Getting my Groundings-- and loving it!

In the short time that I’ve been here, I have learned to never leave my room without the essential items-- bug spray, canteen, washcloth, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, small bills/ change. These additions to my purse I think reveal much about the environment in which I am now living. So what can one deduce from looking in my purse? Well we’ll start with the obvious, bug spray. This is a malaria prone region, with lots of mosquitoes and other bugs that bite, so it’s always good to have this with you. This way, you can be protected whenever you feel vulnerable.
My water canteen: Ghana is on average 75-90 degrees and extra humid, making the heat even more heavy, and assuring that you will be sweating all the time; basically, I don’t remember what it’s like to not be perpetually sticky at this point. You wake up sweaty, you take a cold shower which relieves you from the heat for the moment, but once your clothes are back on, you’re sweating by the time you walk out the door and you will be for the rest of the day until late evening. There is no relief here. I have a fan in my room, but that just moves the air around. Air conditioning here is a rare luxury that only a few offices (no classrooms) have. It’s a hard life!
Washcloth: I guess more accurately titled, my “washcloth” should be referred to as a sweat-rag. When I first got here, I saw a couple people from my program whip out a bandana or such and wipe the sweat from their faces. I just figured they’re Americans and can’t handle the heat. Sure I was sweaty, but I didn’t want to seem like a weakling to these Ghanaians! I would just use my shirt to freshen up. After a week or so of being here, I noticed that all Ghanaians walk with rags to grab their sweat, and really, it was just a practical thing; hey, everyone sweats, even the natives. So I have now bought myself a small towel to make myself less sticky and more presentable throughout the day.
Toilet paper: I mentioned this in my last entry, but public toilet paper is a rarity in this country, so I always have to come prepared. As long as you provide me a toilet, I can provide the rest. And this bring me to my next item, hand sanitizer. You never know if you’re going to have running water in your bathroom, and even if you do, it’s quite a shocker when soap is provided, so I now cannot leave the house with sanitizer.
Small bills/ change: When you get money out of the ATM here, the machine spits out 5 and 10 cedi bills. This obviously differs from the US ATMs which only release multiples of 20. And believe it or not, it is so hard to get change for a 10 here! A lot of people won’t take them because they don’t have the change. The reason for this is that food and everyday things that I buy are so… cheap? Lowly priced? I mean, I buy dinner for about 50 cents to 1.50, and the market stalls I go to don’t have the change to give me. Tonight I bought dinner for 40 cents and the lady didn’t have change for my 1. I sometimes don’t get it because I know they sell things all day, but I don’t complain, I just make sure I walk around with small change.

This next part is basically an extension of my last entry, elaborating upon cultural differences and idiosyncrasies. Tap water here is undrinkable, so when I first got here, bottled water was the way of life. But unlike any other country I’ve been to, there is also another type of purified water here; water sachets. These plastic square balloons of water have to pass Ghanaian government water standards to be sold; however, there are some brands that could be fake and forge the “Ghana purification seal” on the sachet, so you have to be very weary of the ones you drink. Complicated and dodgy, right? That’s what I said! Well I haven’t had a problem yet, but I know a couple of people who did. These sachets are like square water balloons that you just bite off a corner and squeeze into your mouth. They have about the same amount of water as a small water bottle, but are so much cheaper! About 2 US cents. Just think, 2 cents for a water bottle!
Taxis- Well I’ve never been to New York, but I think I can say that Accra has the most taxis that I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen more taxis than I have seen privately owned vehicles. Unlike in the states, and everywhere else I’ve been for that matter, the taxis here call for you, they don’t wait for you to call them. Basically, whenever taxi driver see a group of obrunis walking on the side of the road, whether in or out of campus, taxis will honk at you to let you know that they want to give you a ride. We decline the offer, but go through the process 6-10 times before we reach our destination. I’m telling you, every taxi that passes us will inevitably honk at us. It’s a lot of honking!
Tro Tros- These privately owned vans hold about 25 people give or take a few. They are the alternative, though the predominant form of transportation here. They’re cheap and get you where you need to got between the hours of 6am- midnight. It costs about 20 cents on average for a ride, but it depends on distance. Getting on a tro-tro though is sometimes too hectic for its worth. They are usually jam packed with people and you don’t know where the tro-tro is headed unless you ask (the driver yells out the window to let everyone know, but us obrunis can never understand what they’re yelling!). People who want to get on the tro-tro, wait at the stop, then run with the vehicle before it even stops to assure that they are the first to get a place on the tro-tro. Initially, we obrunis weren’t assertive enough to keep up with all the Ghanaians and their ways of claiming transportation, so we had to resort to a taxi to get us where we needed to go. However, we have gotten a little more assertive and are using the tro-tros as our main form of transportation. It’s just so cheap, and once you get the hang of it, it’s really not intimidating or even a big deal anymore.

