8/26

On Friday I only had one class at 930am and after I went to a vegetable market with a couple of friends.  I bought lettuce, carrots, avocado, bell peppers, onions, and potatoes, The woman was so sweet and gave me a free pineapple for buying from her.  I was so excited to have some vegetables since I haven’t seen much on my plate since I left America!  I made a yummy salad when I got back to my hall and it never tasted so good!  At nighttime some Ghanaian friends took us out to dinner at a really nice restaurant/club called Bella Roma.  It was Italian food and SOOOO good!!  We had a few different kinds of pizza and some garlic bread.  The pizza and garlic bread here are much different from back home.  The garlic bread was very thin like a tortilla and the pizza was also really thin.  I wasn’t even full afterwards because im so used to thick pizza!  I got a text message today from my friend Anowa (who I stayed with in Tema a couple weekends ago) asking me if I was busy tomorrow night since they were going out to dinner in Accra for her mum’s birthday and I was invited.  I said of course I would love to go, and when I asked who was all going she said “ just me, my mum and sister…meaning you are practically family!”.  This made me really happy and I honestly do feel like they are my family now.

8/27

This morning I woke up and put my not so great cooking skill to work.  I peeled (with a knife since we have no peeler, which was a lot of work!) and cut up a bunch of potatoes, cut some onions and bellpeppers to fry in the frying pan and make homefries.  They turned out so good and I was so excited!   I didn’t do much today…slept in, walked to the bush canteen (like an outside market on campus) to buy Auntie Christie a birthday card for tonight.  We went out to dinner at a Chinese food restaurant, which was really good!  I had such a good time with them at dinner and really felt like I was part of their family!  I just relaxed and watched a movie when I got back to my room.  The weather has been quite weird lately…its been overcast and sprinkling all day…im not complaining!!!.  At nighttime it was actually raining the hardest it has since ive been here!

8/28

I made my homefries again this morning with some eggs and it was a great breakfast!  I peeled and cut a bunch of potatoes to have ready when I want them in the mornings.  This was definitely a lot of work and took a long time.  I did a lot of reading today since I haven’t really been doing much for school…sometimes I forget that’s why im actually here! For dinner I made pasta and attempted making pasta sauce for the first time ever.  I sautéed onions and garlic and then added some tomato sauce.  It turned out not too bad…but I was starving so anything would have been good at that point! I also made a salad and some toast.  It was really nice having a full meal and actually being full afterwards! Ive found myself not really being completely full here after I eat and im constantly wanting to eat something. 

If anyone would like to send me anything by mail here are the addresses:

Letters

Chelsea Coates

UC-EAP

P.O. Box LG 356

University of Ghana

Legon

Packages

Chelsea Coates

UC-EAP Ghana Study Centre

P.O. Box LG 356

University of Ghana

Legon Campus

International Programmes Building

First Floor, Right wing

Tel: 0302-500147

My email address is ccoates@umail.ucsb.edu

Today i had no classes again! I could definitely get used to this :) I walked all the way over to the university hospital again and FINALLY met with the hospital director! He is going to call me soon about coming in to meet the head of pediatrics and hopefully set something up...We've been pretty lucky about having running water constantly since i moved in to my hall...however last night when i was SO looking forward for the first time ever to take a nice cold shower, there was no running water.  I knew it was too good to be true having water for this long, lol.  I took my first bucket shower and it was quite difficult with my long hair and all, but i did it!  As of 4 pm right now we still have no running water...i have a feeling it will be out for several days, but i knew this was what i was getting myself into so im just dealing with it! You really don't realize how you use water for SO many things until you dont have easy access to it anymore! Luckily we have a huge tank on our floor so we just take our bucket and put water in our buckets to use.  It has been SUPER hot today!! This heat really makes me exhausted and have to take a nap during the middle of the day.  Luckily by the late afternoon it cools down a lot and is really nice outside but late morning and afternoon are scorchers!

I had a late class last night from 530-730pm..i was really nervous about walking back to my hall when it was dark out so i knew i had to make a friend in class to walk back with.  When the class got out i ran up to some girls that looked like they were heading the way i needed to go and i flat out asked where they were going and one was going to Volta hall so i asked her if i could walk with her.  She said yes, i was so relieved and ended up making a friend. She was so sweet and walked me directly to my room and told me she would come by my room before class on wednesdays to get me and walk together.  Things are really starting to come together here and i feel like im meeting a lot of really great people!  Time is flying by and i know its going to go by so fast which makes me sad thinking about!

