Halfway!?

Hey everyone!

It’s been awhile since my last post, so I’ll try and update you all on what has been going on here in Ghana. Two weekends ago, we stayed in Accra and spent time relaxing and taking a break from traveling. I got a lot of work done and it was nice to sleep in, etc. We got to experience more of Ghanaian night life and we went to another market called Medina, where I got some more used clothes and other stuff.

This weekend we explored Accra even more. Friday, we took a trotro to downtown and found this amazing vegetarian restaurant on the coast. It was located right in the cliffs and it was a super cool view as we were eating. They also had delicious vegetarian bean burgers and chips, which really hit the spot. Saturday, was another quiet day of getting stuff done around the dorms. I’ve come to realize that I really appreciate the weekends we travel and after two weekends of Accra, I’m ready to go explore more of Ghana. 

Delicious veggie burger!

View from our seat at restaurant!

More of the view!

Sunday, we got up at 5am to take a bus to Kumasi for the soccer game, Ghana vs. Sudan. It was a world cup qualifier and Ghana won 4-0!! The ride there was long and our driver had an interesting way of approaching speed bumps, but we made it there by late afternoon. The crowds and general atmosphere were so exciting, and it was an awesome experience! Only in Ghana can you pay $3.50 for a ticket and less than $2 for snack and drinks at the game. After the game, we got back on the bus for the long ride home.

Made it through the ticket gate!

This week there are more classes and my internship, and this weekend we are still deciding between going past cape coast or going to a festival outside of Accra. I hope everything is well back home and it’ll hopefully start to feel more like spring. I can’t say that I’m sad I’m missing all that snow. Happy Easter!!

Love,

Audrey

Weekend in Kumasi

Hey everyone!

This past week has brought much of the same activities and I’m happy to say that this coming Friday marks 2 months! Last week held again the same activities of going to class and my internship, but Wednesday was actually special because it was Ghana’s Independence Day, celebrating 56 years of independence and a stable democracy!  The night before, Tuesday, my friends and I decided to go to the Chris Brown concert downtown. I’m not a huge fan of Brown, but some of his songs are great, and I went with the mentality of “when in Ghana…”. After finally tracking down tickets for general admission (20 cedi, $10 US) we made our way down to the football stadium. It was super crowded and busy, and as expected Chris was way late to perform. One exciting and unexpected aspect of the concert was sneaking/army crawling under a barrier to get to the VIP section and front rows. We successfully snuck through and managed to get to the fourth row in the crowded and extremely hot standing section. When I say hot, I mean sweat everywhere; I was absolutely drenched when the concert was over. But Chris finally came on around 11pm and he sang most of his songs and some others not by him. Overall a great experience with hilarious memories.

