I really love how on my way to classes, or during class, I can get the best bananas of my life for less than 10 cents a pop. Delicious bananas have made class less gross and I can say that with confidence as the first week of classes is pretty much over now. My final schedule is not entirely what I anticipated but it's cool.
Monday: No Class
Tuesday: 8:00-9:25 Internship Seminar
10:30-1:25 History of the Atlantic Slave Trade
3:30-6:25 Documenting the African City
Wednesday: 10:00-12:55 Projects in Photography
Thursday: 11:00-1:55 Popular African Music
Friday: No class
They all seem like they'll be pretty awesome classes, and it looks like I'll probably be getting a minor in Africana Studies. I'm not sure where I'll be interning yet. Most likely it will be a place called the Legal Resource Centre, which deals with human rights issues. I'm trying to set it up so I can intern at the UNHCR but I don't know if that will be possible yet. I already got my first assignment for my photo class which I'm pretty excited about. We have to take a portrait of a fellow classmate (mine happens to be Griffin...not only do we own Cranium together, but we'll take awesome pictures together too) and do an interview a la the New Yorker. I'm excited to put my new camera to some good use and take some great pictures.
Other than classes, I've been keeping busy. The Inauguration was pretty exciting here. It was pretty astounding to see how many people (not just Americans) came out to view the election. We went to see it at the W.E.B. Dubois Centre near the US Embassy. It was a huge outdoor event with tons and tons of Ghanaians. The Ghanaians seemed more excited than a lot of the Americans. They had the craziest Obama gear (like traditional African fabrics with his face printed on them). I wore my Obama shirt in the morning on the day of the Inauguration and every single person I passed on my way to class said something to the effect of "YEAH OBAMA!!!!!!!!" It was a pretty cool experience to see it here in Africa surrounded by so many people. I'll get around to posting pictures of the event at some point...hopefully.
So yesterday I as totally shocked when me, Griffin, Mallory and Leah all went to a ShopRite Supermarket. It was totally like walking into a Wal-Mart in America. Strangely enough too, it was in a really modern looking mall that just seemed so incredibly out of place in Africa. I'm not going to fight it though...prices were a lot cheaper than at the Koala Supermarket and I was able to stock up on some pasta and jam and whatnot. While I was browsing the pasta, a Ghanaian approached me to ask if he could take my picture. I was pretty thrown off by the proposition as I wasn't doing anything particularly interesting, but then as a friend pointed out to me it's just as absurd when I ask to take pictures of the Africans selling their goods in the market or whatever. Foreign is foreign and it's pretty interesting. Plus, I'm about as white as they come, so maybe the guy was just amazed by my paleness. ALSO SHOCKING: Strawberries were 20 Cedi! Grapes were 18 Cedi! And those were small packages! I guess it just goes to show that it's best to buy the local fruit. Plus it's silly not to when they are the best bananas of life.
Last night a bunch of us went to Reggae Night at Labadi Beach. It was sooooooo much fun. Basically, it's a bunch of foreigners (Labadi is pretty touristy), Rastas, and random Ghanaians all dancing in the sand to live reggae music. It's a weekly thing, so I'm sure I'll be hitting it up again. I do have to say though, it was not easy getting up this morning for my African Popular Music class, so I'll probably have to moderate my Wednesday night partying.
And also just a few pros and cons of living in Africa:
PRO: I get to go dancing on the beach for reggae night any Wednesday I want.
CON: LOST premeired last night, and being the fanatic that I am, I bought the season pass on itunes. Unfortunately, Ghana is still a developing country, and internet is hella slow. Only 8 hours remaining on my download!
PRO: Last night a dress maker came to take measurements, designs and fabrics that we bought at the market. I'm getting a $395 JCrew dress made for 5 cedi. Factoring in the cost of the fabric, we're at about 8 Cedi. AND it's a custom made dress.
PRO: Bananas!
peace and love
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