Although I have not had the most exciting last couple weeks in terms of being productive and exploring the country, I am starting to feel more at home here in Accra. Of course I am not entirely comfortable with walking around alone and finding my way to and from many areas of the town, but I am beginning to better understand how the people here live and why. It is difficult to explain to someone who has never been here, since many of the realizations I have come to have been only through seeing things with my own eyes. Yet I will say that the history of the slave trade has definitely impacted the way of life in this entire country and the ones surrounding it in ways that I had never known. Learning about slavery in the United States has been a totally different experience than seeing where it began here in Africa, especially since in America we always focused more on slavery in America rather than the slave trade itself. All we knew was that slaves were taken from the west coast of Africa, but we did not delve into why they were traded and how they were so easily captured. I did not know that when the trans-Atlantic slave trade began, Africa pretty much did not exist— it was instead composed of different tribes that were not connected to one another whatsoever. So African chiefs were not ashamed to sell the captured prisoners from other tribes to the European traders that arrived with stronger weapons and different variety of food. There were no African nations; the borders were determined later by the Europeans when they established their presence here and fought for control. Even today, the city of Accra is divided into sections with different tribes who speak totally different languages and have various cultural practices and beliefs. They are only grouped into one city according to foreigners, yet many people here will call themselves Akan or Ewe (two of the main tribes) instead of Ghanaian. National pride is growing, of course, since Ghana achieved its independence, but the majority of its people do not understand the concept of a nation. This is only the surface of much of what I have learned thus far, but I just thought I would share some of it with most of you who I’m sure did not know any of this either. Sometimes I am very disappointed with American education; it is so centered on the U.S. and often fails to expose us to important facts about the rest of the world, especially those it does not consider a threat.
This last weekend many people participated in a homestay with a local Ghanaian family, though I chose not to take part since I was not comfortable with the idea of spending three days with a strange family alone. However, I did discover afterward that some people were placed in groups with small, wealthy families, so it was not a very uncomfortable experience at all. We have another opportunity to do it in November, so I am planning to participate that weekend. But this weekend did not go to waste, since many others who did not do the homestay came over Saturday night and we all cooked a large dinner together. We made pasta alla norma (rigatoni with tomato sauce and roasted eggplant), breadsticks (my mom’s famous recipe), stir-fry noodles with vegetables, french fries, french toast, chocolate chip cookie dough, and an apple pie. Everything was from scratch, of course, and turned out delicious. Someone brought wine as well, so we all (about 10 of us) sat down to eat and chat together for a long time, which was a lot of fun. We have decided to do this at least once a month, and I think are doing it again this coming weekend since everyone will be around and it is the only free weekend for the next few weeks. I’ve never had this many friends that love to cook, even if only a little, so I am ecstatic to have nights like that to look forward to. We have also decided to have a huge Halloween party, but I will keep you updated on that as it gets closer.
I want to mention once again how much I love my new friends here. I love that there is always someone here to talk to or hang out with when I make lunch or just walk into another room. I can find time to be alone, of course, which I did last night when I chose to not attend dinner and instead stay home and make myself something, but I never get lonely. We all have similar interests and can always find a movie to watch or something to chat about, yet we also have our own personal interests and reasons for being here that make us unique. Almost every night a few of us will gather in someone’s room coincidentally and end up talking for awhile or will happen upon each other eating downstairs and join them until a bunch of us are laughing and telling stories all night. It is definitely more difficult to have independent lives here than in New York, since most places we have to go in pairs or groups to be safe and avoid extra attention while the opposite is true in the city. We are not accustomed to having so much extra time either (without internet I might add), so we spend it together since it makes more sense than sitting alone in our rooms doing nothing. Watching movies together has become a normal routine every week, sometimes a few days in a row. But don’t get the impression that we sit around watching movies all the time and don’t find other ways to spend our time more valuably; in fact, we go on outings to the markets fairly often to purchase food, jewelery, fabric, and other souvenirs and do homework and volunteering. Most of us have chosen to volunteer at different organizations, though some are in groups of three or four, and we have only begun to determine our schedules. I think I mentioned before that I will hopefully be going to the Autism Awareness Center every Thursday (and possibly Friday) for the whole day since it would be easier than going for a few hours in between classes on other days. I only have classes Monday through Wednesday, since each one meets only once a week for two to three hours at a time, so I have the whole weekend free to do what I want. I can only volunteer during the week since that is when the children are at the center, but most weekends NYU has something planned for us so I will not get bored.
Anyway, that’s pretty much what has been happening lately; I’ll let you know when something else exciting comes up, but for now I wanted you to know that I am getting myself acclimated to living here and falling into a more comfortable routine.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Happy Birthday, Dad!
