Ghanaaaa Obaaaama

First off. Let me tell you how I was thrown into a bit of a fussy fit on Sunday afternoon when some news was revealed to me... Ghana does not need to have day light savings time.... hmm so do you know what that does for the time difference? Now it is five hours ahead versus the 4 that it use to be. Not a big deal in the big scheme of things but I had not mentally prepared myself for a bigger gap in my ability to communicate with family and friends. Luckily my roommate quickly pacified me with some chocolate and I had an almost immediate recovery out of my fussy boots attitude.

You may not believe the amount that Ghanaians follow the US presidential elections... Which at this point they might be following even more than their own, which are coming up in December. They LoveLoveLove Barrack Obama. When they aren't blasting slogans of the Ghanaian presidential candidates through the streets on speakers, it is quite common to hear the catchy Obama song they have created. "Barack Barack Barrrrrack Obama!" There isn't much to it but its the thought that counts.

How are we as students abroad in Ghana following the elections? There will be an election party starting Tuesday night at 10:30 Pm... who knows how long it could last 4 am? It is being thrown by our NYU program and there will be other students from the University of Ghana, Ashesi University, and hopefully people from other study abroad programs. We will have a lot of media coverage, including all of the major public TV stations in Ghana as well as live radio coverage and more. It might turn out to be a pretty tremendous event. The majority of Ghanaians are very interested in US politics and this election is no different so it is quite easy to see why our event would get so much media attention.

I wish everyone all the best in the voting process if you have not done it yet!

-Ellie

I have uploaded some new pictures from my fall break, I am hoping to add captions and more pics soon.... Bed time for now--- I will be up very late Tuesday evening.

A Photographic Intro to the Green Turtle Lodge Lifestyle

My home for the week.

Teaching about turtles at the local primary schools in the morning.Lounging on the beach in the afternoon.
Watching the Akwidaa fishermen from the beach.

Watching the sunset change colors with every passing moment.Patroling the beach for nesting turtles by night.
Making sure the momma turtles make it back to the sea.

Mission fall break: Accomplished.

Fall Break Ghana

Greetings all!

I have reached the halfway point and I am alive and well. Time for my fall break where I will get some much loved doses of fun in the sun. I promise to wear sunscreen, if i remember ;)... Kidding I would still fry like a tall goofy lobster if I hung around too long on the beach without it. I will without a doubt be thinking of you family as I get thrown around in the waves. Oh here it comes, this is a good one, its definitely a good one, oh no its too big, too late to run away, smash, crash, tumbletumble,water up the nose, sand in the bathing suit, oh where's my bathing suit? wheres up? wheres down? where am I? crawl to shore with little dignity...ok who's ready for another one? I can not wait! No worries, I will be mindful of riptide, float float float-swim parallel-counter intuitive-don't panic- am I panicking? gaaaah stay calm-oh oh-)

Saturday morning I will depart from Accra to travel an estimated 5 hours to Akwidaa where the Green Turtle Lodge awaits us in the Western region of Ghana. I along with two other girls from my group plan on staying for the week doing turtle conservation(not turtle conversation GC). At this point we are signed up to do some night patrols to monitor nesting activities and teach at a school in the local fishing and farming village.

(Green turtle going up for air, photo credit Wiki)

A little bit about the project from the Green Turtle website follows.

Turtle Conservation
There are three types of sea turtle nesting on the beaches in Ghana: the Olive Ridley, the Leatherback and the Green Turtle. All of these turtles are endangered species. It is very important that we protect these fascinating creatures from the dangers they face. Ghana Wildlife Society is worried that “given the current rate of killing the turtles, they will soon be extinct.” Fishermen and other members of the local community who may come across the turtles are not aware of the importance of protecting them. This unfortunately means that sea turtles are killed and the meat is sold or the eggs are poached from their nests. Therefore, as a volunteer, you are extremely important. You play a vital role in the protection of the sea turtles and thus in the conservation of the wildlife of Ghana.




Green Turtle Lodge: The Importance of ECO-Tourism

http://www.modernghana.com/news/179898/1/green-turtle-lodge-the-importance-of-eco-tourism.html



So if all goes according to plan we will be doing conservation of endangered turtles in a palm-lined beach paradise in Ghana. Hmmm... need I say much more?

All the very best,
Ellie

Mepe Kumasi Papaapa!

FIRST OFF- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! LOVE YOU.

This past weekend we had a trip to the city of Kumasi. Here is my story.

