Monday, June 13, 2011

Kaba kaba

Last week I traveled up the Volta lake for a few days. We ended in Yeji and made our way up to Tamale and then over to Kumasi. I'm so glad I got to do some last minute traveling because I saw some really amazing and beautiful things.

Theboat trip was really really great. We could go up on the roof of the boat to sit. At first it was kind of scary becasue it didn't have a rail or anything but it was so nice. The lake is really beautiful. And the boat stoped at some very small, small fishing villages. Most of the villages were about 10 to 20 huts and fishing canoes up the beach. Seeing something like that made me feel really really privileged. After the boat trip we went up to Tamale.

To get to Tamale we took a rough road up through again some small small villages. They are about the same size as the ones on the Volta lake but the houses are different. The home is circular with mud walls and the roof is made of straw and grasses. Some homes had a smaller one near it for showering. This was something really interesting to me because this kind of life would be so different from life on the Volta lake, Ho, or the south of Ghana. In these towns formal education is done under trees if at all. Tamale, though, is much more developed. Its the biggest (not the most populated) city in Ghana. Tamale is a Muslim city. Even some of the school uniforms are muslim dress. Also sooo many people ride bikes. I couldn't believe it. I would walk 15 steps and about 5 bikes would pass. Good thing Tamale has sidewalks!

Ok so I don't think I've explained water here. Purified water is sold in little plastic bags almost everywhere in Ghana on the side of the road or off peoples heads. Most towns have their own brands. Ghanaians can drink from the tap but in much of Ghana there isn't flowing water and in big cities like Accra there isn't enough water for all so they keep jugs of water in their homes. This is only used for showering, washing, and cooking. For drinking, Ghanaians often buy pure water. Anyway when I was in Tamale they had a brand of pure water called Obama! Obama buscuits are also sold!

Kumasi. I was only in Kumasi for a short time but wow. I was surprised by how many people there were. Its a really busy, busy town. In Ho, past 10:30, there are no cars out, but in Kumasi cars are out at all hours of the night.

Ok after that I came back to Ho and I was the Master of Ceremony at church! I wore a Kaba and Slit and scarfed my hair. I really couldn't believe it was my last day of church. Its so crazy to think that its all coming to an end.

The rest of my time here is booked. Tomorrow is my last day in Ho. Ill say my goodbyes before going to Accra. There I'll spend a day with my sister. Thursday I have an AFS orientation at Boti falls. Friday I leave. Its all happening way too fast. Yea, I miss home so much, but leaving Ghana...I'm not quite ready. I'm also feeling scared and nervous to come home, but more than all this I'm happy. I've had a great experience. I've learned and seen so much and I cannot express how thankful I am for it. Anyway thank you all so much for reading my blog. I'm glad I got to share my experience. I don't know whether or not I'll be able to post again so me va kaba lo.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

vida vida

Alright I'm sorry for the lack of posts. This is just a small small one to let you all know I'm at home in Ho and all is really really good! I can't believe in leaving in just three and a half weeks! I'm feeling really comfortable here now but I'm still missing everyone at home. I can't wait to see you soon!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Braids!

Alright today is kind of a random post. I really wanted to post to say I got my hair braided! It took three and a half hours. It was long. I think everyone noticed on my way home. haha. They were so excited and said I look very Ghanaian.


Ok heres some random pictures

I think I've mentioned how my younger brother Richmond can have fun with anything he has. Well here he was running around with this tire using sticks to guide and spin it. He's actually really good at it.


This is my family's dog Shap. Isn't he adorable?


Ok this is another picture of Busua. It was the first town I traveled to in April. I don't know if you can see the Island in the picture but we swam to it. Stupidest thing ever because there were sea urchins there. I had a foot full of urchins and a scraped up leg by the time we swam back. Anyway its a really pretty Island.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Holiday part II

Aright so here's the second half of my travels. Okay so I left off at Kokrobite where I spent Easter and my 100th day in Ghana with Camille and a few other AFSers.

