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!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, August 21, 2009
School Week Number 1
There is nothing better than waking up in the morning, walking across the street and asking your friend Mary to make you an egg sandwich with eggs that were recently laid, fresh tomatoes and fresh avocado. I wish I could live across from a farmers market for the rest of my life.
This past week was the first week of school and I can't remember this week ever being this chaotic in the states. Figuring out classes that don't clash and factoring in how far you have to walk between classes, proved to be far more difficult than at Bucknell. Not to mention that, in order to sign up for a class, you had to go to that department. For instance, I signed up for Dance, Drumming, Social Work and Psychology so I had to go to the Theater Arts Department, the Social Work Department, and the Psychology Department to register each class. This whole system would be so much easier if they simply put it online, which I think they are beginning to develop. The issue is, a lot of students don't have regular access to a computer, let alone the internet.
I'm loving my Twi class. My professor is hilarious and it's a small class so we each get to speak. What's bizarre is how Asian the language can sound from time to time. I suppose this makes sense due to it's tonal nature, but I would never have made the connection before actually hearing each word spoken slowly.
My psychology class has 900 students. 900. Classes at Bucknell are approximately 12-15 and lectures can be up to 40. 900. This is a huge change for me. Luckily, she split the class in two so that one half meets mondays, the other wednesdays. But still....450. Insanity. And this is considered the best Educational Institution in the country, yet it's so different from schools back home.
On Wednesday we went to the beach for Reggae Night. It was so much fun. The beach was beautiful, there were lots of people there, and the music was great. It happens every week on Wednesday night, so I'm sure we'll be back there at some point. This weekend seems like it will be really tame with only the International students welcome dinner on the schedule.
Some more culture points:
1. Baby/toddler shoes don't seem to exist here, despite the incredible number of babies. Unlike college campuses in the US, where it seems like you never see anyone outside the ages of 17 and 22, the University of Ghana is crawling with children. In the night market, children run around and try to get you to play with them. In other campus stores and cafeterias, there seems to always be the pitter-patter of little feet. In fact, just the other day, I was walking out of the cafeteria I frequent and a little girl runs up to me, taps me on the arm and then hands me a little purple flower. She stares at me for a few minutes and then runs away. It was absolutely adorable....but back to shoes. None of these children seem to be wearing any. It makes sense if you think about it. When children are that small, they grow out of shoes at a ridiculous rate. When money is tight, why waste it on something your child won't use in about a month. I still found it interesting though.
2. No one here smokes and that's hardly an exaggeration. For a woman to smoke here, it is seen as a sign of promiscuity and the men basically only smoke in bars. I find this interesting considering the amount of western culture they seem to imbibe. Somewhere along the lines, this one never caught on. Cool, huh?
3. Another part of western culture that seems incredibly far from reaching here is the whole "Green movement." Trash cans are fairly difficult to find, there's a fair amount of litter, and the most popular way of getting rid of trash seems to be setting fire to it right out in the open. I've seen this done before in Nicaragua, but it can't be that healthy, although I suppose it is cheap.
I'll be starting my internship next week. I will be working with a Ghanaian Psychologist at a Domestic Violence and Rape Clinic. Gender violence is one of the most common, least spoken of problems through out Africa. It starts to get noticed a bit during conflicts due to the use of rape as a weapon but as the conflict fades, so does our attention to these atrocities that still afflict women. It is a common problem in homes, refugee camps, cities and villages all over Africa. Interestingly, just before I left my internship at Columbia University's School of Public Health, one of the professors, Neil Boothby, told me about a recent survey they had done in Northern Uganda. For people who don't know me that well, Northern Uganda is kind of my obsession and where I hope to do a little bit of my masters or Doctoral work. Neil told me that after speaking to a number of women, they ran a survey regarding domestic violence and the result was incredibly alarming. Due to the deconstruction of their society and culture caused by over 20 years of civil war, most people in Northern Uganda live in IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camps. Within these camps, seems to be complete chaos, which results in a horrifying number of rapes and gender violence. This is something I will certainly keep in mind as I begin my internship next week. I look forward to seeing how a Ghanaian psychologists might differ in his/her techniques from those in the United States. I will update of what I find as soon as I can!
This past week was the first week of school and I can't remember this week ever being this chaotic in the states. Figuring out classes that don't clash and factoring in how far you have to walk between classes, proved to be far more difficult than at Bucknell. Not to mention that, in order to sign up for a class, you had to go to that department. For instance, I signed up for Dance, Drumming, Social Work and Psychology so I had to go to the Theater Arts Department, the Social Work Department, and the Psychology Department to register each class. This whole system would be so much easier if they simply put it online, which I think they are beginning to develop. The issue is, a lot of students don't have regular access to a computer, let alone the internet.
I'm loving my Twi class. My professor is hilarious and it's a small class so we each get to speak. What's bizarre is how Asian the language can sound from time to time. I suppose this makes sense due to it's tonal nature, but I would never have made the connection before actually hearing each word spoken slowly.
