K-Kumasi

Off to Kumasi!

September 10, 2011

On Thursday, instead of having class, our group went to Calabash Dance Africa directed by Kofi Gademeh.  The dance and drumming studio is located in New Town, a developing-ish area of Accra.  The studio was on the second floor of a building directly on the side of a busy street.  Kofi had his drummers play multiple songs for us while the dancers performed many traditional dances.  The dances were from Togo, Benin, Senegal, but were still very traditional African.  Ah, the costumes were amazing as was the performance! Kofi had our group get up and learn 3 different dances as well.  We will be dancing almost everyday once we get to Kumasi, so this was a short preview!

On Friday, we left for Kumasi.  The entire group was expecting to literally take a tro-tro to Kumasi, which was terrible thinking about on a bumpy road for 5 hours.  So we were all very anxiously surprised when a bus pulled in to the University! We had an actual bus, a very nice Western treat!  The ride took an hour longer than expected but we stopped a few times for gas, and once to allow a woman selling turkey and yams on the bus for our lunch. The drive to Kumasi was absolutely beautiful!  There were trees everywhere, big hills covered in trees, and just much more green space than we have been used to in Accra.  The landscape started to look a little more like what one may picture Africa to look like.  Kumasi still has roads, dust, dirt, etc. but there are definitely more trees and even patches of grass!

We arrived at Lizzie's Hotel, and went immediately to a place called Kandie's for lunch.  Unfortunately we are mostly upstairs in the hotel, so we had to carry all of our luggage upstairs.  At the restaurant we ate rice with chicken and had fanta.  Nothing in Ghana has started exactly on time, basically because of the culture.  We were supposed to take a tour of Kumasi in groups, but the tour started an hour later than expected.  Our group got to dance outside of Kandie's and just hang out, but the "Ghana time" was getting to some of us.  Taking the tour was frustrating for everyone.  Because the sun sets around 6, our tour was cut very short.  My group ended up stopping the tour, because we could not see anything anyway, and we walked back to a tro-tro station.  Everybody was really frustrated, cranky, and kind of hungry.  Eventually we got back to Kandie's and ate pasta with spicy red sauce.  I think the entire "tour trip" tested a lot of our patience and street skills, but I know experiences like that are something that I will learn and grow from the most.

Last night our SIT group stayed up late and bought some wine and local beverages.  It was nice to have a night just to hang out, especially right before our homestays.  Right now, it's about 8 AM and I can't sleep anymore, probably because we have been waking up so early for school. I'm really anxious to meet my homestay family today.  We are going to Kandie's for lunch again, and then off to meet them!  Apparently, the people in Kumasi are a little more excited about our visit, which is similar to our own American culture.  I really like Kumasi, but honestly have not seen enough of it yet.  It is a much smaller city than Accra, but still seems busy.  The atmosphere is definitely different however, and I'm really excited to learn more and see more.

Last Few Days in Accra

September 6, 2011

This is our third to last day in Accra, as our group heads off to Kumasi on Friday morning.  I feel as though I am finally becoming accustomed to certain things in Accra, which is a pretty comforting feeling.  As we live so close to the Madina Market, I know my way around the market and can walk to my homestay alone.  Since many of you know, I'm usually horrible with directions but having to learn my way around Accra is a really good challenge!  I also feel much more comfortable walking on the streets, in general.  The streets all have large gutters with sewage and garbage on either side, so as you walk, you have to avoid them at all costs.  The traffic is absolutely crazy because in most places, there are no signs, lights, or traffic directors.  Yet the tro-tros, taxis, and cars all figure out how to get to their destination.  And I have actually only seen one traffic accident.  Despite feeling more comfortable, I have been feeling a little more homesick.  I feel like the feeling kind of comes in waves and in certain situations.  I miss Coe and ASA, as well as all my friends there. I really miss my family too.  Amy is moving on with her life, and a part of me definitely wishes I were there to share in her changing life.  A boy on our trip, during a conversation about all of our homesickness, reminded us that everything at home will still be at home when we get back.  This was a really nice reminder.  Of course there will be a few changes, but I'll only be abroad once and my home, along with the people in my life, will all be there when I get back to the states.

