jlmaurer

So Tuesday June 22 I did my entry before I went to talk with some local Ghanian students. We asked them questions and it was really interesting to see how they viewed the U.S. and of the issues in Ghana. Anyway, on Wednesday (23) we got to go to a carving village and shop around. The people selling things here are so aggressive with tourists, they all say "I will give you good price" or "I will give you a student price" and somewhat make you feel bad if you don't follow them into their store to make a purchase. It was an experience for sure, but I ended up buying some neat wood carvings. After that we went to the Ashanti Kingdom and two museums. Thursday June 24: Left Kumasi to head to Elmina that ... read more

Sunday June 20: Ghana Today I had the chance to make my own batik t-shirt. Batik is a way to make designs on fabric and dye it many different colors by using wax. The group only had enough time to dye the t-shirts one color so I did a gold but my artistic skills were lacking on the t-shirt design. I don’t know if I will wear the shirt but it was really awesome to see the process of this fabric dying. After that we went to a kente weaving shop to watch and try to weave some. Kente is a type of weaving done in Ghana that takes a lot of time and patience. I got to try and weave some and it is physically tiring because not only did I have to use my ... read more

Friday June 18: Benin One thing after another has been happening to the bus. First the front window had a crack in it that had to be prepared and put us back one day. On this day a tire from a truck bust and the impact of it broke out one of the side windows in our bus so we were stuck at the hotel until about 11am, when we were supposed to leave around 9am. We had a group session that morning; it was somewhat tense for many people. There have been some issues on the trip between roommates, races, and people just picking out things to get irritated about. The group consists of 20 girls so there is no way to work around girls being girls. I am glad we had the session because ... read more

Wednesday June 16: Benin We left the beach in Ouidah to go to Cotonu, with some stops along the way. We started at the Door of No Return, which was one of the last stops for the enslaved to be taken to the New World. There was a memorial set up to represent the last stop of the Slave Trail in West Africa. We continued along the road, which was the Slave trail, and saw many statues that had been put up as part of the Dahomey Kingdom and the religion of Voodoo. The next stop was at the Dahomey Kingdom and the palace that still exists today from it. The Kings would build their own palace right beside the previous Kings palace. It was interesting to see how Benin functioned before colonialism began. We then ... read more

Monday June 14: Ghana This day was awesome! Spent most of it outside at a Botanical garden, Dr. Opoku’s farm, and also went to an Herbal Medicine Center. We went from Accra (which is a large city) to the mountains (and I can’t remember the name of where we went to). The mountains were beautiful and made me feel right at home. The first stop up the mountain was the Herbal Medicine center where they have found many natural ways to help people. Some of the main issues they are currently working on are Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Typhoid, and some issues present in Africa and around the world. We were also able to purchase some of the herbal remedies if we wanted to; so I bought a natural painkiller, so we will see how that works. ... read more

So I have been very slow at posting due to lack of Internet, and I apologize for that so let me catch you up on what I have been doing for the past week! Saturday June 12: Ghana I woke up early that morning to get ready to spend the day with a Ghanaian family and see what they do on a daily basis. Gennelle and I were assigned to a family - Gabbi, Cassandra, and Lois! I actually met Gabbi the second day I was in Ghana; he was my tour guide for the transportation in Ghana. He is a graduate from grad school at the University of Ghana and now helps with the NCSU/UNC study abroad programs at the university and is still doing research there. His sisters Cassandra (19 years old) and Lois ... read more

I have a lot to fill everyone in on but I am about to leave for an herbal medicine place and one of our teachers farms/forest! I will write tonight if the power is working! :)... read more

Today was the last day of classes, but let me catch you up on what I have been up to. Classes: 1. Prof. Opuko is a teacher at the University of Ghana at Legon and has actually also taught at NC State and some other universities in the states. He has been teaching us religion of West Africa and some culture of Ghana. I already knew a lot of the traditions and religions because of a class I have already taken so it has not been difficult. 2. Prof. Smith McKoy is a professor at NC State and has been traveling with us. Her class is about Francophones and Anglophones of Africa and how colonization has effected the people of the Africa and the African Diaspora today. This class has really helped me gain a better ... read more

So the past few days have not been too eventful. I have had two days of classes so far (1 hr 30 min of the language Twi, 1 hr 30 min of Ghana culture, and 1 hr 30 min of a class about the slave trade and current situations). Its a very long day of classes but its going to be worth the 6 credits for sure. Food - There is a lot of chicken, fish, and rice here...not much of a variety on campus. The fruit here is amazing! The freshest, sweetest pineapple I have ever tasted and yummy mango. Market - Went to the market today, everyone wants you to come into their shop because they have the best prices. It's almost frustrating because they pull on you and show you all of the ... read more

June 2 - I have finally made it to my destination - Accra, Ghana! My flight was the first non-stop flight from Atlanta to Accra and there was a ceremony at the Atlanta airport before we took board. It was pretty cool to see the Ghanaians of Georgia there to celebrate this new direct flight. Now I am here many many hours later. We arrived at the airport (which was much different than the usual airport) where we got off of the plane down some steps to the ground outside, took a bus about 3 blocks, then got off at customs. It is also the rainy season here so it is extremely humid. We arrived at Coconut Grove Regency hotel, which was a relief because it had AC! It was a really nice hotel with a ... read more