Day 4

"You'll look up & down streets. Look over them with care.

         About some you will say, 'I don't choose to go there.'

                      With your head full of brains & your shoes full of feet,

    You're too smart to go down any not-so-good street."

Today was a day filled with tons of information. We began walks around campus & had an information lecture on culture, health, & safety. The culture part was very fascinating while the health part was slightly terrifying so I won't talk about any of those details on here :)

On our walk through campus I saw some very interesting things. First of all, the campus is huge! It is very spread out & there is practically a whole town within campus. They said it could take 30 minutes just to walk to our classes... In other words, I will never complain about MSU's parking again!

This is a market place that is right on campus. It's called the Night Market because most people head there at night. It's filled with fruit & friendly people, just like everyone else here. They all say "akoaba" when we walk by which directly translates to "has gone, has come," but simply means "welcome". They also call us "Obrani" which means white person. The language that they speak here besides English is Twi & very hard to understand. We have the option to take a course in it once classes start so I most likely will.

All the professors at this school live on campus. This is a picture of one the professors houses. If we can't meet them during office hours, we can just go to their house & ask for help! I think that would be illegal, or at least frowned upon, in the states. Although, it could be pretty convenient but not an option I'm likely to use.

 This is termite mound right on campus. And there's tons of them!

Chickens accompany our walks to class.

 A few statues on campus.

 A few of us chased this lizard around for a little bit today in the rain. Our guides weren't sure what kind of lizard it was though, so that ended the chase pretty quick!

 These little cuties were also around on campus today!

 I saw my first monkey since I arrived today. And it was on campus. With a leash.

 I'm so used to curbs lining the streets at home but they have these giant ditch/gutter type things instead. They are wider than tires so you would think that the drivers would be cautious but they drive around like crazy! I can't watch out the windows when we are on the bus.

Another statue on campus outside of the music hall.

After the campus tour we went to learn about the culture from Professor Kofi Agyekum. He was hilarious, another awesome person! He told some very interesting things about Ghana. For example, funerals here are more fun than weddings, is his opinion. People drink & celebrate that life that was lost because they believe that there is life after death. Some can take longer than a year after the death to happen in the case that family would be traveling from outside of Ghana to attend. I think my favorite thing that he taught us was that when someone asks "how are you?", they respond by saying "by the grace of God." And when asked to do something in the future, they respond saying "if God wishes." I just love that! I think it is so precious. He said around 90% of Ghanaians are Christians, so this is the most common response.

This is a picture of the rain storm moving in today. They told us this was the dry season, which to me means forest fires & a sky full of smoke for about a month. I'm very confused about what this means to them because it rained like crazy & is humid as ever.

 After the tour we went to lunch & then back to the hostel. Then a group of us decided to go to a pub on campus since we had some free time before dinner.

The pub was called "Tacobel" but trust me, they were not serving any greasy Mexican food. Most kids got these giant beers called "Star", but I opted out because a) my dad warned me not to drink here & b) I really dislike beer. We met three Ghanaian men there who sat with us & talked  for a long time. The only one whose name I remember was Joe Boy. He was pretty funny & played us some local music while demonstrating how to dance to it. They invited us to a beauty pageant tomorrow, which I thought was kinda funny but we are going into the city to a market place for most of the day so I don't think we'll make it :)

I went to the front desk today to help get my mosquito net set up & met the guy working there named Raybon. He asked me if we could be friends & I told him yes we can. According to Joe Boy, this is a fairly common question here, but I still laughed when he asked me.

We just had dinner & it's about 8:30 pm here which means time to wash off the dirt we collected today & head to bed for the night. Love to you all!

Kasey

Days 2 & 3

"You have brains in your head.

              You have feet in your shoes.

       You can steer yourself 

In any direction you choose.

                        You're on your own. And you know what you know.

     And YOU are the who'll decide where to go."                     

I’m here! I successfully made it into Africa and that alone was a journey. I got to the airport to find out that my flight to Chicago had been cancelled. After about an hour of waiting & running back & forth between United & Delta, I got a flight out. Luckily I had my parents, sister, and my friends Tori, Danielle, & Jordan there to keep me company & send me off. I ended up heading to Minneapolis, then London, then Ghana. Fortunately a bunch of study abroad kids were on my flight from London so I got to meet them then which was exciting for all of us!

When I arrived at the London airport, they didn’t have me booked on the flight to Ghana. The agent helping me happened to be from Ghana & she was so sweet so I knew that had to be a good sign! Once they got me booked on that flight, I went through security & somehow lost one shoe & my boarding pass. The shoe was recovered but the boarding pass was not. I started to stress about that but they just printed me out a new one & sent me on my way with their adorable accents!

