Bye bye-O

Leaving Ghana today, I can't say much except it feels like a million butterflies are having a party in my stomach.

Castles and Cape Coast

THANKS!

Ampei anyone?

Ampei is a children's game that you can play with any number of people. You can see it practically everywhere in Ghana. Normally played by girls, and instead of just being like a hand game where there's no real winner, this game runs with points. To play, you and one other person face each other, clap two times and jump twice. On the second jump you land with either your left or your right leg out, your choice. The way to win points is to have the result of your jump be what you call. Like calling heads or tails on a spinning coin, except in Ampei you decide heads or tails before you start playing and you can't change your choice throughout the game. The result of your jump can be either 'same' or 'different'. 'Same' means when both you and your partner put out a leg on the same side. For example, if you put out your right leg and they put out their left leg your toes would meet in the middle, forming a straight line, making it 'same'. 'Different' means when you put out a leg on one side and your partner puts out a leg in the other side. For example, you both put out your left leg making a sort of criss-cross in the middle, 'different'. If you call 'same' before you start playing and on every jump you and your partner's legs end up being 'same' you win. And the other way around. Every time it's your call you earn a point. You can play up to ten, twenty, however many points you like.

I might not be the best at explaining, so here's a visual:

(In the beginning of the video they stop suddenly, it's just because one of the student's mothers scolded them. I said it was fine. They keep going :D )

Hope this has been fun to see! It's sure been fun to play.

To Work and Back

A photo collection of a trip to work and back from my teaching project in Ghana. From the tro-tro ride there, to the children I teach. Just thought I should make good use of my camera, now that I've got a new one and time's running short. Hope you enjoy it!

To Work and Back

All of the lights

Just a little story:
The Semi-Celebrity Life of the Obruni
So, Jolien (AFS Belgium) and I were fabric shopping in a busy area of Accra together before she went back to her host family in Ashanti Mampong. We had a great time walking around, looking at fabrics, beads, and whatever else that interested us throughout the afternoon but by the time we were finished getting back home was looking a little more difficult than we had imagined it would be. In order for us to get back to our separate homes, hers being a temporary host family in Don Simon, an area of Accra, and mine on Spintex Road in a different area of Accra, we had to tro-tro to Circle and get another tro-tro from the station there. The line, or rather the mob of people waiting for a Circle tro-tro was pretty big. Over twenty at least, and every one of those twenty I'm sure had more experience pushing on to tro-tro's than we did. Add my fear about someone hitting Jolien's injured leg into it and we knew it might be impossible to get a Circle tro-tro, we had started to consider getting a taxi. Just then a tro-tro pulled up, the crowd yelled "Circle? Circle?" to the mate and he looked at us and shook his head. Then right as we turned he beckoned us over while putting out his arm so no one else could get on the tro-tro and said "Circle, Obrunis bra!" Startled and confused we jumped on without thinking and only realized twenty seconds later that he lied to that mass of people, told them he wasn't going to Circle, and let us on in the confusion. We sat there, gap-mouthed and tried to hide our faces from the other passengers and angry people we drove by. The right thing would have been maybe to let someone else on, someone who was waiting longer than we had been, but I have been beaten to a tro-tro Ghanaians before and it's normally not a very big deal. It just happens. So, as surprised we were, we were thankful and were able to get home before it was too late.
Being obruni in Ghana is sometimes like being a celebrity. Occasionally there is 'paparazzi', a Ghanaian coming up to you wanting to pose in a photo with you even though they don't know you at all or someone taking photos of you walking along beside them in sidewalk-traffic. Sometimes you get hassled and it's annoying. People can assume you're EXTREMELY wealthy and ask for money, people will ask for invitations to the US, and to marry you like they're asking the time. Sometimes you'll get a free piece of fruit or someone will pay for you on a tro-tro. Sometimes someone will walk you all the way to some place instead of just giving you directions. Sometimes people will just give you the shirt off their backs if you say you like it in passing. Or even, you'll get a helping hand onto a packed tro-tro. There's a line, I definitely think, between enjoying the advantage once in a while and totally taking advantage of your obruni status but in the end... it's all part of the exchange trip. Oh, Ghana!

