So long, farewell, but I'm not Ghana be gone for long!

Oh how time flies. It seems like just yesterday that I was yelling at my family to hurry up and find the right terminal because I didn't want to miss my flight. Just yesterday that I wasn't sure I wanted to come to Ghana anymore..I kept thinking-it's too expensive, I don't really need the experience to get a job do I?, what if I don't like it-I don't want to come home early, etc. My first travelling alone experience wasn't exactly flawless and was actually one of the most stressful experiences of my life. However, it has been by far the absolute best decision I have made.

If you have read any of my previous posts you have seen both the ups and downs I've experienced. Hopefully, you can tell that for every down there were a million ups to combat it. Sure there were times that were hard and I just wanted to go home where I wouldn't be sweating every minute of the day, where the food wouldn't make my lips swell up from the spiciness, where I know most people and they call me by my name not the color of my skin. But, I would never trade those few moments as they have helped me grow as a person. I believe that I will be returning to the U.S. in a short 3 days as a better person. Thank you for joining me in this journey.

These last two weeks I've been trying to enjoy every bit of Ghana that I can because I know that by the end of next week I'm really going to miss it. I have been trying to find an appropriate gift for my Ghanaian family to thank them for all that they've done from me and just nothing seems to demonstrate my gratitude adequately. Pookie suggested we get Chinese food before I leave and I laughed at her, no way am I wasting Auntie Grace's food for Chinese food I can get so much cheaper in the U.S. I just finished my last exam on December 13th and am spending as much time in the house as possible.

Today, I had quite the eventful day. My big sister Rachel, took me to the slaughterhouse where we literally picked the goat from the pen that we wanted slaughtered and casually waited in their waiting room for it to be done...an interesting experience to say the least though definitely not for the vegetarian type.. Then we went to the market to get fish and vegetables and Auntie Grace took us to get even more fish in the afternoon because tomorrow we will be cooking for the one-year anniversary of a father-in-law's death. (I think that's who it is). Our house just gets filled with more and more people by the day here with family coming from the U.S. to celebrate Christmas.

One of the families that is here already is one of my brothers and his wife and two children. I have a soft spot for the little girl because I helped take care of her a lot last week and if you know me, you know how I feel about babies haha. Here's a picture of the day that their dad, my sister Rachel, and I took them and my niece Nuna to the beach:

Auntie Grace's mother is also staying with us because she has been ill and they wanted to bring her all the way to the capital to go to the doctor. She is quite a hoot and reminds me everyday that she is coming with me to America and she's already packed and ready to go when I am haha

A huge thank you to everyone that donated to the Queensland Primary School fundraiser that Jessalyn and I put together. We delivered the donation on Tuesday and the Headmistress was more than grateful for the surprise (we never told her about the fundraiser!) Since the last time we were there she has already made quite a bit of improvements to the school and added one teacher so we are positive that she will do great things with the 800 cedi ($400) we were able to donate! The children at the school decided to sing for us and we recorded a few cute videos to share with you all!

This morning my Auntie Grace told me that she's going to the American Embassy to ask them to change my citizenship to Ghanaian so that I can stay longer haha we'll see how that works out..

On a more solemn note, my prayers go out to the families of the victims of the tragic shooting in Connecticut. It's always different hearing U.S. news in a foreign country but it difficult to try and respond when my family asks me why someone would do that, why someone would target small children, why, why, why? Unfortunately, I have to tell them the truth, I just don't know. We watched the news report this morning with my 4-year-old niece in the room, I just kept thinking what if this happened to her, or one of my cousins at home, or anyone, why does this happen to anyone and I struggle to keep from crying because it is sooo horrible.

I think the only things I have left are to talk about are thank yous. Thank you to my friends and family at home for your support and assistance in helping me accomplish my goal of coming to Ghana. Thank you to everyone who donated to the Queensland fundraiser once again. Thank you to my friends and family I have gained in Ghana, and thank you God for keeping me safe and healthy on this amazing journey.

As I'm sad to say goodbye (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkAD1fDz8lg) I'm so blessed to have somewhere to come home to both in the U.S. and in Ghana and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

See you soon America! And don't worry Adovor family, I'm not Ghana be gone for long!

10 days till departure and many lessons learned

As it says in the title of the post, I only have 10 short days left in the beautiful place I have called home for almost 4.5 months. My mom would probably tell you, that is exactly 138 days too long. On my first day travelling to Ghana and the third day here when I went to the hospital, I would have agreed with her. However, at this point-129 days in, I think it is the perfect amount if not too short. I have learned many valuable lessons while in Ghana, about culture, life, people, and in the end myself. I'm a much stronger person than I was when I boarded that plane in Chicago and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.

