Just Another Home to Add to the List

Whenever I go to the internet there is a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I ought to post to this blog. But every time I go to make a new blog post, I can't think of anything to say. Finally I figured it out.

I don't have anything to say because nothing surprises me anymore. Yes, things continue to happen in Ghana that are crazy and culturally different and sometimes outright absurd, but the absurdity has become so commonplace that I don't bat an eye. Instead I laugh, say "TIA" to one of my friends and life goes on.

Every single day continues to be an adventure, but the adventures have changed. Rather than feeling thrown into a culture that I can barely grasp, I'm throwing myself into different situations willingly and meeting people daily. Sometimes I give them my number, sometimes they give me theirs; I usually have little choice in that respect.

Recently every time one of my friends has mentioned our end date, I cringe and tell them we can't talk about it. When I was on the phone with my dad the other day he tried to bring it up and I quickly butt in that if there was one thing we couldn't talk about, it was me coming home. I can't think about going home yet, not when I finally feel like I've started to find a home here.

Three months is just not enough. I thought I understood the culture over a month ago, but I was just starting to get it. Pieces of the cultural puzzle are just coming together now, and every time one falls into place I feel like I have a revelation, and I get slightly more attached to this country.

But there is so much more to learn. If everything is starting to come together after three months, think what I would learn in six months! Many of my friends can't stop talking about getting home, seeing their family, eating American food, sleeping in their own beds, listening to American music, shopping in malls - just today we discussed Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom Rack - and I just want to run in the opposite direction.

My number one rule is that I can't let it get me down, and I'm not. I'm enjoying every minute of my days left in Ghana, ignoring the future and not letting anyone tell me the countdown.

A quick day-in-the-life:

I'm currently in my Independent Study Period of my program, which means living on our own and doing our own specialized projects. My project is the perception of leadership in the rural Ashanti villages and how chieftancy fits into a modern democratic system. Half of my project is in Kumasi and the other half was in the villages - I went there a week ago to live and do interviews with the community members.

Now that I'm back in Kumasi, I wake up every morning in my hostel; a room with a fan, private bathroom, and my favorite girl Tess, that costs me 2.50 Ghana cedis a night (approximately $1.62). I roll out of my mosquito net and go next door, where my friends and I have a stove and gas canister that we bought in order to make breakfast and dinner. We boil hot water and enjoy a cup of coffee and milo before eating oats and starting our day.

From the hostel I usually go to campus at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). It is there that I meet with professors and conduct interviews with government officials; where I type, eat lunch and meet my friends, Ghanaian and American.

By around 5:30 I begin journeying back home - usually I walk a lovely back road route from campus to the hostel - sometimes I make it all the way there, sometimes I get picked up by people driving by who offer me a ride for free. I was even offered a ride on the back of a bicycle, which I graciously declined. I don't even want to imagine how that may have turned out.

I usually make most of my friends on that walk. Yesterday I met Wiredu and Franklin, the day before Clinton, who picked me up in his taxi for free and we traded drivers licenses. It is these experiences that are priceless that I never want to stop having. Networking in Ghana is simple - talking to strangers is commonplace and offering a helping hand, even when you don't need one, is expected.

The adventure of dinner begins between 6 and 7 and we all sit around in a circle, blasting music through speakers that I brought and sharing the adventures of our day, whether it was what you did or who you met. Everyone always has something to contribute, because there is no boring day in Ghana.

You couldn't have one if you tried.

Dear Ghana, I'm in love.

Here's the deal: I'm in love with this country.

I'm having the time of my life and every time I think about having to leave, I end up having a mini panic attack.

This is just a quick update to say I'm alive and well, happy as ever, and living life to its fullest in a country I consider another home.

I will give a real update soon!

I Love Trotros

I have come to terms with it: I love trotros.

When I first had to deal with them they were so intimidating; they were fast, crowded and seemed to be run by a madhouse. Yesterday I sat down on an Accra trotro for the first time in months and felt so content and happy. I didn't really understand it. Later on that day I was on a trotro again and I turned to my friend Tess and said "I love trotros!" As was her prerogative, she burst out laughing at me. Typical.