'More Ghana'

While I was travelling by the coast I realized there was something I sorta missed about Accra, though I heard it on the beach sometimes, I missed the sound of street hawkers. On most of the roads in Accra, even dangerous faster-moving roads you can nearly always find street hawkers yelling out "Yess, puuure" and "plantaaiin". Men and women carrying anything and everything you would ever want to buy right outside your window as you drive past. The list ranges from toothpaste to wallets, jewelery to bread and butter, razors to plungers, and soccer balls to religious stickers for your car.

Woman carrying her child while selling bread and butter.

Before my trip, when AFS had us all meet in New York I met a girl who went to Ghana for the summer and sat in a bus writing a list of all the things she could have bought. I laughed at it then, but now I can even think of some things I might want that it's missing. The trick is to know about how much each thing costs, that way you can pay the exact amount and quickly switch the money for the item and not worry about the car moving off before you get your change or they get their money. I've seen some people be pretty sly, grab the things they're buying and drive off without paying, but not very often. Most hawkers in a certain area will help each other out though, if one can't find change quickly enough, or the car's moved off they'll help run after it. In one area there will sometimes be ten women all selling plantain chips. In order to keep all of that stuff balanced on their head, they use years of practice along with little rolled up scarves in between their load and their head.

Woman selling oranges near Tamale.

I've seen some of my students selling bananas. Unfortunately, children selling is not uncommon. I've thought a lot about it. When it comes down to 'supporting' them or not, I would rather give ten pesewas to the little girl carrying a bucket of purewater half her weight then deny her because of her age. I feel being in Ghana for so long has desensitized me to it, but in the beginning it was a challenge to see the children selling that way. Along with the street hawkers, something I still have to shield my eyes to a little are the beggars. Some roll along on skateboards with polio and other disease stricken legs. Some are blind , led by young children with hands outstretched, knocking on the windows and pointing to their mouths. Some can't follow the cars but just sit on the side of the road and look up at you, muttering with open hands. I've seen Ghanains give change, just like in the US where you'll see someone give their grocery store change to a person's cup on the way home. Not everyone, bet there really are kind people. Still, for every beggar, or tired young child you see collecting money you'll see a baby holding on to their mothers back making a funny face or a woman selling bananas will give you a bag of groundnuts free. Just like at home, nice things happen everywhere, you just can't be blind to them.

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Just seven weeks left! It's just coming right along!

During April most of the school's in Ghana have a lot of time off, so all the people in my chapter and I had time for a little travelling spring break. My time travelling was great, a mixture of fun and experience I couldn't have gotten otherwise.

Me and Jolien, enjoying the coast!

A group of volunteers and students met at Busua Beach and spent around one to two weeks there. It's a beautiful, beautiful spot with a wonderful beach, a mountain to climb, great street food (some western food if you're absolutely raving for it), a neat surf shop, other volunteers coming through, makeshift volleyball nets scattered around, and an abundance of cute little beach kids ready to play with you.

Fishing boat at Busua Beach.

Unfortunately, it being such a prime spot for tourists also means it's a prime spot for pick-pocketing. My camera was stolen a few days into the trip, miraculously my memory card was having problems so I took it out the day previous, but nonetheless camera's gone. While at the beach I learned how to surf from my great friend Jolien, it was awesome fun for a while even if I got beaten up a little bit.

My baby attempts at surfing!

Then out of the blue, Jolien had a pretty bad surfing accident. She's okay and healing now, but the fin injury had us anxious that she would be going home. The rest of our trip continued without a hitch, I went on to visit Jolien for her birthday in Mampong and then met up with my host family in Kumasi for the weekend. Now I'm back in Accra, starting work next week, and I'm ready to see my students again.