(View of the Kumasi Market from above)

We departed Saturday morning around 5am to traverse 6 hours up to the southern part of the central region of Ghana. We arrived at our hotel located in the second most populated city in the country, the capital of the Asanti Kingdom, and the location of the largest open air market in West Africa....Akwaaba Kumasi!

(Manhyia Palace)

Headed to the Kumasi National Culture Centre where we had a buffet of the typical grease drippin' finger lickin' stomach stickin' traditional Ghanaian cuisine. AAAh.yum. We saw many different kinds of crafts which included weaving, brass sculpting, wood carvings, and beads. Next we went to the Manhyia Palace and Museum which gave a good narrative of the history of the Asante Kingdom and it's people. We had a pretty amusing tour guide who kept us on our toes as we waited with bated breath for the next moment where he would put the oddest emphasis on the most random syllable of just about any word. (Example.... "This is the adinkra symbol which represents the idea of tit for tat. TIT FOR TAT!" pronouced *TEET FOR TAT* ... also each time when explaining something relating to the king it went like this... "This was the pen for the king, see how big the pen is? The king was a big man, this was the pen of the king, OF THE KING!"pronouced *KEENG!*)

(Man with cacoa fruit)

After the tour some of us were treated outside the museum when a man decided to explain the history of cacoa tree in Ghana. We were standing under one and he pulled a fruit down and passed it around for us to try. Most of us had no idea that the cacoa fruit tasted like that--- delicious--- sweet, soft, and a bit tart. That was probably one of my favorite surprises of the day.

(Cacoa Tree)


Headed to a strip of craft shops next where we took our turn at bargaining up a storm. So much fun, I am going to have a hard time coming back to the states and paying the price on the tag.. TE SO! REDUCE IT! I even impressed our Ghanaian resident assitants with the prices I got for my things.

A big group of us headed to an Indian/continental restaraunt for dinner. By a big group, I mean 11 and when I mean headed I mean all 11 of us smooshed into a 5 passenger taxi together. (Sorry mom, I had a person as a seatbelt though.) Including the taxi driver it was 12 people plus a bunch of plantains. I had a yummy veggie burger and beer for dinner.

(Plantain seller in Kumasi Market)

Sunday morning was spent in the very extensive market. It was too bad that we visited it on Sunday(since the people of Ghana are very religious) so the market wasn't as bustling because of church but it was still pretty busy. The sights, sounds, and smells created a fantastic sensory overload that I just soaked in. Red red tomatoes, some ripe, some rotting-- piles of stinky dried, fried, or raw fish,---raw cuts of beef covered in flies-- boiled cow head--- live chickens in boxes--- yellow green spicey peppers--- fumes of spicey peppers being cooked that made your eyes water--hundreds of soil covered yams-- piles of every style of sandal, new and used, brown, yellow, black, orange, silver----fabric galore, colors and patterns to drool over. It was fantastic as you could image, makes any mall of the US seem tame, sanitary, overpriced, and boring. I loved the market.

(Fabric being carried through the empty alleyways of the tame Sunday market)

(Selling vegetables in the Market)

Trip back.
We gazed upon the scenery passing by our windows as the big equatoral sun was sinking down in the distance. Even getting caught in the heavy traffic was fun as we were able to slow down and watch village life a little closer, seeing the market people interact, smiling and joking, people dressed up walking home from church, a wedding, or a funeral. I think I fell for Ghana a little bit more during this trip.

(Crates being carried outside the market)

Want to come back with me?!

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Sidenote for the day.
My addiction: Cauldren fried spicey plantains from a street over. I collect whatever coins I have from my bag, hand it over and then get a load of plantains wrapped in a piece of scrap paper.
heaven.

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Women of Kwamoso

Janet, Agnes, and Mary the women from Kwamoso, our Habitat build location, preparing fish.

I have posted some pictures from the build. The internet was fussy, so I just posted all that I had and didn't sort through them yet....

Crash course entitled Ghana: Lessons in Patience.

“How little we know, how eager to learn”

Being a foreigner in the continent of Africa brings along many questions regarding your motives for being here, not necessarily just from locals but from other foreigners. Many of the historical and present day conflicts and problems are effects of foreign interference. These vary all the way from the transatlantic slave trade to border creations to the Bretton Woods system. Nowadays the different philosophies of NGOs and independent volunteers in Africa seems to be a matter unto itself.

One question that arises about international involvement of course pertains to the issue of money. The question being "Will money solve Africa's developmental problems?"
The topic of development seems to be the dominating theme in the social and political sectors of Ghana. Most of what you read or see on the news has some aspect of it. I would go so far as to say it is almost an obsession. Therefore I see this question appear in most of my classes.

