Hey!! Very sorry for the slow response on the blog. I have been very busy with traveling up the coast, traveling around town and then getting ready for classes (of course, I am here to study abroad :-}).
The ISEP group went up to Cape Coast this weekend, which is about a 2 hour drive east of Accra. It was so beautiful and green. I really appreciated being out of the city. They took us to a place I can't remember the name of. It is a fort that was used for the slave trade. Apparently, there were so many of these forts across the coast that there was only a distance of about 18 kilometers between each fort. What impacted me the most was the reality of the slave trade. The amount of people, their treatment, and the global issue of humanity since slavery still exists today.
We then carried onward to our hotel which is on a crocodile pond :-). The next day we went hiking in Kakum National Forest. We did the canopy walk, where we walked on this rope/ladder system high above the main tree level. It was so beautiful! Turns out you can camp there, so I will be doing that hopefully!!
We also have taken some tro tro rides. This is very fun! And when I say fun, I mean something I would like and something mom would not like. Tro tros tend to be old vans that has someone shouting out the window where the tro tro is headed. If that's your intended route, you hop on then pay. But you have to be quick and aggressive because there is not a lot of room. We went to Medina mall. This is a local shopping area that has food, clothes, toothpaste, and everything else you want. The vendors sell live snails and live crabs. It is quite an experience of vendor after vendor crammed into a square and there are just narrow rows to walk down.
However, this not all of what Ghana is like. A very generous student took another ISEP student and I out for a simple Ghanaian bar experience. It was the most extravagant and fun "just going to the bar for a beer" that I could ever imagine. Hookah, chicken, and different types of drinks. I have learned that Ghanaians love to help you if you ask and they will go out of their way to make sure you are happy.
Alright, so the first week of school.....sometimes I wonder if it really is the first week of school because there are not a lot of people here. Teachers have not been showing up to some lectures. Only a third of the students are in class. I still don't know when my Twi (a local language of Ghana) will be. I'll find out in a week or so. It is the ultimate example of going with the flow. Supposedly, in a few weeks though I will have to be 30 minutes early to my lectures in order to just get a seat.
I miss you and love you!!!