A friend recently asked me if I could describe either Ghana or my experience in Ghana in three words what they would be. It would be impossible for me to describe Ghana in general in three words so I opted for the second option. My experience in Ghana in three words: religion, compassion, Adovor (the name of my host-family). I've talked before about religion in Ghana, how it is a part of almost everyone's life every minute of the day.
The compassion and generosity of almost everyone is incredible. Sure there are frustrating times when people yell to you just because you're different, or because they want something from you-either money or marriage. However, those times are overshadowed by the people who grab your hand to help you cross the ridiculously busy highway, the women who stop you in the morning just to thank you and welcome you to their beloved country, the hotel owners who run through town to find exactly what you desire for dinner (especially if it is Ghanaian food), and the list goes on.
Adovor-needs no explanation. Without my Ghanaian family and this homestay I would have been on the first plane back to Chicago when I got really sick the first time. I thank God every day that my friends and family convinced me to stick it out. Heck my favorite food is the soup that made me sick and tonight was the first night I finally ate fufu with no problem!

Through this experience I have been given the opportunity to be the minority in a country, something I think we should all experience. No matter how much a government preaches equality for all-we know that many are still treated unfairly. In Ghana I have often had people try to cheat me just because I am white therefore I must be rich right? I have children walk up to me and say "oburoni, I want 20 pesewas (money)" mind you they would never go up to a Ghanaian woman and ask her for the same thing.

I have seen a lot of people demonstrate the behavior of people who believe they are saving Africa by playing with Ghanaian babies. As one of my fellow CIEE students so eloquently put it "You will never save Africa as much as Africa will save you". I think he hit the nail on the head. I never came here to save Africa and yet I feel that it has saved me, it has given me a new addition to my American family, a new focus for my studies and future, and a second home that I know I won't be able to stay away from for long. 

I have learned to be a more patient person (having to wait for hours before getting transportation in the sun, trying to communicate with multiple language barriers, waiting for an hour for a meal just to find out that they don't even have the food, etc. will definitely improve your patience). I have learned to be more bold and speak up (if you don't yell at the tro tro driver you might not get dropped off where you want, if you don't yell at the mate he might not give you your change back, if you don't ask someone where to go you will never figure it out since street names and maps don't exist). Living in Africa reminds you that we are all interconnected and depend on each other because everyday here you rely on others and you realize it some days more that others.

These are just a few of the musings I find myself entertaining in the last few works here, I'm sure more are to come. In the meantime, here are a few stories since my last post.

Andrew left about one week ago after a two week stay. We spent the second week he was here travelling the Volta Region again. As always it was breathtaking and beautiful. I find that once you get outside of the Greater Accra Region and other urban areas, the people who live there become just a bit kinder and want to welcome you and take care of you as much as possible. We left Monday and returned Thursday after climbing both Mt. Afadjato (highest mountain in Ghana) and the Wli Falls (second highest waterfalls in West Africa) and spending some time in Hohoe where we were staying. Here is a pic from our trip:

Andrew and I sporting Wisconsin garb on top of Mt. Afadjato

Yesterday, was election day in Ghana. Their presidential election schedule is the same as ours since 1992 every four years. It has been a very exciting fall with so many campaign flags, advertisements, speeches, rallies, etc. just like in the U.S. There is always a chance of violence with elections especially close ones like in 2008 when there were four run-offs before a winner was actually chosen (in January!). Therefore, everyone has been calling for a peaceful election. So far it has been pretty peaceful, thank God. Yesterday, I was able to go to the polls with my sisters who have never voted before. I decided not to take my camera since I knew that I would already stick out enough and possibly be asked to leave for causing a ruckus or perhaps someone thinking I was there to intimidate people. Thankfully, I only received a ton of stares. This year they have instated a biometric voter identification system where people have to scan their fingerprint before they can vote. To vote they also use their fingerprint on a ballot with photos of the candidates on it. The problem is that without the machine they couldn't scan fingerprints and therefore people couldn't vote. So while my sister Sitso was able to vote right away, Rachel had to wait for two hours before they brought a new machine. There is obviously feelings of frustration when people are waiting in line for hours in order to cast a vote that they aren't even sure will make a difference. The polls are also usually not even inside in a building, the place where my family voted was outside on a random street in our neighborhood. The booths were cardboard tri-folds and kept blowing over in the wind. Because of the incidence of machines being broken and the slow deliverance of basic election materials the elections continued into today and the results aren't expected to be official until Tuesday.

Overall, experiencing another country's elections is an invaluable experience. Check out some pics from the election thus far on the BBC website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20645818

Here's a pic of me and my friends at our farewell dinner for CIEE.

Mepa wo kyew...I've been busy!

Greetings all,

Sorry for the long delay in posting!
Since my last post I've been super busy finishing up classes, I went on a peace march, and Andy has been visiting since Nov. 16th and we've attended a wedding ceremony, church, etc. and I've had three exams since Wednesday. Basically, it's been a little crazy here!

