green turtle lodge

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Last wednesday, my indigenous religion class visited a traditional shrine. field trips here aren't as easy as in the states -there are probably 400 people in this class so the whole thing took four hours longer than it was supposed to. still, it was really interesting. the shrine wasn't what i had imagined at all. it was pretty much a designated building where the appointed traditional priests work. the only noticable differences between a normal building were that you had to remove your shoes before entering, couldn't cross your legs while inside or bring in any food containing salt. the priests talked to us for awhile and explained what they do and how the heirarchy works. before we left, they said a blessing for us using shnapps. it was cool to see what we've been talking about in class although i don't feel like i understand it much more than i did before.

on friday, taylor, anouk and i left for green turtle lodge, a small, eco-friendly resort that helps with endangered turtle preservation. they use solar panels for energy, lanterns for light and self-composting bathrooms. it took about nine hours to get there because it's really in the middle of nowhere -it took an hour taxi ride through the forest but was totally worth the travel time. this place is seriously a paradise. it's really secluded and so beautiful. and had amazing food. we immediatly saw some of our friends from school. we didn't know eachother was going to be there but it definitely made the weekend fun. we played games for awhile and hung out on the beach. we also went along the beach with a guide looking for turtles and their nests. the resort has staff watch along the beach every night to protect the turtles but apparently the night before we got there a turtle was taken nearby. we didn't see any turtles but saw plenty of ghost crabs which reallly freaked me out. we slept in a tent on the beach that night that cost about 2 USD and the next night i slept in a hammock outside -only downside of that was i got close to 80 misquito bites. still, it was awesome waking up to the ocean. on saturday i had a close call when i was swiming.. i got pulled out pretty far by a rip tide (the undertow at all the beaches here is really strong) and couldn't swim back in, i just kept getting pounded by waves. i panicked which is what you shouldn't do in that situation, but there was someone swimming out pretty far who saw me and swam me in. it was really scary and it took me a little to settle my nerves -i'm just very grateful that guy was out there. we met some peace corps volunteers that night who are finishing up their service and spent the night hanging out with them. had a great, chill morningon the beach. we left around noon and got back to school that night. the weekend was really mellow but it was my favorite trip so far, it was also the least expensive.

today, taylor and i spent a couple of hours at an elementary school on campus playing with the children and helping their teachers. we worked in a class of over 80 five/six year olds. recess was a little hectic but playing with the kids was fun. in class, i was taken back by how the teachers act towards the children. they can be hostile one moment and caring and maternal the next. also, caning is still practiced here -the teachers used the threat of, "do this or i'll cane/smack you," as a way to enforce most things they said. i saw a couple of children get whipped with a branch for misbehaving at recess. another strange thing was that part of the lesson was about adam and eve. there's no seperation between church and state -religious stories are apparently a part of the ciriculum. it was a good experience nonetheless. the children were very happy and it was good to see children in school.

i have my last class tomorrow then a month of finals -i have two weeks of nothing in between finals and can't really travel during this time because any exam can be rescheduled with a day or two's notice so i'll probably be taking a lot of day trips around accra.

it's crazy that it's already time for finals. i'm not quite ready to come home yet.

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Comments

[Shawn]

I'm a bit jealous
That sounds like a good vacation, i mean, wait yeah, that's what I meant. Did they let you smack any of the children? That might be fun. It would be so nice to get out of here for a little bit just to learn about a place like that, or even a place like Tijuana to buy really cheap stuff. Have you seen Jordan over there yet? He's in Russia or Canada or somewhere in that general area. Who knows? Make sure to take some sand with you from the beach so everyone can see it sitting there on your lampstand for the next 50 years, or at least until it falls of the lampstand and spills all over the floor. If it falls on the floor you might want to just throw it away because if you sweep it up it might get bugs and hair and bread crumbs in it. Too bad you have to come back. Hope you're enjoying it, which it sounds like you are.