From there we went to Cape Coast. Here we went to the Cape Coast castle. It was very similar to the Elmina one but a whole lot bigger. We also learned how to play these things called koskas (I think). There like two balls filled with rice connected with a string, and they're played by twirling one around your hand. I don't know how to explain it. They're simple but fun!

After Cape Coast we headed to Kakum. There we stayed at a hotel that was right on this lake that had crocodiles in it! We ate lunch right next to the water and two crocodiles were in the water with their heads out of the water all cute-like! And at night some were just laying on the bank. I thought it was pretty cool. We only stayed for one night before heading back to Accra.

In Accra we met up with other AFSers and spent the day before I headed back to Home sweet Ho!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Travels!

Alright, wow, I have a lot to say. First I would like to say that all is well and I'm having a really, really good time traveling.



The first place I went was Busua. Its a tiny town right outside of Takoradi. A whole lot of the AFSers were there. It was so good to just hang out with them again. Pretty much we just read, played cards, and swam.  Oh and also we tried to learn to surf. It was so much fun but extremely hard. After much practice I could actually stand up on my board! Wahoo! I got this massive bruise from it though :( We stayed in an adorable hotel and the owner made us free pancakes in the morning! They were so good!

The Surf Shop
This was a really perfect start to my holiday because I just relaxed and got to catch up with everyone.

At night the Ghanaians drummed, sang, and danced around a campfire on the beach.

Next Camille, Acadia(another American AFSer), and I went to Green Turtle Lodge in Akwidaa. We slept in a tent on the beach. It was a really touristy place, so we ate good food that night. It was really nice to just have a girls night. We talked about Ghana and how homesickness is treating us. I just cannot tell you how good it is to be around my dear AFSers again.

After green turtle lodge we went to Takoradi, spent the night, and left for Elmina in the morning. Here it was just me and Camille. We went to the Elmina Castle. This was a castle used for trade and also held many slaves during the slave trade. It was a really, really interesting place. It really made me think. Anyway we spent two nights in Elmina.

Next on our list was Cape Coast but instead we went to Accra. Camille has had these awful bites on her legs and they really were giving her pain. We were worried they were infected so we went from Elmina to the hospital in Accra. Since we were in Accra, we went to a beach just outside of it called Kokrobite. Here we met up with other AFSers again and just spent time on the beach and way way too much time shopping for souvenirs.
Dorm in Kokrobite
 Ok so I know its just a quick update but just know in doing good. I hope all of you had a great Easter!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Study Tour

Alright so I went on a study tour with my AFS group and it was AMAZING! The study tour was in the Volta region so we stayed in Ho. The hotel was like a 10 minute walk from my home! Anyway I cannot tell you how amazing it was to see the other AFSers! It was so exciting!

Ok so the first place we went was Wli falls. It was really fun to come with my AFS group. It had rained just before we arrived so there was a lot of water and all these bats were flying overhead while we swam. We didn't stay long but I am super glad I got to come again!

The next day we went to Mt. Paradise and hiked down to a river valley. No one knew quite what to expect but when we got there it was really beautiful. There was a fall and a pool of water at the bottom. We didn't bring our swim suits but a few of us swam anyways.

After that we went to Monkey Sanctuary. This was also amazing. All we did was walk the the tree line and then they were like everywhere! We would just hold up a banana and they would open it and eat it. They were so cute. Some of them even had babies clinging on their bellies!

Then on Sunday my school went on an outing to Grotto. Its like a catholic place of worship. There was this huge Mary statue. Then we walked around to smaller statues. Each one was a stage of the cross and had a prayer that went with it. Then we sat for a long mass. and I mean long. It was just over 5 hours.  


Ok so back to normal life. At church on Sunday was pastors appreciation day. See the offering!

