Days 28-31

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting & staying

            You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.

    With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky

                 Ready because you’re that kind of guy!

 

It hasn’t been a terribly exciting week except for the fact that I have officially made it a whole month here! When I first decided to go on this adventure it felt like it would never end & that I was going to be gone for a really long time, but now I wish I could just travel the rest of my life! Not that I don’t miss everyone at home, it’s just that traveling is so exciting. Seeing the way other people life & the cultures that make up this world is so fascinating. Africa is a pretty amazing continent, but I want to explore EVERYWHERE. If only I had the money to do that. Hopefully one day :)

Monday was a fairly relaxed day. I had class & then found out that my first package had finally arrived! I had waited a whole month for that thing so my friend Alex came along with me so that I didn’t have to go to a new part of town by myself. We took a tro tro to the post office & almost a full hour later we were at the post office. Ghanaian time is a funny thing. Usually it means they are late to everything!! But on that particular day, they were closing down early. It was about 3:40 & closing time was 4:00 & they wouldn’t give me my package. I was pretty upset at the time considering how long it took to get here & the hour long commute to pick it up so a few others who were there for the same reason argued them with me for about as long as it would have taken them to get me the package but we still all left empty handed.

It stormed all night long on Monday here & it actually woke me up. I never wake up to anything, so that goes to show how forceful the rain is here. Tuesday morning was very cool due to the storm the night before. I was so thankful for this because Monday was about 105° and I don’t think I will ever get used to that kind of heat. Especially with the humidity! At breakfast I met a local guy named Frank who sat down & ate with me. He was really pushing for me to join the international girls soccer team, but I really can’t imagine playing in this heat or finding the time. But he has asked me about it every time I’ve seen him since then so maybe I’ll have to check out practice one of these days. We had drumming class that morning & then I left for an afternoon at the orphanage. When I got there I helped Maxwell & Daniel with their homework for an hour or so & then we got to take the kids about a mile down the road, kids holding my hands & pulling on me the whole way, to a swimming pool & teach them how to swim! I guess 3 years of lifeguarding finally paid off since I never needed any of my skills at Riverside. Someone donated enough money for us to take 7 of them to the pool that afternoon. Many of them had never learned how to swim before so it was a little terrifying at times but it was a good experience in the end. 

 After swimming I went back to campus for one of my night classes. There were bugs everywhere. Literally everywhere, flying all around in the air & crawling all over the floor. I was squishing them all under my shoes because even though I’ve been here a month, it still grossed me out quite a bit. Then in the middle of lecture I noticed lizards crawling up the wall. I was a little bit distracted to say the least.

Wednesday morning I was at the orphanage again. We walk the kids down to the American International School for chapel on Wednesday mornings & it is so much fun! They all dance & sing & play games. The teachers there have so much energy & all the kids get really into it. One of the teachers was from the UK. I could listen to those accents all day so I decided my next big adventure has to be to London. Another teacher told a story from the gospel books & it was actually one that I had never fully understand myself so I learned a good Jesus lesson that day too!

 When we got back to the orphanage the kids had school. I normally teach the older kids but Silas, the little guy that’s almost 2 years old, wanted to be in the classroom that morning. So the director taught the kids & I played with Silas. We painted, I pushed him on the swing, & helped him out with some more 2-year-old toys. When they broke for lunch I went back to campus to complete the complicated process of registering. After running all around campus I think I figured it out, but I guess I’ll just have to see! Then I had a night class & picked up some “tantalizing” mango bread afterwards. It is mainly a biscuit with some mangoes in it, but it’s not spicy, so it’s not bad! I eat so many mangoes here. They are so good! I miss raspberries & strawberries a lot, but the mangoes will do for a few more months :)

This morning I went to the orphanage & taught the morning class. We went over some spelling words & took a math test of the 4 times tables. The kids have been working on a project where they draw a face & then write a little story describing the person they drew. It’s so fun to teach them. They are so excited & eager to learn. I love it when they call me “Miss Kasey” & ask how to spell things & to read their story just because they are proud of what they have written.  When they finished their stories we got to play bingo since the kids have been doing so well lately. After my work was finished there, I grabbed a cab to the tro tro station & gave the post office another shot. It was quite an experience. They needed my ID photocopied so I had to run over to the internet café to get that done & then I had to open the package in front of them so they could sort through all my things, all I really had in there was some shoes, shampoo, bug spray, sunscreen, contact lenses, & some food but they still have to look at all of it. It’s really odd. Then I have to pay them about 30 cedis to take the package home with me. It’s an odd process, but I finally have my things. I spent the afternoon relaxing after all of that. 

