Day in Osu

Today was another uneventful day. Woke up around 9 a.m., took a shower, went to the computer lab to write my blog and send out some emails (only to find out that the manager didn't show up today, so they were closed), got breakfast, watched an episode of House, and played some Axis and Allies on my computer. Thankfully, I found some others that wanted to go into Accra today, so I didn't have to go alone, which would have been fine since it was daytime, but not nearly as much fun. Ben, Mike, Andrew, and I left ISH around 12:30 p.m. and walked to the tro-tro station. There usually aren't tro-tros that go directly to your destination, so you have to go to one of the main stations and pick one up from there. We rode to 37 Station and switched tro-tros. Sure, it's a bit of a hassle, but it only cost $0.65 per person to get there (vs. a taxi which would cost about $2.00 per person). Once we got to Osu, we walked down the street to check out the street vendors stands. The merchandise in Osu is a bit pricey, but at the same time very nice because it is in a very tourist-centric portion of the city. I bought the Ghana flag for 7 cedi and a football jersey (knockoff of course) for 7 cedi, 50 pesawas. The original asking price for both items was 15 cedi, so I was pretty proud of my bargaining abilities today. Once Mats and Simen, from Norway, arrived in Osu, we walked down to Papaye for lunch. Papaye is about the closest to an American "fast food" restaurant, but the service is far from fast. I had a cheesburger and french fries (which Ghanians call "chips"). With a large bottle of water and a glass of tangerine juice, my lunch total was 6 cedi, 50 pesawas. Pretty comparable to McDonald's. We walked back up the other side of the street, constantly being heckled by vendors. There are a ton of guys that go around selling wrist bands that say Ghana, or more popular "Obama."

I told a Ghanian that I wasn't an Obama supporter for the first time today. He seemed amused at first (thinking I was kidding), but I told him that I wasn't joking. I said that I was going to vote for McCain and then his expression quickly changed to confused. I asked him if he had ever even heard of John McCain and he said "no." I explained that he is in the opposite political party (using a reference to Ghanian politics) as Barack Obama. Based off this guys expression, it seemed like he thought Obama was already elected president! After telling him all this, he left me alone (probably because he was either embarrassed, or more likely, disappointed that I didn't like Obama and that he wasn't guaranteed to become president). I think I'll have to use this tactic from now on! I'll just have to be careful who I say it around. I've quickly found that I am, literally, the only conservative American at the University of Ghana! Doesn't surprise me, but it does make political debates a bit intimidating. Luckily, I have 4 years of speech and debate on my side and the arrogance to think that I'm always right (very important characteristic I've found for doing well in debates).

That aside, after we left Osu, we stopped at the Accra Mall...the most Western thing south of the Mediterranean! There's a Nike Store, Panasonic, Puma, Shoprite, and several other upscale Western-style clothing stores. I picked up some groceries at Shoprite: peanut butter, tomato sauce, spaghetti, and a bottle of South African white wine. Aside from the peanut butter, I'm planning on having a very Italian-style, home-cooked dinner tomorrow night (although red wine would have been more appropriate). I'll probably pick up a nice loaf of bread tomorrow at the market to top it all off. Something that I thought about today...it is going to be weird when I get back to the States and can't have alcohol for a year. I only have a bottle of beer or a glass of wine with dinner, but I'm sure that after four months of doing so I will become accustomed to it.

We left the mall around 6:30 and came back to ISH. I picked up some salt and cooking oil at the "All Needs, Ltd." (which is a very ironic store name) down the street. I just finished up dinner (two sausage and vegetable kebabs) and came over to ISH 1 (I live in ISH 2) to use the internet. I'm pretty tired tonight so I think I'll be staying in, but a couple people were planning on going to the "Family Room" Cinema to watch a movie. The Family Room is a place that has several rooms that seat 4-7 people that you rent out to watch a movie on a television. You just pick a DVD and they play it for you. It costs 10 cedi for the 4 person room and 13 cedi for the larger, 7 person room. I'll probably just watch a movie on my laptop, then call it a night. I have to go to the Bush Canteen market in the morning to pick up a plate, silverware, a pot, and a cooking pan. In the afternoon, I'll work on my Sociology assignment in the library and pick up my books at the student bookstore. Doubt I'll be posting tomorrow because almost everything is shut down because its a Sunday. Ghanians take the "Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy," commandment a bit more serious than Western countries.