Alright I also wanted to mention that I've past the half way point of my adventure. I think that the second half will be pretty different from the first because I am now done with school! I was only signed up for one term of school, which is now over. Whoots!

At the end of next week I leave for the cental region. I'm going to be traveling around the south of Ghana for two weeks with one of the AFSers from Belgium. I am so excited! Sorry for all the sideways pictures! Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Sleepover at OLA!

This weekend I slept over at OLA from Thursday to Monday. I am so glad I got to have this experience. There were good but there were also bads in this experience.

Where I slept
Dining hall food
Let me first give you a feel for the school. After classes lets out the ladies immediately change into their house dresses. These are different colored check uniforms. The 1st years wear brown (brownies), second years wear green (greenies), third purple (purlies), and 4th years pink(pinkies). They keep the same color all four years though. I wore one of Esthers checks for the weekend.

Another thing thats sets a tone on the campus is that the upperclassmen are allowed to tell the underclassmen  what to do and punish them if they don't. Because of the house dresses' colors, its easy to see who the underclassmen are. The upperclassmen often would stop a brownie or greenie to have them wash their dishes or get them something for them. If they didn't or if they do it wrong then they can punish them. Punishment can be anything from making them go in every dorm and go a dance to kneel on the ground or close to anything else. This was something that was hard for me to see. I saw this happen a bit during school hours but seeing it happen around me all weekend really wore on me and I'm not even an underclassmen. They think of it as a stage in your life. They think that if you can survive your first and second year then you have the privilege of benefiting from it your last two years. Another thing I don't agree with is caning. Teachers will cane a student if they are late to class or if they sleep in class. This is another thing that they think nothing of but makes me more than cringe.

One more thing about OLA is that the ladies here have there own little terms for certain things. For example toilet is cabo. If you say cabo anywhere besides OLA they will have no idea what your talking about. They have a whole lot of these terms which where pretty fun to learn.
Chores

ANYWAY every night we went to chapel. Chapel at night is completely run by the pinkies so its like an hour of worship songs and a whole lot of dancing. I wish I could tell you how much energy was in the chapel. It was just amazing. They sung and danced with their whole being. No one was afraid or embarrassed. It was pretty amazing!

After chapel is prep. which is like a study time. So we went to the classroom and studied. I think prep was about two hours long. After prep is bedtime! Bedtime was so much fun! It was like girls night! The ladies at OLA love to laugh and just have fun.
The dorm

On Sunday I went to my first mass. It was interesting. Standing, sitting, kneeling, standing again. It was cool to see everyone in their chapel cloth.

I actually really enjoyed my experience at the boarding house. Its a whole lot different than school at OLA. I'm so thankful I got to experience it and hangout with Esther more!

Oh and its been brought to my attention that my grammar is not wonderful. I'll try to slow down a bit but I'm sorry if it doesn't get any better.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Independance Day!

Alright I ended up not staying at OLA this weekend because they had something like a midterm break and the day students go to go home from Thursday until Monday! So Esther came home! So now I'm staying over at the boarding house from tomorrow till Sunday.

We went swimming! A hotel in Ho has a pool that's pretty cheap so there we went. I met a guy from New York and two men from the UK there.

On the 6th of March we went to a square where all the schools had a marching performance/competition. Each region has its own square and performance. They showed the one in Accra on TV and it was huge! In Accra the president is there and the military marches along with some schools. I went to the one here in Ho and it was really neat to see. First I would like to say that it was extremely hot on this particular morning so I was like sweating like crazy. Anyway about the actual thing. They had speeches, marching, and bands playing. They march different from us. They march with there arms and legs straight. When I showed the family how Americans march they thought it was rather funny. Anyways OLA's cadets got first place! Pictures next week!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

All is well!

Last weekend I went to a culture program. I got to see some of the high schools perform plays. OLA wasn't there but It was really, really cool to see. In most of the plays they wore traditional Ghanaian dress!

Florance and me washing our clothes!

