chicken fettuccini alfredo

at the aburi botanical gardens by a broken down helicopter


I wrote this blog last night, but couldn't post it til this morning because our internet was out. Let’s see, since Tamale, I had a pretty normal week.

Monday I had my last class Media and Society class at Legon, which ended up being a “revision” class. The professor basically just told us what kinds of questions to expect on our final (next Thursday 5/7). He was surprised to see that only 40 out of 450 students were at the revision. WE were surprised there were even 450 students in the class ever! No previous Media and Society class had ever had that many students in it.

Tuesday I registered for my fall classes and I got all the ones I wanted! Next semester in New York I’m taking: History of Communication, Film: History and Form, Media and Identity, and Copyright, Commerce and Culture. I’m really excited about all of them! I’m in my Film: History and Form class with Marykate! It’ll be great to have a class with her again J.

Wednesday was kind of boring, nothing too exciting happened. Thursday Marykate and I got pedicures and manicures—the second of the semester! It was nice to get away from the house for a bit and relax. I nearly fell asleep in my oversized salon chair, as it should be.

FRIDAY was a really fun day! We had a makeup recitation session in the morning. It ended up being really fun and quite a cultural experience! The guest professor was Esi Sutherland, who is a really famous African writer, and is known all over the world. She brought in some people from the Accra Dance Company (or something like that), who brought with them lots of “costumes.” These were basically all different types of cloth and beads and head-wear. They dressed us up and we got to learn a few dance moves, too! I was dressed as an Ashanti woman, in formal wear. My favorite part of the whole experience was that they gave me a bustle (aka, a fake butt)! Ghanaians definitely aren’t lacking in the butt area, and so to be more realistic, they had to help me out a little bit! I asked if they add the bustle when Ghanaians wear the outfit, and they said, yes, all people add the bustle. So mayyyyybe these big butts we see under all this beautiful clothing have been a rouse all along!

my bustle

my typical weekend wear

Saturday was another NYU field trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens, in Aburi (where Tetteh Quarshie cocoa farm is). We had passed the botanical gardens when we went to Tetteh Quarshie, but didn’t have time to go, so I’m glad we got to go with NYU. It was just a day trip, so we got to leave the dorm around 10 a.m. and got there around noon. We first had a guided tour through the ten different lawns of the gardens. We saw many different plants, whose names I don’t remember (of course). My FAVORITE was this tree, which is actually two trees living symbiotically. They grow around each other. After 35 years or so, the outer tree ends up killing/strangling the inner tree, leaving the inner tree hollow and dead. The coolest part is that because of this, you can actually walk inside the tree, and even climb up the inside! It was really cool and quite a photo op! inside the tree

Afterwards, a few of us went down the hill to rent some bikes, which we got to ride around for a little bit. Never are you reminded of how out of shape you are until you get on a bike and have to ride around hilly areas for long periods of time. Gillian and I have bikes and ride them daily around our neighborhood but this apparently has done nothing to boost our physical stamina, as we were both exhausted after only a few minutes of pedaling. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, but definitely tiring, and we only lasted 20 minutes or so around the gardens. Once everyone was done wandering around, we spent about 30 minutes at a “craft market,” which was really just a busy street lined with vendors on either side. It looked like and reminded me exactly of the “craft market” we went to in Kumasi. I got a really cool fabric patchwork oversized duffel bag which I will use as my carry on (since heaven knows I have far too much stuff).

Tonight is Gillian’s mom’s last night in Ghana…which everyone is really sad about. She’s brought such a joy to our house, despite getting sick herself for a few days. No worries though, she is feeling better. Anyway, tonight, as a parting dinner, she took me and Gillian to the Golden Tulip, a REALLY nice, REALLY expensive five star hotel in Accra. And it really is nice. I opened the menu, and as pathetic as this sounds, I literally had to hold back tears when I read the words “Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo” on the menu. It was the most American menu I have seen since I’ve been here, with dishes ranging from mashed potatoes to bacon burgers to all kinds of normal salads. I was in HEAVEN. Our dinner was accompanied by a piano player, and for an hour, I honestly did feel like I was in some ritzy hotel in America. The fettuccini was delicious, but even if it sucked, I would’ve appreciated it just the same. Just the fact that I ate something called chicken fettuccini was enough for me. Anyway, it was the perfect ending to a great few weeks spent with Barb.

We only have twelve days left—can’t believe it! This week will be busy spent writing papers and doing all sorts of projects and presentations. But Gillian and I have planned out our week so we won’t get stressed out. I only have two finals this semester, and they’re the last two days I’m here (one is the morning of the night I leave). But I’ve decided I will not stress out, so that’s that.

I hope all is well at home. I know Meredith’s graduation luncheon was today—I hope it went well and I wish I had been there! Can’t wait to see most of you so very soon!

love love love