I forgot to mention in the earlier post, but I wanted to wish a very happy birthday to my father who is one of the most important people to me in my life. I am always thinking of you, especially when I get frustrated and feel as though I cannot live here anymore and want to simply return home, because instead of encouraging these ideas you remind me that these feelings are normal for adjusting to being away from home; much more for living in a third-world country. You give me courage and strength when I need it most, and your faith and confidence in me to succeed in whatever I choose to pursue means more to me than you can imagine. I would not be here if it were not for your love and guidance over the years, especially in helping me decide where to attend school because if it had been up to just me I would have stayed close to home and not had the amazing experiences that I have. I apologize for any worries I may have given you, since I know you do so much for the the whole family and would lay down your life for us if you had to, and I want you to know on this day that I love you and miss you very much.
Trip details!
I don't have too much to say at this point, but I have an hour to kill as I wait to visit the Autism center where I plan to volunteer, so I thought I would write a new post and tell you a bit about the trip last weekend. I have felt the past few days like I am in the hostile phase again (according to the emotional stages they said we would probably experience while here: happy and energetic because everything is new and exciting, then hostile because we are frustrated or homesick, then comfortable because this becomes our new home - these are not the exact descriptions they gave, but close enough) since I am finding it difficult to maintain patience all the time, especially when I just want to get things done. For instance, I was told to meet with the community service representative this morning at 10am to leave for the Autism center, so I had to leave my music and dance class early (since it is from 8-11am) to get here, but when I arrived he said we would need to wait until 11am instead. So I walked back to my dorm and had a snack and read my book, then came back and was told that I have to wait another hour before we can leave. I am not even sure what the reason is for the delay, which is even more frustrating, so I am wondering now if we will even go at all.
Well, I guess you're waiting to hear about this past weekend, so I will finally indulge you. We pretty much followed the schedule I posted last week exactly, though we were maybe an hour or two behind at some parts. In any case, it was an amazing trip that I will not soon forget. The slave castle made me very emotional, and I know many others as well, since I have a hard time imagining such cruel things being done to innocent people, especially in such great numbers. I almost felt sick at some of the descriptions the tour guide gave, and was disgusted at the images that formed in my head as I viewed where it all happened. As much as I love visiting historical monuments and improving my knowledge of them, I hope to not visit another slave castle any time soon because it makes me ashamed to even be human.
After that traumatic experience, we went to Hans Cottage, which is famous for being built on stilts over a pond of crocodiles. We were not there very long, since it was just a short stop to have some drinks, but we did see quite a few crocodiles either swimming or lying on the land resting and were able to get fairly close without fear of being attacked. After that we drove to Kakum National Park, which was my favorite part of the trip, since it was a rainforest where we had the chance to walk across these 7 canopies connected by trees and rope through the forest. We did not see any wildlife other than butterflies, but we were told that forest elephants and monkeys lived within the forest somewhere and could be seen if you stayed the night and camped out in the park (which we unfortunately did not have a chance to do). However, the canopy walk itself was very exhilarating, especially if you are somewhat afraid of heights and wobbly bridges, and made me feel as though I was in an Indiana Jones movie or some sort of wild adventure. Hence the name of my blog...
That night we had traditional Ghanaian food at tables right next to the beach, and then a bonfire was made for us to sit around as we enjoyed the calming waves and fresh air. The next morning we had another large breakfast buffet (omelets, beans, crepes, croissants, bread and jam, cereal, oatmeal, tea, coffee, juice), which filled us up enough to not need much food until dinner, since we had another 4-5 hour drive home that afternoon. We had the chance to go into Cape Coast to visit the slave castle and the town, though most of us were too exhausted and decided instead to relax on the beach since the weather was so nice and we did not want to pass up an opportunity to utilize a clean beach resort. I am glad we got that time because the ride home was pretty invigorating- people having loud conversations about topics I am sick of discussing (like Michael Jackson), and drinking a bit too much- which makes me wonder how we are going to survive the 12 hour drive to northern Ghana at the end of the semester. Well, I guess I can say it was entertaining, but after being so used to living alone most of the time I was relishing the moment I would go home to my room and escape the large group of people I had just spent the entire weekend with.
This coming weekend many people are doing homestays with local Ghanaian families, but I do not feel ready to live with a strange family for three days at this point in time, so I am opting out with a bunch of other people who are instead going to a Ramadan festival outside of city. I am considering going to that as well, since I have heard that it is a huge deal here and a lot of fun, and it will be nice to get out of the city again and see more of rural Africa. I just hope it is not too far away, or very expensive. I will let you know my final decisions about that later, but for now I will leave you to take in what I have told you so far since I am still trying to grasp it myself. I do not believe I will realize I have lived in Africa until I am back in the United States and have had time to really mull things over and understand all the feelings and adventures I am experiencing.
