This post actually should have come earlier, but the internet is completely out in Church. Note: If you ever come to Ghana and are shopping around for internet providers, completely avoid Busy Internet. Anyway...
Ever since school started I feel like I’m soooooooooo busy even though there’s tons of free time. I guess it’s just the feeling that since I’ve got to get up everyday and go somewhere it seems like my days are packed. I feel pretty exhausted at the end of each day, in large part due to the extreme heat/humidity. I swear I must sweat like ten gallons a day.
Regardless, a lot has gone down since I last wrote. I’ve been going to class and going out and generally having a good time. In my free time, I’m also in the process of trying to figure out what do to with my spring break and think that I’ve come to a conclusion. After seriously considering Egypt and Morocco, I asked a friend of mine who backpacked through Africa over the summer where she would go if she could go anywhere. She suggested Cape Town and Namibia, and after researching it I think we’ve (me, Griffin, and Caroline) have pretty much settled on that. Anna, my backpacker friend, said Namibia was one of the most beautiful places she had gone in Africa and absolutely raved about it. It seems really awesome and we’re hoping to book our plane tickets in the next few days. Airfare is hella expensive, but I’ve accepted the fact and am ready to pay it. Plus, I spent most of my free time with a four-year-old last semester (babysitting) so I could have a freaking awesome spring break. And who knows when I’ll even have the opportunity to do this all again?
I’m definitely not saving all my traveling for spring break though. Last weekend a big group of us went to Winneba (a town about half way between Accra and Cape Coast). It was very easily the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. When we got there, we dropped our stuff in our…accommodations (it can’t really be called a hotel, and it wasn’t quite a hostel. It was for lack of a better word, interesting) and headed straight to the beach. We were the only people on the beach except the local fisherman who were hundreds of feet away. No other tourists or anything. AND palm trees were growing out of the sand. I don’t really know why I thought that was so cool but it was…trust me. So we spent the whole day on the beach. After going in the ocean for a while, I was lying out on the sand and like the brilliant person I am, fell asleep on my stomach. Needless to say, it was pretty difficult to sit the next day because of the terrible sunburn on my bum. After the beach, we got some food at the hotel where half the group was staying. They had the most amazing pineapple juice ever. It was literally a pineapple that was juiced…I watched the guy making it. It was absolutely phenomenal and definitely one of the highlights of Winneba. The rest of the trip was low key and we headed back to Accra the next morning. Traveling there and back was pretty fun too. We took a bus, rather than a tro tro, and spent most of the time playing games. I got owned at GHOST several times, but oh well, fanice was present so life was good.
My classes have been pretty interesting so far. Last week in my Atlantic Slave Trade class, our professor took us on a field trip to the national museum where we got to see a lot about Ghana’s role and place in the slave trade. This weekend we’re going as a group to Cape Coast and Elmina where we’re going to visit an old slave castle/fort situation. It’s really cool being here and actually getting to experience history in that way. It makes it so much more interesting than just reading it out of a book.
My favorite class so far is my Documenting the African City class. Last week we learned the basics of using the cameras. A lot of it was review for me thanks to Mrs. Spitzer in seventh grade video production. It’s surprising how much I remember from that. This week we went on a field trip in class. We went to an area of Accra called Jamestown. Years ago there was an earthquake that hit Jamestown really badly and it never really got built back up. Even though there was so much damage, it’s still one of the most populous areas in the city. We went to an agency that is working on redevelopment in the area and then had the director take us around to film things. It was really amazing to see a different part of Accra. Living in Labone, we’re so spoiled and it’s easy to forget that the rest of the city isn’t as nice as our neighborhood. I really hope to go back with my SLR so I can take pictures.
My photography class is all right so far. I can’t say I’m particularly thrilled with the way it’s taught. I feel like the professor assumes that we all have some knowledge of photography even though many of us told him we’ve never taken a class before. Also, after the critique of our first project (portraits of a fellow classmate), I was kind of soured toward the class. The TA, Mawuli, is really great though and seems like he’ll be a lot of help. We’ve got another portrait project assigned for this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes.
I don’t really have much to say about my other two classes (Internship Seminar and African Popular Music). Next week should be a big week for African Popular Music though…I think we’re organizing a field trip to go see a couple of Highlife shows.
Aside from school, I’ve been making my way around Accra a bit more. Twice last week I went to Makola Market. It’s huge and outdoors and a bit smelly at times (Griffin was leading the way at one point and took us through the fish section). I bought tons of fabrics and am really excited about what I’m going to make with them. Tuesdays are “Terrific Tuesday” at a place called Pizza Inn. It’s a pizza chain in Ghana and on Tuesdays it’s buy one get one free. Caroline and I are well on our way to making it a weekly routine. While it’s not New York pizza, it is peri-peri chicken pizza and delicious. We’ve taken a couple trips to ShopRite for food. Last night Caroline and I made a really awesome Sweet and Sour Peri-Peri Chicken Stir Fry. It was a meal plan night, but Tante Marie has gotten really old really quickly. Tonight I think we’ll be hitting up Champs. It’s this weird British Sports Bar that doubles as a Mexican restaurant and on Thursdays has really good half price Margaritas.
That’s all for now. I think I hear the honk of a fanice vendor.
peace and love
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