togo v. cameroon

sporting my togolese flag at the togo v. cameroon football game!


so it's been almost a week since i've updated! but, i didn't update because there's really nothing to be updated on. last week was a pretty boring week. it was REALLY hard being back in ghana right after having been in morocco with my friends. gillian and i are trying to stay positive though, and hold each other accountable to making the best out of the last 6 weeks we have here.

this weekend was fun, though! last night (friday night) some friends and i went to the "coca cola party." i know, sounds as vague as it was. anyway, coke had some sort of radio contest, and the winner of the contest had a party thrown for him by coke. a ghanaian friend of one of the students on the program invited us to come along, so that's what about 10 of us did last night. it was at the silver star tower (one of the nicest, biggest buildings in ghana) on this balcony terrace level. everyone was decked out in red and white, and there was dancing and live performances and...CAKE! we all know how i get around a cake. anyway, as pathetic as this sounds, my friend stephanie and i waited until the cake was cut and passed out before we left.

stephanie and i called the nyu night driver, to come pick us up and take us back to solomon's. at night on the roads in ghana, police do roadside checks, where they shine a flashlight in your car and make you slow down or stop so they can inspect. it's not usually a big deal, and happens every night. because our vans are like huge, 15 passenger white vans, i guess they're an easy target for the police to stop. anyway, they stopped us and LONG story short, the police were threatening to detain our night driver at the cantonments police station for driving without his license. whenever our driver would try to explain why, for legit reasons, he didn't have his license on him in the car, the cops would get super defensive and start screaming at him "i don't care what you say, i'm in charge!". our driver was being nothing but absolutely respectful and compliant in every single way and these cops behaved like 5 year olds, exploiting the tiny bit of power they have. in the end, our driver wasn't detained, but did have to leave the van on the side of the road while he walked us home and then walked to his boss's office to get his license and the car's information before walking back to the van to give the cops the info. essentially, that experience was just a sad reminder of how even in progressing and developing nations, corruption, power struggle and greed are still very much at play.

today, marykate, stephanie and i went to makola market (yes! i went to the market and i didn't freak out!). marykate knew right where she was going, which made navigating and shopping a whole lot less stressful. we went solely to buy fabric, as i have a lot of things i need to get made for people! let me just say, i bought TONS of fabric, and none of it was for me! i'm really excited to have marjorie start making you all things :)

then, anika, marykate and i went to the togo embassy to meet up with alex, a togolese citizen who works at the embassy. marykate made friends with him when she got her visa a few months ago, and he invited her and some of her friends to the togo v. cameroon football (soccer) game that was today! so we met up with alex and some of his co-workers and headed to the accra stadium. the game was SO much fun, and we were all decked out with our togo flags. the best african football player, emmanuel adebayor, plays for togo, and cameroon is the best african team. so needless to say it was a pretty intense matchup, but togo came out victorious 1-0!

gillian and i went to the hospital again tonight. she has a sinus infection and so we got her some antibiotics and hopefully she'll be good as new in no time. i'm ready for my roommie to feel 100%!

tomorrow i plan on doing homework all day, working on other school-related things, and resting. maybe i'll take some fabric over to marjorie. marykate and i are also thinking about trying a new tailor, fred. we'll see!

hope all is well on the home front! ya'll send me updates please! missing you and can't wait to see you in just a few short weeks!

love love love

alex, me, marykate and anika at the game!

more from maroc

the village of ain leuh

taking a break

my dear friends rachel, gillian and kala

more morocco pictures

Me and Kala being tourists in Fez, day 1. Me and Charlie painting a family's home
In Ain Leuh

My Navigators family :)

here are the links to view both albums:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2821803&l=7dd8dc7d3e&id=616486619

and

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2821871&l=80fa1c2ea9&id=616486619

how he loves us

Middle of the Atlas Mountains


I’m back from Morocco!

This past week has been filled with more memories, more troubling times, more heart-movements, more difficult conversations, more tears, more smiles, more laughs, more hugs and happiness, more joy and more spiritual challenges and growth than any other week in my life has ever been filled with. I am transformed and God has done incredible works in me. But this isn’t about me, and never was. My trip to Morocco was about the people of Morocco, about the parents and children at the Village of Hope.