Today for lunch, a group of SIT students walked across the University campus today to take advantage of a deal at a sort of pizza restaurant, comparable to pizza hut, located in a gas station.  The deal was 2 for 1 pizzas.  I ended up eating a very American puri puri chicken pizza that was delicious! We all drank coke or fantas and bought some ice cream treats for dessert.  I do really love the Ghanaian food, but today the western food was just what we all needed.

Tomorrow is our last day of the Twi language course in Accra.  We will be picking up a Twi language class once we get to Kumasi, as well.  We have to perform a skit in Twi with a group and do an oral quiz with an instructor.  Twi is quite hard, for many of my group members, myself included.  The language is extremely tonal.  However, the more I hear it being spoken, the more I can catch in conversation.  Terrin and I have a lot of studying to do tonight, and I know that the entire group will feel better once the quiz is done tomorrow. Yesterday Terrin and I tried to practice with our homestay brother, Kwese, who is 30 years old.  He told us that students can actually choose to learn a variety of traditional African languages in school, and he happened to not choose Twi.  However, most people in Accra speak Twi, so he knows how to speak Twi in most conversations.  His mother, our homestay mother, Helena, is actually Fanti and speaks Fanti.  Therefore, Kwese and his siblings all speak a mixture of Fanti, Twi, and English.  Jifa, my homestay sister, who is in her twenties, is the only sibling who learned Twi in school.  The whole family was extremely helpful, and I found it really interesting to learn that they had actually not been speaking just Twi to each other while we were in the house! Who knew?

Also, Terrin and I have a 2 year old homestay sister, however, she is technically our homestay mother's granddaughter.  Anyway, this past week she has become a lot more close to us and started speaking a lot more to us.  Her family is actually teaching her English because they know she will learn Twi from her friends and family later on.  Her name is Jo, and she is absolutely adorable.  Everyday when we come home from school, she runs up to our legs and hugs us. It's nice to feel a little bit more a part of this family too!

I'm really ready to travel to Kumasi, and begin traveling in general.  Walking home from school today, I thought, I won't be in Accra again until October.  And when I'm back in Accra, I will only have a month left in Ghana.  This was a comforting thought as well as an exciting thought! I'm really excited to compare different parts of Ghana, and see a huge portion of the country. 

I have taken a ton of pictures already, and definitely want to put them on my Facebook. I'm going to try to do so tomorrow so hopefully you all can see a little glimpse of my life in Ghana thus far!

First Free Weekend in Accra, Ghana

September 4, 2011 – Accra, Ghana Homestay – Madina Old Road

This was our first weekend free in Ghana! On Friday night, Terrin and I stayed at home and played with our five and two year old host sisters.  They are really fun to play with, and they love hanging out with us in our room.  On Saturday, almost the entire SIT group met at Legon (the University) and took a couple tro-tro's to Labadi beach.  We were all super excited to see the ocean or Gulf of Guinea.  The beach was beautiful and really big.  We were definitely able to see home similar this beach was to the Caribbean.  I literally had to keep reminding myself that I actually was in Africa.  There are restaurants, umbrellas, chairs, drinks, and tons of people.  The weather was gorgeous and very sunny.  There are a lot of people selling things on the beach, as well, and I bought a Ghanaian flag and painting to take back home!  The ocean was warm and very fun to swim in.  Unfortunately, the beach itself is quite dirty as there is basically litter everywhere.  In the ocean, the waves are so big and the tide is so strong that swimmers are not allowed to go much past their chest.  Apparently, many people have trouble swimming out far with such strong waves.  And the litter in the ocean hit your legs in the water, which made me kind of sad.  I think all of us got a little sunburned too because we all literally stayed at the beach from the morning to around six p.m.

For dinner, eight of the SIT students took a tro-tro to Osu.  Osu is closer to downtown Accra, where there are big buildings and the lifestyle is a bit more westernized.  We found a restaurant called Mamma Mia, surprisingly an Italian restaurant!  There was pizza and chicken nuggets and French fries.  I ate a delicious pizza with eggplant, olives, and mozzarella cheese.  The area and restaurant were definitely the most tourist-y place we have been to so far.  It was kind of nice to be in a more familiar type of restaurant and sneak a little Americanized food.  After dinner, we were all exhausted and came back to our homestays. 

