and getting those clothes made that I mentioned before. I'll try to post again next week but things have been pretty much the same here except for trips, but I'll try!

Travel!

I have finally figured out my travel plans and just had to share them! So this isn't so much introspective but me gloating about my super amazing travel plans! I am going to be very busy and I hope these next two months don't fly by too fast!

Here's the schedule!!

March 16-19 TOGO & BENIN

I am going with 6 friends with no particular plans besides to observe and try to fit these two cultures, which are very different from Ghana, into my understanding of Africa.

March 24-25 Kokrobite & Hiking. 

There is a beach that is supposably paradise just outside of Accra, and some good hiking outside of Accra, too. 

March 31 Community Service Project with CIEE. 

April 6-10 Passover in the Jewish Community. 

Yes, Ghanian Jews exist! There is a Jewish community near the Ashanti region so a few of us are going to do Jewish Passover things! I wonder if Ghanaian Jews watch the Prince of Egypt and drink copious amounts of Manischewitz, as is my Jewish tradition. 

April 13-15 Ashanti Region with CIEE

April 20-23 Stay in Accra. 

I need to write some papers and get other loose ends taken care of because next week is when the real fun starts!

April 27 CLASSES END

April 28- May 2 VOLTA Region 

Hiking, monkeys and the beautiful Volta Lake!

May 3-5 Take two exams

. . . Yuck!

May 6-15 NORTHERN REGION

It takes a full day to get up North so I saved this trip for finals time, which is three weeks long. Tamale and Mole (habla espanol?) are the main spots with the star attraction being the safari!! There's much more such as hippo sanctuaries and eco-villages, but I'm mostly very excited for the safari!

May 16-20 Goodbyes

Hang out in Accra, say good bye to my wonderful host family and wonderful new friends (take an exam) and jet out Sunday night to meet mom in London!

May 21 - June 3 Vacation in the NETHERLANDS with Mom!

She is the most deserving of a vacation, and how lucky am I that she's sharing it with me!!

June 3 - June 7 Brighton, UK

I’m staying with my fantastic friend, Morgan at the University of Sussex until my flight home. 

More blogging to come. Here are some photos from Ghana Independence Day!

Independence Square, Downtown Accra

For some reason, Ghanaians (at least on Independence Day) love taking pictures with Obrunis. 

I now know what it feels like to be a celebrity and it is exhausting!

Red-red (the best food on the planet)

I’ve been really positive in my past posts, which is all completely honest, but I think I’ve been pushing away the little things that are bugging me, and that’s not how I deal with my feelings normally. If I’m being honest, I’ve been feeling a bit dejected lately, although it is changing. I’m in a rhythm here, the honeymoon is over and I’m starting to feel the pangs of homesickness. From talking to people it seems that I’m pretty busy compared to others on the program, probably because not everyone is doing Living and Learning Seminar or Internship, and they both happen to give me the most work and take up the most time. The rest of my classes are interesting, but pretty basic compared to Clark, and I don’t have any outside work except for Twi, but it’s not much. I wouldn’t say anything here is making me unhappy, it’s not like I dislike my classes, but there is definitely a sense that the preliminary buzz of being in a new country is wearing off and I’m starting to feel that I need to be trying harder, experiencing more, branching out, but its hard to know where to start. What I'm trying to say is that I'm realizing I need to push out of my newly formed Ghana comfort bubble.  

But do not fear loved ones! I understand this is all part of the process and that ups and downs are normal. I think I’m making strides towards enhancing my experience with my internship, because until this week and last week, I really disliked my internship. All I did at the hospital was sit at the doctors station and watch them copy charts and meet with patients (which is all in Twi) or follow the nurses around as they give injections and check patients’ temperatures. Of course I am learning from that and it is really good for Pre-Nursing experience, but it’s not very fulfilling. It doesn’t feel like a mutual exchange: I’m not really helping anyone and I feel that I'm in the way. The one aspect of the Children’s Ward that is fulfilling to me is spending time with the abandoned children - they are so sweet and resilient and largely ignored, even neglected by the medical staff. I have been upset by the conditions of the abandoned children in the hospital, and interested in their process to a home and where they end up. Many of the children have disabilities, chronic illness or psychological trauma, which are not addressed in orphanages or with their families (sometimes parents reclaim their children, often if one spouse took the child without the other’s consent). So, I figured while I’m sitting around doing nothing, why don’t I do something to help these kids out! 