Being back with my host family has been nice. Little Abena says that I can't travel again, I have to stay forever because when I go she misses me. She's having an interview today to get into Ghana International School, the same school her brother and sisters attend. Wish her luck! This morning I quizzed her one last time on the questions she'll be asked and we sang her favorite nursery song, "Ba, Ba, Black Sheep". My host mom, Akosua and I have a nice time talking when we get the chance and she still laughs at the face I make when I try kenke (Kenke is millet wrapped inside of a corn husk eaten with stew, fish, and pepper). I try a small bite every other time she has it, and that's almost every day, to see if it's grown on me yet. It hasn't. So sour! My host dad, Frank and I still watch soccer together in the evenings. We've been following a few teams around, he's always determined to crush Barcelona FC. I just side with him unless the other team has given me a reason to like them better. Kelvin and I are good friends and we've had a scaring competition going on for a while now. 3-2, Kelvin's winning. We jump out from behind doors, curtains, and things and try and get a scream out of each other. Devita is a bit of a drama queen, but a really devoted little girl and I'm glad I could be a big sister to her for a while. Becky and Frimpoma and I still get along really well and watch Spanish soap operas together whenever we can, "El Nombre de Amor". It's intense. Just wanted to share a little host family news after I dove into something more serious. I was going to say 'more Ghana', but you know, this is all part of my experience.

Ghana-English

Lately, my exchange has been pretty up and down. I want to be really honest about my time in Ghana to make sure that people reading (and myself in the future) will really get the full picture of my experience here. Being in a new house, with a new family has it's difficulties no matter how great the family is. The down-time, alone time, and "I have no idea how to entertain myself right now" time can be a bit frustrating but that, along with the "Wow, I'll never forget this crazy eye-opening thing I just saw" moments even out along the way to ensure that being here, at this time is right for me.

I've had a lot of time to think, and some great talks with my wonderful, wonderful support system at home so I thought I'd put a bit of that into this post. Now down to the cool things I want to share that I realized I haven't written about though they've surrounded me for seven months.

Twi, Ghana-English, and the phrases that just crack me up:

When someone's asking you to come and get something, to take it, or hold it for a second the word is: collect. "Come and collect." I catch myself telling my students to 'collect' when I'm handing back papers.

One that's always seemed kind of rude to me but now is completely normal and I'm a little afraid I'll offend people when I come home if it slips out is: bring it. When you're asking someone to bring you something there isn't any "Please, could you hand that to me?" it's "Bring it."

If someone calls you fat in Ghana, especially a really traditional Ghanaian, it's a compliment. You might actually be slimmer than the last time they saw you but like back in the States, giving someone a compliment when you greet them is normal. So "You're growing fat." isn't an insult.

Whereas "You're growing thin." sometimes can be.

Instead of saying "Do you understand?" when you're teaching or instructing someone, Ghanaians say "Have you seen (it)?".

Word not to say: crazy. If you say someone is crazy then you are calling them mad, or mentally unstable. And they don't take it lightly. I almost lost me and some other AFSers a cab ride because I said the driver was crazy for asking such a high fare.

"Come" or "Bra" in Twi means just that, come over here. Or you can also say "Go and come" which means "I'm coming back" or "I'll be back later". "Me ba" in Twi is "I'm coming". People say this when they're leaving a room all the time and at first it confused the heck out of me.

"Why didn't you greet me!?" Greeting is super necessary if you don't want to seem rude. Just a "Hello" is all they want, maybe a handshake (accompanied by a Ghanaian finger-snap) too but if you just walk on by someone or wave they'll probably shout "Why didn't you greet me!?".

"You're invited" I think I've mentioned this before, but when you're eating you 'invite' people to come share your food.

"Small, small" can mean a lot of things. Basically it means, just a little bit. "Small, small Twi" can mean I only speak a little Twi or "Only small, small food." etc.

Kakrakakra (not sure on the spelling) but that's "small, small" in Twi.

"Finish all" really only applies to food. You've got to finish everything on your plate.

"Yo" means a million things, but translated it really means "I hear you." People will use "yo" instead of "You're welcome" or they'll say it after you say "Me ba". I've heard you.

"Mepa cho" Now I KNOW I'm spelling that wrong, but it's Twi for "I beg you" or "Please".

"Medase" is "Thank you" in Twi. "Medase pa" is "Thank you very much."

"Pa" is added to a lot of things, sometimes just at the end of an English sentence to add umph. "That girl misbehaves, paaaa".

"Ochena" is "Tomorrow" in Twi. I say it when I leave work, say goodnight, say goodbye.

