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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