The Ultimate Update

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I have been hammering away lately at a lot of reading for classes, backed-up blogging, and various to-do-list activities. I am still a good three or four blogs away from being caught up, and I have the tendency to take a long time writing about various trips, so I have decided to start with the mother of all updates to just let everyone know what’s going down. I figure it’s been wayyyyy to long, and I’m pretty tired of apparently having dropped off the face of the earth. So here goes nothing.

Well, I have been here in Ghana for over two months now, which means that in little more than another two months I will be headed back to the States! Absolutely ridiculous! I’ve been enjoying the country even more than I had suspected I would, although, there have been a lot of surprises and lessons along the way.

One thing that struck me pretty quickly as we went through SUNY-Brockport’s orientation program was how very welcoming and organic the people here were. That opinion has been reinforced time and time again here, and to these initial impressions, I would add relaxed and good-humored. I love the people here, almost as much as I love the overall environment. I think the word organic is a good word to describe it all, as many of the tedious and time wasting things you would do in the States, you would not do here (i.e.- facebook (internet), constant television/movies, and far beyond that). (Sidenote on the people, since I just went to the Miss Legon Pageant last night: Africans dance circles around everyone in the States, and use their bodies in ways in their dances that our dance ‘experts’ couldn’t even dream of doing. Basically, our formerly, seemingly amazing dancers should either come to Africa to learn how to dance, or just step down.)

I really like the weather here a lot, which is very hot, causing an extreme state of sweating, especially when you are first adapting, and always humid. Rain is often very far between, but also comes on a lot fiercer when it does come. So, whereas in the States it may start raining and continue all through the night, here it is a downpour for perhaps an hour or two tops. Last week, we had a pretty hurricane-esque rain which ripped off some loose roofing on the ISH (International Students Hostel). I was in my room (on the 2nd floor) just waking up from a baby nap, which I started in reasonably normal weather and awoke to a torrential downpour. I had planned to go up to Lauren’s on the 4th floor, but it took me a long time to get out the door, because the wind was going straight into my door, so every time I tried to open the door, the heavy wind would whip everything near the door around, and I would have to fight the wind to push it closed again. But, it’s always really sweet when it does rain, and a very welcome relief. The first time there was a mini-storm here, I had forgotten what it felt like to be cold, and just genuinely enjoyed being able to have goose bumps and be cold for once.

The International Students Hostel in which I live houses students from the States, Britain, Canada, China, Nigeria and a few other countries, as well as, the lucky few senior Ghanaian students. The actual building is built in the same painted-white cement as all the other buildings on campus, with the red-ish, stone slates on the roof, in the classic oriental-like style. The structure follows a reasonably common layout, forming a square, with a green in the middle. Although many Towers residents would count themselves lucky if they could compare the dormitory with my hostel, I have heard horror stories about some of the other hostels, and realize that I.S.H.’s luxury makes us just a little bit sheltered.

The hostel has an incredibly convenient mini-‘night market’ right next door where Lauren and I get egg sandwiches, fresh fruits and vegetables, toilet paper, Ghanaian dishes, and pretty much anything else you could think of. There is also a place called “Tasty Treats” downstairs which is too expensive to get unless you’re feeling lazy (too expensive being around $4.50 for a meal, including drink). Another extremely convenient ISH highlight are the two different “dress ladies” that come to the ISH around once or twice a week baring ready-made dresses, skirts, shirts, pants, bags and jewelry, as well as fabric that you can select to get something made for you. Lauren has already gotten a plethora of skirts and dresses made, and I am now starting to try to figure out variations off the usual button-up African shirt, of which I’m sure I will have more than enough to keep everyone back at school amused =b

Aside from life in mi casa, there are probably enough interesting sounding classes here that I could do absolutely nothing else but school work for this entire semester. However, I have managed to narrow it down to five (Introduction to Twi, Human Rights in Africa, Introduction to African Literature, African Myths and Symbols, and Working with People with HIV/AIDS in Africa). African Literature and HIV/AIDS are the two which are my favorites and which I think I will get the most out of, even though much of my spare time is spent reading the book per week for Lit Class. The British/lecture style of learning here took a little to get used to, but I’m enjoying it so far, and very desperately hoping that the finals won’t be as insanely difficult as I imagine they will be. Other than that, the only thing that bothers me in some classes (ex.- Human Rights) is that the lecturer sometimes chooses to just read from notes, slowly and three times over, which gets old, especially when it’s on a topic which would otherwise be very interesting.

One of the most shocking developments in my life here is that I have the joined the Legon (small town near Accra where the University is) baseball team! I joined a few weeks after arriving here because two other SUNY students, Kathleen and Noah, had went to a few practices and said I was really fun. Many of you might guess that I’m incredibly bad at soccer, but I decided it’s never too late to pick up a completely new sport. There’s practice every day, and I’ve gotten a lot better, and am extremely excited for our next game which is this Saturday. I started out playing outfield a lot because originally I thought that was where I wanted to be, but after having played for a while I’m really digging second base and shortstop. It’s taken me quite a long time, but I really felt like this week I’ve gotten a lot better and am excited to actually become good at the sport. It’s given me something to do to stay in better shape, and also definitely helped me make Ghanaian friends easier. Perhaps Lauren will be able to catch some of my newfound mad baseball skills on camera before our departure :b

I’ve gone a ton of places outside of Accra of course, either on group trips or just with Lauren, but I’m hoping to write separate blogs on these trips at a later day. But, suffice it to say that it has been a very fulfilling journey so far. I’m getting the chance to have some experiences I had never dreamed I would have the chance to do in my lifetime, and the view off my balcony looks like a National Geographic photo. My battle at the moment is to try not to just settle into doing the safe day-to-day. It’s remarkable that that would be a temptation in Africa, but it is once you get settled in and the initial reactions subside. I just want to make sure that when I leave here, I know that I did as much as I could and dove into the culture with as much open-mindedness as I wanted to.

Random list of some of the coolest things I have done here thus far (some will have more info in other blogs):

Feeding monkeys bananas by hand at the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary
Having a chill night the first blackout in the hostel
Went to the most beautiful Beach I’ve ever been to in Elmina, near Cape Coast, Ghana
Walking through Tafi Atome and being welcomed by the extremely good people there
Witnessing dancing the night of a funeral in Tafi Atome
Visited slave castles near Cape Coast and learned the history behind them
Attended the festivities of Independence Day where the president of Ghana spoke
Doing the canopy walk in Kakum National Park
Attending the Miss Legon Pageant (Motto: Beauty with Brains :b)

Once I get the upcoming Twi final finished this Tuesday, I am looking forward to relaxing a little bit more than I have been lately and hopefully traveling to at least one place. Of course the baseball game is this weekend too, but that afternoon Lauren and I are hoping to go traveling until Tuesday. We’re not sure where yet, but it will be nice to be out of Accra and the constant schoolwork for a little while. Hopefully more blogs will be coming in a lot less time than it took this one to. Until then, stay classy United States
=b

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