This morning one of my cab drivers had a blonde lock of hair hanging from his rear view. I thought it was definitely one of the oddest things I've ever seen until we were at a stoplight & he reached over & began to curl it. That took the prize.

One thing I have noticed here, with Ghana being a developing country, the currency exchange rate can change drastically overnight. When we arrived it was about 2.4 cedis to $1. At one point I saw that it was worth as little as 5 cedis to $1. This is convenient for me when I go to the ATM, but pretty upsetting for the country, though I guess that’s all part of the process.

Tomorrow the kids don’t have school so I will get to hang out with all of them at the orphanage, which I’m really excited about! Over the weekend I am going back to Cape Coast with my friend Brianne. She is from Bozeman, we grew up dancing together so I’m pretty excited to see a familiar face! Love to you all,

Kasey

Days 23-27

    "You will come to place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.

                 A place you could sprain both your elbow & chin!

     Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?"

 

I have successfully survived my first REAL week of school in Ghana! It is much different than school in the states, but not in a bad way. Classes don’t start on time & the professor can decide to change the day & time we meet whenever they’d like to! Kind of crazy, but nothing I can’t live with.

Wednesday we began the day by touring another school that is much farther out of town but I also fell completely in love with it. They have nothing, but the children are so precious. I would love to volunteer there too, but with my school schedule & internship, I don’t think it’s possible. Then we went to an orphanage, but not the one I’m interning at. When we got back to the hostel a few of us went to East Legon, which is one of the “fancier” parts of the city. I was so excited to find a little place called Starbites that serves AMERICAN FOOD!! It was a very good day. I had a real smoothie & a real sandwich. I would go back for every meal, but it was a little pricier than my stipend allows. It was a nice treat though. I had class that night with a few other international students so it was nice to have someone to walk with. It’s a psychology class, abnormal behavior, and it was very different than I imagine it would be in the US. The very first question the professor asked was if people thought that homosexuality was a mental disease. This really took me back. In the US we’re fighting for gay marriages & most of the students here believe that it’s a mental disorder. These kinds of cultural differences really blow me away sometimes. I hope they grow out of this as a country & begin to accept everyone for who they truly are.

Thursday I spent most of my day at the orphanage & it was awesome. My internship is at the Beacon House Orphanage in Accra. When I first arrived everyone was running around frantically filling up every bucket they had full of water because they are going to be out of it for the next 2-3 weeks. Most of the kids go away for school during the day, but others have school at the orphanage. I teach the older group of kids (around age 10) in the mornings. There are 3 of them; Daniel, Maxwell, & Freda. Solo is 17, he is deaf & has selective mutism so he rarely talks. He is in the classroom with us but just sits in the back listening to headphones. The kids are about at a 2^nd grade level, and look more like 6 or 7 years old too due to malnutrition. After class the kids had lunch & then we played all afternoon. We mixed with kids of all ages so I got to play with the babies then!

After my full day with all the children I was exhausted. I went home & took a nap. Then I didn’t do much else for the rest of the day, because I don’t have class Thursdays.

Friday morning I went back to the orphanage. We were learning about friendship in the social studies portion of class. The kids had a book with questions in it that they had to answer about friendship. The first question was “Do you have friends?” Maxwell answered no to this question so we asked him why he said no & he told us because he doesn’t make friends anymore since they all leave him. It was so heartbreaking to hear that little guy say that. It is so hard to wrap my head around the fact that most of these kids will never have a real home or a real family. I look at these beautiful little kids & just can’t imagine how anyone ever gave them up. The worst part is, most kids in Ghana never get adopted. Heather, one of the directors at the orphanage, told me that because of the law policies in Ghana, most of them will stay at the orphanage until the are old enough to be on their own. I hate that so much. That’s why I want to do the legal work for international adoptions one day. It shouldn’t be that hard for these kids to get a family. There are tons of people out there that could give them an amazing home, even if those people don’t live in Ghana. Anyways, we finally convinced Maxwell that he had friends, even though this wasn’t easy. After class we had some free time so I got to play with the little ones again before I had to go back to campus. 