For privacy reasons and to protect the Village of Hope and its staff and families, I am not posting any pictures of any of the children. Also, as this experience was so moving, I have yet to make sense of it all for myself. I am still processing and listening to God and letting my heart be molded. I am not ready to share the stories of the week yet, and don’t feel comfortable doing so on the internet. I would be more than happy to have many conversations about my time at VoH when I get back to the states—maybe we can sit down over chips and queso and I can really tell you about it. But for now, please know that asking me to share about my experience right now is like asking a fish how long it’s been living in the ocean—it’s too immediate, too in the moment, too personal to even be analyzed. I am still in the midst of my joyfulness, still processing the complete and utter humility and selflessness of what I saw this week.

These families changed my life. These parents are the most incredible people in the world. The kids have etched their names on my heart, and I am so honored to have gotten to play with, know and learn about each of these 33 children.

My time spent with the NYU Navigators (the group I faithfully call my “second family”) was most refreshing and necessary. Getting to see and spend time with some of my best friends and making new friends within my family was one of the greatest blessings God has given me since being in Ghana. Charlie and Kala, if you’re reading this, know that you two are the most wonderful, giving people I know, and know I love you both so much. I am blessed to have gotten to spend a week with 30 Navigators—30 people who know what it is to love others and serve God. In the words of Peter Trautmann, “it’s not what you do but who you do it with,” and I am so honored to have “done Morocco” with the Navigators.

Spiritually, I have been challenged in ways I haven’t ever been before. And I feel it is part of my duty in sharing with you all to encourage and challenge you, too. Complacency and idleness is the devil’s handiwork, as I know from experience. I challenge you to seek God, to bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth, to serve and to love and to rid you of yourself to make you less and Him more.

One of the verses we as a group were challenged by is Isaiah 61:1-4. It is:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, he oil of gladness instead of mourning, ad a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

I love this passage because it doesn’t pity those who are poor and brokenhearted; it enables us to enable these children, and for these children to then enable Morocco. And I think that is what we were called to do this week, and that is what we did.

Thank you all for following me along in this journey, and for supporting me financially and prayerfully. I hope to have great conversations about this week when I return home.

love love love


Worship at the bonfire


Gillian and me at the bonfire VoH gave us on our last night!

Made for us by the kiddos


Will post more pictures tomorrow. This is all that would upload for now. Enjoy.

morocco!!!!!!

haven't updated in a few days mostly because nothing too update-worthy has happened. yesterday was spent doing nothing all day. today was much of the same, as gillian and i watched two movies and packed and got ready for...

MOROCCO!

that's right. our plane leaves at 3 am our time (11 pm ny time, 10 pm houston time) and we have to get to the airport at 11 pm. we arrive in casablanca at 9 am, and have to wait around for the new york crew to get in around 3 pm! so basically, lots of travelling within the next 24 hours until we arrive at our destination of ain leuh!

thank you all who donated for making this trip possible for me. and even if you didn't donate, thank you for your prayers, support and well-wishes!! ALL are greatly appreciated. i can't believe it's actually here! gillian and i will be reunited with our new york friends and helping at the orphanage in a matter of hours! i cannot wait. i will come back with many stories and TONS of pictures.

i will leave you with a picture griffin took of me at green turtle. i like it :)



love love love!!

when it rains it pours

So I didn't have much to say about today, until about 2 hours ago. We came home from dinner to a waterfall happening from a pipe that extends outside our house onto the pavement in our driveway. I think the pipe is designed for this sort of thing (in case another pipe breaks or something, the water has somewhere to go). Anyway, we walked inside and upstairs and realized the water had gotten in the ceiling and was leaking and dripping everywhere. We had to put buckets under the holes where water was leaking out of the ceiling. It took 18 girls, several guys, and a few hours, and about 50 towels to push all the water from the upstairs downstairs and out the front door. Needless to say, it was quite hilarious, and the pictures speak for themselves.

PS- Didn't this happen to me once before, last semester?