"Dayie" is "Goodnight" in Twi.

If I ask a Ghanian how they are they sometimes answer "By His grace." Which means basically means yeah, they're good.

I was taught this one by another AFS student and it's in the chorus of a Ghanaian song too, "Obiskilinke". Again, not sure on the spelling, but it means your clothes aren't covering you well enough.

Flip-flops are "slippers". You have slippers for the house and sandals for outside. You don't wear your slippers outside your house or the compound. AT least, if you're being proper.

You don't "Use the restroom" or "Go to the bathroom" you say exactly, and really, exactly what you're doing. I still hesitate to tell my students to "urinate" before we start class, but that's how they say it here!

"Me pe" works for "I like", "I want", "I need", "Give me". "Me pe sika" or "I want money" is pretty commonly heard in busy areas of Accra.

When you're riding in a tro-tro and you want it to stop and let you down you call the 'mate' (the guy who takes the fees, lets people on and off, collects passengers from the side of the road, and signals where the tro-tro is going) to let you down. You can also call for it yourself, though it's heard better if the mate does it but the word is "bustop". Two words merged into one.

Sleep is calling my name, but's been too long since I've posted so I wanted to put something that might be interesting up. Also, ways of communicating are very different in different parts of Ghana and there are a lot of things I could be getting wrong and they especially don't apply to all Ghanaians. Just writing what I've observed, surely not an expert.

Going on vacation soon to the lovely Busua Beach and I'm super excited to see the AFSers in my chapter again and hopefully learn how to surf!

Goodnight.

A fishing boat covered in clothes that someone was selling in the sand by Kokrobite Beach. A wave came in and soaked all the clothes so they were being hung up to dry in the sun.

Not required

You can fly!

My Class 2 kids playing with their paper airplanes they made in class this morning. AHdorable.

Madame Reynolds

Happy Ghana Independence day!

I've been in my new host family for about a month now, and have been working at my new volunteer job for around three weeks.Every thing's going really great, and honestly I'm feeling good about these last four months (can you believe only four!).

Teaching Class 4 Creative Arts

The Living Word Academy, the small private school where I volunteer at, is a twenty pesewa tro-tro ride away and slightly resembles a row of garages. The school is open to children in creche (pre-k/kindergarten)-JSS (middle school). I teach English, ICT (computer tech), and Creative Arts to Classes 2, 3, and 4. I work five days a week with two classes a day. I really, really enjoy teaching. I had no idea that I'd love it so much! The kids, for the most part, pay attention very well and are really eager to learn. It took a few tries for them to get warmed up to what I understand now as the 'Western' style of teaching which includes a lot of back and forth between student and teacher. Most of Ghana's schools are guilty of using a lecture method for every age. Living Word Academy was moving into more interactive teaching before I arrived and the kids seem to be really getting a lot out of it so I hope my time there can encourage the teachers to give it a try.

Interactive teaching :)

All three of my subjects are really fun to teach, my favorite is probably English. I didn't realize a lot of things about myself, my culture, and my country until I came to Ghana but how difficult the English language can be is one of the biggest. I've been working on nouns, adjectives, pronouns, past/present/future tenses, and now punctuation marks. Instead of moving up a ladder, teaching more simple subjects to the younger students and growing more complicated as they grow, the material is all pushed onto about three classes at once. So I'll be teaching my five or six year old students the same thing as my eleven year old students. Well, at least that's what I'm supposed to do, but I try my best to be considerate of the age factor.

Marching in my Class 2's

With my ICT classes I'm starting from the very bottom. My Class 2's are just on paint, working on their mouse skills. My Class 3's are doing about the same but we've moved on to a little bit of easy typing. I'm really eager for my Class 4's ICT classes to continue because after bouncing some ideas back and forth with my papa for a little while my class has got some American penpals. Eureka Elementary penpals no less! As an introduction I emailed some of the student's favorite things to Eureka along with each group's title they created and a Ghana flag they made on paint. I hope we'll hear from them soon. My Creative Arts classes have been pretty easy going. Which I think is exactly what they needed since their notebooks before were not only absent of any kind of art but were filled with copied down definitions of the words 'creative', 'imagination', and 'art'. I've talked to the headmaster and since he's interested in me doing some kind of big art project with the kids I think my art classes are soon going to start being filled with work on a school mural. We'll see how it goes. I think I'm starting to sound like I'm trying to turn this school on it's head, but I'm really not. Just while I'm here I want to give a lot of my energy into this school because the students, and their hard work is really proving to me they deserve that.

