It's raining men...hallelujah?

Mema mo adwo (good evening in twi),

Since our wireless network is still down I caved and bought my own USB internet modem yesterday since it is difficult to stay in contact with everyone when I don't have internet access for a week or more at a time...no need to worry mom, right? The bright side is that it was only 49 cedi (about $24.50 for unlimited 3G for one month...not too shabby!

For this post I'm going to tell you about some of the key factors in my trip: classes and my internship. I will also talk about one major topic the girls on our trip and women here in general have to tactfully deal with...Ghanaian men...and finally my experience at church today!

Classes:
Technically I have just completed my second week of classes at the University of Ghana. However, that doesn't mean that I've actually been to all of my classes. The registration process here isn't completely computerized yet so you need to go to each of the departments who you want to take classes through to find out which classes are being offered, when, where, and then you register there. The last day of the second week is the last day to add/drop a class. Typically this would be fine because after two weeks of class you should know which ones you want to keep...If only it were that simple. The first week of classes most professors and students don't show up to class, it's a mutual belief that the other won't show up so no one goes..except obruni like me haha... So the first week I only had two or three official classes and had my schedule pretty much set except for the classes where professors didn't come. Well Monday of this past week was a national holiday and therefore we didn't have class again...then on Thursday my favorite class about Military and Politics in Ghana got cancelled..forever (or at least this term). Of course I didn't find this out until I was already there for about 20 minutes...very frustrating is putting it mildly. But in the end I just had to make decisions to take a class or two that I haven't gone to yet just to fill my schedule.

These are the six classes I have decided to take this semester: Sociology of Development Studies, Twi language course, Internship class for credit, Foreign Policy Analysis, U.S. Policy towards Africa, and Post-conflict, Peacebuilding, and Transitional Justice.

The class structure here is pretty similar to those I've taken at UW in the sense that they are often huge with a couple hundred people in them. They are about two hours long and the professors expect you to copy everything they say verbatim...which isn't actually that difficult so far since they often repeat themselves so even if you couldn't understand the first time you can usually catch it on the second time. Some of them really want a lot of class discussion and will come up to you and say, "you have something to say don't you?" unfortunately that is one of my least favorite things about classes but I figure I'll get called on a lot since I tend to stick out in a crowd here so my discussion section grades next spring should be perfect! Since I'm in the 400 level (for seniors) we don't have any assignments or tests except for the final exam and just keeping up on the reading material, which is something I'm also kind of used to from taking 600 level classes which usually only have exam grades to determine your final grade.

Internship:
I finally went to my internship site for the first time on Friday morning. I work at SISS Ghana (http://www.sissghana.org/index.html), a non-governmental organization that works to help Ghanaians become independent and gain skills to help them get jobs or start their own businesses. In particular we work with the people of Agbogboloshie (see this link which describes the desperate situation these people live in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agbogbloshie). The people of Agbogbloshie come from the north to try and get a better life near the city of Accra. They tend to have less if any education and end up living in the dangerous conditions of one of the biggest slums in Ghana. The sanitation conditions are horrendous, diseases spread easily since there are 40,000 people living on four acres of land!! This is also an unfortunate place because many of the electronics that we throw out in the US get shipped and dumped in Agbogbloshie, children spend the day burning these down to scavenge for copper, aluminum, etc that are used in the electronics to then sell and get money for their families. It is a very harsh reality check for us when we complain about such petty things and these people don't even have a clean, healthy environment to live in.

My job at SISS will be as a skills trainer. We coordinate 3-month training programs for people to graduate from. They learn computer skills, how to cook (potential jobs in restaurants, etc), beadwork and batik tie and dye (popular industry here), job interview skills, how to write a CV, how to use the internet, and then other skills to improve their overall health and well-being: nutrition, HIV/AIDS awareness, reproductive rights/health, sanitation, their responsibilities as global citizens (keeping their environment clean, etc), hygiene, how to communicate and deal with difficult people. We also work with teaching children since there are no public schools in the slum. Most of the time I'll probably be in our office in Madina but we will be visiting Agbogblosie occasionally. I am VERY excited to start work on Monday because this internship matches my interests perfectly, helping people help themselves.

