Tourists...

The classic beach photo (to compete with Kostee)

On the road to my hostel

Today was exactly what I needed to bounce me back from yesterday. I think that today could be considered an authentic cultural experience.

After hours of walking around registering for courses, Leon and I decided to go for food in the Bush Canteen, a small market on campus. On the way in, we met a shopkeeper who sells religious books. His name was Kwesi Mensah. Kwesi is the Ghanaian name for someone who is born on Sunday (all Ghanaian people have a name based on a day - mine is Kojo for Monday). Mensah is a traditional name found in Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Kwesi told us that if you met someone with the name Mensah, they were surely from one of those three countries. The book he wanted me to buy was written by a Ghanaian pastor named Mensah Otabil. Mensah is the name given to a family's third child (if it is male) and comes from the Twi word for three.

Kwesi knew all kinds of things about languages - Portugese, the various Ghanaian languages, Spanish, French, and some language in the Congo that starts with an 'L'. His wife is from Brazzaville, and she works for the UN in Ghana. He learned a lot of the things he knows about the world from a 4 month boat ride he took that went all over Western Africa, the Caribbean, and South America.

He spoke mostly with Leon, and I loved watching his gradual opening up. At first, he did not make much eye contact, but eventually he really opened up and enjoyed the conversation. I could tell we had made some kind of relationship when we finished the conversation in French. It was a great moment.

Then we went into the market where my friend Phebe had had her hair braided the day before. The 5 women there had been laughing at me as I tried to speak Twi with them, and they recognized me when I returned. They offered Leon and I a seat, and they started speaking Twi with us. They laughed a lot, and so did we. Then it started to pour rain, so I helped pull down the covers and we waited out the rain.

Anthony, the store owner, came out and offered to teach us Twi more formally, grabbed a pen and paper, and sat down with us. He taught us verbs, pronouns, and nouns. Tomorrow at noon we are going back to learn the pronunciations. He wouldn't accept any gifts or money; he just wants us to learn some Twi.

I really love the women at the store. They are so full of happy energy, and they work so hard while having fun. They are so open to me learning and doing things wrong. Today one of them laughed so hard at me she fell on the floor. But they are not intimidating - just totally welcoming.

Before the Twi lesson, I had given one of my juggling balls to a little kid in the market. He took off with it. I went to find him, so I could give him the other two to learn to juggle. Instead, we ended up hanging out with a group of 3 Ghanaian and 1 Nigerian men, juggling and talking. A few of them could juggle, the others tried, and we laughed and talked. One of them is an underground rapper, one is planning on going to the US to study, and the other owns a shop in the market. We talked about girls, marriage, love, money, careers. The real important stuff. The rapper told me that he was holding off getting a girl until he had found a way to make enough money. "Love without money is like tea without sugar. It just isn't as sweet" was his exact words about love in Ghana.

We stayed there for over an hour, until the sun had set. Then we ate dinner at the market. The whole dining area was dark, and was being illuminated by a few candles. I tried Fufu for the first time and loved it. The woman who served me was so nice and patient. She even taught me a few Twi phrases. Leon and I talked about sports, weaknesses, strengths, and fears.

To finish off the day, I helped Aunty Adelaide (our porter) haul some stuff from one room to another in my building. The whole day was just a normal day with Ghanaian people, doing what they do on a daily basis. It felt real, and relaxed. I think I learned more from today than I have yet. Though the obruni factor will never go away, and I will always be a tourist and foreigner, today was a nice glimpse of what it could feel like to be more normal and familiar in Ghana. ANd I loved it. Every single second.

For my papa

Golf things in the Accra mall

Only one club left. Must be popular. :)

Dad, I just wanted to show you some of the similarities between Ghana and Canada. They are different, but they are also similar. Even you could find something in Ghana (in the sports section in the corner of a supermarket).

International v. local

Today and yesterday have been tough days for me, or at least tougher than the rest. At the beginning of my time here, I really through my arms wide open and met everyone I could meet. Now I know a lot of people here, about half Ghanaian and half international students.

I made a firm commitment to myself that I wanted to learn as much about life in Ghana as possible, which for me means spending a lot of my time with Ghanaian people. It also happens to be much easier to spend a lot of time with other international students who are experiencing the same struggles and excitements as I am.

Unfortunately, cliques have started to form. Not in a malicious way, but Ghanaian students are hanging out with Ghanaian students, and international students are hanging out with other international students. I am caught in the middle, and I am feeling isolated and strung out. I was trying to spend time with everyone, but that is not possible. Now I am feeling forced to decide who to prioritize my time with, and the answer is obviously the Ghanaian students. That just means that there are a lot events I am missing as groups of 30 obrunis (white people) head off to the bar together.

