More Pictures

Update:

Hannah is still away from the internet; however, we have talked with her and she is doing well. She will be leaving Ghana on Friday, May 22nd at 10:00 AM and will be back in Lexington after midnight. It sounds like she has lots of Ghana stories to tell...

Pictures sent by Hannah

Just so you know

It turns out that we will be meeting the KING of the Central region (Ghana still has a strong traditional political system) on Satruday. Originally we were going to Kumasi (another city a little further North) until Friday night and then come back to Accra until Sunday when we were going to leave for the Volta region (a very lush tropical region to the North West that has a monkey sanctuary, and water fall) until Monday. Now we will be leaving Kumasi on Friday but instead of coming back to Accra we are going to go to the Central region to meet the King on Saturday (he is throwing a party for us?...long story which I have yet to fully understand but it sounds awesome) and from there we will go straight to the Volta region. This means I may not have access to the internet until Wednesday. My Mom MAY (or may not) be able to reach my Ghana cell so she MAY be able to give you updates. But for any worry warts don't freak out if nobody hears from me for awhile, no news is good news, and I am still going to be with the whole group.

Here are pics of the fabrics i bought! I will add pics of the dresses when they are made.

Umm, so yeah, I forgot my camera again. I will remember to bring it!!

Hi everybody,

So for those who are concerned about the lack of pictures once again, and probably are now convinced that I actually lost my camera (cough, cough MOM) I have not. I failed to mention that on Sunday I went to a market in Medina (a neighboring town) and since pick-pocketing is always a concern in any market anywhere, I was careful to only bring the things I really needed (aka my camera). I carefully placed my camera in my suitcase where it wouldn't suffer any damage, but where I would also not see it sitting around and remember to place it in my bag again. So yeah now that that is out of the way...

Yesterday, I went and bought fabric for two dresses I am having made!! In Ghana it is generally cheeper to buy fabric and have clothing custom-made. Fabric costs about $3.00 (5 cedis) a yard and then a tailor costs between 6 and 9 cedis per article of clothing depending on how complicated the design is.

Weekend continued continued...

Saturday:

So on Saturday we went and visited another slave castle, this one in Cape Coast. Cape Coast and the castle were governed by the British. The Cape Coast slave castle was structured nearly exactly the same as the slave castle in Elmina just a little smaller. Interestingly the merchants outside the castle saw one girl in our group eating a cereal bar and offered to trade her jewelry for food, a girl in the group was able to trade a small bag of trail mix for at least 5 cedis worth of jewelry.

Afterwards we went to the Slave River. The Slave River was the place where captured slaves would take their last bath prior to reaching the slave castle and therefore their last bath until they reached the nation where they were going to be enslaved (maybe a year later). The Slave River was extremely powerful but what also hit us hard was that as we were leaving the slave river a group of kids from the local rural village came up and began begging us for pens, pencils, books, and paper. Of a group of maybe a dozen children only one asked for money, all of the others wanted school supplies or food. The basic things children here ask for always hit me hard and remind me how fortunate I am that I have never had to worry about having writing utensils for school beyond sheer forgetfulness.

Sunday:

Sunday morning I went to church with my host family. I was there for close to 4 hours although it did not feel nearly as long. The contrast between their "hymnals" and those I am used to was vast. Instead of feeling uncomfortable being seen slightly swaying from side to side during a song in the US I was self-conscious when my host brother invited me to come dance with him and a large proportion of the congregation dancing in front of the pews or even just dancing at my seat. It was so much fun, and the music was fast paced, and energizing. One could really feel the holy spirit, and everyone was smiling, laughing and joyful. I do not mean to bash churches back home, but coming from the "frozen chosen" of the US Presbyterian Church the contrast was different though both certainly have their pros and cons. The sermon was good, it was on the importance of mothers and being a good mother (it was Mother's Day). The pastor brought up his observations of the difference in family structure between Ghana and Western states (he went to seminary in the US) and out of nowhere said that maybe the abruni in the crowd would answer questions about this observation afterwards if members had questions (nobody did which I was rather relieved about, though he is accurate in stating that differences exist). They do offerings by day of the week one was born on since they are attempting to build a new church (right now they have Sunday school classes beneath the frame of the church being built). Essentially it becomes a competition for which day of the week will donate the most, Mondays (including me) took third. The congregation and the pastor started laughing when they saw me going up to make a donation and again when they asked all visitors to rise. I certainly was the white elephant in the congregation. All of this was in good humor though. Several members of the church came up afterwards saying things like "Adjoua (my Ghanaian name because I was born on a Monday) I love you my sister". The sense of community, warmth, and acceptance here is refreshing.