Jessalyn and I participated in a peace march with our internship at SISS on Nov. 15th. It was a march with our past and current trainees through Agbogbloshie, Jamestown, and into Accra...a 3 hour march in the hot Ghanaian afternoon sun. Luckily, it was really fun and worth the ridiculous sunburn I got. Once again my family questioned whether or not I enjoy getting sunburned haha...not really...I'm just too white..
The march was fun and filled with laughs and dancing with many of our trainees. It was great to see the trainees proudly going through their communities and encouraging a peaceful time throughout the upcoming elections.

This is one of my favorite students, Matilda. She reminds me a lot of myself  which can be good or bad depending on the circumstances...look out world!

This is a pic of some of the trainees and the signs we carried.

Then Andy flew into Ghana on Nov. 16th. Chairman and I picked him up from the airport after a long day of family harassing Tera time haha...luckily just enough to keep my family at home satisfied. He had a dinner of rice and stew and of course a beer with my parents. The girls in the house were giddy with excitement. The first full day he was here we immersed him into the Ghanaian culture by going to a traditional wedding ceremony for my cousin. The groom was oburoni so my family represented his and we had to fully participate in the ceremonies..unfortunately we were two hours late so the  bride's family decided to fine us. There's also a lot of bargaining between the two families and of course some dancing, as to be expected. The girls in my family represented well as we danced our butts off and are probably featured quite prominently in the wedding videos haha

Here's a pic of the bride and groom. They met in the UK when he worked as an IT  guy and he had to fix her computer. Because his family is in the UK and my family stepped in for the ceremony which was video recorded for his family back home.

To signify the traditional joining of the two families, the oldest married woman from each  family shares a bottle of wine to seal the deal..not too shabby.

My four-year-old niece, Nuna, is staying with us and keeps us on our toes.. at one point at the wedding she stole my camera..this is what happened:

Oh, hi Nuna..
also, I think this may be one of my favorite pictures ever..

That night we went out with a few of my friends and brother, Remi, barhopping in the area. We found a bar that now has an air hockey table and the motorcycle video game thing.

Anna and I

Here's a pic of Remi and Andrew battling it out...Remi has never played before..

Tuesday, we decided to make tacos for my family...a very expensive and lengthy venture in Ghana. However, the family loved that we cooked for them and really loved the guacamole...my host dad wasn't too sure about the taco and actually unrolled it when I handed it to him because he didn't understand the point of the shell haha but overall it went well. Benedicta even acted as our advertising person by making a sign for Andrew and Tera's Special and walked around the house letting everyone know what was on the special menu for the evening. Drinks were poured and laughs were had over dinner until I was forced to go and study for my two exams and paper that was due on Wednesday and Thursday...boo for school!

Tera and Andrew's Special with our taco meat...haha Andy said my tastebuds must have changed because I insisted that we keep adding more seasoning and peppers because it didn't taste like anything haha..also don't mind the lovely shine from a hard day's work..

Thursday, CIEE had a Thanksgiving dinner for us. Unfortunately, Andy was sick and couldn't join us but it was still a good time. There was turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, spaghetti, salad, rice, and of course guacamole (?). On the way home our program director gave the homestays a ride home. Unfortunately, we were pulled over by the police at the police barrier on my road for having an "overloaded" car...there were four small American girls in the backseat of his huge SUV. We tried to solve the situation but the officer just wanted a bribe..surprise..since there were white people in a nice SUV he must be rich! Overall, it was a fun evening with friends and I brought Andy back some apple crisp so he didn't totally miss out on one of the U.S.'s best holidays.

Most of the homestay group in our Ghanaian garb on Thanksgiving :)

These are just a few of the many things that have been happening in the last week or so and Andy and I are leaving to travel to the Volta Region for a few days starting tomorrow since he leaves on Friday. I can't believe I only have 3.5 weeks left!! I can't even imagine what the snow feels like even though my mom showed some newly fallen snow on our deck this morning! 

Till next time!

Only 6 weeks??

Since our trip to Cape Coast I've been reflecting a lot on how much time I have left here in Ghana. Only about 6 weeks!! It's unbelievable! I remember my mom asking me the first week I was here what Africa was like and I told her "I have no idea" because it took me so long to believe that I was really here. Now it is getting harder each day to imagine leaving.

