Wednesday, August 26, 2009

my monday through friday

day 32.

My class schedule is finalized (let's hope). So here is the breakdown:

Mondays:
11:30-1:30 Traditional Dance. The teacher's name is Babaqueue (he told us to call him Barbecue). There are about 50 people in the class, half of them are obrunis and we all have to wear white shirts and black bottoms. There is live drumming and we are learning Ghanaian dances from the various ethnic groups. The dancing involves jumping, bouncing, bending, clapping, stepping (right-right-left-left), and something that resembles closely what doing "the chicken" would look like back home. The room gets hot and we sweat, it's great!

1:30-3:30 Environmental Ecology. The first lecture was extremely basic, about the level of fourth graders not fourth years (what is the environment? what is ecology? what is: a cell, an organism, an organelle, a population, a community, the biosphere?). Despite the elementary material thus far I am going to stay in the class. I feel like even if it is all review, it can't hurt and I am really curious as to how the academics of the class will progress. The professor seems to be a nice guy and we are going to do group projects. (p.s. all energy comes from the sun, in case you didn't know).

3:30-5:30 Introduction to Twi (the primary language of the Accra Region). The first lesson basically consisted of teaching us how to pronounce the word "Twi." To say it correctly you have to whistle a little. Don't make a "T" sound or else everyone will laugh at you. After class I went back to Volta Hall. My neighbor asked, "Where from you?" I told her that I just came from Twi lessons, trying my hardest to pronounce it right. She laughed and said "How are you going to take that class when you can't even say it right?" Darn.

Tuesday:
8:30-9:30 Traditional Dance again. clap-clap-clap (to the right). clap-clap-clap-clap-clap (twice as fast to the left).

9:30-12:30 Conservation and Environmental Science Lab, in the botany department. Throughout the semester, we will look at environmental issues specifically as they apply to Ghana and West Africa. The teacher is only going to lecture for the first three weeks then the students choose topics and make presentations (this could be great or really terrible). There are four field trips (rad!). On the first day I arrived (a bit late and sweating from dance class) to find only two other students in the room. The professor arrived and said, "Good morning, it looks like we're only missing three people. Maybe they have dropped because that would make it much better for us". This is going to be the smallest class I've ever taken. I'm super excited.

Wednesday:
7:30-9:30 Conservation and Environmental Science, Lecture. One more person showed up today, that makes four. Oh yeah, the reading list has 13 books, that is one for each week. They are not sold at the book store but rather have to be checked out from the professor and returned. There is only one copy of each. None of the books were published after 2000.

11:30-1:30 African Indigenous Religion. I just decided to switch to this today so I haven't had class yet. I was going to take Rural Development Theory at this time but in class today the teacher had us write down everything he said word for word. No thanks.

3:30-5:30 Introduction to Twi. Today we learned greetings. Maakye means good morning ("ky" is pronounced "ch"). Maaha means good afternoon. Maadwo means good night. I think I've got these down.

Thursday:
7:30-9:30 Advanced Taxonomy Lecture (botany department: plants, not animals). This is the class I am most looking forward to. Botanizing in Ghana. Yes please.

Friday:
11:30-1:30 Music of West and Central Africa. I have not yet had this class either but my roommate,Carmen, went last week and said it was really good. She is an ethnomusicology major at UCLA. I am excited to listen to and learn about the different types of traditional and popular music. I will post music recommendations often.

1:30-4:30 Advanced Taxonomy Lab. There is an amazing botanical garden on campus. I want to live there.

That leaves Saturdays and Sundays to travel, study, sleep, explore, and read. Let the adventures continue....

Sunday, August 23, 2009

a baby goat ate my banana peel

day 29.

School was supposed to start last week. It didn't. I went to two classes, one in which nobody showed up except me and one where hundreds of people showed up and they had us wait for hours to finally tell us to go home and come back the next day. Not wanting to stick around for more of this, we decided to use last week as an excuse to travel. Carmen had rehearsals and Sauce had malaria so it was just me, Travis, and Matt. We left on Wednesday.

