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!
Is the beach/water ok to swim in? In Green Bay we've got a couple of beaches no longer swimmable due to PCB dumping... I can imagine that the beach might be a bit of a scary place if there aren't strong rules/regulations against dumping!
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