I am home!!

I safely home after my 5 month adventure studying and traveling throughout West Africa. I got home really early Wednesday morning and loved sleeping in my own bed with a comforter!! I have been enjoying watching sports and eating a lot of dairy products. I went to the grocery store this morning and it was so odd: no one stared at me, I didn't need to bargain for anything and they had change!
I will keep you posted on other interesting experiences I have after being back. And I will also post more pictures as soon as I can!

Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso

May 11th
The combination of traveling and lack of power has made it hard to update my blog, sorry! I am now back in Ghana after two exciting trips to Togo and Benin and then to Burkina Faso. Togo is only about 3 hours away from Accra so we were able to take a tro-tro to the border and stay at a hotel right in the capitol, Lome. Togo does not use tro-tros they have moto-taxis, motorcycles, at first we thought having a group of four would be difficult to find 4 moto-taxis but it was never a problem. The first day in Lome we took moto-taxis around the city and then found an ice-cream shop for dessert! Ghana does not have any dairy products so ice-cream was a great treat. The second day in Togo we took another tro-tro to Kpalime, about a 3 hour drive, to see butterflies. We went to a beautiful waterfall and toured a coco farm - everything but butterflies, it was still a nice day trip. The third day we left to go to Benin, we found that ‘shared’ taxis mean 4 people in the back, two people in the front passenger seat and the driver. It was a little cramped but we were able to get there! That night we were able to go to the Grand Market and walked through the ‘fish aisle’ - about 10 to 15 fish in a bucket with just enough water for them to splash around - not the best part of the market! On Friday we went to the Ganvie Stilt Village where people live in bamboo huts. The Tofinu people fled there in the 17th century to escape the slave hunters, who were banned by a religious custom from going over water. Ganvie is just like a real town, except it is on water, it has a school and cemetery and there is a market where all the woman line up their boats and sell things right out of their boats. After Ganvie we went to Ouidah and saw the Sacred Forest with sculptures symbolizing African deities and beliefs. Benin’s national religion is Voodoo and we were able white flags hanging through out the village. We then walked the Route d’Esclaves - the final walk on African soil for slaves that lead to the Point of No Return Memorial. On Saturday we headed back to Accra to start studying for our finals.
I have had two of my four finals, I think they both went well. They both were essay questions that I felt I could answer, it is still a little terrifying that the only factor of your final grade is the final exam.
Last Tuesday we left for Burkina Faso, we were able to take a bus to the border of Ghana and Burkina Faso but had to spend the night because the border was not open at 3 in the morning. On Wednesday we made it to the capitol, Ouagadougou. The next day we went to a goat cheese factory - it was a room with 3 buckets and a house and a fridge - it was odd. The guide book made it sound like a really ‘must see’ attraction. Even though it was a little odd we were able to ride a camel! On Friday morning we left for Bobo - a town four hours from Ouagadougou - it was a nice little town with some amazing restaurants and pastry shops. The next day we went to Banfora - a 90 minute bus ride away - to go to a lake with hippos in it! We weren’t able to get too close to the hippos but it was so cool to see them. We then went to a beautiful waterfall, it was quite a hike, later that day we found out it was 110 degrees outside! We started heading back to Ghana at 11pm on Saturday and made it home at 3 am Monday morning - it was a long journey!
Burkina Faso is the third poorest country in the world so it was very different than Ghana, Togo and Benin. Burkina does not have tro-tros or moto-taxis and not a lot of taxis so it made traveling a little difficult but it was well worth it. I am so happy I had to opportunity to travel outside of Ghana and through West Africa, the countries are so different! Togo, Benin and Burkina were all colonized by the French so they spoke French, had cheese and baguettes - it was great for the food! As a white female traveling I felt more comfortable in Togo, Benin and Burkina than in Ghana. In Ghana everyone calls us ‘oboruni’ (white person) and hisses and make kissing noises to get out attention. We definitely did not have nearly as much as that in the other countries which was really nice.
I am leaving on Monday and I am ready to come home, I have had amazing experiences but am ready to be in a place I know and am comfortable. This morning was the last time I had to do hand washing!! I only rubbed three of my fingers raw - I am definitely getting better than in the beginning.

