Ghana: The Tessipedia Version

So, as promised, I'm keeping a blog during my time abroad in Ghana. I figured, for most, Ghana is fairly obscure and you've got some burning questions, like erm, Ghana's location. Fear no more, readers, I've got you.

Where the heck is Ghana?
Ghana is located in between Togo and Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and right below Burkina Faso, a few degrees south of the equator. Basically, Ghana is here:


What was Ghana like back in the day?
Ghana was colonized by the British and became independent in 1957, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence. On the (perhaps only) positive note, as a former British colony, the majority of Ghanaians speak English.

Hit me with some facts:
Capital city: Accra
Relative size: About the size of Indiana and Illinois combined
Official language: English
Population: 23,837,261
Life expectancy: 57.1 years
Average level of schooling: 7 years
GDP: $26.17 billion
Human Development Index (HDI): 0.467 (ranked 130 out of 169 countries worldwide)
Income per capita: $671
Government type: Well-functioning democracy
Free speech rating: One of ten African countries considered "free" by Freedom House

What will the weather be like when you're there?
It is quite possible that my body will become a machine that's sole function is to sweat.

All right, looks cool, but why did you choose Ghana?
I've been asked this question so much, you'd think I'd have a good answer by now, but unfortunately, I still don't. Basically, I decided about a month into my freshman year at SU that I wanted to go to Africa. Sort of random, yet absolutely compelling (but aren't most things when you're barely a freshman?). I went to my favorite professor who was really well-versed with African issues and said, very blatantly, "Where can I go abroad in Africa, other than South Africa, that won't make my (semi) overprotective parents freak out all the time?" He said Ghana. So, since then, it's been Ghana. As I learned more about Africa, Ghana became more and more the place for me on the continent.

What expectations do you have for your trip?
Not many. It's not that I don't expect the trip to be fruitful; I most certainly do. I just don't know what fruits it will be full of quite yet.

What program are you going through?
I'll be with the School of International Training (SIT), a partner school with SU. The study abroad model SIT uses is fairly unique compared to other abroad programs as it focuses on immersion into a culture. You wouldn't, for example, find an SIT center in the capital with only Americans. Instead, the program travels throughout the country in homestays with different families. We'll be traveling through five cities/villages throughout the semester.

If you're traveling so much, where the heck will you be and when?
My schedule is:
January 28-February 12: Accra
February 13-February 26: Kumasi
February 27-March 13: Village, Ashanti region
March 14-March 20: Tamale
March 21-April 3: Central and Eastern Volta Region
April 4-May 12: Accra

What are you studying while you're abroad?
The SIT program is called "Ghana: Social Transformation and Cultural Expression" and focuses on Ghana's art, music, literature, etc. alongside its socioeconomic development processes. My classes are:

Social Transformation and Cultural Expression Seminar: Examining Ghanaian social structures through the lens of Ghana’s artistic and literary outputs. Focus on drum, dance, literature, and music.

Intensive Language Study: Twi (Native Ghanaian language): Emphasis on beginning speaking and comprehension skills through classroom and field instruction.

Field Study Seminar: A course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience. Introduction to the Independent Study Project. Material includes cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; appropriate methodologies; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; maintaining a field journal.

Independent Study Project: Whatever the heck I want to do for my last five weeks in the country.

(For all the lovely, curious SU students) Does SU take those courses for credit?

In fact, they do! The courses were pre-approved by SU Abroad, so no need to wrestle with trying to find their equivalencies. The courses (in the order listed above) are approved as:
African-American Studies (AAS) 380—6 credits
Anthro (ANT) 380—2 credits
Foreign Language Study (FLL) 180—4 credits
Independent study—to be approved

The independent study, for obvious reasons, is the only one not pre-approved. You can coordinate with your department and adviser to run ideas by them. Usually, I've heard people just leave approval for when they come back to SU.

How should I communicate with you?
The question of the hour! Email, email, email. As part of the SIT program and my own desire to free myself from the tech-savvy monkey on my shoulder, I won't have my laptop or an international phone. I'll have a Ghanaian cell phone, but I really only expect to use that to call my parents. When I'm in cities, though, I will have access to internet cafes and will be checking my email intermittently. Mail in Ghana redefines the term "snail mail." So, tapersel@syr.edu is going to be where it's at. Add me on gmail (tapersel@gmail.com) or Skype (tessperselay), if you'd like!