Too Blessed to be Stressed

This weekend was by far the best weekend I’ve experienced here in Ghana so far! This weekend we planned to go to the Volta region where the largest waterfall in West Africa is located. Friday morning, we got up at about 5:30am to catch a trotro and begin our journey. We luckily caught a bus to Tema station downtown, where we caught another trotro to Ho Hoe. The trotro we boarded was a dream. Air conditioning, brand new plush seats, it was unreal. Driving through the countryside was great, it really solidified the fact that I’m finally in Africa and studying abroad. Close to Ho Hoe, we got off the trotro to go to a monkey sanctuary and have lunch. We found out that the sanctuary was actually about 3km away, so the best way to get there was on motorbikes. Absolutely no hesitation to this idea, we all got our own driver and started cruising down a dirt path. It was so cool! We passed by local schools where the children were waving and other buildings surrounding the villages. We got to the sanctuary and had lunch at a local chop bar, which was rice with tomato stew. After that we bought some bananas and went to the monkey sanctuary where we got to feed them to the little monkeys (which looked like little wizard gremlins) and some even climbed down and would sit on your shoulders! After this, we decided to continue on our way to Ho Hoe and then the base of Wli falls so we could stay overnight somewhere. We miraculously got an empty trotro on the side of the road to take us the rest of the way and then another trotro and the always crucial fan chocos to take us the rest of the way. When we got to the base of Wli, we found a homestay/lodge to stay in and took a nap before dinner. For dinner, we went to a bar/restaurant that didn’t have lights, but rather black lights and ordered some rice and chicken. There, we experienced the classic Ghanaian time scale and waited about an hour and a half for our food. But the view of the mountains was really cool, and even though we couldn’t really see our food, it was still an awesome experience. After dinner, we tried to go to bed early because we knew we had to wake up early to start hiking.

Roommates at the lodge!!

Saturday morning, we woke up at about 6:30am to get ready to go and then met our guide, Wisdom Mighty or just Mighty for short, and began our journey. As we began our hike, Mighty stopped at a palm bush and cut us each a walking stick to use while on the trail. We had decided to take the longest 6 hour hike that would take us to both the upper and lower falls. Clarification: hiking in Ghana usually means scaling mountains and vertical/ 90 degree trails, switch backs are not present, ever. Despite this challenge, the hike was amazing and began with super cool views of the village below and the surrounding mountains. After about 3 hours, which included a particularly steep portion of the trail where we basically slid down the mountain, we reached the upper falls. It was again, unreal. The mist and the wind were super powerful, but that didn’t stop us from swimming under the falls for awhile. We then ate some lunch before starting hiking again to the lower falls. This portion of the trail included more downhill sections, but was still challenging and I had to concentrate so I wouldn't misstep. The palm branch walking sticks came in quite handy at this point. After another couple hours, we reached the lower falls and went swimming again and enjoyed the surrounding view and sun. We then hiked out to the village and gathered our stuff together to catch a trotro back to Accra. The trotro ride home was slightly longer because of some traffic. When we arrived back to the dorms we got food, I got my favorite Sarah’s chicken wings and kelewele. After scarfing down dinner, I passed out on my bed, exhausted from the past two days.

Sunday/today was my friend Christin’s 21^st birthday, so we spent time celebrating! Some of my friends and I went to the mall early in the morning and got stuff to decorate her room. We then went down to Osu to get the cake we order for it and went to Frankie’s for dinner. I enjoyed some prime American food, my favorite: bacon cheeseburger and fries. The cake was delicious and it was the perfect end to the weekend. Overall, I’m so glad everything went smoothly. Surprisingly, we really didn't have that much of the trip planned. We got on the trotro, not really knowing where we were going to stay that night or any real details, but everything worked out. It makes me want to take advantage of any opportunity to travel, if it comes up. Tomorrow, brings more school, my internship, and more Ghanaian life. So, until next time, I hope everyone is having a great time back home!

Love,

Audrey

Daily life and some weekend adventures

Hey everyone, sorry I meant to post this on Tuesday...

