An update.

Hello All! Time here is so funny. Oftentimes, I feel like time passes extremely slowly. “I’ve only been here how many days?” is something I ask myself regularly- yet time also seems to pass by very quickly. I have been here 10 days, which seems like not very many, but it has been so action packed, and the days feel very long. I believe I meant to update this blog 3 days ago, and yet here it is the 20th already…

Here is a summary of a few things I have done since my last post.

-We had our official welcome dinner through CIEE. We took a lengthy bus ride away from the University and ended up at this house/ cultural center/ club/ restaurant with many tables set up for us. We ate and drank, and had an interactive performance with a traditional dance and music group. They were wonderful, though this would be better explained in pictures that I don’t know how to put up yet. They taught us a few moves, and encouraged us to display our own. It was a lot of torso and arm movement, coupled with times when 4 dancers would lean forward and place their arms and heads on each other’s lower backs. They sang beautiful harmonies accompanied by really interesting looking drums and rhythm instruments- I actually with they would have sang more than they danced. Later, when Kwasi our director gave a formal welcome, he let us know that the center where we were teaches skills to Ghanaian children- namely stitching the sheets and pillows we were all given as bedding, which I thought was very cool. All in all, it was a fun experience, and really good to see the whole CIEE group together again.

-This week we are having “orientation lectures” designed to introduce us to the crème da la crème of the university professors. So far we have had lectures on “Ghanaian History” and “Ghanaian Religion.” I hope to post the content of the lectures, because I think they are fascinating. However, I left my notebook with all of my registration materials and notes at the lecture last night, so I’m tenuously hoping I can get that back this evening…

-We have been running around campus attempting to go to classes this week. This has been a kind of overwhelming experience. It’s been disappointing when classes don’t occur, because I’m really hoping for things to do! However, today I finally had some luck. Medical Sociology actually happened, and the professor is the head of the department, and very engaging, so I think I will register just on good faith. We are allowed to add and drop classes until the 7th, but I really just want to get it over with. It maybe wouldn’t have been my first choice of courses, but as with any university, courses depend on the quality of the professor, so I’m going to do it. I also met with a professor of a class that didn’t happen this week that I registered for on blind faith. It is a Contemporary Ethics course through the Religion department, examining current moral issues though the lenses of various religious (probably focused on Christianity, Islam, and African Religion.) I’m looking forward to this one, hopefully the man I met is a decent lecturer…

-Some of my friends and I had an interesting experience a few nights ago that displayed the generosity of Ghanaian people. Long story short, we went out for dinner, and then were misled by the restaurateur that we were in walking distance of “37 circle,” a major interchange where we could take a tro-tro to the university. In actuality, it was 10pm and it would have been a 2-3 mile walk, and we didn’t know where we were going. A cop who has operating a checkpoint that stopped every car driving by to check where they were going (very common here, though I’m not sure why…) essentially told us we were crazy, and stopped a family vehicle and either told or asked them in Twi to take us (7 of us) to 37. He did, and then refused payment. After we got out, he stopped us on the road and asked us to get back in, saying he was going where we were going, which I don’t think a one of us actually believed. He ended up taking us about 20 minutes in total to the university, and again, kindly refused payment. He could have easily made 3-4 Cidis (about 4 dollars) from us (he was driving an otherwise empty tro tro with a woman and 4 children inside, so he might have actually been a tro tro operator, or just a kind person). We were dumbfounded that he wouldn’t let us pay him.

-In other news, my roommate finally showed up, but she isn’t living with me yet. Her note she left (I didn’t actually meet her) says she will move in “over the weekend.” Finally!

-I have been to the beach twice now. The first time was in last weekend, on Sunday. It wasn’t very busy early on, but got quite crowded (though now by American beach standards) later on as the Ghanaians got out of church. It was quite a colorful experience, with many venders and “street” performers playing very strange looking instruments. One looked somewhat like a guitar, but with a bowl like base, and only one string… I wish I’d asked what it was. There were also acrobats, balancing wildly on each other, and balancing tables on their faces… it was really neat, and again, better told in pictures I hope to figure out soon. I was pleasantly surprised that one can actually go in the water here (See below). It was quite warm, through not as warm as Hawaii, but so good to splash in… I also went yesterday, which was much more peaceful, with almost no people around…

-We went on a bus tour of Accra with CIEE on Saturday. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Nice to actually see the city, but horrible to feel like such a tourist. Two large busses, air conditioned, full of white people, parading through markets, cultural centers, embassy areas, and the poorest sections of downtown Accra (which are also the most historical trade centers. Interesting to be in a country that doesn’t turn their oldest places in to tourist destinations, or at least protect them…) It was hard to see, for sure. The beach in that section of town is totally ignored, there is no development there, and the water breaks against the shore as black sludge- used as a dumping ground for anything and everything- especially sewage. We also drove past the best private hospital in Accra, where the director told me top medical treatment for Malaria cost around 300US. Needless to say I’d be going there rather than the University health system, which I’ve heard is a mess.

Ok, this has been a very long post. I am becoming more acclimated by the day. It feels like a very long summer camp being here. I had a revelation the other day that I chose Africa because I’d probably never get to vacation there after college (money, time, distance.) Now I realize that even if I had those things, I don’t think I would pick this place to vacation. It’s not exactly relaxing… even on the beach. Probably only in the most exclusive hotels would this be a “vacation” experience. The culture here is fascinating, and perhaps this is a better reason to be here than getting in travel experience. I would probably never learn about Ghana, or much about Africa at all if I weren’t here, so this is my chance, because I don’t know at this point that I would choose to come back. Bear in mind that you are hearing from a culture shocked girl who isn’t sleeping well, so that may change… Until later, love to you all. Skylar