After brainstorming with my friends, I have developed a basic project idea that I am initiating (hopefully!) through the Social Work department at the Police Hospital. The idea is to connect abandoned children that come through the Police Hospital with a student volunteer from the Social Work or Psychology department at UG that would be an advocate for them - like a Big Brother Big Sister program. The student would spend time with the child, follow them from the hospital to an orphanage and basically assist the social worker and orphanage in finding the child any extra services they need, such as medical visits, therapy, and just being a friend to a kid that have no one looking after their interest exclusively. I have the support of my academic advisor and CIEE, and the Police Hospital has been allowing me to do the project, even though they are not exactly encouraging but are giving me the resources I need and meeting with me when I need help, which is fine. While drafting the project proposal, I am also trying to advocate for the two children that came through the hospital last week - Donald and Comfort. Donald has cerebral palsy and is currently in an orphanage that specializes in disabilities. Comfort was severely abused and has scars all over her body from a year of domestic servitude with a family that her father gave her to, apparently without the consent of her mother. She is back with her mother now, but she needs professional help that she is not receiving at home. She is extremely bright, difficult with authority and temperamental, which is to be expected. I am in contact with a cerebral palsy organization for Donald and a psychologist for Comfort but I’m still waiting on responses from both on when the two resources and the children will connect. Hopefully everything will come together next week. It is all exciting, one because I feel like I’m actually doing something meaningful and two, I’m not bored anymore, but it is scary because it is very possible that as I continue I will discover that my project idea is not feasible or even wanted. But I might as well try. I will keep y’all updated! 

In other news, I have dethroned myself as the ClarkU Study Abroad blogger and have passed on my duties to Rachel Abrams (Check her out!). From now on my blog will be a lot more introspective. I want to explore my inner conflicts and figure out who I am here. Of course I will continue to post fun photos and trip updates, but a lot more about my thoughts, too.

Here are the things I want to improve about my Ghana experience:

Make more close friends, both within and outside the CIEE bubble, Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian

Explore Accra and feel more connected to the city

Study Twi and actually use it in my daily interactions

Become closer with my host family

Read more about Ghana history, culture and current events (beyond reading Meredith’s cell phone news updates) 

Avoid future sunburns! I’ve been in pain all week after the weekend at the beach.

Of course I must end on a positive note. This is more for my mom than anyone, but I AM having a GREAT time and I’m not depressed all the time sulking around in the sunshine. I love the friends I’m making, I’m excited about my internship project, although its terrifying, and I’m really excited for the trips I’m planning (tentative itinerary to come). But I don’t want to let myself settle into a routine that limits my experience and doesn’t allow me to do all I can, so I would like to keep striving for a more fulfilling, enriching experience.  

Also, all my friends’ blogs have family and friends (and even haters) commenting but I don’t get any blog love =( 

Comment please!!!!

I went to the Green Turtle Lodge last weekend and within 3 minutes (not exaggerating) I got stung by a jellyfish! It was a great first independent trip in Ghana, sting included. 

Mada ase paa (Thank you very much!)

After a month of Ghana life I have finally settled into a routine with my classes and my internship. My week is very disjointed, with a very busy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a very slow Friday-Monday. Two weekend ago (February 11th and 12th), CIEE took us on a trip to Cape Coast, which is a very historical beach side town west of Accra. We spent the weekend learning how to Batik, a traditional tie dying technique, and traipsing the Kakum Canopies, which were a little too rickety for my taste. 

The most powerful part of the trip was the tour of the slave quarters at the Cape Coast castle. We toured the spot where thousands of captured slaves stood as they waited months before being shipped to the Caribbean and Americas as part of the Triangle Trade. For the African American members of our group, it seemed to be very emotional and intense to stand where their ancestors once stood, thinking of the horrendous conditions they struggled through to bring the next generations to where they are today.  

After the tour, we debriefed with the group and discussed our reactions to the tour. It shifted into a discussion of the developing separation and tensions felt by some groups of people based on race. Of course this is not true for everyone, but it was becoming evident enough that it was worth discussing with the whole group. That night we self assembled a dialogue with most of the students on the program about discomforts and race relations within the group. I know from facilitating the Difficult Dialogue Seminar that forming a constructive and open dialogue, even in ideal conditions, is very difficult. It was so incredible to see a diverse group of women come together to talk about something so personal and societally ingrained. It was a conversation that I really valued and I hope continues throughout the semester.

