Like a brick wall it hit me – it was today I realized that I only have about two weeks left in Ghana. I don’t know how in the world over four months have already gone by. Looking back on it, I realize how much I love this place. Even with the harsh living conditions it grew on me. I know it sounds cliché, but I honestly feel like this place has changed me. Material posessions, mundane arguments, all that stuff just seems less important now. Life is short. I am going to miss the culture, friends, and such awesome experiences that have taught me so much over the past four months. I was told by a friend that judging from my blog I seemed sort of homesick. While I admit I do have my moments (usually when there is no running water or electricity and mounds of excrement piles and ferment in the stagnant toilet bowls). Other than that – I am mostly homesick for my family, friends, and food. I am surprisingly not so homesick for my car, house, or the rush of western life. Looking back on it, I experienced more during a random weekend traveling around in Ghana than I do in almost an entire quarter back in the States. This seriously has been the best four months of my life. You may be wondering what’s with the abnormally good mood? Well, I was on a walk across campus today when it hit me how lucky I was to be walking around in the middle of freaking Africa going to school. I mean, who does that? Today I finished another final on Development Strategies in Africa. The essay topic was literally, “Africa remains underdeveloped… Explain.” It’s a whole different world over here and I am trying to savor every moment before I have to go back. My Ghanaian roommate is borrowing his parent's car and a few of my Ghanaian friends are driving me to the airport on May 16 to see me off. It will be quite a sad spectacle looking back and waving goodbye to my life in Ghana and the friends I have made but I will be so stoked to see my family and dog again. I thank all of you that have followed along with my blog. Your comments on Facebook are the reason I continue writing. I can’t wait to see all you when I get back, but in the mean time I’m going to take as many pictures as possible and try and squeeze out a few more experiences in the next two weeks. I have two finals left and then I’m done. Until next time.
J
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
FYI
So, I just want everyone to know I just spent the last three hours of my life attempting to upload about 50 awesome National Geographic caliber pictures from my travels over the past month. Lucky you, the only one that actually uploaded was a picture of my dirty feet. I apologize for the lack of pictures, the internet works at snail's pace on a good day so I will continue my efforts. In the mean time, enjoy my feet!~
Monday, April 19, 2010
SOME STEREOTYPES ARE TRUE: WHITE MEN CAN'T DANCE (or at least this white man)
Just a Little Background
Today was the D-Day of performing arts here at the University of Ghana. I had two back-to-back final examination performances in front of two separate panels of judges. As luck would have it, they scheduled my Traditional African Drumming final at the same time as my Traditional African Dance final. So, immediately after dancing I had to run over to the music department and take the drumming final. Those of you know me well know anything music or dancing-related is simply not my forte'. I can’t even clap to a beat, so as you could imagine, I was pretty nervous for my performing arts examinations. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any whiter in Africa – I did.
Setting the Stage:
DANCE FINAL
The clock struck 7AM and I put on my dance uniform and went over my three dances and reviewed for my drumming performance. When I arrived at the examination room, the setting was exactly like American Idol. One of the judges called, “Next... Jaaassson Holley," and placed the number three on my shirt. I was told to enter the room. My heart raced as I entered. There were just four other people and myself standing in a line. The room was dimmly lit and in the front sat 5 intimidating judges and about 6 professional drummers that provided the music for the dances. At that moment, it hit me. What in the hell am I doing here? Have you ever felt that feeling that you are not at all where you are supposed to be – completely out of your element – completely out of place? Here I was about to give a performance for 3 real semester units of transferable grade and I was about to be graded on the one thing in life I am worst at… dancing. All of a sudden without warning the drummers started pounding away and since I was the first group to go I had no idea what to do – do I start dancing or wait for some sort of signal? After an awkward pregnant pause I decided I should start dancing… so I began. For some unknown reason, maybe it's genetics, I can never stay on the same beat as everyone else. I definitely have "White Dancer Syndrome." I just can’t stay on rhythm no matter how hard I try. After I completed the first dance and made several mistakes I knew I had to step it up for the second dance. I danced harder than I ever had before and even saw a few of the judges laugh. Hopefully a laugh of approval but not likely. Overall I knew I gave it my all – a valiant effort. I’m taking the course pass/no pass so I just have to get a C or above in order to get a Pass grade so dance class doesn’t ruin my GPA. On the way out of the examination room the professor placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Great effort but you looked a little tense." This is the same professor last week that asked me if I was just walking around or dancing – so I was glad that she knew I was dancing this time.
DRUMMING FINAL
Immediately after my dances I ran over to the music department and prepared for my drum final. This setting was even more intimidating than the dance because I was told to enter a small dark room in front of 3 judges and immediately was asked the origin of the music "Gota" that I was performing and when it was used. Luckily, I prepared for questioning so I spoke for 4 minutes about the piece until one of the judges interrupted me and said, “Just play the song.” in a frustrated voice. So after that rough start it was game time. I thought I performed flawlessly because I had practiced it about 400 times prior. It sounded correct to my ear but at the very end of the performance the professor said, “Son you are very good, but you left your babies behind.” I don’t know what in the world that even means. Maybe, I played too fast. Possibly I was off beat from the other 4 people in my group and doing my own thing? I’m not quite sure. Anyway I was kind of disappointed in myself for playing off beat because I had practiced so much but I had to keep it together and move on. Next, I had to play the bell. The cow bell mind you is the bain of my existence. It makes it very loud and clear that I don’t have rhythm. The only problem is that the drummers depend on a good bell rhythm in order to stay on track. I thought I was doing just fine until one of the judges shook his head, stood up from the panel, walked over to me – took the bell out of my hands and started playing. I just hung my head. I’m sure this didn’t help my overall grade. I tried to finish the rest of the music the best I could and hold it together with the supporting drums, etc. All the judges looked angry. One judge answered his cell phone during my performance and I’m pretty sure one judge was asleep. That was definitely one of my rougher final examinations. I just pray I performed well enough to get a pass on my transcript. At least I can say I faced my greatest fear of dancing and performing a musical instrument in front of judges for an academic grade.
A Look Into My Last 4 Weeks
I’m now officially done with classes and am about to embark on finals month. Yes, finals take an entire month here. I have about one final per week and then depart on May 16th. Since my last final is May 10th I intend to travel for about four days. Maybe out of Ghana and into some surrounding African Countries. Thanks so much as always for reading the blog.
J
Today was the D-Day of performing arts here at the University of Ghana. I had two back-to-back final examination performances in front of two separate panels of judges. As luck would have it, they scheduled my Traditional African Drumming final at the same time as my Traditional African Dance final. So, immediately after dancing I had to run over to the music department and take the drumming final. Those of you know me well know anything music or dancing-related is simply not my forte'. I can’t even clap to a beat, so as you could imagine, I was pretty nervous for my performing arts examinations. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any whiter in Africa – I did.
Setting the Stage:
DANCE FINAL
The clock struck 7AM and I put on my dance uniform and went over my three dances and reviewed for my drumming performance. When I arrived at the examination room, the setting was exactly like American Idol. One of the judges called, “Next... Jaaassson Holley," and placed the number three on my shirt. I was told to enter the room. My heart raced as I entered. There were just four other people and myself standing in a line. The room was dimmly lit and in the front sat 5 intimidating judges and about 6 professional drummers that provided the music for the dances. At that moment, it hit me. What in the hell am I doing here? Have you ever felt that feeling that you are not at all where you are supposed to be – completely out of your element – completely out of place? Here I was about to give a performance for 3 real semester units of transferable grade and I was about to be graded on the one thing in life I am worst at… dancing. All of a sudden without warning the drummers started pounding away and since I was the first group to go I had no idea what to do – do I start dancing or wait for some sort of signal? After an awkward pregnant pause I decided I should start dancing… so I began. For some unknown reason, maybe it's genetics, I can never stay on the same beat as everyone else. I definitely have "White Dancer Syndrome." I just can’t stay on rhythm no matter how hard I try. After I completed the first dance and made several mistakes I knew I had to step it up for the second dance. I danced harder than I ever had before and even saw a few of the judges laugh. Hopefully a laugh of approval but not likely. Overall I knew I gave it my all – a valiant effort. I’m taking the course pass/no pass so I just have to get a C or above in order to get a Pass grade so dance class doesn’t ruin my GPA. On the way out of the examination room the professor placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Great effort but you looked a little tense." This is the same professor last week that asked me if I was just walking around or dancing – so I was glad that she knew I was dancing this time.
DRUMMING FINAL
Immediately after my dances I ran over to the music department and prepared for my drum final. This setting was even more intimidating than the dance because I was told to enter a small dark room in front of 3 judges and immediately was asked the origin of the music "Gota" that I was performing and when it was used. Luckily, I prepared for questioning so I spoke for 4 minutes about the piece until one of the judges interrupted me and said, “Just play the song.” in a frustrated voice. So after that rough start it was game time. I thought I performed flawlessly because I had practiced it about 400 times prior. It sounded correct to my ear but at the very end of the performance the professor said, “Son you are very good, but you left your babies behind.” I don’t know what in the world that even means. Maybe, I played too fast. Possibly I was off beat from the other 4 people in my group and doing my own thing? I’m not quite sure. Anyway I was kind of disappointed in myself for playing off beat because I had practiced so much but I had to keep it together and move on. Next, I had to play the bell. The cow bell mind you is the bain of my existence. It makes it very loud and clear that I don’t have rhythm. The only problem is that the drummers depend on a good bell rhythm in order to stay on track. I thought I was doing just fine until one of the judges shook his head, stood up from the panel, walked over to me – took the bell out of my hands and started playing. I just hung my head. I’m sure this didn’t help my overall grade. I tried to finish the rest of the music the best I could and hold it together with the supporting drums, etc. All the judges looked angry. One judge answered his cell phone during my performance and I’m pretty sure one judge was asleep. That was definitely one of my rougher final examinations. I just pray I performed well enough to get a pass on my transcript. At least I can say I faced my greatest fear of dancing and performing a musical instrument in front of judges for an academic grade.
A Look Into My Last 4 Weeks
I’m now officially done with classes and am about to embark on finals month. Yes, finals take an entire month here. I have about one final per week and then depart on May 16th. Since my last final is May 10th I intend to travel for about four days. Maybe out of Ghana and into some surrounding African Countries. Thanks so much as always for reading the blog.
J
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Trip to Drum Professor's Village
Introductory remarks
I seem to be on the homestretch of my journey in West Africa. I have just about 5 and a half weeks left until I board United Emirates on May 16th and come back to the land of familiarity. I only have one more week of lectures, one week of revision, and three weeks of finals. What a journey this has been. If you have followed along with my blog you know full well how jam-packed my life has been with new and extraordinary experiences over the past three to four months. Though I am so grateful and lucky to have a positive and definitely life-changing experience this semester, I will be ready to come home. It wasn’t until this past week that I really started missing my life in the States. It’s strange that after being here for about 4 months, I no longer constantly think about back home. Interestingly, because I have been away and out of real contact with the States, my life in Ghana has become my reality and I started to rarely think about my life in the States. It wasn’t until just yesterday I remembered how I have a car back home and how weird it will be to go back to my old life with law, order, and most of all, efficiency.
Trip to Drum Professor's Village
Last Friday I set off with my professor and about 15 other students from my Traditional African Drumming class to my professor’s small and remote village called Jajabo in the Eastern Volta region of Ghana where he grew up. While you may be used to blogs jam-packed with weird experiences like baboon attacks or the brakes going out on our bus – my trip with my drum professor was exciting in its own way. I got to completely experience the rural village life for three days. Eat what they eat, shower out of a bucket, sleep on cement, and yes use the toilet hole…. everything!! Even though we were quite the spectacle, all the villagers were so nice and curious about us. While some of the places in Ghana I have visited are camera shy, the villagers in Jajabo loved their picture to be taken and then to see themselves on the camera, so I took about 200 very cool pictures. The most amazing part of the trip was how village life carried on as it would normally as if we weren’t there so we got a real taste of what life in an African villager's life is like. For one of the first times during my travels here in Africa I didn’t feel like an American tourist peering in from afar at African village life – I actually got to submerge myself in it.
What happened?
Day 1 Arrival
Once we arrived, about 50 village children ran out to greet us. My hair was quite a spectacle once again. We stumbled upon a traditional ceremony (which happens one Friday per month) which consisted of traditional drumming and African dancing. I didn’t know this but apparently my drum professor is a very big deal in all of West Africa and is a sort of famous man even in Europe where he has played for the royalty. He is known as "Master Johnson" or "Master Drummer." Once we arrived at the drum and dance ceremony the villagers were so happy to see the drum master. After he hugged all his family and friends he grew up with, all the Ubronis (white people) were pushed into a huge circle of about 100 villagers and my drum professor told us to dance. As usual, people took one look at my dancing and were overwhelmed with laughter but, it’s cool, I’m used to that by now. The ceremony was a very interesting experience because I didn’t think that part of African culture was still alive in Africa. I thought the ritualistic dances in circles and traditional drumming was only something we see in anthropological “stereotypical African movies” or learn about in school and not part of modern village life. But I was wrong. That aspect of African culture tracing way back to their roots and ancestors is very much alive. To my surprise, all the villagers were dressed in beautiful, ornate, and colorful cloths with traditional African designs. It was sort of a surreal experience because I had to take a moment and acknowledge the fact that I was in the middle of some rural village partaking in an ancient African ceremony. Life doesn’t get any cooler than that. After about 2 hours of dancing, our drum prof called us over to this small hut-like building and gave us alcoholic shots of Apateshie (the local spirit or alcohol). It did feel pretty weird taking shots of alcohol with my professor (especially when he said “it burns so good,” but I suppose anything goes in Africa. The sleeping situation was a bit rough both literally and figuratively. Thin foam mats and cement not to mention it was about 100 degrees with no air circulation and yes, cockroaches. A lot of them. All made for a rough sleep but it’s a small price to pay for the experience.
Day 2 The Funeral
For the first half of the day we pretty much just played with the village children and wandered around and talked to the locals. Since it was a rural village they didn’t speak much English so our interactions were basically broken sign language. Our drum prof. then took us to a nearby village where about 300 villagers were celebrating the death of the village elder. Yes, I said celebrating… surprising huh?. Apparently here in Africa when a person dies at an old age, the funeral is not supposed to be sad. There is drinking, dancing, drumming, and traditional festive funeral activities. I personally think that’s the way funerals should be – a celebration of life not a mourning of death. It was pretty cool that we got to partake in ceremonial funeral, something I’m sure not to many foreigners get to experience. Who would have thought that during my stay in Ghana I would have witnessed a wedding and a funeral?
Day 3 The Chief
Before we set out to meet the chief my drum professor took us to his brother’s house where he said it was custom to drink alcohol before meeting the chief and to give the chief a bottle of brandy as an offering or gift. I’m pretty sure Master Johnson just wanted another excuse to drink with his students but in any event we sat there at 11am and drank hard alcohol with my professor. He sort of reminds me of our late neighbor Dalton Hudson. He is just the kindest and nicest old man you would ever want to meet who dedicates his life to making other people happy. He was so excited to show us around his village.