This weekend we woke up super early and drove to the Volta Region.  It was a really long drive…took about 5 hours to get there.  It was hard sitting for so long because my knee has been really hurting again!  They took us to Wli waterfall, which was so beautiful! I didn’t go in the water, since I promised my mom I wouldn’t…she was worried about me possibly getting a parasite! We were supposed to go to the monkey sanctuary as well while we were here but because of time reasons, they did not take us.  I was really bummed about this. 

My first day of my statistics class was Monday morning at 730 am.  I got to class right on time and it was SO full…there were no more free desks so I had to grab a plastic chair and sit all the way in the back. It was really hard to see and hear, but I ended up getting all the notes down…I definitely learned my lesson that I need to get to class really early here, which means waking up even earlier!

  

On Tuesdays I don’t have any classes, so I slept in and then met with my director about my independent study project doing the internship at the university hospital.  I told her im interested in pediatrics and she said she had a girl last year intern in peds and she absolutely loved it.  The last 2 weeks of her internship she worked in delivery and ended up delivering a baby at the end! I immediately walked over to the hospital to meet with the director but he wasn’t there.  They told me come back tomorrow morning.  The hospital is technically right off campus so I have to cross one really busy street.  It was really scary at first but now ive gotten the hang of it.  Later this day I went to Makola market with 2 friends.  We took a tro tro there and shopped for a few hours.  This is by far my favorite market…its HUGE, and almost everyone is so friendly and wants to meet you.  I bought a small pot to cook with and a new purse since I didn’t bring one with me thinking I wouldn’t need it.  The woman I bought it from really bothered me because I was trying to bargain with her and she told me she didn’t want to go down in price because im well off.  Yes, in comparison to them I am, but back in the US I am FAR from being well off and its difficult dealing with these stereotypes that many people have here about Americans.  A lot of the time they just see us as dollar bill signs and want to rip us off, which has happened many times may I add.  I ended up getting the purse for 16 cedis when it was originally 20.  We caught a tro tro back to campus and I cooked some dinner instead of going out.  I made some pasta…they don’t really sell pasta sauce here so you have to make it yourself…which I haven’t quite figured out how to do yet…so I put a little ketchup on my spaghetti and surprisingly it was good.  I really must work on obtaining some cooking skills here..but ive learned that if you’re hungry, you’ll eat whatever you have and make it work.

Today (Wednesday) I had another 730 am class.  I woke up at 6 am to make breakfast…I discovered this warm cereal called cerevita made by nestle.  Id compare it to cream of wheat…although I think its even better.  Its so easy to make and really good! I went to my psychology of personality class and it was packed as well. Luckily I found a seat up front.  This was the first lecture and let me say the lecturing style is MUCH different here.  The professor literally reads from his notes and the students copy down what he says word for word.  Im not really fond of this kind of lecturing but I know ill just have to get used to it! After class I walked all the way over to the hospital again to meet with the director….of course he wasn’t there.  I knew I should have expected that since nothing almost ever goes planned here! They said come back after 2 and he would be there..so after lunch im going to make the trek ONCE AGAIN! 

Well, im currently sitting outside the English department on campus, which is right next to my hall...and i have found FREE WIFI!!! yayyyyy! Internet here was really hard to come by, but now ive found a couple of places where i can get free wifi, instead of paying for it in the halls.  Classes "started" this week, and i say started loosely as only 2 out of my 4 classes have met so far.  I was warned about this happening.  People said classes really dont start until the second or third week of the semester....so foreign to me!! And of course...the two classes that did not meet were my 730am classes that i woke up at 6 am for! Oh well, im definitely starting to get used to waking up so early..who would have thought??? As i speak, a young man came over and is sitting down next to me on a bench...he said hello and asked if im busy...obviously im on my computer! Now he's just sitting here, i think waiting for me to be done haha.  I just found out we are taking 3 of the same classes, what a coincidence!  Im asking him questions about the classes, books, and exams which is very helpful!            

ghanaian wedding

Auntie Christie

Anowa

Elmina Castle

Kakum National Park--Canopy Walk

8/12

Today we got up really early and drove to the central region to visit Kakum National Park and then the Elmina Castle in Cape Coast.  Kakum was so beautiful!! We did the canopy walk which was 7 different bridges suspended 40 meters above the ground in the forest.  We didn’t see much wild life.  There were some birds and butterflies but the elephants aren’t usually seen unless you camp over night. 