Men:
On another note, an interesting thing that women (both Ghanaian and obruni) have to deal with is forward young men...Ghanaians are generally very friendly people and want you to enjoy your time in their country so you can go home and eliminate the bad stereotypes about Africa. However, some of them are very VERY friendly, especially the young men. Almost every day at least one man will ask for my phone number, to marry me, or something along those lines. Luckily, I carry a mini-notebook with me almost all the time so I just ask for their number instead because I can't remember my Ghanaian number and forgot my phone at home...fortunately that has worked for me and also come in handy to save some of my friends at times. Unfortunately for the nice Ghanaian men who are actually just trying to be nice, I think we tend to put up a shield immediately just in case they're a creeper...which often they are..calling you 60 times in one night is a record from a former CIEE student or texting you constantly...I'm not looking for any of that hahaha

Luckily for my group of friends, we have Anil...He's a fellow CIEE student and homestayer who has basically played the role of our bodyguard/boyfriend/brother, whatever is necessary to distract the forward men. When we went to the beach last weekend he told the mate on our tro tro that all five of us girls were his haha just to stop the mate from proposing to us over and over... Anil is the ultimate trooper, helping us out with these men all the time!

Church:
I just got back from my first time at church here. Religion plays a huge role in most Ghanaians' lives and it is nice to be able to experience different churches as well. Today we went to Trinity United Church which is interdenominational, mostly Methodist and Presbyterian..I think. I actually thought it was great, partiallly because of how much singing happens and also just seeing people so passionate about their religion. I saw people laughing, crying, dancing, everything. For the most part I understood the entire service (2 hours long by the way) because they said most things in English plus two local languages. At the end of the service they had all the people who were there for the first time stand up and introduce yourself..."my name is Tera and I'm from the United States..." haha it was interesting...I was the only obruni in the church but at least there were a few other new people! Overall, it was great and I will definitely go with the family again. I'm also going to try out a Catholic church that is apparently close to my house to see if it's different from my home churches or not and I'm going to go to a few different churches with my friends to get the full experience.

In response to Andy's question- the beach/ocean are relatively safe. They both have a lot of trash in them so you have to watch out for the occasional glass coke bottle, etc. but otherwise swimming in the ocean is safer than swimming in a lake or other somewhat still body of water where parasites can grow. The water is really cold though and we were there during high tide so you couldn't swim anyways. Here are a few pics courtesy of a friend of LaBadi beach that I went to last Monday:

Anil and I in a tro tro on the way home from the beach

Paige, a fellow Madisonian and I at the beach

A funny picture post-wave crashing into us as we were posing for a picture

LaBadi Beach before the holiday crowds came

Long time, no blog...

Greetings all,

Sorry I haven't posted since last week...we haven't had internet in my house since my last post and yesterday was my first day on campus since Thursday. Since it has been awhile, a lot has happened in the last week!

Thursday I had a my first class on campus and it was really good..I wasn't going to go to it originally but my Ghanaian friend Evans convinced me to go and I loved it! It is on Military and Politics in Ghana which is really important because since independence Ghana has gone back and forth between military rule and non-military rule. I also had my first Twi (pronounced chwee) language class which was good, I know it is going to be difficult to learn but I'm excited to learn and be able to communicate with the locals and therefore be able to bargain better.

On Friday, a group of friends and I went to one of the biggest markets in Accra. For me it was terrible. Mainly because I don't like spending money, I don't like big crowds, and I don't like people hassling me and grabbing me. It was very overwhelming because people just yell and hiss at you and pull you over to them. I'm not very good at bargaining yet either so I know I got ripped off when I bought a skirt but it was definitely an experience. One thing I also didn't like about it was that most of clothes are actually second-hand western clothes...I have no problem buying second-hand clothes but if I'm in Ghana I want to spend my money on things that are only available here..luckily my host sisters said they also don't like going there because it's so stressful so that made me feel better!

