home

This is where I live: the International Student Hostel. It is located on the edge of campus faraway from the main campus gate, classrooms and the residential halls for Ghananians. It is guarded by razor wire and two military police guard the entrance at all times. Anyone who does not live there is arrested if they are in the building after midnight. In addition to arresting visitors, the military police also harass residents who come in too late. Their presence makes me wonder what happens if we break one of the many posted rules such as: no alcohol, no smoking, no perching (not sure what that is), and no gluing down carpets in the rooms. Anyone caught breaking any of these rules will be "severely punished."

The building itself is actually quite nice -200 rooms, four floors with an open courtyard in the middle. The courtyard would be a nice place to hangout, study, etc. Except we are not allowed to step on the grass. The rooms are spacious with balconies and ceiling fans and windows on the both the interior and exterior sides of the room so there is always a breeze. I have a single room, but most people have to share with another person. Four bathrooms are located on every floor, but for some reason the men's bathrooms seldom have water. Two kitchens are also located on each floor, but you have to provide your own hotplate. I bought one, but sometimes find it hard to find the motivation to cook when I can eat out for about 70 cents.

This one of the nicest halls on campus and it houses mostly Americans and Nigerians, but some of the wealthier Ghananians live here too. I thought that the Americans studying here would be cool and laid back, but for the most part they are loud, self-centered, uptight and generally unpleasant to be around. Most are a great deal younger than me (19-21). They make me want to move.

Overall, I guess I should be thankful I am able to live in such a place visited a friend in his dorm to find that he shared a room smaller than our double rooms with 4 other people. He also told me that this is his fourth year here and it will be the first year that he has not had to share a bed in the dorm.

2 dollar white cut (no pictures to follow)

Located in the middle of an open market, the sign at the barber said, "Adult Cut: 7000 cedis, Children's Cut: 5000 cedis, White Cut 20,000 cedis." Even though it was almost 3x the amount of the normal adult cut, I thought that 2 dollars was still a pretty good deal. My first haircut in Ghana was about to happen. The barber pointed at a poster of African men modeling different hairstyles and asked me which one I wanted. None really looked like they would work for me, but I chose one anyway. He assured me that that was a good choice and turned on his clippers. When they reached my head they pinched and shocked me a little. I winced, and the large crowd that gathered to watch "white man" get a haircut broke out in laughter. The barber continued running the clippers over my head, shocking and pinching the whole time, until my hair was pretty much gone. I looked in the mirror and then at the picture I chose. They looked nothing alike. Mostly because in the picture you could not see the "clipper tracks" which looked like ridges and troughs on my head. Just when I thought it was over and I could leave the man poured straight rubbing alcohol on my razor burned neck. That hurt.
It'll grow back and does not really worry me. Some of you may remember the haircut I gave myself after 2 bottles of wine and this cut is definitely better than that one. But I think in the future I might check out clippers for frayed wired and rust before sitting in the chair.

Just a quick note to let you all know that things are looking up here in Ghana! I am feeling a little bit less confused each day.
Also, I just got my camera, so I will be posting my own pics beginning later this week.

suck it up

Maybe I overestimated myself. I am having a hard time adjusting.
I won't let myself leave before May. I am here to change the ways I see things, right?

malaria

One person from my group has already gotten malaria. She takes the same med I do.

Last year, one person on the same program I am on died from malaria.

I like 100% DEET.

off to class I go

Finally!
I had my first class today. I was very happy to finally begin and that registration is over. After this experience I will never complain again about registering at UNM.

Because the classes are not listed in any sort of central document you basically have to walk from department to department to see what is being offered. In itself this is not such a horrible task. The problems stem from the fact that even 2 weeks after classes officially began class times and locations are not listed for a good number of them. This can create quite a problem when trying to put together a workable schedule. Everyday I have to check to see if times are listed.

On top of this, you also have to submit a passport size picture to each department you are taking classes in. After all this you still have to make sure that you show up to class on time, otherwise you will not get a seat. The class I had to day was in a classroom that would seat about 75 students, but over 150 were registered for it. I have heard that this is not uncommon.

I think that I have my schedule all worked out. So this semester I will be taking: Regional Development, Tourism and Development, Industrial Location Planning, Medical Geography and Twi (the language spoken here). I am pretty excited about them and should be an interesting semester.

monkey update

I still have not seen a monkey. Well, except for the really angry one in the market someone was trying to sell me for 10 US dollars.
The monkey scared me; I did not buy it.

this rock is jesus. HUH?

Ghana has been hijacked by Jesus!

"This Rock is Jesus" is the name of a(n):
a) orphanage in inner city Accra.
b) company that sells drinking water.
c) mountain.

"Why Can't I Serve My Jesus?" is the name for a(n):
a) religious revival service.
b) mini-mart.
c) tennis court.

If you picked "b" to both then you are a step ahead of me in understanding the Ghanaian business sense. It seems that almost EVERYTHING is named with some random expression of Christian faith with no connection between the name and the service. The name "Blood of Christ Fashion Centre" does not make me want to buy a new pair of pants or make me think of anything stylish at all. "Favor of God Fast Food" doesn't do much for me either. "Flavor of God" might be better, but still would leave me a little bewildered.

Champ's Bar...a place for homesick ex-pats

Stepping into Champ's Sports Bar made me think I was back in Utah...except for the full bar, real beer and Absinthe. OK, the only thing that made me think of Utah was the fact that the bar was full of White folks.
This place capitalizes on the homesick ex-patriots and gets away with charging American and British prices for hard to find items...The only bargain one will find there is a full shot menu at 1 dollar a piece. Other than that, even local beer is about 3 times what you would pay anywhere else in Accra.

I am sure that a few months down the line I will appreciate this place a little more, I mean, where else in Ghana am I going to be able to buy hot wings, nachos and watch American TV? Although adjusting has been a little difficult with power outages and lack of running water half of the week, I am not yet to the point of retreating behind the bar's fenced in yard and setting up camp.

classes may or may not begin next week

Today was the official beginning of the semester here at the University of Ghana, but no one went to class.

I have been told that profs usually do not show up until the second or third week of class. This does not mean that summer break is extend since we still have to go to class everyday just in case the prof shows.

tro-tros

You can get around just about anywhere in Legon and Accra for about 10 cents if you are willing to submit to a little chaos and confusion Ghana-style. Tro-tros are van type vehicles with some religious phrase painted on the side -usually something like "Love of the hand of God." They are privately owned and follow a set route, but not set schedule.

Catching a tro-tro is pretty easy. You start by waiting at a designated spot for the first one to arrive. Since they have different routes and no visual clues like signs to let you know where they are heading you have to listen and watch closely. A fare collector opens the door at the stop and begins to yell something like "cirkucirkucirku...." while twirling his hand. All this while people are rushing out of the van, others rushing in and four or five people are trying to get you to buy some water, socks, coconuts, etc...by holding it in your face. The fare collector is actually saying "circle, circle, circle...." This means that this tro-tro's route ends at the roundabout in Accra. I don't really know which one this is, though. Once this all begins you only have a few seconds to decipher where the tro-tro is heading, whether your stop is along the route and to push your way through the crowd in order to get a seat that does not look like it is going to fall out of the open sliding side door that is usally kept open during the trip. I have missed several because of slow reaction time, but for the most part you only have to wait about 45 seconds for the next one to come along and another chance to sharpen your new Ghanaian living skills.