Well, I guess you're waiting to hear about this past weekend, so I will finally indulge you. We pretty much followed the schedule I posted last week exactly, though we were maybe an hour or two behind at some parts. In any case, it was an amazing trip that I will not soon forget. The slave castle made me very emotional, and I know many others as well, since I have a hard time imagining such cruel things being done to innocent people, especially in such great numbers. I almost felt sick at some of the descriptions the tour guide gave, and was disgusted at the images that formed in my head as I viewed where it all happened. As much as I love visiting historical monuments and improving my knowledge of them, I hope to not visit another slave castle any time soon because it makes me ashamed to even be human.
After that traumatic experience, we went to Hans Cottage, which is famous for being built on stilts over a pond of crocodiles. We were not there very long, since it was just a short stop to have some drinks, but we did see quite a few crocodiles either swimming or lying on the land resting and were able to get fairly close without fear of being attacked. After that we drove to Kakum National Park, which was my favorite part of the trip, since it was a rainforest where we had the chance to walk across these 7 canopies connected by trees and rope through the forest. We did not see any wildlife other than butterflies, but we were told that forest elephants and monkeys lived within the forest somewhere and could be seen if you stayed the night and camped out in the park (which we unfortunately did not have a chance to do). However, the canopy walk itself was very exhilarating, especially if you are somewhat afraid of heights and wobbly bridges, and made me feel as though I was in an Indiana Jones movie or some sort of wild adventure. Hence the name of my blog...
That night we had traditional Ghanaian food at tables right next to the beach, and then a bonfire was made for us to sit around as we enjoyed the calming waves and fresh air. The next morning we had another large breakfast buffet (omelets, beans, crepes, croissants, bread and jam, cereal, oatmeal, tea, coffee, juice), which filled us up enough to not need much food until dinner, since we had another 4-5 hour drive home that afternoon. We had the chance to go into Cape Coast to visit the slave castle and the town, though most of us were too exhausted and decided instead to relax on the beach since the weather was so nice and we did not want to pass up an opportunity to utilize a clean beach resort. I am glad we got that time because the ride home was pretty invigorating- people having loud conversations about topics I am sick of discussing (like Michael Jackson), and drinking a bit too much- which makes me wonder how we are going to survive the 12 hour drive to northern Ghana at the end of the semester. Well, I guess I can say it was entertaining, but after being so used to living alone most of the time I was relishing the moment I would go home to my room and escape the large group of people I had just spent the entire weekend with.
This coming weekend many people are doing homestays with local Ghanaian families, but I do not feel ready to live with a strange family for three days at this point in time, so I am opting out with a bunch of other people who are instead going to a Ramadan festival outside of city. I am considering going to that as well, since I have heard that it is a huge deal here and a lot of fun, and it will be nice to get out of the city again and see more of rural Africa. I just hope it is not too far away, or very expensive. I will let you know my final decisions about that later, but for now I will leave you to take in what I have told you so far since I am still trying to grasp it myself. I do not believe I will realize I have lived in Africa until I am back in the United States and have had time to really mull things over and understand all the feelings and adventures I am experiencing.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Weekend trip itinerary
Okay, everyone, here’s the itinerary for this weekend:
Saturday, Semptember 12, 2009
6:30am Depart for Cape Coast/Elmina at 6:30am sharp
(Solomon’s Lodge residents will be picked up at 6:20am)
9:00am Arrive in Elmina, check in to Coconut Grove Beach
Resort and eat brunch by the beach.
10:30am Depart Coconut Grove for Elmina Slave Castle
11:00am-1:00pm Tour UNESCO World Heritage site, Elmina Slave Castle
1:00pm Depart Elmina Castle for Hans Cottage, a famous
restaurant built on stilts over a pond of crocodiles
1:30-2:15pm Rest stop for drinks/refreshments at Hans Cottage (lunch
will not be served so suggested to bring packed lunch, snacks,
etc. for road)
2:15pm Depart Hans Cottage for Kakum National Park
2:45-4:45pm Visit Kakum National Park and cross renowned canopy
walkway
4:45pm Depart Kakum for Coconut Grove
5:45-7:00pm Rest, play volleyball, enjoy the beach, pool, etc.
7:30pm Dinner on the beach with bonfire and sample traditional
palm wine
Free evening
Sunday, September 13, 2009
7:30-9:30am Breakfast at hotel
9:30am-1:00pm Free time (Bus will be available to go to Cape Coast to visit
Cape Coast Castle, explore Cape Coast town, eat lunch, etc.