Long Weekend continued..

Friday continued...

The Portuguese are not alone in their terrible actions that occurred at Elmina Slave Castle. The Dutch governed the castle for over a 100 years. Being Dutch Reformed they tore down the steeple of the Portuguese church and converted it into a room where they bought slaves from local slave traders, and eventually a classroom I think. The Dutch built their church directly above the female prison. We also visited the governors quarters. His living quarters were just for him (and those he invited to join him) and were larger than the prisons that 150 slaves were forced into.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant that was built above a crocodile lagoon. The food was good but the atmosphere was incredible. There were trees full of vibrant yellow birds, and we could see some crocodiles swimming around the water beneath us. After lunch one of the staff lured a crocodile out of the lagoon and onto the ground where we could touch its tail! I have pictures of me touching it on my phone...urg...I will post them tomorrow!

Then we continued on to the National Park. We went on a hike through the semi deciduous rain forest (that leopards live in) and a botanist pointed out various trees and plants and told us their unique qualities including medicinal value. The trees in general seem so much larger here, but the trees in that forest were some of the largest I have ever seen. There was one HUGE tree whose buttress you can pound with your fist and it echoes for miles and miles. Apparently the natives used to use it as a method of communication between far away villages like natural morse code. At the end of the hike we got to go on a canopy walk (AMAZING PICTURES WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW). The canopy hike consisted of 7 suspension bridges (very Indiana Jones style minus them falling apart). Though I am not scarred of heights and felt very secure I still got a huge adrenaline rush since the bridge swings back and forth. It was so much fun.

We spent the night in a hotel in Cape Coast (another costal town that neighbors Elmina) which had air conditioning!!

Saturday:
Oops we're on our way to lunch. I'll try to post even more later today

LONG WEEKEND

Hello everybody long time no post.

So lets see what have I been up to...

Wednesday night:

A couple of us went to an outdoor sports bar to watch the Chelsea vs. Barcelona match that they were projecting onto a large screen. I got there a little late (after the first goal unfortunately), and there were at least a hundred people. Naturally, being me, while weaving my way through the crowd to meet up with my friends I accidentally walked into the projector turning it so that it no longer was pointing at the screen. Everyone was yelling at me. Fortunately one of my friends started yelling "SHES AN ABRUNI. ITS OK, SHE IS AN ABRUNI" (as in: 'what did u expect from an abruni?') everyone started laughing and the situation defused quickly. It was an incredible experience. It was my first experience being in a place where EVERYBODY was talking about soccer and watching a specific game. We then went to a Reggae night at the beach (in celebration of our midterm being over) which was a lot of fun.

Friday:

We left early Friday morning to go to Elmina. Elmina is on the coast of Ghana and is where the first European building was built in Western Africa. Elmina Castle is the oldest and largest slave castle is Western Africa (maybe Sub Saharan Africa in general). It was built by the Portuguese and was later taken over by the Dutch. I have a lot of pictures of the castle but forgot my camera in my room so I will post them tomorrow. It was an extremely powerful and nauseating place to be. A Portuguese church has a central location in the castle, meaning that the slaves would see it as they were forced into cramped, poorly ventilated and lit prisons where they had to relieve themselves on the floor, got little food, and were never able to bathe (unless one of the officers decided they wanted to rape you, then the woman was made to bathe before hand). The church would also be one of the last sights for slaves who had been misbehaving and were being placed in the cell of death (a cell which had no light or ventilation where they were left without food or water until they died).

Ok, class is about to start I will try to write more about the weekend later today

Another thing American students don't expect...