Just found out that Penn State won today! Not just won, but handed it to Coastal Carolina. Let's go State! I really wish I had been there. In fact, this is my first episode of homesickness. Oh well, I have the rest of my life for Penn State Football; I only have 4 months to enjoy living in Ghana! Well, I'm heading out...

Greg

Worst Day Yet...

So, after I wrote my wall post yesterday, the day took a turn for the worse. After I left the International Programs Office, I went for lunch with Brandon. While we were trying to enjoy our meal, this beggar came over and sat down and would not leave us alone. He had a "sob story" about how he was a Liberian refugee and needed 4 cedi to get a taxi from campus to the refugee camp on the other side of Accra. I told him that we didn't have any money and if he would please leave us alone, but he kept persisting. It might sound mean, not helping him out, but if I gave 4 cedi to every person that came along with a story I would be broke by now. That was only the beginning...

After lunch, Brandon and I parted ways (he had another class). I started walking to the History Department to pick up our reading list for the semester. On the way, it started raining. Luckily I had a rain jacket with me, so I was fine until I got to the History Department. Once I picked up the syllabus, I waited until the rain slowed down because by this point in time it was pouring. As I was walking back to ISH, a torrential downpour began and I was utterly helpless. I was right in the middle of a long walkway without any protection. The closest building was 300 yards away. My rain jacket quickly became soaked (and likewise, permeable)! The worst part was, I had my laptop with me and the rain was seeping through my backpack. So I took my jacket off and wrapped it around my backpack to try and provide some protection for my laptop. Fortunately, I made it back to the hostel before the water got to my computer, but I was soaked and muddy. I jumped in the shower (second of the day) and put my clothes out to dry.

That afternoon, I was on my laptop and it was charging. All of a sudden the voltage converter I had started smoking and sparking. It's fried! Mom, you'll have to apologize to your coworker that let me borrow it (let her know that I'll pay her to replace it when I get back). Now I have to get another step-up/step-down converter. Until then, I can't use my laptop because it's low on battery. The worst is yet to come...

So around 6 p.m. we decided to go get dinner at the Basement. We were all craving some Red Red, something that the Basement is particularly good at preparing. Unfortunately, when we arrived they said they were out and we had to get something else. That's not the worst of it. On the way back to ISH (it was still pouring at this point, mind you), I fell in on of the thousand ditches that weave their way around campus. They're drainage ditches to prevent water from puddling up around sidewalks and such, but they aren't covered and when it's dark out, they are very difficult to see. My left foot fell in (with my $120 Nike Shocks on, making matters even worse), and my right shin caught the lip of the CEMENT ditch! I got a pretty rough scratch that was bleeding and my shin hurt like (pardon the French) hell the whole way back to the hostel. It's got a nice lump on it this morning. The thing that worries me the most though is that people frequently throw their trash in those ditches and they smell like sewage when you walk by them, so I'm hoping that scrubbing the scratch in the shower (third of the day) with soap and water, putting alcohol sanitizer on it, Neosporin antibacterial spray, Neosporin cream, and a band-aid took care of all the bacteria! I'll be keeping a close eye on it over the next few days. Oh yeah, and throughout the day, my stomach was upset!

So, needles to say, I was not in the best of moods by the time I went to bed last night. Today has been a little better, except the rest of the group left for the Volta region this morning around 7 a.m. until Monday. I would have gone with them, except Prof. Dodoo has already set up a similar trip for the Penn State group that's already been paid for. The trip this weekend would have set me back $230, so I chose to stay behind. But everybody else went. So it's going to be a pretty lonely weekend. Tomorrow, I'm going into Accra for the day. Going out to eat, doing a little shopping, listening to the Penn State game on the internet. Sunday I'll try and finish up my Sociology assignment that's due in two weeks, which should only take about 2 hours. So, I don't really know what I'm going to do with the rest of my time between now and Tuesday, but I'm sure I'll find something. I might possibly head up to Asamankese, about 2 hours north of Accra, to meet Mr. Evans Agyei (the Gideon that my grandparents met at the International Gideons Convention this summer).

