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.