To be clear it's not that I don't miss home or my family or friends in the U.S. But instead that I have gained so much while being here. In this short period of time I have become part of an amazing family that I will always call my own and refuse to acknowledge that I'm oburoni when I'm with them. I have made so many friends from all over the world. I have had a ridiculous amount of "firsts" happen here: first time I've been on a plane alone (my only other flight was with my family junior year of high school!), first time leaving the U.S., first taxi ride, first time in the hospital, first time I've been proposed to, first time I've had consistent weather patterns (thanks Wisconsin for deciding to have all four seasons during one week at times), first time I've climbed a mountain, first time I've been in a car accident (tro tro accident where I lost my phone)...I think you get the point. Overall, I would not trade a single crazy or amazing thing that has happened to me here for anything. (Don't worry mom, I'm still coming home haha)

I'm predicting that the day I fly out is going to be one crazy mix of emotions due to the sadness of leaving those I have come to love in Ghana and the excitement and anticipation of what awaits me at home-friends and family, cheese, my last semester as an undergrad at UW, the scariness of starting my job search, more cheese, all dairy products really, etc.

Things are starting to slow down a bit because my last week of classes is this week, next week is a study week and then exams begin and go through our last day here. Andy will be here next Friday so we'll be travelling a bit after my exams are over and I might make a few more beach trips but otherwise my time here is coming to an end faster than you can imagine.

I'm trying to stay busy at my internship so I can fulfill my required number of hours and it has been going pretty well. In addition to personal development classes for the whole class we are teaching Sisters in Support for just the girls. My class for that only has 5 girls so sometimes getting the conversation is tough but last week they really impressed me with their goals of making change happen in Ghana and the ways that they plan to do it. The women in my group may be a bit young but they have amazing ideas for pushing their country forward.

Last night NYU hosted an election night party on their campus (which to me seems like a bubble of luxury that just happens to be in Ghana). It was pretty fun being able to see part of it but I went home before polls closed in Wisconsin since it was 2 am here and would've had to get back home alone. It was fun while I was there though and it's just an amazing experience to watch your election from a different country.

I don't really have any new pictures to share from this past week but I'll share another beauty taken by my friend Erika...Neither Jessalyn nor I can recall what led us to these particular faces..maybe it was the altitude from the canopy hike? If nothing else it is helpful if you're looking for a good laugh haha

Today a multi-story shopping mall collapsed in a neighborhood called Achimoto, not too far from where we live/go to school-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20237230

Till next time..

Braverisms and such

Sorry for the delayed post! This past week had some interesting moments but overall I just haven't known what to write about...hint hint-suggestions are welcome! :)

Last weekend we had our last organized trip with CIEE to the Central Region and the city of Cape Coast. For those who don't know, Cape Coast was the first capital of Ghana and was a main stop on in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The castles at Cape Coast and Elmina were used to store slaves for about 3 months while they were waiting to be shipped abroad. I don't think that you can prepare yourself for an experience where you are walking through the dungeons where so many people suffered either to their death in the castle, on the ship crossing the ocean, or wherever they may have ended up in the US or Europe. There are two castles to visit in the area, one in Cape Coast and one in Elmina (the oldest castle). I chose to go to Cape Coast and plan to visit Elmina when Andy visits in a couple weeks.

Cape Coast was built to hold about 1,300 slaves-1,000 men and 300 women. When the slaves arrived at the castle they were auctioned off and then branded to make it easier to keep track of who they belonged to (since they were seen as property) and then they were sent to the dungeons where they would wait 3 months before being shipped away. The dungeons that they were held in were less than sanitary and had little to no light to prevent them from rebelling (if you could see daylight wouldn't you want to get out of there?). In fact, archaeologists excavated the floor in the men's dungeons to demonstrate the inches upon inches of human waste that had accumulated over the years thanks to the lack of bathrooms or anything. Needless to say even to this day the dungeons have a certain stench to them that just makes the experience even more impactful. The women had a separate room that was used for public shaming when they refused to sleep with the British soldiers so that the other women could see what would happen to them if they also refused.

View of the castle from within the courtyard.

The room that impacted me the most was a room called the cell which was used for punishment. It had no windows or air holes at all and was closed by not one but three doors to completely block air flow. The hardest part was seeing marks on the floor that were left by the slaves struggling with their chains. They were locked in this tiny cell and still chained up! The fact that marks in the floor from these chains are still visible today is incredible.

Inside the cell.

Another hard thing to deal with is the fact that there was a church placed right over top of the male dungeons. So while the people below were suffering and given just enough food to keep them alive, the British were praising their God in the room above. That's something really hard to swallow.

There was a door called the "Door of No Return" that was the last doorway that the slaves went through on their way to the ships. Once through this door they were never to return again. However, in recent years the door has added a sign on the back saying the "Door of Return" so that when descendants of former slaves from the African Diaspora come to Ghana they can walk through and return to where their ancestors came through.

Door of Return

Something else that we all noted was the insane beauty that surrounds the castle. The ocean, coastal view that we saw isn't something new. It is the same view that the British had back then. It's hard to imagine such beauty shining on such a horrible place.

View from the castle overlooking the ocean..

