Shopping is Stressful...

Yesterday several of us braved the outdoor market in central Accra known as Makola... and it was pretty intense. Although it is only a 15 minute tro tro ride away, the walk from Tema station to where the market actually starts is crowded with hundreds of people selling stuff (a market surrounding a market...). When we finally found our way to what looked like the actual market we took a good 15 minute detour around the edge that forced us to walk in the fish section. Because it gets so hot here all the fish are salted and dried so they look very creepy (and I hate to be rude but they also look pretty nasty). There were also a lot of dried snails the size of my hand, and one of the girls I was with swears she saw bats, which are considered a delicacy here.

Our reason for going to the market was to buy fabric, and when we finally made it to the fabric section we were a bit overwhelmed. Since all the stalls are so close together and everyone is selling the same thing the vendors can be a bit... pushy. Several women grabbed us and forced us into their stall and if you say that you like a certain fabric or reach out to unfold it they will take it down and start cutting it for you. Bargaining is also something I find very difficult and thus I try to avoid it whenever I can. But it is part of the culture so I have to learn to be more stubborn. We have to bargain for a lot of stuff here, especially taxi rides because the drivers will usually try to charge us double. I always feel bad paying anything less than 2 cedi though, because I take the subway in New York shorter distances for 2 dollars.

But bargaining woes aside, I did manage to get 2 really nice fabrics (I bought 6 yards with another girl so that we could get a better price). There are two women here that sew, all you have to do is give them a picture or an idea of what you want and it will usually only cost 5 cedi. So far I have had two skirts made, and including fabric and labor they only cost about 12 cedi! So see dad I will save you lots of money!

Today was my first day at my community service location. I am going to be working as an aide at a school for students with autism. We had a tour and got to meet some of the students and I think it will be a lot of fun. The school is called New Horizons and they train the students in basket weaving and fabric printing so that they can sell their products and make a profit. We walked into the store where they have all the cloth and art projects and they were absolutely amazing! And all the students and teachers were extremely nice, they had several American teachers (one guy was from Seattle) and they said they were used to having NYU kids come and really participate in helping the students.

I always feel as if I write too much... so I will try and stop here. Tonight we are having a social mixer with students from Ashesi University and the University of Ghana, Legon. I'm excited for the free snacks ad music. Then I think people are heading to another beach for the weekend, which sounds like a lot of fun! Hopefully one of these weekends I will be able to go to Togo or Cote d'Ivoire!

Class, Class, Class...

Today was my second week of classes, and I still don't feel like I am in school. We went on a field trip for my History of the Atlantic Slave Trade class (which has been shortened to just "slaves") and though our teacher is hilarious and fond of saying weird movie phrases like "cool runnings!" I could barely keep my eyes open because it was so hot. All week it has been getting more and more humid, and because it's dry season the sand is blocking the sun so the air is just gloomy and sticky. Luckily, the professor invited us all to have a drink (and in traditional Ghanaian fashion she paid for everything). I can tell the class is going to get more depressing though because we saw shackles made for toddlers, which is pretty off putting.

A brighter part of my day included going to Pizza Inn (some sort of bizarre franchise associated with Creamy Inn and Chicken Inn) where they have Terrific Tuesdays. My friend and I were able to get two large pizzas for the price of one, and proceded to eat both of them, which while delicious merely meant I was uncomfortably full the rest of the day.

My second class of the day (I am very spoiled and usually only have one class a day) was Documenting the African City and surprisingly more people signed up so instead of 3 there are 6, which is good news because it means we don't each have to shoot our own documentary ( I can barely operate the camera and have already dropped the battery several times). We spent most of the class outside doing interviews... and getting to be the camera man and the gaffer, which was a lot more stressful than I anticipated. Watching the footage was pretty fun, though I can tell the class is going to get more and more difficult as the semester wears on. But the class just seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up, and who knows I might be a closeted Michael Moore.

I hope I can get some more pictures up soon, I am really lazy and rarely bring my camera anywhere but I did get some cute pictures when we were at the local market... hopefully they will somehow make it on here in a more organized way than the first ones.

Just wanted to add some pictures/make it look like I have written a bit more. This is the view from down the street, the sun always looks this hazy because during this time of year the wind blows sand all the way from the Sahara. The second one is from the Kwame Nkrouma Memorial and the last one is the view from the balcony outside my room (we actually have two!)

So I'm not one for writing blogs or doing anything of such nature, but I'm hoping it will beat writing repeat emails. And there is so much to talk about here that emails almost seem too long. Living in Ghana has been much more initially relaxing then I would have ever expected, I have felt less overwhelmed living here than I ever have in New York, though I can't figure out why. The weather probably has a lot to do with it, the sun is so hot but so calming. And being in the air conditioned houses feels fabulous. It's hard starting a blog two weeks into my stay here as there is so much to explain. We've just begun our four month stay here but already it feels like we've lived here forever.

Our first week was just orientation, every day all day in the sun. But as boring as it was... I feel most of the information was helpful, especially the notes about common customs, such as not offering a gift or pointing at something with your left hand. The dorm situation here is amazing, much better than in New York. Here we have huge rooms and a common area with a high ceiling. Even our bathrooms are huge, though mine has a tendency to leak and the shower curtain just hangs there, keeping absolutely no water from splashing all over the floor. The area where we live is really nice, a quiet suburb of sorts with schools and hotels and a wine shop. And a place called ChurCheese that is eerily reminiscent of Chuckie Cheesies... Everything bears some resemblance to Barbados, the people are just as friendly and prone to waving.

My first week of classes was much less like school than I was expecting... My schedule is as follows

Monday: Nothing!
Tuesday: History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 10:30 to 1:30 and Documenting the African City 3:30 to 6:30
Wednesday: African Dance 8-12:15
Thursday: African Popular Music 11-1:30
Friday: Nothing (again)

So I have more days without class than days with class, which works out fine for me. And so far I have no work or readings, so my week has not even felt like I have been back in school. All my classes are small and the teachers so far seem great...typical school stuff I guess.

I don't want to make this first posting too too long so I'll end by saying we spent the weekend at an amazing little beach town/faux resort called Big Milly's Backyard in Kokrobite. It was only 45 minutes outside of Accra and the tro tro ride cost just 55 peswas. For a weekend of food, sun bathing, and dancing I spent only 22 cedi (including the room!) which is an extrodinary feat coming from somone who spends that much on dinner and hookah for one night in the city.

Finally venturing outside Accra without the restrictions of the NYU program was rather refreshing and we plan on doing it much more often... but for now at least I have a week (well really a mere 3 days) of classes left until my next weekend. Peace.