Some Class 4

Some Class 3

Class 2 discovering paper airplanes

The kids at home have been giving me a lot of joy too. While I'm kind of realizing the not so fun parts of having siblings, the pulling at the sleeve and constant fighting between all of them, it's no worse than a hard day babysitting. I can always retreat to my room, my host parents (if they're home), or a book if I need. I even got a fun break this weekend with our AFS mid-stay orientation which was such a great time. My host parents are especially sweet, though my host dad is a deal quieter than my old host dad, Richard. On a homesick day my host mom, Akosua even made me a little western dish, saying when she traveled really far from having some kenke always made her feel better. They're a great family. The house help, Beck and Frimpoma are also really great. They're closer to my age and always laugh when I speak Twi. The house is pretty empty during the week. The kids are at school, with traffic Akosua normally is only home a few hours before she has to pick them up again, my host dad is at work, and I'm in and out too. Only Becky and Frimpoma stay home with Butteryam (the gate man) during the day.

Mid-stay orientation trip to the beach

Nearly everything about my situation here in Ghana has changed, and I think it's obvious that I'm a lot more bubbly-happy with it. Richard and Emelia were a great couple, and the experiences I had with them as a host family were wonderful. I'm not discrediting that at all. I just feel I'm amazingly lucky to be put with not one, but two great host families.

With my time here swiftly becoming shorter I have a few more travel plans and things to check off my list, but it's a great feeling knowing that I'm on the home-stretch. I don't feel like I saw it often enough, in blogs, on foreign exchange info-sites, and brochures how difficult exchange can be. It might not be this way with everyone. I understand that every person, every country, and every exchange is going to be different, but for future students just remember this: The time that you spend on exchange will be challenging, even more so because all the familiar things you normally lean on won't be as available, but the accomplishment and pride you'll feel in throwing yourself out there with an open-mind and open-heart surpasses all homesick days and culture shock moments. Just some thoughts.

Lucianos, thank you for the care package with the shampoo, hand-sanitizer, etc. in it! It's been so helpful and really appreciated.

Anastasia Gore, Jessica Tullis, Tia Luciano, Rinnah Henderson, Caroline Cornell, Justin Shapiro and Nicole Short THANK YOU for the letters and love, I've kept them all and I look at them often.

Justin, thank you for all the new music. You know I love all the new artists and knowing the music I've caught up on from back home, because I've told you. But when other students ask "Man! Is this new?" I'm smiling and happy to say that my lovely, encouraging boyfriend sent it to me.

Rin! Stargirl, I found the neatest instrument. Ready for a jam session?

Papa! Thanks for being so eager to help me get my students set up. I'm so excited to see the looks on their faces when they get responses back from their new buddies. I'll be taking pictures.

Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Ron, I got you the coolest decorative addition to your growing house.

Thanks for keeping in touch and checking up on me everyone, I'll keep writing!

You're invited!

When you're having a meal in Ghana it's always polite to 'invite' someone. Even if you don't exactly want to share it's nicest to say "You're invited". All of these past two weeks I DO want to share though, so you're invited!

Arriving at my new host family's house was a bit of a shock. This is a totally different type of Ghana that I'd only seen maybe once through our AFS group's visit to the consulate of Belgium's house. At first I was nervous about the way they live, thinking it was all too much at once or that it wasn't was I was going for in my trip to Ghana, but really I am super lucky to have the family I do now. They are wealthy, but really genuinely nice people who care about my experience with them and in Ghana. My old host family was great to me but having an opportunity to have host siblings and see a different lifestyle of Ghanaians is really interesting and definitely worth the switch.

Here's my new host family!

Akosua and K. Ofori:

and my host siblings, (from left)

Devita, Calvin, Abena, and Michelle.

