Kumasi!

February 19-21

Friday-Sunday-Kumasi

We went to Kumasi for the weekend. The city in Ghana is famous for their woodcarving villages, and Kente cloth! We went to a place where they weave the Kente cloth, and we saw how they make it.



We also went into a place to purchase some, and it was very hard to choose which ones I wanted!



While in there, I came out to purchase some Ghana keychains for my sisters, and got flocked by lots of venders selling things. It was very hard being pulled one way and another by all of them since I was the only tourist around at that time!

We also got to visit the King's Palace, but he wasn't there. When we were leaving, an elementary school was also leaving, so I started to walk with them and ask if I can go back to their school with them!! African children have an obsession over white people, so they really liked me being there with them.

We also went to see Kente stamping. They make the ink from mashed up and boiled tree bark, and then use different metal stamps in African symbols to stamp the fabric. Here, I met a family who let me try to weave Kente cloth. It was very fun to do, and I can see how it takes a very long time to make a single strip! Their family had 8 children ages 6-18, and all 10 of them lived in a one room house.




The woodcarving village was really nice, but also very crazy. We did not have a lot of time to purchase all that we wanted, and it was hard to go fast when you were being pulled into random shops and trying to bargain for the best price for everything you were buying.

We also went to the Cultural Center in Kumasi, and got to go into more shops, and we also saw some beautiful paintings. We went to a market there, and got to look around for a while. All of the booths were really close together, and at one point Patrick was asked if he wanted the daughter of a woman while I was asked to be married along with some of my friends. Walking back to the bus, a mother tried to give me her child, and she was serious. It was really sad.

Our hotel was really nice with air conditioning, the biggest bed I have ever seen, and cable tv! A bunch of us hung out in Rachael and Heather's room and hung out on their big bed. We ended up coming up with an idea of a “National Championship Day” that we will have in our hostel.

HIV home, African singing.

February 15-18

My week was less exciting this week. I went to the Kissima school on Tuesday agin, and in Twi class we learned how to bargain for our upcoming trip to Kumasi, where we will buy a lot of wood carvings. Tuesday was also pizza night again!

On Wednesday our HIV class went to an HIV/AIDS home about an hour away. It was not a hospital, but a place where people with the disease can stay at if they have nowhere to go. It is a Catholic-run program, and the nun in charge was from Poland.
We heard some people talk about living with the disease, and then we got a chance to talk with some of them. One of the children there saw me smiling at him, so he came and sat right next to me and just wanted to be held. It was a really powerful experience. Also, at the end I got to hold this beautiful baby girl, Bless, that was abandoned by her mentally unstable mother. They weren't sure if she had the disease or not. Coming back on the bus I learned that my friend in the class, Vincent, was my other friend Samuel's next door neighbor in the dorms. What a weird coincidence!
On Thursday I learned an African song about a cat in my singing class, and then I studied for my first Twi exam. After I took the exam (it went ok) I visited Samuel and Vincent, and their roommates tried to tune the guitar they had so that I could play it. Vincent also knows some of my program friends, and he was the one that I met after I got my hair braided who was in the social work program. Things are finally clicking.

Beauty and the Beast, Palm wine, Mass!

February 8-14

On Monday we were all so tired, and lots of us were getting sick from the lack of sleep and eating that happened all weekend. I didn't have class, so I slept a lot. I met my friend Samuel for dinner, but got sick while eating, so came back early.

Tuesday I was woken up by Taylor calling me to see if I could take her to the hospital since she was extremely sick. So, we took a cab to the hospital, and then I got to fill out her paperwork the best as I could for her. I waited around to see if they would release her that day, but they wanted to keep her there overnight. While waiting for her, I met a deaf lady, and I got to use my sign language I learned last semester with her. I ended up going back that day and then going to see an orphanage with some other students to see if we wanted to volunteer there.

On Wednesday I went to my spanish class, then to my HIV/AIDS class. For dance class that night, we learned some new steps, and worked on them. Dela took me out to a salsa dancing club since he knows how to salsa dance, but I did not, so we just watched for a while and then left.

Thursday was my singing class, and also twi at night. I hung out with Samuel after twi with his roommates and discussed some differences in cultures, like dating, the color pink (it is more acceptable for men to wear pink than in the US), holding hands, etc. I also ate banku for the first time which is like dough that you dip in a tomato sauce that you swallow whole.

Friday was dance class at 9:30 in the morning, and then we came back and ate lunch at the other hostel's cafe since they have more american food there. I ended up having a chicken burger and fries! We all went to the Medina market after that, which is outside and where you can get anything you want, like clothing, food, dvds, etc. That night we went to see Beauty and the Beast at our drama department, and it was really good.



There was a palm wine festival that night, so I went with Samuel and tried it, but I didn't like it at all. I also tried goat meat, and it was really chewy.

On Saturday, the computer cafe two doors down from my room was playing the “On in my city” song that the CMU football team plays when they are in the stadium, and it was nice to hear a familiar song. I ate lunch with Paula, and then Taylor and I went to visit Samuel and his roommates.

Sunday I could finally attend mass at the Catholic church on campus here, so I went with Samuel since he was the only one I knew that was Catholic. It was really hard to understand the priest due to the sound system and his accent. It was nice to see all of the Africans in their traditional dress and lots of patterns. After that I went with my roommate, Doreen to Dela's place to meet his brother. Somehow I ended up going with Dela to his Aunt's house-he helps his 6 year old cousin, Angel, with school work every Sunday, so while he was with her, I got to visit with his Aunt who loved to talk. To get there, we had to travel in the car down dirt roads with many holes and it was very bumpy. Their home was locked up with a big gate and barbed wire too. It was one of the biggest in the area, and the sitting room that we sat in had a big screen tv with cable, and a very nice computer. The children called me “Aunty Chrissy”, since it's a sign of respect here, and his other cousin, Junior, loved to play with me. The Aunt was surprised to find out that there were poor people in the United States.