Well, that's all for now. No questions from anybody yet. Sometimes I wonder if what I'm writing about is really interesting to anybody. If you want to hear about something in particular, to possibly pique your interest, let me know.

Peace,
Greg

Untitled

Today has been pretty uneventful, thus far.  Had a class from 9:30 to 11:15 on "Aspects of Early Modern Europe," beginning in the 14th Century.  It was a pretty interesting class.  The professor spoke very well...and slow!  All the Ghanians were writing down what he was saying verbatim, so I did as well, assuming that is the norm for history courses.  I am currently sitting in the International Programs Office lounge (listening to "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by the Postal Service on iTunes) because it is one of the few places on campus that has wireless internet connection.  It is by no means as good as Busy Internet, in terms of speed, but at least I have the comfort of knowing that whatever I look up won't be in the History for somebody else to see once I'm gone (one of my fears using the computer labs).  I don't really have much else planned for the day.  I'm going to stop by the History and Political Science Departments before heading back to the hostel to see if I can obtain a copy of the syllabi and reading lists.  Otherwise, I'll probably just watch House on my laptop (I watched 4 episodes yesterday).  I still haven't found any pots, pans, and cooking utensils, so I might try and pick those up a little later on as well.  The refrigerator is working really well, so I'm excited to get stuff to cook with, knowing that I can keep it cold.

Tomorrow, the "group" is heading out of town for the Volta region, except me.  Penn State already has a trip planned for there in a couple weeks and its already paid for.  If I joined the other group, it would cost 230 cedi, which is a bit too pricey for me.  I might go with Simen, Mats, and Mike on a weekend excursion, but if that falls through I'll most likely be stuck here in Legon all weekend.  If that happens, I'm definitely heading back to Busy Internet to find the radio broadcast of the Penn State game online.  That is definitely going to be something I miss...A LOT!  Andrew, Mary Beth, and I were thinking about possibly doing a Fantasy Football League this fall so that we aren't completely removed from what Ghanians (and I'm sure most people outside the United States), "handball."  Charles, one of the front desk managers at the hostel, said that there might be an intramural handball league at the University this fall.  If there is, I am seriously contemplating signing up (and praying I don't break any bones...or worse).  Really random...but looking back on high school, I really regret quitting football 10th grade year.  I loved playing and I wish I had found a better way to manage my time rather than simply quit.

Well, that's all for now.  Brandon and I are heading to Tyme Out (a bar/restaurant/billiards lounge) for lunch.  I'll most likely have rice and chicken...again!

Cheers,

Greg

"TGIT"

Although last week was the “official” first week of classes (interrupted by the professors’ strike), I finally had my first day of classes yesterday. I was a bit worried at first because when I went to my morning political science class (“International Conflict and Conflict Resolution”) the professor didn’t show up. Somebody from the department showed up and said that our first lecture would be next week because the professor couldn’t make it that day. Brandon and I have the exact same schedule of classes on Tuesday and we were both worried that the professors wouldn’t show up for our other two classes. Fortunately they did. I know that it sounds weird that I’m complaining about not having class, but there is very little to do around campus and I need something to keep me busy.

One interesting thing to note about my first class yesterday though…while we were waiting for the professor to show up, a man dressed up nicely (who we originally thought was the professor), started preaching in the lecture hall. It was your typical fire and brimstone sermon. None of the Ghanian students paid attention because this is apparently a frequent occurrence. People would never be able to get away with that back in the States. Again Poppy, the guy had some Gideon New Testament Bibles with him and it made me think of you. He offered to give anybody who brought their condoms up and gave them to him a Bible, which was a bit awkward. At the end, he did the sinner’s prayer for forgiveness and a student went up front because he accepted Jesus. He was smiling the whole time, which leads me to believe that he was just doing it as a joke, but either way I thought it was interesting that Christians have that type of opportunity to share their beliefs in such a public place and lead people to Christ.

After we found out that our first class was cancelled, Brandon and I came back to ISH 2 because we had about 3.5 hours until our next class. On the way back, we stopped and got a sausage and vegetable kebab from the “Night Market,” which is right across the street from my hostel. I also stopped by a stand that sells boot-legged copies of American television shows and movies. I bought the complete first two seasons of House for 10 cedi (about $9). They’re actually pretty decent copies, except they have Chinese subtitles that you can’t turn off, but the audio is in English.