Here's two of the little guys, Prince & Silus. Prince is the taller one & also one of the lucky few that has been adopted! I'll miss his big personality but I'm so happy he'll have a family.

I had class that afternoon & then took a nap to rest up for the night. We went out for dinner & then went to a birthday party for one of the local guys that we know. It was pretty fun, but very different from going out at home. I prefer to stay in here but thought I should go since it was a birthday.

 Erin, Alex, me & Alicia at the birthday party. 

Saturday I slept in & then got some breakfast. I discovered that I like the pancakes at the hostel so I am making some food progress! They aren’t really pancakes, they are more like crepes. They remind me of my sister, except we always put food coloring in ours & these ones are boring colored. I took a tro tro to a market that day & got some gifts to bring back home for friends & family & a dress for myself. That night my friend Erin & I went to another movie & cooled off for a few hours. It was called About Last Night & it was pretty cute! A little on the vulgar side, but it ended well. Shopping & a movie on a Saturday, almost like I’m back at home :)… but they are both still so different.

Today a group of us went to a beautiful beach & spent the day laying in the sun & playing in the water. We attempted to get some food there but they barely had anything that they said was on the menu. That’s another thing here that is taking some getting used to. They don’t have much of what they say is offered. Regardless it was still a good way to relax for about 7 hours & prepare for another week of classes starting tomorrow morning! Love to you all,

Kasey

Days 19-22

It’s my second week of classes, and I have already attended more than I did last week. I suppose that is probably due to the fact that they actually happened this week! I have been here for about three weeks now & finally starting to feel like I am actually living here, not just on a vacation… unless you call another 16 weeks a vacation, but to me I am definitely living here.

Saturday I helped out at our director’s granddaughter’s fifth birthday party. It was so much fun! But definitely much more of a celebration than we have back home. The bus came at noon to go to the party & I wasn’t back at the hostel until 8 that night.

The birthday girl’s name was Myah & she was absolutely precious. I would say I played with babies much more than anything else, and also got some cake & ice cream out of it so it was a pretty good deal for me! We sang her the regular happy birthday song before she blew out her candles but they add on three more verses here. After the regular “Happy Birthday to you” they sing “how old are you now? How old are you now?...” with the same tune & then Myah responded “I’m 5 years old now, I’m 5 years old now…” And then we finished with “May God bless you now, may God bless you now…” I thought it was pretty cute & a great birthday wish as well. 

 "I'm 5 years old now!"

Sunday I wasn’t feeling too great, but the weather wasn’t great either. It poured rain & stormed nearly all day. I spent the day reading several different books & listening to the sermon online from my church at home since I wasn’t feeling well enough to attend church that day. I read parts of two Christian books (Not a Fan & The Resolution for Women) that a couple of friends gave me from home & the first half of a book called The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I also finally got to talk to my dad on the phone & my mom too, though we have talked a few times since I’ve been here :) It was really nice to talk to them. I miss them so much! 

Here is a picture I took of the rain that was inside the hostel, though it really doesn't do the weather here any justice at all.

Monday I was feeling much better and was wide awake by 4 am, so once the sun was up I set out for a run bringing some money with me so I could finish my run at the coffee place on campus & sip it while I walked back to the hostel. I guess I am becoming more & more like my mom everyday. On my run that morning I noticed a car slowing down right next to me & keeping the same pace as me which really creeped me out at first but when I looked over there was an older woman looking out of her window so I took out my headphone as she shouted “Oh, you running! That good fo you! Bye Bye!” I said thanks & laughed a little bit as she drove away.

I attended class later that day (I found the right building this time!) & was actually very fascinated by it. Luckily it was the first time the class met, so I didn’t miss anything last week. It’s a human development course so we started learning about gender roles in society & sexuality, which is very interesting when you’re in a whole different culture. When class ended all of the sudden about 20 Ghanaian girls were asking my name & wanting to be my friend. I even got asked to eat a traditional dish with them for lunch after class next week! So I guess the women aren’t so bad here after all. I couldn’t remember very many of their names, mostly because I can hardly understand anything anyone says to me here but I am starting to catch on to the accents a little more each day. One girl was shouting to all her friends “Come! Meet an obrani everyone, meet an obrani!” So I’m not sure if they actually want to be MY friend, or just friends with any obrani. Either way I was happy to be getting acquainted with some more locals.