...the power to go out during your midterm so that you take part of your midterm in the dark, haha. O well. Well, we're off to lunch; going to have either banku or fufu, both of which manage to be more fun to eat than they are to say. Then I am going to explore the markets and go for a run! Yes! For those who have not heard, I no longer sound like a wheezing, pubescent boy crossed with a dying toad, so I am going to go for a run, hope for the best, and probably get lost. I'm pumped!

about to take my midterm - eeekk!

Hi!

So I am about to take my midterm, and figured I would take a little break from cramming for it to update you all a little bit on my life.

We have had a lot of guest lecturers this week instead of excursions, but everyday here is such an adventure. Last night I went to another one of the homestays for a group study session. Streets in Ghana rarely have names so when you take a cab you tell them the neighborhood you want to go to and then direct them from there. The neighborhoods are (unofficially) named after local landmarks. There is a Christian Centre about two minutes from my house which my neighborhood is named after. The other homestay was in a neighborhood called "American House" (there used to be a really nice mansion there, which people called the American House because people associate really nice extravagant things with America. The house is no longer there so I cannot comment on how American it was.) Cabs are relatively cheap here (it cost 5 cedis for a 35-40 minute ride to the beach on Saturday), but they are more expensive at night and once again are something one has to barter on for a good price. The cheaper option for traveling is taking a tro-tro. Tro-tros are vans that drive around from one central location to another. They are quite an experience. The driver has an apprentice who leans out of the window continuously yelling the end point destination the tro-tro is going to (so you will hear "ACCRA ACCRA ACCRA" or "CIRCLE CIRCLE CIRCLE," etc., depending on where it is going and there is usually a hand signal associated with each location). Tro-tros are far cheaper, only a couple of pesoues (equivalent of American cents) but are harder for a newby to figure out which route they need to get on, and are harder to find at night.

One thing that is also prevalent at night are police checkpoints. Police carry around huge guns here which are definitely intimidating. I am not quite sure what happens at these check points(other than them blinding me with flash lights) since the police have yet to talk to me, and usually just talks to the driver in a traditional language. One of the homestays finished repairing their Mercedes a couple days ago and took the three guys from our group staying there on a drive around town. Apparently when the cops stopped their nice car they asked for bribes. This has yet to happen to me, but isn't particularly surprising for a sub-Saharan country.

About twenty minutes into our study session last night the electricity went out. It was a whole new experience to have to try and study for a midterm (that counts for over 40% of my final grade) in the dark. Fortunately the local cell phone companies apparently anticipate the frequent black outs and build a strong flashlight into their cell phones. Still we are pushing for post-poning our exam. Wish us luck. We will need it since we need to know 16 different economic models of development, amongst other things. EEEEK, I need to start cramming again. BYE. Enjoy knowing that you will have lights when you are studying for finals late at night!

Weekend

Hi everyone,

So I just got back from my first full weekend in Ghana. On Friday night the whole group, including our professors, went to a bar/club called Chez Afrique. It was SO much fun, even though I am still recovering from being sick and sound like a pubescent boy crossed with a dying toad. The dominant music genre here (other than American hip-hop/rap) is called High Life, it sounds very Caribbean, is fast paced and a lot of fun to dance to.

On Saturday just about everyone went to the beach, which was also a ton of fun. Standing in the water was the first time I have not been sweating/extremely hot...I want to make it clear I still have yet to experience being cold (the ocean is really warm here) but it was amazing to not feel like I was melting away for a little while. Furthermore, there were a bunch of Africans playing soccer on the beach. I asked to join in, and they skeptically said yes. It took me a little while to get used to playing soccer with a flat volleyball, but once I did they were all pleasantly surprised to learn that the female abruni could play. I even received my first marriage proposal! Apparently my soccer "skills/style" are a sign that I will make a "good wife for life" haha. For those who are not aware, Ghana is only a couple degrees off of the equator. I was wearing 100+ SPF which I applied twice all over my body. Despite this I burned everywhere which isn't exposed to the sun when I am wearing my day-to-day clothes (a tee shirt and shorts). One guy in the group decided not to wear sunscreen (he readily admits that this was stupid) and got sun poisoning. He is doing fine now, but we have all learned that abrunis are no match for the Sun, no matter how much sunscreen you put on first. Now that we are all a dozen shades darker (or in the process of going from magenta to a dozen shades darker) we shouldn't have any problems as long as we wear sun screen. What is great about being in Ghana/a tropical country is that your Auntie grows aloe plants in the back yard. So although I have been applying the West's "Ocean Potion" several times a day, I get the most relief from applying fresh, pure aloe verra to the burn, you can't do better than that!