Well in my time here, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m always going to be just a little bit dirty, or just not 100% clean. Hand washing my laundry, bucket showers and the perpetual sweating, and the dirt that attaches itself to your sweaty ankles, guarantees that I will not be 100% clean for more than the few minutes following my shower. I don’t have internet all the time, and I have to allot a certain time for when I can make the trek to the internet café, and even when I do get there, I can’t be surprised when I find out that it’s not working. But you know what? I’m ok with this. It forces me to live in the moment and totally immerse myself with what is happening right now in the place that I am. I don’t really know what is going on in the world, this is true. So yes, my ignorance in world affairs is only expanding, but I can’t do much about that. For once, I’m just living my life day by day, going with the flow of everything around me. It’s definitely a change, being here, but all you can do is embrace it, because dwelling on what you’re lacking, is just, pointless and leads to unnecessary misery. And unfortunately, some people in my program haven't come to the same realization that I have...

Enjoy the pictures!
Annabelle

P.S. The Pics- These are just a sample of some of the things I've seen while I've been here. I'll start top to bottom:

1. This is me and Stacy at the highest Waterfall in West Africa. We were only able to be at the bottom of it because we didn't have time to do the full hike to the top. But it was still absolutely INCREDIBLE!

2. My friend Garreth at the first marketplace I went to. I'm just trying to relay the hectic nature of the market, but I'm not sure if the chaos can really be captured on film, but I tried!

3. Wili Falls- The same waterfall as #1

4. Some adorable kids we met on Kumasi, a region in central Ghana. They are famous for their traditional craft villages.

5. Just an example of people walking down the road holding items--- on their heads! An everyday occurrence and norm here in Ghana

6. A monkey from the monkey sanctuary that I visited. The monkeys are very good with people and very clever. Adorable!

7. Stacy doing the canopy walk in Western Ghana Cape Coast

P.P.S. Want a sample of the music that is plaguing all the bars and clubs here in Ghana? Check this out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnDlN7R73oQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH8mCqASZQI

I couldn't find the official videos, well they wouldn't load for me, but I gave you the songs at least and you can find the vids if you're that interested!

Akwaaba! Welcome to Ghana!

Akwaaba! Or Welcome (home)!

This was the first thing I saw when I got off the plane on January 6 in Accra, and immediately it put a smile on my face. How excited I was to finally be here. It was an 18 hour plane ride with a 4 hour layover in Dubai. Although I was only able to be in the airport, I was instantly impressed with the architecture and was so upset that I couldn’t venture beyond the walls of the airport. And with the world’s tallest building so close, yet so far, it was extra tempting to leave!
I’ve been here for 2 weeks now, yet I don’t really know where to start. I honestly don’t feel that I’ve done much in the time that I’ve been here, yet my days have been starting at 7am and ending around 11pm. The first 2 weeks have been dedicated to orientation. We wake up in the morning, have lectures on Ghanaian topics for 2-4 hours, and then do an activity; however, the activities were spent mostly on the bus, hence my feeling of not actually doing much yet. Despite that I haven’t done much, I’ve experienced so much (culturally) in my two weeks. Let me break it down as briefly as I can:

Sewage. They have an open sewer system here. Unlike our gutters which are hidden beneath the sidewalks and behind iron grates, there are literally open trenches that range from 10-20 inches wide and 1-3 feet deep. At night they just appear to be black patches of dirt, so I’ve come too close to stepping/ falling into one. I’m just starting to get used to the whole concept of open pits on the side of the road. It’s becoming natural to just step over them every time I cross the road.

Washrooms. No one and nowhere here provides toilet paper and soap. It’s a foreign concept here, and I don’t understand it. I still don’t know if people just don’t wash their hands after the bathroom, or if it’s just expected of everyone to bring their own soap and toilet paper. I obviously have learned to never leave the house without either of these. My dorm doesn’t provide it, gas stations definitely don’t, and bars/clubs it is rare for any to be left. It is also a treat if the washrooms have running water. I’ve learned the trick of filling a bucket of water, then quickly pouring it into the toilet to force flush it. I never knew you could do that!

