"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