Aburi, Classes, and Village Life II

This weekend I went to Aburi national park. This was a really cool park that CIEE brought us to. We all loaded up in buses and trekked out there. Through tiny villages and mountain roads, we arrived first at a wood carver's village. The sad thing was that non of us really remembered that we would be going there. We were all just thinking that we were going to the park and that would be it. So when the bus pulled over into a random parking lot that had no botanical sights in view, we were very confused. At first we were convinced that it was nothing more than a bathroom trip. But Abena(one of the CIEE folk) herded us into a corner where 4 men were carving wood. It was at that point that we realized where we were. One of the men gave us a history and introduction to wood carvingm, then were left to wander the shops. If we remembered that we were going to stop there we all would have brought a lot more money. Instead, we all wandered around amazed at how nice the stuff was(at least by a tourist's stand point) while trying to find someone to borrow money from. Since I didn't have enough, I figured the best thing to buy there would be a drum for Ty. I was looking aroung and was dismayed by the first few prices that I heard. The first guy offered me a drum for $65. Which is rediculous over here and I was terrified that we were stuck in a horrible tourist trap where everything is two to three times more expensive then it should be. But I kept looking around and I eventually found the same type of drum for $24. Since, I had lent some money to a friend, I had to go borrow from a different guy to buy my drum. But in the end it worked out and I was so happy. I felt kinda weird being so pumped about a drum that wasn't even for me. BUt if you bought the same drum in the US, it would have cost $150-$200. So I felt great and Ty should love banging it around campus. So enjoy, bro(a few months from now, that is).

After that we went to the garden and it was nice too. Our group(we split up) started in the royal garden. That's where dignitaries go and plant flora when they visit Ghana. All of the trees, bushes and flowers there were planted by Kings, Queens, Presidents, Prime Ministers, etc. For example, Queen Elizabeth planted a tree there. Other cool things were these trees that were enormously dense forests in and of them selves. There was so much life packed onto their branches that it looked like the tree was giving birth to other plants(ferns, mosses, smaller trees, etc.). Those ones got me really excited to go see a real ghanain forest. I couldn't wait to hike through one. My other favorite plant there was this canibal tree. Its starts like an invasive vine wrapping around and parasitically sucking the life out of its host. As it grows it takes on the form of the traditional tree(roots, trunk, branshes) as it engulfs its meal. Then, it replaces its host and dissolves it into nothing. So in the end, the tree looks like any other one out there, but with a hollow core(because the original tree once stood within).

I'll post again soon. I love you all. I'm off to Twi language classes.

peace

Aburi, Classes, and Village Life

So with my last post I put up pictures from my trip. I hope you all liked them. You don't kn0ow how much trouble it was to get them online. It took me hours, which turned into days. Most of the time while searching for internet cafes on campus, they are just down. Either the power has turned off or they can't get the network running. The most reliable place on campus is the international student lab, but because its filled with obrunies(and were all addicted to the internet), the place is constantly filled and while I have a ton of time in Ghana to do nothing, I don't have time to wait for hours to sit infront of a computer with a slow internet connection. And while i love this lab, I wasn't able to upload anything from any of the computers I tried. I tried all the photo sharing tools I could think of(facebook, picasa, picasa we albums, emailing them through gmail, etc) and nothign could work. In the end my neighbor lent me her laptop and I uploaded my pics to that and then went to a cafe in my neighborhood that costs $1 an hour. That cafe(they call 'internet cafes' simply 'cafes' and for those of you who don't know they are rooms filled with internet ready computers that customers come in and use by the hour or half hour... but i digress) is a really nice place. Their computers are responsive enough and their connection is fast. Plus, while they had the typical Ghanain power outage(twice during the three or so hours I was there), the power came back quickly because they have back up generators just for the lab. And my obruni sister, Rihana, also told me I can use her laptop any time I want to upload pictures in the future. So, that should make the process a lot easier.

If you haven't check them yet, do so. Another post is soon to come.

I Finally Uploaded Some Pictures

What you all have been waiting for....
Pictures!

I know, it took a while, this is Africa. The people here(Ghana) make $500 a year, so its hard to find a decent internet connection and computer to upload photos with.

But now that I have. My pictures will have a permanent slide show on the left side of this blog. Yep, over there. And if you click on the pictures it will take you to the album that holds them all. That way you can read the captions and see them in full screen/download them if you'd like.

Well, I'm off to produce said captions. See ya.

Host Family Continued

So, yes. I have a host family and I think that it is a really cool way to live while studying abroad. Those of us with hosts(6) get a leg up on learning about the culture/country because we are exposed to it on a much closer level.

In my host's home there are some 15 or so people. It is a compound of three houses and a lounge/bar/restaurant. None of the people who actually own the houses live there... all of them have moved to the UK or other cities in Ghana. For the time being the residents are just extended family members we have an aunt and uncle in one house with three boys. Only one of the boys is theirs. They also have a biological daughter, but she just left to go away to a technical university in Kumasi(second largest city/university in Ghana). In another house is a Grandma, aunt, two sons and a daughter. I'm not sure who's children they are, but the aunt there(auntie regina) has a heart of gold and takes care of everyone. At the same time she is one of those people who has a very hard time doing anything other then yell while communicating. I think its funny since have no idea what she's yelling about unless the person she's talking to will translate for me after the conversation is over. I think she's typically speaking in Twi(the language of the Ashanti tribe... the largest one in Ghana). What makes it so funny is that whoever she speaks with remains so calm while their being yelled at. I guess their just used to it. Oh and there used to be one other couple in our home. Anutie Bessy and her husbund. they aren't here any longer because they flew back to the UK this weekend. And I don't actually live in either of those houses. I live in the house that Aunti Bessy and husbund used to be in... but now its just all empty.

My Ghanaian brothers and sisters are as follow: Micky whose about to start college; his anonymous 'brother'(to be explained later) who may also be starting college soon; Fredrick who is 14; Bernard who is 13; Victoria who is 10 or 11; and Lexis who is 26; and Rihana who is studying abroad through my program aswell. The people I talk with most are Lexis and Fredrick. They are both cool people.

The restaurant also has a few people who work there. I really don't know who they are yet. I just recognize them by face. The only one i talk to in Israel.

my time is up and i've got to go.

peace and love

Ghanain Host Family

I love my Ghana family. They're great. I can't really pin down the demographics, because people keep moving in and out, but i can say that the home is more of a compound with three houses and a restaurant. There are different families living in each house but everyone is related and shares the space equally. There are aunts and uncles, children and grandma. Its really great that I get to live with them and experince life the way the ghanains do. I can't post more on that till later because i have class.... but I'll get back to them.


peace