My psychology class has 900 students. 900. Classes at Bucknell are approximately 12-15 and lectures can be up to 40. 900. This is a huge change for me. Luckily, she split the class in two so that one half meets mondays, the other wednesdays. But still....450. Insanity. And this is considered the best Educational Institution in the country, yet it's so different from schools back home.
On Wednesday we went to the beach for Reggae Night. It was so much fun. The beach was beautiful, there were lots of people there, and the music was great. It happens every week on Wednesday night, so I'm sure we'll be back there at some point. This weekend seems like it will be really tame with only the International students welcome dinner on the schedule.
Some more culture points:
1. Baby/toddler shoes don't seem to exist here, despite the incredible number of babies. Unlike college campuses in the US, where it seems like you never see anyone outside the ages of 17 and 22, the University of Ghana is crawling with children. In the night market, children run around and try to get you to play with them. In other campus stores and cafeterias, there seems to always be the pitter-patter of little feet. In fact, just the other day, I was walking out of the cafeteria I frequent and a little girl runs up to me, taps me on the arm and then hands me a little purple flower. She stares at me for a few minutes and then runs away. It was absolutely adorable....but back to shoes. None of these children seem to be wearing any. It makes sense if you think about it. When children are that small, they grow out of shoes at a ridiculous rate. When money is tight, why waste it on something your child won't use in about a month. I still found it interesting though.
2. No one here smokes and that's hardly an exaggeration. For a woman to smoke here, it is seen as a sign of promiscuity and the men basically only smoke in bars. I find this interesting considering the amount of western culture they seem to imbibe. Somewhere along the lines, this one never caught on. Cool, huh?
3. Another part of western culture that seems incredibly far from reaching here is the whole "Green movement." Trash cans are fairly difficult to find, there's a fair amount of litter, and the most popular way of getting rid of trash seems to be setting fire to it right out in the open. I've seen this done before in Nicaragua, but it can't be that healthy, although I suppose it is cheap.
I'll be starting my internship next week. I will be working with a Ghanaian Psychologist at a Domestic Violence and Rape Clinic. Gender violence is one of the most common, least spoken of problems through out Africa. It starts to get noticed a bit during conflicts due to the use of rape as a weapon but as the conflict fades, so does our attention to these atrocities that still afflict women. It is a common problem in homes, refugee camps, cities and villages all over Africa. Interestingly, just before I left my internship at Columbia University's School of Public Health, one of the professors, Neil Boothby, told me about a recent survey they had done in Northern Uganda. For people who don't know me that well, Northern Uganda is kind of my obsession and where I hope to do a little bit of my masters or Doctoral work. Neil told me that after speaking to a number of women, they ran a survey regarding domestic violence and the result was incredibly alarming. Due to the deconstruction of their society and culture caused by over 20 years of civil war, most people in Northern Uganda live in IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camps. Within these camps, seems to be complete chaos, which results in a horrifying number of rapes and gender violence. This is something I will certainly keep in mind as I begin my internship next week. I look forward to seeing how a Ghanaian psychologists might differ in his/her techniques from those in the United States. I will update of what I find as soon as I can!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Things we take for granted in the US:
1. Not having to constantly carry toilet paper
2. Milk
3. The guarantee that there will almost always be running water
4. Up-to-date textbooks
5. Standardized and organized public transportation
6. How easy it is to access almost anything by internet (this is NOT the case when the internet is as slow as it is here).
On another note....in case I didn't already love this country enough, I think my dance class will push me over the edge. We had our first session tonight and it was incredible. It's a class of about 75 in a fairly large auditorium; one third of the students are Ghanaian and the other 2/3s are foreigners (I mean, it's Traditional Dance - are we surprised?). Apparently we are going to learn three different dances this semester. They did demos of each of them tonight and though I'm a little intimidated, I couldn't be more excited. We started to learn the first one and I'm going to have to ask someone how to spell it, but it's sooo much fun. The instructor told us that unlike almost every other dance technique, your posture is supposed to be completely bent, your knees and your back at about 45 degree angles. I loved the explanation for this: Each of the dances we're learning were created for a specific ritual or purpose (obviously). Since all the dances were created while most Ghanaians were farmers, the dancers would be slightly bent over from carrying loads on top of their heads all day. Actually, Ghanaians still carry almost everything this way. You see women and men all over campus with the goods that they are selling on a tray which is then balanced on their heads.
The class is doubly fun because we have students from the Performing Arts school playing the traditional drums while we dance and they get really into it. One of our U-Pals is actually the Master Drummer (apparently, this is a role) and he's really fun. He is a Theater major concentrating in stage directing. I asked him if we were allowed to audition for the plays and he says we are, so I might check if any of the plays need an oburoni.
Twi, one of the 45-50 languages of Ghana, is obscenely difficult to pronounce and the spelling looks practically nothing like it sounds but the grammar is fairly simple. Unlike my experiences learning Romance languages (*cough*french*cough*), I find that the locals are absolutely ecstatic when you say you are learning Twi and they are simply dying to help you. After our first Twi class, it seemed as though the entire Night market knew we had started and so each vendor spoke to us in Twi - only the basic greetings but I'm sure that conversation will increase over time. It's a lot of fun and the locals are incredibly helpful. Twi is one of the largest subsets of the Akan languages meaning that it, or a similar variation, is spoken by approximately 50% of the population. Our professor taught us that even some people in Cote D'Ivoire speak Twi because of how large the Akan Kingdom used to be.