Wednesday. Destination: Ada Foah, the small village where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean. We arrived around dinner time, options were sparse. The boys ate fufu, I ate rice. We met some funny people and had long conversations about "The Revolution". Stimulating. When Travis asked Nii Ana, "What is the one thing that you think Ghana needs to change to progress as a country?" he replied, "We need to stop criticizing! We are all one." (He also was telling us how 9/11 was an inside job, as if we didn't already know...Mom you would have liked him).

Thursday. Slept in until 8:30. Ate bread with ground nut paste. Took a two-hour walk along the dirtiest beach I've ever seen (covered in plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, nets, empty water sachets, dead fish, and shit, human shit). Despite the filth, the waves were incredible as we walked in the hot sun and watched the fishing boats. When we reached the point where the Volta meets the ocean we sat and watched. The two bodies of water are in constant contact but retain very individual natures. Magnificent. We watched the colorful fishing boats come in with fisherman arguing loudly and birds in their wake.

Our next destination was Hohoe. At the tro-tro station after much commotion, we boarded a tro-tro that we thought was on its way to Ho, the capital of the Volta Region. A few hours into the journey we realized that we were headed to Aflao instead. Aflao is essentially on the Ghana/Togo border and really far out of our way. At Aflao station we bought fresh bananas and boarded yet another tro-tro to Ho. After many hours and a third tro-tro ride, we made it to Hohoe. Long day.

Friday. Destination: Mount Afadjato and Wli Falls (the highest mountain and waterfalls in West Africa). Alarm went off at 5:15, we snoozed it until 6:15, though in Ghana everyone is up by then and it is often hard to sleep through the noise from outside. We waited at the tro-tro station for a while waiting for a taxi accompanied by a one-legged chicken. Around 9:30 (after taking a taxi meant for five people but filled with eight) we were at the base of the mountain At 885 meters, it is a small mountain by California standards but the hike was tough, 30-45 degree incline the whole time. At the top, we could see all of the Volta Region. Spectacular (worth the sweat).

We walked for an hour with some village children carrying corn flour on their heads to the next village to catch a taxi. Our driver emerged from the forest wearing a uniform and carrying a big gun. While we were waiting for him to change, a baby goat ate the banana peel off of my banana. To get to Wli Falls we walked for a half hour with a guide. Within 100 meters of the Falls we could feel the mist. We put on our bathing suits and went for it. The falls were amazing. We swam under them and fought our way towards them against the 30-40 mile per hour winds they were generating. It was definitely one of the most awesome natural experiences I have ever had. Again we spent the night in Hohoe. Tired.

Saturday: Destination: Legon. After only three days of traveling we were beat. It takes a lot of energy to get places here and often communication and interactions are not easy. At the tro-tro station we were caught in the most intense battle over us by two tro-tro drivers and the people who they pay to help get passengers (yelling on both sides, and grabbing us to come with them to their tro-tro). After about ten minutes, we decided on one of them. I think we mad the wrong choice because our driver was an idiot. After bribing three police officers, passing one accident and five funerals, and getting stopped by immigration police (who wanted our passports and visas which we didn't have on us) we made it back to campus.

I'm realizing that as amazing as my experience has been so far, it is not easy to be here. Everyday I am challenged in some way. I can feel that I am learning more that I am able to process. A few months before I left, I met a homeless man on my stoop in Berkeley. He approached my singing an African song. I stopped him to ask where he was from. Rwanda. I told him that I was going to Ghana for school. He sat down on the step next to me and told me slowly, "You will pass a life test". I can still hear his voice and see his face. Now I know what he meant.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

first solo venture and confusion

day 22 (three weeks!)

First Solo Venture: On Friday, I had to go in to Accra to return the phone that I purchased on Wenesday. Carmen had rehearsal (she is playing flute with a Ghanaian pop band). I didn't have a phone to get in touch with anyone else, so I went solo.