Then we left Kakum and drove back to Cape Coast to take a tour of the Elmina Castle.  Cape coast is absolutely beautiful.  It’s a little beach town where people mainly make a living off of fishing and salt production.  The Elmina Castle is located right on the Coast and from the outside looks so beautiful but as we walked in to the center area of the castle you could immediately feel a sense of eeriness and sadness.  This was an extremely emotional experience and a horrific part of history that I got to experience.  This castle was built by the Portuguese and later the Dutch took over it.  We first went into the female dungeon, which was a large, dark underground room.  The smell as we walked in was so strong and is a reminder of the awful living conditions that these slaves were forced to endure.  Our tour guide explained to us that these women were all crammed up in the dungeon where they weren’t allowed to leave. They were forced to excrete wastes here and when they underwent their menstrual cycles, had no way to keep themselves sanitary.  This smell is evidence of over 400 years of cruel treatment.  When families were taken as slaves in to this castle they were separated.  Husband and wife were separated in to male and female dungeons and their children would go with their parent in to their respective dungeon based on their gender.  There was a hole in the wall where husbands and wives would see each other for the final time before moving on to their dungeon.  They usually never saw each other again and yet were living in the same castle.   There was another room that was very small and dark with barely any ventilation.  You will see it in my pictures as the one with a door with a skull and crossbones above it. This was the room they sent slaves to that did something wrong.  They were forced to stay here without any food or water until they died and their bodies were then thrown out in to the sea.  This is where I began to get really emotional.  I just cant even begin to understand how human beings could possibly be treated like this.  The last underground room we saw was the one where these slaves were taken when they would be sent out on to a ship to the new world (Diaspora).  There was a door that led out to the beach and these slaves would exit here onto a boat where they would be auctioned off in the Atlantic slave trade.  Explaining this experience doesn’t even begin to describe what it was like being inside this castle and I don’t think you can truly ever grasp how horrific this part of history is unless you enter a slave castle and experience it.  The atmosphere, the environment, the smells, etc. all combined realy give you a sense of what happened here hundreds of years ago.  We also toured the upstairs part of the castle which was the sleeping quarters for the soldiers and slave masters.  As you can imagine the living arrangements were much better than those underground.  We walked along the entire top of the castle and the view was absolutely breathtaking.  After our tour we drove back to the school and didn’t get back until about 10pm. 

8/13

This morning I woke up at 530am (aaaaaaaahhhh!) since I was getting picked up at 7 by a family who I was arranged to contact when I got here.  A friend of one of my sister’s friends is from Ghana and he moved to the states to attend college.  Two of his sisters and his mother still live in Ghana and he set me up to meet them.  They picked me up in a Mercedes, which immediately I knew them had to be much more well off than the majority of the population here.  I stayed overnight at their house in Tema.  Their house was also very nice.  Any house of people more well off here is always gated.  They have a guard at night time who sits in front of their house all night.  I went to a wedding with them this morning of a couple from their church.  It was held at their church and id say there were at least 300 people if not more, present.  The wedding ceremony was somewhat different from those that I have been to in the states.  There was a lot of singing of hymns, praying, the family took communion, they signed their certificate of marriage, and then they left and everyone in the church lined up to give an offering of money.  Afterwards, the couple came back in dancing and then left to go outside for pictures.  The reception afterwards wasn’t really what I had expected.  There wasn’t music or dancing just a whole lot of people standing around eating, drinking and talking.  We left the wedding and went back home where Anowa and I hung out watching tv and a movie.  We got along really well.  She’s 19 years old and is starting medical school this year (here they do med school differently, you only do one year of undergrad).  Her older sister Abokuma came home later and hung out with us.  They were a lot of fun to be around and talk to about living on campus and such.  They have a guest room that they prepared for me which was really nice and comfy….all along I felt like I was back in the states…it was a nice little get away :)