April 20th

This past weekend was our last trip with our program. We went to the Volta Region in the eastern part of Ghana, it was so beautiful and quite. We went to Wli Waterfalls and were able to swim, we had to hike for about 45 minutes through a rainforest, it was so quite and beautiful. On Sunday we went to a monkey sanctuary and went on another short hike through the forest to see the monkeys. I fed a banana to a monkey right out of my hand! It was my favorite trip with our program because we were able to be in the wilderness and not in a tourist area where everyone wants us to buy something. We stayed at a hotel on Saturday night, the same hotel the President of Ghana, Atta Mills, stayed at! We saw him from a distance. We have now stayed at the same hotel as the president and the Black Stars (the football team), it was very exciting!
When we travel long distances we always stop for bathroom breaks, some in nicer places than others. The last trip we paid 10 peswas (cents) to use the bathroom, it had running water, toilet paper and soap - very fancy! On other trips we usually just pull over on the side of the road. One of most memorable (not in a good way!) bathroom stops was on our way to see elephants. We stopped at a gas station and followed the other girls to the restroom - a whole in the ground with two pieces of wood for your feet - it was interesting to say the least.
On Wednesday a few of us will be traveling to the Nzuelzu stilt village and stop at another slave castle on the way. We were supposed to go to the stilt village a few weeks ago but were not able to go.

Easter Sunday

Campus was closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday and I was able to stay at Gail and Stu’s at the U.S. Embassy housing. It was a very relaxing weekend and it was really nice to be in a ‘Western house’ with hot water! On Sunday I went with my host family to church for Easter. We got there at 8 am and first we had bible study then we went to the service. The first three hours was dancing and singing - a lot of fun. The pastor gave a two hour sermon and pulled 20 people out of the congregation, he then proceeded to pour oil on his hand and touch the persons forehead and they would be saved by Jesus and most of them passed out. It was really scary. After the two hour sermon the congregation proceeded to speak in tongues for an hour. At 2 pm the service ended - yes 6 hours - but then we went to a ‘picnic’ that served goat soup. After being at church for seven hours I went back to have dinner with Gail and Stu. Some other people came over from the U.S. Embassy for Easter dinner. It was great to hear about all the places people have worked and traveled and what jobs they did while overseas.
Tuesday was the last day of my classes and I have my first final on April 27th. This week I am trying to collect all the readings for my classes - most articles for classes come out significantly later than the actual day of the class. This coming weekend we are going on our last CIEE trip to the Volta Region. We are going to waterfalls and a monkey sanctuary. Next week some friends and I are planning on going to the stilt village and going to another slave castle on the way.
Wednesday I taught the kids at the orphange about snow, they loved it! I read them some books about snow, “The Mitten” and “The World’s Largest Snowman”. Then they all drew pictures of snowmen, it was great!
I have less than 5 weeks in Africa - time has gone so fast and in some ways so slow too. I have had some amazing experiences and have learned a lot about the culture and way of life here. This weekend I found out the living wage is 2.35 … a day. The class difference is so prominent here and the upper class definitely lets the lower class know it.

April 8th

Two out of four of my classes are now finished, we still technically have 2 weeks of teaching left but the professors decided to end class. Starting in 2 weeks will be Revision Week, we are still not entirely sure what that exactly means but we do know that only 2 or our classes will meet that week, hopefully! Final exams start April 27th and end May 16th. I have one about once every 5 or 7 days so I will be able to travel in between and study of course!
Yesterday walking home from school I saw a lawn mower for the first time since I have been here. Usually men use machetes to cut the grass. The first week I was really surprised by the number of machetes but apparently it is a common gardening tool: digging up weeds, cutting grass, etc. When I volunteered at a school a girl had a machete one her desk, it was a Friday and therefore they had to do lawn work at the end of the school day.
Women carry everything on their heads, buckets of water, firewood and even a refrigerator - a normal size fridge not one of the ones in dorm rooms, a normal size with a freezer at the top and fridge at the bottom - it was insane! Women also always carry their children one their backs using fabric. It allows them to have both of their hands free and be able to go about their normal day. I always imagine how hot it must be to have another body so close to you all the time in this heat, but everyone is so used to the weather and culturally people have less of a ’personal space’.
A few days ago we were sitting in traffic and saw some very interesting things being sold by hawkers. Some of my favorites have been: plunger, dead rats, plastic lawn chairs, children foam building blocks and machetes. You can also buy roles of toilet paper, towels, books, cds and whatever else you can think of you are most likely able to find it on the street.

We only have two more weeks of regular classes, then is a ‘revision week’ and then three weeks of finals! Two of my four classes finished last week so that is nice. I am starting to read re-read the articles for class, apparently the final exam is only on the readings.

