A Good Week.

Sept. 17

Back to classes today. The good news is that I only had one class today. After my class in the morning, I spent most of the day at the Institute so I could take advantage of the free Internet. I got quite a bit of homework, blogging, and Facebooking done.

In the evening, we decided to try a new place on campus. We heard that they served burgers. So we walked all the way to the other side of campus (which is an incredibly long walk) to Tyme Out. Long story short, they don’t serve burgers—even though the sign outside says they do. They serve really expensive Chinese food. Disappointed, we walked to another place not far away. The thing I wanted was finished. (Here, when you run out of something, you say “it’s finished”.) Feeling even more let down, I walked all the way back to my dorm to get my usual of kabobs and fries at Tickles. In an effort to make the night better, a few of us decided to watch a Harry Potter movie before bed.

Sept. 18

Tuesdays are long. To start off my day, I have to sit through a 3-hour long Political Science class. It’s not really my thing, so it’s pretty hard to listen. The professor is also a little intimidating. After that class, I have two more hour and a half long classes. In short, classes on Tuesdays are draining.

On the bright side, we have dinner at Roland’s on Tuesday evenings. I always look forward to those. We take turns cooking and it’s usually really good. It’s also usually American-ish since we eat Ghanaian food every other day of the week. Tonight we ate pizza and brownies.

After dinner I walked to the pharmacy to get some medication. My eyelid is still pretty swollen, so I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for it. The nice lady behind to counter sold me some ointment for 1 cedi…which is the equivalent of .50 cents. Can’t beat the prices here!

Sept.19

Today was pretty good as far as Wednesdays go. I didn’t have one of my classes today, so it gave me a really long break in the middle of my day, which was nice. I got a bit of homework done in that time. With some people gone on their home stay, class is a lot less overwhelming. Our classroom is really small and with everyone there, it’s really crowded. So this week I feel like I can breathe when I’m in class, which is kind of refreshing.

Tonight we had African Drumming and Dance. Our dance instructor picked it up a notch. We were jumping and singing and flailing our heads up and down. It was crazy, but pretty fun. By the end, I was drenched in sweat. I went back to my room hoping for water so that I could shower, but it wasn’t there—as I expected. Good thing the water was on in our floor kitchen so that I could at least take a bucket shower.

Sept. 20

I am one step closer to achieving Ghanaian status after today. I traveled all the way to Adenkrebi all by myself. The other girls that I usually go to the school with are on their home stay right now, so I was left to fend for myself. I got a tro-tro from the first stop to Madina. They said they would go to Madina Station, which is where I’m supposed to go, but they didn’t. So I had to walk to find Madina Station. I found it without much of a problem; I just had an older man following me trying to talk me into marrying him. So that was fun. When I managed to find the mass of tro-tros that make up Madina Station, the people were really helpful. They showed me where I needed to go. One guy basically put me in the tro-tro I needed, which was heading to Aburi. Once I got to Aburi, I found a very eager taxi driver who was more than willing to take me to Adenkrebi. I don’t know if I can even call it a taxi. It was more like the skeleton of a taxi…the interior of the car almost didn’t exist. I mean it had seats, but that’s about as far as it went. It made it to Adenkrebi, so it all worked out.

When we pulled up to the school, a man by the name of Atta found me and told me that I was to go to Daniel’s house first. So I did. I got to see all the people who are there for their home stay before they left for their activity for the day. After visiting for a bit, I went back to the school

At the school, I observed a science class and graded an English spelling test. After that, I spent the rest of my time chatting with one of the teachers that I hadn’t met yet. After our conversation, we ate yams and stew then I went back to Daniel’s. I was informed at the end of the school day that there would be no school the next day, so there would be no reason for me to stay over night. I stayed to eat dinner with the Calvin group and then embarked on my journey back to campus. I made it without a problem. I’m really proud of myself. J

Sept. 21

I had nowhere to be today, so I got to sleep in. Sleeping in here means I woke up at 7:45. I went to bed last night at like 9:15, so I got a good night’s rest. Krista didn’t have her internship today either, so we went to breakfast at our favorite café on campus. We had oatmeal porridge. Best oatmeal I’ve ever had.