My next class was at 3:30 p.m. (“Refugees and International Relations”). It was an interesting class because the Ghanian representative to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) gave a special lecture. So I have yet to see what my actual professor’s lectures will be like for that class. That class goes until 5:25 p.m. and my next class is at 5:30 p.m. (“Colonialism and the African Response”). Thankfully, the lecture halls are in the same building, but it doesn’t leave much time for a break. My professor for that class was a guest lecturer at Penn State in the Spring and I took “Modern African History” with him. He was so excited to see me again, this time in his home country. I felt like a little bit of a suck-up because he singled me out in front of the whole class, but I’ll take it if it means an A! That class ended at 7:25 p.m. (dark out by now) and I was starving. All I had to eat all day was an egg sandwich, a cup of coffee, a kebab, and a bottle of water. TGIT (Thank God It’s Tuesday)! You see, there is this gas station called Bonjour that has two restaurants in it (Chick Inn and Pizza Inn). On Tuesday’s, Pizza Inn has “two-for-one-Tuesdays.” And the pizza there is delicious! So Brandon and I each got a large pizza (Peri-Peri Chicken and Veggie Supreme, respectively), for 5 cedi each. We go there every Tuesday because the pizza is so delicious, filling, and cheap.

Today is my rest day, which I’m going to need after nearly six hours of lecturing on Tuesdays. No classes! I’m actually writing this entry on my laptop in my room and I’ll save it to my thumb drive and upload it at the computer lab to save myself some time. I got a refrigerator the other day, by the way! Well, just renting it for the semester, but it will be nice to actually have cold water because you can’t use ice and the vendors don’t put the water in coolers. I’m going to the market later today to get some pots, pans, and cooking utensils so I can start cooking some of my own food. With the refrigerator, I’ll be able to get things like cheese and meat to store and then cook.

That’s all for now. I need to go get some breakfast and water so I can take my malaria pill. I got my first mosquito bite over the weekend, but I feel fine so thankfully no malaria! Yesterday evening and this morning I did have my first case of, as Tim McKinley put it, Ghanarrhea but its all good now (hopefully nobody is reading this around dinner time; if so, my apologies). Thankfully it didn’t happen on a day that I have classes. I’m trying to figure out what I ate or drank that could be the culprit but I can’t come up with anything.

Until next time,
Greg

Ada Foah (aka Heaven on Earth)

As I mentioned in my last blog, we went on our first trip this past weekend to a small fishing village called Ada Foah. Now I knew it was going to be an awesome experience (I mean a hut on the beach for only $5 a night...can't beat that), but I was not anticipating such an amazing time. We left Wednesday around 2 p.m. and had a two hour "private" tro-tro (we charted it just for our group of 11 at $3.50 per person, much less than the $7 that the city bus would have cost). Once we arrived in Big Ada (the main village), we loaded our stuff onto a boat and rode down the Volta River for about a half an hour. We past a ton of boats, fisherman, etc. There were a lot of beautiful mansions along the river that we later found out from Niels (a retired man from Copenhagen that got super drunk Saturday night) all belong to wealthy, retired Europeans. The river was also lined with reed/palm leave huts with children bathing and swimming in the water. Once we finally arrived at our little slice of paradise, the sun was low in the sky and everything was glistening orange. We paid for our boat ride and rooms for all four nights (coming to a "whopping" $34) and put our stuff in our huts. I shared a hut with Brandon, from Portland State University (the other PSU). At first it was a bit awkward sharing a bed with somebody I've only known for about a week, but by the end of the trip we were all so close that it wouldn't have mattered who I shared with. Our group consisted of Carly, McKenzie, Maggy, Callie, and Mary Beth from UNC; Andrew from NC State; Becca from a small school in California (sorry I forgot the name Becca); Brandon from Portland State; Kristine from Elon; and Andrew and I from Penn State.

The menu had a good deal of variety on it, but it was little pricey relative to campus and Accra prices (but still well below the States). The big hit was spaghetti for $2.50! The chicken was pretty good as well. Water was a bit expensive ($1.20 for 1.5 liters), but the beer was on par with prices around the rest of Ghana (about $0.90 a bottle). All-in-all, I spent about $30 on food and drinks for our five day, four night trip; bringing the grand total to about $64!