Life in Ghana has been great for the past two weeks! More going to classes,working at my internship, and every day I feel more comfortable living here. The rest of last week was pretty normal and I spent another day successfully getting to and from my internship site. This last weekend we decided to spend Friday going to Boti Falls and then Saturday, we traveled with my whole program to the eastern region. Friday was probably our longest trotro ride we’ve taken, and unfortunately I did fall victim to car sickness due to the winding mountain roads and the incredible speed that trotros seem to go. Typical of me, but I am pretty proud of myself that I lasted this long without getting sick. When we finally got to the falls, we learned that since it was the dry season, there wasn’t any water. Completely dried up falls, but the view was still pretty cool. Saturday we woke up really early to be bused to the eastern region. There, we visited a cocoa farm and I got to sample some raw cocoa right from the pod. We then went to the botanical gardens and got to tour it and enjoy a fantastic free buffet for lunch. Needless to say, I took full advantage of all that food. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at the wood carving village and I got some neat jewelry. Sunday, I spent time catching up on reading and studying for my test on history of western medicine for Tuesday. Monday, I spent time at my internship and studied more and then Tuesday I took my first test here. I would say it went rather well, considering it was answering one essay question and it was open notes/open books. I also went to my lecture on Human Rights in Africa, and I can really tell that I’m going to enjoy that class. Tuesday/today, I went to my internship and I’m happy to say that I finally caught a trotro for the first part of the ride. This has been one of the most difficult aspects of my internship because of the traffic and the fact that there never seems to be room in a trotro going to 37^th station. But finally today, an empty trotro pulled up and I managed to get a ride. This being said, I did arrive at my site a little early, but I’m still really happy I did it. For those of you who may still be confused as to what a trotro is, here is a link to site that gives a painfully accurate description of this wondrous method of transportation. I also forgot to mention, but Monday, I also got to pick up a pencil skirt that I had made by a local seamstress and I liked it so much, I’m having her make me another. I also got one of the dresses another seamstress made me and it also rocks, I promise I'll post pictures soon! This weekend I will be traveling Wli falls and a monkey sanctuary and looking forward to celebrating one of my friend’s 21^st birthday! Hope everyone is doing well back home!

Love,

Audrey  

Some Reflections

Hey all!

So this past week was much like the first, except I was actually able to attend all of my classes! Hurrah! Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful, Monday I spent time updating emails and reading and Tuesday I had my first history class and then my poli sci class about Human Rights in Africa. They both sound like they’re going to be super interesting especially from this new perspective. Wednesday, I thought we were going to my internship site, but that turned out to be Thurs. so I spent Wednesday wandering around more and gathered some course packets and other papers. Thursday, I finally got to visit my internship site! I went with Janet (one of CIEE’s office workers) and after driving me down to Osu and introducing me to one of the staff members at WiLDAF, she left me to learn what my internship would entail. I got to read through some pamphlets and I learned I would be collecting, filing, and reporting about media postings that are concerned with women’s rights. I was really excited to have a concrete job and that was all they had for me, so I decided to brave the trotro and ride back to campus. First solo trotro ride: success! There’s a station right near my office and I was easily able to find the trotro that was heading for medina. I’m glad to say I made it back just in time for my public health lecture. This class seems like it might be repetitive to the class on global health that I took last semester, but again, I'm excited to learn all this from a new perspective. Friday, me and some friends decided to travel about an hour out of Accra to Bojo Beach. It was such a good decision. Unlike the first beach I visited, this one was gorgeous! There was hardly anyone there and the beach is actually an island surrounded by fresh water on one side and the ocean on the other. We got to take a sweet little canoe ride to the beach and enjoyed the day swimming in the waves and reading on the beach. Day well spent.

Canoes used to cross lagoon

View off canoe heading towards beach

Saturday, we were planning on attending a wedding of a friend’s cousin, but unfortunately we got the days mixed up and ended up spending at least 2 hours sitting around the church and wandering the neighborhood, looking like fools. It probably looked hilarious. Sunday was quiet, I spent the day reading some of my course readings and doing laundry (which takes forever). At night we watched the African Nations Cup Final between Nigeria and Burkina Faso and Nigeria won!! Today, I got to go to my first full day of internship. After slightly struggling to get downtown (Ghana traffic is absolutely insane) I met one of the other interns who will be leaving in a week and I’ll be taking over her job. She explained everything really well, and I got to get started in reading, clipping, and organizing articles. It’s safe to say I’m going to be extremely well read on Ghana’s news by the end.

Since this was a somewhat short blog post I thought I’d also include the some reflections and realizations that me and my friends have discovered over the past few weeks.

The Five Fundamental Truths of Living in Ghana
1. Running Water (working toilets) are not to be taken for granted. Ever. (This past week we have had a total of 5 days without running water, and I am getting really good at bucket showering. These showers I don’t really mind, but the un-flushable toilets being used by about 70 people per floor is another story.)
2. Buckets are invaluable. (Bucket showers, carrying laundry, carrying plantain chips on your head, and probably more activities are made possible only by owning a trusty bucket.)
3. Food in Ghana can be either incredibly honest or dishonest. (This is slightly hard to explain, but I have found that the food I eat here either looks and tastes good or is extremely misleading and an unfortunate adventure for your taste buds and stomach. Honest foods include: Fan choco, plaintain chips, sarah’s chicken, sweet roles, Don Simon, chips (fries), egg sandwiches, coffee cue pancakes and ice tea, Star beer, most fruit, kelewele (fried plantains) and fish (which here in Ghana is blatantly honest). Dishonest foods include: Jollof and fried rice (because sometimes you might be expecting delicious rice and end up with fishy rice), spaghetti noodles, bags of water, gizzard,  and pizza from Louisa. Food up to interpretation: vegetables (if found) and cheese (if found).
4. Dirt is always present.
5. Don’t expect anything. (It’s much easier to enjoy your stay in Ghana if you don’t expect anything and just roll with life in the true Ghanaian style. Some examples: do not expect class times to be posted or classes to start the first week, do not expect the store or vendor to have change, and do not expect to be able to shower after your run.)