On Saturday I toured a prison for my Penology class. The prison was about an hour away and we took buses, over 300 students went! We went to the male prison and all the men in our group had to sign a paper but none of the females did, we were confused (like usual) but waited in line to enter. Each tour group had about 50 students and only one guard. It was a medium security prison but with the amount of barbed wire, gates and guards with guns, it seemed to be otherwise. The prisons in Ghana are over populated and many inmates have not even had a trial or been sentenced yet. One man was saying he had been there for 5 years without a trial. The guard said many officers bring men in and then get switched to a different area and are not able to be contacted and therefore the inmates just sit in prison. There were a total of 4 white students (all females of course) and the inmates were very interested in us. One guy even asked me for my phone number. The inmates are able to cook there one food if they wanted to, we were not informed on how they were able to get supplies for cooking though. We toured about 5 different compounds that housed men, it was divided by barbed wire fences and the men were split up by the length of time they have to spend there. Inside one of the compounds were saw a cell the size of a single bed - 5 men were assigned to one room. The prison lacks resources and therefore are unable to have individual cells for all the inmates. On Saturday morning we met at 8 am and left at 9 am (not bad timing!) and did not realize it would be an all day field trip. Around 1 pm we left he prison all the guys had to show the guards their ID card and cross off their name. We loaded the bus and at this point we were tired, hot and hungry. But we were informed we would be going to the female prison too. This time all the females had to sign their names. The female prison had significantly less people and more room for them. Some prisoners come to prison pregnant, there was a room with cribs for the babies, they are able to stay for a year and then they are sent to someone in the mother’s family or to social services. We were not informed about the crimes the females committed which was too bad. At the end of the tour none of the females had to show ID but the security guard really stared us down when we were leaving. Multiple times during the tour students would ask if we were ok (the 4 white girls) we would always reply, “We are fine, this is what happens when white people are out in the sun for too long and are tired.” Are faces were red and we were sweating, they would just laugh. On Saturday night we went to Joseph and the Technicolor Dream coat put on by the theater department. It was definitely entertaining with some African dance moves thrown in!

Next weekend is Easter and I am going to church with my host family. I went to church the first weekend and went to the children’s service with my little host sister, it was 4 hours long!

April 1st

This past weekend my program, CIEE, went to Kumasi, a city about 5 hours away. We left early Saturday morning and went to two different villages. One of the villages was where they stamped fabric with different African symbols and the second was a Kente village. At the Kente Village we watched how they made the Kente cloth out of beautiful yarn to make designs and different colors. Both the villages were tourist destinations so they had a lot of people just waiting for us to get off the bus and buy things from them. Looking at anything is very stressful, we have found that if you point to something or say, “That is nice” the seller will take about 6 different ones to show you and say, “What one do you want?” I did buy one piece of Kente cloth to show how intricate and beautiful the fabric is. After the villages we went to the largest market in Western Africa - we only walked around a small part of it but drove to the top to see the entire market - it was HUGE! On Sunday we went to a museum about the chiefs in the Asante Region (where Kumasi is) it was very interesting and very well done. On Sunday afternoon we went to the Ghanaian Black Stars football game against Benin. The game did not start until 5 pm but we arrived about 1:30 for a seat - apparently we had tickets but the seat number doesn’t really apply - it is a first come first serve basis. It was a beautiful outdoor stadium with about 10 different ‘bands’ playing music before and during the game. Each ‘band’ consisted of some drums and sometimes a trumpet or trombone. Before the game everyone was dancing and having a great time. The hotel we stayed at on Saturday and Sunday night was the same hotel that the Black Stars stayed in. We saw most of them but didn’t know them by name but we always said hi or good luck or good job. The name Black Stars comes from the Ghanaian flag - it has three horizontal stripes - a red on the top, yellow then green on the bottom - in the middle is a black star.

This weekend the theater department is putting on Joseph and The Technicolor Dream coat and I will definitely go and see that. On Saturday I am going to tour a Ghanaian Prison with my Penology class. Penology is the study of the prison system and is definitely one of my favorite classes. My other favorite class is Culture and Reproductive Health, it has only about 30 students in the class so we are able to have discussions.

March 25

On Thursday night we went to a place to hear high life music but instead it was more jazz music, but it was still really fun and they had amazing musicians. On Friday night we went to the Pan-African Orchestra concert. They had about 30 musicians and I even knew one of them through a friend! They are going on tour this year around West Africa and will come to the United States sometime next year. On Saturday we went to Makola Market - the biggest market in Accra - there was so much to see and so many people. People hiss and touch us a lot walking through the markets and little children have tried wiping my skin to see if the white would come off - that was entertaining. The men selling men’s jeans I have found to be are the most aggressive and persistent. The men say they would look good on you, I always say I don’t wear men’s jeans, thanks - but apparently they don‘t think that is a good enough reason not to buy them. They sell everything at these markets - we passed a woman selling snails the size of my foot! They were trying to crawl away and she had to keep grabbing them and putting them back on the mat - it was disgusting! Some people believe that if a woman eats a snail if she is pregnant the baby will drool a lot. Some also believe that if a baby eats eggs they will become a thief. At the market I bought more fabric, I justify buying so much fabric because it is only 1 cedi (dollar) a yard and who knows when I will be in Africa again! My dad went to high school with a girl who’s sister is now living in Ghana so I spent Saturday night with her and her husband. It is such a small world! They work for the US Embassy so they live in Embassy housing which means air conditioning and hot water! Spending an evening with them in a Western style house eating tacos and cheese was amazing!
There has been no electricity in my home stay from Friday night to Tuesday morning but it came on this morning! The nights are hard to sleep with no fan but we get used to it. The sun goes down around 6:30 so the past couple of nights we would just sit outside and Auntie Vicky would tell us stories, it was really nice.
My parents sent me a package and it finally arrived yesterday so I will try and teach the kids about snow with the children’s book I received.
This weekend our program is bringing us to the Ashanti Region and we are going to a museum and a market - the largest in West Africa apparently- and then we will have the option to go to a Black Stars football game, it is a qualifying game for the World Cup.
Driving has been another thing to get used to here. There are no speed limits or stop signs only speed bumps to control the speed and very few stop lights. There are driving ‘rules’ that are completely different for me to get used to - if you are taking a left hand turn the oncoming traffic stops for you. People sell things on the side of the road and then when traffic is stopped they rush in between the cars with baskets on top of their heads full of anything from TV antennas to men’s ties to huge paintings of the Virgin Mary. Anything you can find at a gas station is on people’s heads weaving in between cars!

