Saturday, January 20, 2007

I'm in Ghana! (actually here....)

So, Katie and I must have misunderstood... we were led to think that accessing the internet would be easy in Ghana.... but this is only true if you know where to go. But now I've found internet cafe heaven! And thus I get to post (from my own laptop!) instead of staring at blank loading screens. Yay! :)
So hello family and friends!
I’m alive, and in Ghana, precisely where I’m supposed to be with my family at the St. Nicholas Anglican Seminary at Cape Coast. I’ve already learned and experienced so much that I don’t know where to begin ;)
To start, I suppose, I’ll give you what we’ve done so far:
Monday we arrived in Accra with no real trouble, and were met at the airport by Akwesi, who's one of the main conductors of the program, doing everything from taking us to get cell phones to major trips across the country (both later ;)). Akwesi promptly established himself as my hero for the day, being the only trustworthy person around and knowing precisely what to do at the same time ;) Amazing.
And there was a lot that we didn't know. It's amazing how much language barriers still exist even when everyone speaks English. The trick is that not everyone speaks it frequently (most people around here speak some variety of Akan, whether Twi or Fanti), and that they have such a different accent (it's 3x as hard as understanding my (marvelous) British cousins on the first day of a visit). Then there's all the cultural differences.
We experienced right off the bat the incredible feats of driving that take place here constantly. I'm sure that people drive this way (dodging people, cars, goats) in some parts of the US, like perhaps NY, but I've never experienced it and I'm glad I don't have to drive.
We stayed in a hotel on Monday night, and it was nice, then drove to Cape Coast on Tuesday, where we exchanged currency and went to our houses. At my house, the Dean (father figure) is out till next saturday, but Mother (that's her title) is home, as well as her two youngest children and her granddaughter- Maami Esi, 12, Kukua, 8, and Tracy, 9 respectively. Also, her nephew Ernest (13 or 14?) is in & out.
I stayed at home for a few days, hanging out with the kids, bagging bread (Mother bakes bread ;)), and eating food. No real Ghanaian food yet- though tomorrow I get to eat Fufu for the first time.
Some exploring also took place during this time... and we finally really went to school yesterday (Friday), met the professor Lawrence, and got somewhat oriented ;) I now know how to get around town by taxi, btw, Once, when I was coming to meet the rest of the group, Chantal mentioned to Akwesi that I might be chartering a taxi, and Akwesi said "No, she wouldn't", which is, I think, the first compliment concerning street-smarts I think I've ever received ;) Even if it was a taught skill.
Finally, today we went to the slave castles at Cape Coast and Elmina, which is just a few miles away. They were very intense, and the tours were very thorough. I learned a lot and will be pondering a lot. It's just such a different reality here. The race relations are very different, and sometimes the weirdness is just because you're a strange face, or a white face, and not necessarily a bad face. Anyway ;)
My address is/should be
St Nicholas Anglican Seminary
PO Box A 162
Cape Coast, Ghana

Family, Yachters, Dancers, and everyone in between: I miss you very much.
I'll write again asap. I'm having a great time and learning so much.

Possible future topics:
My (awesome, interesting) family
Chores at my house
The Mormon man at the Anglican seminary
Kids and cards
Fante expressions
The further joys of taxis
Ghanaian kids
Ghanaian critters
Ghanaian food
“Oh, Akwesi”
Ghanaian names
O-my-goodness-what-will-my-service-project-be

Goodnight!

4 comments:

chelsea said...

well, sounds like you're having a blast! it's good you're writing down all your thoughts, because in 30 years you'll come back to read this and remember everything from the trip. anyway, you left your medicine here. should i mail it to you?

love,
chels

Adam Waxman said...

Hey, good to hear from you. I hope the experience is awesome. Your recommendation went off today. You owe me a backrub :)

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