Tomorrow I am going to sleep over in the boarding house with Esther! I am going to stay there until Sunday. I am really excited to get a taste of boarding school life at OLA. Also this weekend is the 6th of March which is Ghana's independence day. I'll tell you more about how they celebrate it after I experience it.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

 Its been over a month now that I've been with my host family!

Alright I have a picture of me in my uniform for you! I tries to pick one where you could see my whole uniform but the girls in my class got a little picture happy so most of the pictures have like 15 to 20 people in them and my uniform is not so easy to see.

At church every week I dance! People are always dancing in their seats but there is one time where you can go up front and dance in a circle. First the little girls go, then little boys, then ladies, and finally men. Its a whole lot of fun. The leader dances and everyone else does the same moves. Ill get a picture of me dancing soon!


Every weekend My school (OLA) has a thing called entertainment. They have groups from the school preform and everyone dances. The boarding school kids get really excited about it every week and even some of the day students go. Well last weekend was gospel rock themed and a group of girls from my class decided to perform. I said "Why not?" and also decided to. We rehearsed throughout the week. And by Saturday the girls were so excited.






Also on Saturday was a visiting day at OLA so my family visited Esther at the boarding house. Twice a month they have visiting days. So I stayed with Ester until entertainment at night. Seeing all the ladies in their dorms so different from when they are at school. I got to eat with them and go to chapel with them. I'm really glad i got to experience it a bit. I think one weekend I'm going to spend the night! Anyway this next picture is of us preforming for the school. We are on a little stage thing in front of over 1000 people. All through the day on campus people would come up to me and say " I heard you're preforming tonight!" AHHHH! That made me nervous. I had a blast though.

 On wednesday I went to the falls in Wli! An AFS group was going and they asked if I wanted to tag along! I'm like "YES!!!" It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I felt like I won a Survivor reward challenge or something. It was so tall and we got to swim under it! Around the top were tons of bats. I took a bajillion pictures!

More updates:

I started cooking more in the home! They usually don't like me to do too much work, but now I started to cook and wash dishes. The picture to the side is of me making Banku. Which actually requires a great deal of arm muscle. I have no arm muscle. Below is a picture of the kitchen. Standing to the left of me is Mama. She was so proud of me for chopping carrots and green beans!

I no longer am eating fish. I actually don't how much fish I was eating before but I know Florance was slipping a little in my pot. If I saw it I couldn't eat it, but I'm sure I ate some I didn't know about. The thought of this made me feel dirty so I decided no more fish. Not even a bit slipped in.






Florance said I should post this picture of my bed instead of the last one because my sheet were messed up on the last one haha. Anyway I share a room with Florance so this is me and her beds.

Oh and one more thing! I hadn't been exercising which has been making me super antsy. And the food we eat here isa starchy makes me feel really full so I started working out a little in my room. So I don't come back obolo (fat)!

Alright Its 9:30 and I want to be home by 10:00 so I'm leaving you. I hope you like the pictures!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Pictures!

I have pictures of home for you!

Some of the people that live in the home.

My bed


 What they cook on
 Some of the people that live in the home. Florance is taking the picture.
 Outside my home
 My home!

I know these are kind of random and some are flipped wrong bu the cafe is about to close and its taking forever to upload.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Happy Birthday!

I'm actually going to be doing my blog post tomorrow but I just wanted to wish my lovely sister the most amazing birthday ever! I miss you like crazy! But good news for everyone is that tomorrow you will get some  pictures! I am sooo excited to show you! I took some on sister Florance's camera! Yahoo!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

 First I'll tell you about Accra!

As I was going into Accra, we drove on the oldest road in Ghana and saw the largest mall in West Africa! I also saw the largest hospital in Ghana. We drove past the largest cemetery too.

