Monday morning I woke up at 6:30 am in order to get to my 7:30 am class. This is the earliest I've gotten up for class since...well maybe, ever. I actually found it bizarrely easy. The way Legon smells in the morning is indescribable...but I will certainly try. For anyone who has been hiking, it smells like mountain air, mixed with the way air smells just after rain. Then you add in the smell of fires coming from the homes of the women and men who work at the night market. Home in this case is a liberal term, as they mostly live in their shops or in a small enclosure just behind the shop. Each morning, they start to boil water for the mornings porridge over what can only be described as a camp fire. Add a dash of earth and grass smells and voila: Legon in the morning. It's absolutely wonderful.

Monday night two friends and I decided it would be fun to go to the performing arts building and play the piano and sing. While I was waiting for my friends to arrive, I read in the courtyard. At one point, I began to hear some incredible jazz piano and looked up and saw a student playing the piano next to me. He was just improvising blues and jazz chords while occasionally singing along...it was incredible. I love the sound of Africans' voices. I don't know what it is that makes the tone different or overall sound but it's all wonderful. Then my friends came and we sang/played some ben folds with Michael (my new piano-playing, singing Ghanaian friend) singing along occasionally. Michael actually really liked some of Ben Folds' music, which I thought was very cool (among his favorites were The Luckiest and Gracie). In general, it was just fun to make some good music because my vocal chords have felt so unused lately!

Yesterday I bought a pot. This wouldn't be all that exciting if I were studying in Europe or the States but I promise, it's exciting. Ovens and stoves don't really exist here unless you're incredibly wealthy, so most people use camp fires or hot plates. Even now that I have a pot and a hot plate in our kitchen (which is literally comprised of a fridge, a hot plate, and a sink), it's incredibly difficult to find food I would be capable of making here. I love Ghanaian food but it can get fairly repetitive and I desperately need a change.

While on the topic of Ghanaian food, I realize I haven't said much about the food we've been eating here. To start off each meal, you choose one of several different types of rice: plain, jollof (which is red, spicy rice) or waakye (which is pronounced "wa-a-chee-ey" and is a brown rice with beans). Then you choose chicken, fish, and/or plantains. Lastly you can add a sauce: one is made of peppers and paprika, another, called "palava sauce" is make with spinach and another is called "red-red" which is made of beans and spices. All of it is spicy and flavorful. Other options are fufu and banku which are dough-like balls that you dip into a spicy stew. Kellewelle is an absolutely fantastic snack: fried plaintains covered in incredible spices.

In other news, I've discovered something new about the refugee camp situation. Although I will be doing my internship at the Domestic Violence Clinic (which I am actually quite happy with because I'll be able to shadow an actual Ghannaian psychologists), I have discovered that the refugee camp is still in existence, it's just that circumstance have changed. In 2007, UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) pulled all funds, people and resources from the camp. Since then, Liberians have slowly been trying to find placement elsewhere, due to the lack of food, educations, health care, etc left in the camp. The actually program I wanted to work with (the Child Soldier Re-integration Fund) has, in fact, also left the camp. This left practically no mental health professionals left in the camp for me to intern with: thus, my dilemma. However, now that I'm situated elsewhere with a mental health professional, I hope that I can visit the camp over a few weekends and just do some arts and crafts with the kids etc. Plus, I'd also like to see what the organization of a refugee camp is like, seeing as I've never been to one.

Tomorrow we have our first test in Twi so I'd better go study. Nante Yie!