The following website contains a commentary directly answering:
"Will money solve Africa's Developmental problems?"

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Kwamoso Habitat Build

I had an AMAZING day today. Without a doubt one of the best times I have had here in Ghana so far. Under the direction of a handful of local men, our group aided in the construction of a house for the village of Kwamoso. Tasks included making mortar, carrying bricks(on your head of course), laying brick, making clay mixture for bricks, and molding bricks. I tried a little bit of everything but spent a majority of my time mixing the clay for the bricks. Picture the grape stomping, wine making I Love Lucy episode. Well now imagine the stomping of wet clay in a big hole in the ground. Heaven. Mushy, wholesome, dirty work heaven.

We took a short break for lunch under the trees and then headed back to work. We were greeted with fast approaching rain clouds. Well what we got was rain, as Forest Gump would say, "Big ol fat rain." They were the biggest rain drops I had ever seen or felt. It was too bad that work was cut short but it was a wonderful reprieve from the heat and a refreshing natural shower to wash away the clay and dust from our bodies. I sure did enjoy being surrounded by the lush environment of the eastern region of Ghana and a great group of people who were just appreciating every moment that came our way. I am very thankful for today.

Yawda Yawda Yawda.

Yawda=Thursday in Twi. how fun.


A week as gone by. Hi mom, Hi dad! Hi friends, family! (Brother are you reading this? here is your test)

Last Friday had an interesting day at the Liberian Refugee camp. It was about a 2 & 1/2 hr tro tro trip away with a transfer at Kaneshi Market halfway. Kaneshi is a crazyfest of a marketplace. I think I will try and bring my camera tomorrow to pass on some images for you all. Kaneshi is a very large yellow three story building. All along the sides of the building and nearby streets are mostly females selling a wide range of goods. Everyone is tightly packed together, yam sellers next to yam sellers, fish sellers packed next to fish sellers etc. Top pick of interesting foodstuffs I saw last time were raw pigs feet in a basket. I wonder how much they were going for. In the actual building of Kaneshi the first floor is food products, second floor is a big mix from Tupperware to weaves to bras, and the third floor is fabric and seamstress heaven. No real way to understand how to get around the place, no hallways, just twists and turns through the sellers.

Spent a few hours at the refugee camp meeting people. The actual camp is a pretty established village, pretty big, and most of the people I talked to had been there since the 90's. There are both children and adult educational and vocational schools. It truly is a living community. I head back there tomorrow to listen and document stories from former child soldiers.

Moving along, last Friday night our group headed out to Chez Afrique, a wonderful restaurant, bar, and great place for live music. It was a bit more upscale than the other places we have been to so I was finally able to dance alone to my heart's content without being constantly bombarded by too many potential dance partner/creepers.

Last Saturday night. Eight of us went out for another birthday celebration to a great Thai place. We were welcomed very warmly and they had great live music--- the birthday girl had a wonderful serenading of the Ghanaian version of the happy birthday song along with a bottle of wine on the house. After I enjoyed some prawn pad Thai and my dessert of fried pineapple and chocolate ice cream we proceeded to a popular Obruni(foreigner) night spot called Champs. It is nice big sports bar with an open kitchen, bar, and pool tables.... Cover charge of 10 dollars and the bar is open to your disposal after that. So of course there has to be-- a karaoke stage, phenomenal. I played(attempted to learn) some pool with two middle aged South Africans who are here on business. Then I documented my friends tearing up the karaoke stage. Lovely time.

Today! I secured my reservations for my fall break in mid October which will include living on the beach doing turtle conservation and teaching at a local school. This will all take place five hours west of Accra in Akwidaa at Green Turtle Lodge. I hope to take some canoe trips through mangrove swamps and hike a bit- do the nature touristy thing etc.

African Popular Music class today was revealing to my extreme lack of musical talent. Half of our class time was spent doing a practical drumming lesson. I was given what was suppose to be the easy instrument. I was told that it was the dancing beat, so you should be able to do it if you could dance well. Hmmm well I found out that it is one thing to find the beat with your hips but something completely different to make the beat with your hand.... consistently. Who would have thought "tap tap tap tap tap tap" could be so hard. Kudos goes out to those musically inclined folk.

This upcoming Saturday Habitat for Humanity build in a village about 2 hours away.
Looking forward to it.

(Brother you still reading?)

xxoo
All the very best,
Ellie