Suggested to pick up lunch for the return trip to Accra)
1:30pm Check out of hotel and depart for Accra
4:00pm Estimated arrival time in Accra
Does this sound amazing or what? We are all so excited and cannot stop talking about the trip since we received this schedule last night. Don’t worry, I will try to take as many pictures as possible.
Except for the fact that I have to write two short papers for classes next week, I have been much happier lately. I am finally starting to feel normal and can exercise my body more; I am planning to join Daniella and others in yoga at least a few times a week, if not everyday, since it makes me feel so open and flexible and ready for the day. Tonight all the girls are coming over to Solomon’s for a movie night where we will watch Mulan and eat a bunch of food that people are making. We’re hoping to make this a weekly activity, which I am excited about since I love movie nights.
The only bad news is that lately a lot of people have been getting sick and going to the hospital, though most of them have been due to food poisoning. One girl that is there now actually tested positive for malaria, though since they found it so early they have been able to treat it quickly before it gets worse. As everyone has been saying, it would be much better to get malaria here in Ghana than in the United States because they are better prepared for it here and know exactly how to treat it whereas in the States it is much less common. I just really hope I never get it, since I am through with being sick.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that I have been very sunburned and tan already, since the sun is so much stronger here and my sunscreen only lasts a couple hours before I have to reapply it. Most of you probably won’t even recognize me when I get back in December!
Saturday, Semptember 12, 2009
6:30am Depart for Cape Coast/Elmina at 6:30am sharp
(Solomon’s Lodge residents will be picked up at 6:20am)
9:00am Arrive in Elmina, check in to Coconut Grove Beach
Resort and eat brunch by the beach.
10:30am Depart Coconut Grove for Elmina Slave Castle
11:00am-1:00pm Tour UNESCO World Heritage site, Elmina Slave Castle
1:00pm Depart Elmina Castle for Hans Cottage, a famous
restaurant built on stilts over a pond of crocodiles
1:30-2:15pm Rest stop for drinks/refreshments at Hans Cottage (lunch
will not be served so suggested to bring packed lunch, snacks,
etc. for road)
2:15pm Depart Hans Cottage for Kakum National Park
2:45-4:45pm Visit Kakum National Park and cross renowned canopy
walkway
4:45pm Depart Kakum for Coconut Grove
5:45-7:00pm Rest, play volleyball, enjoy the beach, pool, etc.
7:30pm Dinner on the beach with bonfire and sample traditional
palm wine
Free evening
Sunday, September 13, 2009
7:30-9:30am Breakfast at hotel
9:30am-1:00pm Free time (Bus will be available to go to Cape Coast to visit
Cape Coast Castle, explore Cape Coast town, eat lunch, etc.
Suggested to pick up lunch for the return trip to Accra)
1:30pm Check out of hotel and depart for Accra
4:00pm Estimated arrival time in Accra
Does this sound amazing or what? We are all so excited and cannot stop talking about the trip since we received this schedule last night. Don’t worry, I will try to take as many pictures as possible.
Except for the fact that I have to write two short papers for classes next week, I have been much happier lately. I am finally starting to feel normal and can exercise my body more; I am planning to join Daniella and others in yoga at least a few times a week, if not everyday, since it makes me feel so open and flexible and ready for the day. Tonight all the girls are coming over to Solomon’s for a movie night where we will watch Mulan and eat a bunch of food that people are making. We’re hoping to make this a weekly activity, which I am excited about since I love movie nights.
The only bad news is that lately a lot of people have been getting sick and going to the hospital, though most of them have been due to food poisoning. One girl that is there now actually tested positive for malaria, though since they found it so early they have been able to treat it quickly before it gets worse. As everyone has been saying, it would be much better to get malaria here in Ghana than in the United States because they are better prepared for it here and know exactly how to treat it whereas in the States it is much less common. I just really hope I never get it, since I am through with being sick.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that I have been very sunburned and tan already, since the sun is so much stronger here and my sunscreen only lasts a couple hours before I have to reapply it. Most of you probably won’t even recognize me when I get back in December!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Finally in Africa
After three weeks of living here in Ghana, I haven't felt like I've really seen Africa until recently. There were a few days at the beginning where I noticed the way people carry themselves here that definitely differs from the U.S., and other aspects of the culture that I am unfamiliar with, but I still felt very sheltered by NYU with vans driving us everywhere and someone accompanying us everywhere we go. Now we have more freedom to explore on our own and see more of the city, and even other towns as some people have already done. Yesterday the former mayor took our Global Connections class on a short tour of parts of the city where slavery was very prominent. Another professor gave us the history as he showed us where slaves were kept after being captured and transported here from all over Africa, and then where they were forced to march down to the shore where the ships awaited to take them towards America. I was speechless the entire time, imagining the horrific circumstances back then, but it was interesting to see how the area has changed over time. People still live in these homes where slaves were trapped a couple hundred years ago, and children roam the beach as though no tragedy had occured there. While most Africans tend to avoid speaking about slavery, since it is definitely a very sensitive subject for them, it is interesting that they do not stay away from where much of the trading took place.
