Ghana- Week 11: International Easter

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*Just so you know in advance, this isn't the prettiest of blog posts, structurally but…it’s got some pretty awesome content.

International Day- Danced and Acted/ Improv
So without really knowing until the day of, after getting back from Kumasi, I was going to perform as part of the international Day celebration that was being held at the University by the International Office as well as the Performing Arts Department. So not only did I dance, with some students from my dance class in front of an small but sizable audience, but I also did some acting, or in this case, for me, improv, since I didn’t know what I was really supposed to say until the actual act.

JHS1- Quiz
I decided to give my English class a quiz, which they dubbed to be a TEST when they received it. It was on literary devices, which they swore they knew. Let’s see the lowest grade that a student got was a 25% and the highest was a 108%. Also, they clearly thought that I did not know anything about cheating because they pretty much talked from one side of the classroom to the other side until I moved chairs and desks so that they were spaced out. They told me in the process that quizzes meant that they could work in groups….so it became an “American Quiz”…a short test. It was entertaining to observe and catch cheating in action but what was even more interesting was reading the short stories that I made them write afterwards, some were pretty creative, others were complete plagiarism.

Female Entrepreneur
We got to go visit a female entrepreneur on Wednesday morning instead of going to our Globalization class. It was very cool; firstly, it was a female entrepreneur, who isn’t really given that “title” in Ghana even though there are many female entrepreneurs walking around in Ghana. Secondly, she was working in the metal industry, which is also normally male dominant. She is an art major who just saw the opportunity to begin the customizable metal artwork and furniture industry, which is extremely lucky for her and awesome to see as she reaps the benefits of being the only real customizable metal creator (?) in Ghana as of right now.

Burkina Faso – Alliance Performance
The following evening I went back to Alliance France with Sena and other dance friends to watch a dance performance by a Burkina Faso dance company that some of my dance friends (including Sena) is part of and was supposed to dance in…but for some reason did not work out as planned. Anyways, the performance itself was pretty cool, very modern and contemporary, which isn’t typically the norm here. So it was pretty “provocative” compared to the last dance performance and other “traditional dances” that I’ve been learning.

Makola Market
Makola Market is the biggest market in Accra, Ghana (I believe) it’s at the very least in the center of the city. I went to the market with Sena because my internship school started their Easter break so I didn’t have to go to that during the day. In addition to that, the University decided to just have a half day of classes for Easter break and so my dance class was cancelled. Ergo…perfect day to go to the market…
It was insane! It was a crazy organized mess. I don’t remember how I got there or walked around and got back on a Tro-Tro to go home but luckily I had my own tour guide of the market. I tried some fried cow cheese with pepper- YUMMM and this ginger drink that was from a huge tuber ware storage bin that was scooped out and filled into a clear plastic bag with a straw…could have been poor decisions on my part, I admit…street food, not the best thing to be trying all the time, but luckily it didn’t affect me at all.
Side note… the cheese was called “wagashi” and the ginger drink (with a bit of millet and rice blended in) was called “lamugee”.

Easter!
Good Friday was the start of Easter Break. Which I have decided should be a more celebrated holiday back in the States because it’s a 4-5 day break to either take the time to think about what Jesus did for the very religious or even for the ones who follow religion, to gather around and hang out…and well…party.
On Saturday, I just finished up some work I had to do for classes and well life… and then I tried to get the kids in the house to watch the Lorax (for those who haven’t seen it, you have to- it’s an amazing movie! For many different reasons that I won’t get into for the time being). But sadly, the children didn’t really enjoy the movie like I had hoped they would. They forced themselves to laugh and it just wasn’t as entertaining to them as re-runs of Ben 10 was… So slowly they walked away from my computer and left me to re-watch the Lorax on my own. Somewhat of a depressing realization but it happens.
Sunday, I went to Osu (a very international hub-more expensive than other places in Ghana) for lunch with George and Victoria from Ashesi. So we finally got to see each other outside of the school on the hill, which was really nice. Victoria, for those who don’t know, was a student who came to Babson last Spring semester, who I luckily got to meet then and now attend the school that she goes to in Ghana and am in one of her classes. We just got meat pies and smoothies and chatted about random thing in Ghana and the class that the three of us are in.
On Monday, I went on a Church Picnic with Sena in a place called Banana Inn, where it was just a lot of elder people who would shove food and drinks at you, while you were already eating. It was funny and a lot of fun to meet her mother and aunts. Afterwards I went back with Sena and her husband to see their place in Dansoman, which was the town next door (well after going through “Russia” which was interesting to hear since it’s kind of a long way from real Russia). And that’s how I spent my Easter Holiday Break to only find out the next day that life at the University wouldn’t be the same.

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Photos

Favorite Metal Piece
At the company

Mommy and Daughter
Sena(m)

Senam + Me
(Sena's Daughter)