The Happenings!

Hello Again!

Hmmm… so much has happened where should I begin from?

Well about two weeks ago our professor asked us where have we been and what we have seen of Accra. We as a group did not have much to say, and made us realize that we need to go out more! So that weekend we headed out! We went to Jerries on Friday which is like a local hot spot for obruni’s (Foreigners) we met our friend Alex from the Aya Centre there. We asked him to take us out and surprise us with where we were going our only condition is that it was affordable. So we ended up going to Twist which was a club inside of a hotel. We got there a little early so it was kind of slow at first but as the night went on it got better. The played High Life, Hip Life, and American music which reminded me of home. My Roommates and I danced the night away! At the end of the night our friend told us that we danced like certain celebrities I was Shakira. This past weekend we enjoyed our Saturday with our security guard Tony. We visited his home town and met his family and friends. It was so much Fun!! We made Fufu which is Traditional dish made with cassava and plantains beaten together! It was so much fun!! We had light soup with the Fufu. Light soup is a spicy soup with meat and fish, I only had the meat but with soupiness and the fufu. Amanda is a vegetarian so had Red Red which is beans and plantains which is my favorite. We then went to tony’s friends house and they fed us more! I couldn’t finish the first meal and I did not know how I was going to fit this one in my tummy. We had another traditional meal which was Rice Balls and Groundnut Soup which is rice in little balls and peanut butter soup with meat. It tasted unique but delicious. I truly had a great time this weekend! We also learned the Obruni Song from these little kids and we heard it the whole time while we were walking. It was so cute! It goes Obruni Coco Maakye Ya Kitidy Kong Go. It mean Good Morning Light Skinned Foreigner and then a whole bunch of gibberish. It was adorable!!

Beacon House the orphanage I intern for has also been amazing so far!! I am learning so much and I cant wait what else is in store for me there! My Mom and Sister are coming to visit me in 2 weeks! So I am super excited for that and cant wait to show them what I am experiencing! Well until Next Time!! :)

Cape Coast!

So this weekend we went to Cape Coast!! Cape Coast is in the Central Region on Ghana. We went to visit the El Mina Castle, Canopy Walk, and The Last Bath. El Mina Castle was one of the main hubs of the Atlantic Slave Trade. We went on an extensive tour of the castle and learned a lot of history. The two most powerful parts of the tour I must say was the female dungeon and the room of no return. The female dungeon held up to 400 women at a time and we stood in their very spot where they lived for months before they were shipped off to their destinations. On one small room where we stood 150 women lived their and never went out for fresh air or sunlight. The has no bathrooms so the urinated, defecate

, and passed their menstrual cycles all in the same room where they slept and lived for months. When we walked into the room we were able to smell the horrible stench of all the decomposition after 500years!! It was truly an eye opening experience and really touched my heart because it just could not wrap around my head how people can dehumanize other people . It just made me realize even more how

cruel and greedy people can be. It really disappointed me in the human race. The room of no return was the last room that the slaves past through before they were shipped off to their destinations. It really broke my heart to see where the slave trade happened. We always learn about it in our history classes

and read it from our textbooks but to actually see where everything took place was a different story!! I appreciate everything so much more no lie because it honestly broke my heart to see the reality of the Atlantic slave trade. The conservative estimation of how many slaves past through was 10-15million people and about half of them past away even before they were shipped off.

We then went to the canopy walk! It was so much fun and I was completely scared out of my whit’s!! The canopy walk is wooden planks held up by rope hundreds of feet in the air in the African Rain Forest!! I was so afraid! But I got through my fear and walk seven walkways! It was so much fun! But the walk up there was not fun I was totally out of breath! But it was all worth it!

! I also went to the Last Bath which where the slaves took there last bath before they were sold and shipped off. This was a crazy experience for me too because we walked down the same exact path that the slaves took hundreds of years before. The history blew my mind!!

We got to hold a chain and weight and felt how heavy it was!! The had these wrapped all around there body. This weekend was so powerful and I hope I get to experience more history right in front of me! So I pose a question to you just because I am curious as to what you all think. Do you believe that Slavery still exists? Think out the box! And let me know what you think!! Talk to you all soon!! :)

On Our Own!

