I AM HOME!!!!! IT IS WONDERFUL!!!!
Both flights home were easy and uneventful, and we somehow managed to completely avoid customs when we got to O'Hare, I'm still not sure what happened there. We made it home in about six and a half hours, so I was back here about 10:30 last night. Seeing my family was one of the best feelings ever!!! I've been sleeping and relaxing and applying for summer jobs most of today and just taking it easy, it's pretty great!
I should have a few more posts over the next few weeks with random things to share, so check back in now and again. :)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Burkina Faso!
May 5th-11th
May 5th through the 11th was a crazy adventure to Burkina Faso. Burkina is directly North of Ghana, about 24 hours away from Accra (the capital city of Ghana). Clara and I left here on Tuesday morning, and after an incredibly long bus ride (which broke down at 1:00 in the morning and we sat by the side of the road for one hour) we reached Paga, which is right on the border. We made it through customs just fine, despite Clara and I speaking zero French and having to purchase a visa and then off we went to Ouagadougou, about four hours away and the capital of Burkina Faso. When we reached Ouagadougou we made it to a Mennonite guest house that we were staying at and then we had to wait for Kristen, our friend who spoke French.
When Kristen made it to the Mennonites we decided to explore around Ouagadougou. We had to bargain with a taxi driver for quite some time to get them to take us in to town, most of the taxi drivers were big jerks the whole time we were there. They refused to quote us a low price and spoke in fast, bad, French, making bargaining close to impossible. We reached the center of town finally and wandered around and found a really cute little cafe that had delicious fresh juices and cheese sandwiches, yum! Right down the street from the cafe was a chocolate shop!!! Something I had not seen for almost 4 months! I had an amazing piece of dark chocolate and when we explained to the shop owner that we had been without good chocolate for 4 months she gave us some more for free! I love that woman! While wandering around some more we found a woman who was selling all sorts of handmade things, and we had a lot of fun talking and joking and bargaining with her. She ended up really liking us and dashed us each a bracelet! (People selling things will sometimes “dash you” something extra if they like you or if you by a lot.) Dinner was pizza and pasta with lots of cheese!
Wednesday morning we took off for Loumbila where we had read about a goat cheese farm and camel riding. We got to see how they make the goat cheese (it involved a weird medal contraption with tubes and three plastic buckets) and also the finished product. Then out came a camel!! I'm not sure if seeing/riding camels is a normal part of the tour of this place, but our book had mentioned it, and the guys there seemed confused, but happy enough to bring out a camel. So out came this awesome looking camel, and we got to pet her and feed her, and then ride her! I must say, riding camels is not the most comfortable thing I have ever done, but it was still pretty cool. That afternoon we found an American restaurant and had delicious tex-mex food, something I have been missing a lot! We spent a lot more time just wandering around Ouagadougou and seeing the town.
Thursday morning we took off for Bobo, which is the second biggest city in Burkina Faso. The bus ride there was fairly uneventful, although we did run over a pig, which didn't seem to phase the bus driver one bit. Bobo is a fairly small town, but it's really easy to navigate (this is not true for any other place I have been) so we were able to spend time just wandering around and seeing all sorts of things. They have a wonderful market and I found some awesome fabric that I was able to really bargain them down for the price. We also found a great bakery that seems to constantly be baking fresh baguette. Also, frozen yogurt is popular in Bobo, and it's really good, so a lot of that was eaten too.
Friday morning we went to Banfora (about 90 minutes from Bobo) and then we saw hippos!!! We went out on the lake in a little pirogue (a super shallow, low to the water, canoe) and we got to watch the hippos swim around and see their ears wiggle a whole lot. Those things are massive!!! Then we were off to Karfiguela Falls where we got to hike to the top of the waterfall and look all the way down to the pool below. We then hiked back down and waded around in the water for awhile to cool down. Also, in case you were wondering, it was 42 degrees Celsius that day, and for those of you who are bad at converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, that means it was 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. IT WAS HOT! Also, the bus ride back had 60 people crammed into a 40 person bus for 90 minutes, I have definitely done more enjoyable things than that ride in my life.
Our bus to get us from Bobo back to Ouagadougou was leaving at 11:00 p.m. that night. Luckily, the hotel we stayed at the night before let us use the shower again, so this way we could at least be clean for our long ride home. We showered and then spent a lot of time sitting at this restaurant, eating dinner and waiting for 11:00 to roll around so we could leave. We reached Ouagadougou at about 4:00 in the morning, waited until 6:00 for the next bus to Kumasi, and then hopped on for the long 20 hour bus ride there. We reached Kumasi somewhere around 10:30 p.m. (the bus only broke down once!) and then got one last bus to do the 4 hour drive in to Accra. We finally reached campus at about 3:30 in the morning. Overall, we spent 31 hours in transit to get home. CRAZY!
So that was Burkina Faso, it was a pretty good trip, but definitely full of challenges. Public transportation is expensive, haggling with taxi drivers is a pain, and the pigeon French made communication really hard. Despite all that, I'm still really glad we made it and we definitely had a good time!
May 5th through the 11th was a crazy adventure to Burkina Faso. Burkina is directly North of Ghana, about 24 hours away from Accra (the capital city of Ghana). Clara and I left here on Tuesday morning, and after an incredibly long bus ride (which broke down at 1:00 in the morning and we sat by the side of the road for one hour) we reached Paga, which is right on the border. We made it through customs just fine, despite Clara and I speaking zero French and having to purchase a visa and then off we went to Ouagadougou, about four hours away and the capital of Burkina Faso. When we reached Ouagadougou we made it to a Mennonite guest house that we were staying at and then we had to wait for Kristen, our friend who spoke French.
