The Volta Region

This weekend was an absolute blast. And I start with this disclaimer:

Hi Mom,

So I know that before I left, the travel clinic lady gave a huge lecture on not touching any mammals and not going in any fresh water. Rabies and parasites. I have not forgotten. This trip was an EAP organized trip. It was part of our program/orientation. Our EAP coordinator has a very strong policy against giving any of her participants rabies or parasites. They go to these places every year. In that, I promise--neigh, double promise--that the adventure I am about to describe did not give me rabies or parasites. If you are still worried, I can give you the coordinator’s email address. I love you!

This weekend we headed to the Volta region. The first thing I noticed about this region of Ghana was that every town had three speed bumps in a row. These sets of three were every 50 feet. It was a fun four hour drive. 

Our first stop was the monkey sanctuary. It was everything I wanted it to be! Monkeys everywhere! And the stereotypes are true. They love bananas. They go nuts for bananas. To the point that if you hold a banana they crawl all over you and eat it out of your hand and you just about die because it is simultaneously the most frightening and adorable thing you have ever done. It was such a giggle fest. Their little hands and feet were so soft and they would just chill on your arm and go to town on the banana. I’ve never seen anything quite as adorable as teeny tiny little hands with their teeny tiny little opposable thumbs. I feel like Kylee would have really liked this. 

Disclaimer two- As I walked off the bus my camera died. The few photos I have are a result of stealing my roommates battery. To those I promised monkey pictures, I sincerely apologize.

Our next stop was the biggest waterfall in West Africa. It started with a hike through the rain forest, which I am obviously a huge sucker for. It ended with a beautiful clearing and the most breath taking water fall. Everything was just the most vivid green too, being constantly fed by the mist. So different than the dust covered plants in Accra. We all jumped right in and got as close to the waterfall as we could. The strength of that thing though! We joked that it simultaneously soaked and dried you. The amount of water beating down was overpowering, and the wind coming off it was deafening. We splashed, we laughed, and I had one of those moments where I was infinitely glad to not be in Berkeley sitting through February weather and feeling the impending doom of midterms. Sorry to rub it in guys. 

Photo courtesy of roommate. 

Hair courtesy of bus ride. 

Monkey slobber on my hand. 

SO CUTE.

I want to move here.

The Facebook, but mostly Cape Coast

In honor of facebook making something of a habit of deleting all my captions, I have decided to give up. But I will try to be better about talking about trips and experiences beyond food. So hopefully my blog can work to explain my random photos. 

Two weekends ago.

We went to Cape Coast. While there we visited Kakum National Park and the slave castle. 

The National Park was breath taking. We started with a short climb to one of the high points in the forest. We then walked up some stairs to the start of the canopy walk. A canopy walk is just what it sounds like. We walked one by one across these tiny shaky bridges above the canopy of the rain forest. It is probably on the top 5 coolest things I have ever done. Being above the trees you could see the forest in every direction. And the noise! You could hear everything. It was like something straight off discovery channel. I don’t really have many words for it, but the rain forest has to be one of the most incredible features of this earth. 

The slave castle was equally fascinating but in an entirely different way. And I probably have more words to describe it. All through school, we learned about slavery in the U.S. We learned the history, but I don’t think we ever learned the story. Visiting this place was learning the story. The castle was originally built by the Portuguese in the 15th century. Over several hundred years it was added onto and used by different owners. It was a center for trade. And that included the trading of humans. As a California kid, it  was one thing to learn about this unimaginable practice all the way out in the South and another to be in the place they were taken from. To walk the roads they walked, to sit in the cells they were imprisoned in, to hear our guide recount the sufferings of his people. Never has such a brief experience provided me with so much perspective.

In touring the castle we walked through all the places they walked. We were led through the separate men’s and women’s cells, where hundreds of people were left for months at a time. We were led into the courtyard where the women were paraded so that the governor and his soldiers could choose the ones they wanted for themselves. We walked the balcony where the governor would make his selection. We were led through the dark tunnels and finally to the gate of no return--the place where slaves were loaded onto ships. 

We stood in the courtyard where most every room surrounding us was a holding cell of some sort. A giant church stood in the middle of that courtyard. Surrounded by the malnutrition, the disease, the dying, and the suffering of an entire nation. 

It was a hard experience to wrap ones mind around. You try to understand everyone’s perspective. What were the Europeans thinking? What were their justifications? What were the African’s thinking? And then you realize that you can learn about the climate and the culture and the ways of that time, but it’s something that you will probably never be able to wrap your mind entirely around. 

It was a very sobering experience and I’m very grateful to have had it. 

An Ode to Gary. And Indian food. And avocados everywhere.

In the last 24 hours three very exciting things have happened. First, I ate a meal. Like a HUGE meal. Like the best meal I've had in the last month. Second, I hunted down avocados. Third, my little brother got his mission call!

So first things first. FOOD. And me eating it. A girl from our group celebrated her birthday this last week, and in that we all won. Another girl had found an Indian restaurant in town. The restaurant picked up up from the dorms and had a private room waiting for us upon arrival. When you travel in groups of around 25 you get use to waiting for things. (Let's not talk about the time I waited over 2 hours for a plate of french fries.) And when in Ghana you get use to things not tasting like America. Except for this place. They were fast. The service was wonderful. We laughed. We almost cried. And we ate. And it didn't taste like America... it tasted better. Talking to the owner later and I found out it is because they charcoal cook everything, which isn't allowed in America. Ok. I'm going on way too much about this meal. Just know that my eggplant was perfection and that I've never had better naan and that I found out that they have a buffet on weekends... When I heard we were having Indian that night, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Yes! American food!" Which was funny. We are pretty spoiled with the kind of variety we get in the states.

Second piece of food news. They have avocados here! They just call them pears... hence the confusion. Oh Ghana. But now that I have made this discovery (along with a dish that consists of rice and beans), I am significantly more confident in my ability to sustain my own life over the next few months. 

Third piece of news. The only real news. Little Gary is going on a mission! Ok, so little Gary is a good 8 inches taller than me and only a year younger. Regardless. I am so proud of him. My younger brothers are twins and they were born 17 months after me. I have no memory from the time before they existed, which is really crazy to think about. They have always been there. They were my greatest pals all growing up and it's weird to think that I won't see them for two years. There are few people that can make me laugh harder than these two, and I am so glad that they are my family. Meaning I get to be with them forever. 

This is a collection of the few photos I randomly had on my computer. 

Remember how use to be the same height? And even though people thought we were triplets, I was always very well aware of my seniority. I like to think that my bossiness made you better people. 

You're welcome.

Big tall college boys! I'm so happy I got to visit.

Oops. How did this photo get here...

There cannot be anyone else on this earth who has spent more time playing games and hanging out with me than these two. And I'm glad it was these guys that I got to share childhood with. 

I translated their twin talk, they taught me how to catch lizards. 

SO TALL.

Lolz.

I am sorry for the lack of mention/face time Steven and Kylee. You guys are great too.

But get a load of how cute we are.

And Gary, I am forever glad that this will be one of our last pre-mission memories.

So much sibling fun.

I just realized that we totally matched that day too.

Thanks for climbing trees and building forts on your bunk bed. Thanks for watching Hook on rainy days and sleeping on the trampoline. Thanks for appreciating just how much fun a large log, the lake, and a hot day can be. Thanks for being the only person who talks louder and faster than me. Thanks for that one time when you pushed me and my elbow went through a window. Not that I'm holding grudges. I love you!

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