kumasi and the beginning of my anti-fruit reign!

Friday, Oct 16, 2009
We left early for Kumasi! Along the way there I, with all the other ladies, peed in lost of female urinals. Toilets are so cool and amazing but I will say yet again my pride in my female urinal abilities- it’s so gross. The drive was pretty darn far and took 6 hoursish to make it. First we went to the Ashanti Palace and got to learn about the history of the Ashanti kings and how they work within the democratic system today. After that we went to the cultural center in Kumasi which was very, very clean. It was crazy. And also, the stores there had fixed prices on things so we didn’t have to bargain at most places (although that probably meant we were paying more than we had to). I bought gifts for Christmas! After a pretty long day we headed off to our amazing living quarters. It was the guest house of the engineering dept. at knsut (college in Kumasi that I can’t remember what the acronym means). It had warm water and air conditioning!!! We had our dinner there and we even were given ice cream! Brazil vs. Ghana was on during dinner and almost every single guest (and all the Ghanaians there) watched the game on the tv in the lobby and screamed and freaked out. Americans that haven’t been abroad can never understand the vigor and passion the rest of the world has regarding futbol (especially Ghanaians: they love futbol, reggae music and jesus). I went to sleep pretty early in a full sized bed!!!!!! So exciting and got a really good nights sleep after the previous night’s club ish party.

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Today was quite the day! We went to three different craft villages to see how things are made and to shop. First we went to the akente fabric village where we saw them weaving these long strips of fabric with designs in it. There are three different kinds: single, double or triple weave. They cost different amounts based on which kind and the triple weave can take up to 4 days to make (it’s all by hand of course). Then different pieces are sewn together to make larger pieces of fabric. They were pretty darn expensive compared to the other fabric we’ve bought but I can see how it’s worth it and plus it’s fun because you get to barter with the person that actually made it!
Next we went to the Adkin fabric area where you actually just take the first kind of fabric and stamp it with these traditional symbols with this ink made out of a tree root and some other stuff. He showed us how to make the ink and it takes a couple days as well! Then we were allowed to stamp our own fabric if we bought some there. It was very cool but hard to decide which stamp to use.
Lastly we went to the wood carving market where they have all of the cool masks, bowls, statues and everything else made of wood. It was interesting to observe the communal culture of Ghana through the transactions in the market. In the US stores are often of the mindset of “if they don’t buy it here I’m certainly not going to show them somewhere else where they could get it” but it’s the exact opposite here. I spent the majority of my time in this market with Mariah. In one of the first places we went into she looked at a wooden elephant head but she told them she didn’t want it. Then every single place we went after that it was “oh are you looking for an elephant” or “oh come see my elephants”- the store owners would send the word ahead to the next person of what we were looking for to try and help every out. That way maybe at least someone would get some moneysss..
We ate lunch at a pretty fancy place that had a fountain inside that was full of soap bubbles… odd. Michael had told me a story about one time putting laundry detergent in a fountain at UNCW and I smirked to myself thinking how he did it as a prank but apparently people here find it appealing?
Quincina, one of the craziest and most interesting women I’ve ever met, announced on the bus (in her Antiguan accent) that we were going to have a ladies meeting that night… I was slightly apprehensive about going, especially when I arrived and saw that she had an agenda about us talking about our feeling and stuff but it turned out to actually be a great meeting. Everyone talked about what they’ve been doing so far and challenges they’ve had. Millicent and Theresa (our ISEP coordinators) also came and explained why some things are the way they are here. Just simply knowing the reasoning to some things, for example: why our classes are the way they are (aka the verbatim copying of notes), made me less frustrated. I already knew that understanding=tolerance but it really was helpful and lovely. The meeting also reminded me that as much as I can learn from the Ghanaians here, there is a lot to learn from the other international students. We all come from very different places but had some sort of similar drive to come to Ghana and I hope that I can get to know people that I don’t know too well, better because they are a very interesting and ambitious group of young women who will surely have fascinating futures ahead of them. I also liked hearing about other people’s volunteer experiences and was slightly comforted to know that everyone has had some difficulty with theirs but have been able to over come it. Especially interesting was Heidi and Ana talking about their work with CENCOSAD, where they held a lecture with teenage girls about the expectations of society in Ghana to women and how it is their right to do with their lives what they want. They did short skits where women were put in difficult situations (for example, being beaten by their boyfriend) and the girls were able to talk about what was wrong with the situation without talking about their own experiences. The role plays were so good that the girls asked when Heidi and Ana would be back and promised that they would be there for every talk they give.
I wore contacts today, which was, apparently, a horrible idea. My eyes were more bloodshot than they’ve ever been in my life. When I was trying to go to sleep every time I opened my eyes the would start tearing and crying. No more contacts in Africa.