I am happy to stay and visit with my new Ghanaian friends. Sometimes it is just hard to watch relationships form without you.

Car accident on our way to the beach

In Ghana, one of the cheapest forms of transportation is the 'tro-tro'. They are vans that cram full of people (literally full - with the person operating the door hanging out of the moving vehicle, or holding the sliding door shut). When the pull up they yell things like "krakrakrakra" which is actually 'accra accra accra' meaning they are going into the city, or 'circ circ circ' which means 'circle circle circle', a roundabout that is their endpoint.

Traffic in Accra is not like Canada at all. There are few police on the roads, and it is common practice for vehicles to get where they are going by any means necessary. So, if there is a vehcile trying to turn left in front of you, just drive around them. If there is backed up traffic on your side, but the oncoming traffic lane is empty, well...let's hope it stays empty.

The best taxi ride I have had yet, the driver literally only stopped moving the vehicle once and this was during rush hour. He drove on the wrong side of the road, he took shortcuts, he drove on the sidewalk, he drove through parking lots, he created lanes to get around people. It was insane. I asked him if there were a lot of accidents in Accra; he said yes. Considering the chaos on the roads here though, that number is so low. Driving in Canada is boring by comparison.

So today, we (we being 30 exchange students crammed on a bust meant for 20) were on our way to the beach when we were hit by a tro-tro. It just clipped our front light, but the incident resulted in a three hour detour. We stopped on the side of the road with the trotro driver and there was a big screaming match between the drivers. Almost everyone around the vehicles started joining in the debate, and it became a big community gathering, with people who had nothing to do with the event getting heated. It was so entertaining to watch.

After the debate, we were finally ready to leave (after about 45 minutes). As we started to pull back out into traffic, we realized we were missing one student. Ian had gone to the bathroom. A bunch of Ghanaian men who had seen him go came running up to us to tell us we had forgotten someone. We waited for what seemed like a long time, and then he came running toward the bus. We clapped and cheered and it was good fun...for us at least.

After another 2 hours of driving and waiting at the police station, we left for the beach. The beach was incredible. Like the ones you see in photos. Perfectly soft white sand, large rolling waves, blue skies, palm trees. I have never been in water that was so warm, so salty, and so powerful. One wave actually flipped me around under the water.

Not long after we arrived, it became obvious that a storm was coming toward us. It came so quickly, blowing the sand all over. A bunch of us jumped back in the water and were just in awe of the enormous black clouds and extra-giant waves that were coming in. It was one of those moments that make you feel so small, and yet so powerful to be next to something so large.

Then it rained. While we were under the shelter, a dance party with the locals erupted and we danced, ate, and listened to music. I dance all the time. I can't stop it. The music here is made to make you move.

The storm cleared, we rode the little boat back to our bus, and we went home. It was a great day of adventure. Not what I expected my day to be like, but that was what made it so enjoyable. I am constantly being reminded to go with the flow and love whatever comes my way.

Beach, Rastafari, and Baby

My Monday was packed with adventures. I can't blog about everything I do each day, because so much is happening!!!! But here is my Monday, at least.

Today a few friends and I went to Labadi Beach, one of the more tourist oriented beaches in Accra (and also one of the closest to the university, thus the cheapest to travel to). Luckily, there were few other people there, so we had the beach mostly to ourselves.

The beach is like the ones you see in travel photos - white sand, mini umbrellas on top of lounge chairs, palm trees...and so much garbage. It litters the beach and is in the water. As each wave comes in, it brings little bags and other trash with it, which all hit your legs as the water goes by. It is really unfortunate, because the beach is such a beautiful place. The beach is fairly representative of everything I have seen in Ghana up until this point. There is litter everywhere. I don't even notice it anymore. Somehow, though, it doesn't steal from the beauty that much.

Three Ghanaian guys came and sat with us on the beach and we started talking. Eventually, we all started working out together, doing an ab workout (thanks Veronica/Mom/Jillian). They were asking me to lead them through a workout, but they could do way more of everything I showed them. I was not surprised. All young Ghanaian men are ripped. Six packs and all. It makes Canada look really out of shape.

