Alright. Day 3 in Ghana. The past few days have been pretty hectic, so I haven’t been able to update the blog! It has been crazy here. We arrived off the airplane and walked straight onto the runway! There was no tunnel to the building. That was the first big difference. We went straight through customs with a big sign overhead that said “Akwaaba!” meaning welcome. Already I had learned my first Ghanaian word! After customs we picked up our luggage and we were rallied up by our new friend Gideon who held up his CIEE poster. Our luggage was put on a tro-tro which is the equivalent to a very large taxi/bus/van. It holds a lot of people (25ish) but can be kind of cramped. We were handed out two water bottles per person- that was the first stop on the tro tro. So, so far no worries on the water front. Actually, they suggested when we are on campus to purchase sashay water, which comes in bags with a pack of thirty. This is only 1 cedi and 50 pesawas while one water bottle in 60 pesawas. A much better deal. But so far we have had a LOT of orientation. We are currently staying at a place called the Mensvic Hotel until tomorrow morning when we get on campus. The hotel is super nice, which I feel has lured us into a false sense of security. Haha There is air conditioning, two double beds, a nice shower, and a balcony. The room is surprisingly spacious and we also have a TV. After hanging out for a bit in the hotel, we went to dinner at a place around the corner. We walked and were able to see a bunch of HUGE houses. If anyone ever told you that there are no wealthy people in Ghana, they were wrong. These houses are massive and beautiful. Unlike the US where we have blah colored houses like brown, grey, burhundy, light blue, etc. they have powder blues and bright reds with colorful roofs and elaborate beautiful gates. These bigger houses have gates surrounding them with barbed wire and/or broken glass to keep out thieves/predators and animals (im assuming). W e ate outside with the whooping 58 members of our class (a record for CIEE) and I had my first taste of Ghanaian food. I am not sure how to spell the food, so bear with me. I believe the rice was called jolof (sounds like jall-off). It was red and a tiny bit spicy. We had salad (without dressing which is interesting. I don’t believe they have salad dressing here), French fries, chicken wings, fried plantains, a vegetarian soup, and a few other dishes. I tried a little bit of everything but avoided most super spicy things. I am not a huge fan of spice, so I’m trying to gradually introduce it to my system!
After that we chatted with Kweasibea (one of the U Pals who goes to the University who are part of the program to help us out, show us around, and be our friends) about campus life and learned about some of the groups of people on campus. There is a hall which is associated with the color red- she made them sound like a fraternity. Somewhat equivalent to Phi Tau. Haha They do everything together and have “rivals” on campus. After we went a grabbed a beer at the hotel (which is allowed! J drinking age is 18 in Ghana).
The first night was rough for me. I had some tears. Unfortunately, I inherited my mom’s trait of being emotional, in the way that I can not, for the life of me, hide my emotions. I am transparent when it comes to that. Instead of being thrilled with my presence in a new country, all I could think about was how I was going to be there for four and a half months and how long that was….I was not thinking positively. Will my family still be there when I get back? Will my boyfriend and friends still be the same? And I know things will be different, but everyone will still be there. For some reason I have these terrible fears of my family disappearing, or my boyfriend breaking up with me while I’m abroad, and those thoughts were not only unhelpful, but detrimental to the experience. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a privilege that I am incredibly lucky to have. So, I have already experienced the emotional traumas of abroad- haha and its only been a few days! Maggie and Kim have been awesome so far, comforting me and I can’t thank God enough for them.
What’s hard, is something my very best friend Sam told me, being patient with yourself. There is no way I can walk into a whole new country and be immediately okay with it (at least I can’t). When I get upset at the situation, I get upset and frustrated with myself and my inability to adapt quickly- but such a demand is hardly realistic to put on myself. I am an independent person, but I am very close to my family and friends. It’s not easy to be thrown away from that. However, through a few deep breaths, and the shifting of perspective, I am getting better with each day.
Our second day we purchased phones and SIM cards at the Accra Mall! This was fascinating. They have similar type stores to ours, but different names as well as different food places. However, they had a pretty good pizza place which was good to see. Our phones were extremely cheap- they recommended getting the cheapest possible considering we will only need it for a four and a half months. Also, It won’t likely be stolen. No one wants a 40 cedi phone. They want an expensive iphone or blackberry. After going to the mall and grabbing lunch, exchanging money, etc. we took a group photo outside of the mall.
Back at orientation we discussed many topics such as Race and Sexuality, Money, Communication, Classes, Transportation, Security tips around campus and in the city, Health/Medical Concerns, etc. We also had many Q&A sessions on what our biggest fears are and what our goals are. Later that night we got our first taste of Ghanaiam High Life and Hip Life Music. This music is exclusive to Ghana and is much like our party music today, but a little more sophisticated- less pounding bass. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I saw some of the harvest dance and moves from African….however, I did not want to do any African until I determined the context…Hopefully that would be a Charles-approved way to approach such a situation haha. But it was a very fun night. Kim recorded a few good portions of it, so I am sure they will be uploaded to facebook sometime in the near future.
That’s pretty much it for now…tomorrow we have orientation till lunchtime, and then we head to campus to move in. I am so excited to get on campus and finally get a feel for it. I also figure out my roommate tomorrow, and we have free time to explore and SLEEP. I bet I’ll take a nap. Haha
In the meantime, prayers are appreciated. It is not a piece of cake here, even though the people are fabulous. I still cannot believe how friendly everyone is…I just am looking forward to adapting more. In the meantime, Ill be calling my mother quite often ;). One day at a time though. I miss everyone, and you’ll be hearing again from me soon!
P.S. the money here is SO MUCH BETTER. It’s colorful. Also, don’t be confused, I am having a great time so far, and I have already learned tons. It’s just adjusting time which makes things difficult.
No comments:
Post a Comment