This weekend I’m going to the Green Turtle Lodge, a beach hotel/turtle sanctuary in the Western Region. It should be relaxing and hopefully we will see some turtles! 

I also I am potentially shifting my now very boring observation at the Police Hospital into a social services project, but I will save that for my next post!

For those of you that didn't hear, Clark University was ranked one of the most socially awkward colleges. Here is an awkward picture of the Ghana Clarkies to prove it.

How is it only week 3?

I have loved my time in Ghana more than I can say. But if I had to pick something to dislike, it would have to be public transportation. Navigating Accra and Legon is a mezcla of Tro-tros, shared taxis, chartered or "dropping" taxis, metro buses, getting in cars with strangers (sorry Mom!) and a lot of walking. First there are shared taxis (40-70 pesewas), which have a route and will either pick you up if they pass you, they have room and your going where they're going, or you can go to the nearest taxi station, you just have to wait for it to fill up before the driver will leave. I use a shared taxi most mornings to get to school, but on weekends, at slow times of the day and at night shared taxis are hard to come by. Then there are chartered/dropping taxis (4-10 cedis), which operate like normal taxis except you must negotiate the price before getting in. I will often ask my host sister or brothers to negotiate for me since Ghanaians always get better prices. Then there are tro tros (20-70 pesewas), which fit about 30 people in a van, have a set route and travel farther than shared taxis. Tro tro mates, the gentleman that collects money and tells the driver when to stop, will often usher you onto the tro tro even if hes going to a different destination than you inquired (I've gotten into the habit of asking someone on the tro tro if it's the right one, just in case). There are also regular metro buses, which I have never been on, see infrequently and I have no idea where to catch one and where they go. Ghana also does not use maps, so navigation functions solely on landmarks, such as American House (Surprise, there is no American-style house there), Living room (again, guess what's not there) or, if I want to get to my home-stay, "In God We Trust" by Trinity College. Yes, there are street names and numbers, but they are never mentioned.

Two weeks ago I started my internship at the Police Hospital in Accra. Unlike an internship in the states, the staff in the Children's Ward (my first month's placement) did not give me any direction, actually, they barely spoke to me. I was expected to follow my supervisor around, even though she did not introduce herself to me, along with a bunch of other doctors. When I started to follow a different doctor mistaking him for the supervisor (how am I supposed to know?), she yelled at me to come back and observe her. That was two weeks ago and I'm starting to get into the swing of things now. I have become friends with the nurses, so they teach me and let me follow them around. One was SUPER friendly and had me give injections within my first three hours, but that has not happened since, which I am more than fine with. For now I observe, follow, chat with the nurses over Wakye (watch-ay, rice and beans) and play with babies. There were two abandoned baby girls that have been living in the hospital for weeks. One is two years old and has a heart condition, the other is 10 days old. I've gathered that they are there for so long because they are waiting to be adopted, and for some reason cannot go to an orphanage in the meantime. I love them so much and I hope that they are not there when I go back on Tuesday, because maybe that means they have been adopted and are being properly taken care of. If you know anyone looking to adopt. . .

There is a lot of down time in between rounds which, for those readers that know me well, know I do not like. However, I met with my Academic Advisor for my internship, a professor in the Psychology department at University of Ghana (UG), and he wants me to interview patients and nursing staff about their experiences: how they chose this hospital, what measures they took before coming, conditions and care in the hospital etc. I'm excited to be doing some research and have something with which to occupy my time. And speaking of transportation nightmares, my commute is a whopping hour and a half if I'm lucky! This means I'm up and out of the house at 6:30am. That and having to wander the sprawling UG campus are making up for my pampered life at Clark, where 10 minutes walking was my longest commute, of which I would complain immensely. 