Overall, this was a really interesting and impactful experience for everyone involved. After the tours and dinner we had a reflection session with the entire group (almost 50 students either originally from America or at least studying there, from all walks of life, ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds). It was really interesting hearing other people talk about their experience because it helped me to reflect more on mine. In Ghana, people don't really talk or learn about the slave trade. It is seen as something that happened in the past but we shouldn't dwell on it. For some of my peers it is hard to understand why they're not angry at the white man. Others may agree in part or in whole with the Ghanaian view. I believe that it is not something that should be forgotten but also something that we need to move past. Just like any tragedy, I believe we must teach ourselves and everyone else about it in order to prevent it from happening again. However, I don't believe that anyone should be angry about it anymore. If we dwell on it now and play the blame game we are just recreating the problem. During the discussion we discussed some race issues in the states that still occur today. For example how at lunch in some schools the black kids sit on one side and the whites on the other. A few people said things like, "the white people need to go over to the other side and make friends with the black kids". While I agree that we shouldn't be segregated by saying that the white people have to do it in order to integrate with the black people is recreating the cycle. Why should the white kids or black kids HAVE to do anything? Then it is a white vs. black problem. The issue is that it should be a human problem, everyone should make an effort to sit, or work, or study, or whatever with everyone not because they're black, white or purple, but because they're a fellow human being.

Sorry for the rant but those are some of the thoughts I left this experience with.

On Sunday we went to Kakum National Park and walked the canopy walk on bridges above the forest. I'm usually the one crying in my dad's tree stand because I'm too afraid of heights that I can't get down but for some reason this REALLY high, REALLY rocky bridge didn't scare me that much. Maybe it was because I was singing a bit (I did that on the mountains too so maybe it's a coping mechanism) or maybe because I just kept telling the people ahead of me who stopped for 10 minute photo shoots to keep walking. But in the end I was slightly disappointed with the walk..oh well, it was cool nonetheless! Then we had lunch at a restaurant with a crocodile pond and some other cool birds, etc. Then we just made our way back to East Legon. I'm not sure if I can really express how much I love getting back home from a trip, but I always want to rush in the door and hug EVERYONE. (it may also be because my host-mom's cooking beats any food you can get at a restaurant and I enjoyed light soup and rice with the family for dinner! YUM!

Channeling my inner model on this crazy high bridge with my friends Erika and Jessalyn.

A view looking down.

The only other exciting thing we did recently was a community service project at Balweshie School near my house. We went there Wednesday as part of our Developmental Studies class to paint the outside of their school. Unfortunately, the project was slightly hampered by some really crappy attitudes of my peers. Some were complaining about how we were disrupting class and the kids would never be able to pay attention that day (even though they were making the children late to class by playing with them and taking the typical pictures of a wealthy American with small African children..not distracting at all!). Then they also complained to the point where they were considering pretending to be sick just to be able to leave...it was two hours out of their day that we would have otherwise been in class for anyways..and we were helping a school. Maybe I'm just crazy but that doesn't seem like a bad deal. I have heard that some people don't like volunteering here because they believe that it's like they're just here helping the poor black people...once again I don't understand this. We are helping people during these projects who tell us what they want done but don't have enough time or hands to do themselves. I'm not doing it because they are poor black people, I'm doing it just as I would do community service in the U.S. not for people because they are black, white, or orange but because they are people who may be less privileged than I and I have the time or resources to help. It was a bit frustrating but in the end those of us who were working made the best of it and did some good work and had fun.

Apparently, I had more to say than I thought...sorry it's so long and may seem a bit like I'm complaining or ranting.

Thanks to all who have donated to Jessalyn and my Queensland fundraiser! We really appreciate it!!

Me to the dokta "you know this hospital is really nice, I think I'll visit again"

Well in the last week not much has happened because once again I found myself at the hospital...this time it was just for some bloodwork because I wanted to test and see if I had malaria since I'd been feeling terrible for two days-extremely sore throat, swollen tonsils, ear ache, chills, fever, slight nausea..never good things to have.. **Important note: not sure if I made this clear in my previous post about my first hospital excursion but here the hospital and doctor's office are the same thing. Therefore, there is no need to be alarmed, I was there for a walk-in check-up, did some tests and received some prescriptions and my entire bill for the Dr. visit, prescrips, and tests was the equivalent of a whopping $50...if only plane tickets didn't cost so much, I'd consider coming here for all my medical needs.

Anyways, since I didn't do much besides sleep for a few days I have plenty of room for a food edition!

One thing to note is that they eat everything here that we do in the states with a few additions or in new ways.