Sunday, October 18, 2009
Back to accra. 6 hour drive
Lots more female urinals- and ones where we all got to share and pee together!!!
Power out- we wrote a song and sang together in the dark- we’re all damn hippies.
Water’s out
Oh and horrible news, vegetarian stand is closed

Monday, October 19, 2009
Boring class- what else is new.
Ennis and I went on an adventure to look for art supplies for the kids at Global Civic. At global civic they don’t really have any creative outlets and Ennis and I were hoping that if they are better able to express themselves then maybe that would cut back on some of the sand throwing or hitting. Maybe. Millicent gave us directions to a Methodist book shop near the Tema station that supposedly had art supplies. I was kinda tired and hot and gross so I wasn’t sure about going but it ended up being my best experience in markets since I’ve been here. Everyone was super helpful and it was easy and nobody grabbed me to come buy their stuff. The first tro-tro we saw when we got to the street was going to Tema (it never happens that the one that you want to go on is just there waiting-never.) And then we knew we had to get off near the Law School but wasn’t sure if that was before you reach the station or not. Ennis tapped the man in front of us on the tro-tro and asked him if he knew where the Law school was and he said that that was where he was heading and that he would show us the way. When we got off the tro-tro half and hour later, Phillip, our lovely guide, walked with us and didn’t ask any creepy questions or if we wanted to marry him or any of that, but just talked ot us like normal human beings. He’s in his second year of law school but didn’t go to the University in Legon for undergrad. The bookstore we needed to go to was past the law school but he walked us all the way there and then shook our hands and we thanked him and that was that. When we got inside the book store the man at the desk asked if we were looking for anything in particular and we told him we need crayons and paper for kids and then possible some paint and brushes for ourselves. He said that they didn’t have any of that but to follow him he knew somewhere else to go. So he left his counter he was working at and took us through the street to a street vendor shop that had everything we needed. We also thanked him. Ennis and I got everything we needed for the kids and she and I are splitting a set of paint and brushes to use ourselves. The walk back to the station was easy and finding a tro-tro was easy. All very very lovely. Lovely Ghanaian experience.
Later that night I went to an amazing Indian restaurant in Osu with Rachel, Kenyon, Ennis, Thomas, Ana, Heidi, Jeff and then two people I hadn’t met before, Stephen and Jessica. It was a wonderful time had by all and while the food was a bit pricey for Ghanaian standards, I would have never eaten that good of Indian food in the US for such a price. There was also a really sweet little Indian woman who took our orders. Ana and Jeff have both studied before in India and it was nice to hear about their experiences there- definitely a place I need to spend some time in.
At dinner, Rachel told us some about her volunteering at the local public hospital in the children’s ward and it made my skin crawl. The way that they treat children is so horrible. A 3 year old little girl who had first degree burns all over her body and was naturally crying and freaking out was hit in the middle of her burns (to the point that it made her start bleeding everywhere) so that she would be quiet. Or the nurses were trying to find a vein in one of the children to take blood and ran out of needles so she reached down into the biohazard bag and used a needle that had already been used on someone else. It is so sad and apparently they just treat the children worse than the older patients which doesn’t make any sense. When Rachel’s there the other nurses just sit back and let her do everything. Rachel is a third year nursing student and said that her experience and knowledge is greater than that of the senior/head nurse there. It’s also horrible because they don’t have any resources at the hospital. She knows what needs to be done to help a kid but they don’t have the necessarily tools so she just has to tell a parent that there’s nothing that can be done and that their child might die. Insane. This is, of course, just at the public hospital. At the private hospital they have much more but it is too expensive for most Ghanaians to go to. So yet again, people who have money will get to live and be healthy, sucks for everyone else.