I have ALMOST finally registered for classes! Official registration ends tomorrow, but I know what classes I'm taking and here they are:

1. Living and Learning Seminar (CIEE)
2. Twi Language for Beginners (CIEE)
3. Internship at Police Hospital (CIEE)
4. Intermediate Traditional African Dance (First time I've been able to take a dance class since high school)
5. Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Health and Development (Geography, overlaps well with my internship)
6. Politics & Bureaucracy of Africa (Sounds boring but it's actually not. I also cannot spell Bureaucracy to save my life)

It seems like a lot but UG classes are only 2 hours once a week, and Twi and my internship are twice a week. It ends up that I have a hectic Tuesday-Thursday but Friday I have off to travel or enjoy the weekend (I mean, do homework), so I can't complain.

I just came back from an AMAZING and very enlightening weekend at Cape Coast, which deserves its own blog post when I'm not so tired. So much has happened in three short weeks, and everyday is something totally new. I wish I could write it all. For now, I leave you with pictures of me grilling Tilapia, a Tree by my taxi stop and a Tricked-out Taxi I took home from the beach:

Ete-sen! (Hello, how are you?)

First off, I would like to thank ClarkU Study Abroad for hosting my blog - I am grateful that they have decided to share my experiences on the website!

I left off my last post with a snapshot into my life with my amazing host family, the Kumordzi's (pronounced Coo-mode-gee). I have been so happy living with this family, which consists of Mommy Veronica, Edmond, my two host brothers Lesley and Oliver (both around my age), and my host sister Pearl, who is married to Robert with a 6 week old baby, and has been staying in the house so Mommy can help her with the baby. The food is amazing and I love having so many people in the house.

I had a very interesting cultural experience last night: watching the Ghana v. Mali soccer game. I know that Ghanaians love soccer, but honestly, I never really understood why. I still don't really get it, but I'm starting to see the addicting qualities to watching the game. Most of the game consists of intense concentration and exclamations when there is a foul or a close goal - typical stuff. Now, when Ghana scores, all hell breaks loose: everyone leaps up and screams, jumping up and down, hugging everyone in sight! One guy even took his shirt off and started dancing on the bar. Now comes my favorite part! The celebratory "Azonto" dance. With every goal follows five minutes of Azonto, a music and dance that is comprised of two-stepping to the beat and making various work related gestures such as washing, boxing, ironing or driving. (video below)

At the song's end the bartender will promptly turn off the music and everyone will sit back down and continue watching the game like nothing happened - kind of like living in a Ghanaian musical. Now I don't know what happens when the other team scores (Ghana won 2-0!), but I would like to remain in the dark if it is anywhere near as emotional as when Ghana scores. Go Black Stars!

I have been loving my time in Ghana - the CIEE Legon program has been absolutely amazing. I have felt very secure throughout my time here, and the program does a great job of having activities, educational events and setting us up with opportunities such as internships and volunteering. However, with such a great support it has been easy to forget that I am living in a country where many people are living in very poor conditions and do not have access to the luxuries that I have as a foreigner. At my home-stay and on University of Ghana (UG) campus, I am surrounded by others of privilege and I have access to everything I need to thrive. I am hoping that through my internship and my classes, I can connect myself to the realities of this country that could be so easy to shy away from. I would like to expose myself more to the Ghana that I would never have to see. In researching Ghana, I stumbled across this striking image, which was taken about 20km away from where I enjoy my Ghanaian life as an international student.


A Global Graveyard for Dead Computers in Ghana

"In Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana, adults and children tear away at computers from abroad to get at the precious metals inside. Left, David, Akore, 18, and other foragers."

Credit Pieter Hugo for the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/04/magazine/20100815-dump.html

I don't mean to end on a low note, but I want to emphasis the stark coexistence between human despair and human joy in the same space - from football games to toxic waste, Ghana is beautiful, but there is also poor human condition that is unacceptable, and often times the negative byproduct of capitalist superpowers such as the United States. I hope to learn more about both sides of Ghana as I continue my cultural and academic study over the next four months. 

Life in Legon

Sorry I haven't posted yet - that means I have been fully immersing myself in Ghanaian life and now have lots and lots of updates to share.. right? Right! It has been quite the long and adventurous week (I can't believe it has only been a week!) Ghana, in a few words, is hot, cheap, gorgeous and chaotic. First off, let me give you the timeline of the last couple of days. After a full day of terminals and on-flight food, which was surprisingly delicious, I finally landed at the Kotoka Airport Wednesday night, where we were picked up by our program and brought to the Ange Hil Hotel, the site of our orientation for the next 3 days. After hours upon hours of lectures, which were boring but obviously necessary, and hanging out by the pool, we finally emerged from the hotel bubble to embark on our West Africa adventure.