There are markets everywhere in Accra. The shops and vendors line the streets and people come up to taxis to sell things. Guess what!!! I saw the market that the pit stop of amazing race was at! Its huge! But even bigger is the central market. I went there the second day and it was kind of overwhelming. The market is like a few streets filled with people. Then you can g through these nooks and crannies until you get to a whole new part of the market. There are people everywhere! I would have been soooo lost without Mary and Emil. I got to see it all from the second floor of a building and its like a whole lot of colors, people, and noise.

On Saturday I also went to a funeral. It was very interesting to see. Tons and tons of people come to funerals. Some people were inside the church singing and dancing but most were just chilling outside. Everyone wears black and red traditional outfits.

I also got to go around and meet a lot of Mary's Aunties and cousins and some of Emil's friends. Unless its very close family, when people here visit friends or family they drop in for about 10 or 20 minutes and then go to the next place.

I stayed with sister Evelyn one night and then the other nights we stayed at the church's mission house in Adenta. Sister Evelyn is a big lady who is very very proud of her weight. She wants me to be like her when I go home, so she feeds me like crazy! I usually can only eat about half of what she puts on my plate.

On sunday we went to church and I met an American! It was crazy because I could tell before he even spoke that he was American. The way he walked and stood was so familiar. And when he started talking I was like "Yup. Definitely not Ghanaian." I didn't even realize that Ghanaian people did these things differently until I could compare it like that. He's from Michigan and is working in Accra for a few months.

Over the weekend I actually started to miss Ho. Accra is a very busy place. I wouldn't call Ho a mellow or calm place but compared to Accra it is. I missed that. Also, even though I am still in the process of establishing Ho as home, its the closest thing I have to it here in Ghana. 

I stayed until Monday. On monday though we didn't do much so me and Florance just hung out and talked. We left to get on the tro tro to Ho at like 3:00 and we didn't leave until maybe 5:30. The trotros that go long distance don't run on a time. They leave whenever the tro tro fills up, even if that is two hours.

Ghana is a loud place.  At school girls are dancing and singing, on the street people want to say hello and chat, at home music is playing, goats are bleating, chicken are clucking, dogs are barking. By nighttime, I am out. For those of you that know how I feel about a lot of noise would guess that I would be rather grumpy right now. Actually though, I've been really enjoying it. People here are so spirited and the noises just seem to fit with the environment. Maybe by the time I get home you will be able to whistle around me and I won't even be bothered! haha. Anyway when we rode the tro tro it was dark and we drove through open land and a few small town. It was so peaceful and it was so amazing to just think. I felt so refreshed by the time I got back to Ho. To make things even better, Florance and I decided to have a girls day on Tuesday and I missed school! We walked around Ho and watched TV. Accra was amazing! I am so glad I had the opportunity to go but its good to be back.

School is getting better and better. I'm starting to get closer to the friends in my classes. I sit next to a girl named Sarah. She is somewhat quiet (for a Ghanaian) but, boy, can she sing! I visit Esther's class before and after school everyday. Sometimes we all sing and dance. They know Justin Bieber! But now I'm getting closer to my own class so I usually hang out with them after school. I don't stay super long or anything just like a half hour of hour.

The power here will sometimes just randomly go out! The first time I thought it was fun but once when it went out from like 4 to 8 it was not so fun anymore. haha Also I took bucket showers in Accra! I forgot to mention that! Also if the power goes out for an extended amount of time we take bucket showers.

I did laundry for the first time here two weekends ago! I am so proud of myself! Afterword though I got a rash on my hands :( It was gone by the next morning, though, so all is well. Then we hung the clothes up on a line. I'm not gonna lie, its kind of weird to have my undies hanging up for all to see but oh well haha.

The driving here is crazy! They drive very very fast on dirt roads and pathed roads that are not exactly smooth. Also people walk all over the streets and the taxis just speed right passed them. About 90% of the cars on the road her are taxis.

 Also Florance and Papa have been working very hard to teach me Ewe so that I know what is going on around the house. I learned the basics like days of the week, some greetings, parts of the body, numbers, and other random sayings.