After, we got to meet the chief. When we showed up, the chief was surrounded by 2 village elders, some sort of guard in a toga, and a linguist who was an English translator. Interestingly, all of the “higher ups” were in exotic togas except for the chief who was only wearing a shower towel. I’m pretty sure he got embarrassed when we showed up because he quickly ran into his house to put on his chief toga and crown. On the way over, my classmates selected me to give the formal greeting as the ambassador on behalf of the United States. I must say it was a pretty epic moment when I bowed to the chief and said, “On behalf of the United States I extend my greatest gratitude for your hospitality and sharing the Jajabo village with us.” The chief then told his linguist to ask me if I could tell the royal council one thing that is unique about the United States as he himself had never been. I replied, “I come from a land of freedom and democracy. A place where all cultures come together as one. A place of hope.” For a brief moment I felt like President Obama. Even though my impromptu speech was a tad corny, it was still a very cool experience. After I gave my greeting to the chief, he stared at me for about 10 seconds and said, “Obama” and reached his hand out to shake my hand. I know it sounds silly now looking back on it, but everybody was dead silent and it was a really cool feeling. For some reason it really made me want to be in a position where I could have great influence in politics and law. After we met the chief we went back to the village and ate some fufu which is one of the food staples in Ghana. It is the smashed playdough-type substance that you swallow whole with a little sauce on it. I’m not the biggest fan of food you have to swallow without chewing because it tastes bad, but what are you going to do?
Anyway, the rest of our stay in the village was just free time. I walked around and played with the kids and spoke with the elders. I also saw a group of people making kente cloth with a huge wooden loom so I bought my mom a scarf and filmed the process. After another tough night's sleep we headed back to campus.
Corruption at school?
So, I know this story doesn’t really fit with the rest of the blog but I have to add it in. So a few days after we got back from the village I was in lecture and the professor started lecture by saying, “As you all know the professor evaluations will soon be administered. I need not remind you that how you rate my performance as a professor may very well effect your grade.” I laughed to myself and looked around thinking that the professor was joking. Apparently he was not. It’s a different world over here, his job must be on the line. I suppose I will never know if it was a joke or not but I suppose I am going to play this one safe and not give him a bad review.
IN CONCLUSION,
I have been thinking about this a lot lately so I thought it might be beneficial to my readers if I added this to my blog.
Changes
We are truly a sum of our experiences. That is, every single person and experience we come in contact with over the course of our life contributes in shaping our very existence on this planet. I never believed this to be completely true, until now. I thought I knew who I was yet also knew that I wanted to be more. I knew that I was a hard worker, had an exceptionally amazing family and friends, and lived a privileged life, but I knew that in a way I was living in a bubble. The privileged bubble of Fair Oaks and UC Santa Barbara is seeming more and more like a dreamworld which is simply not a reality for 99% of the rest of the world. Many of you had asked why I wanted to choose Africa, and in short I wanted to find the full potential in myself. I wanted my eyes to be opened to most people's reality. I know that sounds cliché, but I knew that there just had to be more to life than the suburban bubble. While studying hard and partying/having fun every weekend for much of my college life, UCSB has been a terrific experience and something I don’t regret but coming to Africa has opened my eyes to a different reality and further ignited in me the pre-existing flame to want to make a major difference during my short stay in this life. I know I want leave a major positive impact – and whatever that impact only the future can tell.
Thank you all so much as always for reading the blog. I will see most of you in just about 5 weeks. Anyway, enough rambling it’s time to get back to studying for finals.
Best,
J
I seem to be on the homestretch of my journey in West Africa. I have just about 5 and a half weeks left until I board United Emirates on May 16th and come back to the land of familiarity. I only have one more week of lectures, one week of revision, and three weeks of finals. What a journey this has been. If you have followed along with my blog you know full well how jam-packed my life has been with new and extraordinary experiences over the past three to four months. Though I am so grateful and lucky to have a positive and definitely life-changing experience this semester, I will be ready to come home. It wasn’t until this past week that I really started missing my life in the States. It’s strange that after being here for about 4 months, I no longer constantly think about back home. Interestingly, because I have been away and out of real contact with the States, my life in Ghana has become my reality and I started to rarely think about my life in the States. It wasn’t until just yesterday I remembered how I have a car back home and how weird it will be to go back to my old life with law, order, and most of all, efficiency.
Trip to Drum Professor's Village
Last Friday I set off with my professor and about 15 other students from my Traditional African Drumming class to my professor’s small and remote village called Jajabo in the Eastern Volta region of Ghana where he grew up. While you may be used to blogs jam-packed with weird experiences like baboon attacks or the brakes going out on our bus – my trip with my drum professor was exciting in its own way. I got to completely experience the rural village life for three days. Eat what they eat, shower out of a bucket, sleep on cement, and yes use the toilet hole…. everything!! Even though we were quite the spectacle, all the villagers were so nice and curious about us. While some of the places in Ghana I have visited are camera shy, the villagers in Jajabo loved their picture to be taken and then to see themselves on the camera, so I took about 200 very cool pictures. The most amazing part of the trip was how village life carried on as it would normally as if we weren’t there so we got a real taste of what life in an African villager's life is like. For one of the first times during my travels here in Africa I didn’t feel like an American tourist peering in from afar at African village life – I actually got to submerge myself in it.
What happened?
Day 1 Arrival
Once we arrived, about 50 village children ran out to greet us. My hair was quite a spectacle once again. We stumbled upon a traditional ceremony (which happens one Friday per month) which consisted of traditional drumming and African dancing. I didn’t know this but apparently my drum professor is a very big deal in all of West Africa and is a sort of famous man even in Europe where he has played for the royalty. He is known as "Master Johnson" or "Master Drummer." Once we arrived at the drum and dance ceremony the villagers were so happy to see the drum master. After he hugged all his family and friends he grew up with, all the Ubronis (white people) were pushed into a huge circle of about 100 villagers and my drum professor told us to dance. As usual, people took one look at my dancing and were overwhelmed with laughter but, it’s cool, I’m used to that by now. The ceremony was a very interesting experience because I didn’t think that part of African culture was still alive in Africa. I thought the ritualistic dances in circles and traditional drumming was only something we see in anthropological “stereotypical African movies” or learn about in school and not part of modern village life. But I was wrong. That aspect of African culture tracing way back to their roots and ancestors is very much alive. To my surprise, all the villagers were dressed in beautiful, ornate, and colorful cloths with traditional African designs. It was sort of a surreal experience because I had to take a moment and acknowledge the fact that I was in the middle of some rural village partaking in an ancient African ceremony. Life doesn’t get any cooler than that. After about 2 hours of dancing, our drum prof called us over to this small hut-like building and gave us alcoholic shots of Apateshie (the local spirit or alcohol). It did feel pretty weird taking shots of alcohol with my professor (especially when he said “it burns so good,” but I suppose anything goes in Africa. The sleeping situation was a bit rough both literally and figuratively. Thin foam mats and cement not to mention it was about 100 degrees with no air circulation and yes, cockroaches. A lot of them. All made for a rough sleep but it’s a small price to pay for the experience.
Day 2 The Funeral
For the first half of the day we pretty much just played with the village children and wandered around and talked to the locals. Since it was a rural village they didn’t speak much English so our interactions were basically broken sign language. Our drum prof. then took us to a nearby village where about 300 villagers were celebrating the death of the village elder. Yes, I said celebrating… surprising huh?. Apparently here in Africa when a person dies at an old age, the funeral is not supposed to be sad. There is drinking, dancing, drumming, and traditional festive funeral activities. I personally think that’s the way funerals should be – a celebration of life not a mourning of death. It was pretty cool that we got to partake in ceremonial funeral, something I’m sure not to many foreigners get to experience. Who would have thought that during my stay in Ghana I would have witnessed a wedding and a funeral?
Day 3 The Chief
Before we set out to meet the chief my drum professor took us to his brother’s house where he said it was custom to drink alcohol before meeting the chief and to give the chief a bottle of brandy as an offering or gift. I’m pretty sure Master Johnson just wanted another excuse to drink with his students but in any event we sat there at 11am and drank hard alcohol with my professor. He sort of reminds me of our late neighbor Dalton Hudson. He is just the kindest and nicest old man you would ever want to meet who dedicates his life to making other people happy. He was so excited to show us around his village.
After, we got to meet the chief. When we showed up, the chief was surrounded by 2 village elders, some sort of guard in a toga, and a linguist who was an English translator. Interestingly, all of the “higher ups” were in exotic togas except for the chief who was only wearing a shower towel. I’m pretty sure he got embarrassed when we showed up because he quickly ran into his house to put on his chief toga and crown. On the way over, my classmates selected me to give the formal greeting as the ambassador on behalf of the United States. I must say it was a pretty epic moment when I bowed to the chief and said, “On behalf of the United States I extend my greatest gratitude for your hospitality and sharing the Jajabo village with us.” The chief then told his linguist to ask me if I could tell the royal council one thing that is unique about the United States as he himself had never been. I replied, “I come from a land of freedom and democracy. A place where all cultures come together as one. A place of hope.” For a brief moment I felt like President Obama. Even though my impromptu speech was a tad corny, it was still a very cool experience. After I gave my greeting to the chief, he stared at me for about 10 seconds and said, “Obama” and reached his hand out to shake my hand. I know it sounds silly now looking back on it, but everybody was dead silent and it was a really cool feeling. For some reason it really made me want to be in a position where I could have great influence in politics and law. After we met the chief we went back to the village and ate some fufu which is one of the food staples in Ghana. It is the smashed playdough-type substance that you swallow whole with a little sauce on it. I’m not the biggest fan of food you have to swallow without chewing because it tastes bad, but what are you going to do?
Anyway, the rest of our stay in the village was just free time. I walked around and played with the kids and spoke with the elders. I also saw a group of people making kente cloth with a huge wooden loom so I bought my mom a scarf and filmed the process. After another tough night's sleep we headed back to campus.
Corruption at school?
So, I know this story doesn’t really fit with the rest of the blog but I have to add it in. So a few days after we got back from the village I was in lecture and the professor started lecture by saying, “As you all know the professor evaluations will soon be administered. I need not remind you that how you rate my performance as a professor may very well effect your grade.” I laughed to myself and looked around thinking that the professor was joking. Apparently he was not. It’s a different world over here, his job must be on the line. I suppose I will never know if it was a joke or not but I suppose I am going to play this one safe and not give him a bad review.
IN CONCLUSION,
I have been thinking about this a lot lately so I thought it might be beneficial to my readers if I added this to my blog.
Changes
We are truly a sum of our experiences. That is, every single person and experience we come in contact with over the course of our life contributes in shaping our very existence on this planet. I never believed this to be completely true, until now. I thought I knew who I was yet also knew that I wanted to be more. I knew that I was a hard worker, had an exceptionally amazing family and friends, and lived a privileged life, but I knew that in a way I was living in a bubble. The privileged bubble of Fair Oaks and UC Santa Barbara is seeming more and more like a dreamworld which is simply not a reality for 99% of the rest of the world. Many of you had asked why I wanted to choose Africa, and in short I wanted to find the full potential in myself. I wanted my eyes to be opened to most people's reality. I know that sounds cliché, but I knew that there just had to be more to life than the suburban bubble. While studying hard and partying/having fun every weekend for much of my college life, UCSB has been a terrific experience and something I don’t regret but coming to Africa has opened my eyes to a different reality and further ignited in me the pre-existing flame to want to make a major difference during my short stay in this life. I know I want leave a major positive impact – and whatever that impact only the future can tell.
Thank you all so much as always for reading the blog. I will see most of you in just about 5 weeks. Anyway, enough rambling it’s time to get back to studying for finals.
Best,
J
Friday, April 9, 2010
Quick update (more coming soon)
Hope everything is going well. I am in the process of writing a new blog update but in the meantime I wanted to let everyone know I am still doing well. The semester is coming to a close and I will be coming home in 5 weeks!! Its amazing how fast time went by. I have tried to upload more pictures but as you know by reading the blog, sometimes things just don’t work properly here. Ghana has definitely d taught me the virtue of patience. I am going to really miss this place when I leave, but at the same time I am about ready to go home and see my family and friends. Its been too long. Please stay tuned in the next couple of days for a new update.
Best,
J
Best,
J
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Past 2 Weeks and Trip Across 3 Nations
Ghanaian High School reunion/tribal ritual
One of my Ghanaian friends at the University invited me to a bonfire where there was high school reunion. Thinking that I was going to roast marshmallows and s'mores on the beach, I was pretty excited. But as you may have gathered from the rest of my blog entries, nothing here is normal or expected. We drove about 10 minutes from campus into this woods area. As we pulled up there were about 600 Ghanaian students in a line carrying torches, marching, and singing some song in their local language. Once they got about 50 feet from the fire they chucked their torch high in the air toward the bonfire and added to the 20ft flames. It was really cool, but at the same time everything in me was saying that I probably shouldn’t be there. The entire event sort of reminded me of those movies where the village people chase out the outsider with pitchforks and torches. Sort of like a reverse KKK ceremony but I decided I was safe enough so we hung around. I had never felt more out of place in my life, even counting my African dance class. There were about 600 or more Ghanaian people and one token white person- me. I felt like a celebrity as people took pictures with me and wanted to shake my hand as I walked by. Never a dull moment...
Dog Incident (WARNING DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ANGRY AND SAD OR ARE UNDER 16 years old)
On a more dark and sullen note one of my friends witnessed the killing of a dog outside our dorms. I contemplated adding this to the blog because it is so evil – but I wanted this blog to be as true to my experience as possible. Apparently a man picked up a dog by the tail and flung it around and hit the poor dog's face against the cement. To silence the yelping animal the man then kicked the dog against a light post. The man then bagged the yelping dog and calmly walked away. I was really really upset after I heard of the incident and asked my Ghanaian roommate if that was normal. He told me that sometimes the more poor people up north eat dog in order to stay alive but had never seen such thing at the University. I suppose I’m being ethnocentric or biased but I feel no animal no matter what culture should be tortured the way this poor dog was. I have to face the fact I am in a different culture here, but I feel that you reach a point where some things are just wrong…… On a brighter note, the rest of this blog entry is about my trip to Benin!!!
TRIP TO BENIN
Yet another amazing weekend traveling around West Africa with some of my California friends (John, Helen, and Brit). In a span of 9 hours I managed to cross three African nations and ended up in Benin. The journey to Benin was a little ridiculous to say the least, but my adventures are definitely memorable. Prior to leaving Ghana my dad got in contact with one of his friends in the United States who actually grew up in a village in Benin. My dad’s friend knows the Princess of Benin and was good friends with the cousin of the princess named Godfried whom was our contact once we were to arrive in Benin. We had absolutely no idea what to expect on our journey. We didn’t know if we would be staying in a palace, get to meet the king, or how in the world we would even be able to meet Godfried once in Benin because our Ghanaian phones don’t work across the border. Anyway, nothing is wrong with a little adventure so we assumed the risks end embarked on a weekend we won’t soon forget.
Journey to Togo Border
First of all, the trip began by a group of Ghanaians pushing our bus down the road in hopes that would jump-start our stubborn bus engine. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of our journey to Benin. It was surprisingly similar that scene in Little Miss Sunshine. The scenery from Ghana to Togo was similar to the I5 in California but with skinnier cows on the roadside. Anyway, once we got to the Ghanaian border I was questioned by one of the Togo border police as to what I was studying at the University of Ghana. After I replied, “political science” the policeman shouted something in Twi (one of the local languages) and about 6 or 7 border military patrol surrounded me with AK47s all shouting at once. My heart pounded because my friends had already walked through the border and were waiting for me at the other side while I was alone, being interrogated. I had NO idea what was going on! Finally I understood one man who yelled, “Why are you studying political science? Why do you want to go to Togo? Are you studying human rights?” What exactly do you study in political science?” My voice was shaky as I replied that I was not studying human rights and that I am International Relations major. I explained that I was only traveling through Togo to get to Benin for visiting purposes and promised I was not there for any political matters. After about 7 minutes of further questioning, the Togo border patrol finally agreed to let me pass. On the drive through Togo I thought a lot about what happened at the border and it sort of made me nervous as to why they were inquiring if I was there to study human rights. That makes me think there was something to hide.