This morning, we were supposed to go to church with our family but our family is having visitors over so we ended up just eating breakfast with them.  Our host mother said she would take us to church sometime this week, which would be a really interesting experience.  Terrin and I decided to go explore a little bit. A lot of the other SIT students are going to church, so I think we only have a small group of three students exploring today.  We are planning on taking some tro-tro's to Jamestown.  Apparently Jamestown is near the National Museum, the National Theater, Osu Castle, and Nkrumah's Mansion.  Since today is Sunday, the area itself shouldn't be too busy and it will be nice to explore a different part of Accra.  Hopefully our afternoon plans work out and we are able to see some museums or something.  Tonight we are going to try to visit an Internet café near our house for the first time, which hopefully goes well too!

Accra, Ghana - First Homestay

August 30^th, 2011 – Madina, Old Road, Accra, Ghana – Homestay

We have already done so much as a group that I cannot even believe that I have only been in Ghana since Friday.  Up until Monday, we were all staying at the Suma Court Hotel.  On Sunday, we were able to attend a funeral ceremony in a small village.  The funeral ceremony was very interesting because unlike those in the United States, funerals are celebrations of the life that was lived and the entrance into the new after life.  The entire village is usually expected to attend.  In this particular funeral, we were outside under a small roof with wooden benches scattered in a small square.  All of the women and men of the village were dressed in outfits made of the same fabric.  People not dressed in this fabric were wearing black, red, or brown, which are traditional mourning colors in Accra.  The men were on the other side of the square set up on benches in two rows facing one another playing drums.  The drumming was amazing.  As the songs were played, the women would get up and do traditional dances with one another.  In a couple of our previous lessons we learned how to do some traditional dancing so the women of the village were able to pull us up and do some small dances.  The women were so strong and powerful, and extremely beautiful.  They were also extremely friendly and generous.  The family of the person who passed away were dressed in beautiful black outfits and passed out ginger biscuits, a drink made from maize and water in a small baggie, and small baggies of gin.  The entire ceremony was very interesting and filled with music.

On Monday, we arrived in our homestays in Ghana where we will be staying until September 9^th, when we move on to Kumasi.  I was fortunate to be placed with another girl because my homestay is a bit farther from the University campus.  Terrin and I arrived at our house in the Madina of Accra.  The streets are all made of red dirt and there are booths and vendors lining all of the streets.  The streets are quite busy but smaller than the ones where the Suma Court Hotel was located.  Our house has tiled floor and windows.  There is no air conditioning or running water.  This means for using the toilet, the sink, or the shower, we have to use buckets of water.  Surprisingly, I am already used to this system.  The shower was not at all as bad as I was expecting because of the heat in Ghana.  And the teeth brushing is something I've gotten used to!

Our family consists of four siblings, ranging from ages 20 to 35.  There are two boys and two girls, but I have only met three of them so far.  Both of the daughters have daughters that live in our house.  They are adorable! The youngest is 2 years old and the oldest is 5 years old.  They are so fun to play with, and yesterday we got to color with the older girl.  The food is excellent in the homestay, and I'm hoping to be able to cook often with them.  The family has many cousins and friends also living in the house and in houses next door, yet the entire compound has one main gate to close it off from the street.  Basically, I have only met a few people who are living in my house at this point, but I'm anxious to meet more.  Terrin and I share a very nice room with a ceiling fan!  Yesterday at dinner, we ate with one cousin who was 29 years old and one brother who was turning 30 on Wednesday.  They were very welcoming and spoke English very well.  We talked about a lot and even heard some popular Ghanaian music!

Today, on Tuesday, we left for our first day of school.  We walked down and got a taxis to Legon, where the University is located.  The taxis ride was only 1 cedis which is about 60 cents!  In the afternoon we will normally catch a tro-tro that takes us home.  The tro-tros are small buses that are cheaper than taxis and ride on specific routes.  Yet the driving is very unpredictable and crazy here, and I've seen many accidents already.  The tro-tros are also extremely crowded and something that will take some getting used to.