 I know I told some of you that I would try to post on a certain day of the week, but, well, that isn't going to happen. Its impossible to follow a schedule here. I never quite know what ill be doing every after noon or how long the things I do will take. People don't really plan things around time. At all. Also I can't control the power outages, so I'm sorry to say that I'm just gonna keep on posting at random days like I have been.

I guess that's it! Thanks for reading! It means so much to me!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Accra

Guess what!!!
My family is traveling to Accra for the weekend!
Sister Evelyn lives there so were going to visit her! And I get to miss school on friday!
I'm just online for a second so I will write my next post next week. And Ill respond to your email then too, mom.
Love you all!

Monday, January 31, 2011

More and More Settled In!

Okay, I just have to tell you guys more about the food! At the school cantine they serve fish head! I would never even think of buying something like this, but I guess my friend cheeky would. It is just the head of a fish! I guess I'm not qualified to say too much about the subject (I'm fairly certain I have never eaten fish in my life) but I feel that if you only want to eat a part of the fish it should be the middle. I hate to give you guys a bad visual but they eat the eyes too. Please tell me you American fish eaters out there don't do this. Also for breakfast its bread. Like four pieces of bread. They don't put butter or jam on it or anything haha. For Lunch almost every day I have fried yam in this sauce stuff. Its AMAZING! Also I eat a whole bunch of rice.

One thing I absolutely love about Ghana is that people are always outside. In the morning when I leave for school all the adults are out and about with huge baskets on their heads. When I come home all the kids are out. I would see them out half naked playing soccer and other games. I started to play with Richmond and the other kids would join in. The kids around my home love me! The little ladies come to me wanting to teach me hand games or jump rope games. The little boys want me to swing them around or chase them. Richmond, my brother, can have fun with anything at anytime. He is so cute! Yesterday he found a piece of styrofoam with a string tied on. When I came outside he was kicking it around and twirling it around his head. We played soccer with it and then I tied it up and we hit it like a pinata until it was just pieces. He did not give up though. We then picked up the chunks and hit them to each other using our slippers like rackets. The kids here are amazing.

Walking to school is like walking down a long catwalk. Everyone looks at me. They thinks it is awesome to see a white person wearing a school uniform. The first day when I walked to school they would all shout "Yavu! Yavu!" meaning "white person" and I would wave and smile. A few days later and they would still do this so I started saying "No no yavu. Emefa." Now when I pass they all shout "Emefa! Emefa!" They are so cute!

This weekend was Mary and Emil's first wedding anniversary! Them, Florance, Esther, and Me went to the pool and celebrated. Nobody in my family knows how to swim! So we didn't really swim; we just talked. It was sooo much fun I think I was laughing the entire time. I found out, though, that saying "You are crazy" or "You're so silly" is an insult here. Sorry Richmond! They said they knew I didn't mean anything by it (thank Goodness!). And when they say someone is  big or fat its not an insult, just a description.

Church is very very different. Its about three hours long. It is very loud and people are dancing around the room during the song. At GSLC we have a moment of silence for prayer but here they have moments of noise for prayer. Everyone with instruments play them and people with maracas shake them and everyone prays out loud. Its different but its fun too. In the middle, the different age groups split up and have bible study(like Sunday school). Then we get back together and finish up. I miss GSLC so much but I'm trying to adapt here because I think that once I understand the service more, I will enjoy it just as much!

I just want to say thank you! thank you! thank you! for the letters you wrote and the comments here! I get excited to read them.Ill tell you all about my home once I can upload pictures! I got to talk to my parents and sisters this week! It was soooo good! Love you all!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Huge Update!

I have so much to say but I want to say right away that I am really sorry for no pictres! Thank you guys for the comments!

