Ghana Adventures. Week 1!

It still blows my mind that I am in Ghana!

I’ve been here a little over a week and I’m still LOVING it! The past few days have been an adventure! On Thursday we took a bus around the city of Accra for a city tour and it was extremely interesting. First we went to the W.E.B Du Bois museum who was a very strong activist for civil rights in Ghana. We then went to one of the main outdoor markets in Accra. Apparently it isn’t the safest place so we were told to keep everything on the bus. (Money, Camera, Bags, Phones, ect) We walked down straight down the street and didn’t buy anything. It was very different. It is hard to describe but I’ll try…. It looked as if at one time there used to be a lot of building but everything was burned down. Now everybody is living in tin houses or little huts. It seemed like people were barely making do. It was a dark place. It was considered the slums and it honestly looked like it. The sewers were full and there were people sleeping under cars and in tires. It was hard to see but also extremely eye opening.

            After the Accra Market, we went to the memorial site where the first president of Ghana was buried and also were he declared the independence for Ghana. It was a beautiful site. There was a nice statue and several fountains. There was even a tree that Nelson Mandela planted.

            We then got to go to the Arts and Crafts Center in Accra. It was AMAZING. The art was absolutely breathtaking. They sold paintings, bracelets, bowls, hand-carved masks, drums, clothing.. Everything you can imagine in African form. It was beautiful. I learned how to bargain so I even got a lot of cool things for cheap. (Let me know if you want anything.) The one thing that caught me off guard was the lack of personal space that Ghanaians have. As we walked in the market, there were people literally grabbing us and pulling us into their shop to see their merchandise and if you didn’t go, they would follow you until you caved. Very persuasive people!

            On Saturday, we had the most incredible day! We were told that we were going to the beach and we were pumped but I had absolutely no idea what we were really going to be doing. So we got on the bus and it took about two hours to get to our destination. We got off and we were at this beautiful resort with a pool, right on the Volta River. We then got in two different boats and started floating down the river. On the shore there were beautiful huts, and amazing boats with very colorful paintings and symbols. There were children playing soccer and waving to us as we passed. We then made it to our destination where we were greeted by traditional African dancers and drummers who put on a whole show for us! They even taught us to dance- it was so fun and so hilarious! After the show, we got to swim in the river and if we walked about 30 yards across the river bank, we were at the ocean. It was breathtaking. I made friends with some of the local children. They LOVED my camera and insisted on taking pictures. It was pretty funny and adorable! After hanging out at the beach, we took the boats back to the resort and we ate like kings! It was such an amazing day!

 

            On Sunday, I went to church with a couple of people from our program and it was an extremely different experience. The first part, there was a TON of singing and dancing! It was beautiful! The whole service went on for 5 hours which caught all of us off-guard.  It wouldn’t have been as difficult if the service was in English… but it wasn’t. It was in the local language called Twi so it made it extra hard to sit still for 5 hours.

            Today was the first official day of school but I learned that that is not super true. The registration process here is pretty difficult. We were supposed to sign up for classes online last week but you cant sign up without going to each specific department and finding out the times. But the times weren’t posted until today so we couldn’t go to register until we went to the departments and it was a mess! I spent ALL day walking around just hoping that we weren’t missing class. It wouldn’t be bad if the campus was the size of Chico State but the campus is MASSIVE! It takes about 35-45 minutes to walk across campus and when you have no idea where you are and you get lost, you can add about 20 minutes to that. It was a little bit chaotic. The two classes I had today were cancelled and I later learned that our professors are on strike… I’m not super stoked about that.

            I’m still blown away by how amazing the people are here. Everybody is so welcoming and so willing to help! I have become good friends with a little girl named Sarah. Her mom cleans our bathroom so Sarah has been hanging out with us. She turns 8 on Wednesday! She is seriously such a joy. She will always knock on our door and ask for candy and then ask to hang out in our room. I told her that my brother is a doctor and her face lit up. She told me that her dream is to be a doctor and go to University of Ghana. I know she can do it. I gave her a hat that says, “California Girl” on it and I even started singing Katy Perry’s California Girl song. She quickly told me to stop and asked if I could sing Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star with her instead. It was beautiful. I know Sarah will be a good friend by the end of the semester.

 

Next week, I will be starting my Service Learning at an orphanage for kids with disabilities and I am stoked.

I am so ridiculously blessed by this opportunity. I could not be more thankful.

Skype me!!!!!! (Janaenaee22)

Love you all,

Janae