This next week we aren't going on any "official" excursions (every day in the city to me is an excursion) and instead have two lectures a day (one by one of our W&L professors and one by a local Ghanaian professor), a midterm on Wednesday and a paper to write. So I may not be posting as often this week, but I will try to. Please if you have any questions feel free to post them on the blog or e-mail me!

Love and Peace,

H

Addition

I just want to add that we all felt really good about ourselves bringing over $200 worth of school supplies until we met with the kids and they begged us for water. I felt terrible not having any as a kid moaned "water please, I need water". Another girl in the group had a large bottle and stood in one spot as kids lined up to have water poured into their mouths. While in America pens, pencils, and rulers may seem very basic, at this school it felt like we had given them cake when they needed bread...and water.

SLUMDOG SCHOOL

So yesterday we went and visited an incredible school in Nima (a very poor town outside of Accra). The first thing everyone said when we got off the bus and began walking down the narrow winding alley to the school was that we had just stepped onto the Ghanaian set of Slumdog Millionaire (an incredible movie which you all should see). There was no space between houses, few of which had doors or windows. We saw children bathing in medium size bowls out in the open, and the smell of sewage was rampant. Yet we met the most friendly people in the midst of such economic depression. Little children would run up from nowhere and hug us, and adults would wave and laugh at the excitement of the children.

When we got to the school we were welcomed by the children singing multiple songs in English

and French (the school teaches both English and French because the area is full of many

immigrants from neighboring Francophone countries). Some children even performed poems for us. They were all so cute! The principal told us that the

school was founded by his father. His father was an illiterate man, who worked extremely hard at his job and relied on a literate friend to help

him at the bank when

receiving money for his pay

check. One day his friend was sick so he relied on

a stranger. When the stranger gave him his money he told him to give some back that the bank had given him too much. The stranger said no this is what you are supposed to receive. The principal's father quickly realized that his friend

had always been stealing some of his paycheck. He realized that everyone needs to be literate, so he kicked out the tenants of some houses he owned and converted them into a school. The current principal (who went to

his father's school) now speaks over seven languages, and is extremely smart! Despite the school's incredible story and its great works it structurally at least is not up to

Western standards. At one point during our visit I REALLY had to go to the bathroom, when I asked one of the teachers where the bathroom was they pointed to a small shack that had a large cup, and a drain at one corner of the tile

floor-I am extremely happy with my homestay's living conditions now. After the children sang their songs and said their poems we gave them school supplies we had as a group brought from the US (and I also brought a soccer ball).

We had a little time to speak to the children. They got REALLY excited about having their picture taken and taking pictures (you can see the results, the pictures posted [other than those of the environment and the kids in the classroom] are those taken by the kids with my camera).

PICTURES

Hi!!

So the only update since the last one is that the sockets were working last night, so we had a fan!!!! Also Maya (my roommate who also goes to W&L) and I decided to open the window and just close it before we left the roo

m in the morning which made the room a lot cooler. That in addition to taking some NyQuil meant I

got a prett

y good nights sleep! But I am still feeling rather sick, o well. Auntie gave me a huge glass of orange juice (that she squeezed herself) so that I could h

ave

more vitamin C.

Anyway, here are pics from yesterday (and one from the day before):

A little sick : (

Hi everyone!