I went back to my room where I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing The Fault in Our Stars, only taking a break to go get some fruit at the night market while my roommate napped & entertained herself on her computer. She also made dinner & gave me a plate. It was just some noodles & veggies so I figured I was safe to eat it. It was incredibly spicy, for my taste at least, but since she gave me a plate I toughed it out & ate it all while chugging about 2 whole water bottles to soothe the burning in my mouth.

This morning I woke up bright & early for dance class but unfortunately wasn’t able to take it due to a scheduling mishap, so I’ll have to shoot for another one later in the week or next week. Instead I just got some fruit for breakfast & killed the time before drumming class, which was awesome again. Our instructor danced around in the center while we drummed away & even the lizards came out to listen to the beat! This was definitely something new as most lizards I’d ever really encountered were locked in a glass box in someone’s basement.

After drumming I got even more fruit & rested a little before I braved my way out to my night class. I was starting to feel a little homesick & getting some culture shock, as well as starting to REALLY miss American food. But as I walked across campus into the sunset I was quickly reminded that I’m here in Africa for only four more months out of my entire life. I’m 21 years old & so incredibly blessed to be here & allow this opportunity to shape the person I will become. I have the rest of my life to eat good food & live with the beautiful mountains surrounded by all the familiar things that make it home. And I think that’s what makes this experience so amazing.

 

I got to class & was yet again the only white person. It was a psychology class with about 300 students. The teacher showed up about 20 minutes late & was very quick to ask me in front of everyone where I was from, though I didn’t mind. It was certainly keep my attendance rate for that class in good standing since it would be pretty obvious if I weren’t there. Though I think I would show up to every class anyways because he was an awesome professor. He was funny & engaging & helped two hours pass really quickly. He told me his English wasn’t great so to excuse him for that, definitely another first for me. I also had a few more students ask to be my friend so that was comforting.

I walked home in the dark by myself, but it actually wasn’t so bad. Even though the location is on the complete opposite side of campus, taking at least 30 minutes of walking to get there, there were many other students walking in the same direction so I felt safe.

An older woman named Auntie Louise is always out by our hostel selling some kind of dinner & “tantalizing” baked goods, as she says, though I’m not so sure I’d use that same word to describe them myself. I decided to use the money I could have spent on a cab to buy a muffin from her. It was 3 cedis, but I only had bigger bills so I gave her a 5 & told her to keep the change, which is not a common thing here. It’s actually so uncommon that her face lit up & she told me I was a blessing & to keep on blessing. Little does she know that people like her are way more of a blessing to people like me than I could ever be to them.

I ate part of the banana muffin I bought from her, but they are very dense and almost chewy in texture so I can only eat so much. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it to the orphanage yesterday so we are headed there in the morning & I will hopefully finally have my schedule somewhat figured out. Love to you all,

Kasey

Days 14-18

       "You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

                      You won't lag behind, because you have the speed. 

          You'll pass the whole gang & you'll soon take the lead.

                                  Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best

Wherever you go, you'll top all the rest."

I survived my first week of school!... Which wasn’t very hard since the first week of classes here doesn’t really involve going to class at all. Most Ghanaian students use this first week to figure out their schedule & start going to class next week. I still attempted to attend my first class on Monday, leaving an hour early to give myself plenty of time to find my classroom, or so I thought. I asked a group of girls where the room “R3” was & they told me that is was on the 2^nd floor of the physics department, so I walked over there to find that the physics department is a one story building. At that point I was definitely going to be late so I gave up & made my way back to the hostel.

Later that afternoon a group of us went to check out the drumming course list & also stopped by the study abroad office. It’s air conditioned in there so we like to come up with excuses to go hang out. I asked them where R3 was & found it later on that afternoon, so I’ll be at my Monday class next week for sure! 

 Tuesday was out first day of drumming and it was so much fun! It’s offered 4 hours a week, but we only have to attend 2 of them. I think a lot of us will go to all of them because we had a blast. After class we went for lunch at our favorite campus pub – Tacobel. I had a night class that night but wasn’t brave enough to walk across campus in the dark just yet, especially when most classes this week didn’t really happen. So I’ll find that one next week too!

I didn’t have any classes Wednesday so I spent part of the day at the mall & the rest of the night hanging out at the tables in the hostel with a few of my friends. I also took another walk across campus to check out the schedule for African dance courses. Looks like I’ll be beginning that class next Tuesday morning at 6:30 am! At home I would never sign up for a class at that hour but here the sun is always up by 6 am & set by 6 pm. My sleeping schedule has shifted a lot. I generally head to bed around 8 or 9 pm & wakeup around 5:30 every morning. Not only is that because it starts getting light then, but it’s also the only semi cool part of the day where I can get some exercise.