Journey to Benin Border
The adventures did not stop at the Ghana/Togo border. About half-way through Togo the brakes on our bus gave out and we hit the center divider after barely missing two other cars. John, Helen, Brit and I were all pretty freaked out but the driver was laughing. We asked the driver if it was safe to stay on the bus and he replied, “Yea there shouldn’t be any more problems and winked at us. So ensuring right? Since the bus could no longer stop or slow down we literally drove about 6mph across the rest of the nation of Togo and into Benin. The scenery of Togo was a stark contrast to Ghana. The coast was quite similar to that of Hawaii with beautiful white sand beaches and tropical forests inland. At the Benin border some people starting pounding on our slow moving bus so we asked the driver what was going on. He calmly replied they are probably just criminals so refrain from opening the doors. We all looked at each other and thought “only in Africa would somebody say don’t worry they are just criminals.” Looking back on it, the fact I was interrogated, the brakes went out on the bus, and criminals pounded on the bus to get in just seemed fitting. I have grown to expect the unexpected. We had another big hassle at the border between Togo and Benin because we did not buy visas prior because we were told we buy them at the border. After about 45 minutes of arguing (they only speak French mind you) we finally convinced the border patrol to give us a 48 hour temporary visa. So once in Benin we called Godfried (the cousin of the princess) from one of the border patrol’s cell phones.
Our Stay In Benin
Godfried picked us up in front of the Benin soccer stadium and took us back to his house. I swear, Godfried has to be the kindest African man I have ever met. Once we got to his house he had already prepared a traditional Benin dish for us and brought out a bunch of drinks. Even though we were complete strangers he treated us as royalty, such a good guy. We pleaded with him to let us pay for the food and gas but told us to save our money.
The next day (Friday) Godfried picked us up bright and early and drove us through the main city and then about 5 hours to a small and remote village where he and my dad’s friend grew up as children. Since Benin was a French colony until the 1960's they were heavily influenced by French culture. Traveling from English Ghana to French Benin was like traveling to Europe. We found ourselves in a land of baguettes, cheese, French top hats and pastries. The nation reminded me of when I traveled to France when I was in high school, the similarities were quite shocking. Even the Africans looked French. Weird huh?. To my surprise there were little to no cars, just thousands of motorbikes crowding the streets. Even the taxis were all motorbikes. In the city, the smog from all the motorbikes was almost unbearable and the visibility low.
Meeting the King of Benin
On the way to the village we stopped at the Palace of the King and paid about $2 to meet the guy. Im pretty sure he was just a tourist attraction but I was determined to meet the King. Tensions were high at the palace because apparently there had been some sort of conflict with a rival king a week prior but Godfried convinced the guards to let us in. Anyway, the guards briefed us on how we were supposed to greet the king. He said that we must, “Take off our shoes and go down on our knees and bow down touching our heads to the dirt twice then proceed toward the king about 5 steps and repeat the same process and wait until the King addresses us.” The King looked exactly like Jaba the Hud, about 400lbs and just sort of sat there with a ceremonial nose jewelry covering a strip of his face. To both sides of the King sat two of his several wives whom handed him food and drink while he continued to just sit there. The King said in French, “Hello and welcome to Africa.” I laughed to myself because the entire thing seemed like a tourist trap, but now I can say I met the King. We then said our goodbyes and got on our way.
The Village and Voodoo “Black Magic”
Once we arrived in the childhood village of my dad’s friend and his cousin I really felt like I was in stereotypical Africa. - it was very cool. I was amazed that I was actually standing in the streets of this remote village were my dad’s friend had grown up. We ate some fried yams and fritters which consists of fried balls of beans. Surprisingly it was really good, or maybe I was just really hungry. After dinner we went to a traditional Voodoo ceremony. Apparently Togo and Benin are the Voodoo centers of the world and are the only places where Voodoo is still seriously practiced. Talk about odd. We arrived right in the middle of some ritual where a spirit man was dressed as a giant doll and was chasing people while snapping a whip at them. There were about 100 people total involved in the ritual. I didn’t see anybody actually get whipped but I was pretty freaked out. The giant spirit man started running toward the car with his whip so I jumped back in the car with my friends and we locked the door. Godfried then talked to the people involved in the ceremony and they agreed to let us watch the rest of the ceremony. The spirit man yelled random groans while the village people pounded on their drums and danced around. Apparently he was saying that we were welcome but who knows. In order to capture the moment I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture. This caused a HUGE stir and the village people started running around in absolute pandemonium. The spirit man stopped moving and froze as soon as the flash went off and he ran out of the ceremony. After probably committing a major taboo, Godfried told us it was time to get out of there so we hurried to the car and drove away. The entire ritual was very surreal and a bit unnerving but at least I have a priceless picture of the giant Voodoo man-doll.
Thieves
After the ceremony we went back to the abandoned house where Godfried grew up and got ready for bed. He rolled out a thin straw mat on the hard cement and said make yourselves comfortable. Needless to say, I did not sleep too well on the cement porch outside the house but it’s all part of the experience. We might have slept for about 2 hours before we awoke to Godfried screaming something in French into the darkness. I asked if everything was ok and he replied that we had just been robbed. Somehow a burglar snuck by our heads and walked the house and stole Godfrieds briefcase and my friend Helen’s purse. Somehow the burglar didn’t think to steal my backpack which was the only item left in the room. I am so so lucky he didn’t steal the backpack because it had my passport, ipod, and mom’s camera with all my pictures on it. Everybody was a bit on edge so we couldn’t go back to sleep. Godfried contacted the town enforcer (similar to a sheriff) which was a man wearing only a toga like robe who came and checked out the scene. Before long there were about 20 townspeople all searching around for the thief and the stolen goods. At about 7am Godfried woke Helen and myself and told us to follow him. We walked into the vacant field and found the stolen purse and briefcase. Amazingly nothing was stolen/ not even a single cent. Godfried thought the robber realized he had stolen from one of his fellow townspeople and was overwhelmed with guilt so decided not to steel anything.
Pythons
The next day (Saturday) we drove back to the main city but dropped by a “Voodoo spiritual lake” and a Voodoo python sanctuary. It was actually pretty funny, once we arrived to the lake Godfried said, “looks like just a lake to me.” The python sanctuary was pretty cool. We walked into the small circular hut which contained at least 500 drugged out/ barely moving pythons. We took a bunch of pictures holding the pythons and continued on our way. Exhausted from the lack of sleep the previous night we took Godfried to dinner and called it a night.
Trip back to the University of Ghana.
Leaving the Benin border was a ridiculous hastle. We all had expired visas by about 12 hours so the border patrol did not want to let us pass. We literally stood there and watched people walk by and bribe the patrol man with cigarettes and money in order to cross with no visas but since we were white they wanted us to pay a hefty fine because he said “we have the money.” After refusing to pay the fine for about 45 minutes and pleading with him that we were poor students at the University of Ghana the main honcho came over and let us pass. Only in Africa can you beg your way through border security. Anyway, once in Togo we hopped on a motorcycle taxi and taxied through an entire nation. It sounds much more hard core than it really is – the nation it only took about 90 minutes to get all the way across. After my first good lunch(hamburger) in Africa, we continued all the way back to the university.
Closing remarks
I am starting to think about the United States quite often now. I miss my family, friends and food. Yes the three “F”s. I always feel like I am on the verge of getting sick but have somehow been able to stay relatively healthy. One of my best friends on the trip just got diagnosed with malaria yesterday and people seem to be dropping like flies. We now have about 10-12 confirmed cases of malaria out of about 30 people. I find myself saying its all part of the experience quite often. I am getting pretty skinny on my chicken, rice, plantain, and pineapple diet and am getting in pretty good shape simply by walking 35 minutes to every class. You have no idea how much I miss just one bite of sushi or In-N-Out burger! It makes me frustrated just to think about all the good food I miss so much. The weather here is now turning the rainy season which really means humid and dusty season. You would think after 3 months here I would be used to the heat, but it is still a great challenge. Looking back on all the experiences I have had in a relatively short time is quite amazing. I have done more in Africa than I ever thought was possible… it is now time to start really getting focused on school and start preparing for the finals.. I thank you all so much for taking time out of your day to read my blog. Hope to talk with you all soon. Please continue to send me e-mails and messages/comments on facebook – I look forward to hearing from everybody back home (I check the internet about twice a week electricity permitting).
Best,
Jason
One of my Ghanaian friends at the University invited me to a bonfire where there was high school reunion. Thinking that I was going to roast marshmallows and s'mores on the beach, I was pretty excited. But as you may have gathered from the rest of my blog entries, nothing here is normal or expected. We drove about 10 minutes from campus into this woods area. As we pulled up there were about 600 Ghanaian students in a line carrying torches, marching, and singing some song in their local language. Once they got about 50 feet from the fire they chucked their torch high in the air toward the bonfire and added to the 20ft flames. It was really cool, but at the same time everything in me was saying that I probably shouldn’t be there. The entire event sort of reminded me of those movies where the village people chase out the outsider with pitchforks and torches. Sort of like a reverse KKK ceremony but I decided I was safe enough so we hung around. I had never felt more out of place in my life, even counting my African dance class. There were about 600 or more Ghanaian people and one token white person- me. I felt like a celebrity as people took pictures with me and wanted to shake my hand as I walked by. Never a dull moment...
Dog Incident (WARNING DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ANGRY AND SAD OR ARE UNDER 16 years old)
On a more dark and sullen note one of my friends witnessed the killing of a dog outside our dorms. I contemplated adding this to the blog because it is so evil – but I wanted this blog to be as true to my experience as possible. Apparently a man picked up a dog by the tail and flung it around and hit the poor dog's face against the cement. To silence the yelping animal the man then kicked the dog against a light post. The man then bagged the yelping dog and calmly walked away. I was really really upset after I heard of the incident and asked my Ghanaian roommate if that was normal. He told me that sometimes the more poor people up north eat dog in order to stay alive but had never seen such thing at the University. I suppose I’m being ethnocentric or biased but I feel no animal no matter what culture should be tortured the way this poor dog was. I have to face the fact I am in a different culture here, but I feel that you reach a point where some things are just wrong…… On a brighter note, the rest of this blog entry is about my trip to Benin!!!
TRIP TO BENIN
Yet another amazing weekend traveling around West Africa with some of my California friends (John, Helen, and Brit). In a span of 9 hours I managed to cross three African nations and ended up in Benin. The journey to Benin was a little ridiculous to say the least, but my adventures are definitely memorable. Prior to leaving Ghana my dad got in contact with one of his friends in the United States who actually grew up in a village in Benin. My dad’s friend knows the Princess of Benin and was good friends with the cousin of the princess named Godfried whom was our contact once we were to arrive in Benin. We had absolutely no idea what to expect on our journey. We didn’t know if we would be staying in a palace, get to meet the king, or how in the world we would even be able to meet Godfried once in Benin because our Ghanaian phones don’t work across the border. Anyway, nothing is wrong with a little adventure so we assumed the risks end embarked on a weekend we won’t soon forget.
Journey to Togo Border
First of all, the trip began by a group of Ghanaians pushing our bus down the road in hopes that would jump-start our stubborn bus engine. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of our journey to Benin. It was surprisingly similar that scene in Little Miss Sunshine. The scenery from Ghana to Togo was similar to the I5 in California but with skinnier cows on the roadside. Anyway, once we got to the Ghanaian border I was questioned by one of the Togo border police as to what I was studying at the University of Ghana. After I replied, “political science” the policeman shouted something in Twi (one of the local languages) and about 6 or 7 border military patrol surrounded me with AK47s all shouting at once. My heart pounded because my friends had already walked through the border and were waiting for me at the other side while I was alone, being interrogated. I had NO idea what was going on! Finally I understood one man who yelled, “Why are you studying political science? Why do you want to go to Togo? Are you studying human rights?” What exactly do you study in political science?” My voice was shaky as I replied that I was not studying human rights and that I am International Relations major. I explained that I was only traveling through Togo to get to Benin for visiting purposes and promised I was not there for any political matters. After about 7 minutes of further questioning, the Togo border patrol finally agreed to let me pass. On the drive through Togo I thought a lot about what happened at the border and it sort of made me nervous as to why they were inquiring if I was there to study human rights. That makes me think there was something to hide.
Journey to Benin Border
The adventures did not stop at the Ghana/Togo border. About half-way through Togo the brakes on our bus gave out and we hit the center divider after barely missing two other cars. John, Helen, Brit and I were all pretty freaked out but the driver was laughing. We asked the driver if it was safe to stay on the bus and he replied, “Yea there shouldn’t be any more problems and winked at us. So ensuring right? Since the bus could no longer stop or slow down we literally drove about 6mph across the rest of the nation of Togo and into Benin. The scenery of Togo was a stark contrast to Ghana. The coast was quite similar to that of Hawaii with beautiful white sand beaches and tropical forests inland. At the Benin border some people starting pounding on our slow moving bus so we asked the driver what was going on. He calmly replied they are probably just criminals so refrain from opening the doors. We all looked at each other and thought “only in Africa would somebody say don’t worry they are just criminals.” Looking back on it, the fact I was interrogated, the brakes went out on the bus, and criminals pounded on the bus to get in just seemed fitting. I have grown to expect the unexpected. We had another big hassle at the border between Togo and Benin because we did not buy visas prior because we were told we buy them at the border. After about 45 minutes of arguing (they only speak French mind you) we finally convinced the border patrol to give us a 48 hour temporary visa. So once in Benin we called Godfried (the cousin of the princess) from one of the border patrol’s cell phones.
Our Stay In Benin
Godfried picked us up in front of the Benin soccer stadium and took us back to his house. I swear, Godfried has to be the kindest African man I have ever met. Once we got to his house he had already prepared a traditional Benin dish for us and brought out a bunch of drinks. Even though we were complete strangers he treated us as royalty, such a good guy. We pleaded with him to let us pay for the food and gas but told us to save our money.
The next day (Friday) Godfried picked us up bright and early and drove us through the main city and then about 5 hours to a small and remote village where he and my dad’s friend grew up as children. Since Benin was a French colony until the 1960's they were heavily influenced by French culture. Traveling from English Ghana to French Benin was like traveling to Europe. We found ourselves in a land of baguettes, cheese, French top hats and pastries. The nation reminded me of when I traveled to France when I was in high school, the similarities were quite shocking. Even the Africans looked French. Weird huh?. To my surprise there were little to no cars, just thousands of motorbikes crowding the streets. Even the taxis were all motorbikes. In the city, the smog from all the motorbikes was almost unbearable and the visibility low.
Meeting the King of Benin
On the way to the village we stopped at the Palace of the King and paid about $2 to meet the guy. Im pretty sure he was just a tourist attraction but I was determined to meet the King. Tensions were high at the palace because apparently there had been some sort of conflict with a rival king a week prior but Godfried convinced the guards to let us in. Anyway, the guards briefed us on how we were supposed to greet the king. He said that we must, “Take off our shoes and go down on our knees and bow down touching our heads to the dirt twice then proceed toward the king about 5 steps and repeat the same process and wait until the King addresses us.” The King looked exactly like Jaba the Hud, about 400lbs and just sort of sat there with a ceremonial nose jewelry covering a strip of his face. To both sides of the King sat two of his several wives whom handed him food and drink while he continued to just sit there. The King said in French, “Hello and welcome to Africa.” I laughed to myself because the entire thing seemed like a tourist trap, but now I can say I met the King. We then said our goodbyes and got on our way.