Anyway, on to something a little less depressing:

Up-date on veggie stand: there are a few possibilities about why they left- it can’t be because of money because they made a ton of money from all of us oburonis. So much money, that they were stealing business from the other vendors at the night market. Word on the street is that the rest of the night market got together and decided that the veggie stand took too much business and they were kicked out by a vote. I don’t understand why the rest of the night market doesn’t just learn from the veggie vendors: Maybe if you make some food that won’t give everybody worms and realize that while vegetarianism is a completely foreign concept to you, a large majority of your business are foreigners and there are many, many vegetarians. Everyone that had heard about the closing of the veggie stand is devastated and the reaction is typically just “no, no that can’t be true. NO, why?!” Vegetarians and meat eaters a like love it because it is tasty, there are actually vegetables (which not too many things cooked here have vegetables) and nobody’s gotten sick from it (and you can’t say that about any other stand in the night market). We’re trying to organize some way to bring them back, Ana and I were thinking about trying to get people to boycott the night market but that’s fairly impossible. They are our primary source of food especially now that the power is out pretty frequently so people can’t just cook for themselves anymore. We’ll come up with something.
But really though, Ghanaians just simply do not understand that some people don’t eat meat because they don’t want to. Not because they can’t afford it or anything, they just don’t. They don’t get it. And a lot of the exchange students are vegetarians and I can only assume that’s true every semester- but they just don’t get it… whatever, I’m stoked to go back to the diet of just beans and rice!
It was a really good day.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Got up at 6:15 to go to a class at 7 which was then canceled. Bummer
The water went out again last night. And somehow between the hours of 11pm when I went to bed and 6 am when I got up people went shit crazy. I’m serious. The toilet are so so full. Is everyone sick? I don’t think so, but who was up at 2am taking monster poo’s? Lordy me. Other classes today weren’t as bad as usual! Power on and off all day. Water on and off all day!
btw, Africa is super hot.
Had fruit from night market for dinner- sickest I’ve gotten yet. Couldn’t sleep until 4:30am- I won’t go into the details of my stomach woes but it wasn’t good. Coupled with the fact that the water didn’t works so I was in a bathroom where all of the toilets had poop in it already. Therefore didn’t go to global civic on Wednesday but instead slept on and off all day.
I talked to my brother! He’s the best big brother ever. So proud of him and I’m looking forward to doing our Christmas traditions together- apparently we’ll be getting back into the country on or around the same day!

Thursday, October 22, 2009
I wasn’t sure if Medical Geography was going to be rescheduled for this morning so I went anyway just to check. I had a very pleasant walk there where everyone that I said hello to said good morning back! It was very lovely until I got right in front of ish and a truck was parked with men in it that yelled at m “hello pretty! Oh yea you lookin good this morning”. But that’s okay- because it’s still been quite a pleasant morning.
Oh no! still sick! Not hungry and horrible liquids coming out of both ends! Ahhhhhhh. (sorry for the grossness but you don’t even know how much I’m holding back)

Malina and I borrowed Marley and Me from someone and watched it. No one told me that I was going to cry for the last 45 minutes of the movies. Geesh. I’m dehydrated enough as it is- I need those extra fluids!


Friday, October 23, 2009
Nathan told us about his younger sister today and it’s just so funny to hear how it seems that all older brothers are alike- protective and they don’t want their little sisters to ever grow up.

I’ve mentioned how the woman in the store downstairs is mean- and it’s true. I’ve tried killing her with kindness but she just won’t have it. Well anyway, she has an assistant now and it’s much more pleasant to go in when she’s working because she’ll actually respond to you when you talk. Either way, there’s a tv in the corner of the store that is opposite the counter- with both of them when you go up to pay they never look you in the face but are just staring directly over your head at the tv the entire time. It’s funny. And it’s also funny how used to it I’ve gotten- that would never happen in the us.

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