Due to the fact that my stomach has zero interest in being a full fledged Ghanaian (note it is my stomach being rebellious not me..I would LOVE to eat all the foods!) Here are some pics of a few Ghanaian dishes. One thing to note is that there are three key ingredients in every meal: starch, pepper, and oil. By pepper I mean super spicy not this lame baby stuff we call "hot" or "spicy" in the US but spicy enough to make you cry. Even though I don't really eat the pepper I still find myself sweating at every meal my family makes (I can actually tell who cooked it based on how spicy it is).

As for the starch it is usually banku, fufu, or kenkey. These are pounded combinations of corn, yams, and cassava. I can't really eat most of these because 1. you don't chew it you just swallow it-my body doesn't like to do that. 2. my stomach completely rejects the entire thing and I feel sick for 1-2 days after with the exception of a recent second chance with fufu. They're very filling and usually just dipped into soup or stew by hand. I'm usually lame and just eat everything with white rice or boiled yams..it works for me!

Banku, fish (hopefully tilapia because it's the best!), and some kind of tomato based sauce..this pic doesn't really do banku justice but I forget to take pictures of the food that my mom actually makes..
Banku is one of the many basic staple starches that make up the Ghanaian diet, it is made of pounded corn and cassava.

Fufu is similar to banku but is made of pounded yam and plantains.

Here's a pic of my friends Brittany and Evans eating banku for lunch.

This is how fufu, kenkey, and banku are made they are pounded repeatedly until they become the dough-like balls.

One of my favorites, ground nut soup aka peanut butter soup. The first day that my host-mom came back from America she saw me put peanut butter on my toast and said "I really need to make you ground nut soup..you're going to love it" and she was right! It actually tastes like peanut butter and usually has some kind of chicken in it. Most people eat it with fufu or banku but I always opt for rice..lame I know.

One of my favorites, red red. Basically just beans in an oil sauce with fried plantains. Simple, filling, and pretty cheap most times!

I know many wonder about my water situation since the tap water here when available isn't healthy enough to drink. My family has a water cooler so I usually drink from there but it is filled with water from water sachets, small plastic pouches of water. These are purified water and cost much less than a bottle of water (one sachet costs around the equivalent of 5 cents..) you just bite off a corner and drink!

As someone from the great dairy state of Wisconsin, the thing I miss most is everything dairy!!! This is the sorry excuse for cheese that I have to eat...really Laughing Cow? No cheddar, mozzarella, colby?

How can it be called Laughing Cow? This is no laughing matter...

As for ice cream...it's not exactly the same but it's still pretty delicious. You eat it from a pouch similar to a water sachet and it's called Fan Ice. We were all outraged recently because the cost jumped from 50 to 70 pesewas..that's like 35 cents! (though that seems cheap in US dollars, we need to keep in mind that at this time I'm living on Ghanaian currency and therefore everything is relative and now ice cream is relatively expensive!)

One of my first days here my sister told me my food was on fire. Slightly alarmed I tried to play it cool, trusting that nothing must be wrong if she was so calm. Turns out it just meant it was cooking (way to be an ignorant American, Tera!) We often start our cooking outside on the fire especially for big stews or food that is for the whole family and then we reheat things on our gas stove inside the house. For rice we usually just use the rice cooker (oddly enough I never used one until I got here so they had to teach me how). Usually if I help with the cooking I get the prestigious jobs of cutting onions, fanning the fire, or opening the spices so Auntie Grace just has to spoon them in. Though simple things these are some of the best times with the family just sitting outside by the fire with the girls (usually when I also realize how much Ewe I've learned or at least how good I am at judging expressions because I can often tell what's going on even when they're not speaking English).

That's kind of it for food, even though there are soooo many more foods that we eat I just could never do them all justice or fit them into one blog post. All I have to say is that mom's cooking is always the best no matter where in the world you are.

One thing to note is that promptly after starting this blog post exciting things did start happening to me!
I fell in the gutter on Tuesday, luckily I didn't fall all the way down it was a pretty shallow gutter so I kind of walked into it with one leg and scraped it up a bit. I laughed a lot like normal..and my host-dad saw it and was like "again?!" haha it's never before but I'm glad it didn't surprise him that it happened. Really I'm just surprised it didn't happen earlier, I am known to be quite graceful after all.

Then I tried to pick up a package that someone sent me from the post office. It has been in Ghana since October 8th and I just found out where it was on the 17th but couldn't go and get it due to my crazy illness last week. I had to take a tro tro to the Circle post office, not exactly close. I was warned not to be "funny" which I'm pretty sure means sarcastic or I wouldn't get my package...if you know me you know I'm never sarcastic so this shouldn't have been a problem.
I went there, greeted the lady, tried to be really friendly and she decided she didn't want to look for my package and therefore I should just go home and come back again the next day. She literally didn't look for it. I couldn't believe it but also couldn't argue because then if she would've found it she would've tried to charge me a crazy amount of money to get it.