Markets. I still haven’t seen a supermarket and I’m not sure if they exist here. I’ve only gone to marketplaces, but the marketplaces here are so… well they have EVERYTHING. They honestly are just as useful and have the same types of things that Target has in the states. I mean, if I want dinner. Go to the market place. Lotion? Marketplace. Pillow? Marketplace. Mirror, bucket, soap, sponge, notebooks? Can all be found in the marketplace down my road. These markets are all open-air-outdoor, with people selling items in cramped spaces of about 6x6 feet, but hey, it gets the job done! And I love supporting the locals.
I ventured outside of campus to Medina Market which is just absolutely massive. It was what you imagine African markets to be, but didn’t actually think they exist. Women walk with buckets on their heads, selling anything from water to bread, to fabric to jewelry. My friend even bought some octopus off the top of a woman’s head. It’s still humorous when someone will come over with some food and I’ll ask, “That looks good, where did you get it?” and the response usually entails a shrug accompanied by “I don’t know, some woman’s head.” But yes everyone here, men, women, and children, use the strength of their necks to transport large and heavy items. I wish I could learn this skill because seriously, it is just so convenient!

Food. God am I already sick of the food. I got sick my third day here and it was BAD. But I’m better now. Since then I’ve been hesitant of eating the chicken here. I’m favoring the vegetarian diet just because the chicken hasn’t ever really seemed appealing. It’s definitely hard finding food here when you’re a vegetarian because they really like their gizzard, goat, and beef. I’m left eating beans everyday because that’s the only slightly nutritious food they have for vegetarians. But I switch up my carb here and there; one day rice, next yams, maybe plantains, and sometimes potatoes. But yes same thing everyday, carbs and beans, and sometimes if the bean lady (Ruby) is closed, I turn to straight carbs for the evening. Oh and I can get a huge meal of rice, beans, plantains, and noodles (all on the same plate and quite tasty) for the equivalent of $1. ONE DOLLAR for a full meal! Life is good.

Dorms. I live in the International Student Hostel (ISH) on campus. Out of the 34 girls in the program only 4 were able to move into the Ghanaian students’ dorm. Stacy was one of the lucky ones whose name was pulled out of the hat! ISH is supposedly the nicest dorms on campus but they’re nowhere near comparable to the dorms that UC students are familiar with. And compared to the places I’ve seen in Ghana, I know these are relatively nice and quite deluxe, so I’m not complaining.

Washing. Everyone here washes all their clothes by hand. Fill up a bucket, rub the cloth together, scrub some more, rinse, ring out, and hang. Sounds simple enough, but laundry is seriously like an active couple hours of work. There’s no press a button, wait 30 mins, place in the dryer, wait an hour and you’re done. It’s actively scrub for an hour, rinse, ring out for 30 mins, then hang up on the clothesline. And then afterwards you’re so exhausted and with the heat and humidity you’re working in, you’re day is done because you’re so tired! Haha I took a nap after my first load…
The power has been out in my so-called “deluxe” dorm for 3 days now. No running water. No power. No fan! To begin with, there is no heated water on campus, but most of the time it’s fine because on average it’s 75-90 degrees here with about 60% humidity. But night showers are the worst! Cold showers after 11pm are so uncomfortable. Well with this power outage, we had to take bucket showers and bring water with us every time we wanted to wash our hands or brush our teeth. There is a spigot in the courtyard where you can get water. Bucket showers aren’t to bad! They take a little longer and you’re not really sure if you got all the soap/ shampoo/ dirt off your body, but they do the trick! Last night I had to shower at night, so I had a relaxing candlelit bucket shower. I’m getting the hang of this!

Being white and a foreigner. As I walk down the street, I often hear the word “Obruni!” This means “foreigner.” Children yell it, because they are so fascinated with these people of light complexion. They yell, and most of the time just want you to say “hello!” and a smile back. However, we have been targeted by children who approach us sweetly and then after charming us, ask for a cedi (the national currency) because they are hungry… When adults yell “Obruni!” they mostly want one thing, your money. But I’ve had a lot of very sweet encounters with Ghanaian vendors at the market place, who initiated conversation by yelling Obruni, so it’s not always about your money.

All in all, I’m coming to love this place. The people are sweet (for the most part), I’m slowly getting my groundings, and just getting more comfortable (and embracing) that I stick out as a foreigner. I’ve never been conscious of my skin color before, but definitely being here, makes you realize how much you stand out, and because you can be spotted so easily as foreign, people definitely try to take advantage of you.