Oatmeal with Milk and Sugar

My water was on for a bit, so I took a quick shower. After that, I found an army of what looked like termites on our nightstand. So…I sprayed them with my bug spray and then pulled the nightstand out onto my balcony. I didn’t know what else to do.

The rest of the day, I’m hoping to get all of next weeks homework finished. I have to get it done before I leave for my home stay on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Sept. 22

Obviously enjoying the oatmeal

Today was a really good day. Krista, Josh and I went to get oatmeal for breakfast again. That stuff is seriously so good. After that, we decided to go to Osu for the day to do some shopping. I went a little crazy. Osu is the home of Global Mamas—I think I’ve talked about this store before, but it’s the best. I want to buy everything in that store. Then there are the street vendors. I’ve gotten a little bit better at bartering, so I think my newfound confidence made me want to buy more things. I don’t regret it, I got a lot of my Christmas/souvenir shopping done. I still have more to get, but it felt good to check some things of my list. Also, I just love shopping in general, so I enjoyed buying things all day.

While we were shopping we made a few other stops. We got the most delicious smoothies ever, we found a grocery store that has all things American, and we found a coffee shop that has actual coffee and pastries (I got a chocolate chip muffin—yum.) Later on, the others in our group met us for dinner. I had an actual cheeseburger. So good.

After dinner we walked to this pub that’s pretty quite so we could sit and talk. Since a large portion of the group is gone on their home stay, we decided it would be good to hang out as a smaller group to try and get to know each other better. So that was fun. On the way home we managed to snag a taxi back to campus for really cheap, which was just a lovely way to end an even lovelier day.

I leave for my home stay tomorrow. No internet for me for an entire week!

Extra: This is how people eat oranges. They just slice the top off and you squeeze the juice out! 

Odwira

We spent some time in Akropong this past week. It was lovely. Enjoy some entries from the past few days. :)

Sept. 11

I only had to go to one class today because we’re heading to Akropong for the rest of the week. Unfortunately that one class happened to be political science. Akropong is my favorite place. We’re visiting this week because a local festival is going on—the Odwira festival.

Akrofi Christaller

We’re staying at the Seminary again. It’s called Akrofi Christaller Institute. When we arrived, we got to settle into our rooms. The beds are super comfortable and the water always works. Everything works—the toilet, the sink, and the shower. And that’s not all! We also eat really well here. Tonight we had spaghetti.

Here’s a history lesson for you: The Odwira festival began a really long time ago. A group of people called the Ashantis had a deity called Odosu that they brought to war with them. When they attacked the kingdom of Akuapem (this includes Akropong), the Ashantis lost and the people of Akuapem stole Odosu. Now, in order for the deity to be of use to the people, they have to do special things for it. The Odwira festival celebrates Oduosu.

The Odwira festival also is a time of cleansing and a time to awaken the ancestors to prepare for the New Year. The people of Akuapem have a 9-month calendar and Odwira marks the end of the year. Tomorrow is essentially New Years Eve!

Six weeks prior to the festival, the ancestors are granted a time of rest. During that time, there is a curfew in the town along with a ban on noise making, dying (that’s right…you are not allowed to die during the 6 week time period leading up to the festival. If you do, you can’t be buried until the 6 weeks are up), as well as a ban on eating new yams. After the 6 weeks are up, the ancestors are awakened, noise can be made, you can die, and you can eat new yams.

Tonight we witnessed the bringing in of the ancestors and the Odwira into the palace. Obviously, you can’t see the ancestors. Ancestors are people that have passed away. But not anyone can be an ancestor. You had to have lived a good life in order to become one. Once you are an ancestor, you act as a mediator between your people and God.

At this ceremony, there is a lot of drumming and dancing. The king is also brought in to sit on his throne under an umbrella. It’s really fascinating stuff.

Sept. 12

I slept like a champion last night. It was wonderful. We also ate a really yummy breakfast of porridge, hot chocolate, toast, and fruit.