Yesterday we had drumming class followed by a meeting with our director, Auntie Theresa. We call her Auntie as a sign of respect. In the Ghanaian culture you call the adults in society Auntie & Uncle even when there is no relation. We straightened out our volunteer programs with her, so I will be working in the orphanage as well as a school for underprivileged children.

After the meeting we went to a little outdoor coffee place & hung out there for a bit with some more delicious African coffee. Then I went to my last class of the day to find I was the only white person there. That was a first! That might have been the moment that it really hit me that I wasn’t in Montana anymore or the United States for that matter. It was the first time I can remember being truly nervous in class. It’s pretty obvious I’m not from around here & everyone stared at me as I made my way to my seat. The men here are often a little friendlier than I’m used to with the “obrani” women, but the women that are my age tend to be a little intimidating, and a lot less friendly. I’m hoping that doesn’t last & I can make friends with some more of the local girls here.

I got back to my room to find I finally had a roommate! She is Ghanaian girl named Harriet, and she is beautiful. She is a senior & wants to continue on to law school in the United States so it’s nice to have something in common! All the Ghana locals are gorgeous people actually. I’m not sure what’s in the water around here, but I’m a little disappointed we’re not allowed to drink it :) I’m convinced Beyonce must have some Ghanaian blood considering how beautiful the genes are in this part of the world.

Last night we gathered in one dorm room & played games, laughing all night. We have all gotten to know each other pretty quickly here, but I guess that’s what happens when you throw 25 Americans into Africa for 5 months. I never used to think I had an accent but I frequently get made fun of for the way I say words like “bag” & “avocado,” but I don’t mind. It’s just another reminder of how big the world is.

This morning a few of us went to check out the volunteer opportunities at the West Africa AIDS Foundation & the Mawuvio Outreach Programme. The AIDS foundation doesn’t have openings for volunteers right now, but the outreach program really interested me. I wasn’t originally planning on doing my volunteer work there, but when I walked through it I really felt like I wanted to be a part of it. I would go over there a few days a week & help teach the kids & tutor them. There are 65 children between the ages 5 & 14 who cannot afford schooling on their own so they come to this program. 

 When I was there, I looked over at a group of kids in their classroom section sitting in front of a poster that read, “You can Change the World,” and that was all the convincing I needed. Seeing that was just a huge reminder of why I’m here, not so that I can change the world but because the kids in that classroom can & I have the ability to help them get there. I will start with the school sometime next week & the orphanage on Monday.

After the volunteer tour was over I attempted to go to my last class of the week but after sitting in the room alone for a half hour, I figured it probably wasn’t happening this week so I left and went to a soccer game a few of our orientation leaders were playing in.

One pretty awesome thing about the food here is that there are no preservatives in anything. It’s pretty crazy how much better that makes you feel. I bought a loaf of bread last Thursday to make PB&J and the bread was already moldy by Monday. 

 This is one of my favorite juices that I’ve found here, made of all fresh fruit. It goes bad in only 6 days because there’s nothing but pure fruit in the bottle. Any fruit juice at home would last months before going bad. 

Also, this is the size a banana is supposed to be naturally. Crazy!! I actually feel way better without all the added stuff & it tastes better too!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you back home. I am missing you all today but also very blessed by the love I am surrounded by here in Africa. Love to you all,

Kasey

Days 11, 12, & 13

"Out there things can happen & frequently do

          to people as brainy & footsy as you.

                   And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew.

  Just go right along. You'll start happening too."

I had a very eventful weekend followed by a pretty lazy Sunday. I guess that's how I usually do things at home so not too much has changed. Thursday night we went to our welcoming party & had a blast! The place was packed with University of Ghana students & we danced all night long. Everyone was moving like crazy, so carefree. With that many people & the high temperatures outside, you can only imagine how hot it was. But we danced & sang along through the heat anyways.

Friday morning we woke up & began our trip to the Cape Coast. It was a little under three hours in our bus but I was so engaged in scenes outside the window that I really didn't mind the trip at all. There is more poverty the farther we get outside of the city. This is where you see huts made of mud & straw but also people working incredibly hard to make a life out of the small resources they have. All the people who are outside wave & smile at us as we drive by. I don't think they've seen so many white people before!

