Mediocre Days

---

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 23 marriage proposals already if I have counted correctly.
I am also getting better at the local ways of life. I now know the correct way to catch a specific tro tro going to certain places. For example, if I am trying to get to Circle (the central part of Accra), I stick a finger in the air and wave it around in a circle and if a tro tro is going to Circle it will stop and pick me up, but if not then they will pass me by. I am also very good at the "snap handshake" greeting which is very popular throughout West Africa. I'm sure that when I get home, every time I shake someone's hand, they will look at me strange when I try to snap their middle finger.
Classes here still haven't really gotten into full swing. It's already two weeks into the semester and tons of students don't have their schedule solidified and some professors haven't shown up to class. It weird thinking that everyone at UW has been in class for a little over a month, and I'm just hanging out. Although I have had one class, Plato and Socrates. It seems like it will be very interesting with a very intelligent and nice professor and six other very interesting classmates. I have become fast friends with Shadrack, Micheal, Kwasi, Linda, and Alice. They all love to have extremely in-depth conversations about philosophy, life, religion, the worlds problems, and everything else under the sun; however, I have realized that every conversation we have ends with their conclusion that if everyone lived their lives by the word of God (they're all very religious), then all the questions we discuss would be answered...I always counter with the fact that asking questions is what makes life interesting and the conversation starts all over again.
Although classes aren't keeping me too busy just yet, I am constantly finding other activities to take up my time. Yesterday I went with nine other students to a hotel pool that is about a two minute walk from my house. It was extremely relaxing and exactly what we all needed. Last Wednesday I accompanied one of my housemates, her Ghanaian boyfriend and members of his band Gouda (the name of his band, not the cheese) to a place called Alliance France, a French club that has live music and shows every Wednesday night. Even though it is a French club, it serves as a relaxing haven to anyone who wishes to attend and meet people from all over the world. As an anthropologist it was very fun for me to see many different nationalities represented: the French were sitting in their corner smoking away, the English were sitting in their corner sipping their cocktails, the Americans were eating their food and drinking their beers, and the Swiss were trying their hardest to keep up with the Ghanaians on the dance floor...but in the end, we were all trying to keep up with each other on the dance floor.
On Friday our house celebrated a holiday called "Unofficial." Two of my housemates are from the University of Illinois and enlightened us all about how their university has a large Irish population, but that St. Patrick's day always falls on their Spring Break; therefore the many students who are on vacation can't celebrate the holiday with their university friends. So an inventive bartender in the area created the holiday Unofficial which serves as an 'unofficial' St. Patrick's day so that all the students can celebrate with their friends. Friday was the date that the bartender picked for this year and so we all donned green attire, listened to music, danced, played cards and other games, and let the drinks flow all day long. The day had a nice classic American college feeling, something that no one has felt since being here.
Speaking of cards however, I am becoming quite the player. It is becoming one of our house's favorite pass times and I am learning games like Spades, Hearts, getting better at Eurchre, and killing people at Gin Rummy (thanks to my many years of practice with Nana and Granddad). I am also catching up on my reading, however, because so many people brought such good books with them, my reading list continues to get longer and longer. And when I'm not reading or playing cards, I'm killing the cockroaches that seem to like our bathroom areas. Hooray for bugs bigger than your fists! (that was sarcasm if you couldn't tell).
Though hanging out at home and relaxing is nice, some of my housemates and I have decided to plan a trip for next weekend. Thus I take my leave to go try my best at making chocolate chip cookies here (wish me luck) and plan out more exciting things to post next week. I hope all is well with all of you who are reading and thanks again!

---

Photos

Goats on the highway
There are goats everywhere in this country

A Tro Tro
basically a van that fits up to 17 people at a time, and Ghana's main means of transportation

the soil of Ghana
the soil here is red clay, it brings back so many memories from my childhood living in Africa...when you take a shower here, the water turns red for a few minutes until all the clay dust is removed from you.

my classmates
Shadrack, Michael, Kwasi, Linda, and Alice

Nana-Kwasi practicing guitar
he is a friend of my housemate's boyfriend who is in the band Gouda

Kwame my housemate's boyfriend
he is playing the Ghanaian version of the xylophone which he made

Ouwo playing their version of the "base drum"
he uses his hand and his feet to play it, using his feet to make a higher pitch

Gidi, Ahefe, and Ouwo playing the drums
Gidi will be moving to Santa Cruz, CA in about 6 months to be with his fiance and to teach drumming there

Comments

[Isabelle Vadeboncoeur]

OH SWEET Ghana, and Gouda Music
Hi there, this is funny, I was looking for Threeleaf's blog (Kent's group in Ghana from Texas with Gouda' Group) and I found your blog and I'm happy to see your pictures, and your stories, it's amazing to see how different people go to Ghana and I really wish you the time of your life!!! I will be back in a few months, I'm a friend of Gouda (and the wife of one of them, haha) and a friend of Natalie, so I feel connected to anyone who have the chance to meet my amazing friends!!! Say hi to them from Bella!!! Small world!

[wiqar]

living in Ghana
how hard it is to live in Ghana for say about a year? If I were an USA citizen? thanks.