Today is the day before New Years here. Traditionally, it’s a day of mourning those that have passed away during the year. Mourning is a lot different here than at home. We walked around visiting people today and they are either sitting around in a circle talking, or there is drumming and dancing. Everyone wears red and black when they are mourning. When we would walk into a new place, we would have to greet every person in the room by shaking their hands. You also must do this counter-clockwise. Another thing to remember is that you may not cross your legs in the presence of an elder because it’s considered disrespectful.

At one place, they offered us some Schnapps to drink as a gesture of hospitality. I learned that you can either drink some, or you can pour it on the ground. By pouring it on the ground, you are offering the drink to the ancestors, which is respectful.

This evening, we went out to get some FanChoco and popcorn. While we’re here, we’ve been sharing our personal testimonies with each other—one person shares each night. We usually do it on Sunday evenings after our group Bible study, but in order to fit everyone in, we’re doing them while we’re here as well. It’s been really awesome. When you’re in a group like this, you spend a lot of time together. It’s good to know where each person is coming from so you can learn to love him or her better.

Sept. 13

Possessed Carrier in the street

Happy New Year! Today is a day of feasting. It is also the day that the ancestors are ceremoniously fed. This afternoon we went to watch the feeding of the ancestors. Talk about interesting. A person from each important house (usually a female) is chosen to take the food to the sacred feeding area. It’s a big deal. They put white powder all over their bodies and parade through the streets. It is believed that when the procession happens, that the ancestors possess the carriers. So, other officials lead these carriers down the street because they can’t really walk on their own. They’re stumbling and running into things—it really looks like they’ve had a few too many sips of the Schnapps. But, who am I to say? I’m an outsider that was just observing. Honestly, I don’t fully understand the culture; so I cant really pose any judgment. Something could be happening that I just can’t see through my Western lens.

This evening, there was a dance party in the streets so we joined in for a while. It was a lot of fun. There are about 5 songs that they play non-stop here in Ghana. The crowd favorite is called Chuck my Money. There is also a dance called the Azonto that everyone knows. Several people have tried to teach me, including the kids at Adenkrebi School. Let’s just say I’m still learning.

After dancing, we played a game together as a group and then I showered (!) and went to bed.

Sept. 14

There was a huge gathering at the city center today. First, there was a parade of all the local chiefs. They were all dressed in colorful fabrics and even carried through the streets. At the end of the parade, the Chiefs were taken to the city center to sit and wait for the paramount chief to arrive. Everyone in town comes out to watch this. I didn’t have a very good seat, so I don’t know everything that happened. I was also surrounded by school children that were climbing all over me to see what was going on. Luckily one of the girls kept me updated. There were street performers, some speeches in Twi that I couldn’t understand, and the President of Ghana even showed up and talked for a bit. The entire event lasted about 5 hours.

Also, we had actual ice cream for desert after dinner. Oh my gosh. I could’ve cried I was so excited.

Sept. 15

We went for a hike at a place called Krobo today. We stopped at a bead-making place on the way there. It was pretty cool to learn the bead making process and also visit the gift shop. :)

On the way to the mountain, we were told, “it’s not a very steep climb”. Well, I think I could’ve used some rope and a pickaxe. (I’m exaggerating a bit, but really…it was super steep) It was a 3-hour climb through the bush to get to the top. We climbed through tall grass, over more than a few large rocks, and then through some jungle. I felt like an explorer. It was really cool once we got to the top. The view was incredible. The way down was crazier than the way up. I was on my butt for about 75% of the way because it was easier to slide/I fell down a lot. The group of 3 girls I was with on the way down also got lost for a bit. We figured it out, but I was a little concerned for a minute. By the time we were done I was covered in dirt, sweat, small cuts, bruises, and rashes. Kristi sprained her ankle and Anna cut her finger so bad she needed stitches. We looked pretty rough, but we also had a really good time in spite of the injuries.

Sept. 16

Post-Hike

I woke up with a swollen eyelid. Awesome. I think it’s from getting hit in the face with several plants while hiking yesterday. I’m going to see if my allergy meds will make the swelling go down.