This afternoon we went to Nathaniel's aunt's home for his birthday celebration.  The ride was a little hard because we were a large group of foreigners traveling together.  Getting so many stares and being constantly beckoned was not something I was expecting to the extent that it exists in Accra.  Yet, Nathaniel's family was super welcoming and gave us amazing food! We had an okra soup, fried plantains, different rices, fried chicken, and ice cream with guava, pineapple, and watermelon! Yum!!!  Riding home from his family's home was extremely difficult and very stressful.  Because Ghana is so close to the equator, the sun sets around 6 PM.  This means that we should normally be home before the sun sets.  However, when we drive home, this is also usually rush hour traffic.  Nathaniel's family drove a group of SIT members, including myself, to a taxi round to get a taxi heading for the Madina.  Without their help, I honestly am not sure we could have figured out how to get home.  Eventually we were able to get off at a TBB Bank in Madina Old Road, which is the road our house intersects with, and we met Kwese, our middle homestay brother.  Terrin and I were very happy to see him and have him show us the way home!  The streets get very crowded in the dark and look much different than they do during the day. 

The Internet has been a pain to get on however. I finally bought a modem that supposedly gives you Internet in any place, it is painfully slow though. And I am able to get on the Internet in my homestay.  The Internet has been broken at the University for a week which is really unfortunate for both keeping in contact with friends and family, as well as blogging. I will try my best to blog as often as I can! And email!

Arrival in Accra!

August 27^th, 2011 – Suma Court Hotel LTD, Accra, Ghana

Finally in Ghana!  Traveling seemed to last forever, but thankfully was pretty simple with no delays.  A few members of our group still haven't made it to Ghana yet, due to delays, and one girl has a missing piece of luggage. 

I stopped on the way to Ghana through Amsterdam.  Unfortunately, the two girls I was traveling and I had an 8-hour layover.  However, the Amsterdam airport is pretty sweet, making the layover a little less boring.  At the airport we met up with four other members of the SIT group (three girls and one boy), and departed for Accra.  I was excited to fly over Africa but the weather was pretty cloudy so there wasn't much to see.  I had delicious airplane food somewhat surprisingly too!  I decided to try out the vegetarian meal, and I was served "fried tempeh in a basah sauce" with a falafel spread on two pieces of bread for a snack. Yum!

Landing in Accra was super exciting and kind of emotional.  I truly could not actually believe that I was in Africa, after only two plane rides.  As soon as we landed we got off the plane right onto the runway.  The plane was pretty warm anyway, but our entire group started sweating as soon as we got off the plane.  Customs was pretty easy, as we quickly found the group leaders and other members of our group.

We dragged our luggage across a street and into a dirt parking lot, where we loaded ourselves into a large type of van and started on our way.  After a long drive through various types of neighborhoods in Accra, we arrived at Suma Court Hotel which is about five minutes from the University of Ghana.  The hotel is beautiful!  There's multiple rooms with two people per room, tiled floor, tapestries, and small statues everywhere. 

So far the food has been incredible! Last night we ate fried chicken, avocado, boiled yams, vegetables in a light curry sauce and creamy spinach with fish! We also tried some delicious white wine from South Africa and some "Star" beer.

And the adventure begins...

Ready to start traveling! I should arrive in Ghana tomorrow, the 26th, around 7:30 Ghana time and 2:30 U.S. time.

Less Than A Week - Communication While Traveling

Though the SIT program in Ghana is set up with traveling throughout Ghana from August to November, I have an address that letters or postcards may be sent.  Packages are apparently quite hard to retrieve when sent away, and the mail system can be somewhat unreliable.  I will try to send postcards to those of you whose address I have, and would love to receive a letter or two, if any of you get a chance.

Here's my address:

Kelly Sandquist

c/o SIT Study Abroad Ghana

Institute of African Studies (Affiliate) 

University of Ghana

P.O. Box 73

Legon, Ghana

I will also try to use the Internet whenever available for communication.  Please feel free to Facebook me or email me: Kesandquist@coe.edu.

Only 6 days to go!