Blogs from Legon, Greater Accra, Ghana, Africa - page 13

Hello again to everyone. Again I have been warned by my father about my bad spelling problem, so again I apologize for any mistakes I make. This week has proved very interesting. Since yesterday our house has had to endure a power outage...the first long one we've had since we arrived in Ghana. It turned off yesterday at 11a.m. and didn't return until today at noon. And no power = no fan or light. Last night we were very careful not to burn down the house with all the candles we lit, keeping them anchored in empty beer and Fanta bottles (not the most sturdy apparatus'). This morning the heat was so unbearable that many of us sought refuge yet again at the pool, which proved for a very relaxing afternoon. I also used FanIce as ... read more

So, now that I've been here for about a month classes are actually beginning to happen- what, wait? I'm still in the process of narrowing down classes... I've already fallen asleep in one or two, so clearly I feel at home here. Let's see what's been up the last week or so- last Sunday after the 3 hour mass Calvin and I went to Frankie's in Osu (the westernized part of the city) for a burger and then headed to see the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and museum as well as Independence Square. It was really awesome going to the museum with a Ghanaian who could fill-in parts of history that I don't know, and hear things from a very different perspective. This Thursday is Independence day (3/6/1957), and I'm excited to see the parade, hear the ... read more

I wouldn't go as far as to say that things have come to a stand-still here in Ghana, however, this last week seems to have been fairly laid back. When I first arrived here it was sensory overload all the time and I was constantly learning new things. However, as of right now I feel pretty comfortable with everything. I have become quite accustom to being stared at, honked at, yelled at, and proposed to. Because I am blond haired, blue eyed, and tall, I stick out like the sorest of thumbs here. And being an oburoni (finally the correct spelling of this word) of such, I have learned to ignore the local men who consider me as their ticket to the U.S. and what they think is a better life. I believe I have had ... read more

On Friday, after a good dose of peer pressure, I went to the University of Ghana’s baseball team practice, to just see. I heard they weren’t great, and was missing daily athletic activity, and although the coach wasn’t thrilled that a girl was going to come play, he heard that I played softball so allowed me to “try out.” Long story short, I am one of the newest members of the men’s baseball team here at the university. The coach is really good, he is on the Ghanaian national team, and has trained with Mets’ farm teams. We have practice everyday on maybe a third of a baseball field in between a pick-up football (soccer) match and cricket practice. It’s just really fun to run around, and the guys are all really nice, so we’ll see ... read more

Awkaaba to my blog! For all those who don't speak Twi (pronounced like tree almost, it's the language of the Ashanti people which means Twi is most people in the Accra region's first language)... I am indeed welcoming you to my blog. It's really hard to believe our flight left two weeks ago. A quick recap of the trials and tribulations of the past two weeks. (note: I'm not exactly sure if trials and tribulations is apropraite, but I thought it sounded, you know, smart...) I was on the group Brockport flight which was pretty sweet because I got to meet a majority of the people in my program before embarking on almost 24 hours of traveling. A thankfully, pretty uneventful 24 hours, British Airways knows how to treat it's patrons... Anywho, arrived in Accra, and ... read more