My host brother from America asked me to go with him to the Spanish Embassy because he needed a white person to get in the door..luckily I knew someone

Who's that white girl?

So I skipped class to go with him on Wednesday and he told me why he needed to go there. He and a colleague want to start up a clothing mill in Spain...there's more to it than that but it's really cool! We couldn't get in without an appointment which you can't make without their phone number, which you can't get without going there (typical problems with official business in Ghana). However, he was nice enough to offer to take me to the post office instead. After finding our way there we couldn't find a parking spot so he had to drop me off-luckily some Ghanaian woman helped me cross the street and made sure my purse didn't get stolen..soo nice! Then I went into the post office and started working my charm, a super friendly "good morning!" I was singing to a song on the radio called Sweetio (all about your sweetie), she started laughing..progress! Then I said that my package was from my sweetio in the US...more smiles! One guy that worked there asked for my number after saying how beautiful I am...typical. Then the customs man told me my package would be about 25 cedi ($12.50) not the worst but we had to go through the checklist and make sure everything was there...I slipped the lady some chocolate just to be safe laughed a little, smiled some more and used my "Have a great day!" that I perfected at Remington Quality Foods...I left smiling with a huge package of sweets.

Then, I learned more about how awesome my family is. I got to meet my uncle who is the former Ghanaian Ambassador to Spain (say what?!) coolest thing ever. Then I found out he is consulting on the case concerning the Argentinian ship on Ghanaian shores (check the news for more info).

Basically things just keep getting better (with the exception of falling into gutters and such).

One last thing, my friend Jessalyn and I have started a fundraiser for the school we work at in Agbogbloshie. We are raising money for the basics like pencils and notebooks which seem simple and cheap but here they can cost as much as a parent makes in one day or week. When it comes down to how to spend that money the answer is simple..food, lights if possible, etc. then notebooks if they're lucky. If we exceed our goal of $250 we plan to use it for more desks, a door, blackboards, etc. The headmistress works really hard to keep this school running because without it most of the kids might not be in school. Please check out our Facebook event (https://www.facebook.com/events/115595391930116/)
or campaign on youcaring.com (http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=12138&url=queenslandsbarenecessities) to read more about our fundraiser and help out. Every little bit helps from $5 to $50 we will take anything because even small amounts can go a long way here. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks in advance for your support. Even if you cannot donate yourself please share our links with friends and family. Our goal is to have our money raised by November 14th so Andrew can bring it with him when he visits me on November 16th to avoid international transaction costs of sending money abroad. You can donate online through our youcaring campaign or send a check to Andrew's address which is listed on our Facebook event page.

Thanks again for reading everyone, till next time!

Where I come from...Battor, Volta Region, Ghana

Greetings all,

I believe I promised a food edition of my blog but that will have to come later because I had a fantastic weekend that I want to tell you about!

For a few weeks now I have known that my family would be making a trip to Battor, my host-dad's village for a funeral this weekend. However, they failed to mention that instead of a funeral it was a celebration of the 10th anniversary of our grandmother's death. It was an extra big deal because she was the Queen Mother of the village (basically the mayor of a town kind of deal). All week the people in our sewing center were busy sewing our entire family clothes in a matching fabric for the occasion. Friday, I decided against going to the beach in order to stay home and help prepare for the celebration..it was a great choice. I found out shortly that two of my parents' sons came to visit us from the U.S. for the event. They are awesome!

Friday afternoon Charlie (my host-dad), my sister Sisto, and one of the brothers left for Battor. At dinner the brother that stayed home told me that he was impressed that I am so hands on (basically because I helped cook and take out the trash haha). He said that he and his brother agreed that I fit in perfectly with the family thanks to my eagerness to help (everyone together now.. "awww").

Saturday, Jessalyn, Paige, Anil, Erica, and I went to watch my brother Remi play rugby against the University of Ghana team. It was really hot out and none of us really knew anything about rugby but it was fun nonetheless. By the end of the game we sort of figured it out unfortunately Remi's team lost.. The whole experience, just like any other in Ghana was interesting because 1. there were A LOT of oburonis on Remi's team. 2. One of them, a slightly inebriated Brit, came up to talk to us and brought up randomnly how his undershorts he wears for rugby aren't very clean because he told the house boy not to worry about it..he then asked us what our plans were for the evening... 3. the University of Ghana's rugby coach first tried to convince us to join the women's rugby team and then tried convincing us to give him our numbers... thank goodness for Remi, I just told the guys that Remi usually takes us out so they should ask him if they want to see us again haha Here's a pic of Remi playing:

Remi in an action shot

Saturday afternoon I hung out with the twins who are staying with us-Bernice and Benedicta and Remi. Everyone else in the house had left for Battor already so it was just us and Rachel for most of the day until Auntie Kosh came and one of my brothers and Chairman returned from Battor. I took some Benadryl because I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something..turns out Auntie Kosh thinks it is just heat rash too late because the Benadryl knocked me out for an hour and then I just woke up long enough to eat dinner before going to bed at 9pm...