Thursday we woke up to the sounds of fisherman singing as the hauled in the nets from the night before. Andrew, Andrew, and I went down and helped them pull in the nets. It was a lot of work, especially since we couldn't understand the local language. Once we finally had the nets hauled in, they showed us what all they caught was...a lot of it was what they refer to as "yellow fish," some crabs, jellyfish, a squid, and some sturgeon. The fishermen offered us each a fish for our help, but we declined and they all smiled at us (either because they thought we were crazy for doing work without being paid, or because they appreciated our help without expecting payment). The rest of the day was spent lounging around reading and soaking up the sun. I started reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut that morning and was finished the following afternoon. It was an incredible book! I highly suggest it to everybody reading this that hasn't read it yet (Rafik...as I was reading it, it made me think of you a lot; particularily your "essay" back in 11th grade because I remember that it was one of the books Nailor had you read).

The sun sets incredibly early in Ghana this time of year (around 6:30). So after the sunset we pretty much just sat around and talked with each other. We went to bed around 9:00 p.m. because there wasn't really anything else to do and the fishermen always wake you up around 7:00 a.m. Friday was more reading on the beach. Once I finished Slaughterhouse Five, I moved on to The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman (a little slow at first, but its getting better). I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot of reading here, since there isn't much else to do in your free time. No television, no web-surfing (aka "facebooking"), etc. We also paid a local "fisherman" 10 cedi to give us a tour of some of the surrounding islands on his boat. It turns out that the fisherman was no fisherman at all, but rather a sugar cane farmer. He took us to his island and showed us how they make awk-wa-tash-ine (phonetic spelling because I have no idea how to really spell it). It's essentially moonshine that could take the paint of the walls. He gave us about half a shot glass worth and it just burned as it went down. The after taste though was fantastic; it was very sweet (which makes sense since it's made from sugar cane) and had a hint of banana. We bought about a 16 oz. bottle full for 6 cedi to bring back for others to try at the hostel. On the way back to the hotel/resort, the weight of us all made the sides pop out and the seats fell into the boat, scaring the crap out of us, but all the children along the beach thought it was hilarious. Once we regained our composure from our nearly capsized boat, we re-arranged ourselves mid-river so that it would happen again. We didn't get it right! It ended up happening two more times, until we finally got the weight balancing correct (which required McKenzie to straddle/grope Maggie for a good 30 minutes on our way back).

On Saturday, we ventured in to the villages to take pictures of the children and buildings. The adults are very hesitant to allow tourists to take pictures of them, but the kids love it. One guy was asleep on a bench outside his home and when they took the picture we woke up and got really angry. He later came over to the resort with a machette and some coconuts to complain. While we're pretty sure that he sells coconuts for a living, his weapon of sorts put us a little on edge, so we bought some coconuts above "market value" and apologized many times to get him to leave. That was the only hostile person that I have encountered during my entire time in Ghana so far. The kids on the other hand love to have their picture taken...a million times! Once you take their picture, they insist on looking at it on the screen and they always giggle. I didn't take my camera into the village because I knew the kids wouldn't leave me alone, but they did find it amusing the grab my hand and have me lift them way up in the air. That got old rather quickly, but it was still a great experience. My two favorites were Sampson and Richard. Richard went around and picked all the empty bottles and cans out of the trash cans to sell for recycling. He was so cute!

Although it was a beautiful resort and we had a great time, by Sunday I was more than ready to come back to campus. Mainly, to take a shower. Oh yeah...they didn't have showers or toilets at the Marantha Beach Resort. A shower for us consisted of jumping in the Volta to wash our body/hair (which I did only once because I didn't feel very clean afterwards anyways). The "toilets" were holes dug in the sand with wooden crates with holes cut out of the top box. They must have cleaned them out overnight because they were always cleanest in the morning, but by the end of the day they were just terrible (I'll spare you the details). Let's just say that after dark, we all just went out in the middle of the beach to go #1 and covered it up with sand. Sounds unsanitary, I know, but much better than the alternative! Don't let those two things discourage you though. We all had a blast and we're likely to make another trip out there towards the end of the semester. If you're ever in Ghana, I would definitely suggest a weekend at the Marantha Beach Resort. Especially Saturday night, when they have a huge bonfire with drummers and traditional dancers!