The Village and Voodoo “Black Magic”
Once we arrived in the childhood village of my dad’s friend and his cousin I really felt like I was in stereotypical Africa. - it was very cool. I was amazed that I was actually standing in the streets of this remote village were my dad’s friend had grown up. We ate some fried yams and fritters which consists of fried balls of beans. Surprisingly it was really good, or maybe I was just really hungry. After dinner we went to a traditional Voodoo ceremony. Apparently Togo and Benin are the Voodoo centers of the world and are the only places where Voodoo is still seriously practiced. Talk about odd. We arrived right in the middle of some ritual where a spirit man was dressed as a giant doll and was chasing people while snapping a whip at them. There were about 100 people total involved in the ritual. I didn’t see anybody actually get whipped but I was pretty freaked out. The giant spirit man started running toward the car with his whip so I jumped back in the car with my friends and we locked the door. Godfried then talked to the people involved in the ceremony and they agreed to let us watch the rest of the ceremony. The spirit man yelled random groans while the village people pounded on their drums and danced around. Apparently he was saying that we were welcome but who knows. In order to capture the moment I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture. This caused a HUGE stir and the village people started running around in absolute pandemonium. The spirit man stopped moving and froze as soon as the flash went off and he ran out of the ceremony. After probably committing a major taboo, Godfried told us it was time to get out of there so we hurried to the car and drove away. The entire ritual was very surreal and a bit unnerving but at least I have a priceless picture of the giant Voodoo man-doll.
Thieves
After the ceremony we went back to the abandoned house where Godfried grew up and got ready for bed. He rolled out a thin straw mat on the hard cement and said make yourselves comfortable. Needless to say, I did not sleep too well on the cement porch outside the house but it’s all part of the experience. We might have slept for about 2 hours before we awoke to Godfried screaming something in French into the darkness. I asked if everything was ok and he replied that we had just been robbed. Somehow a burglar snuck by our heads and walked the house and stole Godfrieds briefcase and my friend Helen’s purse. Somehow the burglar didn’t think to steal my backpack which was the only item left in the room. I am so so lucky he didn’t steal the backpack because it had my passport, ipod, and mom’s camera with all my pictures on it. Everybody was a bit on edge so we couldn’t go back to sleep. Godfried contacted the town enforcer (similar to a sheriff) which was a man wearing only a toga like robe who came and checked out the scene. Before long there were about 20 townspeople all searching around for the thief and the stolen goods. At about 7am Godfried woke Helen and myself and told us to follow him. We walked into the vacant field and found the stolen purse and briefcase. Amazingly nothing was stolen/ not even a single cent. Godfried thought the robber realized he had stolen from one of his fellow townspeople and was overwhelmed with guilt so decided not to steel anything.
Pythons
The next day (Saturday) we drove back to the main city but dropped by a “Voodoo spiritual lake” and a Voodoo python sanctuary. It was actually pretty funny, once we arrived to the lake Godfried said, “looks like just a lake to me.” The python sanctuary was pretty cool. We walked into the small circular hut which contained at least 500 drugged out/ barely moving pythons. We took a bunch of pictures holding the pythons and continued on our way. Exhausted from the lack of sleep the previous night we took Godfried to dinner and called it a night.
Trip back to the University of Ghana.
Leaving the Benin border was a ridiculous hastle. We all had expired visas by about 12 hours so the border patrol did not want to let us pass. We literally stood there and watched people walk by and bribe the patrol man with cigarettes and money in order to cross with no visas but since we were white they wanted us to pay a hefty fine because he said “we have the money.” After refusing to pay the fine for about 45 minutes and pleading with him that we were poor students at the University of Ghana the main honcho came over and let us pass. Only in Africa can you beg your way through border security. Anyway, once in Togo we hopped on a motorcycle taxi and taxied through an entire nation. It sounds much more hard core than it really is – the nation it only took about 90 minutes to get all the way across. After my first good lunch(hamburger) in Africa, we continued all the way back to the university.
Closing remarks
I am starting to think about the United States quite often now. I miss my family, friends and food. Yes the three “F”s. I always feel like I am on the verge of getting sick but have somehow been able to stay relatively healthy. One of my best friends on the trip just got diagnosed with malaria yesterday and people seem to be dropping like flies. We now have about 10-12 confirmed cases of malaria out of about 30 people. I find myself saying its all part of the experience quite often. I am getting pretty skinny on my chicken, rice, plantain, and pineapple diet and am getting in pretty good shape simply by walking 35 minutes to every class. You have no idea how much I miss just one bite of sushi or In-N-Out burger! It makes me frustrated just to think about all the good food I miss so much. The weather here is now turning the rainy season which really means humid and dusty season. You would think after 3 months here I would be used to the heat, but it is still a great challenge. Looking back on all the experiences I have had in a relatively short time is quite amazing. I have done more in Africa than I ever thought was possible… it is now time to start really getting focused on school and start preparing for the finals.. I thank you all so much for taking time out of your day to read my blog. Hope to talk with you all soon. Please continue to send me e-mails and messages/comments on facebook – I look forward to hearing from everybody back home (I check the internet about twice a week electricity permitting).
Best,
Jason
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Update
Hello All,
Finally a little break from the standard 105 degree days with a little rain. I don’t have much time so I will try and be brief. Apparently the entire nation of Ghana did not have internet a few days ago (Yeah, I didn’t think that was possible either). Anyway, so I thought I would post a quick blog while the electricity is working.
I literally just finished registering for classes. Yes, I am now about 9 weeks into the semester, but everything is a little slower in Africa. One of my readings for my classes just came out yesterday after having 2 months of lectures. It’s a weird world over here. Last week my political science professor preached the benefits of dictatorship and totalitarianism over a democracy. As you might expect, we Americans were a tad shocked.
I don’t have much time today so I will try and completely update my blog next week. This Thursday a few of friends (John, Helen, Brit and I) are driving out of Ghana - through the nation of Togo- and into Benin where we will meet the King. That is three nations in 3 days!!! The plan is to return on Sunday. One of my dad's clients knows the royalty of Benin, so he set up an appointment for me to meet with him. We might be staying in the palace!! PRETTY COOL!!! This is going to be quite an adventure, I have honestly no idea what to expect but I haven’t had a bad adventure yet. It should be interesting. I hear there is little to no English spoken in Togo and Benin so I will have to brush up on the local languages.
Please check the blog next week for updates. It will cover:
1. Independence Day
2. High School/ Tribal flame carrying ceremony
3. Adventure into two other African Nations/ Meeting the royalty of Benin
School is starting to get a little more stressful. It is VERY important I receive good grades because they all apply to my law school apps – but the problem is that the accents are so thick I only understand about 50% of lectures and have no idea what to expect for final exams which count for 100% of my grade. It is difficult to balance adventuring into the depths of Africa while being a fulltime student but things seem to have a way of working out. At least I hope. I have to keep telling myself that I didn’t come to Africa for a great education – rather I came to experience the world through a different lens (and I have had no lack of cultural experience). Keep in touch! I have about 6-7 weeks self in Africa before I return May 16th. Hope all is well back home. Until next time.
Best,
J
Finally a little break from the standard 105 degree days with a little rain. I don’t have much time so I will try and be brief. Apparently the entire nation of Ghana did not have internet a few days ago (Yeah, I didn’t think that was possible either). Anyway, so I thought I would post a quick blog while the electricity is working.
I literally just finished registering for classes. Yes, I am now about 9 weeks into the semester, but everything is a little slower in Africa. One of my readings for my classes just came out yesterday after having 2 months of lectures. It’s a weird world over here. Last week my political science professor preached the benefits of dictatorship and totalitarianism over a democracy. As you might expect, we Americans were a tad shocked.
I don’t have much time today so I will try and completely update my blog next week. This Thursday a few of friends (John, Helen, Brit and I) are driving out of Ghana - through the nation of Togo- and into Benin where we will meet the King. That is three nations in 3 days!!! The plan is to return on Sunday. One of my dad's clients knows the royalty of Benin, so he set up an appointment for me to meet with him. We might be staying in the palace!! PRETTY COOL!!! This is going to be quite an adventure, I have honestly no idea what to expect but I haven’t had a bad adventure yet. It should be interesting. I hear there is little to no English spoken in Togo and Benin so I will have to brush up on the local languages.
Please check the blog next week for updates. It will cover:
1. Independence Day
2. High School/ Tribal flame carrying ceremony
3. Adventure into two other African Nations/ Meeting the royalty of Benin
School is starting to get a little more stressful. It is VERY important I receive good grades because they all apply to my law school apps – but the problem is that the accents are so thick I only understand about 50% of lectures and have no idea what to expect for final exams which count for 100% of my grade. It is difficult to balance adventuring into the depths of Africa while being a fulltime student but things seem to have a way of working out. At least I hope. I have to keep telling myself that I didn’t come to Africa for a great education – rather I came to experience the world through a different lens (and I have had no lack of cultural experience). Keep in touch! I have about 6-7 weeks self in Africa before I return May 16th. Hope all is well back home. Until next time.
Best,
J
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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Wow!!! What a Three Weeks That Was!
Hey everyone!!
I have finally found time to force myself to sit down and write about the last three weeks. Each day is literally jam-packed with new and exciting experiences. Such that I feel my short summary does not do my experience justice, but I will do my best. This has been the most exciting, interesting, and enlightening past three weeks of my entire life. It is simply amazing how not one day goes by where I am not completely fascinated by my surroundings and humbled by life outside our American bubble of relative richness and prosperity. - - the following are a series of “snipits” of major experiences I have embarked upon over the past three weeks. Hope you enjoy!!!
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ORPHANAGE OF FORMER CHILD SLAVES
While traveling has been a major highlight of my trip in Ghana, I wanted to actually spend more time actually giving back and volunteering- and I couldn’t have found a better place. About three weeks ago I started volunteering at an orphanage of former child slaves. There were about 30 children ranging from 6 to 13 years old all of which had been rescued by a privately funded organization. The orphans are initially sold into slavery by their parents for a small reward (sometimes $20 per child) and are taken away to work 12-14 hour days paddling a fishing boat. The children call the adult fisherman “masters” whom only feed the children a meager meal once a day. It was absolutely sickening to me how such slavery still persists in today’s modern world – especially the enslavement of young children. A good number of the children had bloated pot belly stomachs which is a symptom of malnutrition. Furthermore, they had huge upper bodies which was a result of paddling a boat full of adult fishermen for 14 hours a day. When I first arrived at the orphanage about 20 of the kids ran out and grabbed me by the hand and pulled me in yelling “Akwaaba!!! or, "You are welcome, you are welcome.” It seems as if they were starved for attention likely because nobody had actually every played with them or even held their hand before they were rescued. The orphans mimicked everything I did and just stared at me waiting to get some reaction. For example, I went to go sit on the grass in the front yard and about 10 children followed me and sat on and around me. After playing soccer with the kids for a while I went inside and had dinner. Their orphanage was surprisingly very well funded – after it received public attention in the United States for its rescue program. Each child had a personal laptop and now attends a private elementary school and has three fantastic meals a day. It is so strange to think about these children just a year ago were near starvation and forced into exhausting child labor – now they live like upper class royalty. I could only imagine what that transition must have been like. One of the children had just been rescued one week prior and would sit in the corner of the house and rock back and forth never smiling or speaking to any of the other children or his new parents. I made it my goal to get this 8 year old boy to smile and by the end of the day. Finally, after throwing him up in the air and catching him after pretending I was going to drop him – he finally giggled. The foster parents were overjoyed that the boy had some form of communication. From that point on the boy followed me around and held my hand – I had been the first person he had shown affection towards. What an amazing experience - it truly is phenomenal how it is the small things in life that have such a major impact. All the funding and toys in the world couldn’t have helped the newly rescued orphan – all he starved for was a little attention. It stunned me how kind the kids were (they would bring me water and food) even after their entire childhood was full of pure child cruelty. This program and the effect it was having on the rescued slaves is truly a testament to the impact we can all have on anther's life. The orphanage parents were so grateful that I visited and explained to me how important it is for these children to feel loved in order to expedite their healing process. I am going to try and return to volunteer at this orphanage every Friday and look into teaching English at the school they attend.
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VALENTINES DAY DINNER WITH GHANIAN FAMILY
On a lighter note, three friends (Britt, Helen, John) and I decided it would be fun to go play soccer on the beach and then take my Ghanaian family out to Chinese food on Valentine’s Day. It was the first time my Ghanaian family had ever been in an air-conditioned restaurant let alone try Chinese food. This was such a fun day aside from injuring my foot playing soccer. I kicked something and sprained my ankle pretty bad. I thought I was going to faint but about 7 Ghanaians rushed over to make sure I was OK, so I had to suck it up and stay cool. On a brighter note now I have an excuse for being a terrible dancer in my Traditional African Dance class. Anyway, aside from the soccer injury, and the Ghanaians absolutely fell in love with the Chinese food. Their diet mainly consists of fufu, bankou, plantains, chicken, and rice – so this was an experience of a lifetime for them. They were so so grateful – the entire time they talked about how amazing the food was. A few of the Ghanaians didn’t know how to use a fork because they eat everything with their hands.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURE
One interesting experience took place in my “Modern Western Political Thought" lecture. Of course since I am the only Ubroni in a class of 400 Ghanaians I was called on in front of the entire class to answer a question. Luckily, I knew the answer, but the professor responded to me my saying, “You know, when I was younger I would have thought of you as a white god, but now I know I am stronger than you in mind and body.” It was the most random remark but the entire class of 400 students laughed seriously for like 5 minutes. Once again, I looked around completely confused – story of my life.
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FIRST MAJOR SICKNESS
I have been relatively healthy aside from my limited chicken and rice diet during the first couple of months in Ghana. But after eating some bad chicken one day I got an extreme case of food poisoning. Allow me to paint the picture for you. There was no electricity or running water and it was about 100 degrees in this stuffy stall – so there I was sweating profusely and sitting on the toilet in a dark stall from 1am to 7am. I perfected a balletic dance between standing up vomiting/ dry heaving and sitting down…. Well… let’s just say something seriously wanted to get out of my body any way possible. I know you all know the feeling where it is 50/50 chance that when you pass gas you may get more than you bargained for. Sorry for the graphic detail – but I didn’t want this blog to leave out any experience good nor bad. Luckily, the next day I felt better but was still weak but was happy that the symptoms had passed so I knew I didn’t have malaria. Two people from our California group have already been airlifted out of Ghana and taken back to the US because of extreme illness either from malaria or possibly meningitis. So far there have been 4 confirmed cases of malaria among out California group and rumors of one case of intestinal worms. FUN FUN FUN!! But its all part of the experience and I am taking every precaution possible to stay healthy.
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TRIP TO NORTHERN GHANA – MOLE NATIONAL PARK AND SAFARI
Finally, my favorite part of this blog. My trip to Northern Ghana was by far the most fascinating trip I have ever had in my life. Even though I have traveled to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and all over Western Europe, nothing compares to my experience in Northern Ghana - there was not one dull moment.
For the first time in a while, I felt like I was in the heart of Africa. The University of Ghana is located in Accra which is the largest city in Ghana with cars, semi-paved roads, hotels etc. Northern Ghana consists of little to no cars, grass and mud huts, and rural agrarian villages. This part of Ghana is the stereotypical Africa – small tribes with chiefs living in the bush. The entire experience was surreal – I felt like I was walking around in an anthropology video or national geographic magazine.