We stopped for lunch when we arrived in Cape Coast & then went to the Cape Coast Castle which was by far on of the most heartbreaking things I'd seen in my life. The castle took 300 years to finish building & was in use for slave trade for 400 years. The amount of lives lost in that amount of time is unbelievable.

A model of the outside of the castle.

We had the same tour guide as President Obama did when he & Michelle made the a trip out to visit the castle.

The British ruled the castle & brought in African slaves to work there. They said most died within the first 6 months of being there & none lived longer than about 4 years.

This picture was taken when we were inside the male slave dungeon. The dungeon was build to hold 1,000 slaves but as the demand for slaves increased they fit about 1,500 slaves inside. They turned a light on for us while we went through the tour but he shut it off to show us the conditions that those men lived in. They were basically on top of one another in the dark with very occasional food until they died. Any who tried to escape were brought back down into a separate room where they were chained to the wall.

I believe this picture was taken when we were entering the woman's dungeons. There was such a dark & evil feeling throughout the entire castle. almost like the pain & fear had never left those rooms & I think we all could feel it. There were separate dungeons depending on whether or not they accepted sexual advances from the soldiers. He told us rape & abuse were very common weapons used against both woman & children. If the women fought back then they were put in a dungeon with worse conditions until they died. Many of the slave women would become pregnant in the castle & they were taken upstairs until the baby was born & then the mother was thrown back into the dungeon if they survived. If any woman became pregnant out on the ships then they were thrown into the ocean to drown.

If the salves made it through this door, they were likely to never return to the castle. They were taken out on the ships where they told them they would be as comfortable as they would be in their own coffin, meaning they had to lie there naked & stiff as a board side by side for a weeks on end. Every few weeks they would tell them to get up & dance for exercise so that their muscles wouldn't lose all their mass completely.

I saw this quote at the end of our tour & it gave me goosebumps. I do believe that Africa is on the rise & I feel so blessed to be here & see them coming back into the world as a stronger power than they ever have before. There is no way to justify the terrible way that they were treated & yet they aren't looking for revenge. All they want is equality between all people & all nations & that is a truly beautiful thing.

Our friend Alex likes to take a lot of candid pictures of each of us without our knowledge so here is a couple that he took when we were at the castle. The first one was taken before I entered the castle & the second was somewhere along the row of canons surrounding the building.

After leaving the castle we went to our botel. I'm not sure why it is called a botel rather than a hotel, but they are basically the same things. We got our rooms & my roommate & I ended up accidentally taking naps, later waking up to the rest of the group playing marco polo in the pool. We got dinner that night & enjoyed the music of a live band. When the band was finished, a few musical people from our group took the stage & we all sang along as they played "Lean on me" & "My Girl."

The restaurant at the botel was on a body of water filled with several crocodiles. While I was accidentally sleeping a group of the kids got to touch the crocodiles with the trainer, so I was a little disappointed that I missed that, but I still got to view them from a distance.

There were lots of pretty creatures surrounding the water.

Saturday morning we woke with HOT showers!! It was a great way to begin the morning. Then we had breakfast prepared for us by the botel restaurant. I had my first cup of coffee since being here & it was surprisingly delicious! I think I like African coffee more than American coffee.

Then we packed up our van again & took off for Kakaum National Park. This where we did the canopy walks in the rainforest. It is the only canopy walk on the whole continent of Africa. They are built with ropes & boards about 1,200 ft above the ground. There were 7 walkways total. The heights didn't scare me, but the first time I went I had both hands full of stuff so it was little freaky to walk along without being able to use my hands at all!

 

One of the girls & I stopped into the museum and were getting all kind of looks. I don't think people that far out of the city see white people very often. They were asking to take pictures with us & of us & the little kids were touching our skin. There was a woman with an adorable baby boy named Prince at the end of our walk so I talked to her for a little while & got to hold the baby for a little too!

We took off for home which was a little over three hours this time & spent the evening visiting, looking through each others pictures, & watching tv shows we have downloaded on our computers. 

When I woke up for my run this morning I realized all my friends back home had probably just began their Saturday night festivities. The time change still blows my mind a little bit. When I was finished jogging I went to church with a few kids from the group & a couple of our leaders. African church is pretty awesome! It reminds me of the southern gospel churches I've seen on tv. Everyone was singing & dancing, clapping along to the music & praising Jesus! It was pretty incredible to see how much they celebrate The Lord when they truly have so little. Church is a big celebration for them, yet it's a burden to most Americans who have so many more things. I think people are much happier here than most of our population & I guess that just goes to show that the little things we buy & own can never truly make us happy.