I walked to the tro-tro station that is right outside the main gate of campus, as I have done many times before with others. I listened for a mate calling out "Cra, Cra, Cra, Cra, Cra" meaning that tro-tro is headed towards Accra. I got on, paid my fare (20 pesewas for the 10 minute ride) and got off at the right place. I got off at the mall stop and despite being followed by chilren wanting money, it went smoothly. Once I was in the mall, or the wrinkle in time (because it is like a completely different universe in there), I bought a few things at the main store called Game (a bread knife, some colored pencils, cleaning spray, toilet paper, and birthday candles) I proceeded to find the bank. Twenty minutes and five sets of directions later I found it and bought a working phone.

I then left the mall and waited for a tro-tro to take me back to school. During more trafficky times, the tro-tro change their route. Not knowing this, I begin to realize on the tro-tro that it was not taking hte normal route to school. We were suddenly driving on a pot-holed dirt road in the middle of corn fields. Thinking I had made yet another mistake in Ghana I planned on getting off at the next stop and starting over. To my surprise, the next stop was just across the street from campus. Success.

Confusion: Each day, registration becomes more and more complicated. Looks like a have to refigure my schedule yet again. Classes that I am not going to sacrifice: Botany 419 Advanced Taxonomy, Botany 411 Fungi and Lichen, Geography 429 Environmental Ecology, Study of Religion 423 Ecological Ethics, Music 317: Intro to West and Central African Music.

Classes are supposed to start tomorrow. I'll bet on next week...Ghana time.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

registration

day 19.

I miss telebears. To register for classes at the University of Ghana, you must first look through the course catalog. All classes with odd numbers are offered in Fall (they say). Then you have to have passport photos taken because you have to submit one (they say) to each department you would like to take a class in. Next you have to walk around to each department to see which classes are actually offered. Due to lack of professors, many are canceled. Once you see which classes are offered you have to register with the department, even though the days and times when the classes are offered is not available yet. To register with a department you need to fill out a minimum of one form, maximum of eight, and turn in a passport photo. Sounds easy enough, however, the forms that you need to fill out are often located in two or more places that must be seeked out. My botany registration experience: went there at 1:15, they were still on lunch, came back at two, told to go to chemistry department to get another form, went to chemistry filled out a form to get the form, filled out that form brought it back to botany, filled out six more forms which required 3 passport photos, told to come back in one hour to bring a form back to the chemistry department, came back in one hour 15 minutes and they were closed. More to look forward to tomorrow.

On other notes: It rained again today, but the rain here is never more than a drizzle (at least that is all we have experienced) and it happens periodically throughout the day. I washed some of my clothes for the first time today. It was actually really fun, but I don't know if the clothes will ever dry in this weather. Today I tried to upload photos but with such a slow internet connection I think it might take all day. I am starting to feel at home here in a lot of ways but I also never really knew what homesickness was until I got here.

Monday, August 10, 2009

travels, tro-tros, the most beautiful beach

day 16.

On Friday, we went to Kakum National Park and the Elmina Castle with our entire EAP group.
At Kakum, we went on the canopy walk where we were dozens of feet (120ft at the hightest point) up in the air walking on a rope bridge overlooking the rainforest. The trees in Kakum were marked with scientific names (finally some botanizing!) and were like nothing I had ever seen. The whole forest was covered in vines and the many roots were exposed and snaking across the forest floor. On the rope bridge, we could see what looked like endless rainforest in every direction. It was an overcast day (as all but today have been so far) which created a light mist over everything and made it that much more exquisite, though I imagine a sunny day would be spectacular too.

From Kakum, we went to the Elmina Castle (or St.George Castle). It was the largest of the slave castles in West Africa and while it was used for that purpose 12-14 million slaves passed through it on their way to the U.S. We went on a guided tour of the castle where we learned about it's history and walked though most of the rooms. At one point the guide locked half of our group in a tiny room that had a skull and crossbones over the door. This was the room where slaves that had misbehaved (resisted rape by the governor, refused to do as told, etc) would be put. They would be kept in there until the last one had died and then every one of them would be taken out and thrown into the ocean. The room was completely dark and eerily silent.