The journey to the north consisted of 2 buses and one taxi totaling a grand total of 16 straight hours of transit. We left Accra at 3pm and arrived in Mole at 7am the next day. When we first arrived at the national park I looked down into the savannah and saw five massive elephants and two babies at the water hole cooling themselves off. This of course was my first time seeing elephants in the wild so I ran down to the watering hole and snapped some pictures. I stood literally 30 yards from the massive elephants and was close enough to hear their rumbling stomachs and even feel the mist from the water blown out of their trunk. On that same walk into the bush my friends and I saw another elephant on land which stared directly at us. I was a little nervous it would charge because the previous group of California students which visited Mole a week prior was charged and the ranger had to pull out his gun to deter the elephant. Everywhere I looked there were different types of indigenous African animals. I saw waterbuck, antelope, a huge crocodile, baboons, warthogs, and numerous awesome looking birds. I took about 80 pictures within the first five minutes of arriving at the park and walked around in complete shock that I was actually walking around in the wild bush. The feeling of actually walking among the animals I have only seen in zoos is an extremely surreal feeling I had only dreamt about. My whole life I had wanted to go on safari and there I was. I couldn’t help but feel bad for my dad because I was living his dream of going on a Safari. He often sits at home and watches water hole cams on his iPhone… I hate to say it’s just not the same. He would have absolutely loved every second of it, but I hope by showing him my pictures it will convince him to take time off work someday so we can come back.
Just walking around the hotel I saw at least a total of 50 baboons and two warthogs (which look exactly like the warthog in the Lion King) Everywhere I went I was surrounded by wildlife. My friends decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool but I was so enthralled that I was actually seeing wild elephants that I sat and stared at the watering hole for at least two hours and watched the sunset behind the savannah. I could help but whistle the "Lion King" theme song which seemed to highly embarrass my friends but you've got to do what you've got to do.
Later that night we met some Ghanaians who lived in a nearby rural agrarian village and they invited us to sleep on their roof and eat dinner with their family the next day. This sounded like an adventure so I of course am always down for random adventures - -, so we made plans with our new Ghanaian friends to pick us up on motorcycles after our vehicle safari the next day.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go on a vehicle safari (in an African equivalent of a Land Rover) which covered a more expansive amount of land. The Mole National Park is about 500 square kilometers HUGE – so we were only able to see small portion. I decked myself out in safari gear, (looking pretty much like the crocodile hunter) and drove out into the bush with a park ranger and 4 of my friends (Laurel, Mary, Gareth, and Tyler). We got lucky and apparently saw one of the largest and oldest elephants in the park along with a lot of hoofed animals.
BABOON ATTACK
After returning from the safari I packed up and got ready to go out into Larabonga (The rural agrarian village where our Ghanaian friends we met the previous day lived). While I was eating lunch a warthog walked under my table and I saw a baboon grab a piece of chicken from the kitchen and ran off. While I was waiting for our friends to arrive on the motorcycles I thought I should take some last minute pictures of some baboons, so I walked up about 5 feet from a massive baboon to get a close up. I don’t know whether the baboon was camera shy or what, but all of a sudden 3 baboons started to charge me with their mouths wide open revealing their teeth. My heart raced and I screamed at the top of my lungs, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" and "STOP!!!!!!" and started running. The baboons chased me for a good 15 yards until the park rangers heard my screaming and they sprinted over to chase the baboons away. I was literally about 5 seconds away from being attacked by three large male baboons but luckily I escaped. The park rangers thought my frantic running and screaming was the funniest thing they had ever seen and a couple of them even fell to the floor in laughter. The rangers approached me when they had finished laughing and explained that running from baboons is worthless because they are faster and then he into an African proverb about – how I shouldn’t fight fire with fire but how I should fight fire with water. I didn’t have the slightest idea about how this applied to the situation but just agreed and walked as far as I could from my attackers who were sitting in the distance staring at me. It took about an hour for my heart rate to reach a normal pace again. Close call – lasting memory.
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THE VILLIAGE LARABONGA
About an hour later, our Ghanaian friends picked us up on motorcycles and we drove into their rural village. The infrastructure was circular round huts just like the ones you see in national geographic. It was a small agrarian wheat and flower community. When we arrived the Ghanaians took us on a tour of his village and introduced us to his grandmother and family. We then rented some motorcycles and drivers who drove us about 45 minutes through the bush to an even more rural village called "Eco-Village. It was very sad to see many of the children were starved and malnourished with physical malformations and pot bellies.
I went to the village flower mill and pounded some ground nut into flower. Word must have gotten out about this spectacle because about 40 villagers came out to watch and laugh at the sight of an Ubroni pound flower. I then wandered around the village by myself and spoke with several of the locals about their way of life. I then met up with our Ghanaian friend and he took us to the village mosque which apparently was the first mosque ever built in West Africa. To my surprise it was the same mosque that is on the cover of my Ghana travel guide. Apparently nearly 100% of the northern region of Ghana is Muslim which explains the random Arabic chants I heard as I walked around the village. After I returned back at the hut house I was sitting there and this random kid came over and handed me a baby. This kid thought it would be real funny to go around the village and gather babies for me to hold. So at some point I was holding three random babies while the village children and my California friends were all laughing. Random – I know. I then asked about where I could go pee at the house and the pointed to this small wood outhouse where I literally just was supposed to pee on the cement floor. After peeing on the ground I returned outside and asked where I should take my bucket shower. The Ghanaian smiled and pointed to the same room I just went pee on the floor. Yes, the toilet doubles as the shower as well. I suppose it’s not all that different from the UCSB dorm showers where people pee all the time but I had to take a bucket shower in the pitch black (the hut did not have electricity) and pour dirty well water on myself. I’m pretty sure my shower made me dirtier but it’s all part of the experience. It’s funny, after being here for over 2 months now – very little surprises me. The fact the toilet was also the shower just seemed fitting. After my shower my friends and I ate fufu whom our Ghanaians friends’ grandmother had made. After dinner the village put on a huge show for us and performed about 5 tribal dances. There were about 70 children dancing around and I also showcased my traditional African dance skills in front of the locals and joined in with their tribal dances. After the show we walked through the village and climbed a ladder which led to the roof of one of the huts. Our new Ghanaian friends set up a mattress on top of the roof where we slept. It was sort of hard to believe that we were randomly sleeping on a roof of a hut in a rural village but it was so, so cool. Even though it was difficult to sleep through the sounds of various sheep and goats it was all part of the experience. We woke up at 4am to catch a bus to Tamale a larger city about 3 hours outside Mole.
The buss to Tamale felt like a Jurassic Park ride and I definitely got airborne a few times when the bus dipped into the numerous potholes and shook side to side. In Tamale it was "Africa Hot," probably around 115 degrees. In this town we visited a huge market and went to a leather tannery where a man showed us how leather was made. He scraped the excess skin off of the goat skin ant walked us through the process of drying and dying the leather. That night we all felt like we wanted a break from chicken and rice so we went to a hotel and ordered a cheeseburger. This dinner tasted like a little piece of heaven and made me very homesick for American food. After dinner we went back to a hotel (which cost a grand total of $5 a night and had running water and electricity (which now seems likes a luxury).
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THE DAY FROM HELL
While my Mole trip thus far had been the experience of a lifetime, all great things must come to an end. We arrived at the transit bus station at 6:00am in order to catch our 6:30am bus from Tamale back to Accra. The bus expectedly shows up and hour and a half late and takes us about 5 hours into the heart of the African bush on a bumpy dirt road and then all of a sudden breaks. We literally broke down in the middle of nowhere in the scorching heat. The bus served as the greenhouse effect and the inside literally felt like a microwave. We sat waiting for about 2 hours, waterless/tired/hungry/thirsty/hot until a random ice-cream man drives up on a bicycle. I have no idea how he just appeared in the middle of nowhere but I didn’t complain. I ate about 3 bags of ice-cream in order to stay hydrated and continued to wait for another bus to come pick us up. In the meantime I got out and helped push the huge transit bus for about 20 yards along with all the other Ghanaian men on the bus with hopes the driver would be able to jumpstart the engine while it was rolling. We had little luck, so we continued to wait for a relief bus in the middle of the savannah. A nearly full bus came to our rescue so we all packed in and since there were no seats left I had to lay on the metal floor as the bus raced along the bumpy road and slammed by body into the floor a few times. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? So now bus #2 takes us about three hours and it also breaks down. The driver got word that the original bus was fixed and was on its way so we then waited another hour for the original bus to pick us up. After we all crammed into the original bus, it went for about 400 yards and then broke down as fluid and black smoke spewed from the back. All the men once again got out and pushed the bus down a busy highway (probably not the smartest thing I had ever done) but somehow the driver got the bus to start again. Every time the bus made it over a hill everybody would clap. So we then rolled into a bus station and wait for a new non-broken bus to take us the rest of the way. While we were waiting a huge dust storm came upon us. Garbage was flung two stories high and dust pellets stung my face. I don’t know if you have ever seen the black smoke from Lost but this dust storm was INSANE. We all went running for shelter before the dust cloud engulfed the entire bus station. Then all of a sudden it got real dark outside and the dust cloud somehow turned into a lightning storm and it started pouring rain harder than I have ever seen. As we were watching the storm from inside the station we saw a power line fall and sparks flew everywhere. I kid you not – we thought 2012 had come early, it was just like how you would imagine the end of the world. Finally the pelting rain subsided after two hours and we got into bus number 4 which took us the rest of the way back to school. Long story short, our trip back took upwards of 19 hours and should have only taken around 12. My stay thus far in Ghana has definitely pushed my limits of physical discomfort. Though I feel like I will be a lot more patient and never complain about physical discomfort back in the states. In a way I am finally becoming used to the Ghanaian way of life. I can only image Greg Donovan in Ghana (inside joke) having to pee and shower on the same floor and lie on ground of a dirty bus as it seizures through the middle of the savannah. The funny thing is that while back in the states the day from hell would have put me in a bad mood; here I just thought of it as an extraordinary adventure and my trip wouldn’t have been the same without it. I suppose all experiences are purely what you make of them – so why not think positively.
Anyway, I apologize for the length of this entry. I had a lot to say – and hoped you enjoyed. Please continue to send e-mail and facebook me. Even though I am so far everyone I always love hearing about what’s going on at home. No matter how mundane – its not mundane to me. I thank my parents so much for giving this opportunity and I hope by my postings, I am able to share what I am learning. Until next time.
Sincerely,
J
I have finally found time to force myself to sit down and write about the last three weeks. Each day is literally jam-packed with new and exciting experiences. Such that I feel my short summary does not do my experience justice, but I will do my best. This has been the most exciting, interesting, and enlightening past three weeks of my entire life. It is simply amazing how not one day goes by where I am not completely fascinated by my surroundings and humbled by life outside our American bubble of relative richness and prosperity. - - the following are a series of “snipits” of major experiences I have embarked upon over the past three weeks. Hope you enjoy!!!
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ORPHANAGE OF FORMER CHILD SLAVES
While traveling has been a major highlight of my trip in Ghana, I wanted to actually spend more time actually giving back and volunteering- and I couldn’t have found a better place. About three weeks ago I started volunteering at an orphanage of former child slaves. There were about 30 children ranging from 6 to 13 years old all of which had been rescued by a privately funded organization. The orphans are initially sold into slavery by their parents for a small reward (sometimes $20 per child) and are taken away to work 12-14 hour days paddling a fishing boat. The children call the adult fisherman “masters” whom only feed the children a meager meal once a day. It was absolutely sickening to me how such slavery still persists in today’s modern world – especially the enslavement of young children. A good number of the children had bloated pot belly stomachs which is a symptom of malnutrition. Furthermore, they had huge upper bodies which was a result of paddling a boat full of adult fishermen for 14 hours a day. When I first arrived at the orphanage about 20 of the kids ran out and grabbed me by the hand and pulled me in yelling “Akwaaba!!! or, "You are welcome, you are welcome.” It seems as if they were starved for attention likely because nobody had actually every played with them or even held their hand before they were rescued. The orphans mimicked everything I did and just stared at me waiting to get some reaction. For example, I went to go sit on the grass in the front yard and about 10 children followed me and sat on and around me. After playing soccer with the kids for a while I went inside and had dinner. Their orphanage was surprisingly very well funded – after it received public attention in the United States for its rescue program. Each child had a personal laptop and now attends a private elementary school and has three fantastic meals a day. It is so strange to think about these children just a year ago were near starvation and forced into exhausting child labor – now they live like upper class royalty. I could only imagine what that transition must have been like. One of the children had just been rescued one week prior and would sit in the corner of the house and rock back and forth never smiling or speaking to any of the other children or his new parents. I made it my goal to get this 8 year old boy to smile and by the end of the day. Finally, after throwing him up in the air and catching him after pretending I was going to drop him – he finally giggled. The foster parents were overjoyed that the boy had some form of communication. From that point on the boy followed me around and held my hand – I had been the first person he had shown affection towards. What an amazing experience - it truly is phenomenal how it is the small things in life that have such a major impact. All the funding and toys in the world couldn’t have helped the newly rescued orphan – all he starved for was a little attention. It stunned me how kind the kids were (they would bring me water and food) even after their entire childhood was full of pure child cruelty. This program and the effect it was having on the rescued slaves is truly a testament to the impact we can all have on anther's life. The orphanage parents were so grateful that I visited and explained to me how important it is for these children to feel loved in order to expedite their healing process. I am going to try and return to volunteer at this orphanage every Friday and look into teaching English at the school they attend.
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VALENTINES DAY DINNER WITH GHANIAN FAMILY
On a lighter note, three friends (Britt, Helen, John) and I decided it would be fun to go play soccer on the beach and then take my Ghanaian family out to Chinese food on Valentine’s Day. It was the first time my Ghanaian family had ever been in an air-conditioned restaurant let alone try Chinese food. This was such a fun day aside from injuring my foot playing soccer. I kicked something and sprained my ankle pretty bad. I thought I was going to faint but about 7 Ghanaians rushed over to make sure I was OK, so I had to suck it up and stay cool. On a brighter note now I have an excuse for being a terrible dancer in my Traditional African Dance class. Anyway, aside from the soccer injury, and the Ghanaians absolutely fell in love with the Chinese food. Their diet mainly consists of fufu, bankou, plantains, chicken, and rice – so this was an experience of a lifetime for them. They were so so grateful – the entire time they talked about how amazing the food was. A few of the Ghanaians didn’t know how to use a fork because they eat everything with their hands.
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POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURE
One interesting experience took place in my “Modern Western Political Thought" lecture. Of course since I am the only Ubroni in a class of 400 Ghanaians I was called on in front of the entire class to answer a question. Luckily, I knew the answer, but the professor responded to me my saying, “You know, when I was younger I would have thought of you as a white god, but now I know I am stronger than you in mind and body.” It was the most random remark but the entire class of 400 students laughed seriously for like 5 minutes. Once again, I looked around completely confused – story of my life.
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FIRST MAJOR SICKNESS
I have been relatively healthy aside from my limited chicken and rice diet during the first couple of months in Ghana. But after eating some bad chicken one day I got an extreme case of food poisoning. Allow me to paint the picture for you. There was no electricity or running water and it was about 100 degrees in this stuffy stall – so there I was sweating profusely and sitting on the toilet in a dark stall from 1am to 7am. I perfected a balletic dance between standing up vomiting/ dry heaving and sitting down…. Well… let’s just say something seriously wanted to get out of my body any way possible. I know you all know the feeling where it is 50/50 chance that when you pass gas you may get more than you bargained for. Sorry for the graphic detail – but I didn’t want this blog to leave out any experience good nor bad. Luckily, the next day I felt better but was still weak but was happy that the symptoms had passed so I knew I didn’t have malaria. Two people from our California group have already been airlifted out of Ghana and taken back to the US because of extreme illness either from malaria or possibly meningitis. So far there have been 4 confirmed cases of malaria among out California group and rumors of one case of intestinal worms. FUN FUN FUN!! But its all part of the experience and I am taking every precaution possible to stay healthy.
