In a gas station very close to Pent, a guy named Perry sells food out of the back of his truck. In America I would hesitate to eat food from the back of a truck, but here in Ghana he has the best dinner food around. Not only are the jolof, fried rice, chicken, salad, eggs, and multitude of sauces delicious, but he is also seriously an artist when it comes to preparing a lot of plates at once. In a country often lacking efficiency, Perry has a beautiful and practiced system of keeping upwards of fifteen orders straight. It would be impressive anywhere, but its so refreshing to see here. Perry, plan to have another regular.

Without a doubt, traditional African dancing has enchanted me more than any other part of Ghana.  Completely unlike dancing in America, African dancing is not at all considered feminine; my teacher and the majority of the TAs are manly men.  Instead, it is all about telling a story and depicting everyday life and Ghanian culture in a beautiful way. Therefore, the movements are usually very grounded and represent common movements, such as hunting or picking fruit.  The dances are also extremely communal and are only possible in a group.  People of all body types, skill levels, and ages are highly encouraged to dance and do.  I have seen way more people – from children to old women – dance with their full hearts and with complete confidence.  Dancing, singing, and drumming are all done with such happiness.

It would be great if America embraced the idea that art and music are truly an important part of society- encouraged and cultivated among everyone, not just people who want to be dancers or artists.

Sad story - I have the wrong cord to upload photos to my computer.  So everyone will have to wait on some pictures of my room and campus.

Funny habits I have picked up already:

1.  Picking out my clothing and ironing it the night before.  What can I say? Hand washing makes clothing really wrinkly and Ghanians usually look good.

2.  Mopping and sweeping our floor about ever other day. It gets so dusty and dirty so fast!

3.  Thinking of ways to deflect advances from Ghanaian men.  Anyone have any good ideas?  Favorites so far: Sure you can marry me, after I get through the other 5 men who asked me.  No, I am too young for you.  Another time, another time.  You don’t want to date an American, we make men cook and clean and take care of children.

4.  Favoring my right hand.  Its super impolite to wave, hand something to someone, or eat with your left and because that is the “dirty hand.” Good thing I am not left handed.

And a story that I feel like is a pretty good summary of my life in Ghana.

I needed to go to my development studies class, which is off campus.  A group of fellow Pent people and I went to the nearest tro-tro station to hitch a ride to Apagalo junction so we didn’t have to walk as far.  We are standing there waiting and waiting, red dust is flying and tro-tros are speeding past because they are already full of people.  Finally, one comes up and everyone troops on to it, except me because there’s not enough room.  I am fine with that situation because it will be much easier to find a ride as a single rider and people are generally even friendly to single, female obrunis.

Soon another tro-tro drives up and I ask, “Apagalo?”  The money collector says yes yes and gives me the last seat.  Now, Apagalo is literally the next possible tro-tro stop, maybe about one or two mile away (so in Ghanian terms really close).  We arrive at to the intersection before the junction and I notice we are in the left turning lane.  I exclaimed, “This is where I need to get out!  Are we not going to Apagalo?”  The money collector looks at me blankly and I repeat, “this is where i need to get out!”  At this point, everyone (all Ghanian) in the tro-tro is looking at me.  A middle aged, friendly woman beside me says something in Twi, obviously about me, and literally everyone laughs. Not in a malicious way, but more like when adults laugh at stupid things that children do.  She then says, “let her out! let her out!”  So the money collector opens the doors and I jump out of the tro-tro and continue on my way to class.

Lesson:  learn some twi

This will probably be my longest post- I apologize in advance.  I just want to update everyone on the basic things that I have noticed in my eleven and counting days in Ghana.

First and foremost, Ghana is hot and humid and I am literally sweaty and dirty all of the time.  The heat is actually the first thing I noticed when I got off of the plane.  They are also experiencing harmattan right now, which basically means that a bunch of red dust from the Sahara is blown over to Ghana, making everything, literally everything, dusty and the sky hazy. The landscape and campus are beautiful in a lot of ways though.  The sun is usually shining and there are lots of trees on campus.  The dirt here is very red and all of the building on campus are white washed with tile roofs, the contrast is lovely.  Pictures will be coming soon!

I am living on the University of Ghana in a hostel nicknamed the Pentagon.  There are 12 CIEE students living here and everyone else is a wealthy (wealthy meaning most have cars, tvs, microwaves, and can afford rooms here) Ghanian or African.  I share a room with a fellow CIEE student named Elizabeth, she is really nice so that’s good :).  Our room is actually huge and we have our own bathroom, sink, and fridge, which is extremely convenient.  There is a wonderful, air-conditioned bar called Tyme Out on the first floor, as well as a restaurant called the Canteen and a store.  All of which are unfortunately expensive as compared with other places on campus, but nice to have around.

Food here is good, but a lot of the same stuff.  Almost everything is spicy and rice always comes with spicy pepper sauce. Mainly, my diet consists of rice, fried plantains, chicken, groundnut paste (aka peanut butter), redred (delicious black eyed peas in this palm oil sauce), egg sandwiches, and lots of delicious tropical fruit like mangos, pineapples, papaya, and bananas. American food, especially pizza and fried chicken, is readily available as well, but a lot more expensive. There are also more traditional foods, like fu-fu and banku, that I am not sure how I feel about yet.  They are both basically smooshy piles of dough-like stuff that you pull off a piece, scope up some soup with, and swallow whole.  I think it will just take some getting use to; it is completely unlike anything we eat in America.

I already appreciate things I have in America – like drinkable and consistent tap water, air conditioning, maps, toilet paper and soap in bathrooms – and really want to give props to all the Ghanians who go without these all of the time.  In fact, the majority of Ghanians look way better than most Americans, usually wearing skirts, dresses, or slacks and dress shirts all the time.  So not only are their clothes beautiful and well fitting (most are tailored) but they are used to the weather and don’t look like they are melting every time they go outside.  It’s impressive.

I have actually felt quite safe the entire time I have been here.  The scariest experiences I have had are finding a huge beetle/ cockroach thing in our room and crossing the road.  Because the buildings here are so open, bugs can definitely get in and they grow to be large. Halfway laughing and halfway freaking out, I ran out and got Mickey (a U-pal, kind of like an RA, he is awesome) to kill it for me.  He just laughed and threw is off our balcony. Roads, in general, are pretty terrifying.  There is a ton of traffic, especially taxes and tro-tros (vans that have routes and people pay to ride) that does not particularly obey traffic laws.  Pedestrians definitely do not have the right of way, so crossing the road is always interesting to say the least.

My first few days in Ghana have been amazing and so look forward to the rest of the semester.