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