Today I accompanied my roommate Sarah and another friend named Alex to a beach in Jamestown (which is known as a sketchy area of Accra, though I did not feel uncomfortable there) where we met with the organizers of a new program to educate children in Ghana. The leader, another girl named Sarah who studied in Ghana a few semesters ago and just graduated from NYU last spring, came here to start this organization that imports books from the U.S. to use with Ghanaian children in after-school sessions so they can become better educated. I greatly admire that she took the initiative to start this organization herself (and with some others who are in NY), so I went today to find out more about it and perhaps help out during the semester. We ended up meeting most of the children (close to 100 of them!) and playing with them for a couple hours, which made me feel again like I was really in Africa. They tugged on me, poked me, held my hands, as though they had never seen anyone with light skin before. They were mesmerized by all of us and insisted on playing games with us and teaching us phrases and words in their language, teasing us when we messed up. It just made me realize the difference in attitudes toward races; in the U.S., historically people of darker skin were feared or avoided, whereas here those of light skin are admired and objects of fascination. Wouldn't the history of slavery have made these attitudes opposites? I find myself wondering. In any case, I am looking forward to spending more time with children, especially meeting the ones at the autism center where I am hoping to volunteer soon.
I forgot to mention that this past weekend I got pretty sick again- a 101 degree fever on Sunday. I am unsure of what happened, though the nurse seemed sure that it was from some food I ate, or water; there is bacteria in almost everything here so it is not difficult to get sick from something. Nearly everyone has in some form or another, so I at least don't feel alone. I took some medicine and rested in bed all day and by yesterday was pretty much recovered. I was still pretty weak yesterday, especially after getting up early to take an exam at Legon (which I unfortunately could not miss), but by dinner finally had an appetite again. You'll never guess what they had for dessert, which totally made my night- chocolate mousse! I had actually been wanting to make it the weekend before, but since I got sick I couldn't, so what a surprise it was to have it at Tante Marie where we usually only get either fruit or ice cream. Plus for the regular meal they had roast potatoes instead of plantains which made me so happy; I have definitely been missing potatoes and hope that they are served more often. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my angel of a friend Daniella gave me a few bites of her roasted eggplant Sunday night (knowing that it is one of my favorite foods), so that helped me feel much better. Tonight at Sunshine Salads they are actually serving vegetable lasagne, which most of us are very excited about, since we don't get pasta very often either. Ah, it's so nice to have my appetite back again! Just in case you're interested, Daniella and I are planning to make a charred tomato bisque in a few days (recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman's cookbook that I brought with me) and I'm hoping to make my mom's breadstick recipe if I can manage to find yeast somewhere. :)
Oh, and about the party Friday night, there were a lot of people (mostly men) from the University of Ghana and other places where NYU students had met them who came and mingled with us. At first we all stayed kind of segregated with NYU students in one group and Ghanaians in other small groups, but after awhile people started dancing (we had a couple DJ's blasting music) and then getting more comfortable chatting together. A couple hours after it began, the acrobats performed for us (I wish I had taken pictures, but you'll just have to take my word that they were pretty exciting to watch) and then the CRA's revealed a cake welcoming us to Ghana that we all had some bites of. It ended around 11:30, though it was supposed to go until midnight, but I was relieved because I was exhausted from dancing and not feeling well most of the week.
I am very excited for this weekend because we're going on our first field trip out of Accra to Cape Coast, where the bulk of the slave trading took place. It takes between 2 and 5 hours to get there, depending on traffic, so we're staying the night in a hotel on the beach that NYU arranged for us (how spoiled we are, hehe). I don't have the itinerary yet, but I from what I hear we're leaving about 6am Saturday morning and spending the day taking a tour of the slave castles and doing a canopy walk in Kakum National Park. Then Sunday morning we have time to either relax on the beach or go into town to shop and look around until 1pm when we drive back. I will give you more information about it once I know more; if I don't get a chance to update before then, you'll just have to hear about it when I get back.
I think that's all for now; except that internet has been working for a few hours, woohoo! Let's hope this lasts..