Saturday the day was really boring during the day because no one does anything at my house on the weekend, everyone just lounges around. But Saturday night was quite eventful because it was our friend Paige's birthday so we spent the evening going out to different bars throughout our neighborhood. We also tried going to a club for dancing but we got 'bounced' because we weren't dressed up enough...damn Americans...haha but we ended up at a place called the Galaxy-it's an arcade by day and bar by night...interesting to say the least...AND Paige almost broke her nose jumping on the trampoline hahaha. Here's a pic from that night:

On Monday a group of us went to the La Badi beach right on the coast. It was sooo beautiful! I'm waiting for a friend to upload pictures and then I'll share them with you but for now please enjoy this very attractive picture that shows the ridiculous amount of sunburn I got on Monday...and believe me, I used sunscreen...and a lot of it..repeatedly and this is still what happens!

To follow up on comments with questions from my last post:
1.  Food I miss is mostly just dairy stuff, especially cheese-because it is really expensive here! I also miss fruits and veggies since we don't really eat fresh fruits and veggies mostly just pineapples, bananas, and tomatoes are in everything!
2. They have a lot of the same brands here as we have at home Coke products are very popular, and most of the actual grocery stores have US brands in cereal, chips, etc. These things are just very expensive so you are usually better off to just buy off brands or things from the markets and street vendors.

Keep the questions coming!

Some exciting news for you all....I have officially gone 3.5 days without feeling ill at all and it has been one week since I was in the hospital! Wahoo!! (It's necessary to celebrate the little accomplishments in life) haha.

Overall, I've been feeling much better. No more antibiotics and I had a good conversation with Rachel and Seecho about my food. They have decided to either make my food separately or just wait until I get home to find out what I want to eat. They are also allowing me to make my own breakfast and serve myself. One thing about Ghanaian people is that they never want you to be hungry, often being heavier is a sign of wealth and therefore if we are heavier it means we are being well taken care of. However, starches fill up your stomach faster and I can't eat as much as they usually serve me and I don't want to waste it so this is also a major step forward. I'm also beginning to learn my way around the kitchen...this morning I was concerned that I wasn't going to have breakfast since I the cupboard where we normally keep the bread was locked but luckily they showed me where the key was today haha. This morning I had Milo which is just like hot cocoa and some bread and a banana. I'm trying to incorporate as many fruits and veggies into my diet as possible since starches really don't provide a lot of nutrients and that is the basis for most meals. For now I'm eating mostly American like food-fried chicken, potatoes, fried rice, cereal until I can train my stomach to tolerate more spice and Ghanaian food.

Classes started on Monday but I have only had two lectures total this week so far out of the five I tried going to.  Many of the professors and students alike don't expect people to come to class this week so it's mostly been obrunis (foreigners). I'm hoping to actually have more classes tomorrow because Friday I don't have any classes!! 

My mom has told me a few times that I need to start taking more pictures which I know I do but I just haven't found a lot of picture worthy things yet. I have a hard time taking pictures of the street vendors and market people because it feels rude, making a spectacle of their occupation. I wouldn't go up to a banker here and take his/her picture so I don't want to take pictures of these people who work hard all day trying to sell things to put food in their children's mouths. So I probably won't take a lot of those pictures but may post some taken by other people in my program. I'm still going to try and take more pics...

Here's a picture a fellow CIEE student took of the Night Market on campus. This is a place really close to the dorms where you can buy literally everything. Toiletries, cleaning supplies, fruits and veggies, egg sandwiches, other hot food, shoes, bags, anything.

Some of my friends and I are going to the market in Accra on Friday and then going out at some point this weekend for someone's birthday so I'll try to make sure I take my camera!

One thing you may have noticed is that my life still seems pretty modern. My family has internet, electricity that runs pretty steadily, water, tv, multiple cars, etc. At first this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to be as far away from American culture as possible to fully get the experience that I've spent so much time, money, and effort to come for. However, after being as sick as I was, I am extremely grateful for my current situation. I am able to live quite comfortably and similar to how I do at home (if you know my feelings on my electric bill, you understand why I have no problem using as little electricity as possible). I think that if I was living in the dorms or in a different situation I might have come home last week just because it was so challenging. But this week is going really well and I am sooo glad that I stayed.

