First Lecture and Banana Pancakes

Classes technically started on Monday of last week. So far I have had one lecture. I know, I'm confused too.

The one lecture I did have was really interesting. Parasitology and Public Health. For whatever reason, this kid could not wrap his mind around the difference between endoparasites and exoparasites/ infections and infestations. The professor called on a random kid to clarify. He gave an answer that was completely wrong. The whole class was whispering through the whole lecture, hardly paying attention. Very different than a Berkeley MCB lecture. So anyway, I raise my hand to answer. I get called on. The Prof asks my name. Brittany. Everyone goes "ohhhhhh". I've been told it's a "name from the movies." I answer the question. The Prof tells me very good and asks if the class heard my answer. They all start laughing. 100 kids laughing at you in your first ever lecture in a new country... now that's an experience.

It didn't really bother me. But I was kind of confused. A really nice kid came up to me after lecture and said that he hoped I didn't feel bad and that there was no inside joke. People were just surprised by my accent. And I laughed. Because what exactly did they expect to come out of my mouth?

So that was lecture one. Neither of my lecturers showed up today. In the absence of a lecturer in the second class, a young man stood up and gave a sermon. Just like that. And in that zoology class, we were asked what is the purpose of all life. The kid who was called on gave an A+ answer. He said "To reach reproductive age and successfully reproduce so that your genes remain in the gene pool." Kidding. What he said was "To serve God." We were asked who agreed. 95 percent of the class raised their hands. Alrighty then.

In more exciting news. I found a food museum. What is a food museum you may ask? It's a torture chamber where they display American brands and American type food in a grocery store setting and charge so much that you can only dream of making a purchase. We're talking a can of refried beans for 6 bucks.

I found some off brand of waffle mix that was a reasonable price. So I got it, because I have been dying without banana pancakes. I figured waffle mix and pancake mix are the same thing.

For the record, they aren't.

I was going to take a picture, but it was too depressing. So instead, here are some photos of me being very happy in the rain forest. Happy to the point of bludgeoning my foot without noticing. Typical.

An Ode to Sandra

Dear Sandra,

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you. No matter how hot the Ghanian air becomes, no matter how many cow feet are tried to be passed off as lunch, no matter how tired the rest of the world is, I know you will always be there for me. 

You have gotten me through the most trying times during this transitionary period. I don’t know how I would have done this without discovering you. 

You, Sandra, are the queen of the ice cream bars. 

When I return to the states I will be petitioning every local grocery store to carry this delicious brand.

Other important discoveries:

My roommate is a fantastic cook. Score.

The first menu I’ve seen with this category! Happy day!

I’m also learning really important non-food related life skills. Like how to braid my hair while upside down. You can have all this too, all you have to do is move to Africa!

You Asked For It

I've had quite a few people ask me what an average day is like here. Really we've just been in orientation for 2 weeks so it has been nothing but guest lectures. We were babysat from 8 am to 9 pm every day. But that ended. So today I tried to figure out what exactly a normal day is. It's incredibly boring. Brace yourself.

In the morning I leave my room. Crazy! This is the market right outside my building.

 This is my building. Woooow.

This is what the inside of the market looks like. Sometimes it gets slippery and I trip.

A lovely man named Henry sells these lovely egg sandwiches.

They cost 60 American cents. 

Then I enter campus. It's kind of ridiculously beautiful. 

There was no class today so I went on a tro tro adventure to the city.

My roommate caught me trying to sneak away, and was all "You can not go by yourself!" So she came along to keep me safe.

We found the temple!! It was so wonderful.

So beautiful. I was so giddy.

Taste the happy!

Everything was just so clean. It blew our minds. 

While walking along this tree lined path some giant butterflies flew in front of us and birds led the way.

We were like, where in the world are we.

It took all our self control not to roll on the lawn.

I stood in the same place to take both these pictures. One was in the direction of the temple. The other was in the direction of Accra. Hurray for temples!

Attempting to read a map. Yeah, we don't stand out at all.

My roommate fell in the gutter. Not this one. But a very similar one.

They call them obruni traps.