Despite these challenges I am still loving it here and ready for everything new each day brings. 
That’s all for now, this weekend is our first group trip to the Eastern Region and I’m really looking forward to it!
Love,
Audrey

Beginning to explore Ghana

Another week has gone by and I've experienced even more Ghanaian culture. One great example of experiencing this culture has been this "first week of classes." I had one class the whole week. It started off on Monday morning, I thought I might have a morning class and I still had to check some course lists, because some classes weren't even up yet. (classic Ghana) But, after seeing that one class that I wanted was going to be offered, I didn't need to go to the one I had planned as a back-up. I did have Twi that afternoon, but I'm not counting this as class, because I already took first semester Twi at Madison, last fall. In fact, I don't have to take Twi at all this semester, which now leaves more room for other classes. For lunch Monday, and really everyday of the week, we went to Coffee Cue, a little outdoor cafe on campus. There, you can get really great iced mango or peach tea, and these great chocolate pancakes or spicy noodles. It's probably one of my favorite places on campus.
Tuesday, followed pretty much the same. After spending the morning in IPO (CIEE office) I had my history of western medicine in Ghana class scheduled for later that afternoon. I got there early and sat in one of the hugest lecture halls ever for about 30 minutes until the other small group of students and I decided to leave because no professor showed. By now, I had figured that the first week of classes really is more like a week of registration, because it's actually when all the Ghanaian students finally arrive on campus and start looking at their classes.

With my new bag at the art Market in Accra

Wednesday, I didn't have any classes scheduled, , so me and some friends decided to take a trotro down to Osu which is in downtown Accra. It’s kind of like the night club district but it also has great restaurants and shopping. I also got to visit the Ghanaian branch of Global Mamas, which is an organization that I have been interested in even before I came to Ghana. To say our experience in Osu was overwhelming is an understatement. Being white really attracts a lot of attention so the whole time we were walking around we kept getting shouted at to come look at or buy things and some vendors even grabbed at you. They’ll shout “oburoni oburoni!” which literally means white person, but not in a offensive way. As mentioned before it was really overwhelming and slightly frustrating, but an experience all the same. Overall, Osu was cool, but it  takes a backbone to be able to walk through it unfazed.

Thursday morning, I got to go to the poli sci class that I’m really looking forward to (Issues in Africa’s International Relations) and it was actually being held. Granted, we only went over the syllabus, but it still felt really good to finally be in a classroom setting again. The class sounds really interesting and I’m excited to hear about some of these issues from an African perspective. Another plus, the only assignment is the final at the end of the semester.

Friday, I didn’t have class again so we decided to take a trotro down to downtown Accra to Makola market. It was packed. Everything was so crowded and busy, but I did end up getting a small bag, which was great. An interesting thing about these markets is that the vendors sell a lot of the same things because most things are imported. We experienced the same grabbing and yelling for our attention, but I’m beginning to master the walking through the crowds without giving my attention to the calls. I’m excited to go back to the market because there are a lot of great fabrics there and I want to get some to craft with!! That night there was a party at some night club for all the new students (read international, non Ghanaian). It was really fun, but the drinks were a little sketchy and tasted horrid. Besides that, I had a great time dancing and experiencing Ghanaian nightlife.

At Jerry's

Saturday was pretty low key, we watched the Ghanaian soccer team play in the quarter finals at our favorite local bar. THEY WON!! Then after we came back to really just hang out and plan more of our semester trips. We also got invited to a wedding for next weekend, which should be a completely awesome experience because Ghanaian weddings are supposed to be the coolest!

Sunday/Today, we decided to get away from the hustle of the city and go hiking at a nature reserve that’s about an hour away from Accra. We figured out the trotro system there without any glitches, just witnessed a confrontation between locals at the station downtown. When we got to Shai Hills Reserve we were immediately greeted by a pack of baboons that were hanging out by the entrance to the park. We spent about 2 hours hiking to an overlook, and it was awesome. Just like backpacking in the bighorns, except not many switchbacks, mostly just vertical climbing. The last part, we had to literally rock climb through a cave but the view was spectacular and totally worth it. The ride back, wasn’t quite as smooth as the ride there. We somehow managed to somewhat hitchhike our way halfway back and then get on a trotro the rest of the way. It cost us way less than the way there, but took about 3 hours and we were exhausted by the time we returned.

Almost at the top of one of the hills at the Shai Hills Reserve

Tomorrow, school actually starts, but I don’t have class. My schedule rocks! I only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then I’m saving my Mondays and Wednesdays open for my internship. My final classes are two poli sci ones; that international relations one and then one called Human Rights in Africa. Then I have the History of Western Medicine in Ghana and then a public health one titled Socioeconomic dimensions of International Health. They all sound awesome and I’m really excited for them to start.

I’ll try and post more about my impressions and the food in my next post! Miss you all and hope that cold weather isn’t too overwhelming! J

Love,

Audrey