Today I accompanied my roommate Sarah and another friend named Alex to a beach in Jamestown (which is known as a sketchy area of Accra, though I did not feel uncomfortable there) where we met with the organizers of a new program to educate children in Ghana. The leader, another girl named Sarah who studied in Ghana a few semesters ago and just graduated from NYU last spring, came here to start this organization that imports books from the U.S. to use with Ghanaian children in after-school sessions so they can become better educated. I greatly admire that she took the initiative to start this organization herself (and with some others who are in NY), so I went today to find out more about it and perhaps help out during the semester. We ended up meeting most of the children (close to 100 of them!) and playing with them for a couple hours, which made me feel again like I was really in Africa. They tugged on me, poked me, held my hands, as though they had never seen anyone with light skin before. They were mesmerized by all of us and insisted on playing games with us and teaching us phrases and words in their language, teasing us when we messed up. It just made me realize the difference in attitudes toward races; in the U.S., historically people of darker skin were feared or avoided, whereas here those of light skin are admired and objects of fascination. Wouldn't the history of slavery have made these attitudes opposites? I find myself wondering. In any case, I am looking forward to spending more time with children, especially meeting the ones at the autism center where I am hoping to volunteer soon.
I forgot to mention that this past weekend I got pretty sick again- a 101 degree fever on Sunday. I am unsure of what happened, though the nurse seemed sure that it was from some food I ate, or water; there is bacteria in almost everything here so it is not difficult to get sick from something. Nearly everyone has in some form or another, so I at least don't feel alone. I took some medicine and rested in bed all day and by yesterday was pretty much recovered. I was still pretty weak yesterday, especially after getting up early to take an exam at Legon (which I unfortunately could not miss), but by dinner finally had an appetite again. You'll never guess what they had for dessert, which totally made my night- chocolate mousse! I had actually been wanting to make it the weekend before, but since I got sick I couldn't, so what a surprise it was to have it at Tante Marie where we usually only get either fruit or ice cream. Plus for the regular meal they had roast potatoes instead of plantains which made me so happy; I have definitely been missing potatoes and hope that they are served more often. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my angel of a friend Daniella gave me a few bites of her roasted eggplant Sunday night (knowing that it is one of my favorite foods), so that helped me feel much better. Tonight at Sunshine Salads they are actually serving vegetable lasagne, which most of us are very excited about, since we don't get pasta very often either. Ah, it's so nice to have my appetite back again! Just in case you're interested, Daniella and I are planning to make a charred tomato bisque in a few days (recipe courtesy of Mark Bittman's cookbook that I brought with me) and I'm hoping to make my mom's breadstick recipe if I can manage to find yeast somewhere. :)
Oh, and about the party Friday night, there were a lot of people (mostly men) from the University of Ghana and other places where NYU students had met them who came and mingled with us. At first we all stayed kind of segregated with NYU students in one group and Ghanaians in other small groups, but after awhile people started dancing (we had a couple DJ's blasting music) and then getting more comfortable chatting together. A couple hours after it began, the acrobats performed for us (I wish I had taken pictures, but you'll just have to take my word that they were pretty exciting to watch) and then the CRA's revealed a cake welcoming us to Ghana that we all had some bites of. It ended around 11:30, though it was supposed to go until midnight, but I was relieved because I was exhausted from dancing and not feeling well most of the week.
I am very excited for this weekend because we're going on our first field trip out of Accra to Cape Coast, where the bulk of the slave trading took place. It takes between 2 and 5 hours to get there, depending on traffic, so we're staying the night in a hotel on the beach that NYU arranged for us (how spoiled we are, hehe). I don't have the itinerary yet, but I from what I hear we're leaving about 6am Saturday morning and spending the day taking a tour of the slave castles and doing a canopy walk in Kakum National Park. Then Sunday morning we have time to either relax on the beach or go into town to shop and look around until 1pm when we drive back. I will give you more information about it once I know more; if I don't get a chance to update before then, you'll just have to hear about it when I get back.
I think that's all for now; except that internet has been working for a few hours, woohoo! Let's hope this lasts..
Friday, September 4, 2009
Internet again!!
I know it has been a long time, but as I mentioned last time the internet has not been working well here and in fact we have not had any in our dorm since last Friday. I actually wrote this post yesterday but have not been able to post until now...
Not too much has been happening lately except the finalization of our class choices and many people getting a little sick; a friend next door had to go to the hospital two days ago after throwing up 7 times from some bacteria in her system. She is much better today, though still a little feverish, but otherwise the rest of us have just been getting colds or upset stomachs.
Tonight we have a “social mixer” at our dorm with everyone in our program as well as others people have invited from around the city. It should be fun with a lot of people, many whom we won’t even know, but I don’t know what will be provided except drinks and maybe music. I’ve been hearing rumors about entertainment like acrobats, but I will let you know later on if that turns out to be true.