I only spent about a weekend with them though before a scheduled trip to the northern regions with a few other AFSers came up. And that, was a BLAST. For the five of us who went, a lot of thanks to Manuel and Jonas for doing the planning and booking of hostels and things, I think I could say we all had an amazing time.

First we took a day-long bus ride to Tamale where we stayed for two nights, exploring and visiting the cultural center. Tamale is the hottest place I have been yet in Ghana. Over 105 F and no shade anywhere, just the sounds of people zooming by on the millions of motorcycles that fill the street and the Muslim Call to Prayer music that's megaphoned loud over all the buildings. Everywhere you go in Ghana women sell food from big buckets, wooden boxes, or dishes on top of their heads. The women in Tamale were selling some of the same things that I saw in Dormaa or Accra but some things that were completely new. Like these round little sugar covered disks of groundnuts pressed together. 1 cedi for three disks. I wish they sold those here.

(Tamale wildlife)

At the cultural center most of us went on a little shopping spree, buying souvenirs for our families back home. I bargained all over the place but still ended up spending a bit. All the gifts though are really neat and I'm so excited to give back to the people who've been helping me so much with this trip. I'd say what I got but I don't want to spoil any of the surprises. Even if I ask you if you want to know what they are (Justin, Mom, Dad, and Tia. Mostly Mom.) don't let me tell you!

We took a bus to Larrabonga, a village really close to Mole National Park, after our few days in Tamale. The farther north we traveled the less cement, square buildings we saw and the more round, grass-roofed huts there were. Our hostel was a great building. Lime green cement rectangle with a kind of courtyard in the middle. It was really run down but the owner, El Hassan was really kind and even let us sleep on the roof. To get onto the roof we used these logs with notches cut into them and slept on mattresses he moved up there for us so we could sleep comfortably under the stars. The stars were so bright in Larrabonga, when the sun went down the night was bright enough you could still see everything.

(Grass huts in Larrabonga)

(Our ladder to the roof of El' Hassan's Guest House)

In the morning we had to take motorcycles to Mole Park, it was that, ride bikes, or walk. Of course we would pick motorcycles. Once we got to the park we went on a jeep safari. I'm really sad to say that it was a complete bust. We saw barely any animals the two and a half hours we drove around and payed too much for it. We didn't let it ruin our day at the park though and paid a guide 3 cedi each to take us down on a walking tour by the watering hole where we knew there were crocodiles. Mole National Park is definitely a hit and miss experience, the animals aren't so frequent but the nature is really interesting.

(We did see a lot of monkeys, these ones being the most adorable)

(Me and Dabney on the safari jeep)

Later that day we walked to see the oldest mosque in Ghana, located close to our hostel in Larrabonga. The mosque was built in the 1420's by Muslims settling in that area. It's repainted, and kept up annually by the tourism and the locals. It's a huge white building with branches stuck in the sides to support the heavy walls. We were told that the huge boboa tree growing out the side magically grew after a man who had a lot of influence building the mosque was buried there.

(The mosque in Larrabonga and the boboa tree)

That night we met two Russian men who were staying at the hostel too, we invited them to dinner and walked to El' Hassan's twin brothers hostel where we sat around a campfire, played with kids, attempted to speak simple English with our new Russian friends and ate yam. The Russians were so nice and before we went to bed that night they even handed us a can of Russian caviar, or translated into simple English 'fish children'.

The next day we made the trip to Kintampo and visited their famous waterfalls. We played around the rocks, slipped a few times, sat behind the waterfall and all shared (or just tasted) our can of Russian caviar. The mosquitoes there were vicious and we all got bitten pretty badly but it was so beautiful that in the end it was worth it.

(Tasting the 'fish children')

(Jolien, Me, and Dabney in front of Kintampo Waterfalls)

The next morning we packed our bags, took a tro-tro to Kumasi, split ways and our trip was done. It was a really great time but I'm earnestly excited to be back in Accra with my new family and start my job. I'll be assistant teaching in a school close to my house called 'The Living Word'. The children who attend are usually pretty stretched financially so they drop the admission fees from 200 cedi to about 20-40 depending on the child. The school is very Ghanaian and I'm excited to work with children again. Not to mention I'm living with four! They haven't seen me yet, they're at school, but I'll surprise them when they come home.