The only good picture I got of the water dripping from the ceiling, AND the puddle on the floor. This was in the early stages. Eventually the water was EVERYWHERE.



Notice the water dripping from the ceiling.



Marykate and I cleaning up!


Needless to say, it was a pretty eventful night. Today was good- had two classes and taught one workshop. Today we did the last of three workshops at one school, and that's a good feeling to have a whole school done! Only 4 more schools to finish up!


sending love love love!

"we can't eat that, it's not in the budget"

Hi all!

So our weekend getaway to Green Turtle Lodge was amazing! As always, I traveled with wonderful companions- 5 of my friends on the trip: Gillian, Mallory, Tina, Griffin, and Gaby. This is the same group that went to Winneba, plus Griffin. Our journey was definitely an eventful and hilarious one, and I hope I don't forget any of the details.

We left Friday morning, heading to the STC (private) bus station around 8:15 to get there at 8:30 to buy tickets for the 9:00 bus. Unfortunately, the 9:00 bus was sold out, and we bought tickets for the 10:30 bus. As we were waiting, around 10:30, the 9:00 bus arrived. In typical Ghanaian fashion, the bus was an hour and half late, putting our bus about 2 hours late. After waiting at the STC bus station for about 4 hours, we finally boarded and began our 5 hour journey to Takoradi (the major city closest to Green Turtle). When we arrived in Takoradi we were greeted by cab drivers offering to take us to GTL for 30 Cedi! At the time we thought we were getting ripped off, though in retrospect, this was a fair price. Instead of opting for a taxi, we made our way to the tro-tro station where we literally watched the driver assemble the tro-tro. It was storing TONS of cargo, and he had to take all the cargo out and add seats to the tro-tro. It was pretty funny, and we had one of those "We're definitely in Africa" moments. Our tro-tro ride cost us 70 pesewas, and dropped us off at another tro-tro station, where we picked up a cab for 15 Cedi. It was getting dark and we felt uncomfortable being in a tro-tro at night. After driving crammed in the taxi on a dirt road for about an hour, we arrived at Green Turtle!!

Our view from the breakfast table

The reception desk was also the bar, and we immediately found ourselves kicking off our shoes because the entire hotel is on sand, right on the beach. It's not even a hotel as much as it is a lodge, as they provide camping on the beach and private bungalows. We opted for two private bungalows, 3 of us in each. Because we got there late, we ordered the only dinner option available to us, and went to bed pretty early since we were exhausted after a long day of traveling.

Our bungalow!

The night's sleep was one of the most eventful parts of the trip because Gillian kept waking up to the sound of some sort of bug or rodent in her bag of cough drops. It was crinkling all night long and we all didn't sleep very well for this reason, and because there was no AC. The bungalow is on the beach, and the hotel is "eco-friendly" and we therefore had a self-composting toilet (aka, a toilet seat above a deep hole...use your imagination). We were pleased when the sun came up because that meant we didn't have to try to sleep anymore.

Me and my friends at Green Turtle (Gaby, Tina, and Griffin)

Despite the rough night, we were so excited to spend the entire day on the beach just reading and talking and doing nothing. Gillian and Mallory decided to go back to Accra--Gillian wasn't feeling well and Mallory's mom was coming the following morning--so the four of us stayed (Griffin, Gaby, Tina and me). During breakfast, as we were figuring out how to sneak Tina into our bungalow since we wouldn't need a second one, we realized we were REALLY low on money. All of us, unintentionally, brought a whole lot less than we thought we'd need, and realized we might have to sacrifice meals to just have enough money to make it back to Accra. We pulled all of our funds (I'm talking, every single bill, every single cent) and lived off of a communal fund. Instead of each of the 4 of us having a meal for lunch, we ordered 2 and split it. Same with dinner, and breakfast the next morning. It was actually kind of hilarious having to literally ration out and budget every SINGLE thing we bought. The hotel sold shirts that said "Obruni" on the front, and I really, really wanted one, but alas, it was clearly not in the budget. We'd see someone with a glass of orange juice and would have to remind ourselves that we were sticking to the bare essentials--no luxuries like orange juice or personal meals for us! My friends nicknamed me "Stern" because I was in charge of the budget (Stern is our business school for those unfamiliar with the NYU lingo).