March 20th

Beauty and Beast was excellent! They added some African dance to the songs and had a more upbeat bass in the music than the one we are used to!
On Friday night we were supposed to meet at 11 pm to go to the stilt village with the Business School, however after waiting until 3 am with no sign of leaving we decided not to go on the trip. A few of our friends have gone to the stilt village a few weekends ago and told us how to get there and where to stay. Even though we did not go with the student organized trip we are still planning on going there on our own. We have now found the organization of student groups trips leaves a little something to be desired!
On Saturday we spent time around Accra going to different markets and we even found a smoothie shop! It was a very exciting afternoon!
We are at our halfway point for a program and I can’t believe how fast it has gone. Some friends and I have sat down and planned where we still want to go and when we should go. The rest of the weekends are mostly planned with trips or things around campus.
This weekend is still a little up in the air with planning, but we will definitely go to Sarafina - another play on campus and then hang out around Accra. The area around Accra has so many things to see from markets to antelope and bat caves! We keep hearing from other friends where they have gone in previous weekends and there is so much to see!
This semester is definitely different than anything in Morris. We go to our two lecture once a week and take notes word for word and than leave. I have not had any papers, projects, or assignments other than reading. Books are not bought here, we buy photocopied packets that are used for textbooks. Some of the articles are very outdated, for example in my Human Rights in Africa course an article stated, “Currently, in 1977 …”. We don’t know if there are not any new articles written about the topic (I highly doubt that) or if the professor just has not selected new articles. Talking to international students that were here last semester have said that the final is entirely based on the readings and not as much on the lecture notes.
Sorry these have not been more often, having fast enough internet to upload these entries is hard to come by in Africa!!

March 13th

Having Auntie Vicky home has been good, but we are still adjusting. I think she is trying to do things that we would have liked to do the first week when we arrived.. It is nice to eat meals with her, usually it is just Talia and I at the table for meals.
This morning (Friday) I went to a school in Adenta, a small town outside of Accra, with some friends to help at the school. There were 5 volunteers w\and we split the children intro groups of 8. We had them read a story and then answer questions and then had them write about their childhood memory. The kids seemed so interested and participated in all the discussions we had and also seemed to appreciate having more one on one attention with a teacher.
This weekend I am going on a trip sponsored by the Business Department to Nzulezo (a village built on stilts on top of the water), Virgin Island and to Ankobra Beach. Taking trips sponsored by different groups is really nice considering we are able to meet new people and having transportation provided to these places is a lot easier!
Also this weekend we are going to Beauty and the Beast, I am excited to see how it turns out. One of my friends is in it and said the rehearsals have been going really well but everyone seems to be tired with all the rehearsals.
If you have any questions or are wondering any specifics about Ghana or anything just leave a comment and I would be happy to tell you. I will continue updating my blog with the trips I have taken but please don’t hesitate to ask questions, I would love to tell you, I just would like to know what interests you!!

Elephants!!