First I want to tell you about my family. I have a ton of people living at home but some have left and some will leave soon. Anyway Mama and Papa live have five kids: Evelyn, Emil, Florence, Fred, and Esther. Evelyn lives n Accra and went home two days after  got here. She has a baby named Micheal who is one and a half year old. He was super scared of me at first but then he warmed up to me and it was awesome! Anyway Esther boards at the school so I only get to see her there. Emil doesn't live at home but his wife Mary does. I know. I don't quite understand that either. Florence and Fred live at home but Florence will go back to work in a different town in February. For right now she has been showing me around. Also at home is Irene, a house help, and Foster, one of the youth from the church. Emil's son Richmond lives at home to. He is so cute!

Only Fred and Foster go by these names, though. I am the only one who calls them by their Christian name. They also have an Ewe name and a name for the day of the week they were born on. They wanted to give me one of these names but I had no idea what day of the week I was born on so they looked it up. I am Yowa (Thursday born). Later Evelyn gave me the Ewe name Emefa. It means peace. So some people call me Emefa. Some call me Yowa. And a few call me Mackenzie. When I introduce myself  I say I am Emefa Yowa Mackenzie. Super confusing.

Want to here what I've been eating? well Ill tell you anyway. I mainly eat this stuff called banku. Its like potatoish but it doen't taste that way. and you dip it in this really spicy soup. All their food is very sarchy so I try to eat as much as I can but it really fills me up. I don't think I've eaten meat yet but, honestly I have no idea. I think Florence and Irene slip some in sometimes. Also almost everything is eaten with you hands or hand. You only you your left hand. You eat everything llike that, even rice. So you kind of have to mash it up to hold it right. Florence always laughs at me when I'm eating. Also they all want me to eat a ton! I will be so fat when I come home. Also nobody exercises here. They just dance and say its exercise. ahaha

Alittle more about home here is that, in the house, they speak Ewe. They speak english to me but they are trying very hard to teach me Ewe. And people here shower twice a day. Sometimes three times. We wear flip flops(slippers) when in the home. If my feet get dirty Florence has me wash them off.

Alright I also want to tell you about school! I just started on Monday but wow have I got a lot to say. haha. The campus is probably the same size as Parkway South's but Its made up of about 6 buildings. They are about 3 stories high and the classrooms open to the outside. There is maybe 9 classrooms per building. There ar boarding houses too but I don't go to that part of campus. At school there is just over 1000 kids and all but 100 board. I have my niform which is blue and white. The main differnce is that teachers chose when they want to show up and when they don't feel like it. The first day Ihad all my classes except one because the teacher didn't show up. On the second day, I went to all my first two classes but then my next teacher didn't show up so we went to lunch. After that we found out that the boarding students were in trouble for something so they just called off schoool. It was so weird. So I just hung out with Esther until I went home.

I can't wait to tell you about today in school. It was so painful. I went to my first class and then the next two teachers didn't show up. Then we found out they were all at this meeting. It lasted till the end of the school day! We just sat there the whole day. Well I mean we talked and read and stuff but I thought I would die. school is from 7:30 to 3:40 and classes are about 70 minutes but neither the students or teachers ever get there on time. Also the classrooms are very loud even when the teachers talking, students are talking.

Ho is a very pretty town. There are no trotros here. Only taxis. Florence and Max, an AFS volunteer have been showing me around. I met with their friends, went swimming, and saw traditional things like kente clothe weavers.

Again I would like to point out my realization that I am white. Usually little kids smile and wave when they see me. One time, though, a little girl looked at me and her eyes got really wide. She looked like she was two or three but she trys to save herself and her older sister but running out and pulling her sister. Her sister wanted her to come see me though so she picked he up and put her closer to me. The little girl burst out in tears. I felt so bad!

Lastly I want to talk about my birthday!!! It was awesome! I went out with Florence and Max and another friend, Yowe. They gave me a necklace and bracelet! Very pretty! Then I went home and the whole family was gathered there. We toasted with juice and then they sang and prayed for me. Then we danced!  haha They tryed to teach me to shake my booty  like a Ghanaian but Im ust not very good.