Once again,
I know some of you may have questions for me that may help prompt more blog posts so I know what to write about so if you would like you can leave any questions in the comment section after each post or just email me and I'll try to make sure I can include an answer in my next post!

One week and counting....

As of yesterday I have been in Ghana for exactly one week. As seen by my last post it has had it's challenges  but it has also had some good times. I know these challenges are what I came here for and that I just have to work through them and in no time I'll never want to leave. I only get really homesick when I'm bored so I'm trying to keep myself busy but on days like today when everyone rests it can be challenging. I've started a new motto for me to live by while I'm here, don't think of what you're missing, think of what you're gaining. I'm not huge on the inspirational quotes but I feel like telling myself this will help me get through the times when I just want some cheese, or to watch the badgers, or go to the terrace.

Here are some updates:

Housing: Like I said before, I'm still trying to figure out how many people I actually live with because it seems to change depending on the day but on average there are about 10 people staying with us at any given time. There is a girls room, a guys room, the parents' rooms, and my room. Here's a pic of my room:

We also have a living room with one area by the tv and the other as a sitting area.

Then we have a big kitchen and one and a half bath...

And there is an area behind the house where some of the food is prepared in bigger pots and where you wash your clothes by hand (which I did for the first time today which is why my fingers are a bit raw):

We have electricity and running water like many homes here but there are certain times that they will just go out. For example yesterday morning when I woke up the electricity was out but in the afternoon when I came back it was on again. We also have internet and tv and a fridge and freezer, so it's really not that much different than living in America except that you can't always depend on the electricity and you can't drink the tap water.

Yesterday my program took us on a tour of the capital city Accra and some of it's neighborhoods. We stopped at the Kwame Nkrumah memorial (he was the first president of Ghana after independence from the British) and a few other places. It was nice getting to see areas outside of Legon. We then had a welcome dinner at the restaurant Chez Afrique with all of our students which was fun since it was my first night out after dark here.

The weather here has been pretty cool because we are still in the rainy season. It is usually overcast with a good breeze but each day gets a little sunnier and a little warmer. They told us that by November it will start getting really hot. Luckily from November 17-December 17 is just finals so we only have to go to school for the finals...thank goodness!

Today has been one of the best if not the best days that I've been here, I'm going to bed without a tinge of regret for coming here which is a nice change. We finally celebrated by host sister's birthday since we couldn't when I was sick so we had family over, dancing, and ice cream! I also went to the mall and got some basics like cereal and tp (there usually isn't any toilet paper to be found in any bathrooms here) and granola bars to take to school with me tomorrow. I'm excited to start classes and I'm hoping that they don't get cancelled (many people don't go the first week). My schedule isn't set because we were told to visit different classes this week before deciding just in case we don't like it or can't understand the professor so I'm going to four poli sci classes in addition to my Twi language class and developmental studies classes and my internship doesn't start for another week or so.

I know some of you may have questions for me that may help prompt more blog posts so I know what to write about so if you would like you can leave any questions in the comment section after each post or just email me and I'll try to make sure I can include an answer in my next post!

The good, the bad, the not so pretty lady...

Greetings all,

Disclaimer: my blog is meant to be a true diary of my trip and I'm sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly....

Since my last post I've started to get settled in my homestay and been to the university a couple times.
On Monday we had orientation with the other international students and then moved in with our host families/into the dorms. My host sister Rachel picked me up and brought me to our home which just happens to be a place that was a stop on our scavenger hunt on Sunday...so here's a pic of me and the homestay kids in front of the fabric store that my host mom Aunti Grace owns that is connected to our compound:

When I got to our house I spent an hour or so unpacking and then had some rice and stew for lunch. Everyone around the area greeted me whenever they saw me including Pookie (Abigail) my host cousin who lives with us...she is a typical 14-year-old girl who loves the internet, the Kardashians, and the tv show Pretty Little Liars. She immediately asked to see all of my electronic devices and wanted to take pictures and listen to my music..here's a pic of me and her:

She took me around for the afternoon to the nail salon and the pharmacy and started making all kinds of plans for us for the entire time I'm here. I had a dinner of Keke and palm nut soup (keke is kind of like a tortilla in a dough-like consistency and the soups/stews here all look the same to me for now) I didn't really like it but I ate it anyways thinking it would grow on me...(unfortunately that didn't happen) I met many more family members throughout the day many of whom live with us but I still don't know their names. The nuclear family that we have in the US (usually only parents and their children living in the home) isn't common here and usually many aunts and cousins, etc live with you just like I have here. I went to bed that night and woke up to a not so good morning...