When Kristen made it to the Mennonites we decided to explore around Ouagadougou. We had to bargain with a taxi driver for quite some time to get them to take us in to town, most of the taxi drivers were big jerks the whole time we were there. They refused to quote us a low price and spoke in fast, bad, French, making bargaining close to impossible. We reached the center of town finally and wandered around and found a really cute little cafe that had delicious fresh juices and cheese sandwiches, yum! Right down the street from the cafe was a chocolate shop!!! Something I had not seen for almost 4 months! I had an amazing piece of dark chocolate and when we explained to the shop owner that we had been without good chocolate for 4 months she gave us some more for free! I love that woman! While wandering around some more we found a woman who was selling all sorts of handmade things, and we had a lot of fun talking and joking and bargaining with her. She ended up really liking us and dashed us each a bracelet! (People selling things will sometimes “dash you” something extra if they like you or if you by a lot.) Dinner was pizza and pasta with lots of cheese!
Wednesday morning we took off for Loumbila where we had read about a goat cheese farm and camel riding. We got to see how they make the goat cheese (it involved a weird medal contraption with tubes and three plastic buckets) and also the finished product. Then out came a camel!! I'm not sure if seeing/riding camels is a normal part of the tour of this place, but our book had mentioned it, and the guys there seemed confused, but happy enough to bring out a camel. So out came this awesome looking camel, and we got to pet her and feed her, and then ride her! I must say, riding camels is not the most comfortable thing I have ever done, but it was still pretty cool. That afternoon we found an American restaurant and had delicious tex-mex food, something I have been missing a lot! We spent a lot more time just wandering around Ouagadougou and seeing the town.
Thursday morning we took off for Bobo, which is the second biggest city in Burkina Faso. The bus ride there was fairly uneventful, although we did run over a pig, which didn't seem to phase the bus driver one bit. Bobo is a fairly small town, but it's really easy to navigate (this is not true for any other place I have been) so we were able to spend time just wandering around and seeing all sorts of things. They have a wonderful market and I found some awesome fabric that I was able to really bargain them down for the price. We also found a great bakery that seems to constantly be baking fresh baguette. Also, frozen yogurt is popular in Bobo, and it's really good, so a lot of that was eaten too.
Friday morning we went to Banfora (about 90 minutes from Bobo) and then we saw hippos!!! We went out on the lake in a little pirogue (a super shallow, low to the water, canoe) and we got to watch the hippos swim around and see their ears wiggle a whole lot. Those things are massive!!! Then we were off to Karfiguela Falls where we got to hike to the top of the waterfall and look all the way down to the pool below. We then hiked back down and waded around in the water for awhile to cool down. Also, in case you were wondering, it was 42 degrees Celsius that day, and for those of you who are bad at converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, that means it was 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit. IT WAS HOT! Also, the bus ride back had 60 people crammed into a 40 person bus for 90 minutes, I have definitely done more enjoyable things than that ride in my life.
Our bus to get us from Bobo back to Ouagadougou was leaving at 11:00 p.m. that night. Luckily, the hotel we stayed at the night before let us use the shower again, so this way we could at least be clean for our long ride home. We showered and then spent a lot of time sitting at this restaurant, eating dinner and waiting for 11:00 to roll around so we could leave. We reached Ouagadougou at about 4:00 in the morning, waited until 6:00 for the next bus to Kumasi, and then hopped on for the long 20 hour bus ride there. We reached Kumasi somewhere around 10:30 p.m. (the bus only broke down once!) and then got one last bus to do the 4 hour drive in to Accra. We finally reached campus at about 3:30 in the morning. Overall, we spent 31 hours in transit to get home. CRAZY!
So that was Burkina Faso, it was a pretty good trip, but definitely full of challenges. Public transportation is expensive, haggling with taxi drivers is a pain, and the pigeon French made communication really hard. Despite all that, I'm still really glad we made it and we definitely had a good time!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A Note On Final Exams
*I haven't gotten a chance to write up my Burkina Faso adventures yet, but here is something to hold you over until then. I wrote this right after my first exam and just forgot to post it until now. I am alive and well and back in Ghana, and will try to post about Burkina asap.*
A Note On Final Exams
Last Monday I had my first exam here at the University and it pretty much worked out like most things here, not anything like it was supposed to, but nothing was really wrong with how it happened.
First off, you only know the date and time of your exam, not the location. The location isn't posted until a day or two before, for reasons I'm still not fully sure about. So on Sunday I went hunting for the location of my exam and and it wasn't anywhere on any of the venue sheets. So I panicked, worried about having missed my final and called my program director. For whatever reason my test location wasn't put on the sheet, but it was still happening and luckily my director found out where.
Second odd thing: My professor said there would be six questions on the exam and we had to choose three. There were five questions, not six, which doesn't matter that much, except it really gives you less choices that are kind of necessary.
Third: The professor said there would be two questions on AIDS/HIV, there was one, and it wasn't even really a question on what she talked about in class.
Fourth: There also was supposed to be two questions on what could be done in the future to stop the spread of AIDS. This question was mixed with the only one question about AIDS and she asked why people didn't have better behavior about protecting themselves from AIDS, despite the knowledge being provided. We never once discussed that in class.
Fifth: The professor GUARANTEED that there would be the question “why is the AIDS rate so much higher among heterosexual couples than homosexual couples?” We talked about this at length the last day of class and I was well prepared to answer it. The question was nowhere on the exam.
So when it all came down to it, one of the questions I had prepared wasn't there, and she also gave us one less option, plus combining what should have been four different questions into one. I was still able to find three questions I could answer, but the whole thing was just so odd and so different from anything in the states.
I'll be interested to see how the next three go.
