my ghanaian experience: a photo blog

As my time in Ghana is coming to a close, I thought it'd be nice to post pictures of the people and things I see on a daily basis, the people and places who have made this NYU-in-Ghana experience so wonderful.

Solomon's Lodge:

These are the girls of Solomon's Lodge. My Ghanaian family. Each girl has made this experience something special and fun. We've helped each other laugh through the terrible times, and have celebrated communally through the great times. These are some of the funniest, greatest, most intelligent and open-minded people I've ever gotten the chance to meet. I am so thankful I am able to call each of these girls my friend.

This is our day guard, Danny, who every day from 6 am to 6 pm watches over our house and protects us. He is employed by g4s, a local security company. this man always greets us with a friendly "You are welcome" when we enter Solomon's, and a "me combra" (meaning "come back soon") when we leave. There's not one person in Solomon's who hasn't been touched or blessed by Danny's hard work and smiling face every, single day.

This is the street Solomon's is on.

The man cutting hair is Issac. We pass his stand every day on our way to the Academic Center.

Part of the road on the walk to the Academic Center.

This is First Choice, the local store where we buy everything from sache' water to phone credit to snacks for the schools I taught at. Those signs in the front (the pink and yellow ones) are to let customers know they sell phone credit for both Zain and MTN users (the equivalent of, say, Verizon and ATT). Those red cases are crates and crates of empty class bottles, which Ghanaians recycle. In fact, if you were to buy a glass-bottled drink at First Choice, or anywhere else, you would have to consume the entire thing and give the bottle back before you could leave.

Ghanaian children love to pose for pictures. This was taken along the road on the way to the Academic Center. Painted on the white wall are two Ghanaian flags.

This is one of the shops on the way to the Academic Center. As I've mentioned before, many many shops have titles like this one, "King Majesty Hair Cut." In front is a typical-looking taxi (notice the religious writing on the back windshield? This is also common.).

This is Uncle Sammy, one of our two drivers (both are named Sammy!). One of the things we love and will remember most about him is how he tries to mimic an American voice. Whenever we leave the van and say "bye Sammy!" in our relatively high-pitched voices, he will raise his voice several octaves to try to match ours. He's Solomon's primary driver to and from dinner.

This is "Young" Sammy, as we call him. He's also a day driver for NYU, and is usually the one who would take me and Marykate to Legon on Mondays.

The Academic Center:

This is the Academic Center. It was once a house that NYU transformed into a building with several classrooms, a conference room, a computer area, and a kitchen. This is where I take three of my four classes. The walk from Solomon's to the Academic Center is about 7 minutes.

This is Uncle Tego!!! He, like Danny, works from 6 am to 6 pm, 6 days a week. He guards the Academic Center. Every single morning he greets me with a friendly "Queen Elizabeth," in his deep, Uncle Tego voice. He has all 40 something students' names, as he sees them day in and day out walking into the Academic Center. He says each student's name in a very distinct way. I'll have to say my name like he does for you in person.

This is the porch area of the Academic Center, where much of our intense orientation week was held. Occasionally we have classes out here under that veranda (for instance, this is where our televi class and our dress-up class were). Additionally, all of our workshops, for instance, "Adjusting to Ghana," were held out here.

West Africa AIDS Foundation, WAAF:
This is WAAF. While I don't see it every day, I did see it plenty this semester. The white building in the back of the shot is the Health Care Center, where people are tested and treated for all sorts of diseases, not just HIV. The tannish building on the left is the Almond Tree, where the women who make things to sell and get money for their medicines are stationed.

This is The Almond Tree. I have pictures of me with my favorite woman who works there, but have decided against posting, just for her privacy. I will gladly show them to you when I get home, though! She is the woman who has been making table runners and table cloths for some of you!

Miscellaneous:

This isn't such a great picture, but it was taken out of a taxi window. This is Independence Square, built to commemorate Ghana's independence in 1957. I'm sure I've already said this in a post, but Ghana was the first African colony to gain independence.

This is another shot of Independence Square. The ocean is in the background, and this is where events such as parades and large social festivals often take place.

So these are the pictures I have so far. Tomorrow I'm going to try to take pictures of some more of the staff, as well as of Marjorie and her shop. I hope you've enjoyed looking through them as much as I've enjoyed putting this blog together (and living these pictures).

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