An obruni is a white person.

The bug life here is AWESOME. 

These are the things that entertain me.

This was some other market. Not entirely positive where we were, but they had vegetables so we were way pumped.

Get this, a huge mango, a pineapple, 14 bananas, 4 huge carrots- $2.70

We love the market. 

This is what waiting for a tro tro back to campus looks like. 

Cute, right?

I'm writing this post while we make dinner. Stir fry and a fruit salad! 

By the end of every day we are both just too exhausted to do anything remotely resembling fun.

So we listen to music and tell stories and laugh.

And despite exhaustion, go to bed at incredibly late hours. 

I am sitting at the kitchen table for the floor. 

That's my roommate washing dishes. 

And me being creepy.

The end!

Rain

I am trying to write about my weekend in Kumasi, partying with the Ashanti, but bigger things just happened. As in RAIN. Sweet sweet rain. It was such a beautiful sight. I just sat on the wall of my balcony and stared at it. The air is breathable again!

My friend and I were discussing how long we felt cold each day. Having gotten use to the showers, they only feel cold for the first ten seconds tops. Then they just feel luke warm for the rest of the time. We also average like two sodas a day, because they are safe to drink and refrigerated. But it's just so hot here that they only stay cold for like two and half seconds. You literally take one sip and then it's no longer cold.

So that's 15 seconds a day.

I'm afraid I'll forget what cold is. Which is actually pretty fine by me.

It's so beautiful I could cry

Contact Info

Postal Address:
Brittany Nielsen
UC-EAP Ghana Study Centre
P.O. Box LG 356
University of Ghana Legon Campus
Intenational Programmes Building (first floor, right wing)
Legon, Ghana

Email:
bnielsen2@gmail.com
(Still the best option. Any Berkeley people want to bang on my advisors' doors and tell them to email me back?)

And for those of you who don't believe how hot and humid and tiring each day is, I give you this photo evidence.

I would like to call your attention to the shine of sunscreen/bug spray/sweat. It's all the rage here.

The unmanageable hair (It scares the kids! One Ghanian told me that there was a kid from her village who literally got sick every time he saw a white person it made him so afraid.)

The inability to keep my eyes open.

And this is what it looks like to sleep under a mosquito net when you don't have any of the proper things to hang it.

We feel like princesses. 

Fun

My favorite things of the last few days-
1)  Having sooooo much running water. An abundance of running water.
2) Ignoring knee injuries and playing soccer on the beach with locals for hours.
3) Being in the market while Ghana was playing (It's Africa Cup time). When they scored a goal the whole place screamed and everyone ran up and down the streets yelling and blowing kazoos.
4) No traffic because the soccer game was on.
5) Being creeped out by the security guard outside the internet cafe with my roommate, lying about our residence hall, walking in the wrong direction, and then sprinting past his door as to not be caught in our lie.

Photos At Last!!

This is flying into Accra. In all the orientation and information given no one mentioned the Harmattan. Basically all the sand blows down from the Sahara and turns this place into a dusty brown mess. You can't even see the sun!

Cedi's! Almost too pretty to spend... Almost.

We drink lots of water in a bag. It only kind of tastes like dirt and is mostly just really fun.

Just driving around. 

The first time my feet met the Atlantic Ocean! It's shockingly similar to the Pacific...

Except in the Pacific you can swim past the waves and swim around.

In the Atlantic the waves only get bigger the further you swim out.

A lesson learned the hard way,

Soooo many buildings left from colonization. 

Memorial to the first president. He declared independence here.

He's also buried under that huge stone thing.

Casual.

The hall where I stayed the first few days. "Ladies with vision and style" haha.

And it's hot. So very very hot.

The fish mentioned in the story from the other day.

NOTICE THE TEETH.

Just to show how dusty and humid it is.

Bojo Beach.

My first tro tro ride! Public transportation at it's finest. 

First trip to the market. Other EAP kids bargaining away.

Medina Market entry.

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE SNAILS!

A lady tried to just give me one that she had bought because I was so fascinated.

I kindly declined. 

Or maybe just laughed and ran away.