A Note On Final Exams
Last Monday I had my first exam here at the University and it pretty much worked out like most things here, not anything like it was supposed to, but nothing was really wrong with how it happened.
First off, you only know the date and time of your exam, not the location. The location isn't posted until a day or two before, for reasons I'm still not fully sure about. So on Sunday I went hunting for the location of my exam and and it wasn't anywhere on any of the venue sheets. So I panicked, worried about having missed my final and called my program director. For whatever reason my test location wasn't put on the sheet, but it was still happening and luckily my director found out where.
Second odd thing: My professor said there would be six questions on the exam and we had to choose three. There were five questions, not six, which doesn't matter that much, except it really gives you less choices that are kind of necessary.
Third: The professor said there would be two questions on AIDS/HIV, there was one, and it wasn't even really a question on what she talked about in class.
Fourth: There also was supposed to be two questions on what could be done in the future to stop the spread of AIDS. This question was mixed with the only one question about AIDS and she asked why people didn't have better behavior about protecting themselves from AIDS, despite the knowledge being provided. We never once discussed that in class.
Fifth: The professor GUARANTEED that there would be the question “why is the AIDS rate so much higher among heterosexual couples than homosexual couples?” We talked about this at length the last day of class and I was well prepared to answer it. The question was nowhere on the exam.
So when it all came down to it, one of the questions I had prepared wasn't there, and she also gave us one less option, plus combining what should have been four different questions into one. I was still able to find three questions I could answer, but the whole thing was just so odd and so different from anything in the states.
I'll be interested to see how the next three go.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Togo and Benin!!!
*I should warn you all, this is a long post. I seem to struggle with being concise and not giving lots of details. But lots of things happen in Africa, so I want to include it all!*
This past week was an adventure to Togo and Benin. Togo is directly East of Ghana, and Benin East of Togo, so each country is only about three hours apart.
We (Kristin, Sarah, Clara and I) left for Togo early Tuesday morning. We hopped on a tro in Madina and paid our 5.50 cedis and we were off to Togo. Unfortunately I had a very large women at the end of my row, so the guy sitting next to me was leaning up really close to me and he did not smell particularly good, so it was kind of a long three hours. Crossing the border from Ghana to Togo was no problem, and conveniently, the hotel we stayed at was about 3 blocks away from the border, so we could just walk right there. Our hotel was really simple, we had two beds, two fans, and a small bathroom where you could literally use the toilet, shower, and wash your hands all from the same spot. But for the equivalent of about 6 dollars a night, I figure it's a pretty good deal. Also, our hotel was directly across the street from the beach, so you couldn't beat the view!
Togo was absolutely amazing! I had so much fun while being there and I loved just having a break from Accra. Everything in Lome (the capital of Togo) seemed more relaxed to me and there wasn't as much yelling and everyone just seemed really friendly. Also, because they speak French in Togo, they don't yell Obruni, they say La Blanche or Mon Chere, both of which sound much nicer than Obruni. Also, they use Moto Taxis (motorcycles) which Ghana should really start doing. They were so much fun, and they're cheap, and they can weave around stopped traffic much more easily and it just makes getting places really easy. We spent most of Tuesday wandering around Lome and the big market they had. We had avocado sandwiches for lunch, which was a lot like eating a guacamole sandwich, avocado and tomatoes and onions and salt, all on fresh baguette, so delicious! For the night we went to a random restaurant we found that had a really odd variety of menu choices, but I was able to get a beef shwarma wrap that was really tasty, for the equivalent of about 3 dollars. Then we walked down to an ice cream store!! It was real ice cream and it was so good! The waiters there really got a kick out of us four white girls, so they were really generous with our servings, so I got mint chocolate chip, chocolate, and something called crunch, which tasted a lot like a snickers bar. I don't think ice cream has ever tasted so good to me,
Wednesday morning we got up early and headed off to Kpolime, where we wanted to see a butterfly garden. If you're curious about how public transportation works in West Africa, let me enlighten you. Buses leave when they are full, and never before then. So we got to the station at 8:00 a.m. and we left 9:30 a.m. quite a long wait in the sun in a stuffy tro. Also, tros need to be stuffed as much as possible to make more money, so in a vehicle meant for 16 people, we had 22. It's about a two hours ride to Kpolime and with 22 people, it certainly was not comfortable. Clara and I had to take turns leaning forwards or back against the seat so that we each had enough room. And mind you, it's somewhere around 90 degrees (if not hotter) so everyone is hot and sweaty and smelly. Overall, not the most enjoyable tro ride ever, but hey, it's done now. Kpalime was a really neat town where people seemed to speak an odd mix of Ewe and French, making translating somewhat difficult for Kristen. Lonely Planet had told us that we should try to find someone in town who could guide us around the butterfly garden, so we asked around, and Kristie spent a long time bargaining with someone, and we eventually settled on a price that included a driver, a car, and a guided tour, so off we went. The guide (who's name I think was Momo) was able to show us all sorts of neat things, including a waterfall, and a mountain where you could see most of Togo from one side, and then part of Ghana from the other. When we eventually got to the butterfly gardens though, the man in charge there said that the butterflies would be gone for the next three months. Now, Momo had told us that he does this tour all the time, so we figure, if you do this all the time, wouldn't you know that the butterflies would be gone? But Momo kept insisting he had no idea what was going on and that he was very surprised to hear any of this. We still don't really believe him. With that not working he offered instead to walk us along a path so we could see different fruits and veggies growing. That actually worked out and he even got a cocoa pod down for us so we could munch on the seeds. In case you're wondering, cocoa seeds taste like melon more than anything, not cocoa. And you suck on them, don't chew! When we got back in to town and we payed Momo he got mad because he said our money only included the driver and the car, and that we also needed to pay him for guiding us. Kristen explained to him that we had already agreed on the price and we weren't going to pay more. Then he got mad because he said we were cheating him, but we were mad because we hadn't even seen butterflies and we had already paid more than we wanted to. Momo ended up getting really mad and we were just as frustrated, so we gave him a 1,000 cefa note (about 3 dollars) and left. It was less than he asked for, but more than we wanted to give, so we figured that was fair. Then we luckily found a really nice guy who quickly found us an already full tro and we headed back to Lome. Despite the butterfly garden not working out, and fighting with Momo at the end, it was still a really day.