Well, it's taken me about 50 minutes to write this much and I still need to check my email before my time runs out, therefore I won't be spell-checking this entry so forgive me for any errors. I'm at Busy Internet in Accra for the first time and the connection speed is so much faster! So, if you have questions about the trip/life in general, just leave a comment.

Until next time,
Greg

Venturing Out...

Hello all! Today I will be leaving for my very first excursion outside the Greater Accra area. Several of "us" (meaning the UNC girls, Becca, Brandon, Christine, and myself) will be heading two hours east of Accra to a small fishing village called "Ada." We chartered a private tro-tro for the 10 of us at 3.50 (3 cedi, 50 pesawas) per person including our bags, which is usually an extra charge. We're staying in 2 person huts ON THE BEACH! They're only 10 cedi per night. We'll be staying four nights and coming back sometime Sunday afternoon. Cost of the trip: 27 cedi plus food (which should only be about 5 cedi a day). I wish you could do trips in the States for that little.

So the reason that we're able to go on this trip since its supposed to be the first week of classes is because the lecturers at the University went on strike Monday and they just resolved it yesterday, but classes aren't starting back up again until Monday.

I met these two really cool Ghanian guys named Rauf and Salem on my way to class yesterday. They said hello as I passed by, which is what I love about Ghanians (they're so friendly). Anyways, they were sitting on a half wall by the sidewalk so I went over and sat down. We chatted for about 45 minutes because I had a lot of time to kill before heading to class, which ended up not even taking place because the professor didn't show up. We talked about all sorts of stuff; college, Ghana, the United States, women, etc. Rauf and I exchanged numbers and I think I'm going to their apartment next weekend to hang out and watch some football (soccer) on television. Can't wait!

I know this was another short post, but I must be heading back to my room and doing some last minute preparations for the trip. We're leaving in about an hour.

So, until Sunday...
Greg

Labadi Beach/First Day of Classes

Hello friends and family! Yesterday we ventured to the "beautiful" beach resort at Labadi Beach. Now I may have been spoiled by spending three weeks at the beautiful beaches of Miami, but the beaches here are just plain aweful (at least in and around Accra). I mean, these beaches make Ocean City, New Jersey look like the white sand, crystal clear blue water beaches you see in travel agencies' windows. There were plastic bags and empty soda/beer bottles floating in the water, a terrible rip tide, and while the sand was relatively clean at low tide, high tide covers the beach with cigarette butts and garbage. Although it was not the most ideal location, it was still very relaxing listening to traditional African music, watching the dancers, reading in the beautiful sun, and sharing a Star (beer) with friends. There are also tons of vendors that come around and try to sell you neat little trinkets from the comfort of your beach chair. Sometimes they can be a bit aggressive and overbearing, but if you just ignore them they move on. There was one guy walking around trying to sell a python and another a little puppy. All in all, it wasn't really worth the GH 3 cedi that we paid to get in, so hopefully we'll be able to find a nicer beach for future outings. Yesterday was the first day that my skin got noticeably darker (even while wearing my SPF 45 sunscreen). After we came back from the beach, we showered and went up to Desparados (a bar/restaurant in the northern part of campus (and if you're reading this Rafik I apologize for all the parenthesis usage)), only to find that it doesn't serve food on Sundays. So, we all walked down to Bonjour, a gas station just off campus that caters to foreign students by serving pizza, burgers, and chicken. Afterwards, we all came back and played Apples to Apples in Becca's room.

Today was the first day of classes! Luckily, I don't have any classes on Monday or Friday! I know that you're all jealous. The classes here only meet once a week for 2 hours. I have 3 classes Tuesday, a class Wednesday evening, and another Thursday morning. It's going to be incredible when it comes to traveling. I'll be able to leave Thursday afternoon and return Monday evening and not miss a single class. In fact, I'm going to be doing just that this weekend. A couple people that I've met from UNC, California, and a few from our Penn State group are going to Ada. It's a couple hours east of Accra. We're going to be staying in huts on a beach that sea turtles come to lay their eggs on. Some of the other foreign students in our hostel went this past weekend and said it was amazing, so I'm really looking forward to that. Back to classes, I'm taking two history classes (one about European Colonialism in Africa and another on "Early Modern" European History...not really sure what early modern entails but it sounded interesting), two political science classes (one is called "Refugees and International Relations" and the other "International Conflict and Conflict Resolution"), and my last class is an introductory-level Reasearch Methods for the field of sociology (this was the one class that we are required to take as part of our program).