I met a nice British gentleman on my last flight over who does business in Ghana. It was a 7 hour flight so I was glad to be sitting next to someone I could chat with. He helped me fill out my immigration & customs forms and showed me all the beautiful sights outside the plane window. My favorite was some mountains in Spain that were topped with snow, probably because they reminded me of home :)

When I got off the plane, the first thing I noticed was how HOT it is! And humid! But I couldn't stop smiling all the way through the airport. Once I got my bags, I headed through customs & waited for everyone else to grab their bags. The locals here are so nice & will do anything for you, but the first thing I need to learn here is how to lie. They all kept asking me for money just for moving my bag or answering a question for me. And of course I paid them all cause I couldn't lie to them or say no. I was glad when I found out the currency exchange rate because at least I paid them a lot less than I had thought!

We all took a bus packed with kids and bags to our hostel which is a very interesting place too. We walked in to the front desk & there is a huge patch of grass on the inside. We all have balconies in our rooms & I walked out of mine to see a cute little lizard! So that was my first exotic animal, but also a good reason to use my net when I sleep. 

I tried my first Ghanian food last night and well... It isn't my favorite. Thank goodness I found some rice & fruit! I'll have to figure something out quick though! The textures are very strange and they are loaded with spices. Everything we've had so far has been fried which doesn't sound appetizing at all in this heat but I'll figure out some good stuff sooner or later!

We didn't have to meet until noon today which was a good thing because with the 7 hour time change & full day of traveling I slept straight until 11:30! Luckily the water in the shower is cold because if you know at all you'd know I take the longest hottest showers. So I got ready quick & we got some lunch and then went to the Accra Mall where I hooked up my phone & got internet running for my computer. 

The city is really different here. There is dirt & rubble everywhere and everyone walks around carrying everything they own on their heads. I swear some of these people are walking around with at least 50 pounds on top of their head with no hands!

The children are adorable everywhere just like I expected them to be :) At the airport three of them just kept looking at me & dancing for me. I will try my hardest not to bring any home with me though :) So far I am loving it! I am pleasantly surprised by many things & making friends with other study abroad students & locals alike. Will write more soon! Love to you all!

Kasey

Chasing the sunrise as we flew into London. It was so beautiful up there!

Day 1.

"Congratulations! 

     Today is your day!

  You're off to great places,

          You're off & away!"

 The time is finally here, today I start my journey to Africa for a semester abroad. I board my plane in a few hours to Chicago, then to Frankfurt, and 26 hours later I will land in my new home, Ghana!

I have been asked many times why I chose to go to Africa out of all places, while many students chose Europe, the UK, or Australia. Well, the short, simple answer is - the University of Ghana was one of few that offered classes in my major department. 

...but more truly & importantly, Africa is a place I have always dreamed of & wanted to experience. What better place to find your independence? Without the resources and support that I am used to in Montana, it will be an awesome way for me to really create who I want to be. I am doing this pretty much alone, though I will meet other international students at my school, I have yet to meet anyone else who will be living there with me for the next 5 months, but it feels good doing something major like this for myself.

 I have changed my major a time or two too many since I started at MSU two & a half years ago, but I think I finally found one that will stick. I am currently studying health & human development with the intent to continue on to law school. Once I (hopefully) obtain that degree I want to work with international adoption cases. With that being said, I was lucky enough to find an orphanage in Ghana that I can volunteer intern at while studying abroad. I think it'll be a good way to get an idea of what I could be working with one day while changing my life completely.

My parents & my sister planned a little gathering for all my friends to come over so I could see them before I left & I want to thank those of you who stopped by if I haven't already. I got a little emotional by the hour (and with every glass of wine, since who knows what kind of a selection I'll have in Africa) but it was so good to see everyone before I took off! 

I was up late talking to a good friend of mine last night while I was anxiously awaiting this moment & couldn't sleep, & I said to him that it's not until you make a decision like this that you realize how blessed you are to have such good people in your life & that they are the reason it's always been impossible to leave before. Being just a few hours away from actually leaving Montana, that statement couldn't be more true. It's pretty crazy how much you can take for granted when it's all at your fingertips. I haven't left Bozeman for much longer than a week before this so it was a big step for me & a difficult set of "see you later's" to all my favorite people, but I honestly can't wait to land in Africa & start this amazing experience! 

I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible, and will post again once I arrive so you all know I made it :) love to you all!