January 15th, 2007

I am currently sitting in the common room of House 4, the house I live in. Right now we're having our nightly house party/internet cafe/game room. It's really awesome. I feel like we are all the cool NYU kids that never met each other in New York. Several people are on their computers, on the internet, several are playing cards which I just got done playing... jin, Egyptian rat screw, BS, etc. Two people are playing mankala (sp?). There's some samba in the background. And all the while we chat with each other, many with beers. And today was the first day of classes. How wild is that?

Okay, so because of scheduling weirdness, I can't be 100% sure of my courses right now, but I'm pretty sure I'm taking the following:

Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa (NYU)
Documenting the African City (NYU/NAFTI)
Popular Music in Africa (NYU/University of Ghana)
Conflicts in African States (Ashesi)

That's right, folks. I'm taking classes at four different institutions in the same semester. Crazy, no? I had two classes today. They both seem like they're going to be pretty cool. Other than that, I mostly chilled out today. I got lunch at SUnshine Cafe with a few friends. I had a monstrous salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumers, chicken, guacamole, sour cream, nachos, green peppers, and onions. It was delicious. After class Tania, John, and I went to Sister Maude's (which we found out is actually Auntie Adua's) little place and had a snack. While we were there, we met Auntie Adua. She is a wonderful woman. She works at the La Yahoushua school, which just happens to be the school I want to volunteer at. We talked about teaching, my aspirations to be a teacher, our families, Twi, and other things. She must be a strong woman because her husband had just died about a month and she seemed in good spirits. She told us one day she would invite us into her home for fufu... so excited! Fufu is mashed yams or plantains in a soup. It's supposed to be the big food in Ghana, but I've yet to try it. I look forward to trying some very soon, though. Albert came by and we met with him again. He seemed to be doing well. We also met the craziest man alive. Right when he came by, all the locals started rolling their eyes because they knew what was coming. He just came up to all of us and started talking about Michigan and some guy named Jamie that he said I looked like. He also said that his father was Richard Nixon and that Nixon ruled Ghana for a few years. Then he gave us a nice skiing demonstration. On our way out he began to follow us, but he stayed behind to annoy the locals. Poor Albert.

Yesterday we went to La Badi Beach. It was my first trip to the beach in about 9 months when I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time off the coast of Oregon. It was the first time I'd gotten in the ocean since Summer 2005 I suppose. How sad is that? Very sad, indeed. I swam for hours in the ocean, enjoying the warm water, the bitchin' waves, and serenity of the ocean. I did not, however, enjoy the wicked undertoe. I went out really far with a few friends, Ariel and Rachel. Everything seemed cool but I started to notice that I was being pulled further and further away from shore and further and further away from all the other people in the water. I swam and swam so hard, but it felt like I was getting nowhere. I wasn't too worried, though. I could tell I would make it out. However, Ariel and Rachel went a good bit further than I did, so I was extremely worried when I made it back to shore and I didn't see them. I would have gone to help, but I'm no lifeguard. Why kill myself in a unsuccessful rescue mission? I saw Ariel after a minute or two, but we didn't see Rachel for a while. We were really scared, but then we saw her on shore walking back. It turned out the lifeguard had to come and save her from drowning. Pretty intense. I'll have to be extra careful from now on in that ocean. However, I am not going to hesistate to go back. I might be going back tomorrow, actually, which would be really awesome. I don't have class until 3:15, so I have the morning and early afternoon to kill. After that scary experience, I just layed out on the beach for a while and zoned out. It was lovely.
Saturday I had the most wonderful experience in Kaneshie. We had just taken a tour of Kaneshie Market, a large market in Accra with food, fabrics, and whatnot, and as we were waiting for some students to return, Tania, Ariel, and I played soccer with some children in this large open area of dirt. It was so much fun. They were probably around 8-13 years old. They were so happy that we were playing with them. They were pretty intense, too. It wasn't too easy to take the ball from them or get a shot past the goalie, although I did make quite a few nice shots that surprised me. I think we're going back this Saturday to play again. I hope so... I love children, I love soccer, I love the sun... can it get much better?

Saturday night we went to this awesome place on the beach called next door. They had a live reggae band. I danced with this guy named Patrick (when I say "with", I mean in front of and in sync with). We tried to either mirror or in some match each other's dance moves so that our dancing became more than just a personal thing. It was very cool. Then I chatted with a Rasta named Kwame (also my Ghanain name, boy born on Saturday) about philosophies on life. He made me rethink some of the philosophies I have about life. I told him my philosophy of "life more abundant," basically the idea that we should strive to make life more abundant, but then he pointed out to me that sometimes abundance doesn't mean much. People in Ghana are very happy even though they have very little, whereas lots of people in America have so much but can never be really satisfied with life. Strange how things like that work, but it's so true. The Ghanain people seem so happy just to have each other's company. When stuff isn't an option, people start to become an option. What an idea, right?

After we left Next Door, we had some taxi sketchiness. There was only one taxi around and so we agreed on a price and then got in. He tried to start his car, but it wouldn't start. So he said, "Hold on, just give me one second." So he gets out and gets something out of his trunk and then starts fiddling around under the hood. Then he comes back and the car doesn't start again. What made the situation even sketchier though was that he kept pushing the cab further and further into the dark parking lot. So, we got out and got another taxi. Right when we were about to get in the other taxi, the first taxi starts, but we still took the second one. That turned out to be a good idea because the first taxi broke down again on the way out. Poor guy. Oh, and I should write about drivers and their headlights. Basically, in Ghana, headlights are optional. I'm not sure why... maybe the drivers' batteries are going to die or something, but drivers don't have their lights on half the time. It's pretty scary. We were told that the #1 cause of death for foreigners in Ghana is auto accidents. I can definitely see why. At least the city isn't too poorly lit. I definitely wouldn't travel outside the city at night.

So I'll conclude with a few more thoughts about life here in Ghana. People like to become friends really fast here. It would be easy to assume that the reason is because I'm a foreigner and so I look like I have money, but richer and poorer Ghanains alike are quick to get to know you and get your phone number. I swear it's not creepy, though. If someone was creepy, I definitely would not give out a phone number and I would keep interaction to a minimum. Another thing... fruit is so cheap here! Yesterday I got three pineapples, four mangos, and four papayas for $4! How ridiculous is that? Um... and... to reiterate... my fellow students here are awesome! It feels like every day is summer camp. Alright, well until next time...