THE Obruni Shirt

Anyway, we spent the entire day on the beach, swimming, walking, reading, and just hanging out. We had dinner on the beach and went to bed by 9:30 because we had nothing better to do and wanted to take advantage of that. We woke up by 6:30 the next morning, well-rested and ready to start the day. We had breakfast and our final budget meeting, where we realized we literally had 12 Cedi to make it back home. Granted, we had already bought our bus tickets back home, but 12 Cedi between 4 girls is kind of ridiculous (and hilarious). We paid our tab and took a taxi (for 30 Cedi, the accurate price (which we had already accounted for in the budget)) back to Takoradi, where we caught an on-time (!) STC bus back to Accra. We got back to Accra around 5:30, and rested a few hours before Gillian's birthday dinner!!

It rained really hard last night when we got home, and we were afraid we wouldn't be able to go out for Gillian's bday because taxis are hard to come by when it rains. We remembered our night driver, Hope, has his own private taxi, and we gave him a call. He took us to and from dinner in the rain, and we got to enjoy a lovely and FUN dinner celebrating Gillian's 21st birthday! On a side note, Hope is going to take us to the airport on Friday night for Morocco! Gillian and I were weary of catching a cab late at night being obrunis with big suitcases, and luckily we won't have to now!

Gillian's birthday dinner at Mama Mia's!

Today was good. Had good conversations with friends here and at home. I went into WAAF for about an hour today, though my boss mysteriously didn't show up and I couldn't get ahold of her. While I was waiting I spent time in the Acorn Tree, talking with Esther, one of the women who makes things to sell at the shop. She is such a lovely woman and I am going to have her make you all a few gifts!

Hope all is well where you are. Hope you're still reading this (I know the blog was long!).

Miss you so much

love love love

for all the pictures from the trip, visit: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2747095&l=9b21c&id=616486619

some pictures for your pleasure

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you. The first two are of me teaching at two different schools. In the first game the kids are playing a game (that's why their hands are on their heads). Ashley, another intern, is on the left.

In this photo, they're playing a "risk" game. They put various situations (ie- sex without a condom, kissing, sharing sharp objects, feeding someone with hiv) in piles of "low risk" "high risk" or "no risk" for contracting the virus.

This was taken today, in our African Popular Music class. We had a practical lesson learning to play different types of instruments. In African music, there is what is called a "silent beat". It's a beat everyone hears in their head but isn't played, and most Africans know how to tell and use the silent beat when playing. For Americans, the concept of the silent beat is completely uknown, so we had to learn to find it and play it (something that's not done traditionally). There were several types of drums, a double bell type thing, and a shaker. We all played/learned at once, and it was quite hilarious for all of us unrythmic Obrunis to try to play the same silent beat at one time. The entire time I thought of Sarah. You'd LOVE this class!!

Other than teaching at another school today, the drumming was the highlight of my day. Tomorrow a few of us girls leave for a 3-day weekend to a beach resort about 6 hours away from here. It's Gillian's 21st birthday and we plan on taking it easy and getting some sun! Only a week away from spring break! :)

love love love

i have real kente!

Not sure why this is centered like this, but oh well. Above is a picture of the Trade Fair, where I spent a few hours of my afternoon today. It's Ghana's annual event, where vendors from all over the country come and set up booths. The fair lasts for several weeks, and I was fortunate enough to get to hear about it/make it before it closes in a few days. Gillian and I went with mere pennies compared to what we would eventually end up spending! They had everything there! From real, hand-woven kente cloth, to beaded jewelry, to television sets, they had it all. I found myself spending about an hour inside a beaded jewelry shop, picking out gifts for people (yes, maybe you!). I also made my way to another shop that had lots of authentic kente. Students usually buy the print kente, which is just kente pattern printed on normal material. I have a dress made out of this kind of fake kente. This shop we went to had authentic kente hung along all its walls, and I found one I just loved. It was a bit pricey, but for what it is, and for being hand-woven, I figured I needed to have one. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Ghana without the most quintessential Ghanaian thing there is- kente. I hope to one day pass it on to my kids, as its really durable and really valued. Anyway, after picking all these things out, I went on a quest to find an ATM, which is NOT easy in Accra. You'd think it being the capital/biggest city in Ghana I'd have no problem, but I guess not! I finally found one and made my way back to the fair to buy everything. I also bought some REALLY great linen cloth that I'll probably just bring home as is. Maybe Mom can make some curtains or do something creative with it ;).