Sunday was the big day! We planned to leave at 6:30am, 7 at the latest so of course we left at 7:30. I was supposed to ride on the bus but my brother told me I should ride in the car with him and Chairman, Rachel, and two of the kids. As someone who gets motion sickness so easily I didn't mind giving up a seat on the bus for a spacious SUV backseat. We were able to drive most of the way to Battor on the nicest road in Ghana...it actually didn't have ANY potholes! There were even toll booths to pay for it! We were stopped at the police barrier because our car wasn't registered so Chairman had to pay one of the police officers to let us keep going.

We finally got to Battor and I couldn't believe it. Our house in Battor is even bigger than our house in East Legon!! The contrast between our house and the thatch roof houses across the street was amazing.When we arrived at our house everyone was screaming to welcome me, it was like they hadn't seen me in years! I got a tour of the house from Rachel and then went to join the women who were cooking outside. I helped cut plantains and provided some general comic relief for everyone who was around..the white girl it cooking?? Then I went to church with pretty much the entire family. I sat in back with Yaya, Chairman, Remi, etc. It was neat to see the sea of people in our family wearing the same pattern. I noticed a lot of police standing around and asked about them and was told it was because my dad's house often hosts dignitaries. Halfway through mass I noticed that they kept talking about the Vice President...lo and behold the security detail pulls up clears a path into the church and the Vice President just walks into our mass!! Eventually he gave a campaign speech of course and some other chiefs (including one of my uncles) and dignitaries...including my dad were introduced! It was awesome! Here's a pic of the VP talking at church:

No big deal, the Vice President of Ghana just visits my dad and  his family village for our party...

Yaya said we needed to leave church a bit earlier because they needed help at home. So we went to our house where the food was being prepared and began taking it over to our Auntie's house. I carried the Kelewele or fried plantains on my head which amused everyone, I'm pretty sure that comments like (look at that white girl!) were being flown around. Luckily, I knew how ridiculous it looked. When we got to our Auntie's house I was surprised by how big of an even this was. We had at least four tents with tables and chairs under them, a band, a huge tent for the food, many coolers for drinks, and an all around party atmosphere. I found my place in the buffet serving line ironically serving white rice. This was one of the many things that surprised so many people, especially the older ladies who have never been served by a white person before. Luckily, I have a lot of experience serving from my volunteering for the rodeo's bbq chicken dinner haha

Ironically-the white girl served the white rice..

After serving people for awhile including the Vice President's entire security force and the VP (of course he didn't come through line and he only ate rice and chicken which convinces me that he's not actually Ghanaian...we had four soups, stews, three kinds of rice, chicken, tilapia, crabs, etc and he chose rice and chicken?!?! how western of him!). I was able to eat a nice combo of random things that were left but unfortunately there wasn't very much of my favorite soup left. My Auntie Mary pulled me out to dance and I mad Remi come with..it was hilarious being the only white person...I definitely draw attention to our family. Then I tried pulling one of my brothers out there but it was unsuccessful. I helped out a bit more and then my host-mom pulled me out to dance with her...once again, quite entertaining. Two of my brothers who live in America were visiting and we had a good conversation about how impressed everyone was with my hands on approach to the family. I'm not sure what they expected me to be doing while everyone else worked...I can't just sit their and watch and look like everyone should do work for me. I wouldn't do that at home and I would never think of doing it at my second home here. It's also a lot more fun to get involved because that is when those little moments that make you fall in love with your family happen.

We started cleaning up the food and taking it back to our house and by the time we got back most of the guests were gone. We ended up going to another house which actually belonged to my grandmother, the Queen Mother, where we did plenty more dancing. I was actually dancing in front of the chiefs and elders...unfortunately that meant that the amount of people who knew how to work a camera were in short supply..but here's a pic of others dancing.

After the dancing, Rachel and Sitso took me to the statues of the Queen Mother and her mother. Here is a picture of one of them.

Statue of the Queen Mother whose death we were celebrating.

We went back to our house to pack up everything and then loaded up the cars and were on our way back to East Legon. On the way I couldn't stop looking out the window at the beautiful sunset and landscapes. I just kept thinking over and over about how much I love this place and these people. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Siril and I at the party

My host-mom, Auntie Grace and I

A few of my sisters and I (Rachel, Sisto, Yaya, and Gifty) please note how we're all wearing the same fabric but non of our dresses look exactly the same.

My sister Gifty, brother Remi, and I waiting to leave for Battor.

Bernice and Benedicta, a set of twins who are staying at our house right now-they are hilarious.

The view out the car window on our way home from Battor...absolutely beautiful.