Then a man selling bracelets and necklaces came over to us, and we started talking about Rastafari, which was his religion. He said it began with Hallie Selassie. We talked about his spirituality for almost an hour. He believes that God is in everything. Religion, he said, was human confusion that breaks us apart, when we should all be connected as people. The difference in our skin colour was just skin colour. On the inside we are brothers. He looked deep into my eyes while he was talking to me, and I listened intently to everything he said. He was well educated about the world, and had a much different perspective than I am used to.

Right after he left, two women and a man from Kumasi came up to us and asked if they could drop off their bags with us while they swam. We said yes, so the woman unwrapped her baby from her chest and laid her down before running into the water. They left their baby with us! I just laid and stared at her. She was such a beautiful child, and the sun was very gently lighting up her face. She was sucking her thumb and she had her hair in many little bunches held with neon coloured elastics.

The parents grabbed one of the girls with us and took her down to the water to take photos with her, because she is an Obruni (a white person). The child woke up to see me and Dominique (another Canadian) and started crying and screaming and trying to back away from us as we awkwardly wondered if we should pick her up to calm her down. Akina came and grabbed her and brought her to the mother and she was just fine. She started sucking her thumb again as she laid in her mom's arms.

The two women and the man did not look me in the eye once the entire 30 mins they were near us, which I felt was very strange. I am still unsure about why.

Then tonight, I played my first football (soccer) match with the Ghanaian students here. I was to only Obruni on the team. They had low expectations, and I think I slightly exceeded them. Maybe. It was a great time though, and our team won three games. I sweat more than I have ever sweat Canada. It felt amazing.

First real update - Jan 21

Pictures won't be coming up until I spend a day where the internet is free. But I have taken a lot of beautiful and interesting ones - mostly of the different bathrooms here.

I was lucky to sit beside a Ghanaian man named James on the plane from Washington to Accra. He is a pastor and he told me a lot about life in Ghana, things to look out for, and things to try. It was a really great way to enter the country, and he gave me his contact info and told me he would take me to meet his family and show me the city. I was really appreciative, and he was very generous.

Then, while waiting for my bags (which took forever!) a really HUGE Ghanaian man invited me to Labadi beach and told me he would buy me a drink. He is a graduate student in America, but did his Undergrad in Ghana and is visiting for the first time in years. He was full of energy.

I had no idea how I would possible get to that beach, or back, or whether it was a good idea. I decided not to go. Instead I met a couple of year-long students at the residence and hung out with them for a while. They told me they were going to Reggae night at Tawale beach and invited me. A wise man once said "Always do the crazy thing." So I went.

I hadn't really slept in over 30 hours, but I went. I felt drunk just from my tiredness. Ghanaian taxis are not rider friendly. Meagan, you would hate it. They are fast, bumpy, swerving, honking, and they are almost always hitting people and other cars. But they always pull through safely. The cars are always junkers but it suits the whole atmosphere.

My first night was spent on a beautiful beach, with waves washing up on shore, live reggae music, lamb kebabs and Ghanaian beer. It was the best entry into a country I could have asked for.

Last night, we went for dinner at a restaurant that was quite classy. I ordered a 5GHC (about $4) meal, but it ended up costing 20GHC ($16) because I didn't know how to properly order. I don't even spend that much for a meal in Canada! I was shocked. My lunch was 75 cents; my dinner 16 dollars. Prices really vary.

Then the crazy-inclined went to club downtown, even though we had to wake up at 8am the next morning. The bar was similar to clubs in Canada, except that the calibre of dancing was WAY higher. I kept looking at people grinding and telling myself I would fail miserably if I tried. Then a Ghanaian girl and I started dancing. We tried to dance, but I am really bad and we would bump awkwardly into each other, stop, laugh, and then she told me multiple times "you are really bad at this!" I know I am! But the club was not judgemental at all, and we had a great time. I am learning the Azonto. Look it up, because it is awesome and really popular here.

Leaving the club at 3am, there was a young Ghanaian boy who followed us to the car, holding my arm and asking for money. The rest of the people just ignored him and told me not to look in his eyes. But I did. It was heartbreaking. It is tough to know how to react in those situations.

Right now I am sitting in a room, watching the African Cup of Nations football (soccer) tournament on the TV with a bunch of my new Ghanaian and international friends. The past few days have been too much to take in a truly process. I am loving my time here and am so happy to be living in the moment.

Miss you all.

Akwaaba! Akwaaba to my blog!

That means welcome in Twi. I learned 6 other words, but I don't know how they are written yet.

Oye (no)

Midase (thank you)

Atasein (what's up?)

chale (dude)

dabe (no!)

maypowcho (please)