Going on a trip planned by a student organization was interesting to sat the least! With some delays and massive confusion we were able to go to Mole National Park. We arrived around 8 am on Friday morning after a 12 hour bus ride - the last two hours of the bus ride were so bumpy - I honestly thought my window might break and peoples cheeks were shaking on the bus. Once we arrived we had rice, fish and chicken for breakfast and then started our tour. We had 2 tour guides that brought us on a 3 kilometer hike. We were able to see about 7 elephants really far away at a watering hole and then we saw antelope and warthogs. Later on our walk we saw elephants so close, I would say about 10 meters away!! The tour guide had a gun - just in case. They said elephants are the second fastest mammal for short distances, if a lion is not able to catch an elephant in the first 100 meters the lion will never be able to get it! We were only at the park for a few hours but we saw all the animals that we could have seen so it was definitely worth it! We then went to the Larbanga Mosque - in the same town as Mole National Park. The Larbanga Mosque is the oldest mosque in West Africa and was magically built - one morning it was just in the middle of the village. We then drove to a waterfall about 3 hours away. The group we were in were all Ghanaians or Nigerians and then the 5 of us. I don’t think a lot of them have ever been off campus with ‘oburnis’ - white people - before, so that was very interesting to see their reaction when everyone made comments towards us or touched us. At the Larbanga Mosque there were a lot of children that all wanted to hold the oburnis hands and the other students didn’t know how to respond to all the unwanted attention we were getting.
On Sunday I went to the orphanage to say goodbye to a few of the kids who were leaving. When I go during the week I am helping in the classroom but on Sunday I was able to play with the kids. It was a lot of fun, we played tag, hide and seek, jumped on the trampoline and then they thought it would be a good idea to braid my hair! I definitely had to use a lot of conditioner in my hair when I got home! I brought my camera to the orphanage and all the kids loved it, I would take one picture and they would say, “Let’s see it, I want to see it.” They really enjoyed having pictures taken of them!
My host mom came back!! She apparently came home on Saturday night but I didn’t see her until Sunday evening. It will be really nice to have her back. On Sunday night we had a long conversation about the places I have been and she recommended other places to go in Ghana, it was really nice to be able to talk about what I have done and what I still want to do while I am in Africa. My host mom goes to villages in Ghana and teaches them about hygiene and cooking and said that I will be able to join her on one of her weekend trips, I think that would be a great experience.

March 5

Last weekend some friends and I went to Aburi, a small town with wood carving and a bead store. Our group of 50 students had gone one of the first weekends but a smaller group of us wanted to go back and look around some more. The wood carving town has little booths (for a lack of better term) about 10 feet by 7 feet, that line the road, with no space between them. Inside each booth an artist displays his work and urges anyone that passes to come in, “It’s free to look,“ is a common phrase. There are no stet prices, so it is up to the buyer to negotiate a reasonable price. We have learned that they try to charge us triple the price, so we have learned to start low and then work our way to a reasonable price. It is definitely becoming easier to bargain, sometimes it can be very frustrating, but the feeling of accomplishment when you successfully bargain is great! On Saturday night we went to the Vagina Monologues put on by students at the university, it was very well done. All the plays put on by the theater department are directed by students and are accomplished in only 6 weeks! On Sunday a group of friends went to an area of Accra, Osu, to find a Chinese restaurant. It turns out that the Chinese restaurant we were planning on going to opens at 4pm on Sundays. We were able to find another restaurant so it all worked out in the end. Maps don’t really exist in Ghana so getting the feel of the area has been difficult but I am familiar with the most common tro-tro stations so that makes getting places a lot easier.
Different organizations on campus plan trips to different parts of Ghana that are open to all students. This upcoming weekend I am planning on going with the Computer Science students up to Mole National Park. The park is in northern Ghana, about a 14 hour bus ride. We are leaving on Thursday and driving straight through and then going to the park and driving home. Not a lot of time at the park but I am really excited to see elephants! Mole National Park is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Ghana has apparently the best viewing of wildlife! The most common attractions our elephants, hippos, antelope, baboons and different bird species. I am planning on traveling to the northern part of Ghana again and to Burkina Faso (the country north of Ghana) at the end of April or beginning of May. In the later trip I will be able to stop at Mole National Park again if I feel there is more to see.
The orphanage has been a lot of work but so rewarding. My parents are sending me picture books about snow and one of my friends from the program has a snow globe, when the package arrives I am going to teach the kids about snow! I think they will really enjoy that. Two new girls arrived at the orphanage last week, they speak a northern language and not a lot of English, so communicating with them has been interesting. Thankfully some of the other kids at the orphanage are helping with translation. Some of the kids are being adopted next weak, on Sunday there will be a goodbye party for them and the volunteers are invited. One of the kids, he is about 10 years old, was a little sad on Wednesday and we found out that he was being adopted and moving to America on Monday. I can’t imagine all the things going through their heads, leaving the country they have grown up in, leaving 30 kids that have been like siblings to them and leaving for a country that they have no idea what to expect. He told me he was going to either Tennessee or Indiana, and I told him how great those states are and that they are not too cold! He seemed to appreciate all the things I told him about America. Also yesterday all the students formed a circle and they had to pick partners, one girl ran across the circle and hugged me and asked to be my partner. Of course I said yes and then realized we had to dance in the middle, when it was out turn all the kids started laughing that ‘the white girl’ was dancing! It was so much fun and all the kids seemed really excited that I participated and joined in on their dance.

