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!