After church I took a long nap & hung out with a few of my friends. We're just now heading to the night market to grab a few things & then I'll be off to bed in a couple hours & starting my first day of classes tomorrow! Love to you all!

Kasey

Days 8, 9 & 10

I survived my first week! (plus a few days :) and I am still having a great time here! I feel like I'm falling in love with it a little more each day. We've been incredibly busy this last week & a half but we are leaving for a weekend at Cape Coast tomorrow morning.

Tuesday we had another informational morning followed by an afternoon learning how to ride the public buses which are called tro tro's & walking through one crazy busy market. The tro tro's are very interesting to say the least. We walked to a stop to wait for one & all this buses (I think they look more like vans personally) fly down the road with one man hanging out the window yelling whichever stop they are off to next. They only cost around 60 paeswas & can take you all over Accra.

Yesterday we began registration for school, which is nothing like it is at Montana State. I used to complain about that process, but this one is so much more difficult. A group of 4 of us spent about 3-4 hours running all over campus trying to figure out the days & times that classes are offered. They are each only held once a week for a two hour lecture. We have to just show up for the rest of the month & then we don't technically register until the end of the month. I'm still trying to figure out how it all works. I did stop into a little brass artifact museum to cool off & ended up learning a ton inside. The guy working it showed me all these tiny metal structures of people, animals, swords, all kinds of things & explained to me what each of them meant. There were tons of pieces in the exhibit that Ghana had just bought back from a woman in Germany for $75,000 in 2005.

We got our ID cards that afternoon so now I'm officially a student at the University of Ghana! Then we had a short lecture on the Cape Coast. The short version is that it's a castle that was built by the Europeans for slave trade. That's where we will be this weekend so I should have a better knowledge of it when I return.

Last night a few of us went with some of the Ghanaian students from our hostel to a reggae night on the beach. There was hundreds of people there & live music up on a stage. We sat in wooden chairs in the sand & took walks down the beach while we listened to the music.

We were out pretty late but luckily had a day off today so I slept in until around noon which I never do at home so I guess that goes to show just how exhausting it's been here so far! I'm finally getting used to the heat & humidity even when I'm walking a million miles every day. My first are consistently dirty no matter how clean I get them in the showers. I'm starting to get used to the cold showers too. They really aren't that bad when it's a million degrees outside :)

We spent most of the day at the mall today looking at the clothes there & running other random errands. The malls here are not the ordinary malls that we're used to but you can find a lot of things you need there. They even have little grocery stores in them. Today I found some peanut butter & crackers so I was very excited to eat something besides rice! Everything here is so spicy so I've had a hard time finding things that I like. I'll ask my Ghanaian friends before I eat something if it's spicy & if they say no then I'll give it a try. I don't think they know what spicy is though cause every time I bite into the food my mouth is on fire!

We found a movie theater this afternoon & saw the movie Frozen. American movies don't make it over here until after they have been shown in the US, but I hadn't seen that one yet & it was adorable! Ghana is currently a developing country which is super cool to see. They are starting to get a real economy going but still not as strong as the US. They warned us that the resources are still scarce so we will experience water & power outages, but this doesn't seem so bad when these things are relatively new to this part of the world anyways. I would love to come back in 10 years & see where Ghana is then!

Everyone here already knows me as the girl that loves all the children & babies. I melt every time I see one! Today walking from the tro tro to the mall a little boy grabbed onto my arm & asked me if he could have some of my water & I couldn't resist so I just gave him the whole bottle.

One thing I have really had to learn here is patience. I keep thinking my dad would never survive here (sorry dad :) Everything takes forever & nothing starts on time. My form of communication is very slow. My phone isn’t on most of the day & I now have a Ghana phone number connected to a Ghana network. Internet is the same way, it is very slow & it’s hard to find spots with good connection. They tell us lunch will be at noon & we won’t end up eating until 3. But so far I don’t mind, it’s just something that I am getting used to. I actually kind of enjoy it. All of my friends here are so engaged in everything we do because we aren't sitting around on our phones or laptops while we're all hanging out everyday. It makes me feel like I really missed out on a lot of little things in life back in the states. 