Thursday morning we headed off to Cotonou, the capital of Benin. We had read that there were buses that went from Lome to Cotonou on a daily basis, but couldn't find them. While talking to the taxi drivers about where the buses might be we were told “there are no buses, they left with colonization” Probably one of the best quotes I have heard my whole time of being here. We never were able to find the buses, so we took a shared taxi there. Now, most cars fit 3 people in the back and 2 people in the front counting the driver. Not how they do it in West Africa. Here, a full taxi means 7 people. The driver in his spot, 2 people in the passenger seat and 4 in the backseat. Not the best set up for a country that is hot and humid, but hey, it meant we paid about 10 dollars to get all the way to Benin. Also,in case you were wondering, Benin is 1 hour ahead of Ghana, which we figured out after we were confused how it took us four hours to do a three hour trip and none of our clocks matched up with any of the ones in Benin.
We stayed with some friends of friends in Benin which was a huge money saver and the people were incredibly nice! They were Preced and Victor, and they had a daughter and son who were both really sweet. The boy was 4 years old and you could tell that he kind of ruled the roost. He was really cute and definitely knew how to get what he wants. The family seems very well off, their house was really nice, and it was air conditioned, which you don't usually find. This meant two wonderful nights of sleeping in the cold and not sweating, woo hoo! Most of Thursday was taken up with traveling, but we were able to go all around the big market in Cotonou, which seemed a lot like the markets here, but this time with everyone yelling in French.
Friday morning we headed off to Ganvia, which is a stilt village in Benin. It was really neat to to see the stilt village since literally everything was on stilts. There was a very small patch of actual land that had a few houses/buildings, but besdies that, everything was above the water. There were canoes of all shapes and sizes with people of all ages going throughout the village. The kids were adorable and always seemed excited about seeing white people. We canoed there and back, so it meant about three hours in the water, with no shade, and an awfully bright sun, so it was definitely one of the hotter activities I have ever done. After Ganvia we headed off to Ouidah (pronounced wee-duh) where we had wanted to see a museum on the history of Ouidah, but it was closed. Turns out that the first of May is more or less the West African version of Labor Day, so most everything was closed. Ouidah is known for it's voodoo practices, and this museum was supposed to have a neat section on the history of voodoo and the current role it plays for Ouidah, so we were bummed we couldn't see that. We did make it to the Sacred Forest, where they had different statues depicting important symbols and figures in the voodoo religion (over 50% of people living in Benin practice voodoo), so at least we got a small taste of what it's about. We then decided to do the Route des Esclaves, which is the route taken by slaves when they were brought to the ships that would take them away from Africa. Our book told us it was a 4 km walk, which seemed very doable, but it was much longer than that. We walked for probably about two hours, always thinking that we must almost be there. By the time you reach the beach there is an archway saying “point of no return” and it is a memorial dedicated to the slaves. It was good to see, but had we known how long the walk was actually going to be, I think we would have done moto taxis instead. We originally thought it would be funny to drive along the route that is so known for it's history. However, the road is now the major one used to get to the beach, and there is no path, you just along the side of this very dusty, very busy road, so a vehicle probably would have really been our best choice. We got back to Preced and Victor's at about 7:30, had dinner, and pretty much all fell asleep by 10:00. I think between all the sun and all the walking, we were just way to tired!
Saturday morning Sarah and Kristen headed off to the North of Benin while Clara and I headed back for Accra. I am quite proud of us for making it all the way through Benin and Togo without either of us really knowing how to speak French. With enough pointing and my extremely basic knowledge of French and most of the customs peoples knowledge of English, we got through ok. Luckily, our taxi driver from Cotonou to Lome was great and he drove us right to the Lome/Ghana border, so we got to avoid a lot of interactions there. It took about 8 hours to get all the way back, but we safely made it! Also, that means I was in three countries in one day on Saturday, how cool!!
So there was our great adventure to the East of Ghana. I'm really happy that we did it and it was great to see a new part of the world! Monday is another exam (Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghana) and then Tuesday morning Clara and I take off for Burkina Faso! It's a 24 hour bus ride, with some stops, but it's air conditioned and everyone has their own seat, so at least we'll be comfortable. We'll meet up with Kristen there and travel all around for a few days, hopefully seeing hippos and crocodiles in Bobo! I have no internet or phone service in Burkina, so it will be another week or so until you hear from me again. And just a week after I am back from Burkina Faso, I leave for home! Tuesday the 18th will be here in no time and then I will be back to real water and electricity, both of which have really been lacking lately. And studying for an exam anytime after 7:00 p.m. is pretty hard when there is no light to read your notes by. This sure will make taking exams next year at Morris seem like nothing!
See you all soon!
This past week was an adventure to Togo and Benin. Togo is directly East of Ghana, and Benin East of Togo, so each country is only about three hours apart.
