First, some photos!
The pretty Registration Building. It is very, very far from my hostel, and up a big hill, so I avoid it. But it's pretty!
At the post office!
A pretty typical meal in Ghana.
I've been here for two weeks now, so I'll backtrack a bit in order to recount some of the cool part of the trip so far... (picture some sort of time machine and eerie music here)
August 4th: I am on an airplane flying from Washington D.C. to Accra, Ghana. about halfway across the Atlantic, I finally realized that I am going to AFRICA. To LIVE there. It was pretty scary. I did consider once or twice that it might be better and less frightening if the plane crashed into the ocean (don't worry, now I think that that definitely would have been scarier). I didn't know anyone on the entire continent and I had very few ideas about what to expect. I knew there were other people like me on the plane (it was a group flight) but I did not know who they were or how to talk to them.
As the plane was landing, we went through a thick fog. It was really a lot like my take off from San Francisco, until we got close enough to the ground for me to see land. You know how when the airplane lands in a hugh city and you see all those houses and buildings and you sorta land in the middle of them. This was not like that. What I saw was green. Bright, glistening green, everywhere, cut up periodically with red dirt roads that looked like harsh cuts in the earth. It was beautiful, but completely foreign. My fear built as we landed and went through customs. Accra Airport is tiny and I feared that everyone on the flight would leave and I would not know where to go.
Of course, that was not the case. As soon as I can out from customs, I was met by 5 or 6 Ghanaian people, including our student guides and people working for ISEP (International Student Exchange Program). They were friendly and behind them were a handful of Americans looking anxious and uncertain, but friendly. We waited for everyone to get through customs, then trooped out to a big van. Somehow, they got all our luggage (this was the stuff of like 12 kids, staying for 5 months - 1 year) piled on the roof and we rode through Accra to Legon, which is just to the northeast.
All us students got to know each other and paired up into rooms. A girl named Evelyn, from Colorado, ended up sharing a room with me and we've worked well together as roommates. As of now, we still might get put in different rooms and each have a Ghanaian roommate, but we don't know for sure. Either way, it's a good situation.
The next few days involved ISEP taking us around to places in Accra and Legon, telling us about what life and school will be like here, helping us get used to the local food and water, and helping us to bond with each other and feel comfortable in our hostel. Our hostel is like a dorm, but is called a hostel cause it is technically that too; people can stay for shorter amounts of time and its for international and Ghanaian students (like I House at San Jose State). The really university dorms are called Halls.
We went to the beach with our guides (and later by ourselves, for Reggae Night) and on a trip to Cape Coast Castle and Kakum National Park. But more about those later. I think I've said enough for a first post, so I'll just end with a list of
Things I unlearned and relearned about Ghana:
1) It is not the hottest I have ever been, all year long. I was told this, but it really feels like California feels right now, only add a little humidity. Apparently it will be hotter later (January til March), but I get to miss that.
2) I have not been proposed to yet. Not on campus, not downtown, not out at night, not anywhere. Neither has anyone I know. I suppose it might happen, but it is definitely not happening daily.
3) There is internet (obviously) and running water. I knew this, but I feel like a lot of people at home didn't. Understandable, it is definitely a third world country. The internet is unreliable sometimes, as is the water (but we have back-up tanks, so it's okay). What I did NOT expect was the lack of toilet paper. In America, if there is no toilet paper and/or soap in a public bathroom, you go complain to someone and they'll give it to you. In Ghana, if there IS toilet paper and/or soap in a public bathroom, you will likely cheer aloud and tell all your friends about it. We have all gotten used to carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer in our purses.
4) I had this impression that not a lot of international students would be here. That was wrong. There are a lot of us. I heard someone say 4% of the university population, or about 1,200 international students. So I'm meeting a lot of people, from all over (especially Canada)
5) I do not have a hard time making friends. I usually have a hard time making friends, especially if I don't already know people. Here, however, its relatively easy. First we had a week of ISEP adventures and our 20 student group became friendly and close. Then there is the hostel, which fosters friendship making with the communal kitchen and laundry room and the little restaurant downstairs. THEN there are "professional friends" or sleazy Ghanaians who want to befriend international students in order to rip them off or steal stuff from their rooms. But even the nice, normal Ghanaians are very friendly and easy to talk to, once you get started with them. You will often have to make the first move, because they are conscious of coming off as a professional friend, but once you ascertain they attend school and are in classes, you're pretty safe making friends with them and they are excellent casual conversationalists. I have yet to meet a Ghanaian student who was rude or short with me.
Okay, super long post. Here is a photo of someone's pet monkey to reward you for reading so much.
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