Akwaaba!!!

Akwaaba means welcome!

So, because this is my first entry, and I’ve been here for five days, I have a whole lot to write about. I am also going to work on making my blogging more concise. So I apologize in advance for any rambling. My flight to Ghana went very well. The flight from D.C. to Accra was 10 hours, and many other American students were on the same flight. One girl asked if I sleep well and planes and I said I would definitely try. She offered me a benedryl, which was much appreciated. It knocked me out for about 6 hours out of the 10; not that sleeping sitting up on a plane is very restful anyways.

Arrival: So we arrived in Accra at 2:30 Thursday. CIEE staff met about 30 of us at the airport and took us to the Coconut Grove hotel where we would stay for two nights. I roomed with a girl named Genna from Seattle who goes to Occidental college. The other kids on my program (about 60 of us) are from all over the US. There are 5 of us from Clark. Everyone is friendly and open to new things.

First days: Staying in the hotel was a great way to ease us in very gradually. The culture shock I experienced in just 5 hours outside of the hotel for those two days was huge. Everywhere we went in Accra we were stared at. We stand out so much for being white, and then there’s the fact that we travel in a huge pack. The only time we really left the hotel was to go to the mall. We split off into groups of 3, with UPal chaperones. UPals are University of Ghana students who remain with us throughout the program for support. Basically our camp counselors for the semester. At the mall we bought cell phones (you can call me at +233 054043 3279, but not for free of course) and a wireless internet modem which works pretty decently in my dorm.

New culture to take in: At the hotel we had two full days of orientation. Our Program Director, Mr. Gyasi, has been doing this since 2006, so he loves his job and is very good at orienting new students to Ghana and to our program. Our first day was spent talking about Ghana today. We talked about its development challenges and accomplishments. It produces what it doesn’t consume (gold and cocoa) and consumes what it doesn’t produce. I’ve learned that so many amenities we take for granted exist but are very unreliable and underdeveloped here. For example, it is never guaranteed that water will come out of the faucet when you turn it on (so far I’ve been lucky). And the electricity goes out often. The internet is almost non-existent, and where it is, it is slower than you could imagine.

Ghana is very stable and rich in not only mineral wealth, but it is rich in culture and heritage. We learned that you are given a day name according to which day you are born. If you are born on a Tuesday, like I was, and you live through every day until the next Tuesday, you have lived spiritually and when you are exactly one week old you are given your day name at a naming ceremony. My day name is Abena because I am a female born on a Tuesday. This is just one example of how important family ties are in Ghana. Family (nuclear and extended) is everything. While we value individualism so much in America, family and that group support are of utmost importance, and respect is vital.

During orientation we were told many things about Ghanaian customs, etiquette and social protocol. I have to say, it’s one thing to learn about these customs, and another thing to put it into practice in real life interactions.

Okay, I already feel like I’m rambling too much so I’ll try to be less wordy.

Campus life:

Saturday we moved into our dorms. I live in the International Students Hostel, or “ISH”. There are mostly international students, with a few Ghanaians and West Africans also residing here. It is like freshman year living. Communal bathrooms (with no toilet paper or soap ever), and living with a new roommate. My roommate hasn’t arrived yet, so it’s safe to assume that I’ll be living with a Ghanaian, whereas many other CIEE students live with each other. 13 students are doing Homestays, and the rest live in another on-campus dorm. The University of Ghana has 30,000 students and the campus take at least an hour to walk all the way around, probably more. This is a huge change from Clark campus.

It is HOT here. About 90 degrees at least every day. That’s why people wake up so early and do things before it gets too hot. I’ve woken up at 8 or earlier every day, except Sunday when I slept until 10. And today I hand-washed my first load of laundry!

Abena turns 21: Saturday was the 22^nd, which meant that at 12 midnight on the 23^rd I would turn 21! I celebrated by going to a bar called Chez Afrique with about 20 other students. It is a small outdoor bar and restaurant with live music most nights. We took cabs for 5 Cedis (about $4) from campus. I ordered a rum and coke. But the bartender couldn’t understand me and thought I said “Remy coke”. I just went with it and said sure, why not. Anyways, they didn’t have rum. So my first drink as a 21 year old was 2 shots of Remy Martin, an expensive French Cognac, with a bottle of Coke on the side. It was quite enjoyable. Some CIEE girls got the Hip-life band to play happy birthday for me. It was very embarrassing but fun to be the only white people looking very silly dancing to happy birthday. Hip-life is the music of Ghana. It is traditional almost reggae music mixed with American hip hop. The band also played a final song for me that I later found out a  British-ghanaian man paid extra for me. It was Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Souls of her Shoes” which happens to be one of my favorite songs. It was a very fun and memorable birthday.

On Sunday, my actual birthday, we had a traditional African dance workshop that worked up 3 hours worth of profuse sweating but it was so much fun. And afterwards, I was sung happy birthday again and “Ponded”. Ponding is a birthday tradition that apparently indicates that you have a lot of friends. Basically they just poured a lot of water all over me, but usually they pour something crazier than water like champagne or something sticky.

While it was a little sad that I couldn’t spend my birthday with my friends and family back home, my CIEE and Ghanaian family welcomed me so much and gave me one of the most memorable birthdays ever.

I apologize for the length of this entry. I want to finally express my feelings thus far:

Being with a lot of people makes it hard to stop and think about being away from home. When I’m alone I get a little homesick. I’ve had only one breakdown and that was when I was unpacking, realizing that I’m in another continent on the other side of the world with no way out. I felt very small and alone. But when I’m with everyone else I realize that we’re all going through the same rollercoaster of emotions so the best way to cope is to live moment by moment. It’s okay to be overcome with homesickness sometimes, because it forces me to remind myself why I’m truly here. In reality, I’ve had just a handful of moments where I feel scared and unsure, but I feel overwhelmingly blessed and excited to be here.

Any sadness that I occasionally feel is balanced out when I interact with the Ghanaians. Even though we all speak English, I usually feel like I’m having two completely separate conversations with anyone I interact with. It is difficult to communicate even when I’m buying food at the night market next to my dorm. The pace of life is slow here, and very simple. It values being happy and accepting every human being. These are things I forget about in America sometimes with the fast pace and high expectations. I’ve definitely been humbled by this experience so far.

My next post will be shorter, I promise! And I have pictures to come.

Soon I'll update you on food and lifestyle adjustments.