Last Sunday night Daniella and I cooked a potato gratin and corn salsa for dinner, which both turned out very good (although the canned corn she bought turned out to be mashed up instead of in kernels), and sat down with some other friends that cooked to chat and enjoy our food together. It was a nice reminder of home, since I definitely miss cooking for myself and with Daniella, and it was also nice to have others compliment our food as well. However, less than an hour later, as I was chatting with my parents in the other room, I heard an explosion from the kitchen and someone scream, though at first I thought she had just dropped some pans or something. However, a bunch of people ran over looking worried, so I joined them to discover that one of our ovens had basically exploded when one of the girls tried to light it. The gas had apparently been on for awhile, which she did not realize until afterward, and when she went to light it the oven caught fire and blew itself out of the wall, giving her some burns on her legs and in her socks (which she luckily had on). Otherwise she was perfectly fine, just a little in shock, but that definitely taught us all to be extra cautious about turning off the gas and electricity when we are finished with it. That is probably one of the major stories we will all remember from our dorm, though of course we still have a few more months to create even more.
I must admit that this past weekend I went through a period of severe homesickness, since it was frustrating not being able to talk to my parents without the internet or have the same comforts I do at home like certain foods, technology, my friends, and my cats. Many others have been feeling the same way though, so it has made it easier being able to connect with them in that way and know that we are not alone. There is a fantastic group of people here, and I feel very lucky to have them around me since they are all very understanding and caring when someone is feeling under the weather, or just needs to talk. I am lucky once again for my amazing roommate, Sarah, who has so much in common with me and has helped me through many decisions I have needed to make here, listening and giving advice when necessary. These people have made me realize as well that these feelings are normal and just part of the challenge of living in a foreign place, which I chose to overcome on my own and help myself grow into a more well-rounded person. I know it can only happen by experiencing the good and bad, since it would be impossible to delve into a new culture without getting frustrated at least once or twice.
I have been enjoying most of our meals at the restaurants, though by now I much prefer Sunshine Salads, where we go Tuesday and Thursday, since it serves more international food like Italian, Indian, Greek, etc. Tante Marie can be very tasty, especially the fried plantains and usually the vegetables and rice, yet I think I am getting tired of having the same cuisine three times a week. I am more accustomed to variety, since at home my family tends to cook something totally different every night, so I’m not sure I can get used to eating rice and plantains as often as they do here in Ghana, as much as I may like them. At least we are provided with food five days a week, which I definitely cannot complain about, since buying enough food to cook every night would get very expensive. I still have not tried any of the other restaurants, though I hear the Chinese food (which is most abundant) is pretty good, as well as a few Indian restaurants. They even have sushi here somewhere, so I will let you know when I test that out.
As for classes, I have decided to drop the Twi language class since I just felt it was too much and that it would not be entirely worth it in the end. I am happy just to learn a few words and phrases to get around and make people smile, since although most of them do understand and speak this language, there are over 40 others just within this country that are entirely different. I just don’t feel that learning this one language out of 44 would benefit me much except to chat with some people here in Accra, since no other countries in Africa speak it either, and I would soon forget it after returning to the U.S. I already have four other classes anyway: Global Connections with the former mayor, that is basically a way for us to learn more about the city of Accra and its relation to the rest of Ghana and the surrounding countries; Society, Culture, and Modernization in Ghana for my Anthropology major which is basically what the title implies; Black Diaspora at the University of Ghana, Legon which is a history of the Atlantic Slave Trade from an African perspective, which I have always been interested in learning; Music and Dance at Ashesi University where so far we have about an hour and a half devoted to the theory of African dance and then the last hour learning rhythm by playing instruments (bells, rattles, drums). We have not actually started dancing yet, which I am itching to begin, but our instructor insists on having us understand the theory and rhythms before we actually do the movements, so I guess I have to practice my patience that we are supposed to maintain while living here.
Lastly, I just thought I would let you know of a personal choice I made starting the second week here: to be vegetarian. I do not have a very strong reason for doing it, except mainly that the meat here has not been very appetizing and I have thought about becoming vegetarian for a long time as a healthier lifesyle. I decided it would be much easier to try it away from home, since I would not have to worry about insulting my parents by not eating many of their meals that include meat. I have a feeling I will not be able to maintain this eating pattern when I return to the United States, but for now I have not had trouble avoiding dishes with meat since the restaurants we eat at every night cater pretty well to vegetarians and on the weekends I tend to cook only vegetables anyway.
I feel like that is enough for now, since as I said before nothing major has happened in the past week, but I will really try to be more adamant about updating this blog so that each entry doesn’t end up this long. Thanks again for reading and I hope that I will have more good news next time. I miss you all so please keep in touch with your news as well!
Tonight we have a “social mixer” at our dorm with everyone in our program as well as others people have invited from around the city. It should be fun with a lot of people, many whom we won’t even know, but I don’t know what will be provided except drinks and maybe music. I’ve been hearing rumors about entertainment like acrobats, but I will let you know later on if that turns out to be true.