I actually woke up around 5am ill and ended up deciding not to go to orientation...in fact I ended up going to the hospital. Luckily we only live about 2 blocks from a new private hospital so I went there. They treated me for traveler's diarrhea and food poisoning after ruling out malaria. I was on IVs from Tuesday morning until Wednesday around 11am when I was released. I did nothing but sleep for two days straight and fortunately thanks to the excellent care of my host family, program directors, and doctors and nurses am feeling better today. I went to school and survived the entire day.

I'm very fortunate to have both an amazing family back home and a great host family who checked in and visited me and won't stop asking me how I'm feeling...my host dad, Charlie just wants to have a beer with me when my medication is gone hahaha...I think he's heard some stories about Wisconsin!

Overall, it's been a trying few days...if I wasn't super religious already I think I'm taking some extra time to pray for the next few days. I have considered coming home but luckily today was a good day...the worst must be behind me, right? Either way I know this will be worth it in the end and I can't wait to start classes on Monday. 

I know many of you are curious about my living conditions, etc. so my next post will include some pics of my home and more details! 

P.S. it's crazy to me that on the Ghanaian news on Monday the tragic story of the shooting in Oak Creek was on...my prayers are with those families and it's really unfortunate that on my first day here I had to try and find a way to tell Pookie why the man did those things...rough...but it puts things into perspective for sure.

Travel and First Days!!

After two very stressful days of travel I'm finally almost through the first day in Ghana. The time difference is only 5 hours so not too bad but my airport experiences were less than pleasant...but the main thing is that I survived!

Right now we are staying in a hotel in Accra, the capitol city. Originally I thought that we'd be here for two weeks but it's actually only two days! I'm meeting my host family siblings tomorrow for dinner and move in with them on Monday. My host mom is named Aunti Grace and she is a seamstress/fabric dyer and runs the store out of the home, my host dad is a contractor, and my host sisters are named Rachel and Seecho and are around the ages of 25 & 26.

We've spent most of the day just meeting each other and doing typical orientation stuff about safety, customs, communication, and money. We also went to the mall today and bought cell phones. The taxi ride there was pretty crazy because people don't really obey traffic signs here. They just drive wherever without stopping for other cars...it's even worse than Milwaukee or Chicago..and we don't have seatbelts here... luckily my petite body often leads me to be positioned in the center seat so I feel a bit safer haha.

I've been telling people a lot lately that I don't really believe that I'm going to Africa, and I still have a hard time believing it. Our hotel has a/c, cable, and a pool (I took pictures but fear my internet connection is too slow to upload them)...also there have been potatoes or french fries at each meal I've had so far so I think of this as still somewhat Americanized. I'm sure by tomorrow when we go on a scavenger hunt throughout the city and campus I'll finally start realizing where I am but for now it seems like a vacation at a hotel with strangers haha. Speaking of, there are 47 students on my trip. My roommate is from New Jersey and surprisingly enough we're two of the oldest people on the program (most students are going to be juniors not seniors). I've met some interesting characters and even a couple from UW-Madison that I didn't know. We also have U-Pals or University Pals staying with us and helping us. U-Pals are Ghanaian University students and they have been super helpful and comforting, so I really appreciate their presence.

Right now I think things are going well, it's definitely a challenging place to be but I'm glad I'm doing this and know in the end everything will turn out all right no matter how difficult the culture shock seems at the time. Everyone is really surprised when I tell them that before now I'd only been on a plane once and had never left the country...and now I'm in Africa! Crazy but good.

Overall, I'm doing fine and trying to get a routine so that it'll be easier to talk to family and friends either via facebook, phone, or skype. If you would like any updates and I haven't updated in awhile feel free to check in with my mom or dad as I'll likely be talking to them the most often.

Till next time...