We left the castle and the bus dropped those of us who wanted to travel for the weekend off at a tro-tro station. Matt, Matt (who we call Sauce), Travis, Carmen, and I had a plan. We wanted to make it to Nzulezo, the stilt village 30 minutes from the Cote d'Ivoire border. We wanted to make it as far as we could the first night so we boarded a tro-tro to Takoradi. It was going to be dark in about 45 minutes and the mate told us it would only take 25 minutes so we figured it would be fine. This is how we accidentally took our first tro-tro ride at night (sorry Mom, won't do it again, believe me). Let me say a few words about tro-tros: no seatbelts, always broken speedometers, 15-20 people, no a/c, speedbumps mean speed up, double lines in the road are just decoration as passing happens almost constantly, drivers slow down for nothing but police so honks are used to alert other cars, pedestrians (children too), bikers, goats and chickens...despite all of that they are actually good drivers as we have hit nothing or crashed yet. It is frightening during the day and so much worse at night. I have found that sleeping is the best option or else I am constanly gasping at all of the close calls. We luckily survived the hour and 20 minute ride and make it to Takoradi where we stayed in a cheap hotel.

The next day we boarded another tro-tro early in the morning and make the 4 hour trek to Beyin. In Beyin we had to wait a few hours for our canoe to be ready to take to the stilt village so we played cards and watched the local children climb coconut trees. Soon enough the canoe was ready and the five of us along with the guide and his mate made the 1 hour canoe ride to the village, singing songs most of the way. The ride was incredible, we were surrounded by some of the last remaining wetlands in Ghana paddling our way to a 500 year-old village. The village is indescribable. About 500 people live there each family in their own house constructed of rafia trees. Each house is about 5 feet above the water and there is one main "road" that runs through the whole town. We stayed there for the night, they fed us dinner, we met the chief's son, and played cards with the locals. At 7 the next morning we took the canoe ride back to Beyin on our way to Busua, home of the nicest beach in Ghana.

After another long and frightful tro-tro ride, we made it to Busua where we checked into the cheapest hotel since we realized we were all almost out of money (though we did splurge and eat Ghanaian pancakes from Dan the Pancake Man for lunch). To conserve money, we spent the majority of the day on the beach: sunbathing, body surfing, and again making friends with the locals. It was the warmest ocean water I had ever been in and the most beautiful beach. We ate dinner for 1 cedi each and breakfast was a shared loaf of bread.

Somehow we made it back to Legon today all in one piece, without having showered in days, with no money, and with smiles on our faces. This was really our first "find your way home" experience and we made it successfully. Double high-five to us. Now it is back to the real world: registration for classes and meeting the new students. School starts in one week.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Hurry Up and Wait!

We spent last weekend in Kumasi. The drive was incredible, solid lush vegetation for hours. Kumasi is a lot like Accra: tons of people, advertising, trash, cars, tro-tros, vendors, and dust. We went to a craft village and got to see Kente cloth (look it up, it is quite amazing) being made and we me the "master weaver". I bought an old cloth that the guy selling it to me said his grandfather had made (probably not true, but I'm going to believe it anyway). We did a lot of bargaining for the first time and I am getting better at it however, sometimes it seems a bit silly since we are haggling over 70 cents usually.

My biggest frustration so far is the phenomenon we are calling "hurry up! and wait". There are days when we have to get up so early to do something and when we get there there is a lot of commotion to get things straightened out and then we end up waiting for hours. It's a definite patience test (patience my friend, patience). I still do not have a cell phone and haven't uploaded any pictures. Everything just takes longer here and things keep getting pushed back. I am trying to not let it get to me because I want to enjoy each day.

Tomorrow we are going to Kakum National Park near Cape Coast. We have the option to stay and travel for a few days after that and I think most of us are going to. We may return on Sunday or a week from today, who is to say? We're just going to see where our travels take us.