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TRIP TO NORTHERN GHANA – MOLE NATIONAL PARK AND SAFARI
Finally, my favorite part of this blog. My trip to Northern Ghana was by far the most fascinating trip I have ever had in my life. Even though I have traveled to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and all over Western Europe, nothing compares to my experience in Northern Ghana - there was not one dull moment.
For the first time in a while, I felt like I was in the heart of Africa. The University of Ghana is located in Accra which is the largest city in Ghana with cars, semi-paved roads, hotels etc. Northern Ghana consists of little to no cars, grass and mud huts, and rural agrarian villages. This part of Ghana is the stereotypical Africa – small tribes with chiefs living in the bush. The entire experience was surreal – I felt like I was walking around in an anthropology video or national geographic magazine.
The journey to the north consisted of 2 buses and one taxi totaling a grand total of 16 straight hours of transit. We left Accra at 3pm and arrived in Mole at 7am the next day. When we first arrived at the national park I looked down into the savannah and saw five massive elephants and two babies at the water hole cooling themselves off. This of course was my first time seeing elephants in the wild so I ran down to the watering hole and snapped some pictures. I stood literally 30 yards from the massive elephants and was close enough to hear their rumbling stomachs and even feel the mist from the water blown out of their trunk. On that same walk into the bush my friends and I saw another elephant on land which stared directly at us. I was a little nervous it would charge because the previous group of California students which visited Mole a week prior was charged and the ranger had to pull out his gun to deter the elephant. Everywhere I looked there were different types of indigenous African animals. I saw waterbuck, antelope, a huge crocodile, baboons, warthogs, and numerous awesome looking birds. I took about 80 pictures within the first five minutes of arriving at the park and walked around in complete shock that I was actually walking around in the wild bush. The feeling of actually walking among the animals I have only seen in zoos is an extremely surreal feeling I had only dreamt about. My whole life I had wanted to go on safari and there I was. I couldn’t help but feel bad for my dad because I was living his dream of going on a Safari. He often sits at home and watches water hole cams on his iPhone… I hate to say it’s just not the same. He would have absolutely loved every second of it, but I hope by showing him my pictures it will convince him to take time off work someday so we can come back.
Just walking around the hotel I saw at least a total of 50 baboons and two warthogs (which look exactly like the warthog in the Lion King) Everywhere I went I was surrounded by wildlife. My friends decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool but I was so enthralled that I was actually seeing wild elephants that I sat and stared at the watering hole for at least two hours and watched the sunset behind the savannah. I could help but whistle the "Lion King" theme song which seemed to highly embarrass my friends but you've got to do what you've got to do.
Later that night we met some Ghanaians who lived in a nearby rural agrarian village and they invited us to sleep on their roof and eat dinner with their family the next day. This sounded like an adventure so I of course am always down for random adventures - -, so we made plans with our new Ghanaian friends to pick us up on motorcycles after our vehicle safari the next day.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go on a vehicle safari (in an African equivalent of a Land Rover) which covered a more expansive amount of land. The Mole National Park is about 500 square kilometers HUGE – so we were only able to see small portion. I decked myself out in safari gear, (looking pretty much like the crocodile hunter) and drove out into the bush with a park ranger and 4 of my friends (Laurel, Mary, Gareth, and Tyler). We got lucky and apparently saw one of the largest and oldest elephants in the park along with a lot of hoofed animals.
BABOON ATTACK
After returning from the safari I packed up and got ready to go out into Larabonga (The rural agrarian village where our Ghanaian friends we met the previous day lived). While I was eating lunch a warthog walked under my table and I saw a baboon grab a piece of chicken from the kitchen and ran off. While I was waiting for our friends to arrive on the motorcycles I thought I should take some last minute pictures of some baboons, so I walked up about 5 feet from a massive baboon to get a close up. I don’t know whether the baboon was camera shy or what, but all of a sudden 3 baboons started to charge me with their mouths wide open revealing their teeth. My heart raced and I screamed at the top of my lungs, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" and "STOP!!!!!!" and started running. The baboons chased me for a good 15 yards until the park rangers heard my screaming and they sprinted over to chase the baboons away. I was literally about 5 seconds away from being attacked by three large male baboons but luckily I escaped. The park rangers thought my frantic running and screaming was the funniest thing they had ever seen and a couple of them even fell to the floor in laughter. The rangers approached me when they had finished laughing and explained that running from baboons is worthless because they are faster and then he into an African proverb about – how I shouldn’t fight fire with fire but how I should fight fire with water. I didn’t have the slightest idea about how this applied to the situation but just agreed and walked as far as I could from my attackers who were sitting in the distance staring at me. It took about an hour for my heart rate to reach a normal pace again. Close call – lasting memory.
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THE VILLIAGE LARABONGA
About an hour later, our Ghanaian friends picked us up on motorcycles and we drove into their rural village. The infrastructure was circular round huts just like the ones you see in national geographic. It was a small agrarian wheat and flower community. When we arrived the Ghanaians took us on a tour of his village and introduced us to his grandmother and family. We then rented some motorcycles and drivers who drove us about 45 minutes through the bush to an even more rural village called "Eco-Village. It was very sad to see many of the children were starved and malnourished with physical malformations and pot bellies.
I went to the village flower mill and pounded some ground nut into flower. Word must have gotten out about this spectacle because about 40 villagers came out to watch and laugh at the sight of an Ubroni pound flower. I then wandered around the village by myself and spoke with several of the locals about their way of life. I then met up with our Ghanaian friend and he took us to the village mosque which apparently was the first mosque ever built in West Africa. To my surprise it was the same mosque that is on the cover of my Ghana travel guide. Apparently nearly 100% of the northern region of Ghana is Muslim which explains the random Arabic chants I heard as I walked around the village. After I returned back at the hut house I was sitting there and this random kid came over and handed me a baby. This kid thought it would be real funny to go around the village and gather babies for me to hold. So at some point I was holding three random babies while the village children and my California friends were all laughing. Random – I know. I then asked about where I could go pee at the house and the pointed to this small wood outhouse where I literally just was supposed to pee on the cement floor. After peeing on the ground I returned outside and asked where I should take my bucket shower. The Ghanaian smiled and pointed to the same room I just went pee on the floor. Yes, the toilet doubles as the shower as well. I suppose it’s not all that different from the UCSB dorm showers where people pee all the time but I had to take a bucket shower in the pitch black (the hut did not have electricity) and pour dirty well water on myself. I’m pretty sure my shower made me dirtier but it’s all part of the experience. It’s funny, after being here for over 2 months now – very little surprises me. The fact the toilet was also the shower just seemed fitting. After my shower my friends and I ate fufu whom our Ghanaians friends’ grandmother had made. After dinner the village put on a huge show for us and performed about 5 tribal dances. There were about 70 children dancing around and I also showcased my traditional African dance skills in front of the locals and joined in with their tribal dances. After the show we walked through the village and climbed a ladder which led to the roof of one of the huts. Our new Ghanaian friends set up a mattress on top of the roof where we slept. It was sort of hard to believe that we were randomly sleeping on a roof of a hut in a rural village but it was so, so cool. Even though it was difficult to sleep through the sounds of various sheep and goats it was all part of the experience. We woke up at 4am to catch a bus to Tamale a larger city about 3 hours outside Mole.
The buss to Tamale felt like a Jurassic Park ride and I definitely got airborne a few times when the bus dipped into the numerous potholes and shook side to side. In Tamale it was "Africa Hot," probably around 115 degrees. In this town we visited a huge market and went to a leather tannery where a man showed us how leather was made. He scraped the excess skin off of the goat skin ant walked us through the process of drying and dying the leather. That night we all felt like we wanted a break from chicken and rice so we went to a hotel and ordered a cheeseburger. This dinner tasted like a little piece of heaven and made me very homesick for American food. After dinner we went back to a hotel (which cost a grand total of $5 a night and had running water and electricity (which now seems likes a luxury).
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THE DAY FROM HELL
While my Mole trip thus far had been the experience of a lifetime, all great things must come to an end. We arrived at the transit bus station at 6:00am in order to catch our 6:30am bus from Tamale back to Accra. The bus expectedly shows up and hour and a half late and takes us about 5 hours into the heart of the African bush on a bumpy dirt road and then all of a sudden breaks. We literally broke down in the middle of nowhere in the scorching heat. The bus served as the greenhouse effect and the inside literally felt like a microwave. We sat waiting for about 2 hours, waterless/tired/hungry/thirsty/hot until a random ice-cream man drives up on a bicycle. I have no idea how he just appeared in the middle of nowhere but I didn’t complain. I ate about 3 bags of ice-cream in order to stay hydrated and continued to wait for another bus to come pick us up. In the meantime I got out and helped push the huge transit bus for about 20 yards along with all the other Ghanaian men on the bus with hopes the driver would be able to jumpstart the engine while it was rolling. We had little luck, so we continued to wait for a relief bus in the middle of the savannah. A nearly full bus came to our rescue so we all packed in and since there were no seats left I had to lay on the metal floor as the bus raced along the bumpy road and slammed by body into the floor a few times. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? So now bus #2 takes us about three hours and it also breaks down. The driver got word that the original bus was fixed and was on its way so we then waited another hour for the original bus to pick us up. After we all crammed into the original bus, it went for about 400 yards and then broke down as fluid and black smoke spewed from the back. All the men once again got out and pushed the bus down a busy highway (probably not the smartest thing I had ever done) but somehow the driver got the bus to start again. Every time the bus made it over a hill everybody would clap. So we then rolled into a bus station and wait for a new non-broken bus to take us the rest of the way. While we were waiting a huge dust storm came upon us. Garbage was flung two stories high and dust pellets stung my face. I don’t know if you have ever seen the black smoke from Lost but this dust storm was INSANE. We all went running for shelter before the dust cloud engulfed the entire bus station. Then all of a sudden it got real dark outside and the dust cloud somehow turned into a lightning storm and it started pouring rain harder than I have ever seen. As we were watching the storm from inside the station we saw a power line fall and sparks flew everywhere. I kid you not – we thought 2012 had come early, it was just like how you would imagine the end of the world. Finally the pelting rain subsided after two hours and we got into bus number 4 which took us the rest of the way back to school. Long story short, our trip back took upwards of 19 hours and should have only taken around 12. My stay thus far in Ghana has definitely pushed my limits of physical discomfort. Though I feel like I will be a lot more patient and never complain about physical discomfort back in the states. In a way I am finally becoming used to the Ghanaian way of life. I can only image Greg Donovan in Ghana (inside joke) having to pee and shower on the same floor and lie on ground of a dirty bus as it seizures through the middle of the savannah. The funny thing is that while back in the states the day from hell would have put me in a bad mood; here I just thought of it as an extraordinary adventure and my trip wouldn’t have been the same without it. I suppose all experiences are purely what you make of them – so why not think positively.
Anyway, I apologize for the length of this entry. I had a lot to say – and hoped you enjoyed. Please continue to send e-mail and facebook me. Even though I am so far everyone I always love hearing about what’s going on at home. No matter how mundane – its not mundane to me. I thank my parents so much for giving this opportunity and I hope by my postings, I am able to share what I am learning. Until next time.
Sincerely,
J
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I'm Alive!
Hello Everyone,
I sincerely apologize for the lack of new posts over the past week. I have received several facebook comments/e-mails concerning my absence. Everything OK and I am doing just fine!
I am going to see wild elephants/on safari this Wednesday. Just another normal week in Africa.:) I will try and update my blog b4 I leave. I AM SOOOO STOKED ABOUT MY SAFARI TRIP!!
I only have about 30 seconds of internet left so I will let the suspense and anticipation of my next post build until next time. I have been ridiculously busy with school and traveling... but it is all worth it. My theory is that I will be able to rest when I get back to the States. I have SOOOOO much to talk about - including volunteering at an orphanage of former child slaves- - amazing experience!!! I will do my best to post a blog with up-to-date experiences by Wednesday. Thank you everyone for your concerns and e-mails. Love you all.
Best,
J
I sincerely apologize for the lack of new posts over the past week. I have received several facebook comments/e-mails concerning my absence. Everything OK and I am doing just fine!
I am going to see wild elephants/on safari this Wednesday. Just another normal week in Africa.:) I will try and update my blog b4 I leave. I AM SOOOO STOKED ABOUT MY SAFARI TRIP!!
I only have about 30 seconds of internet left so I will let the suspense and anticipation of my next post build until next time. I have been ridiculously busy with school and traveling... but it is all worth it. My theory is that I will be able to rest when I get back to the States. I have SOOOOO much to talk about - including volunteering at an orphanage of former child slaves- - amazing experience!!! I will do my best to post a blog with up-to-date experiences by Wednesday. Thank you everyone for your concerns and e-mails. Love you all.
Best,
J
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Africa Cup, School, Volta Trip, and Wedding.
I apologize for not updating my blog for a little over a week now. My life has been jam-packed with adding/dropping classes, traveling, and awesome/annoying new experiences - I hope to touch on in this entry.
__________________________________________________________--
Africa Cup.
Soccer in Ghana is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle. Many of the citizens here seem to be in and around the poverty line so they don’t have much to look forward to. For example, in the States we might go see a movie, travel to Hawaii, or play golf to take our mind off of things. But most citizens in Ghana do not seem to have this disposable income to spend on personal entertainment. What they do have is the Ghana Black Star National Soccer Team. Soccer seems to be the one escape, the one thing that the nation universally invests so much personal emotion that everything rides on winning or losing. National pride and personal pride rests in the hands of the Black Stars. Seriously, professors cancel classes on game day and shops close…. the country stops. Every time a goal is scored the entire nation goes absolutely crazy as I described in a previous entry. The best way to describe the atmosphere is its similarity to the recent film "Invictis." Literally, the entire nation (the rich and the poor, haves and have nots, come together and celebrate their team together. It really is quite amazing to watch an obviously expensive Mercedes pulled over on the side of the road with about 30 young and poor school children huddled around the car listening to the game on the radio. At least for a short time, the social economic statuses don’t seem to matter.
Now with that background on the importance of soccer here, a little over a week ago was the Africa Cup. Ghana had made it to the final game. This is similar to the world cup but only for African teams. The Blacks Stars went nearly undefeated the entire season, so you can only imagine the hype. EVERYBODY was overwhelmed with angst about the Africa Cup game against Egypt (who have won the three previous years in a row) A group from our study abroad group went to a street named Osu where an entire road was blocked off and a huge projection screen was erected. There were literally 100's of people congregated to watch the game. Everybody was decked out in yellow, green, red and black (the national colors). The score was tied at zero until the last 5 minutes of the game. Egypt scored. Ghana was unable to answer back and once again the Africa Cup slipped away. What was most amazing to me was the reaction to the loss. Even after only being here for a month I was extremely depressed, an entire nation whose heart and soul was in soccer had lost. Surprisingly, one Ghanaian walked by and he said "What’s the matter?" I replied, “I wish Ghana would have won.” The Ghanaian answered back, “Yea, but second place in all of Africa is not that bad for a small little country.” as he winked and walked away. To my amazement, instead of acting somber, angry, or despondent (common American reactions to major losses) the crowd of over 400 Ghanaians cheered at the end of the game. Music was billowed over the street and the Ghanaians danced, sang and celebrated. While disappointed that they had lost, they were still so proud in their nation. This entire experience oddly had a profound impact on me. I learned that we all make personal decisions on how we perceive certain events and consequently on how we react. You can choose to be happy and thankful for what you do have, or angry about the things you don’t. I know when the Sacramento Kings lost to the Lakers in game 7 of the semifinals playoffs - Sacramento was pretty devastated. We definitely did not celebrate. The Ghanaians have a different outlook on life than I have experienced in California. They celebrate and respect what they do have. I am sure this greatly contributes to them being such a happy and colorful culture even though many live around the poverty line. I am starting to realize that money really doesn’t make people happier. In fact, I have noticed the children here cry less and always say thank you to their parents even for simple things like water. Is is the satisfaction and appreciation for what they do have that makes the Ghanaian culture so impressive. Celebrating in the streets even after the biggest loss Ghana had ever experienced, is highly reminiscent of the mentality of the culture.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I suppose that’s enough about soccer.