8/14/11

This morning we got up and went to church at 8 am.  Church lasted for about 2 hours and it was a really nice experience.  There was a lot of singing of hymns which I was able to sing by following in the book.  When the preacher gave his sermon, I had a really hard time understanding most of what he was saying due to his accent and how fast he spoke.  I really tried to listen to what he was saying but it was so difficult!!  Then at the end we took communion, sang and prayed some more and then it was over.  I was somewhat surprised overall as I thought there would be more singing of faster songs and also dancing.  This was what I was told by some returnees.  This was definitely much more formal and everyone dresses up VERY nicely for church here.  When we went back home, Anowa, Abokuma and her friend made me a Ghanaian dish called Fufu.  Fufu is made of mashed cassava and plantain.  It forms into a gooey ball which is then submerged into either a light soup or with palm oil or groundnut soup.  They made the groundnut soup (peanut soup) and also put some chicken in it.  I actually reaaaaalllyyyy liked this dish!! The groundnut soup tasted so delicious, and the fufu had a weird taste I thought without the soup..however with it, it was very good!  Later, they drove me back to school and I am now just preparing for the start of school tomorrow.  I have a 730 am class tomorrow, that’s going to be difficult!!

8/3

Sorry I haven’t been updating lately!! Today we left the university and took a trip to a city called Kumasi for a few days.  This was a lot of fun and a  nice little get away that they planned for us.  On the way there we stopped for a restroom break in a  little town….the restroom was literally a small open cubicle outside with a door on it and no hole in the ground.  It was definitely an experience.  The people here were so friendly and when they saw my camera, they asked for their pictures to be taken.  We left and went to the Kente Cloth factory and got to see how all the cloth was made and we were able to purchase some.  I bought a head scarf to wear.  It was quite overwhelming however because everyone who was selling their cloth had their own section along the wall and as you’d walk by they’d stop you and say “I give you good deal, I know you are student”.  Every single person said this exact same thing.  Then we went to another village where we were able to see how the ink was made to put designs on the kente cloth.  We had the opportunity to put designs on cloth.  I also learned how to use the machine that makes the kente cloth.  Then we went to our hotel in Kumasi for the rest of the night

8/4

Today we went and toured Manhyia Palace Museum and also saw the outside of where the current king lives.  Then we drove to lake Bosomtwe and visited the little village that was there.  We took a ride in a boat out on the lake and then socialized for awhile with the local people of this village.  One little boy came up to me immediately, his name was Junior and he told me he was in school studying English.  He stayed with me the entire time we were there and taught me some words in Twi.  He told me he has 9 brothers and sisters..WOW! Junior and some of his friends wanted me to take pictures of them, so I did and they just loved being able to see the pictures on my camera!  When we left the lake I was really sad because I loved being around these little kids.  They are so happy and excited to be around you and it was refreshing not to be asked for money to give to them.  All they wanted was to talk and be your friend.   It started pouring at night so we all just stayed in the hotel for the night and didn’t go out.

8/5

This morning we packed up to leave Kumasi and head back to the university.  We stopped at a market to go shopping and I was looking for a specific carving.  I found one that I loved and the guy was asking for 20 cedis  and after a LOT of bargaining and walking away I got it for 12 cedis J.  When I walked away he came and found me and started talking to me.  I seriously thought I was about to get a marriage proposal because he mentioned how he was looking for a white woman to marry and take him back to the United States.  He asked me if I was married and and also asked me for my email address.  I told him im sorry I just don’t see a point in giving it to you, but he was persistent.  Eventually he gave up haha.  On our way back to Accra we made a rest stop in a small little town called Nkawkaw.  I got out to buy a snack at a stand that a young boy and girl were selling things at.  They were so happy and full of spirit.  They talked to me and asked if they could have my address in the USA.  At first I was a little thrown off and hesitant so I asked them why. They said they wanted to write to me.  So I gave them mine and asked for theirs so I could send them the pictures we took together along with some letters.   I thought this was so sweet and im hoping that it works out!

