The End is in Sight ( trip to the Northern region recap.)

Dear friends and family,

I have been working to bury my head in the books... Finals time has truly commenced here. I have been trying not to fall back into my typical procrastinator habits but I knew I could no longer neglect my loyal blog followers.

(How have I been spending my past few weeks here in good ol Ghana? Shall we photo montage? Yes I think we shall.......)

From the 6th to the 9th of November we took a trip up around the Northern region of Ghana. It has a predominately Muslim population with many different tribal groups intermixed. I know that my trip to the north really helped to round out my experience here in Ghana. It is pretty unbelievable to see how visiting a region just a couple hundred km north can transform a view of a country.



Why of course I will share the trip highlights, which are as follows:


Dr. Abdulai's clinic

We visited a free clinic which was started by a local Ghanaian surgeon, Dr. Abdulai(he is wearing white in the picture). He shared his story with us about how he was working in Germany making a very comfortable living and made the decision to start his clinic based off of the success of two unpaid surgeries he performed in Ghana. He felt that their successes were a direct message from God to start the clinic and today it runs completely on donations both foreign and local. He is a man who simply exudes light and joy. Within seconds of meeting him it was impossible not be thankful that people like him exist in this world.


Mosque

Allahu Akbar

Diviner

I was able to meet with a Diviner. The Diviners basically tell you of your future or anything which may interest you. To insure things go the way you want in your life they always present a prescription at the end. My prescription included purchasing cola nuts and giving them to the mother of twins, while on the other side of things one of my friends was asked to slaughter a cow.

Pikworo Slave Camp

The Pikworo slave camp was a location in Paga used to hold slaves before they were brought down in chains to the castles and forts along the coast of Ghana.

My friend Joy holds a rock once used by female slaves who had to grind and cook food on the rocks in the scorching heat.

This is the punishment rock. When certain slaves behaved very badly they were made an example of and were chained to this rock at their feet and were beaten to death. Their struggle is represented in the erosion that their chains had created at the base of the rock.

Widow Basket Weavers


We visited with widowers who have been able to find a steady source of income through basket weaving. Female widows are typically out casted in tribes of northern Ghana. When their husbands initially die, the wives are firstly accused of killing him either by their own hand or through fetish(voodoo or witchcraft). They are then frequently forced to walk through their villages completely exposed when they go to bathe and are publicly humiliated or shunned. These women have been able to ban together and find happiness in their unity, though widows across northern Ghana continue to face hard times within their communities.

Aburi Gardens on the First of November

This past Saturday we took a trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.
At first our guided tour consisted of literally a stop at one tree after another with a long winded explanation of the tree.... Most of the group, still recovering from Halloween the night before were feeling some regret for taking this trip... Until it got a little more hands on.

We ventured on into the more sensory intensive activities which included chewing on the inner bark of a cinnamon tree, smelling all spice leaves and menthol leaves, eating berries, and star fruit.

Here is some of the group pulling off bark from the cinnamon tree.
This is my friend Madeline standing in front of a monstrous tree covered in leaves. (sorry I don't remember the name of it)

The biggest treat of the tour? Getting the opportunity to try the miracle berry or miracle fruit. Once you eat one of these berries it makes any of the food you eat taste sweet. I was caught off guard because I didn't realize how strong its effects would be, but it was pretty amazing. I had a nimble of the miracle berry and then a bite of my not so ripe star fruit which had previously tasted extremely bitter... and miraculously it now tasted so very sweet. Pretty unforgettable.

Tomorrow morning we head out on a four day trip to the Northern Region of Ghana. It is predominantly a Muslim population and very different from all other areas of Ghana so I am quite excited.

all the best from Ghana.

Pictures

Green Turtle Lodge Pictures from fall break are all up with captions.

Kumasi Trip Pictures from early October.


I forgot to mention that I had a kick bottom Halloween in Ghana Friday night. A bunch of us pieced together some costumes then headed over to the other dorm for my first success and then failure at jello shots---- the heat really took it to them on my walk over to the other NYU dorm.
We made a stop at a Halloween party being thrown at the University of Ghana---kind of lame but good to see some people dressed up in costumes. We then made our way to a club called Aphrodisiac. They were throwing a Halloween party of their own... but they were charging 20 dollars per person to get in. Crazy? yes. My friend who is constantly working on a budget proceeds to bargain our way into this club. She gets a price of 60 dollars for our entire group of 12 girls, impressive right? We then proceeded to dance the night away. At points I found myself working to corral my over-served friends away from the closed off sections which were for private stripper parties... hmm I left around 2am to see my friends off to bed.

There is still a bit more left to my Halloween story. You see in Ghana there are police check points along the roads to make sure that everyone is safe in their vehicles. Well, before we arrive back at the dorm we are stopped at a check point. The police officer, with quite a big gun might I add, checks in to make sure we are all right. I am thinking since I am the most sober of the bunch should handle the conversation. I will present my side of the conversation with said policeman "Hello officer, yes we are fine. Where are we going? To our dorm, NYU, yes we are students, yes here in Ghana."..............."No I will not marry you."

Just a reality I 'spose.

My Halloween in Ghana.
Melted jello shots... sketchy club... dancing... marriage proposal.


All for now, go vote.

-Ellie

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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