hey jude

Another full day! We started with a lecture on religion in Ghana. Ghana is primarily a Christian nation. The last census was taken in 2000, and showed at 69% of the Ghanaians are Christian. However, because religion is a public affair in Ghana, the number of “churched” Christians (devout Christians) is around 15%. One of the most interesting thigns I learned about African Christianity is that while they believe in one sovereign God (big “G”) they also believe in many gods (small “g”), but they don’t consider themselves polytheistic. This is because the smaller gods are intermediaries and helpers of the God. The gods are just messengers for the big God, and gods and Gods are never equal. There are shrines set up for the gods, but ultimately, the praises of these gods are a reflection of the praises of and gratitude towards the big God. Islam was introduced uninentioally when traders from the Middle East came through Ghana and began setlling and intermarrying within the Ghanaian population in the 15th century. The rhetoric of Ghana is very religious—many of the taxi cabs’ back windows have religious stickers on the back. Even in the recent Ghanaian election, church songs were appropriated as the candidates theme songs, interchanging the word “God” with the candidates’ name.

Today we also met the NYU Faculty, which was really interesting. All of them are wonderful and every class sounds great, so I’m doing some shuffling around still trying to decide exactly what I want to take this semester. I want to be productive enough to make a lasting impact on my surroundings, but to rest enough to find peace for my soul at the same time.

I made a list during one of our sessions today about things I have forgotten to mention in the blog, so here they are:

The song that was playing on the van coming from the airport was called “Barack Obama” by Blakk Rasta- a Ghanaian rapper. Do yourself a favor and watch the video/listen to the song- it’s great and will get stuck in your head all day, I promise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L85YF0pyPH0

Also, some of you may want to write me.

My address for letters and USPS packages is:

Elizabeth Shelby
PMB CT 84
Cantonments, Accra
Ghana

Any other form of post (FedEx, DHL), please email me and I’ll send you another address to mail to.

Tonight we went to an outdoor bar/dance club with a live Ghanaian band playing tons of drums and beads and moroccas and the like. It was SO much fun to be outside and dancing! However, it was incredibly hot and crowded, and having already been out in the sun all day, we smelled disgusting. That’s just how it goes here, and you just get used to always being dirty and looking kind of awful. With all the dirt, sweat, layers of sunscreen and bugspray our bodies accumulate throughout the day, a nice shower beckons us before bed. But anyway, it was so much fun and all the girls just danced together to local Ghanaian music while couples danced all around us. The band played Ghanaian music, but also played covers of very Western songs like Hey Jude. It was sooo funny to hear them singing that song and playing it really well on their drums and other crazy instruments. I guess music is the unviersal language. The club/bar/dance place apparently also has a lot of older, European gentlemen with young, Ghanaian women, and put two and two together, it’s very apparent that these women are these men’s escorts for the evening. Very strange to see so out in the open. “Women of the night,” as they’re called here, would dance on the floor near us, and grab guys and drag them on the floor too. Very interesting and fun experience.

I’m exhausted and we have to wake up again early tomorrow (will this ever end?!). Tomorrow we’re going to the largest art gallery in West Africa, so I’m excited!

love love love

elizabeth (see pictures below)

ps- Aunt Isha, left-handed people can still use their left hand to write, but all Ghanaians are taught from the time they're born that all activity should be done with the right hand, so many learn to write with their left hand and end up ambidextrous!

A heart shape I found in the dirt at the University of Ghana. I think the heart was made from old tire rubber or something, and it was just laying in the dirt in that exact shape. This is my desktop now. :)

This is what registration looks like- a mob scene! I bet you could guess who I was with?

Dancing tonight at the club (whose name escapes me right now). The sheen on my face is PURE sweat- I was literally dripping.