Adinkra symbols

Fabric stamped with adinkra symbols

My market purchases

This weekend we traveled with CIEE to the Ashanti region/Kumasi. It’s great when CIEE sponsors some trips because we don’t have to deal with the hassle of trotros and they pay for everything. So Friday, we woke up really early and boarded an air conditioned bus. The ride went really smoothly and we stopped a t a Kente cloth weaving warehouse. Kente is a form of weaving and each design actually has a specific meaning. I bought a stole for graduation and the meaning is two hands are better than one and it also represents the founders and foundation of kente. We then also went to an adinkra symbol stamping place. Here we saw how the dye is made from tree bark by mashing it and then boiling it down for several days. The result is a very dark black ink that they use to stamp symbols onto fabric. The symbols all have different meanings too, here is a website with some of their meanings. At the end, we all got to try stamping symbols onto fabric. Later that day, we arrived at the hotel, where there was (gasp) hot water and ac! Seriously didn’t know how to handle that and I may have burned myself in the shower because I was so excited/not used to hot water. Dinner at the hotel was great too, some delicious chicken and jollof. The next day, we went to a museum about the tribal king of Kumasi and then later we went to the largest market in West Africa. It was huge. Honestly, if they would have brought us there in the first couple weeks, we would have been so lost and terrified, But my group and I are now pretty used to walking though markets and having to bargain for everything. The market was so busy and filled with narrow aisles full of everything you could think of: used clothes, dishes, jewelry, live chickens, fish, rice, beans, spices and fabric. Every aisle was also crowded with people walking through with huge amounts of things on their heads and chatting to each other. My goal was to get some fabric to be made into some clothes and some gifts for people back home. I can successfully say I found and bargained for 3 different fabrics, jewelry, and some scarves from a lady near our bus. Market day well spent, and I wasn’t even that overwhelmed. After the market, we came back to our hotel for some free time aka nap time. That night CIEE said they would take us out to dinner and the options were traditional Ghanaian food (fufu/banku) or continental aka INDIAN FOOD. No questions were asked, I was getting Indian. Four of my friends and I enjoyed one of the best meals I’ve had here: naan, chicken curry, and other delicious dishes. I am also happy to discover how much I really like Indian food, because apparently Sri Lankan cuisine is very similar and based off it. Now, I’m looking forward to the food this coming summer. After eating till we were fully satisfied we drove back to the hotel for a quiet night from the full day. Sunday, I spent time reading before getting back on the bus and traveling back to Accra. Sunday night and most of Monday I spent studying for another test in history of medicine on Tuesday.

Overall, the weekend had some fantastic opportunities to see the town and people of the Ashanti region and I really enjoyed how relaxing it was to not have to plan everything. However, I am also glad that my friends and I are able to travel on our own and that we take advantage of every opportunity to do this. There is something about traveling with almost no plan and just rolling with the punches that feels truly Ghanaian.

That’s all for now. 

Love, Audrey

Beach Weekend

Hi everyone!
This past week and weekend have brought even more adventures in Ghana. I can't believe I've been here for almost 2 months! Time is flying and I'm loving every second. This past week I've done most of the same things like going to class and my internship. I've had more success with the trotros, but they are still full of surprises. This past weekend my friends and I traveled five hours to Busua beach. The traveling there went really smoothly and we got there on Friday at about 2pm. After finally getting dropped off by a taxi in a small beach town, we found the resort/inn that a friend had recommended. It was breathtaking. Right on the beach, with little huts for people to stay in, and a bar/restaurant that served some of the best chips (fries) I've had here in Ghana. After settling in, we got some drinks at the bar and spent the last part of the day on the beach. The water and waves were amazing and we were so happy to be there. That night we found a place to eat in town and I had some great Redred (beans with sauce). We then spent the night on the beach looking at the stars and drinking some Don Simon.

View from our hut.

Saturday, some of my friends went to a surfing lesson, while me and the rest of the group went to find pancakes/something for breakfast. I ended up having some french toast, which was delicious, although I miss not having syrup. We then went back to watch the surfing and get ready for a full day at the beach. Most of the day was spent swimming, tanning, walking the beach, and reading. Around midday we went into town to find lunch, where we met a guy named Jerry. He said he had food at his bar, so we followed. He ended up being quite the character and the "food" was more of reheated rice and beans from the night before. Not the best. But we weren't discouraged, so we went back to the beach to enjoy the rest of the day. Dinner, we went back to the place from the night before, and I had an interesting variation of oatmeal. The rest of the night we, again, spent watching the stars on the beach.
Sunday morning we got up to go to the highly recommended pancake place, and I had a chocolate banana pancake, which was pretty delicious. We then spent a couple more hours at the beach before boarding a trotro for the long way back home.
So far, from our weekend travels it has been interesting to see how different Ghana's regions are from each other. Each place we go has something different to offer. We also are realizing how comfortable we are getting here. I'm starting to refer to the dorms as home, and when we get back sunday nights, I can't wait to get an egg sandwich or Sarah's chicken in the night market. Overall, a really relaxing weekend and a great time. This next weekend we'll be traveling to the Ashanti region with CIEE! Hope everything is well back home! Sorry about all that snow, can't say that I miss it :)
Love,
Audrey