akrunnfusz's travelblog

12 Feb 2009

Fri Feb 13, 2009 Full Page

Week 2 January 18-24 Sunday morning I went to church. It was amazing. Though I don't believe in the traditional Christian God, it was impossible not to feel moved by the congregations complete faith in the realism of their religion. They sang a lot - sometimes in English, sometimes in Twi - and members would often cry and lift their hands towards the ceiling in surrender. The songs made me cry. It sounds silly, but this church really was like you would imagine a Ghanaian church to be, based on movies, except for the fact that the choir was the congregation and the hymnals were non-existent; they projected the words on a big screen where there is usually a cross, and everyone knew the melody. I think that maybe one of my classes met this week. The classes generally meet once a week for a 2-hour period. You show up to the classroom, sit in old wooden desks, and wait for the professor to walk in. Sometimes you wait for an hour and a half before they show - no 15-minute rule in Ghana. Classes here are very British, they say. Lectures are lectures, and discussions and student participation opportunities are rare and far between. Twi classes meet twice a week for an hour and a half each time. I'm afraid I'll never sound like a native, but the people here are so friendly and welcoming that they just smile and laugh encouragingly when you answer "Eye" I'm fine to the question, "Wo ho te sen?" Everyone here is very kind. One night, we headed to Desperado's Bar for a night out. It was nice to get out of ISH, but since I don't drink, it wasn't super fun. A small group and I headed out after about 2 hours of sitting and chatting with the other ISEP people. That was a smart move. About an hour after my group arrived at ISH, the 17 other ISEP-ers left the bar and 2 of the girls were mugged on the way back at machete and gun point. Don't worry. It sounds much more dramatic than it was. If the girls would have just handed over their bags as we were told to repeatedly, no weapons would have been shown. Nothing bad has happened since. The food is scrumptious, but bad for you. Carbs, starch, and water. And fruit - lots of delicious, colourful, beautiful fruit. We've a market about 100 yards from ISH that we get our food from, getting the spicy noodles or jollof rice in little bags to carry back. Things here are hot, not necessarily spicy. There's little flavour to the spice, it just makes you feel as though your mouth and lips are sunburnt. On Wednesday, I went to LaBodi Beach for Reggae Nite. It the sand, everybody dances. In America, people tend to sway, stand still, or grind against each other. Here, people actually move! They salsa, they mix traditional and hip hop moves, and they laugh the whole time. Dancing here is very sensual. Moves that we would think of as feminine rolls, booty shakes, hip circles, etc. were just as prevalent for the men, if not more so. It was like playing copy cat with numerous partners. The men always took no for an answer and I never felt pressured, but man, did I have fun! Angie, my roomie, moved in on Saturday night. I really like her - she's sweet and funny, smart and personable. She's a 4th year Nursing student and hopes to go on to Grad School in the States after a couple of years working as a midwife here in Ghana. Angie brought a television 1 channel if we're lucky, a radio, and a fridge. I was sort of looking forward to getting away from those for a few months, but I supposed that they'd work out for the better, and they have. My adventure has begun.

Filed under Ghana

Thu Feb 12, 2009 Full Page

Week 1January 11-17Though I know this is being written about 3 weeks after the fact, I thought I'd briefly fill you in and start going into more detail with the entries that are more timely. My journal is back in the States, so I'm just going on memory and will add more once I look back at the pictures I took of my writing. I was scared that my journal wouldn't make it and that my memories would be lost, but the pictures are currently on a friends computer until I'm able to transfer them. Leaving was easier than I thought it would be. I expected that there would be tears all over the place and part of me would feel scared and unsure as to whether or not I really wanted to take this journey. However, I felt empowered by my family, and became even more sure of my decision to study abroad in Ghana for the second semester of my sophomore year of college. Customs weren't too bad and flying by myself for the first time oddly brought more of a calm about me than an anxiety - even when one of my flights was delayed and my layover time at the Amsterdam Airport where I'd never been before was shortened from two and a half hours to thirty minutes. I was wearing jeans, a turtleneck, my UWEC sweatshirt, and a light jacket the entire time. That was, until I arrived in Accra. The heat overtook me when I got off of the plane.I felt as though I'd just jumped into a broiler. It was 8:30pm and still 92 degrees outside. My luggage came through just fine though last and I continued on through the airport, getting my new passport stamped for the very first time. When I stepped outside, I was greeted by and "ISEP" sign and 2 students, Frank and Rose, who are two of the four student helpers for the program. We waited together until a few more people came from their flights and moved on the the bus, which took us to the University of Ghana-Legon campus.I couldn't see a whole lot, but what I saw, I instantly fell in love with.There were trees all around. Tall grasses lined the dirt roads, and the International Student Hostel dubbed "ISH" was tall and white against the night sky. The few students and I waited in the lobby of the hostel until the rest of the ISEP International Student Exchange Program students arrived 2-3 hours later. We received our keys, a bottled water and plate of white rice for dinner, and hurried off to our rooms for a good night sleep.The rooms are bigger than I expected them to be. They're actually the same size, if not bigger, than the dorm rooms at Eau Claire. Our room consists of 2 beds, 2 desks, 2 night stands, 2 tall dressers, and an enclosed little patio-type-thing that has a laundry rack and a bookshelf. Everything was covered in dust, about a quarter-inch thick. I spent the night cleaning as best I could, unpacking, hanging my mosquito net, and getting used to the heat.The rest of the week blends together into a collage of tours and trying to remember names.We were walked around the campus, fed, taken to the bank, and given very little else. My roommate hadn't moved in yet and I was told that she was a Ghanaian. Hurrah! Some of the ISEP people got ISEP roommates, a nice reminder of home and comfort during culture shock moments, but I wanted to really submerge myself. For the next week, I was alone at night, which oddly enough, didn't bother me. In fact, it was rather nice to have all of the space to call my own for a few days and just be able to take in everything without having to worry about someone else. Registration for classes began January 14th.rnAt least, it was supposed to. The deadline for registration was the 23rd, and the add/drop date wasn't until February 6th, so we had a while. The process here is similar to the old UW-Madison registration, from what I understand of it. You have to walk to each department, sign up on a slip of paper, and hand them a passport photo. I signed up for the classes I wanted and looked forward to classes starting the next week.I felt as though I was at camp.The trip wasn't really... real. It seemed that I was at a 2-week excursion or some kind of semester-break trip. Everything was so new: the people, the smells, the environment. I'd wake up at 7am to 85 degrees and go to bed around 11 with the same temperature. It takes at least 25 minutes to walk from ISH to the nearest department, and 35 minutes to walk to the ISEP office, so we had to get used to the burning sun pretty quickly. Luckily, I have. I've gotten used to a lot of new things.

12 Feb 2009

akrunnfusz

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