Keep in touch!
Email me with comments and questions and I’ll try to add photos ASAP! (Can’t find the USB cable and hope I haven’t lost it!)
-Annabelle

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s (and I hope I get to hear about it!). My New Year’s was memorable but not exactly epic. But before I get to that, let me just fill you in on our last 2 days in London.

So we changed housing all 3 nights and by the time we reached my Grandparents home in Suffolk, we were completely wiped out, sore, exhausted (mentally and physically), and ready to have a home for 4 nights. The night of the 30th, we went to the Christmas Market at Hyde Park in central London. This is a German tradition, in which every Christmas a carnival is set up just as every kids’ fantasy. There was a huge Ferris wheel, German wieners, German candies, carnival games, rides, live music, and everything one imagines a carnival should be. Honestly, I felt like I was a Disneyland and I was 8 years old again, excited for anything and everything. There was even an outdoor ice rink! Stacy and I were completely enthralled by the scene, despite the bitter cold, and freezing rain. We left with no sensation below the knees and elbows, but it was absolutely worth it!

The 31st. It didn’t feel like New Year’s Eve when we woke. I think we had just been so caught up the past couple weeks with finishing classes, packing, and then constantly moving, that we never had a chance for it to hit us that the year was actually over. First thing was first though, we had to go to the next hostel which was situated near to the night’s venue, and that was literally diagonally across town, involving 3 subway transfers with ALL our luggage. Yikes! Well, we did it and we made it. But it was long and semi painful to say the least. The hostel was shoddy. We were in a room with 8 people and it still wasn’t cheap. About $100 for the both of us, but like I said, it’s New Year’s in London and that’s just what happens.

New Year’s eve. Alright, it’s finally here. We’re getting ready and we’re getting more and more excited. We leave for the venue and it’s literally freezing. We’re wearing jackets and gloves with our New Year’s outfits underneath, but we’re seeing women on the streets wearing skirts, cardigans, and heels! Are they CRAZY! It’s one thing to be used to cold weather, but it was literally 0 degrees and the roads were iced over! That’s just stupid.

As we show up to the arena we see more women in heels and dresses. No jackets, no cardigans, nothing. What is wrong with these British folk?! When we get to the arena we see that the arena is actually open to the public for bar-hopping and dining and that not all these people we were seeing in 4-inch heels were attending the concert. Alright, their outfits make a little more sense I suppose. As we’re eyeballing all the restaurant-bars and getting really excited that we’re legal in the UK and can actually go inside, we realize something crucial; we forgot our ID’s. No ID’s, no entry. Wow. Go us. The ONE time we’re legal and we can’t utilize it. How… unfortunate.

After we got over that depressing detail, we decided to embrace the night that was to come. Calvin Harris, Deadmau5 (pronounced dead-mouse), and Justice. God, were we excited! As we walk in, Calvin Harris starts his set. He is amazing! Stacy and I have seen the other two, so this was the guy we’ve been yearning to see. Stacy, being her small little self, actually maneuvered her way (and dragging me along) to about the equivalent of the third row (it was general admission and no seating). AMAZING! And again, Stacy being her manipulative self at concerts was dancing and jumping so much on this guy in front of her that he finally told her to get in front of him and he left. Now, we were FRONT ROW. I’m talking, pushed up against the bar separating the stage from the crowd. And it’s for Calvin Harris, the man we wanted so desperately to see. And he was amazing. We stayed there for his whole set and then Deadmau5 came on after. Still front row!

We left after Justice but still before the whole concert was over. What can I say; we were tired from the past few days of travelling.

As we were walking home however, a beautiful thing happened. It started to snow. It’s 4am on New Year’s and it’s snowing gently. And even better, it was Stacy’s first time seeing snow. Perfect timing, right? A beautiful end to a beautiful night.

We got a few hours of sleep then made our way to my Grandparent’s. It’s nice being here. We’re finally having warm meals, comfortable beds, and actually resting. Something I don’t think we’ve done since before finals. What a welcome change of pace!

See you next in Ghana,
Annabelle

We Made It!

When I was younger, flying Virgin Atlantic to get to England was one of my favorite parts about making the trip. They cater to every kid’s desires. I walk on board and I am gifted a bag/backpack of goodies and then once the flight starts I have a cornucopia of movie, television, radio channels to choose from and an endless amount of Super Nintendo games right on my own personal television! Sleeping on the plane? Never an option when you have so much entertainment to take advantage of! Well, this was what I was looking forward to this time round. Well all my hopes came crashing down when the captain made his “Welcome” announcement explaining the two hour delay. Apparently, the map that tracks our route and location had to be disabled due to the new fear imposed by the Nigerian terrorist attack. Since the map is connected to the whole entertainment system, the whole entertainment system, movies, Nintendo, and all, was disabled. Oh the horror! So Virgin was restricted to just one movie at a time, which was painful and disappointing. And another note, they now lock the bathrooms 20 minutes before landing, again as a response to the latest terrorist attack.