Another striking cultural difference: In America, at least the America that my parent's brought me up in, it is fairly rude to snap at someone to get their attention. Here, it seems like the snapping never stops and they never mean any offense by it. They will snap in the direction of something if you are asking where to go. They will snap at you on the tro-tros so that you pay the fare. They will snap at the end of a handshake if you are their peer. It honestly seems like there is constant snapping. I'm starting to get used to it, but it was incredibly strange at first.
If you have been emailing me and been frustrated that I haven't gotten back to you, it is because it's nearly impossible to access my Bucknell Email on this internet. Therefore, if you would like to reach me, emailing me at makethemostofmusic@yahoo.com is the safest bet.
1. Not having to constantly carry toilet paper
2. Milk
3. The guarantee that there will almost always be running water
4. Up-to-date textbooks
5. Standardized and organized public transportation
6. How easy it is to access almost anything by internet (this is NOT the case when the internet is as slow as it is here).
On another note....in case I didn't already love this country enough, I think my dance class will push me over the edge. We had our first session tonight and it was incredible. It's a class of about 75 in a fairly large auditorium; one third of the students are Ghanaian and the other 2/3s are foreigners (I mean, it's Traditional Dance - are we surprised?). Apparently we are going to learn three different dances this semester. They did demos of each of them tonight and though I'm a little intimidated, I couldn't be more excited. We started to learn the first one and I'm going to have to ask someone how to spell it, but it's sooo much fun. The instructor told us that unlike almost every other dance technique, your posture is supposed to be completely bent, your knees and your back at about 45 degree angles. I loved the explanation for this: Each of the dances we're learning were created for a specific ritual or purpose (obviously). Since all the dances were created while most Ghanaians were farmers, the dancers would be slightly bent over from carrying loads on top of their heads all day. Actually, Ghanaians still carry almost everything this way. You see women and men all over campus with the goods that they are selling on a tray which is then balanced on their heads.
The class is doubly fun because we have students from the Performing Arts school playing the traditional drums while we dance and they get really into it. One of our U-Pals is actually the Master Drummer (apparently, this is a role) and he's really fun. He is a Theater major concentrating in stage directing. I asked him if we were allowed to audition for the plays and he says we are, so I might check if any of the plays need an oburoni.
Twi, one of the 45-50 languages of Ghana, is obscenely difficult to pronounce and the spelling looks practically nothing like it sounds but the grammar is fairly simple. Unlike my experiences learning Romance languages (*cough*french*cough*), I find that the locals are absolutely ecstatic when you say you are learning Twi and they are simply dying to help you. After our first Twi class, it seemed as though the entire Night market knew we had started and so each vendor spoke to us in Twi - only the basic greetings but I'm sure that conversation will increase over time. It's a lot of fun and the locals are incredibly helpful. Twi is one of the largest subsets of the Akan languages meaning that it, or a similar variation, is spoken by approximately 50% of the population. Our professor taught us that even some people in Cote D'Ivoire speak Twi because of how large the Akan Kingdom used to be.
Another striking cultural difference: In America, at least the America that my parent's brought me up in, it is fairly rude to snap at someone to get their attention. Here, it seems like the snapping never stops and they never mean any offense by it. They will snap in the direction of something if you are asking where to go. They will snap at you on the tro-tros so that you pay the fare. They will snap at the end of a handshake if you are their peer. It honestly seems like there is constant snapping. I'm starting to get used to it, but it was incredibly strange at first.
If you have been emailing me and been frustrated that I haven't gotten back to you, it is because it's nearly impossible to access my Bucknell Email on this internet. Therefore, if you would like to reach me, emailing me at makethemostofmusic@yahoo.com is the safest bet.
Monday, August 17, 2009
This picture is a view of what you can directly see in the back of our hostel. In case you aren't aware of what the Ghanaian flag looks like/means, I will give you a brief tutorial. The flag is horizontally striped: The red on top commemorates those who had died for or in working towards independence. Gold in the middle referring to the fact that Ghana was originally known as the Gold Coast due to their ample supply of gold. Green on the bottom representing the beautiful color of their landscape. This is perfectly demonstrated by this picture. There is also a black star in the middle referring to the Black Star Line which brought black people from all over the black Diaspora back to Africa. This star is EVERYWHERE (even their football team is named the Black Stars).
This is a picture of the Night Market taken from our balcony. The Night Market is where you can get homemade food, drinks, random supplies and other goods. Each little shop is owned by a family for the most part and you can eat right there and talk with them, which is fun.
The first picture is of the courtyard in our hostel, what you can't see if the pretty purple leay bushes surrounding each bit of grass, making it kind of reminiscent of Barney (the dinosaur...anyone?). The second picture is of my room from the other side of the hostel (I'm the far left with the door kind of open).
I'm lazy today...
...and don't have much to update at the moment so instead, I will post a few pictures! This is a view of Greater Accra from my Hostel.
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