Today I learned that Valentine's day is actually a pretty big deal here, which surprised me since it seems so American/Canadian. I also learned today that they do not call roosters “roosters” but cocks, and the females are called hens. They are called chickens when they are food!

Mole National Park!

February 7, 2010

Friday

We left for Mole (Mole-ay) National Park very early on Friday morning! We all had to be ready for 5am, but of course the bus was late. It was a super small bus, and some people had to sit on the uncomfortable fold down seats in the middle of the bus. Zach came with us again, who we got to know when he came to Cape Coast with us. He is music student-teaching in the elementary school on campus, and was hooked up with our group to be able to travel. The roads at first were dirt, and had lots and lots of holes. Our driver had to swerve all over both sides of the road to not fall into them. We first thought that all of the roads were going to be this way, and were glad when we finally reached some smoother roads. We stopped at a rest stop and had to pay to use the bathroom, and we also stopped on the side of road to rest later. Someone wanted oranges, and was surprised that the lady on the side of the road wanted 1 Ghana cedi for one. (that's about 70 cents). But, with that he got 10 oranges, so he was passing them out to many people on the bus. For lunch we stopped to get food at this market place, and the bathroom facility you was basically a shower drain. So, my friend Rachael and I found a real toilet across the street! While traveling, we saw some warthogs that really do look like Pumba from the Lion King! We also saw lots of children whose faces light up when you wave at them. We also had to stop for cows crossing the road, and saw many different huge trees along the side of the road. 14 hours later, we finally arrived! We ate dinner which took a long time to come, and then went straight to bed!


Saturday morning we had our first safari. We had to split up into smaller groups, and our tour guide was named DK. All of them carried a gun, which kind of scared us. We walked down the hill to the flat lands, and saw many bush buck, antelope-ish animals, birds, warthogs, and deer.



We were really hoping to see elephants, and finally found them walking to the water hole! It was really amazing to see them in the wild, and be really close to them. It was also neat to see them in the water and spraying water on themselves to cool down and to drink.



After the safari, we walked to our rooms, and saw a baboon trying to break into the rooms for food. He was really smart and trying to turn the doorhandles. When we walked around to the other side, there were a lot more. When we went into our rooms and tried to come back out, I walked around the corner and one was doing the same thing, so we scared each other. I screamed and it put up it's arms as if to attack me, and then finally walked away. We had some free time, so we hung out by the pool, and then left to go see a mosque nearby. There were a lot of children there, and I met a guy named Milikia that told me all about his community, and how he was the soccer captain of his team. He showed me his house, and told me how the roof is where guests stay because it was cooler outside, and sleeping under the stars is an honor to them.



When we got back, we went on one more safari in a 4x4/jeep vehicle, and saw some more elephants, bush buck, warthogs, and more. Basically the same animals we saw before but with monkeys! When we got back, I went to go look at the sunset over the cliff with Mitch and Zach, and it was the most beautiful scene I had ever seen that I started crying!



At night we woke up to a crash, and then saw a baboon outside going through the garbage!

Sunday we left at 5:30am, and while at a reststop, a guy told me that he would marry me! We stopped at a beautiful big waterfall, and got to play in it in our bathing suits-it was very cold! As we were getting closer to “home”, Evan got sick, so we had to stop at a hospital, and then two students and our bus tour guide stayed with him since they were keeping him overnight. The way back was very scary since our bus driver went really fast and was passing other vehicles when he should not have been! But, we finally arrived safe and sound. It was the superbowl tonight, and some were going to the US embassy to watch it, but I was too tired! Dela, my roomie's cousin brought me food, though, since he knew I would be starving when I got back!

Pizza and registration...

February 4, 2010

Tuesday we had our two-for-one pizzas at the pizza place right outside of our campus. This seems to now be a tradition after our Twi class. There, I met my roommate's cousin, Dela, and he drove us back to campus! This is the first time that I had been in a car since I have been to Africa, so it was nice to ride in one! Wednesday I didn't feel very well, so after my HIV/AIDS class, or “lecture” (what they call classes here) I stayed in. On Thursday, Paula and I went around to the different departments so that we could add/drop classes that we wanted to be in. Just like registration, it is not online! Also, every department is ran a different way, so it's just insane!

Birthday!

February 1, 2010

My 21st birthday!!!! (they can legally drink here when they are 18, so it's not a really big deal here...)

Last night my friend Judith gave me cheese for my birthday since she knew I liked it so much, and they don't usually eat cheese here!

Today I went to my “Working with communities” course, and after sitting in the wrong classroom with Heather for a while, we went to the real classroom. However, when we were handed the syllabus, it was for the wrong class. Our actual class got moved to a time a couple hours later to a different classroom. Classes still aren't set in stone, obviously. But, they can move classes around since all of the students have most of the same classes for the social work program. After my actual class, I went to the internet cafe to check my email, since our internet here was not working. At night, I went with a lot of my friends in my program to a bar called “Jerry's.” Even one of our Ghanaian student tour guides, Owushi, came! I got to meet the owner, Jerry, and had many drinks from my friends, including one called “Judgement Day” that is apparently illegal in the US for the amount of alcohol in it. (I didn't know that when I drank it!). We got to dance a little bit, and it was a really fun night!