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:
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