So after I posted yesterday I had a great experience, I went and played soccer with some local Ghanaian kids on a tiny patch of grass in the middle of a market. At first my touch was pretty rough, which is to be expected since the ball was just the bladder with some pieces of cloth dangling off. I had always wondered how the ball didn't kill one's feet playing bare foot but when the ball is like that it is not bad at all actually It was amazing. Once I got my touch down they were all super impressed that I could juggle; both because I am an abruni and because I am a girl. There are a ton of pictures from the experience on another girls camera (the kids got super excited about the camera, both with taking picture and having pictures taken of them). She says she will e-mail them to me and I will post some. The kids want us to go watch their game on Saturday. They taught me some Twi (one of the native languages). The other guys who came with me to play with them are going there now and giving them a healthy ball. Unfortunately, I am feeling rather sick (most likely a sinus infection) so I think I am going to take a nap in the Aya Centre while I am in air conditioning. The only sad moment yesterday with the boys was when one asked us "Why do you like Ghana?" (in a tone that suggested he was asking 'how can you like Ghana?'). We tried to explain to him that we love the laid-backness and the friendliness of everyone, things that are hard to come by in the US, but his only response was "I want to go to the US to see how awesome it is". Our hosts are upper-middle class to upper-class, but the homes barely compare to impoverished homes in the US (last night the sockets in my room were not working, and nearly no one has electricity (even the repaired homes in the lower 9th ward in New Orleans that I visited had steady electricity-which is not to say that everyone in the US does but it certainly is not nearly as common and certainly not in upper-middle class).

Last night was pretty rough: my host has decided that we should not open our window since too much dust comes in through it, and our fan wasn't working. So we were basically sleeping in an oven, and we felt it. As of this morning the sockets still weren't working, but cross your fingers!

Today we went to the University of Ghana, a premier (public) university in Ghana. There are about 28,000 students and the prof to student ratio we were told is about 1:500 (though our prof said he heard it was 1:280 - which is still incredible considering my prof to student ratio is around 1:8). They are also having a housing problem. Rooms which are meant to house 4 have 12 students in them, but the University costs less than 2,000 cedis to attend so...it def has its pros and it offers a HUGE range of classes.

We then went to the Botanical Gardens in Abrui which were gorgeous! The variety of plants were beautiful. One of my favorite plants was the strangling ficus. It is a plant which wraps around already existing trees, strangling them until they eventually die. As the dead tree deteriorates it leaves a large hole where it used to be, which we could walk through!! Also a section of the garden is dedicated to spice plants. I found a plant which contains the active ingredient of Vicks! So I took a handful of it and used it as medicine for quite awhile...it worked pretty well! Unfortunately, I left my usb cord at my homestay, but I promise I have pictures and I will put them up soon!!

Lots and lots of love,

Hannah

Addition

It was hilarious hearing the merchants try to mimic my jersey accent

First Full Day in Ghana

Hello Everybody!!

So yesterday was our first full

day in Ghana. Due to a rain storm the night before (we are now in the rainy season) it was a lot 

cooler (though still very warm) making everyone a lot happier. After class we had lunch at a local restaurant. I had jouffle (a seasoned rice) with goat, which was delicious. Goat tastes a lot like beef, but I found it to be a little more 

flavorful and juicy. Afterwards we went to Krumah's Mausoleum. For those who do not know Ghana's history (I didn't before my courses began) Nkrumah was a Pan-African a

ctivist who fought against colonial rule not just in Ghana (which was ruled by Britain). He subsequently became Ghana's 

first prime minister and then president. Though he was democratically elected only 18% of the voting population (won by 57% less than 50% of the pop. voted) voted for him, and he subsequently became a corrupt authoritarian. As a result he has a mixed legacy. Some love and idolize him much like George Washington in the US, others view him negatively for his corruptness and becoming an authoritarian.  He was overthrown by coup while out of the country; betrayed by one of his best friends.  Many idolize him for being a champion of decolonization and African rights, but others focus on his corruptness. My homestay has several of his books and a tray with his image so you can guess her opinion of him.