I want to thank you guys soooo much for my letters. They make me laugh and remind me of home! Love you guys! Oh and I've been taking my malaria pills every day! Yay for me! Again I love you guys!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sorry Buddies!

This will be a short post today because I don't have much time and people are reading over my shoulder so I hope to update more about everything in a few days. Also I don't have my notebook that has what I was going to write haha. sorry guys but anyway I wanted to say that everything is going really well and that I just finished my second day of school! I get to wear a super cute uniform and everything! I am extremely sorry I can't post a longer post!

Friday, January 21, 2011

I'm Here!

I have so much I want to say its ridiculous! First I want to tell you about the orientation in New York. The orientation itself was pretty standard but the people were amazing. They were extremely nice even though I'm pretty sure they thought I was insane. We got to meet some exchange students that were coming to the United States! They seemed excited but a bit nervous too. I took billions of pictures of everything I'm talking about but I hate to say theat you might not get to see them until next week. I will post a few then.

Anyway then we got on the plane to London and I had a four hour layover and then I was off to Accra. We left New York at night and it was sooooo beautiful. It was breathtaking!  In London I was on my own so I got a bit nervous but I'm here now so its okay! I got a window seat on both flights! Yahoo!

At the orientation in Accra I met the more wonderful people. There was 11 people, mostly from Belgium and Germany but there was also one from Canada. Of course though, he was from Quebec and spoke French. haha it was okay though. My roommate was amazing so I hung out with her a lot. The first day of orientation was soooo much fun! We went to this beautiful beach and guess what! I met Acadia and Dabney! The waves were massive! Anyway I didn't have a phone until, well, today so I couldn't call mom and dad. I promise you that there has never been a time I wanted to call home so badly. I didn't sleep so well that night. But the next morning I was off to my family.

On my was to Ho this is what I observed:
  • goats and chickens are EVERYWHERE
  • Driversin Ghana fly over speed bumps
  • I am white. People pointed it out to me many a times.
I am at my host family now. They are amazing amazing amazing! I will tell you more regarding this and my birthday in my next post. I love you and miss you all so much. But know that I am also having so much fun!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

On My Way

Tomorrow morning I will be on my way to New York. Right now I am feeling excited, scared, curious, nervous, and anxious. I am so grateful for that extra day I had. I had alot to do and it was amazing to see a few of my friends again. It also made me realize just how much I will miss my family while I'm gone. I've been so comfortable here at home but I'm ready to get going!

I leave home at 7:45am. I am not a huge fan of airports so hopefully I can get around okay. I'll be in AFS's hands soon enough so I don't have to worry about it too much.

Another big thing I have to do tomorrow: start taking medicine :( I cannot tell you how scared I am of my malaria medicine. I am absolutely horrible at swallowing pills and these ones a huge! for my standards anyway. Mom says it will be better than getting malaria though.

I'm not sure the next time I will have a computer so it might be a week untill there is another post. Thank you for reading! I'm excited to share this adventure with you!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Surprise!

There was a snowstorm in New York so my flight has been delayed a day. I now leave on Thursday the 13th. I'm not sure whether I am happy or sad. I just cannot believe it! I guess I thought the 12th was pretty final. Now I have more time to be with family and, of course, to organize!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Can't Wait!

I can't believe I'm leaving in just five days! That sounds crazy!

Here's how I'm getting to Ghana:
First, I'm having a pre departure orientaion this weekend. I leave for New York on the 12. There I will meet up with other AFSers for an orientaion. From there I leave for London. My plane lands the next morning on the 14th and I hop on a flight to Accra! I arrive in Ghana on the 14th where I have another orientation in Accra before meeting my host family!

And, of course, we have been packing away!


Mom is amazing! Shes been helping me to make sure I have everything I need and more. Thanks mom!