SCHOOL
On a less exciting note is school. School and education here over the past few weeks is not only boring but it is absolutely painful. The professors literally read from a script word for word. With no focus on analyzing and 100% emphasis on memorization – I feel like nothing is actually learned. The professors make a maximum of three points in two hours. Just to rant a little - nobody in the entire university knows how things administratively work. Every department goes by different rules, we have to register at four different departments, in addition to registering at the EAP building, at the IPO (International Programs Office) building on the EAP website and on the University of Ghana website. Mind you every department is about 25 minutes walking distance away. In order to drop a class you have to go to the original department who then tells you to get a paper from the Dean’s office located 30 minutes away and then return for a signature at the initial department . After I get the signature I have to go all the way back to the Dean’s office and submit my drop form, wait 3 days, and return to get the form and then walk it all the way back to the individual departments. Long story short, I had to do this for two departments and it literally took me 6 hours of walking around in the 105 degree heat. This is just a small taste of the pure autocratic confusion at the University. It is so so so unnecessarily inefficient and literally every person you talk to will give you a different answer on what to do. This is VERY stressful for me because I need all my courses to transfer for credit so I will be able and complete my law school application in September and continue on my road to graduating next June. The academic aspect of my journey in Ghana is by far the most unfavorable. Nothing makes sense and nobody ever knows what is going on. Inside (I only understand about 50% of what is said in class, much of the time I am not quite sure if the professors are speaking English)and outside around the university I am in a constant state of confusion. We are now in week 4 of school and 3 out of my four political science courses don’t even have the readings available so the professors have been talking about the same thing for three weeks. I still don’t even know if I am correctly enrolled and likely won’t know until my grades come through. Apparently, the finals schedule doesn’t come out until a couple weeks before finals so if the finals conflict you are forced to drop a class. So that means you can go an entire semester, doing all reading assignments, etc. and be forced to drop a class at the end because you find out right before the finals conflict. Something is very wrong with that system. On the positive side – I am oh soooooooo more appreciative of UCSB and the order to things. At UCSB it takes me at most 10 minutes to register for classes – here it has taken be 3 and a half weeks and I still don’t know if I am registered. Anyway enough about school – lets move on to something much happier and more exciting.
_____________________________________________________________-
Volta Trip - Monkey Sanctuary/Waterfall
The next major even of the past week was our Volta Monkey Sanctuary and waterfall trip. We left at 7am and took a 4 hour bus ride to the Volta region to a monkey sanctuary. This is a small and remote village where the monkeys literally live amongst the people. The monkeys walk out from the forest, go in people’s houses and then return back out into the forest. It was the most amazing thing, when our group first arrived we didn’t see any monkeys then all of a sudden they came toward us from all directions (probably because they knew we had food). I got to hand feed a wild monkey a banana!! So so cool. Apparently the monkeys consisted of two rival tribes with over 150 monkeys in each. Each tribe was lead by one chief monkey who was the biggest male. While the tour guy could have been making this entirely up and nobody would have known, I still thought the story was interesting.
After the monkey sanctuary we then drove to the most amazing place, the Volta Waterfall. This is the single largest waterfall in all of West Africa. After about an hour hike in the rain forest we finally reached the waterfall. Seriously, I think I found the source of most of the stunning computer wallpapers we have on our computers. It was simply amazing. The sheer roar and power of the massive waterfall and cloud of water particles it sprayed into the air was breathtaking. I stripped down to my bathing suit and jumped in with the rest of our EAP group. Standing under the waterfall seriously felt like acupuncture because the water fell from over 900 feet.
For the first time in my life even after coaching water polo for 3 years and swimming for most of my life, I actually had to save someone from drowning. Our Ghanaian student leader apparently didn’t know how to swim and he started going under. People were screaming, "Jason!" because they knew I played polo and were extremely frantic, so I swam over as fast as I could to see if I could help. Another girl from UCSB and I grabbed him and treaded him back to shore. Luckily, he was ok, aside from hyperventilating the entire swim back to shore. But everything worked out. And we continued to swim around the waterfall for another two hours. Quite an eventful day. I honestly don’t know why every day in Ghana is packed full of more experiences I would have in a month back home, but I am so thankful.
________________________________________________________________________________-
Ghanaian Wedding
One of my favorite experiences yet took place yesterday. I somehow got invited to the Ghanaian wedding of a random seamstress’s uncle. Yes, random I know. So I went with three other Ubronis (white people) from our group and headed out. We took 2 tro-tros and one taxi and finally reached the seamstress's house where her family prepared for us the traditional Ghanaian dish red (beans and friend plantains – a staple of my diet here). She lived in an adobe house with a thin wooden and porous roof. It is simply amazing how little so much of Ghana gets by on. We stayed at the house for about two hours while the girls styled their hair. In the mean time I played soccer with a bunch of little kids on the dirt street. When all the Ghanaian girls were ready they came out of the home/hut and I was amazed how beautiful their entire was. Even though the family was obviously pretty poor they all looked like royalty in their beautiful, ornate and colorful attire (as you will see when I am able to upload pics.) Then we finally left to go to the wedding. Unfortunately, we arrived late at the end of the ceremony so we then went to the reception. Since no busses were around we all rode in the back of a cattle truck, yes another interesting experience. On the ride from the ceremony to the reception, I completely fell in love with this one kid and want to adopt him and bring him home. (You will see pictures of him wearing my sunglasses.) The reception was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed. There were literally about 300 Ghanaian people and 4 white people. As we walked in the DJ made an announcement on the loud speaker to welcome the Ubronis (white people) and everybody cheered. The entire ceremony was literally focused on us instead of the bride and groom. We had no idea how to react it was so awkward but at the same time, an amazing experience. The seamstress who invited us to her uncle’s wedding explained that everybody was so happy to see us. About half way through the ceremony the DJ stopped the music and asked if the blonde white boy was from the US or UK. After 300 heads turned in my direction, I replied “US” and everybody applauded. It was so so strange. Then the DJ asked if the Ubronis knew how to dance. After emphatically saying, "No, no, no." the DJ then stopped the music came and grabbed my hand from the middle of the crowd and pulled me to the front. At which point, he started the music and said, "Follow my lead." Yes, I had to show off my lacking white boy dance skills in front of an entire Ghanian wedding reception. The reaction to my dancing was similar to the reaction of my dance professors at the University, pure laughter. After I danced on front of everybody for about 2 minutes everybody cheered and clapped. I have never been more embarrassed in my life but what an experience. I felt so bad that a majority of attention was on the white wedding crashers, but the seamstress assured us that the party was very excited we attended. They fed us a great lunch and we stayed for about 2 hours.
The beautiful color and cultural brilliance of the reception was breathtaking. As you will see in the photos, this was one of my greatest cultural experiences yet. For the first time I partook in an experience that wasn’t a scripted tour or with a large California group. For the first time I felt truly submerged in Ghanaian culture. It was so so amazing.
Until text time.
Best,
Jason
PS PLEASE continue e-mailing me/facebooking me etc. I still am very homesick and I absolutely love hearing from all of you. One again my e-mail is jmanholley@msn.com. I am going to try and find a way to upload about 90 pictures I think many of you will enjoy so please check facebook and this blog for updates. Oh any happy Super Bowl Sunday. Its 7pm Sunday here which means most of my friends are just waking up in the states. 8 hour time difference.
__________________________________________________________--
Africa Cup.
Soccer in Ghana is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle. Many of the citizens here seem to be in and around the poverty line so they don’t have much to look forward to. For example, in the States we might go see a movie, travel to Hawaii, or play golf to take our mind off of things. But most citizens in Ghana do not seem to have this disposable income to spend on personal entertainment. What they do have is the Ghana Black Star National Soccer Team. Soccer seems to be the one escape, the one thing that the nation universally invests so much personal emotion that everything rides on winning or losing. National pride and personal pride rests in the hands of the Black Stars. Seriously, professors cancel classes on game day and shops close…. the country stops. Every time a goal is scored the entire nation goes absolutely crazy as I described in a previous entry. The best way to describe the atmosphere is its similarity to the recent film "Invictis." Literally, the entire nation (the rich and the poor, haves and have nots, come together and celebrate their team together. It really is quite amazing to watch an obviously expensive Mercedes pulled over on the side of the road with about 30 young and poor school children huddled around the car listening to the game on the radio. At least for a short time, the social economic statuses don’t seem to matter.
Now with that background on the importance of soccer here, a little over a week ago was the Africa Cup. Ghana had made it to the final game. This is similar to the world cup but only for African teams. The Blacks Stars went nearly undefeated the entire season, so you can only imagine the hype. EVERYBODY was overwhelmed with angst about the Africa Cup game against Egypt (who have won the three previous years in a row) A group from our study abroad group went to a street named Osu where an entire road was blocked off and a huge projection screen was erected. There were literally 100's of people congregated to watch the game. Everybody was decked out in yellow, green, red and black (the national colors). The score was tied at zero until the last 5 minutes of the game. Egypt scored. Ghana was unable to answer back and once again the Africa Cup slipped away. What was most amazing to me was the reaction to the loss. Even after only being here for a month I was extremely depressed, an entire nation whose heart and soul was in soccer had lost. Surprisingly, one Ghanaian walked by and he said "What’s the matter?" I replied, “I wish Ghana would have won.” The Ghanaian answered back, “Yea, but second place in all of Africa is not that bad for a small little country.” as he winked and walked away. To my amazement, instead of acting somber, angry, or despondent (common American reactions to major losses) the crowd of over 400 Ghanaians cheered at the end of the game. Music was billowed over the street and the Ghanaians danced, sang and celebrated. While disappointed that they had lost, they were still so proud in their nation. This entire experience oddly had a profound impact on me. I learned that we all make personal decisions on how we perceive certain events and consequently on how we react. You can choose to be happy and thankful for what you do have, or angry about the things you don’t. I know when the Sacramento Kings lost to the Lakers in game 7 of the semifinals playoffs - Sacramento was pretty devastated. We definitely did not celebrate. The Ghanaians have a different outlook on life than I have experienced in California. They celebrate and respect what they do have. I am sure this greatly contributes to them being such a happy and colorful culture even though many live around the poverty line. I am starting to realize that money really doesn’t make people happier. In fact, I have noticed the children here cry less and always say thank you to their parents even for simple things like water. Is is the satisfaction and appreciation for what they do have that makes the Ghanaian culture so impressive. Celebrating in the streets even after the biggest loss Ghana had ever experienced, is highly reminiscent of the mentality of the culture.
___________________________________________________________________________________
I suppose that’s enough about soccer.
SCHOOL
On a less exciting note is school. School and education here over the past few weeks is not only boring but it is absolutely painful. The professors literally read from a script word for word. With no focus on analyzing and 100% emphasis on memorization – I feel like nothing is actually learned. The professors make a maximum of three points in two hours. Just to rant a little - nobody in the entire university knows how things administratively work. Every department goes by different rules, we have to register at four different departments, in addition to registering at the EAP building, at the IPO (International Programs Office) building on the EAP website and on the University of Ghana website. Mind you every department is about 25 minutes walking distance away. In order to drop a class you have to go to the original department who then tells you to get a paper from the Dean’s office located 30 minutes away and then return for a signature at the initial department . After I get the signature I have to go all the way back to the Dean’s office and submit my drop form, wait 3 days, and return to get the form and then walk it all the way back to the individual departments. Long story short, I had to do this for two departments and it literally took me 6 hours of walking around in the 105 degree heat. This is just a small taste of the pure autocratic confusion at the University. It is so so so unnecessarily inefficient and literally every person you talk to will give you a different answer on what to do. This is VERY stressful for me because I need all my courses to transfer for credit so I will be able and complete my law school application in September and continue on my road to graduating next June. The academic aspect of my journey in Ghana is by far the most unfavorable. Nothing makes sense and nobody ever knows what is going on. Inside (I only understand about 50% of what is said in class, much of the time I am not quite sure if the professors are speaking English)and outside around the university I am in a constant state of confusion. We are now in week 4 of school and 3 out of my four political science courses don’t even have the readings available so the professors have been talking about the same thing for three weeks. I still don’t even know if I am correctly enrolled and likely won’t know until my grades come through. Apparently, the finals schedule doesn’t come out until a couple weeks before finals so if the finals conflict you are forced to drop a class. So that means you can go an entire semester, doing all reading assignments, etc. and be forced to drop a class at the end because you find out right before the finals conflict. Something is very wrong with that system. On the positive side – I am oh soooooooo more appreciative of UCSB and the order to things. At UCSB it takes me at most 10 minutes to register for classes – here it has taken be 3 and a half weeks and I still don’t know if I am registered. Anyway enough about school – lets move on to something much happier and more exciting.
_____________________________________________________________-
Volta Trip - Monkey Sanctuary/Waterfall
The next major even of the past week was our Volta Monkey Sanctuary and waterfall trip. We left at 7am and took a 4 hour bus ride to the Volta region to a monkey sanctuary. This is a small and remote village where the monkeys literally live amongst the people. The monkeys walk out from the forest, go in people’s houses and then return back out into the forest. It was the most amazing thing, when our group first arrived we didn’t see any monkeys then all of a sudden they came toward us from all directions (probably because they knew we had food). I got to hand feed a wild monkey a banana!! So so cool. Apparently the monkeys consisted of two rival tribes with over 150 monkeys in each. Each tribe was lead by one chief monkey who was the biggest male. While the tour guy could have been making this entirely up and nobody would have known, I still thought the story was interesting.
After the monkey sanctuary we then drove to the most amazing place, the Volta Waterfall. This is the single largest waterfall in all of West Africa. After about an hour hike in the rain forest we finally reached the waterfall. Seriously, I think I found the source of most of the stunning computer wallpapers we have on our computers. It was simply amazing. The sheer roar and power of the massive waterfall and cloud of water particles it sprayed into the air was breathtaking. I stripped down to my bathing suit and jumped in with the rest of our EAP group. Standing under the waterfall seriously felt like acupuncture because the water fell from over 900 feet.
For the first time in my life even after coaching water polo for 3 years and swimming for most of my life, I actually had to save someone from drowning. Our Ghanaian student leader apparently didn’t know how to swim and he started going under. People were screaming, "Jason!" because they knew I played polo and were extremely frantic, so I swam over as fast as I could to see if I could help. Another girl from UCSB and I grabbed him and treaded him back to shore. Luckily, he was ok, aside from hyperventilating the entire swim back to shore. But everything worked out. And we continued to swim around the waterfall for another two hours. Quite an eventful day. I honestly don’t know why every day in Ghana is packed full of more experiences I would have in a month back home, but I am so thankful.