Then we went to the Art Center, a large market which primarily sells crafts. When the merchants saw our bus full of 'arbunis' they flocked towards it, banging on the windows trying to sell us goods before we even got off the bus. The moment my feet touched the ground several merchants swarmed around me shaking my hand in the traditional Ghana manner (a pronlonged hand shake that ends with the two people snapping their fingers against one anothers - I'm sure that You tube has a video of it which might better explain what it looks like) the unending string of hands attempting to shake mine has made me pretty good at it now. I now understand how celebrities feel being swarmed by fans and paperassi, its kinda cool for a couple seconds, and then quickly becomes rather stressful. We were all pulled and pushed by merchants to various stands and had things thrust into our faces. They are very intense barterers and I can't help but feel somewhat guilty when I force the price to less than 1/2 of their original demand. Even though I know they are trying to rip me off, I also know how badly they need the money, it is obvious from the intensity of their voice and their desperation when you begin to walk away. The most awkward moment was when, with one merchant I tried to explain to him that though I knew the item was worth more than I was willing to pay I could not afford to meet his demand, and that I would have to buy something of lesser quality and value. They all assume that since I am white and not from Ghana that I have endless amounts of money and that it is not of a concern to me. Which, relative to what Ghanaians make, is true (average wage in Accra, where the more wealthy people live, is 1,000 cedis a year (reminder 1 dollar = 1.4 cedis), the average teacher makes $2,000 cedis a year. Auntie Vic was complaining about how much college costs in Ghana (1 year tuition = 5,000 cedis)) yet I still have to watch what I spend, naturally.

I do not mean in any way to give the merchants a bad rep. They were all extremely friendly, far more friendly than any store clerk I have ever interacted with in the States, there is just a lot of them all at once, and unlike the US you do not have the opportunity to just browse, so I think the stress came more from the overstimulation and strangeness of it all, than anything a merchant did. I had a great experience.

Ta Ta For Now

-H

Akwaaba!

Hello everyone!

So I am in Accra, Ghana. One of the first things I noticed from the plane was how red (not grey) the streets are and how green the trees are. Even in the city most roads are dirt (clay) so it takes forever for us all to be picked up by the bus in the morning to go to the Aya Centre where our lectures are even though we all live relatively close to one another.

Yesterday, I moved into my homestay and met my host, Auntie Vic (Victoria Dei Tutu), who is so sweet and friendly. She says that she wants us to be fat by the time we go home, so that everyone in the States will see that people in Ghana have plenty of food. Both because the food is delicious and it is an insult to turn down a gift, she will probably succeed. Auntie and the other members of the compound (there are two houses and a courtyard within a walled area) are starting to call me Augua because I was born on a Monday and Ghana has a naming system based upon the day of the week one is born on and one's gender (there are websites where you can find out what day of the week you were born on and the Ghana naming system). My homestay has electricity (but due to a re-circuting or something we frequently have "lights off" or a power outage. Unlike some homstays, we also have working showers (some have to take bucket showers) though app. the tank tends to run out of water and then we too are forced to take a bucket shower (there is no plumbing system like in the US: people have polytanks which sit on platforms outside the house, higher than the house, that provide water for showers that need the help of gravity-- as a result showers are cold- which is great since its so hot- and a lot like standing under a waterfall.) Unlike some homsetays we do not have air conditioning or a PS3 but I think this makes the experience more authentic.

Children on the street frequently yell out "Abruni" when I walk by which means white person. Unlike in the US people openly call each other "white" "dark" "fat" "skinny" but it's not at all rude, it's actually quite heart-felt and warm.

Ok, well we are about to leave for lunch. . .

GOING!

So tomorrow (or i guess at this point later today) I am flying to Ghana! We are catching the bus bright and early at 5:45 for a flight out of DC at 1 PM and arriving in Accra, Ghana at 8:10 AM on Sunday (with a stop at JFK) total travel time is expected to be: 15 hours and 10 minutes which is actually less than I would have guesstimated. 

Introduction

I am going to be spending a month in Ghana beginning this Saturday. I am going as part of Washington and Lee University's Spring Term study abroad program in Ghana. There are about twenty W&L students in the group and two professors. We are studying "African Political Economy" and "African Economic Development"(if you would like a reading list for either or both courses e-mail me). We are studying at the University of Ghana located in Accra, Ghana. We have been assigned a home-stay in Accra who will house and feed us breakfast and dinner. In the morning we have a class taught by one of the W&L professors and in the afternoon we either have an excursion or a class taught by a professor from the University of Ghana. On the weekends we have excursions outside of the city of Accra.