Ghana beginnings...

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I arrived in Africa about ten days ago to spend the next four months studying at the University of Ghana. My rooming situation is really sweet, I live with five people from Nigeria. They are very nice and love talking to me.

My Ghana diet is very different from my Chi-town diet. I eat fried rice with spicy brown sauce, chicken, lots of fruit, and some weird starches called foo-foo and "bang-coo." The drinks are different as well. There's this weird spicy soda called a Malta which is made by Guinness. Beer can only be bought individually (no six packs or thirty packs), which discourages students from binge drinking. However, that did not stop some of my neighbors who still managed to get drunk and vomit in the hallway of my apartment.

The water in my building has been non-existent for more than half my stay thus far. As you can imagine this causes numerous dilemmas. I feel dirty all the time and showers don't seem to help. It's very hot...and humid. The raining season is almost over, in which case it will just be very hot. Don't get me wrong, it's MUCH better than cold Chicago winters.


It's so incredible to watch my new African friends praise God in the midst of their troubles. Yesterday I was walking through one of Accra's slums and was shocked to notice glowing smiles on so many faces. These people literally have nothing yet still consider themselves blessed. I walked past a barely functioning taxi van (also known as a "tro-tro") which somehow crammed upwards of twenty people. On the front of the van were the following words, "still God is good." Needless to say, I was quite humbled by these people's attitudes. I am filled with anger and sadness as I think of my many friends at Northwestern whose only aspiration in life is money. We truly are part of a sinful human race that can only be saved by the grace of God.

This past Sunday I attended a campus church service which lasted three hours. We met in an old broken down classroom. The church is a part of Top Faith Ministries and is five years old. It's a pentecostal congregation with three medical students serving as the pastors (all of whom I find extremely interesting). I definitely feel that God placed me right where He wants me, which is an awesome feeling!


I was very sick the past day and a half. I had a fever of 101 degrees, the worst headache of my life, and a stomach that felt like death. I laid in my bed until 4 pm and could barely move. My flatmates were very sad to see me so sick and tried their best to help me. They all tried to diagnose me which I found humorous yet irksome (I gave five reports of everything I did and ate the previous day). My Nigerian friends concluded that my sickness was a result of the heat and possibly a side effect of my maleria medication. Later that day, as I was lying in bed pastor "ti-ti" called to invite me to a church event that evening. After hearing I was sick he prayed for me and within an hour I was all better. (which was really cool) I met some new friends that evening and found them extremely interesting.

On another note, Ghaneans and Nigerians shake hands different than Americans. They grab the other person's thumb with their thumb, and proceed to slide their hand down and snap their fingers using the other person's middle finger. Sadly, I still have not mastered this technique. Africans do this all the time! If I'm talking to a Ghanean and the conversation is going well, there may be five or six hand shakes involving the snap thing...my right hand middle finger often feels as if it's about to fall off as I am not used to this custom.

I find myself in many situations where laughing is my only option. My/our culture is just so different. For example, everyone I've met is an incredibly heavy sleeper...I am not. The average African wakes up at 6:30 in the morning for no good reason. They then proceed to talk in extremely loud voices. Apparently consideration for other peoples' sleep is not part of the African culture as there is no need since Nigerians seem to sleep through anything. I quickly learned that eating and sleeping are done out of necessity, not for pleasure.

Some of you know that English is the primary language here in Ghana. However, the accent is so strong that it's incredibly difficult for me to understand what people say. On top of that, they mix their English with pigeon. Yesterday I found myself pronouncing words differently so that people would understand me. My room mate is currently teaching me Nigerian pigeon slang!

Adapting to my new home took some initiative on my part, but was pretty easy. It helps that my nickname is Warren G and that I apparently look a lot like Kaka, the best player on the Brazilian soccer team (http://soccer-europe.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2456&g2_serialNumber=3).

I have no water, the food here is super spicy, I sleep in a mosquito net, it's really hot and humid, Ghanean English shouldn't be called English, my apartment smells like a combination of B.O. and mosquito repellent, and it's dusty everywhere, but still God is good. I can't wait for what these next months have in store for me. Keep me in your prayers rather than your thoughts.

Fyi, my mailing address until December 14th is the following:

c/o Kwasi Gyasi Gyamerah
CIEE - Warren Lentz
PMB 31
University of Ghana
Graduate Studies Building
Legon, Ghana
West Africa

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