From the hotel I was driven by my host dad in the oldest stick shift car I've ever seen. Once we arrived at the house, which is beautiful, I rushed to get dressed and was swept off to a family party outside of Legon. I spent the next 40 minutes in slow moving traffic observing street vendors selling steering wheels and bootleg DVDs, and trying to get my baby host cousin to play with me (he warmed up to me eventually). Upon arrival, I was first  offered a seat on a plastic lawn chair placed in a circle in the driveway, followed by a plastic cup of brandy, then malt soda, then fresh grilled Tilapia, head and all. This was my first taste of Ghanaian transportation, hospitality and conversation, most of which was in Twi-glish: the sentence starting in English and trailing off into Twi, the most commonly spoken tribal language.
Since then has been a blur of unpacking, lectures, meandering around University of Ghana campus and hanging out with my host family and fellow international students. I could not possibly write the details of everything in one post, so I will leave you with these tantalizing FUN FACTS that I have acquired during my time in Ghana so far, and continue later...

1. Because of the immense heat, people generally start their day at 5:30 or 6am.
2. It is only safe to drink "Pure Water," which is cheaply sold in plastic bags about the size of my hand - just too big to fit in a standard glass, but not enough to fill a water bottle
3. Phone service and Internet broadband are pay-as-you-go
4. Internet browsers in Ghana do not like to open Clark Email
5. This may just be my family, but we have a watch dog, not a pet dog, that is let out of his dog house at night to guard the house. His name is Boss.
6. This may also just be my family, but we toast our bread in a waffle iron
7. Food etiquette: Families generally don't eat together, you eat with your RIGHT hand, and always "invite" those around you to share in your food.
8. All activity comes to a screeching halt when the Ghana soccer game is on.

9. Everybody wants change and nobody has any.

10. There are open gutters everywhere. Ghanaians never fall in them.

And what's coming next? Specifics I am not clear on since, in classic Ghanaian style, nothing is ever fully planned ahead or timely. However, I do know that I will finally be starting classes and visiting my internship site (a public hospital!) at the beginning of next week. Photos to come!

Countdown: 6 days until Ghana!

  Thanks for taking a look at my Study Abroad blog! For the next 4 months I will be living, studying and working in the southern coast of Ghana. I will be taking classes at the University of Ghana in Legon, which is right outside of the capital, Accra. While in Ghana I will be living with a host family, taking classes at the University of Ghana and interning at a health-oriented organization.

   First off, a little introduction on how I got here. My name is Emma Craig and I am in my junior year at Clark University in Worcester, MA. I am majoring in International Development & Social Change with a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. While I am on campus I participate in a bunch of different activities, from activism and volunteering to performing arts. My most active involvements are STAND, a national genocide-prevention coalition, and Variant Dance Troupe, one of a handful of dance groups on campus. I love ClarkU, and although I am beyond excited for Ghana, I am going to miss my friends and community at Clark.
   Last summer I worked at Primeros Pasos, a non-profit health clinic outside of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. At Primeros Pasos I was a volunteer teaching basic health and social-health to children in the surrounding public schools. It was out of this experience that I found my passion for public health, which I plan to pursue through a degree as a Nurse Practitioner. Until then, I am trying to get as much experience as I can through internships, both abroad and in Worcester. I am hoping that my internship in Ghana will give me some good insight into public health in a different cultural, political and economic context from that I experienced in Guatemala.

  With only 6 days until my departure, I figure I should be freaking out and getting cold feet, which is how I felt before leaving for Guatemala. However I am surprisingly calm. I have been attributing my tranquility to experience. For my trip to Guatemala I did almost all of the planning and researching, from my internship, to my home stay and Spanish school. I was also traveling alone, which can be terrifying. But this time the program I am on, CIEE, does everything - all I have to do is get on and off the plane! Perhaps knowing that has eased my initial worries. However, don't be surprised if my panic sets in on my ride to the airport. But I'll let you know how that goes next time I post!
   Thank you again for showing interest in my blog. I promise to do my best to inform and entertain you as I lead you along on my adventures. If you would like to see the Study Abroad blogs of my fellow Clark travelers, feel free to check out ClarkU Study Abroad Bloggers!
- Emma