Pounding Fufu

The great Accra internet lets me upload video, so here's how you pound fufu! See? Upsides.

I've gotten my hand hit a few times, I've still got to perfect driving it somehow.

There's always an upside

After five eye-opening months in Dormaa-Ahenkro I'll be moving to Accra for the remainder of my stay. Normally through AFS you spend your entire stay with one host family, but in special cases you can be moved. My host family, Richard and Emelia, were really great to me while I was there, took me into their home and taught me interesting things about Ghanaian family life, cooking, and Dormaa. Unfortunately they were undergoing some financial problems and had to say goodbye to me this past weekend. I really appreciate all they've done for me.

I haven't met my new host family yet, I'm doing that today. All I know is that now I'll be living in Accra and eventually be set up with some volunteer work. I'll post a new address soon, and tell everyone about my new family. Thanks to everyone keeping up with my adventures here, now I'll get to show everyone a whole new side of Ghana I might have not seen otherwise. Plus, being in the capital makes internet AND the beach more accessible. Always an upside!

H2O

Christmas and New Years went by without too much fuss in Ghana. My host family didn't do a whole lot so when the AFS year students met up in Accra we had a re-New Years party to make up for it.
Our study tour to the Northern Region is postponed for a while, leaving my trip down to Accra more of just a vacation. It's been really great to see Accra this way though! Sometimes I forget where I am, I'm in Ghana, I'm in Africa! I remember that I'm here at really different times. Dabney, Jolien, and I went to Kokrobite (A reggae beach close to her host family's house) and explored around. We saw huge fishing boats pulled up on the sand with people all around them. The people on the boats would jump into the water, wade past the nets and ropes gathered around their boat to the sand where women with huge metal bowls on their heads carried fish. Tons of little kids played in the sand, ran around the adults, the boats, and the ropes zipping around on the sand. A few of the kids started a game of soccer and didn't mind at all that the clothes they had left on the sand earlier so they could swim were floating away with the tide. Originally we had planned to be dropped off near where it was a bit of a tourist site, where it'd be alright to have just one person watching our bags while the other two swam. The taxi didn't really understand what we were trying to say so dropped us off a bit down the beach. The walk gave us a cool chance to see the fishing up close though, even if we had to rush by a little. We spent the afternoon laying on the beach, playing hand-games with Ghanaian kids and I went on a seashell hunt. I found some really neat ones at Bojo beach earlier that week but I picked up a special one at Kokrobite. Every time I dropped it I would stumble upon it again, so I figured it was meant for me to keep it. At Kokrobite they have a couple of really cool, cheap shops where I grabbed a few things for family back home. I can't believe I'm practically half way through. Coming home will be an experience of it's own though, one I'm really excited for too.
While I was staying with Dabney the water in Weija (her area of Accra) was off for six days! In some places in Ghana they don't ever have flowing water, and are prepared for it but by day six I wasn't sure how anyone was going to even have a light shower along with cooking. It finally came back on and a cold shower has honestly never felt better.

Since this post centers mostly around the beach and water, here are some things about water in Ghana:

-Not every house has running or flowing water.
-If the house doesn't have running water they usually have a 'polytank'. A large plastic tub that holds a lot of water, sometimes suspended to make collecting it easier.
-Sometimes they collect water from a pump or well (manholes) in the area or a stream. (Normally streams are last resort unless they're really clean. In that case they wouldn't drink it, just wash with it.)
-If a house has running water it's not uncommon they drink tap.
-Sachet water, or bag water is the cheapest clean water you can find. Normally 5 pesewa, the recent gas hike has made some places sell it for 10 pesewa. (5 pesewa=about 3 US cents)
-Voltic water, or other bottled water is more expensive. One cedi for a bottle, two cedi for a big bottle. Volta Lake is a huge water supply for Ghana and it's really clean (from what I hear).

I'll post again soon, I'm pretty sure I'll have some big news in not so long. Hope everyone at home is doing great, and thanks everyone for the Christmas wishes and packages I really appreciate it!