the four "H"s

So I guess I need to catch everyone up on the last few days. I thought because I had so much free time yesterday, I’d be able to fully update my blog, but turns out, I only uploaded pictures of our house! Anyway, yesterday was nice because I got to sleep in until about 10, when the cleaning people woke me up, and then the guilt of seeping in late kept me up. I really hate that, and wish that when I have the opportunity to sleep in, I just do it. Either way, it was good rest. I don’t remember much about what I did yesterday, probably because I didn’t do much of anything but lounge around the house until Marykate and I decided to go to Marjorie with some of the fabric we already had to have her make a few more things for us. I already have two pretty conservative dresses, and so I decided to get a halter top made from this really pretty batik fabric, and to also get a high-waisted skirt made from this bright orange and yellow fabric. She said she’d have them done by Friday, just in time for our trip! She also sells a lot of fabric, so MK and I took a look through it all, and of course, I bought more fabric! I have four new kinds of fabric, but don’t worry, none of them are for me. I’ve already started brainstorming patterns and designs for my friends and family at home, so I’ve been collecting the fabric for the designs until people start sending me their measurements and what exactly they want (HINT HINT).

Anyway, yesterday we had an “Adjusting to Ghana” workshop, and two American professors that teach at the University of Ghana came and told us about the four stages most people go through when living in a different culture for the first time. The first is the “Honeymoon” phase, which apparently can last the entire time for some people. This phase is pretty self-explanatory, but basically means that you’re enthralled with everything and think everything’s really great and kind of blind to the realities of a lot of things. The second phase is the “Hostility” phase, when the newness has worn off and you’re very homesick and tired and aren’t quite yet adjusted to the new culture. The third phase is the “Humor” phase, and this is when you begin to adapt and begin to recognize cultural differences and adapt accordingly, without making judgment calls or anything. The final phase is the “Home” phase, and this happens about 10 weeks in, when you begin to really feel at ease with everything, and truly call this place “home”. I think right now I’m in between hostility and humor, because I still get frustrated with a lot of things, but also try to take everything in stride and realize that’s just the way things are in Ghana. I don’t know if I ever went through the honeymoon phase to a large extent, but I definitely had my share of “This place is incredible!” moments. Anyway, just found this interesting and thought I’d share.

After dinner we came home and a few of us watched Superbad and made Valentine’s Day cards. Since it takes about 2 weeks (I think longer, actually) for a letter to get to the United States, Gillian and I decided we’d better get our cards out now so that hopefully they’ll be there in time for Valentine’s Day.

Today was pretty relaxed, too. A bunch of us had our African Popular Music class, which was great and went by pretty fast. There are like 15 of us in the class, the largest class we have here, for sure, and our professor is totally an African music genius. I think he’s from London but has lived in Ghana and taught at Legon for over 30 years. After our music class, Gillian and I were on a quest to find Ghanaian chocolate to send home! It’s rare here because Ghana is rich in cocoa resources, but don’t have the structural means to produce chocolate out of the cocoa, so they must export their cocoa, and then import the produced chocolate. It’s kind of sad and twisted, and is a result of British colonialism. We finally found chocolate, and then headed to the post office (not on our bikes, since we didn’t want the chocolate to melt). After the post office, Gillian, Mallory and I went back to Marjorie, since she called me and said my skirt and top were ready!! She works so fast but does a really good job, and I was pleased to have them before our trip to Winneba tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll wear the clothes soon and take pictures to post!

Tomorrow we’re going to Winneba, a town about an hour west of Accra along the coast. Apparently it has really nice beaches (that you can actually swim in, unlike the beaches in Accra), and at night we get to go turtle watching! I think about 15 of us are going by bus, and sleeping four to a hotel room, but it’ll be a really fun road trip. A few of us are also planning a trip to Togo, which we might take on Valentine’s Day weekend, but we’re not entirely sure on the plans for that trip yet! Anyway, I’m excited to get out of Accra for a few days and lie on the beach and get to know more people in our group better! I probably won’t have internet, meaning I probably can’t update this over the weekend, but certainly will update and post pictures when we get back!

Hope all is well at home! I miss you all and love you so so so so so much!

love love love