It is the end of my first full day in Ghana and it has been a full day! We started with a breakfast in the international hostel (international student dorm). Had some classes on safety and culture and then headed into the city. There are lots of international students, however, I am in a group of about 20 students. Only around 5 of us are staying for the full year. Our guides and the administration in charge of us are wonderful! All of the guides are students, except for Obed who just graduated. They crack jokes with us and it's as though we have known them for weeks. They are incredibly friendly. All Ghanaians are very friendly! An example is that if they bump you in the street they apologize. I have never been to a large city where this is the culture. On a side note, we have been completely fed and taken care of. All of my needs have been met and all of my questions answered.
Since we have been here we have gone to the mall twice. It is a mall just like a regular busy American mall. Mainly middle to upper class people go here as most of the population financially can not spend money on anything more than food or basic necessities. Driving through town it was easy to see this. We now have modems for the internet, cell phones, and plastic buckets. These buckets are for washing your clothes and self. The information sheet to come here talked about the water pressure not always being on for the plumbing and showering. Luckily, when I wanted to shower it was on but not when I wanted to fill up my water bottles for the day. A friendly Ghanaian student invited me to his room and gave me some water in plastic bags--like melted ice packs. You rip a corner off and drink. I ended up purifying it out of precaution. So I also purchased some water bottles today just in case.
The downtown area was exactly how I imagined while also being exactly how I could never have imagined it. There are old cars and busses on tight roads. There are crammed stores that are open to the public except for a wall, kind of like in China Town, New York. Some sell souvenirs, some sell clothes, and others sell household items like cleaning supplies. Many people wonder down the streets selling these items alone by carrying all the goods on their heads or in their hands. There are people selling bracelets and they try to get you to write down your name on paper so they make you a bracelet that you have to buy. Saw a few people urinating today in the gutters, or just around the street. Saw someone bathing. Overall though, I had a wonderful day experiencing this place due to the kindness of the people.
We also went to Kwame Nkrumah's burial sight. He was the first president of Ghana and did a lot for the African people. As far as I understand the history, he is the main reason for the democracy that Ghana has today. We also went to the memorial of W.E.B. Du Bois. This man was leader for the rights of black people and spent his last few years of life in Ghana.
One more fun story. We saw parts of a wedding party today, therefore opening up the conversation about Ghanaian weddings. Our tour guide gave us a very truthful and humorous account of what it takes to be a man getting married. The bride's family gives the groom a list of things he needs to buy. This includes her dress, her underwear, their plane tickets for the honey moon, etc... The expenses are numerous and ultimately divorce is very very uncommon it seems.
Well I am headed to bed for day number 2---they take us to the beach. I love you!!!
I will put pictures in my next post :-)
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