8/6

Today we had our first free day away from orientation! I must say that this was very much needed!  A group of us took a taxi down to Oxford Street which is basically like a downtown area where you can find pretty much anything you need or want.  We went inside the mall and it was very nice, just like a mall back home, but wayyyy overpriced.  We all decided to go to Medina market, a huge outside market within Accra.  We took a tro tro for the first time and the process of getting one was really difficult! Its like a bus stop with a bunch of people waiting and tryin to get on one of these tro tros.  They look like small buses, kind of like a Volkswagen bus.  We FINALLY got on one and it was MUCH  cheaper than a taxi.  It was only 40 pesewas  (~25 cents) whereas a taxi would have been about 10 cedis (7 dollars) for 4 people.  It’s a good way to get around town but not for traveling outside of the city.  The market was an interesting place full of culture.  I really loved it minus all of the mud, trash, and unpleasant smells.  You definitely can get things for super cheap.  I bought a pair of nice sandals for about 6 dollars.  At night a bunch of our group went out to a club in Osu called Epos.  At first there weren’t a lot of people and it was somewhat awkward but after awhile there were a lot of people and it was super fun!  They played all Ghanaian music which I loved!  I had a lot of fun and am glad I went out to experience more things outside of the university. 

8/7

Today we had another free day and it wasn’t very exciting. I went out and bought some of the necessities.  I bought 2 buckets so I could finallyyyyy start doing my laundry.  I spent over an hour handwashing my clothes.  Let me just say this is hard work and I am much more appreciative of having a washer and dryer back home!!!  I still didn’t get through all of my laundry, I just got so tired I had to call it a day.  I rested and worked on my resume for the rest of the day.  I don’t think I mentioned before that I will be doing an independent study project here for academic credit.  I am going to do an internship at a local hospital where ill get a lot more experience than I would back home.  Talking to the director she told me how past students did this and it was a great experience. They witnessed the birth of a child and got to experience a lot of different departments and in the end received letters of recommendation for medical school. 

8/8

Today we had our first day of the international students orientation where we learned how to go about registering for classes.  It requires going to every single department and giving a passport photo to sign up for classes.  It’s so much more of a confusing and difficult process here than in the states and I just cant wait to get it over with and have my classes.  Also, you don’t know if the finals in the classes you chose will overlap in times until a couple weeks in to school so its sort of a gamble on picking classes.  Hopefully none of mine will overlap but if not I can add different courses before the deadline.  Later we walked through the botanical gardens which is a huge stretch of land off the university campus full of flowers and trees and animals.  We saw a couple of donkeys up close.  It didn’t even phase them that we were walking through, they were too occupied with eating.    

8/9

I had another day of orientation today and tomorrow we register for classes which I know is going to be stressful.  I got a big bit on my leg…it definitely is a spider bite and it itches like craaaazyyy!  We moved in to Volta Hall this afternoon FINALLY .  I really love it!  Its SO much better than the International Student’s Hostel that most everyone else is staying at.  The grounds are so beautiful and our room is so clean and pretty and we have a guard that sits 24/7 to the entrance of our hall.  This makes me feel way safer!

8/10

Today was a long day of walking around campus to see the timetables for classes and then at 2pm was our groups registration time.  Its so stressful because you have to go to each individual department you want to take classes in and register with them.  I had some difficulty at the psychology department but other than that I was able to register for all of my classes relatively easily. 

8/11

We went to a market today called Makola Market in Accra.  A big group of us went with a couple of the student leaders from orientation.  We took a tro tro there and when we got there it was INSANE! There were people everywhere and stands of stuff everywhere.  I really loved the atmosphere and even though it was so hot out, it was enjoyable and I was able to get a lot of things for super cheap.  It was both an inside and outside market and there was stuff everywhere.  When we were walking outside along the street there were a bunch of people sitting on the sidewalk selling food.  There was lots of fish, which I found disguisting, I saw bags of what looked like insides to some kind of animal, and lastly I saw HUGE snails in a bowl.  I was so grossed out and steered clear of this stuff haha.  We stayed here for a few hours and by the end of it I was so drained from walking and being out in the sun for so long.  The rainy season is definitely ending and the past couple of days have been much hotter than the first week here.   Tomorrow we are leaving at 7am and taking a day trip to the central region.  We are going to do the Kakum Canopy Walk at Kakum National Park.  It’s a 350 meter long wood and rope walkway about 40m high suspended between 7 trees.  All the tourists do this and from the pictures ive seen it looks amazing!! Im so exited.  Then after we will visit the Elmina Castle.  It was built by the Portuguese in 1482 and used for trading purposes.  This is the oldest built European structure in Africa and was also another transport center for slaves.