My kente!

Anyway, the rest of the day was spent doing nothing, as usual. Watched two movies today and wrote letters. Will get those in the mail tomorrow. I teach at my only school this week tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. I love working with these kids, their intelligence and willingness to learn really makes me smile.



Time for bed, be well!



love love love

short post

today was entirely uneventful. i had my society, culture and modernization class. my internship seminar was cancelled today, so it was nice to sleep in a little bit. after SCM, gillian and i went to koala, the local supermarket, to buy some essentials (ramen noodles, cereal, and yogurt). the rest of the day was spent mindlessly on the computer and watching movies. today we watched when harry met sally and ocean's 12. we had a great dinner at sunshine salads, one of the best so far! so it was a boring but good, relaxing day (i seem to have many of those!).

one thing i have forgotten to point out is the often physical reminders of you all back home. sometimes i'll be driving and a sign will catch my eye because it has a familiar name on it.

signs i've seen so far:

"isha's collections"- a fabric store i'm presuming. i haven't been in yet, but promise i will and will take a picture before i leave.
"eric"- the name of some store that was closed as i was leaving WAAF yesterday
"elizabeth's pharmacy"- this was in winneba
and
"gillian's memories"- i think this is just a convenience type store, but the fact that it was "gillian," a very uncommon name here, and spelled with a "g" and not a "j" was just weird.

i have yet to see anything called "diana" or "sarah," but when i do, i will be sure to mention it! just thought the "isha" one was really random, but great!

anyway, that's all i've got to post for today! i talked with megan, my cousin, a few days ago and she is settled into brooklyn in the neighborhood i'm hoping to live in next year! it'll be good to have some family up there. AND, *clears throat* she is the ONLY person to send me measurements, which i appreciate immensely. isha, if you want a tablecloth, please tell me the length/shape/width of your table.

goodnight!

love love love

kumasi

This past weekend, the entire NYU group traveled to Kumasi, located in the Ashanti region of Ghana, which is about five hours north of Accra. It is the second largest city in Ghana, and houses the largest ethnic group in all of Ghana, the Asante (or Ashanti).

We left, as promised, from our dorm at 5:20 a.m., clearly feeling so tired. We were on the bus for about 6 ½ half hours and arrived in Kumasi around noon. We checked into our hotel and quickly turned around to spend the rest of the day running around Kumasi doing various activities.

The first stop was lunch at the National Cultural Center of Ghana. We ate outside and, as usual, had a lot of heavy, heavy food. All of it was fried and very greasy, and when you’re sitting outside in 95 degree heat, with fans blowing hot air down on you, the food just doesn’t sound that appetizing. I ended up spending 7 Cedi on lunch (which was “optional” but really meant “this is the only place we’re stopping so you can pay the 7 Cedi and eat, or starve”) and all I ate was rice. Amway, after lunch we walked around the Cultural Center a bit. There is a secondary school inside the center, and shops that line walkways. The shops range from selling wood carvings to batik bags and stools. The stool is an important symbol in the Ghanaian, and especially Asante, culture. I’ll elaborate more on this later.

Men sawing and making stools and other things out of wood at the Cultural Center

Some of the things that were in the "trash" pile outside one of the stores. More polished versions of these types of masks were for sale.