Feb. 28th

It rained Wednesday night and Thursday morning!! That meant that it was ‘cool’ until about 9 am! I walked to the orphanage around 8 in the morning and I walked by a father and a 4 year old boy wearing pants and a sweatshirt. Even though it was ‘cool’ to the Ghanaians, I was wearing shorts and a tank top and was still sweating! Apparently the rainy season starts around May or June and we just started the dry period. It has not been as humid as the first couple of weeks but it is still plenty hot.
On Wednesday I went with 2 other friends to a tribal ceremony and a naming ceremony for us. First we went to the shrine, it was in a circular hut, the ‘priest’ - I am not entirely sure what his title was - prayed and then passed around a bottle and a small cup. We poured some on the ground as an offering to the gods and then drank some and then poured the rest on the ground again. We looked what is in the bottle - sticks, fabric, shells and a chicken foot! Yes, a chicken foot. We tried to ask what all the objects, especially the chicken foot, represented or the reason they were in the bottle. The language barrier did not help with asking that question - so we don’t know why. After accepting the fact that I had just drank something with a chicken foot in it we entered the shrine. We sat in a circle with candles as the only source of light. We each had to go around the circle and say our names when it was my turn I said, “Clara” and they all tried to repeat it and finally the ‘priest’ said, “And that is why you need an African name, no one can pronounce it!”. My friends and I then picked folded pieces of paper and handed them to the ‘priest’ and he told us our names. My name is Nakokwe, meaning second born. After we were assigned names we had to make another offering to the god. We poured some on the grounds, drank some and poured some on the ground again. The names we were given are not in Twi, Ghana’s most prominent language, it was either in Ewe or Ga we think. It has been more difficult than any of us expected to meet Ghanaians so going to this helped us meet new people and experience a ceremony without 46 other white students.
Speaking of names, my name has been very difficult for everyone to pronounce. The letters l and r are very difficult to pronounce and therefore really messes up my name. I usually tell people my name is Sara, which helps a little. Or I use my ‘day-name’ which is Yaa. In Ghana your name is given to you based on the day of the week you were born. For example, every female born on Thursday is Yaa and every male born on Friday is Kofi. Not everyone has these names but a majority of people do or at least some variation of it.
On Thursday we were supposed to have our last day of Twi and our final. But, the power was out on the entire campus and they were not able to make copies of the test so the test was moved until Monday.

Feb. 23

Classes were very interesting last week, only one of my four classes actually met besides Twi. And Twi was only on Monday instead of Monday through Thursday. The professors just didn’t show up or class was cancelled because it was too hot. I am used to snow days and school cancellations because of wind chill not because it’s too hot! One of the classes we waited for 45 minutes for the professor to show up but instead a man walked in and started to preach about God in front of the entire class of 800 students. Some people listened while others kept going with their conversations, it was so weird to have a man start preaching in front of the class. This will be the last week of our 6 week Twi class. It has definitely been hard trying to learn a new language and to try and learn or get used to pigeon English.
On Friday night we went to a play on campus, A Diary of a Mad Black Women. It was very well attended and was very good. It was in an outdoor theater so that was very cool. The University of Ghana has an excellent drama department and has plays or shows just about every weekend. Next week will be the Vagina Monologues, the following weekend Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat and then Beauty and the Beast. Belle from Beauty and the Beast will be played by a girl from my CIEE program.
A group of 4 of us went to Shai Hills Resource Reserve for the weekend. Getting there was interesting because no one could tell us exactly what tro-tro to get on but we were able to find our way eventually with some fun stories in the end! We stayed at a hotel on Saturday night and then woke up at 5:30 to go see the animals. There was a family of baboons by the front gate of the reserve and we were able to feed them some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! We saw about 6 baboons and one of them was a baby on it’s moms back. It was so cool to see them so close, 5 feet away! We then went to the other side of the reserve so we could go to a bat cave. We hiked for about 4 km to the bat cave. When we were in the cave I asked the tour guide how far the cave goes back and he replied, “I will tell you when we are out.” It was an odd answer I thought but then moved on. When we were out of the cave he said there is a 13 foot python that lives in the cave so he didn’t want us to go back. I just wanted to know how far back the cave went not to actually go back there, lost in translation I guess!
We heard from our host mom - she will return in 2 weeks!
I love getting emails or real mail too!
My email address is lund1007@morris.umn.edu and my address is (it only costs 94 cents for a letter J ):
Clara Lundgren
c/o Kwasi Gyasi-Gyamerah
Private Mail Bag 31
University of Ghana
Legon, Ghana
West Africa

Feb. 17th

Another successful week of classes in Ghana! Classes have been going well, getting used to the teaching style and finding it easier to understand the professors. The professors often make jokes and the Ghanaian students all laugh and all the international students just sit and look really confused, we aren’t able to pick up on the jokes that quickly!

Volunteering at the orphanage has been an experience! I am helping the children in the classroom with spelling and math. It is hard to tell what they should be studying at their age, because the education system is completely different than in the States.