Today I am thankful for technology. I was able to Skype my parents today for about 2 hours. It was really good to talk to them I was also able to message a bunch of my friends back home. It hard to keep in touch sometimes when I have limited access to the Internet, so today was great.

I also did quite a bit of homework. I wasn’t very productive when we were in Akropong, so I needed the day to catch up.

The first group of 6 left for their home stays today as well. My roommate is one of those people, so I am alone in my room this week. I head to my home stay next week!

Missing home today. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. I really appreciate it.

Adenkrebi and Football

Sept. 6

Adenkrebi School

It’s Thursday, which means that we go to our internships/volunteering locations. It was my first day actually going to the school in Adenkrebi. To get there, we had to take a short tro-tro to Madina Station. Madina Station is a massive sea of tro-tros. You could get a ride to wherever you wanted there. It’s also a chaotic, yet functioning mess of people. They’re everywhere—trying to sell things, buy things, find tro-tro, wanting to help you find the tro-tro you need, etc. After a minute of being overwhelmed by and in awe of the craziness, a nice man helped us find a tro-tro that went to our next stop, Aburi. It’s about an hour and half ride to Aburi and from there we got a taxi to drive us up the bumpy mountain road to the school.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by screams of excitement from the lower elementary kids. We went down to the main office and met Fortunate, one of the teachers. He gave us a brief tour. The school is quite small. The largest class has ten students on a good day. After our tour, we were taken back to the main office to meet some of the other teachers. The entire staff at Adenkrebi School is male. Apparently women don’t like traveling on the crazy roads to get there. We were then separated into different classrooms

I went to the Phase 1 room, which is basically sixth grade. The teacher asked me to pray for the class and then each student practiced their English by telling me there name, age, favorite game, and favorite food. The local language in the village is Ga, so a lot of the kids haven’t learned English. After that, I introduced myself and then the teacher told me that I was in charge and he left the room. Welp. I’m not a teacher, so I was a little scared. I decided that since I am not qualified to teach anything, that we would play games. A lot of the girls had the same favorite game, so I asked them to teach me. It’s called Ompe. There is a lot of jumping and clapping and flailing of legs. The students thought my attempts at playing were hilarious. Apparently I’m pretty bad. Oh well. We went back and fourth sharing games for about an hour.  I showed them Duck, Duck, Goose, Red Light Green Light, and Simon Says

Grass-Cutter 

After that it was break time. The kids went off to their homes to get lunch and we went to the main office to chat with the teachers. They asked us a lot of questions about America and ourselves. Someone also brought in a freshly slain grass-cutter. It’s a bush animal (a wild animal) that looks like an oversized hamster with a tail. Apparently, the meat is really expensive. I couldn’t help but be amused by scene—A big, dead hamster on the floor of the school’s main office with a bunch of people poking and prodding at it. Only in Ghana.

We ate lunch after all of that. It was Kenke. It’s a doughy ball that you eat with you hands by dipping pieces of the dough in a stew. The stew we had was spicy with sardines, onions, and tomatoes. I didn’t eat a lot…spicy foods are just not my thing, neither are sardines. After lunch, we visited Daniel, our contact person in Adenkrebi. Usually, we would sleep at Daniel’s, but since we were done so early at the school, we decided to go back to campus.

Sept. 7

It was activities day at the school. It rained really hard all morning, so it delayed our game playing. During the delay, we sang songs. I recognized most of the hymns they sang, so it was really fun to sing a long. After they sang all of their songs, they asked us to share ours. We taught them Father Abraham and This Little Light of Mine. They loved it. When we were done singing it was still raining, so we showed them how to play Heads Up, Seven Up.

Cooked Grass-Cutter

By the time that we were done with that, it was time for break. After break the rain stopped and the sun came out. Just in time for games. The kids played soccer, volleyball, net-ball (an all girls game of handball), and a variety of clapping and dancing games. I joined in on the clapping and dancing games at first since I learned Ompe the day before. I think I’ve improved because they didn’t really laugh at me and I won a few rounds. I also joined in on a volleyball game. After a while, the kids dispersed to their home and we ate lunch. Lunch happened to be the grass-cutter we met the day before, along with some stew. It was really good. After we ate, we went back to campus.