________________________________________________________________________________-
Ghanaian Wedding
One of my favorite experiences yet took place yesterday. I somehow got invited to the Ghanaian wedding of a random seamstress’s uncle. Yes, random I know. So I went with three other Ubronis (white people) from our group and headed out. We took 2 tro-tros and one taxi and finally reached the seamstress's house where her family prepared for us the traditional Ghanaian dish red (beans and friend plantains – a staple of my diet here). She lived in an adobe house with a thin wooden and porous roof. It is simply amazing how little so much of Ghana gets by on. We stayed at the house for about two hours while the girls styled their hair. In the mean time I played soccer with a bunch of little kids on the dirt street. When all the Ghanaian girls were ready they came out of the home/hut and I was amazed how beautiful their entire was. Even though the family was obviously pretty poor they all looked like royalty in their beautiful, ornate and colorful attire (as you will see when I am able to upload pics.) Then we finally left to go to the wedding. Unfortunately, we arrived late at the end of the ceremony so we then went to the reception. Since no busses were around we all rode in the back of a cattle truck, yes another interesting experience. On the ride from the ceremony to the reception, I completely fell in love with this one kid and want to adopt him and bring him home. (You will see pictures of him wearing my sunglasses.) The reception was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed. There were literally about 300 Ghanaian people and 4 white people. As we walked in the DJ made an announcement on the loud speaker to welcome the Ubronis (white people) and everybody cheered. The entire ceremony was literally focused on us instead of the bride and groom. We had no idea how to react it was so awkward but at the same time, an amazing experience. The seamstress who invited us to her uncle’s wedding explained that everybody was so happy to see us. About half way through the ceremony the DJ stopped the music and asked if the blonde white boy was from the US or UK. After 300 heads turned in my direction, I replied “US” and everybody applauded. It was so so strange. Then the DJ asked if the Ubronis knew how to dance. After emphatically saying, "No, no, no." the DJ then stopped the music came and grabbed my hand from the middle of the crowd and pulled me to the front. At which point, he started the music and said, "Follow my lead." Yes, I had to show off my lacking white boy dance skills in front of an entire Ghanian wedding reception. The reaction to my dancing was similar to the reaction of my dance professors at the University, pure laughter. After I danced on front of everybody for about 2 minutes everybody cheered and clapped. I have never been more embarrassed in my life but what an experience. I felt so bad that a majority of attention was on the white wedding crashers, but the seamstress assured us that the party was very excited we attended. They fed us a great lunch and we stayed for about 2 hours.
The beautiful color and cultural brilliance of the reception was breathtaking. As you will see in the photos, this was one of my greatest cultural experiences yet. For the first time I partook in an experience that wasn’t a scripted tour or with a large California group. For the first time I felt truly submerged in Ghanaian culture. It was so so amazing.
Until text time.
Best,
Jason
PS PLEASE continue e-mailing me/facebooking me etc. I still am very homesick and I absolutely love hearing from all of you. One again my e-mail is jmanholley@msn.com. I am going to try and find a way to upload about 90 pictures I think many of you will enjoy so please check facebook and this blog for updates. Oh any happy Super Bowl Sunday. Its 7pm Sunday here which means most of my friends are just waking up in the states. 8 hour time difference.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
New Ghanian Family, and African Cup/dance class/ school/haircut/homesickness/physical sickness
New Ghanain Family, and African Cup/dance class/ school/haircut/homesickness/physical sickness
About a week ago, I got a call from some Ghanaian cell phone number asking if I was Jason and that they wanted to meet me. Apparently, since my mom is a vice principal back in the states, one of her student’s family lives here in Accra, Ghana. After my cell number made it to the Ghanaian family, they sort of adopted me. Two brothers, Isaak and Parez, drove 45 minutes to pick me up at the University and took me away deep into the heart of Accra, Ghana near a small fishing village (Coco Beach) where they lived. Upon arrival I was enthusiastically greeted by the rest of the family, Aunts, cousins and family friends all excited to see me like I was a long lost brother. The family surprised me with a picnic on the beach. The Aunt made about 8 Ghanaian dishes just for me to sample. The entire family would watch as I sampled the foods to see if I liked it. All the food was amazing (something that I have not experienced much of at the University) except for one dish. After giving it a taste, I hesitantly asked what it was. The Aunt smiled and said sea slug. Yes, you read correctly….. sea slug. So my appetite was pretty much ruined at that point but I didn’t want to appear rude so I continued to eat the pounds of food they had prepared. I swear these are the nicest people I have ever met. They said that if I ever needed anything they are here to help and I am officially part of their family. They even have planned weekend trips to take my peers and myself on around Ghana and want to make a lobster dinner next time visit. They welcomed me to stay in their house and hit up some Ghanaian clubs/ reggae concert/ see a Ghanaian national soccer game. The Aunt and sister call me once a day just to check in and make sure everything is going well… They didn’t even know me yet dedicated so much time, and money to throw me a little welcome party. The family lives in a stone house behind their little candy shop which looked like it may not have had running water or electricity. What an amazing experience! I got to meet the village locals and for the first time actually feel like I was not just a tourist but actually part of a Ghanaian family. They wouldn’t even let me pay for gas even though I insisted. $20 to them could mean several days of working but they said I was the guest and to save my money for souvenirs.
After the tour of the small poor fishing village, I went back to their home and had Coconut wine, ate bankou (spicy fried plantains) and watched Ghanaian music videos (similar to a low budget BET or MTV music video) They then drove me 45 minutes back to campus and dropped me off. I felt so much better knowing that there was someone I could go to in case there was an emergency or I just needed help. I visited them again yesterday and they took me to “Reggae Night on the Beach” which was a lot of poorly sung Bob Marley but was definitely fun.
Today Ghana beat Nigeria in the semifinals for the African Cup and I swear the entire nation of Ghana when absolutely crazy. Cabs were laying on their horns. All the Ghanaians in the Hostiles were frantically sprinting around screaming at the top of their lungs the Ghanaian anthem. Students sprinted up and down the street next to the hostile with huge Ghanaian flags. I even saw two cars doing celebratory donuts in the dirt parking lot crash into one another. They both got out, laughed about it, and got back in their respective cars and continued doing donuts in the parking lot. No joke, Its was the craziest thing I had ever witnessed. They were not even upset they had just crashed! The entire city went crazy from this soccer win. I can only imagine what will happen if we win the African Cup this Sunday. The people here live and breathe soccer. I have already had 2 classes canceled because they were during a soccer match. We haven't quite reached that point with the Sacramento Kings.
Dance class
As you may have know from previous posts I have been demoted twice from dance class and am now placed in “remedial” African dance with 17 year olds. Me being the only white and 21 year old in the course it is pretty much a "let's stare and laugh at the white boy" class. The dance professor has reached a point where he doesn’t even give me suggestions anymore. He has resorted to just laughing while I attempt to dance like the other Africans.
____________________________________________________
I don’t understand school here
To be honest, it just doesn’t make sense. Some professors read off a script and repeat each sentence like 3 times while everybody transcribes the lecture. That is when professors are so kind as to grace us with their presence. A quarter of the time they just don’t show up or show up late. I don’t even know if I am correctly registered which makes me nervous but apparently things just “work themselves out here” whatever that means. Whenever I have an important administrative question – the reply is always just don’t worry about it, it should work itself out.
I think I am taking:
1. Xylophone
2. African Drumming
3. Traditional African Dance
4. Poli Sci – Problems of Development in Africa
5. Poli Sci – Africa within the global system
6. Poli Sci – Methods of Political Research
7. Poli Sci – Modern Western Political Thought.
_______________________________________--
Haircut
Nothing here is ever just a mundane experience. My hair was so long that I finally gave in and went to a local barber. Both of the barbers argued over which one of them would be able to cut my hair. I told them I just wanted a trim. Of course they are not used to cutting white man's hair so I now officially look like "50 Cent." My hair is borderline shaved with a straight bang line in the front (similar to most African American haircuts). It looks absolutely ridiculous (a white man with a black mans hair cut) but it's definitely nice to not have long sweaty hair. I will try and upload some pics of this beautiful new fashion. I’m sure you will get a kick out of it.
_______________________________________________
Homesickness has finally hit me.
I was sick to my stomach and thought I had to vomit (likely from eating something that had gone bad. I ran to the bathroom only to find that there was no electricity nor running water so I couldn’t even see the toilet nor would I be able to flush. So, I sat at the edge of my bed in the heat (about 98%) and just waited for the sickness to pass. It's times like these that I really miss the small things we take for granted in the US. Sanitary food / ability to use the bathroom/ and a fan.
I also have dreams every night I am back in the States. When I wake up in the morning I am the most homesick. I would love to just see my family/ friends/ and my puppy (Buddy Holley) for just a weekend and return back to Africa. I was able to Skype my mom and dad with a 20 second delay but it was still so nice to see them. My mom and dad e-mail/ call me daily updating me on Sacramento and just to check in. Many of my friends also send me messages. I am so lucky to have so many people that care about me and honestly those are the people that are keeping my sanity here in Africa. Thankfully, my homesickness only lasts for about an hour or two every day and then I become busy with the day. I absolutely have no regret choosing Ghana to study. As hard as it is to adapt to an impoverished lifestyle, I can honestly not a day goes by where I don’t have an amazing experience to write about. So, to all my readers – please continue to e-mail me at jmanholley@msn.com. I LOVE hearing from you and look forward to short time I am able to obtain internet every week. Its about 10:40pm and I still have some reading to complete before lecture tomorrow at 7:00am so off to work. Miss you all!
Best,
J
PS this weekend we are taking a fieldtrip to the waterfalls and monkey sanctuary in the Volta region. I think that is where the Ga or Ashante tribe lives so that should be interesting so expect some cool stories. Also many have asked me to upload more pictures. I have some AMAZING Pics but it takes about an hour to download each Pic with this internet here but I will do my best.
About a week ago, I got a call from some Ghanaian cell phone number asking if I was Jason and that they wanted to meet me. Apparently, since my mom is a vice principal back in the states, one of her student’s family lives here in Accra, Ghana. After my cell number made it to the Ghanaian family, they sort of adopted me. Two brothers, Isaak and Parez, drove 45 minutes to pick me up at the University and took me away deep into the heart of Accra, Ghana near a small fishing village (Coco Beach) where they lived. Upon arrival I was enthusiastically greeted by the rest of the family, Aunts, cousins and family friends all excited to see me like I was a long lost brother. The family surprised me with a picnic on the beach. The Aunt made about 8 Ghanaian dishes just for me to sample. The entire family would watch as I sampled the foods to see if I liked it. All the food was amazing (something that I have not experienced much of at the University) except for one dish. After giving it a taste, I hesitantly asked what it was. The Aunt smiled and said sea slug. Yes, you read correctly….. sea slug. So my appetite was pretty much ruined at that point but I didn’t want to appear rude so I continued to eat the pounds of food they had prepared. I swear these are the nicest people I have ever met. They said that if I ever needed anything they are here to help and I am officially part of their family. They even have planned weekend trips to take my peers and myself on around Ghana and want to make a lobster dinner next time visit. They welcomed me to stay in their house and hit up some Ghanaian clubs/ reggae concert/ see a Ghanaian national soccer game. The Aunt and sister call me once a day just to check in and make sure everything is going well… They didn’t even know me yet dedicated so much time, and money to throw me a little welcome party. The family lives in a stone house behind their little candy shop which looked like it may not have had running water or electricity. What an amazing experience! I got to meet the village locals and for the first time actually feel like I was not just a tourist but actually part of a Ghanaian family. They wouldn’t even let me pay for gas even though I insisted. $20 to them could mean several days of working but they said I was the guest and to save my money for souvenirs.
After the tour of the small poor fishing village, I went back to their home and had Coconut wine, ate bankou (spicy fried plantains) and watched Ghanaian music videos (similar to a low budget BET or MTV music video) They then drove me 45 minutes back to campus and dropped me off. I felt so much better knowing that there was someone I could go to in case there was an emergency or I just needed help. I visited them again yesterday and they took me to “Reggae Night on the Beach” which was a lot of poorly sung Bob Marley but was definitely fun.
Today Ghana beat Nigeria in the semifinals for the African Cup and I swear the entire nation of Ghana when absolutely crazy. Cabs were laying on their horns. All the Ghanaians in the Hostiles were frantically sprinting around screaming at the top of their lungs the Ghanaian anthem. Students sprinted up and down the street next to the hostile with huge Ghanaian flags. I even saw two cars doing celebratory donuts in the dirt parking lot crash into one another. They both got out, laughed about it, and got back in their respective cars and continued doing donuts in the parking lot. No joke, Its was the craziest thing I had ever witnessed. They were not even upset they had just crashed! The entire city went crazy from this soccer win. I can only imagine what will happen if we win the African Cup this Sunday. The people here live and breathe soccer. I have already had 2 classes canceled because they were during a soccer match. We haven't quite reached that point with the Sacramento Kings.
Dance class
As you may have know from previous posts I have been demoted twice from dance class and am now placed in “remedial” African dance with 17 year olds. Me being the only white and 21 year old in the course it is pretty much a "let's stare and laugh at the white boy" class. The dance professor has reached a point where he doesn’t even give me suggestions anymore. He has resorted to just laughing while I attempt to dance like the other Africans.
____________________________________________________
I don’t understand school here
To be honest, it just doesn’t make sense. Some professors read off a script and repeat each sentence like 3 times while everybody transcribes the lecture. That is when professors are so kind as to grace us with their presence. A quarter of the time they just don’t show up or show up late. I don’t even know if I am correctly registered which makes me nervous but apparently things just “work themselves out here” whatever that means. Whenever I have an important administrative question – the reply is always just don’t worry about it, it should work itself out.
I think I am taking:
1. Xylophone
2. African Drumming
3. Traditional African Dance
4. Poli Sci – Problems of Development in Africa
5. Poli Sci – Africa within the global system
6. Poli Sci – Methods of Political Research
7. Poli Sci – Modern Western Political Thought.
_______________________________________--
Haircut
Nothing here is ever just a mundane experience. My hair was so long that I finally gave in and went to a local barber. Both of the barbers argued over which one of them would be able to cut my hair. I told them I just wanted a trim. Of course they are not used to cutting white man's hair so I now officially look like "50 Cent." My hair is borderline shaved with a straight bang line in the front (similar to most African American haircuts). It looks absolutely ridiculous (a white man with a black mans hair cut) but it's definitely nice to not have long sweaty hair. I will try and upload some pics of this beautiful new fashion. I’m sure you will get a kick out of it.
_______________________________________________
Homesickness has finally hit me.
I was sick to my stomach and thought I had to vomit (likely from eating something that had gone bad. I ran to the bathroom only to find that there was no electricity nor running water so I couldn’t even see the toilet nor would I be able to flush. So, I sat at the edge of my bed in the heat (about 98%) and just waited for the sickness to pass. It's times like these that I really miss the small things we take for granted in the US. Sanitary food / ability to use the bathroom/ and a fan.
I also have dreams every night I am back in the States. When I wake up in the morning I am the most homesick. I would love to just see my family/ friends/ and my puppy (Buddy Holley) for just a weekend and return back to Africa. I was able to Skype my mom and dad with a 20 second delay but it was still so nice to see them. My mom and dad e-mail/ call me daily updating me on Sacramento and just to check in. Many of my friends also send me messages. I am so lucky to have so many people that care about me and honestly those are the people that are keeping my sanity here in Africa. Thankfully, my homesickness only lasts for about an hour or two every day and then I become busy with the day. I absolutely have no regret choosing Ghana to study. As hard as it is to adapt to an impoverished lifestyle, I can honestly not a day goes by where I don’t have an amazing experience to write about. So, to all my readers – please continue to e-mail me at jmanholley@msn.com. I LOVE hearing from you and look forward to short time I am able to obtain internet every week. Its about 10:40pm and I still have some reading to complete before lecture tomorrow at 7:00am so off to work. Miss you all!
Best,
J
PS this weekend we are taking a fieldtrip to the waterfalls and monkey sanctuary in the Volta region. I think that is where the Ga or Ashante tribe lives so that should be interesting so expect some cool stories. Also many have asked me to upload more pictures. I have some AMAZING Pics but it takes about an hour to download each Pic with this internet here but I will do my best.
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