Electricity and running water has definitely become more scarce the last 2 weeks in my home stay. We use a lot of flashlights and candles for light in the evenings. And try to have extra buckets of water waiting in case the water goes out and we need to use it. So many more things I will appreciate more when I am home.

On Friday some friends and I went to La Tawala Beach near Accra. It was so nice to swim in the ocean and lay on the beach with a good book, I am reading a lot here! On Saturday some friends and I went exploring in Osu, a neighborhood in Accra. We found an Italian restaurant and had alfredo and pizza!! We then wanted to find Global Mamas, a fair trade store with clothing made by Ghanaians. We spent almost two hours wondering around asking for directions but everyone was pointing us in different directions. We finally found it and it was so nice to shop in a place with set prices, therefore no bargaining in Twi, and in a store where people were not pressuring us to buy things.

The transition has been very difficult, but I am enjoying the experience!

Februuary 9

This past weekend our group went to Cape Coast and to Kakum National Park. Touring the slave castle was very intense. I was expecting the tour guide to give us more of a Ghanaian perspective on the slave trade, but he did not. The castle was so beautiful over looking the ocean, it was interesting to be in such a beautiful place where people were being sold and treated like animals. On Sunday we went to Kakum National Park and hiked through the rainforest. We walked over 7 rope bridges 40 meters above the ground. The canopy walk was so cool! We didn't see any monkeys or other wildlife but we it was cool just to be in the rainforest.
This is the fourth week of classes and they are going well. The professors show up about 20 to 30 minutes late and usually leave class early. Last Thursday our Human Rights in Africa professor walked our of class because 1 of the 500 students had not read the assigned handout. Apparently that will teach the students to read, or that's what the other Ghanaian students told us!
I am definitely starting to feel more comfortable getting around in Ghana. It is frustrating when the taxi driver and tro-tro drivers try to charge me more because they don't think I know the price. We have started to learn that if you know how much the ride should be we just pay the exact change and not even ask because more likely than not they will over charge us.
I am working at the orphanage 3 mornings a week, helping in the classroom. The first day I walked in one of the kids ran up to me and said, "Are you taking one of us?" It was so sad, I don't know how many of them well be adopted or how long they are able to stay.
My home stay has been good, not at all what I expected. Everyone is really nice, but the people that are there the most speak Twi, which after only having 3 weeks of classes I am not able to talk with them other than ... "Ete sen?" which is how are you? Our host mom is expected to be back beginning of March.
The food has been an interesting transition. It is very spicy but good. We eat a lot of rice, beans and plantains. My host family made fo-fou last week for us ... I did not enjoy it. It is fermented corn mixed with water and then pounded, it is not cooked. Your are supposed to eat with your hands with a soup. It reminded me a lot of raw bread dough. That is the only thing I have not been able to eat, so I am pleased about that!

January 31, 2009
Another successful week of classes! I have Twi class Monday through Thursday for an hour and a half and one additional class every day. I am taking Gender and Reproductive Rights, Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghanaian Politics, Penology and Human Rights in Africa. The class sizes are HUGE and the professor is hard to understand/hear most of the time. It is a completely different lecture style than at Morris, the professor reads from his notes and everyone copies exactly how he says it, word for word in complete sentences.
I am volunteering at an orphanage 4 blocks from my home stay since I have most mornings free. My first day was Thursday morning and I helped some children write the alphabet. There are about 30 kids at the orphanage, from 3 months old to 10 years old.
Friday night some friends and I went to a Lebanese restaurant – it was delicious. It was also really nice to not have a variation of rice, chicken and plantains! To get to the restaurant we had to take a 2 tro-tros, the way there was no problem at all. On the way back was an adventure! The place where we switch tor-tros is a station with about 100 tro-tros dropping and picking people up and also a market. We had no idea what tro-tro to get on so all these men were trying to help us (10 white people) and then it started to rain. The vendors at the market were running around trying to cover their things while people on tro-tros were yelling at us to get on. Finally some really nice man walked us exactly where we needed to go. By this point it was raining pretty hard and then I realized the seat I was sitting in had a broken window and I couldn’t shut it. Needless to say my left side was soaked. The mate (person in charge of money on the tro-tro) gave me a rag to hold over the window. It was definitely an adventure!
My dad found a high school friend whose sister lives in Accra, Ghana and works for the United States Treasury department. Her driver offered to give us a tour of Accra, it was so nice to learn about Accra and see so many different areas. We went to the National Museum (one of the two museums in Ghana), Nkrumah Mausoleum (the first President of Ghana), to the National Cultural Center (an art center with a lot of vendors) and some other places. After the tour they brought us to their house and we had potatoes, salad (with Ranch dressing!), broccoli and ribs with Famous Dave’s sauce. The leafy salad and broccoli was amazing, the only vegetables we can find are yams. It was interesting talking to them about working with the Foreign Service and all the countries and experiences they’ve had living abroad.
One thing I have noticed repeatedly in Ghana is the God references everywhere. For example, “In God’s Hands Hair Salon” and “By His Grace Fast Food”. Also, the woman and men carry so many things on their heads. There was a man carrying a box of chickens on his head, the picture won't upload because the internet is too slow, but I will try another time.

