Jan. 12, 2010

Hello from Ghana!

It's already pretty hot here, even before 10 a.m. We got to the airport last night around 10 p.m., and the flight was not that bad time-wise. I slept for a lot of it. When we landed, we had to go through customs, and then waited around a little baggage drop for our bags. It was pretty crazy, and my bags never did show up since we almost missed the flight from London to Ghana. We were on a list of bags that were still in the London airport. They'll come today! We met some ISEP (Internation Student Exchange Programs) leaders at the airport and then rode to the university in a big white van. Though it was dark, we could still see some of the beautiful scenery around. I even saw a tree that was flat on top just like the ones in The Lion King! Our room is decent sized, and it has a balcony that looks out into the campus and beautiful scenery. We also have a middle courtyard that is really green with some native African plants. We checked into our rooms, and got dinner, and all called home. I was so exhausted and surprisingly homesick that I went straight to bed. My roommate Evie and her friend from school, Meredith, helped calm me down.

This morning I woke up pretty early and ate a dry scone that they gave us for breakfast. I tried having a shower, but there was no water! So, Evie and I got buckets and filled them with the hose for showers. It was a real African start. I also saw some lizards today which surprised me since I did not realize they would be so close to us. They were in the courtyard and running through the drain pipes. We had time before we had to meet, so I went for a walk around campus with some members of my group. Then we had lunch all together at Tasty Treats, a local restaurant that is really close by our hostel. We had the start of our orientation, and then hung out with some girls at night. It was Rachael's 21st birthday, so we had some wine in water bottles, and then played Apples to Apples with some other friends.

Jan. 18, 2010

This morning I was awoken at 4 a.m. to men shouting, "All residents must get out now!" It was really scary, and I didn't know what was going on, but I left my room to join all of the other residents outside. The reason why we were outside? There was an Earth tremor warning for all of Ghana, apparently all over the radio stations. Eventually we found out that it was a hoax for all of Ghana, (um, duh, there are no such things as warnings for earthquakes!) but lots of people all over the country were freaking out about it. In the morning we still had no electricity, so I had another shower from a bucket. For breakfast that morning I ate my first mango from the market right by our hostel, and it was really good.

Today was the start of registration, so I went with my friends Amanda, Rachael, Heather, Taylor and Evan to go register for classes. Classes actually start today, but it's really laid back, and most are still registering, so we don't go to class until next week. We had our last orientation session, and were told about some volunteer opportunities we could get involved in. A student that was involved with ISEP last semester and then decided to study for one more semester now works with children at a village nearby. She brought some children with her, and I got to hold one of them who was about two-years-old, and then a boy came over who was about four and gave me a big hug. It was such a beautiful moment! These children have parents, but they cannot afford school, so they go to one run by Renee and a man named Kwami from the village. I had my first pineapple today, and it was amazing! The water came back on this afternoon when I was gone, but it was not on when I came back. My roomie is still not here, but more stuff is appearing.

By Chrissy Fritisch