We (Kristin, Sarah, Clara and I) left for Togo early Tuesday morning. We hopped on a tro in Madina and paid our 5.50 cedis and we were off to Togo. Unfortunately I had a very large women at the end of my row, so the guy sitting next to me was leaning up really close to me and he did not smell particularly good, so it was kind of a long three hours. Crossing the border from Ghana to Togo was no problem, and conveniently, the hotel we stayed at was about 3 blocks away from the border, so we could just walk right there. Our hotel was really simple, we had two beds, two fans, and a small bathroom where you could literally use the toilet, shower, and wash your hands all from the same spot. But for the equivalent of about 6 dollars a night, I figure it's a pretty good deal. Also, our hotel was directly across the street from the beach, so you couldn't beat the view!
Togo was absolutely amazing! I had so much fun while being there and I loved just having a break from Accra. Everything in Lome (the capital of Togo) seemed more relaxed to me and there wasn't as much yelling and everyone just seemed really friendly. Also, because they speak French in Togo, they don't yell Obruni, they say La Blanche or Mon Chere, both of which sound much nicer than Obruni. Also, they use Moto Taxis (motorcycles) which Ghana should really start doing. They were so much fun, and they're cheap, and they can weave around stopped traffic much more easily and it just makes getting places really easy. We spent most of Tuesday wandering around Lome and the big market they had. We had avocado sandwiches for lunch, which was a lot like eating a guacamole sandwich, avocado and tomatoes and onions and salt, all on fresh baguette, so delicious! For the night we went to a random restaurant we found that had a really odd variety of menu choices, but I was able to get a beef shwarma wrap that was really tasty, for the equivalent of about 3 dollars. Then we walked down to an ice cream store!! It was real ice cream and it was so good! The waiters there really got a kick out of us four white girls, so they were really generous with our servings, so I got mint chocolate chip, chocolate, and something called crunch, which tasted a lot like a snickers bar. I don't think ice cream has ever tasted so good to me,
Wednesday morning we got up early and headed off to Kpolime, where we wanted to see a butterfly garden. If you're curious about how public transportation works in West Africa, let me enlighten you. Buses leave when they are full, and never before then. So we got to the station at 8:00 a.m. and we left 9:30 a.m. quite a long wait in the sun in a stuffy tro. Also, tros need to be stuffed as much as possible to make more money, so in a vehicle meant for 16 people, we had 22. It's about a two hours ride to Kpolime and with 22 people, it certainly was not comfortable. Clara and I had to take turns leaning forwards or back against the seat so that we each had enough room. And mind you, it's somewhere around 90 degrees (if not hotter) so everyone is hot and sweaty and smelly. Overall, not the most enjoyable tro ride ever, but hey, it's done now. Kpalime was a really neat town where people seemed to speak an odd mix of Ewe and French, making translating somewhat difficult for Kristen. Lonely Planet had told us that we should try to find someone in town who could guide us around the butterfly garden, so we asked around, and Kristie spent a long time bargaining with someone, and we eventually settled on a price that included a driver, a car, and a guided tour, so off we went. The guide (who's name I think was Momo) was able to show us all sorts of neat things, including a waterfall, and a mountain where you could see most of Togo from one side, and then part of Ghana from the other. When we eventually got to the butterfly gardens though, the man in charge there said that the butterflies would be gone for the next three months. Now, Momo had told us that he does this tour all the time, so we figure, if you do this all the time, wouldn't you know that the butterflies would be gone? But Momo kept insisting he had no idea what was going on and that he was very surprised to hear any of this. We still don't really believe him. With that not working he offered instead to walk us along a path so we could see different fruits and veggies growing. That actually worked out and he even got a cocoa pod down for us so we could munch on the seeds. In case you're wondering, cocoa seeds taste like melon more than anything, not cocoa. And you suck on them, don't chew! When we got back in to town and we payed Momo he got mad because he said our money only included the driver and the car, and that we also needed to pay him for guiding us. Kristen explained to him that we had already agreed on the price and we weren't going to pay more. Then he got mad because he said we were cheating him, but we were mad because we hadn't even seen butterflies and we had already paid more than we wanted to. Momo ended up getting really mad and we were just as frustrated, so we gave him a 1,000 cefa note (about 3 dollars) and left. It was less than he asked for, but more than we wanted to give, so we figured that was fair. Then we luckily found a really nice guy who quickly found us an already full tro and we headed back to Lome. Despite the butterfly garden not working out, and fighting with Momo at the end, it was still a really day.
Thursday morning we headed off to Cotonou, the capital of Benin. We had read that there were buses that went from Lome to Cotonou on a daily basis, but couldn't find them. While talking to the taxi drivers about where the buses might be we were told “there are no buses, they left with colonization” Probably one of the best quotes I have heard my whole time of being here. We never were able to find the buses, so we took a shared taxi there. Now, most cars fit 3 people in the back and 2 people in the front counting the driver. Not how they do it in West Africa. Here, a full taxi means 7 people. The driver in his spot, 2 people in the passenger seat and 4 in the backseat. Not the best set up for a country that is hot and humid, but hey, it meant we paid about 10 dollars to get all the way to Benin. Also,in case you were wondering, Benin is 1 hour ahead of Ghana, which we figured out after we were confused how it took us four hours to do a three hour trip and none of our clocks matched up with any of the ones in Benin.
We stayed with some friends of friends in Benin which was a huge money saver and the people were incredibly nice! They were Preced and Victor, and they had a daughter and son who were both really sweet. The boy was 4 years old and you could tell that he kind of ruled the roost. He was really cute and definitely knew how to get what he wants. The family seems very well off, their house was really nice, and it was air conditioned, which you don't usually find. This meant two wonderful nights of sleeping in the cold and not sweating, woo hoo! Most of Thursday was taken up with traveling, but we were able to go all around the big market in Cotonou, which seemed a lot like the markets here, but this time with everyone yelling in French.