Last Sunday night Daniella and I cooked a potato gratin and corn salsa for dinner, which both turned out very good (although the canned corn she bought turned out to be mashed up instead of in kernels), and sat down with some other friends that cooked to chat and enjoy our food together. It was a nice reminder of home, since I definitely miss cooking for myself and with Daniella, and it was also nice to have others compliment our food as well. However, less than an hour later, as I was chatting with my parents in the other room, I heard an explosion from the kitchen and someone scream, though at first I thought she had just dropped some pans or something. However, a bunch of people ran over looking worried, so I joined them to discover that one of our ovens had basically exploded when one of the girls tried to light it. The gas had apparently been on for awhile, which she did not realize until afterward, and when she went to light it the oven caught fire and blew itself out of the wall, giving her some burns on her legs and in her socks (which she luckily had on). Otherwise she was perfectly fine, just a little in shock, but that definitely taught us all to be extra cautious about turning off the gas and electricity when we are finished with it. That is probably one of the major stories we will all remember from our dorm, though of course we still have a few more months to create even more.
I must admit that this past weekend I went through a period of severe homesickness, since it was frustrating not being able to talk to my parents without the internet or have the same comforts I do at home like certain foods, technology, my friends, and my cats. Many others have been feeling the same way though, so it has made it easier being able to connect with them in that way and know that we are not alone. There is a fantastic group of people here, and I feel very lucky to have them around me since they are all very understanding and caring when someone is feeling under the weather, or just needs to talk. I am lucky once again for my amazing roommate, Sarah, who has so much in common with me and has helped me through many decisions I have needed to make here, listening and giving advice when necessary. These people have made me realize as well that these feelings are normal and just part of the challenge of living in a foreign place, which I chose to overcome on my own and help myself grow into a more well-rounded person. I know it can only happen by experiencing the good and bad, since it would be impossible to delve into a new culture without getting frustrated at least once or twice.
I have been enjoying most of our meals at the restaurants, though by now I much prefer Sunshine Salads, where we go Tuesday and Thursday, since it serves more international food like Italian, Indian, Greek, etc. Tante Marie can be very tasty, especially the fried plantains and usually the vegetables and rice, yet I think I am getting tired of having the same cuisine three times a week. I am more accustomed to variety, since at home my family tends to cook something totally different every night, so I’m not sure I can get used to eating rice and plantains as often as they do here in Ghana, as much as I may like them. At least we are provided with food five days a week, which I definitely cannot complain about, since buying enough food to cook every night would get very expensive. I still have not tried any of the other restaurants, though I hear the Chinese food (which is most abundant) is pretty good, as well as a few Indian restaurants. They even have sushi here somewhere, so I will let you know when I test that out.
As for classes, I have decided to drop the Twi language class since I just felt it was too much and that it would not be entirely worth it in the end. I am happy just to learn a few words and phrases to get around and make people smile, since although most of them do understand and speak this language, there are over 40 others just within this country that are entirely different. I just don’t feel that learning this one language out of 44 would benefit me much except to chat with some people here in Accra, since no other countries in Africa speak it either, and I would soon forget it after returning to the U.S. I already have four other classes anyway: Global Connections with the former mayor, that is basically a way for us to learn more about the city of Accra and its relation to the rest of Ghana and the surrounding countries; Society, Culture, and Modernization in Ghana for my Anthropology major which is basically what the title implies; Black Diaspora at the University of Ghana, Legon which is a history of the Atlantic Slave Trade from an African perspective, which I have always been interested in learning; Music and Dance at Ashesi University where so far we have about an hour and a half devoted to the theory of African dance and then the last hour learning rhythm by playing instruments (bells, rattles, drums). We have not actually started dancing yet, which I am itching to begin, but our instructor insists on having us understand the theory and rhythms before we actually do the movements, so I guess I have to practice my patience that we are supposed to maintain while living here.
Lastly, I just thought I would let you know of a personal choice I made starting the second week here: to be vegetarian. I do not have a very strong reason for doing it, except mainly that the meat here has not been very appetizing and I have thought about becoming vegetarian for a long time as a healthier lifesyle. I decided it would be much easier to try it away from home, since I would not have to worry about insulting my parents by not eating many of their meals that include meat. I have a feeling I will not be able to maintain this eating pattern when I return to the United States, but for now I have not had trouble avoiding dishes with meat since the restaurants we eat at every night cater pretty well to vegetarians and on the weekends I tend to cook only vegetables anyway.
I feel like that is enough for now, since as I said before nothing major has happened in the past week, but I will really try to be more adamant about updating this blog so that each entry doesn’t end up this long. Thanks again for reading and I hope that I will have more good news next time. I miss you all so please keep in touch with your news as well!
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