We are officially on our own!! It’s a scary thought that we are able to wonder the country on our own! I usually go on chaperoned trips but now its freedom for all! I started my internship and classes already! Classes are amazing here I know I am going to learn a lot this semester, all A’s Hopefully! My Internship is located at the Beacon House, which is an Orphanage for children that are HIV Positive and/ or have Hepatitis. This is going to be a very powerful experience. My first day was so much fun! The children are amazing and are so loving and excited to learn! I was warned that this little girl that I was supposed to play with does not like strangers and it would take me a couple weeks for her to warm up to me. Well I am pretty accomplished because I got her to smile and talk to me! So that made me super happy! There are a lot of things that need to get done around that place and a lot has to be fixed. Grandma Judy was telling me how there is a big water problem at the orphanage. They do not have enough water and more water is needed to maintain a clean and healthy environment for the children. They have a pretty good water filtration system so all the water they so consume is safe so that is awesome! I am excited to see what I can do and how I can make impact on the place. I may need your help! Yes, you reading this lol! Ill let you know soon enough when I figure out what I can do as far as fundraising and awareness. Oh and I get to walk to work everyday!! Its super closes just a 30 min walk. However, with walking come consequences! On my first day I was followed by this man, so I went to a coffee shop that I always go to that was right on the way and the man stood out the coffee shop the whole time watching me eat! I was there for an hour! I finally thought he left so i began to leave and then I was walking fast just in case he was there. Low and behold he was there and he started following me and asking me for my number and then I fled away in a taxi that appeared by miracle! I was really creeped out! I do not look forward to walking but it is the cheapest way of transport. I was warned that this would happen so I just have to get used to it and learn how to deal with it. There are some benefits sometimes because I did get a free bracelet out of it! Lol Oh Ghana is such a beautiful place that is completely different from my usual life. It has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone and has taught me many lessons thus far! I can only wait to see what the future beholds for me! Life is queer with it’s twists and turns as many one of us sometimes learns! Talk to you all soon! Love and miss you all! And give me some feed back I love hearing back from you all!!

The Beginnings Of My Adventure!

So I have been here for a couple days and I must say life is really different from America. I am here with 4 other students from Oregon and they are really cool. The first thing they taught me was to say Oregon correctly lol. I must say I was pretty homesick my first day and couldn’t believe this was actually happening I was so disoriented and miss home so much! I was thinking what the hell am I doing here but then it got better! My luggage was lost so I had to live out of my carry-on for the first day and when I went to the air port to pick it up the lady was extremely rude so me and the other students came to the conclusion that all airport people are miserable lol the people are so friendly and just kind all around. I know how it is to be famous I must say because everyone just stares at us all the time they shout out “obruni” which means foreigner and we just smile and wave back. We are learning the language Twi that is rather complicated because it is a tonal language and it is hard to understand the differences between some words and phrases. However, Twi is fun to learn and the professor laughs at me all the time because I make funny faces while trying to say the words. The classes are wonderful and I really enjoying them so far. We start our internships and 2 classes next week; this week has just been orientation stuff. Learning how to ride the trotros (which are Vans that fit about 15 people at a time, very hot!) learning how to barter, and visiting the Kwamse Nkurmah Mausoleum, which taught us a lot about African history. Kwamse was the first Ghanaian president that was under appreciated during his time in office and was ultimately killed by the CIA. However, now he is revered as a hero. It was cool looking through the mausoleum’s museum because it they had artifacts not from to long ago they were about 30 yrs old. He was in Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. they had a plaque there for him, which I was very impressed with. He is definitely someone who I now look up to because he was definitely and inspiration. I have a joke that I am going to start the utopian republic and the flag is going to have peace signs and butterflies lol. There is so much to say and so little time! Oh I readily have Internet here so I may not be on the computer often but that will definitely help out my facebook addiction! Lmao well let me know if you have any questions! Ill try to answer them but I may not get back to you for awhile oh and I’m still taking pictures and will be making a video soon I just got to gather more footage. Its kind of weird carrying around a camera over here because you feel like such a tourist which I am but I will be living here for the next four months so I’m trying to fit in as much as possible lol oh and this is definitely all over the place! Sorry! They will be more structured I promise!! Well Yebexyia (See you soon) !!

Ahhh!!

So im leaving for Ghana in 19 days and things are surreal right now. I know that i say that im going to Africa but it has not completely hit me yet. I feel as though i am not prepared to go maybe its me just being afraid of the unknown and me thinking of what im am going to miss when i am gone. I know this will be an experience of a life time and will never have a chance to do this again but is it worth me leaving behind my friends and family? ill let you know when get there if my sentiments have changed. I just bought a video camera so i will try to video tape most of my journey! it maybe a little weird walking around with a camera but i will do my best for you guys! Well till next time!