Later at night a girl named Mavis who works at the night market took us out on the town to show us around. It was cool. We got to meet a lot of new people.

Sept. 8

My desk has become the final resting place for several ants. I have no idea where they are coming from. I’ve cleared it off, killed the ants and then sprayed it with my bug spray and somehow, new ants find their way there. I’m hoping eventually they learn that if the go there, they die.

Pretty good seats, eh?

Anyways, today we went to the Ghana vs. Malawi soccer match at the Stadium in Accra. It was a good time. Vendors sold popcorn, so I was all over that. FanChoco was also sold, so I got some of that too.  The fans are crazy, they have a non-stop dance party during the game and the longest human wave ever happened. The wave went around the stadium 4 times. Ghana won and some people from our group even made it on TV.

After the game, I did homework and then watched Shawshank Redemption. I had never seen before, and it was really good. If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it .

I also got to shower before bed. Nothing could be better.

The Everyday.

I've been holding off on a new post because nothing exciting is happening this week (outside of our water working for a few minutes at one point). But I decided to post my entries from the past few days anyways. I guess it's good for you to know that I'm not constantly doing awesome things...I don't want you to be too jealous of me. ;) Just kidding, you should still be jealous. Ghana is a really cool place to be even when you're not doing anything exceptional.

Sept. 1

Today was pretty chill. We went into Osu to get smoothies to celebrate a birthday in our group. After that, we walked around a bit and then came back to campus.

I’ve basically just been doing homework and hanging out in my room all day. I did, however, get to skype my family…and by family I mean everyone. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, second cousins, grandparents, parents, siblings, soon to be sister-in-law—the whole circus. They were all gathered at my house for a meal and when I called they sort of passed me around on my mom’s iPad. It was pretty chaotic, but I can’t even begin to describe how good it was to see their faces and hear their voices. My family is the best.

Sept. 2

Today has been a good day. I got to shower. I know it sounds silly, but it was miraculous…literally. I was doing devotions this morning and during my prayer time I prayed selfishly for enough water to wash my hair. Afterwards, I walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet and BAM. The water started working. God is good. I laughed pretty hard and was so excited that I almost jumped into the shower with my clothes on. It was just enough water. It shut off as I finished rinsing out my hair.

The rest of my day was dedicated to homework. For my literature class, we have quite a bit a reading, so I spent most of the day trying to stay caught up. I finished everything I wanted to get done and even got to finish one of the books I brought for recreational purposes (Seriously…I’m Kidding, by Ellen Degeneres. If you’re looking for a good laugh, I’d recommend it.)

Sept. 3

Class day. Pretty uneventful. We did, however, have a Harry Potter viewing this evening. I brought most of the movies, so I think we’re going to make Mondays Harry Potter day.

I’ve been having weird chest pains the past few days. I don’t know what it is, but some people tell me it might be heartburn. I didn’t realize you could get heartburn before you started getting senior citizen benefits at restaurants. A nurse is visiting us tomorrow, so I’m going to talk to her and see what she says.

Sept. 4

More class today—nothing exciting. Tuesdays are usually really nice because we eat dinner at Roland’s house. We rotate the cooking between group members. Tonight some girls made breakfast for dinner. That happens to be one of my favorite things ever. We ate pancakes, bacon, mango, pineapple, toast, cereal, and juice. It was hard for me to eat because of my current chest pains, but I ate a lot anyways because I loved it so much. A lady named Jodi joined us for dinner as well. She graduated from Calvin with a nursing degree and has decided to move to Ghana. She was great and even helped me get the medicine I needed to start getting rid of this reflux.

Super exciting, right? 

I'll tell you something that is exciting from today (Sept. 5). We took our fabric to a seamstress to get dresses made a few weeks ago and she brought them in today! I love my dress. I don't have pictures of it yet though, so you'll just have to trust that it's really cute.