Picture post!

Ali showed us how to get to seriously the fast internet cafe ever, so that means it's time for a picture post (finally)!

 My bathroom and bedroom in Accra.

My first marriage proposal at Labadi Beach, Prince.

Group drum lesson at the University of Ghana

Batik workshop

My finished batik on the left!

Kwame dancing during the first funeral ceremony

Tro-tros outside of the University

Me; my Accra homestay sister, Nana; Debbie; Ali; and her homestay brother

Ainsley, Sarah, Ashley, and Jake with their wire sculptures

A professional dancer during a show in Accra

The group driving from Accra to Kumasi

Kwame, being his ridiculous self, at the soccer game

The beloved Auntie Margaret and the goats

The traditional African priestess

Erica, me, and Ali

 Gin and lime for the birthdays!

Kente weaving at KNUST

Ainsley and me getting ready to eat our peanut butter sandwiches

The group at Kandy's!

So, that's just a taste of what I have so far in pictures. Yesterday, we started the real dance classes and it was crazy. It's so hot that I swear my body doesn't ever stop. I don't even have salt in my sweat anymore, just water. I love African dance, though. It's just an awesome feeling to dance barefoot to a set of drums right next to you and sweat dripping off of you. Doesn't sound awesome, but I swear it is.

This weekend we're going to Kejetia Market, the biggest market in West Africa, and having some clothes made by one of the girls' homestay mother. So, updates soon!

The Traditional Priestess and Me

Yesterday was definitely an interesting adventure. We were split into two groups and we traveled about an hour away into the countryside to go to a traditional African shrine. The nine of us walked into this very picturesque scene in the middle of a village. One of the SIT staff translated for us to speak to the priestess about her experiences and whatnot within the African traditional religion. Then, we danced with her and the other community members. We were then able to go for a consultation with her while she was possessed by the ancestral spirits. It was definitely an interesting experience that I couldn't even really comprehend while I was there. It's so crazy to think that, before Christianity, people practiced this type of religion for thousands of years. When I get to a faster internet connection, I'll post up some pictures so you can all see what everything looks like.

Anyways, I'm off to dance class!

Finally--a real post!

So, let's just excuse the fact that I may actually be the worst blogger in the history of bloggers. Since I last updated, I moved from Accra to Kumasi and a ton of stuff happened. Just the brief overview is that I've taken many dance and drum classes, became conversational in Twi, figured out the tro-tro system (by some grace of god), went to Labadi Beach twice, went to two funeral ceremonies, gotten five marriage proposals, and had some ridiculous adventures. It's really nice because the SIT group is really cohesive; I can't believe it's only been two weeks. So, even though we're all in different homestays, we're became our own family.

Moving from Accra to Kumasi totally showed the difference between Accra and the rest of Ghana. Accra is insanely crowded and there isn't much natural beauty to mention. I just never really felt comfortable there. My homestay family was nice and I got along with them, but it was just a little bit off the whole time. Luckily, many people in my group felt the same way, so it was a nice change to come to Kumasi.

It's really interesting to live the simpler life here. I don't really much, surprisingly, though I would like an ice cube once in a while when it's so hot. In Kumasi, like life in Accra, I don't have running water and the most surprising part of that is how much water it actually takes to flush a toilet. It takes more water for me to flush a toilet than it does for me to take a shower. It's also cooler in Kumasi and, let me just tell you, waking up without being drenched in sweat is basically the best feeling in this entire world.

Also, in Kumasi, I should probably mention my ridiculous homestay mother, Auntie Margaret. I really have minimal words to describe Auntie Margaret, but she is definitely worth noting. Auntie Margaret is about sixty of sixty-five years old and she also has a tenant, Ahrin, who lives with us. We live about fifteen minutes drive from both of our schools here and it's nice because it's just out of the city, enough to be scenic. Oh, I should also mention that Auntie Margaret has fifteen goats. They roam in and out of the house as they please. On Saturday, it rained ridiculously hard and Auntie Margaret wasn't able to get one of the baby goats to come to her and so, sadly, it passed away. This led to all of the other goats crying throughout the night and into the morning. I don't know if you ever had to hear the magical music that is crying goats interjected by a rooster, but you should definitely at some point. Auntie Margaret also loves beer and she doesn't like to drink alone, so she always makes me have at least a sip. I told one of the staffers, Kwame, that I was living with her and he just bursted out laughing. She is very loving, though, just a bit...off. It's hilarious, though.

I really love Kumasi and can't wait to finally load pictures for everyone to see my life here!

Also, to those who emailed me, I saw them all and will respond later! I had too many to respond to since I hadn't been on really!

Akwaaba!

I've been in Ghana for five days now, so I think I've accumulated some stories. Probably too many. Oh well. So, since arriving, we stayed in a hotel on Saturday and Sunday night in East Legon, the outskirts of Accra. It had air conditioning and running water. Totally excellent. We had orientation that started with learning a dance and some Twi vocab. Twi is ridiculously harder than I expected. It's all tonal and barely ever written down. I assumed that people would speak more English than they do, too. Most Ghanaians speak Twi to each other, not English. I'm trying to pick it up...eventually.

On Monday, our homestay families came and got us. My homestay mother's name is Auntie Jennis and she's hosted SIT students for the last 10-12 years. I have a host sister, Nana, who's six and I barely ever see my host father. In Ghana, all Westerners are called Obruni, so on the street, you'll just hear "Obruni obruni obruni!" It's not meant to be offensive, but you definitely hear it all the time. The people here are just so kind, though. They're always trying to help you in any way they can. Yesterday, a girl from my program, Ali, and I were trying to go back to our houses on the "public transportation system," tro tro. The tro tros are crazy old vans that just pick people up and run all the time. You never known when they're coming, they don't have designated stops, they basically are just a little nuts all around. Anyways, we had to transfer at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Times Square of Ghana. We were so lost, so this man who looked about 28 took us to exactly where we needed to go, caught a cab for us, and paid for our cab. Ghanaians are also really nice to obrunis in general, so that works in our favor. Our teachers here say that everyone in Ghana looks at the world as a chain link, so if one of the links is having a hard time, it is the others' duty to help out.

Also, a little known fact about Ghanaians is that 90% of them are up by 5:30 AM. Oy, I know, me...5:30? Yeah, it's true. I've been waking up for class at 4:30 AM to be out of the house by 5:45. I'm still trying to get used to it. Luckily, my homestay house is one of the nicer ones, though I have to still use a bucket shower because water doesn't run through the shower usually.

Sorry this is rushed, I'm grabbing a ride home from my host mom. More updates to come!