But I do. I really love them - I love sitting amongst all Ghanaians on the local public transport, being jostled around and passing money over shoulders and driving at speeds much too fast for the quality of the road.

Some of my bet experiences have been on trotros. It was trotros that taught me so much about the culture; it was trotros that got me lost, trotros that got me home, trotros that got me friends.

In Kumasi I sat down in a trotro, turned to the mate and said "Eye sen?" (how much?) and he began laughing, then said amidst giggles "Twenty pesewa." I handed him the money, smiled and shook my head. TIA man. Then a man in the back of the trotro shouted to me, "Hey, I will talk to the mate for you when you get off." I looked at him confused and he repeated himself. Then he asked the mate in Twi what had happened, then he shouted forward to me, "Wo te Twi?!" I responded "Me te Twi kakra kakra" (I speak Twi a little bit). By this point the entire trotro is laughing and smiling in excitement. I bonded with every member of that trotro in sixty seconds, and it was all because of a trotro.

On my last day in Accra in February I remember standing outside the University of Ghana campus waiting for a trotro. Getting a trotro to Newtown was always a royal pain, especially if it was after five in the evening. I have countless stories about that trip, but here's just one. It had just poured outside and was still lightly raining. Note to the next traveler: never try to get a trotro after it rains. They're packed and rarely have room. That was my experience - I stood outside in the cold (yes, cold in Ghana) for two hours. I considered taking a taxi - 10 cedi - absolutely not, compared to the normally 70 pesewa ride.

So I waited. Every time a Newtown trotro came along it was full to bursting, and the one time one had a space a woman ran in front of me and jumped on. I was desperate and close to giving up.

Then a trotro pulls up, the mate hanging out the window shouting "NewtownNewtownNewtown!" I start chasing it. The mate hangs out the window looking at me and asks "Newtown?" "yes!" "Newtown?" "YES!" He was clearly surprised and disbelieving. The trotro rolled to a stop and people began running. Strategically the mate turns his back to the door on the inside then slowly rolls the door open on the van, leaving only enough space between him and the door frame for me to sneak under his arm and sit down in the one remaining space. People were shouting as we began to drive away, and one man even jumped in the trotro and sat on the mate's lap.

Everyone in the trotro was laughing. I almost proposed to the mate.

I've had countless experiences like this where I've met and bonded with Ghanaians over a bus trip. Trotros have given me so much, despite the trouble and even hell they have put me through. But as I write about them I have a knowing smile on my face.

As crazy as many of my friends may think I am over here, I gotta admit it: I love trotros.

There's no running water in our hostel. They neglected to tell us the water hasn't worked for two weeks when we arrived. TIA.

We arrived back in Accra yesterday morning. Our Educational Excursion is officially over and we are now in Accra until Tuesday the 5th in order to put together the final details of our Independent Study Period. After Tuesday we separate and begin our research! I'm excited and intimidated.

I don't think that anyone was looking forward to being in Accra. When we first arrived it was a crazy city with insane traffic, dirty sewers and busy people. But coming back to Accra has been a great experience for me -  I realize now that it wasn't Accra I had a problem with, it was just adjusting to the country. Coming back to a place is actually very comforting. I know the system, I know how to get around and I know where I'm going. It's a nice change, and makes me that much more content in Ghana.

The challenge of living on our own this next month will be very interesting. This program has offered so many amazing experiences, it just seems right that they should let us get along on our own now.

Although an incredibly safe country in Africa, Ghana recently had an ethnic conflict in the North. My fellow students that were planning to study up there have had to change their plans, and although it hasn't affected us in the south, it's still a striking thing to remember: in Africa, anything can happen. We have barely been affected by the skirmishes in Egypt, Libya, Cote D'Ivoire, and the various other countries that are currently struggling for stability, but it's crazy to be so close to them when I'm used to being an ocean away.

There's no reason to think that the northern issues will affect me at all, so please no fretting (mom and dad).

Life in this Ghana is very good and I'm avoiding thinking about the short month and a half I have left in the country. I don't know exactly what I'm in love with, but I'm in love with everything that has happened over the past two months - it's a combination of the country, the program, my fellow students, leaders, staff and Ghanaians.

I'll post another constructive blog post tomorrow. Yay for internet in the city.