I have met some amazing people here so far & began some pretty awesome friendships. It's hard to believe that I've only known them for a little over a week. The boys in our group are so awesome & big brotherly towards us girls. They're always helping us out & looking after us. But I still miss & love all of my people at home :) Tonight we are going to a welcome party that they are throwing for us so I will check in again when we are back from our weekend trip! Love to you all,

Kasey

These are a few of the Ghanaian bills. They are called cedis (pronounced CDs). One American dollar is about 2.4 cedi's so the prices always seem so expensive until you do the conversion & realize it's actually much cheaper!

 A picture of me taking a picture at the beach.

They have the most beautiful flowers here! I'll have to start a collection :)

Days 5, 6, & 7

     "And you may not find any you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.

          It's opener there.

              In the wide open air."

We’ve had a crazy past couple of days! Saturday was filled with visits & tours all over the capital city of Accra. We went to 2 memorials of former presidents, the beach, 2 markets, and looked at all kinds of sights through the window. We learned a lot about Ghana, it’s independence, & it’s history.

The first place we got to explore was the Ocean. We looked at the fishing boats & spent some time climbing the rocks, but didn’t hit the beach just yet. 

After that we went to Nkrumah’s memorial, who was the first president of Ghana. On our way there we went past the Accra sports stadium where the world cup soccer team plays, the US Embassy, & many other sites that represent Ghana’s independence. Ghana was established as a country fairly recently. The country is less than 60 years old.  

This is the newest statue of Nkrumah at the memorial.

 The memorial had a mango tree planted by Nelson Mandela 13 years ago.

 This was the original statue of Nkrumah. It was vandalized many years ago & the head was just returned to the park 5 years ago by an old woman.

We also went to the memorial of W.E.B. Du Bois who was the president after Nkrumah. It was actually very interesting to learn so much about the history of this country. The Ghanaian people are very proud of their country, there are Ghana flags everywhere & a lot of things are painted red, green, & yellow. 

This statement was said by W.E.B. du Bois right before he passed away. It's a very beautiful statement that he left the world with.

 We also went to a couple of different markets where we were advised not to buy anything yet, since we have to barter for everything there. When I told the locals I didn’t have any money with me, they offered to trade my camera or my jewelry for the things they were selling. All the jewelry I have here with me has some sentimental value so I stopped wearing it out in the city after that. 

Three different vendors offered me free bracelets, but I only accepted one. This man followed me up & down the street making this for me because he told me that he liked my smiling face & wanted to welcome me to Ghana. 

Sunday morning we went to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful.

I brought headphones & a book out to the beach with us, but when I got there I couldn't take my focus off of the water. I have been to the ocean several times before, but living in Montana it is easy to forget how peaceful the waves sound & how beautiful the look rolling up the shore.

 We met many young children out there. They asked us our names & we wrote them in the sand for each other. Two little guys asked me for 50 peswas (their version of coins) to help buy books for school. I only had 30 peswas in my wallet so I also gave them all the American coins I had & told them what they were & which presidents were on them.

 We played soccer & football with them on the beach that day & also swam in the ocean with them. They come from very poor areas lining the street leading to the beach & didn't own swimsuits so they all had to swim without any clothes on, but they didn't mind. It's moments like that that are so humbling here in Africa.

I took these images from the bus window on the road leading out to the beach. There are a huge number of people living in these tiny little shacks. They have small wooden structures lining the streets where they sell whatever product they can. Behind them are a cluster of little houses where there were many children playing & people of all ages working on various projects.

After the beach I took a three-hour nap & then a group of us went to a pub called Honeysuckle to watch the Super Bowl. It didn’t start until 11:30 pm but we worked up the energy to go watch it. We had fans from both teams, but enjoyed watching the game together. We didn’t get any of the American commercials so unfortunately we missed out on that. They turned up the volume for us during half time as we all danced & sang along to Bruno Mars. 

 This is my new friend Alex. We danced in the pub when Philip Phillips performed Gone, gone, gone.

I lasted until the end of the third quarter. It was 2:30 am here & I was ready for bed.

Today we mostly attended orientation seminars & toured our enormous campus once again & we were all pretty worn out again by the end of the day. We just finished a long night of games in one of the guys rooms & now it's time for bed. It's still crazy to me that it is 11:30 pm here & only 4:30 pm back home. Love to you all,

Kasey