Friday morning we headed off to Ganvia, which is a stilt village in Benin. It was really neat to to see the stilt village since literally everything was on stilts. There was a very small patch of actual land that had a few houses/buildings, but besdies that, everything was above the water. There were canoes of all shapes and sizes with people of all ages going throughout the village. The kids were adorable and always seemed excited about seeing white people. We canoed there and back, so it meant about three hours in the water, with no shade, and an awfully bright sun, so it was definitely one of the hotter activities I have ever done. After Ganvia we headed off to Ouidah (pronounced wee-duh) where we had wanted to see a museum on the history of Ouidah, but it was closed. Turns out that the first of May is more or less the West African version of Labor Day, so most everything was closed. Ouidah is known for it's voodoo practices, and this museum was supposed to have a neat section on the history of voodoo and the current role it plays for Ouidah, so we were bummed we couldn't see that. We did make it to the Sacred Forest, where they had different statues depicting important symbols and figures in the voodoo religion (over 50% of people living in Benin practice voodoo), so at least we got a small taste of what it's about. We then decided to do the Route des Esclaves, which is the route taken by slaves when they were brought to the ships that would take them away from Africa. Our book told us it was a 4 km walk, which seemed very doable, but it was much longer than that. We walked for probably about two hours, always thinking that we must almost be there. By the time you reach the beach there is an archway saying “point of no return” and it is a memorial dedicated to the slaves. It was good to see, but had we known how long the walk was actually going to be, I think we would have done moto taxis instead. We originally thought it would be funny to drive along the route that is so known for it's history. However, the road is now the major one used to get to the beach, and there is no path, you just along the side of this very dusty, very busy road, so a vehicle probably would have really been our best choice. We got back to Preced and Victor's at about 7:30, had dinner, and pretty much all fell asleep by 10:00. I think between all the sun and all the walking, we were just way to tired!
Saturday morning Sarah and Kristen headed off to the North of Benin while Clara and I headed back for Accra. I am quite proud of us for making it all the way through Benin and Togo without either of us really knowing how to speak French. With enough pointing and my extremely basic knowledge of French and most of the customs peoples knowledge of English, we got through ok. Luckily, our taxi driver from Cotonou to Lome was great and he drove us right to the Lome/Ghana border, so we got to avoid a lot of interactions there. It took about 8 hours to get all the way back, but we safely made it! Also, that means I was in three countries in one day on Saturday, how cool!!
So there was our great adventure to the East of Ghana. I'm really happy that we did it and it was great to see a new part of the world! Monday is another exam (Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghana) and then Tuesday morning Clara and I take off for Burkina Faso! It's a 24 hour bus ride, with some stops, but it's air conditioned and everyone has their own seat, so at least we'll be comfortable. We'll meet up with Kristen there and travel all around for a few days, hopefully seeing hippos and crocodiles in Bobo! I have no internet or phone service in Burkina, so it will be another week or so until you hear from me again. And just a week after I am back from Burkina Faso, I leave for home! Tuesday the 18th will be here in no time and then I will be back to real water and electricity, both of which have really been lacking lately. And studying for an exam anytime after 7:00 p.m. is pretty hard when there is no light to read your notes by. This sure will make taking exams next year at Morris seem like nothing!
See you all soon!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
My Adventures Schedule
Here is my grand adventure plan for those of you who are curious:
April 22nd-24th: Elmina Castle, Nzuelzo Stilt Village
April 25th-27th: Study for and then take Culture, Gender, and Reproductive Health final exam
April 28th-May 1st: Togo and Benin (w/ Clara and Kristin and Sarah)
May 2nd-4th: Study for and then take Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghana final exam
May 5th-10th: Burkina Faso, Crocodile Sanctuary, Hippopotamus Sanctuary
May 11th-May 13th: Study for and then take Human Rights in Africa final exam
May 14th-May 16th: Study for and then take Penology final exam
May 17th: Be baffled as to of how my time is already gone, spend one more day at the beach, pack
May 18th: Worry and panic about not enough suitcase room, desperately rearrange things in the hopes to make them fit better. 10:30 p.m. take off for Heathrow Airport
May 19th: Arrive in Heathrow at 6:30 a.m. entirely confused, find chocolate, wait for next plane. 11:30 a.m. board plane, fly to O'Hare. Arrive at O'Hare having lost 5 hours somewhere along the way. Make it through customs, find Clara's parents, cry and hug them ecstatically. 2:30 p.m. hop in the car, head to Saint Paul. 9:30 p.m. arrive at home, repeat crying and hugging ecstatically, take a hot shower, go to bed.
So there you have it, the next month of my life. The last two days are particularly well planned out, haha. Today is April 18th, which means exactly on month to go until I leave for home, so crazy!! And I'm quite sure time is going to fly with all these trips! Also, if you were going to send me mail, you should send it now or not at all. Anytime past this week, it probably won't get to me before I leave. Feel free to send e-mails instead! :) I miss you all and hope you're having as much fun as me! :)
April 22nd-24th: Elmina Castle, Nzuelzo Stilt Village
April 25th-27th: Study for and then take Culture, Gender, and Reproductive Health final exam
April 28th-May 1st: Togo and Benin (w/ Clara and Kristin and Sarah)
May 2nd-4th: Study for and then take Regionalism and Ethnicity in Ghana final exam
May 5th-10th: Burkina Faso, Crocodile Sanctuary, Hippopotamus Sanctuary
May 11th-May 13th: Study for and then take Human Rights in Africa final exam
May 14th-May 16th: Study for and then take Penology final exam
May 17th: Be baffled as to of how my time is already gone, spend one more day at the beach, pack
May 18th: Worry and panic about not enough suitcase room, desperately rearrange things in the hopes to make them fit better. 10:30 p.m. take off for Heathrow Airport
May 19th: Arrive in Heathrow at 6:30 a.m. entirely confused, find chocolate, wait for next plane. 11:30 a.m. board plane, fly to O'Hare. Arrive at O'Hare having lost 5 hours somewhere along the way. Make it through customs, find Clara's parents, cry and hug them ecstatically. 2:30 p.m. hop in the car, head to Saint Paul. 9:30 p.m. arrive at home, repeat crying and hugging ecstatically, take a hot shower, go to bed.