On a side note, I never understood why American airlines could never make a decent cup of tea. No, creamer is not the same thing as milk. Virgin had these cute little tubes of milk that one could use to put in their tea. What a concept! I don’t know why American airlines only offer half & half! American could learn a thing or two from the Brits. ;-) Well, I had three lovely cups of tea on Virgin, which were very soothing.

Stacy and I are in London now, and although we thought we packed lightly, and in retrospect we did for 7 months travel, but when you are moving around from airport to tube station to hostel and all over again, our 50 pound suitcases and 35 pound backpacks are not so mobile. We get some stares from passersby, probably thinking we’re novice American travelers who packed all our lives into our bags for a 3 week trip or something, but that’s not the case as we all know.

Stacy and I are getting really excited for New Years! But we’re staying in 3 different places for our 3 nights in London, and we dread the move from place to place. But hey, it’s what you have to do when you’re on a budget. The place we stayed at last night literally doubled their prices for the 30^th and 31^st, knowing that tourists will pay the extra bucks for a place to stay. Not us, we’re too broke for that! So we’re moving on to the next location, despite the dread of the actual moving process.

Be in touch after New Year’s! Don’t forget to email!

Cheers,
Annabelle (and Stacy)

P.S. I provided a map of Africa last post, and now it's time to quiz your knowledge of the continent we will be spending 7 months! Have a little fun and check it out!

http://www.sporcle.com/games/africa.php

8 Days and Not Enough Time

Phew!
Well I'm done with finals and I guess that is a start, but now I have so much to do before I leave! I can no longer use finals as an excuse to not get prepared for Africa. I'm so excited but really, I wish I had more time. Even coming home 3 days earlier would have been helpful, but of course with my luck I had the last final on Saturday!
So what do I have to do? I'm waiting for my netbook to be sent to me because I refuse to take my mac. This way if it gets stolen, I won't be AS bothered, and regardless, it's just a lot more portable. I'm excited to have this little companion! I just bought an external hard drive on ebay, so hopefully that will be here in time too. This way I can ave unlimited amounts of room for all the (amazing) pics I'm going to take! 7 months of pictures. I think 500 gigs will be enough!

What's my itinerary looking like as of now? Well firstly, I'm doing the UC Study abroad program with my friend Stacy who goes to UCLA. We've been good friends since the Hamilton Soccer Team brought us together. She didn't think she'd be friends with a white girl, but hey, I guess she made an exception for me! Backpacking escapades are nothing new for us. We had our first adventure in the summer after graduating high school where we spent 5 weeks traveling in Spain, Italy, England, and Portugal. We came out of the trip closer than before, and I hope by the end of these 7 months, I'll be able to say the same!
Stacy and I leave December 28th 2009 from LAX where we will be taking Virgin Atlantic (my favorite airline since I can remember flying to England!) to London. We will be in London for 3 nights and we can't wait for New Year's! We have tickets to see Calvin Harris, Deadmau5, and Justice in the Millennium Dome! (Picture included above)
New Year's day we'll be heading over to my grandparents in Woodbridge, a little town in southeastern England. Four nights there should be the perfect amount. We'll also see my Granddad (my father's dad) who is 94 and the most sprightly individual I've ever known. I could tell you countless tales to substantiate my claim, but I'm sure I'll have something new to tell after we see him for afternoon tea!
We leave from London on January 5, where we will have to transfer in Dubai for our flight to Accra, the capital of Ghana. It is at this layover that we will meet up with the other UC students studying in Ghana. Somehow Stacy and I managed to get on the same flight at the UC group was taking! We'll be studying until May 15, when finals end and our outbound flight is July 1 from Johannesburg. (Yes, we are going to the World Cup!) So for those 6 weeks, we have no definite plans, but we are thinking that we might go to Senegal and/or Gambia. We are pretty much open to where the wind blows us!

That's all for now. Welcome to my blog and please comment and send me emails! Although internet will be sparse for the next 7 months, I will reply when I can and would love to be posted on your life!
I'll probably post my first update after New Year's from the local Woodbridge library. Keep a lookout for it!
Thanks for all the love and support, I can't express how much it means to me.

Keep in touch,
Annabelle