So now, a note on some miscellaneous items that I've encountered during the early part of my trip to Ghana. Everybody here loves Obama! I mean everybody! Vendors sell Obama bracelets, t-shirts, etc. When we were at Reggae Night last Wednesday, Andrew (one of the kids from the Penn State program) and myself had a conversation with one of the local Ghanians. He said that everybody in Ghana was excited to see a black man as president of the U.S., since it's always been white men, which I can understand. However, the fallacy in thought here, at least in my interpretation, is that they all believe that Obama is going to radically change Africa. They think that Obama is going to bring the money and technology to Africa so that it can "catch up" (as one local put it) with the United States. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I doubt there will be much change, other than maybe an increase in aid of a few million dollars, let alone that I wasn't even an Obama supporter...Come on Ron (Paul)!

Next, (and I think this will make Poppy pretty happy to hear), all the cabs have Gideon Bibles on their dashboards. I ask all the drivers if they read them and they all say yes. Then my next question is, "what's youre favorite verse" and the response is immediately "John 3:16." 80% of the population of Ghana is Christian, the other 20% is mostly Muslims in the North. And believe me, they make it known that they're Christian. Most of the taxis have "God Bless" bumper stickers or magnets of Jesus on the back of their cars. Ophelia, a local Ghanian who is serving as our "RA" told us that while most people claim Christianity, very few actually practice it. But, those who do are very committed. For those who don't, it's merely a facade to lure people into their cabs or tro-tros. Although I've been here two Sundays, I've yet to attend a church service, which I've heard can reach upwards of 3 hours long.

Now, for some really random things, just for you to get a feel for what Ghana is truly like. Full laundry services (wash, dry, fold) costs about GH 4 cedi (a little less than $4) for a "large load" of about 10 pounds. A liter and a half of water only costs 60 pesewas (cents). A nice meal at a sit-down restaurant costs between $3 and $4. A mosquito net for around your bed which would cost roughly $60 back in the States, only costs $7.50 here (I'm sure largely in part of subsidized programs by NGOs). Nobody wears t-shirts around campus. All the local students wear very nice button-up, collared shirts to classes (which makes me regret not having any short sleeve button-up dress shirts like Mr. Pegg). This one's for Dr. Tenedious (and I apologize if I spelled that incorrectly)...the women here are beautiful and the beer is dirt cheap. I think we should re-think our investment in renting an apartment in State College and possibly re-locate to Accra. Plus, it's nicer weather than in Happy Valley! Unfortunately, there are not Hooter's, but I think we could manage without one. Back to the random information. They have a ShopRite in Accra, which has everything a Westerner would ever need at an incredibly inflated price. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way in Ghana!! I've seen so many people almost get hit. The cars just simply do not stop (except the taxis occasionally because they want you to get in). Every African child is incredibly cute! I think it helps that you're usually one of the first white people that they've ever seen so they are just drawn to you and act very friendly. I already have some really cute photos, and I'm sure there will be more to come. Some of us were thinking about bringing one back home with us as a souvenir (I know that sounds terrible and I assure you that we're just joking, but they are just that cute).

Alright, I have used way too many (parenthesis...and I know that's not the correct plural form of that word, but I don't feel like taking the time to look it up) and I'm almost out of time at the Afronet Internet Cafe. Don't really have plans for the rest of the day but I'm sure I'll find something to do, as always.