So there you have it, the next month of my life. The last two days are particularly well planned out, haha. Today is April 18th, which means exactly on month to go until I leave for home, so crazy!! And I'm quite sure time is going to fly with all these trips! Also, if you were going to send me mail, you should send it now or not at all. Anytime past this week, it probably won't get to me before I leave. Feel free to send e-mails instead! :) I miss you all and hope you're having as much fun as me! :)
The president of Ghana, waterfalls, and monkeys
What a great weekend! This weekend was the last of our four CIEE trips and I think it was probably my favorite one. We went to the Volta Region, where I hadn't been yet, and went to Wli Waterfalls and a mokey sanctuary! I also saw the president of Ghana, John Atta Mills, purely by chance, but it was so cool! The hotel we stayed at was having a shopping mall of sorts constructed by it and Mills is really big on developing Ghana, so he came out to give a short speech about how important this progress was. Security didn't let us get to close to him, but he drove past in his motorcade and waved to the few of us who were outside, it was awesome! I have now seen in person, the president of my home country and the president of my temporarily home country. I'm pretty impressed with myself. :)
Saturday afternoon we had an early lunch at the hotel and then we drove about two hours to Wli falls. We had a 45 minute hike through the jungle which meant a break from the sun, but holey moley the humidity was crazy! The forest was so green and gorgeous, but it was hard to see everything, because a lot of time was spent making sure I didn't fall on my face since the path was pretty rough. There were some people doing the walk in flip-flops and I'm surprised no one broke an ankle, I was pretty thankful for my Merrell's and for my dad being smart enough to make me get some. By the time we reached the falls I was pretty sweaty, but my problem was conveniently solved by the 60 meter high waterfall that I got to swim into! The water was a little chilly, but not much worse than any MN water in late May, I think most people were just babies. It was so cool to swim under the actual waterfall, and then we went behind it and looked up from there and that was amazing! It was something of an uncomfortable walk back with a wet bathing suit, but it was so worth it for the falls! I have some cool pictures, but you all will have to wait for those until May. And someone on the trip has a picture of me in the falls, so there is proof! Dinner was back at the hotel, and afterwards some of us went for a night time swim, which was almost as good as the falls, haha. Night time is never all that cold (at least not for me) so it was great to have warm air around me and a cold pool to swim around in. Plus, it was night time, no worries of sun burn for me, woo-hoo! I enjoyed an amazing hot shower and then slept in an air conditioned room, sooooo nice!
Sunday morning was a breakfast of beans, toast, eggs, and steamed lettuce (pretty common around here) and then we were off to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. These monkeys are pretty used to tourists and they're calm, so we got to feed them! They came up so close to us and really happily grabbed the bananas and ate from our hands. It was great to see them up so close and their jumping abilities are pretty impressive. I fed one monkey who happily sat by me while eating, and then another mama monkey who had a tiny baby monkey attached to her. Pretty sure it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Again, there are pictures, but you will have to wait until I am home.
Between swimming in a waterfall and feeding monkeys, I had a very African experience weekend. Which is good, it reminds me of why I choose to come to Ghana and not a more developed or more like America country. Of course, when I got back, the water was out all over my dorm, and I was back to wondering why not England or Ireland, haha.
I got my Visa for Togo last Thursday, and on Tuesday I am getting one for Benin, so that trip should be good to go! Also, this Wednesday I leave for Elmina Castle and a stilt village. Elmina Castle is in Cape Coast, where I have been before, but my tour of Cape Coast Castle was kind of a let down, so I'm going to try again with Elmina this time. From there we take off to Nzuelzo stilt village and hopefully this will go better than the planned trip we were supposed to go on, that never happened, when at 4:00 in the morning, there was still no bus. We come back Saturday and then I'll study like crazy for my first exam on Monday. It's crazy to think how soon those are happening! EEK! I've got all sorts of trips planned out for the next few weeks, but I will save your eyes, and put those in another post.
Saturday afternoon we had an early lunch at the hotel and then we drove about two hours to Wli falls. We had a 45 minute hike through the jungle which meant a break from the sun, but holey moley the humidity was crazy! The forest was so green and gorgeous, but it was hard to see everything, because a lot of time was spent making sure I didn't fall on my face since the path was pretty rough. There were some people doing the walk in flip-flops and I'm surprised no one broke an ankle, I was pretty thankful for my Merrell's and for my dad being smart enough to make me get some. By the time we reached the falls I was pretty sweaty, but my problem was conveniently solved by the 60 meter high waterfall that I got to swim into! The water was a little chilly, but not much worse than any MN water in late May, I think most people were just babies. It was so cool to swim under the actual waterfall, and then we went behind it and looked up from there and that was amazing! It was something of an uncomfortable walk back with a wet bathing suit, but it was so worth it for the falls! I have some cool pictures, but you all will have to wait for those until May. And someone on the trip has a picture of me in the falls, so there is proof! Dinner was back at the hotel, and afterwards some of us went for a night time swim, which was almost as good as the falls, haha. Night time is never all that cold (at least not for me) so it was great to have warm air around me and a cold pool to swim around in. Plus, it was night time, no worries of sun burn for me, woo-hoo! I enjoyed an amazing hot shower and then slept in an air conditioned room, sooooo nice!
