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.