Akwaaba! It means Welcome in Twi, the local dialect here in the greater Accra area. I am once again traveling to a far off place, and wanted to keep you all connected in! I'm going to cheat a little and backtrack on my days, writing each one as if it is present tenses because I have been keeping them in a word document, but internet isn't readily available so this is the first I've been able to start this baby up.
I have lots on my mind, and lots to share, so I will either bore you to death, or bore myself to death of typing, so I may just break up everything up and save things for later posts...either that or my one hour internet connection kicks me off first.
So I am writing this particular post as if it was 8/6, so Saturday. Here we go.
Right now I am in midst of my orientation program through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). It will last right through next week and through next weekend. The program is made up of students all over the U.S. and its lead by a group of Ghanaian students, leaders, and organizers. They have all been just so warm and welcoming, helping us all out. Most of us came in on group flights form the states and were all picked up in a big bus where they loaded our luggage onto the top of the bus and strapped it down. After we were placed in our temporary rooms, since most of us are getting Ghanaian roommates (myself included) we were taken to the mall to get phones/sim cards/other stuff we might need. Then later they prepared dinner for us. We had jollof rice among other things which is a traditional dish in Ghana, and more generally in West Africa. I'm not sure exactly what goes in it but its had some vegetables and onions and such in it. They also served plantains! Delicious.
Today we had another full day from 7am until dinner time. My day started off with a shower out of a bucket. Needless to say, water here is not reliable. There is not always running water. That is when you fill your bucket with water form the huge water tanks in the back of the complex (side note: International Student Hostel 1 or ISH 1 is where I live). So after a strangely familiar and comfortable 'bath' (Caroga Lake bucket baths) we headed onto campus where we received an orientation on safety, hygiene, and culture. The classroom was nice and open with a breeze coming in. I looked out the window at some point and noticed this massive bird trying to pick up an entire plastic bag full of something and fly off, however the bag was too heavy so he dropped it. It was quite entertaining seeing this bird lift off with a plastic shopping bag as if it was off to the market.
Our walk to the orientation building was through campus, but I am reserving all judgements until our actual campus tour.
After our brief orientation in the classroom we were taken on a bus tour of the greater Accra area. The Uni is in Legon which is about a five minute ride away from Accra, the capital. We were shown where the hospital, the post office, and other such facilities are located around the city. Although, city is a very relative term. You mustn't think of it as skyscrapers. Its a very relative term. The streets are crowed with people selling everything you can imagine and bartering is perfectly acceptable if not expected. Part of the trip was letting all us Americans loose in one of the markets to test our survival skills. Definitely an experience. Within seconds of stepping off our bus we were being approached from all sides by the men selling various items. And they are persistent, asking you your name and telling you they will give you a special price because you are friends. They are friendly, and harmless, but it was a very overwhelming when you tried to explain you don't plan on buying anything and yet they still push. But my goal is to perfect my bartering abilities by the end of the trip!
For those who don't know where exactly Ghana is, its a small country in Western Africa along the Gulf of Guinea. It borders Togo on the right, Cote d'ivore (The Ivory Coast) to the left, and Burkina Faso to the north. It was a British colony and it has a proud history of being the first African country to gain independence from colonial rule. Kwame Nkrumah is the first president of the Ghana and it is his mausoleum that we visited today. The location of the mausoleum is an area that Europeans had been given exclusive access to so that when Nkrumah led Ghana into its first republic he reclaimed the the area giving a speech in the park, and sparking a renewed African identity.
Its still been a crazy whirlwind of events and information and names and more information and so many names!! But I am going to leave it at that for now!
Peace.
Katie
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