Sunday morning was a breakfast of beans, toast, eggs, and steamed lettuce (pretty common around here) and then we were off to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. These monkeys are pretty used to tourists and they're calm, so we got to feed them! They came up so close to us and really happily grabbed the bananas and ate from our hands. It was great to see them up so close and their jumping abilities are pretty impressive. I fed one monkey who happily sat by me while eating, and then another mama monkey who had a tiny baby monkey attached to her. Pretty sure it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Again, there are pictures, but you will have to wait until I am home.
Between swimming in a waterfall and feeding monkeys, I had a very African experience weekend. Which is good, it reminds me of why I choose to come to Ghana and not a more developed or more like America country. Of course, when I got back, the water was out all over my dorm, and I was back to wondering why not England or Ireland, haha.
I got my Visa for Togo last Thursday, and on Tuesday I am getting one for Benin, so that trip should be good to go! Also, this Wednesday I leave for Elmina Castle and a stilt village. Elmina Castle is in Cape Coast, where I have been before, but my tour of Cape Coast Castle was kind of a let down, so I'm going to try again with Elmina this time. From there we take off to Nzuelzo stilt village and hopefully this will go better than the planned trip we were supposed to go on, that never happened, when at 4:00 in the morning, there was still no bus. We come back Saturday and then I'll study like crazy for my first exam on Monday. It's crazy to think how soon those are happening! EEK! I've got all sorts of trips planned out for the next few weeks, but I will save your eyes, and put those in another post.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Still Alive
Hello All!
Sorry for not being better about posting, but the internet has been particularly slow these past few weeks, so getting blgoger to work is always a challenge.
The past two weeks or so have been filled with different things. I purchased fabric a ways back and was finally able to have clothesm madfe with it. I found a great (and cheap) seamstress who is incredibly nice and does really good work, so I'm very pleased with my clothes. I've been to the beach a few times (don't worry Mom, always with sunscreen). Last weekend I toured a prison in Nsawma (a small town outside of Accra) which was quite interesting. 5 men live in a cell that's about 1/4 the size of an average college dorm room. There is no shade anywhere and there is always noise. I recommend never doing anything illegal to anyone who comes to Ghana. This past weekend was Easter, which means all of last week and this past weekend was filled with church services. My one suitemate can't believe that I had no plans to go to chuch at all. I went to Palm Sunday service and that was enough for me. Clara (one of the girls on the trip with me) went to Easter service with her host family and it was 7 hours long! Needless to say, I'm ok with having not experienced that. For easter itself, Clara and I went to Gail and Stu's (the folks who work for the Embassy) and that was really nice! We met three of their friends and had delicious turkey and salads and lemon merengue, yum! We also got to sleep there, which means air-conditioning and real blankets, woo-hoo!
This is the last week of classes here, although three of my four are already done. Two classes ended two weeks ago, and one class ended last week. So I just have the one class today and then I am done! Next week is revision week, and then exams begin for three weeks. It's weird to think that I am done with classes here, I kind of feel as if we're just now starting to learn things.
Planning for my different trips is starting. I'm hoping to make it to Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso, and then a few different places within Ghana. Once I know my travel schedule I'll keep you all updated! I have a feeling that my last three weeks here are going to go pretty quickly, because I'll either be studying, taking a final, or traveling. So I will spend the next two weeks getting ready for all that.
This time in exactly 5 weeks, I will be boarding a plane in Heathrow headed to O'Hare, this is crazy! While I love being here, I will definitely be glad to be headed home, but I'm glad I've still got lots of travel time to go!
Happy Tuesday!
Sorry for not being better about posting, but the internet has been particularly slow these past few weeks, so getting blgoger to work is always a challenge.
The past two weeks or so have been filled with different things. I purchased fabric a ways back and was finally able to have clothesm madfe with it. I found a great (and cheap) seamstress who is incredibly nice and does really good work, so I'm very pleased with my clothes. I've been to the beach a few times (don't worry Mom, always with sunscreen). Last weekend I toured a prison in Nsawma (a small town outside of Accra) which was quite interesting. 5 men live in a cell that's about 1/4 the size of an average college dorm room. There is no shade anywhere and there is always noise. I recommend never doing anything illegal to anyone who comes to Ghana. This past weekend was Easter, which means all of last week and this past weekend was filled with church services. My one suitemate can't believe that I had no plans to go to chuch at all. I went to Palm Sunday service and that was enough for me. Clara (one of the girls on the trip with me) went to Easter service with her host family and it was 7 hours long! Needless to say, I'm ok with having not experienced that. For easter itself, Clara and I went to Gail and Stu's (the folks who work for the Embassy) and that was really nice! We met three of their friends and had delicious turkey and salads and lemon merengue, yum! We also got to sleep there, which means air-conditioning and real blankets, woo-hoo!
This is the last week of classes here, although three of my four are already done. Two classes ended two weeks ago, and one class ended last week. So I just have the one class today and then I am done! Next week is revision week, and then exams begin for three weeks. It's weird to think that I am done with classes here, I kind of feel as if we're just now starting to learn things.
Planning for my different trips is starting. I'm hoping to make it to Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso, and then a few different places within Ghana. Once I know my travel schedule I'll keep you all updated! I have a feeling that my last three weeks here are going to go pretty quickly, because I'll either be studying, taking a final, or traveling. So I will spend the next two weeks getting ready for all that.
This time in exactly 5 weeks, I will be boarding a plane in Heathrow headed to O'Hare, this is crazy! While I love being here, I will definitely be glad to be headed home, but I'm glad I've still got lots of travel time to go!
Happy Tuesday!
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