Until next time...
Greg

Homowo

So I got to experience my very first Ghanian holiday today. The Ga people of Ghana, who reside in "Old Accra" celebrate their history and merging of freed Brazilian slaves with their traditional African tribes on this day. We woke up pretty early this morning (7 a.m.-ish) and went into Accra to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and got a guided tour of the park/museum/mausoleum where he is buried. After spending about an hour and half there, we went to the district in Accra known as Usshertown and visited a 17th Century Fort that was built for the slave trade. It was pretty intense. We got some great pictures of the ocean and all the fishing boats from the back of the fort. Afterwards, we went to "Old Accra" and met the chief of the one of the neighborhoods. It was a really cool ceremony. We had to pay the chief homage with a bottle of Schnapps (apparently that is the drink of choice for Ghanian government/tribal officials). He said a prayer for all of us in the traditional Ga language and shared in a shot with each of us. Later we went to a chop bar and had a couple sodas. We had to kill some time before going to see the King of the Ga people. Again, we had to give a gift of Schnapps. Then we were allowed to ask the King and his advisor's questions. Finally, we went to our tour guides home and had the traditional Homowo Festival food with his extended family. It was an awesome day! I still feel so far behind in letting everybody know about our awesome experiences. It's just very difficult with the time limits on the computers.

Well, I must be going now. I might be heading out of "civilization" for the next couple of days to visit Cape Coast and won't have internet access. So I probably won't update for a couple days. Talk to you all soon!

Greetings from Ghana

Hey everybody,

Greetings from Ghana! Sorry it has taken so long for me to put up a new post. The internet here in Ghana is incredibly slow. I mean, worse than dial-up way back when. The worst part is, you have to pay 80 pesawas/hour (which is roughly 80 cents/hour...pretty close exchange rate) for it. Anyways, not to seem so down about the trip thus far. I've had an awesome experience. The plane rides were terrible. I got maybe 2 hours of sleep between both 7 hour flights. When we arrived, there were hundreds of people crowded around the exit of the airport. Mostly taxi drivers who wanted to take rich Westerners to their hotels. Once I arrived at the International Students Hostel 2 (ISH 2 henceforth), I met my roommate, Simon (from Norway) and almost immediately went to sleep. Saturday, I unpacked in the morning, then took a tro-tro (a beat up piece of crap van) up to a local market called Madina, about 2.5 km away. I didn't buy anything at the market besides a couple bottles of water (it's about 60-80 pesawas for 1.5 liters, which is a pretty good deal). A little boy did try to pick-pocket me, but I caught him and he didn't get anything. The locals are so friendly, constantly calling us "Oboruni's" (Twi, for white person). There were a few beggars, but most of the people here are hard-working and actually try to provide some type of service of good for your money. Sunday, we went on a tour of campus from Ophelia, our RA from Kumasi (a region about 6 hours north of Accra). I found out why it's called Legon University now...Legon means "knowledge" and the campus sits on a huge hill call Legon Hill (Knowledge Hill).

I have so much more to share, but my time is almost up and I don't know how long it will take the internet to post this, so this is it for now. Hopefully, I will be able to post again in the near future to share the rest of my experiences thus far.

Greg

Packing

So I've come to discover that packing for a four-month overseas adventure is a bit more difficult than preparing for a semester at Penn State, especially considering I could either purchase whatever I forgot or make my mother bring anything that I needed since I live a little over an hour away.  I don't have that luxury in Ghana.  However, it is also my fault for waiting so long to begin packing.  I'm not leaving Danville tomorrow until 3:30 p.m., so I plan on waking up at 8 a.m. and should have plenty of time to do some last-minute packing/weighing/unpacking (some things, due to weight restrictions).  It's ridiculous that I have to cram 4 months worth of necessities, minus a few things I can get at the marketplace in Accra, into two suitcases that must both weigh less than 50 lbs. and a backpack.  We're talking clothes, mosquito "stuff", bedding, food (for protein), toiletries, medications, sunscreen, camera stuff, etc.  I know that I'm going to forget something, but hopefully I will be able to find it in Ghana.  Well, it's getting a little late on this, the eve of my commencement to Africa, and I should really be heading to bed (especially since it's the last time for four months I will have air conditioning and won't wake up in the morning hoping I didn't acquire malaria the night before from a mosquito that found its way into my mosquito net cloaked bed).

On a slightly unrelated note, I was watching V for Vendetta last night (definitely one of my Top 5 Favorite Movies, which I highly recommend to anybody who wants to see a great, fictional commentary on terrorism's effectiveness and legitimacy for enacting change in a corrupt society) and heard this amazing line that is so true...

"People should not be afraid of their governments.  Governments should be afraid of their people."  - V

Thomas Jefferson provided a more poetic version, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

To fully grasp the power of these two quotes, I sincerely urge you to watch the movie.  Well that's all for now.  My next post will come from Ghana!