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