Jan. 23

I had my first real class yesterday, the professor actually showed up! It was a huge lecture hall with not enough seats for everyone so we might need to move to a different room. I was scared that I would not be able to understand the professor but it turned out I could, for the most part! On Saturday we are going to Aburi Gardens, a botanical garden, to a bead making village and another village to see wood carving. On Sunday I will go to church with my host family.
The humidity has definitely dropped and the days are not nearly as hot as the first week. We saw some kids playing today in winter coats - we did not think it was that cold! We went to a seamstress today to have a skirt and dress made from fabric from the Madina Market, I am excited for those!

Week 2 updates!

Sorry it has been so long. Last weekend my host brother and host sister brought Talia and I to the beach! It was a beautiful beach with live bands and a fun restaurant. Classes started on Monday, what a difference from Morris! Classes only meet once a week for two hours. And apparently students don’t actually start to attend class until the add/drop date of classes, which is February 6. Needless to say my class on Monday did not happen, we waited for 30 minutes and then decided to leave, there were only 6 students in the class to begin with. The entire academic part I will have to get used to but I am so excited to experience something new.
On Tuesday morning some friends and I went to Madina Market, about a 15 minute tro-tro ride from campus. We were first in the food area and it definitely felt really uncomfortable. ‘Obruni’ is Twi for white person and so we get called it a lot. We brought some beautiful fabric at the market and I will be going to my host mother’s seamstress sometime this week for a skirt and a dress.
Tuesday afternoon was so exciting, being in Africa when Obama was inaugurated. All international students were invited to watch the inauguration at an outdoor performing arts center.
I live in a house with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Another house is connected to the side of the main house. Roselyn, a daughter of my host mom, lives in that part of the house. We have running water and a normal toilet. There is no hot water, but when it is 95 degrees outside a cold shower is amazing! The house has an8 foot cement wall with barbed wire on top surrounding the property. The picture is of the front of the house. The other picture is of the backyard, the huge black barrel is used for water storage.
Food is really spicy but tasty. A lot of fresh fruit, rice, fish and chicken. One of the pictures of red-red (a bean type sauce) and plantains …delicious!

I will update again as soon as I can!

I'm Here!

Sorry I have not updated my blog, internet in Africa is interesting. Once classes start internet should be more reliable, hopefully! The first four days we had orientation in a hotel in Accra. I moved in with my host family on Monday and have been registering for classes and continuing with orientation on campus. My host family consists of two brothers, Nana 22 years old and Salasi 20 years old. There sister Mabel is 16 and is leaving this weekend for prep school. Aunt Vicky is our 'host mom' and Nana, Salasi and Mabel are her grandchildren. I live about 30 minutes from campus, using a tro-tro and a taxi. A tro-tro is a bus with the seats taken out and replaced with handmade seats to fit the maximum number of people in it. Anywhere from 15-25 people can ride in a tro-tro at once, for a reasonable price, 10 peswas (cents). Campus is HUGE, I am used to Morris where you can walk anywhere on campus in 5 minutes, here it takes about 45 minutes from one side to the other. Still adjusting to living in a developing country but am getting used to it. I will update everyone as soon as I have reliable internet again!!

24 Hours and Counting

I am leaving tomorrow morning, January 8th, for a trip of a lifetime. I am scared and excited for the new adventures and people I will meet. My sister, Anna, and I played in the snow yesterday and took pictures to show the Ghanaians what fun snow is!

With the amount of unknowns on this adventure, I don't know what the access to the internet will be. I will try to keep everybody updated as much as possible and assure you that I have not been trampled by hippos or elephants!

Getting Ready

My friend, Greta, and I will be leaving on January 8th and driving to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. From there we will fly to London then to Accra, the capitol of Ghana. I will be studying at the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana. There are about 25,000 students at the university, HUGE compared to the 1,800 in Morris! I will be taking all my classes with Ghanaian students, except for Twi. Twi is the native language, but English is the national language. All classes will be taught in English. I am hoping to take the following courses: Ghana's Foreign Policy, Africa and the Global System and Islam and Christianity in Africa. As for my living situation ... we won't know until we get there. My first choice is to stay with a host family and my second to stay in the dorms.
Everyone I have told I am going to Africa responds: "Why Africa?" As a Political Science and International Relations major I want to experience a completely different culture and understand the political system that makes Ghana the most stable and the first democratic country in Africa. I think so many people stereotype Africa with genocide, orphans and AIDS. I think Africa has so much more to offer than most people give it credit for. I want to go and experience the culture and community that makes Africa what it is.