After the Cultural Center, we headed to the King’s Palace (which is hardly a “palace” like you’d imagine. More like an old museum). There were peacocks in the front yard just walking around like business as usual. A guide took us around the palace, pointing out all the various honors and wardrobes and jewels the Kings have used in their time as King. The king is called the asantehene, and is in charge of settling familial and tribal disputes. He also has a queen mother, who is not his wife, but perhaps an aunt or mother or sister, who he makes all his decisions with. The Asante are a matrilineal society, which means that men don’t inherit from their own father, but from their mother’s brother (their uncles). So an old King is succeeded by his nephew, essentially. (I think I talked about this in a much earlier post.) Anyway, the king is adorned with all sorts of gold and jewels. In inheriting the new position as king, the nephew cannot ever remove any of the jewels; he can only ever add jewels to his collection. This makes for a LOT of heavy gold chains and rings as time continues. Anyway, the king also sits on a special stool, which is made entirely of gold. The stool is an icon of the Ashanti region and of the chief and his power, so they are pretty ubiquitous around Kumasi.

After the palace, we stopped at the “stool village” where there were stalls lined along a busy street. The stalls sold a lot of the same stuff I’ve found at the cultural center AND at the Art Center in Accra, with the addition of a whole lot of nicely carved wooden stools. I’d love to take one home with me, but they’re very heavy and very big, and I don’t have the slightest idea as to how I’d get it home. But anyway, I bought a few gifts. The men were so aggressive (as they always are when they see a huge white tour bus full of 30 Obrunis pulling up). I am getting to the point where I don’t even try to be nice anymore when the men are sooo pushy to get you to come to their stall. They’ll follow you and say “No, just come for a second, just look, you don’t have to buy, come, just look” and will NOT leave your side, even when you’re shopping in another stall. I’ve gotten really assertive and really don’t take any of their pushing anymore. It’s just frustrating, and it’s hard to distinguish between it being a cultural thing and it being just a practical, economic thing. Either way it’s incredibly frustrating and I’m getting tired of the constant pushiness of all Ghanaians in trying to get you to buy anything and everything.

BUT, after this we called it a day, as we were all INCREDIBLY exhausted. We ate dinner at the hotel and were asleep by 11:00. Sunday morning around 8:00 we went with one of our professors to visit this artist’s workshop. His name is Almighty God, which I at first found offensive, but after hearing his story, understood. He became a Christian about 15 years ago and feels called to preach the gospel, and therefore takes that name to spread the name of God. Anyway, he paints some really cool and some really strange things. I personally didn’t find his work that great, but maybe it was just a personal preference. Anyway, it was cool to meet him, because apparently he’s one of the greatest or most well-known artists in Ghana/West Africa, and even had an exhibit in NY and there was a story about him in the NY Times.

Almighty God and some of his art

After visiting his gallery (which was all outside, with most of the paintings just sitting propped up against a wall on the dusty ground) we headed to the Kumasi Market (I think it has an official name, but I can’t think of it). Anyway, it is the largest market in West Africa, which made me shudder inside, since we know how I am with markets. BUT, because it was Sunday, about 90% of the stalls were closed, so it wasn’t stressful AT ALL. There were about 10 fabric stands open (out of what I imagine on a busy day would be a thousand), and I found two new fabrics to get dresses made out of.

Me at the Kumasi Market. Gotta have a blue door picture.

We headed home shortly thereafter and got back to Accra around 8 pm. One random side note I want to mention just so when I re-read this months/years later I remember, is that on the way home we passed many small villages which were bustling with trade and people selling things on the streets. Many people had booths or stands set up along the road, and oftentimes, their stands would be resting on top of railroad tracks. There is even a railroad track that runs straight through Kumasi Market. At first I didn’t understand why these people would build structures and have their shops and walk back and forth the railroad tracks so casually, but then it hit me that those tracks are physical evidence of the British colonialism in Ghana. The British built these tracks when they established trade to and through Ghana and West Africa, and these tracks served no purpose for the Ghanaians once the British were gone. I think it’s a beautiful example of how Africans got back on their own two feet after Europe came and messed everything up. Now they are doing their OWN trading, and running their own commerce on top of the very tracks that once suppressed them. Anyway, I thought it was really interesting,

Today was a good day. I went into WAAF for about an hour and made some phone calls. Spent the rest of the day napping and reading, and had my class at Legon at night. Tomorrow I only have one class, which will be nice!

Hope everyone had as eventful a weekend as I did! Well, maybe weekends that are uneventful are just as fun and necessary, so either way, I just hope your weekend was what you wanted of it!
Sending my love!!!

love love love