Blog 17

Ghana was a country, once again, dissimilar to any others that I have experienced before it. We got there on the first day and I woke up bright and early, but apparently not as early as I thought. I got up on deck and realized that I missed the sunrise. Just barely though, I got out to the front deck to see the sun just a little above the water off to the east. The last time I woke up far too early and this time, too late. No biggie though, I've got plenty of shots of the sunrise. I went down and got my peanut butter pancakes and then got in a quick workout before we were cleared to get off the ship. As we were pulling in, it was very clear that we were pulling into yet another, very industrial port. It was very reminiscent of what we experienced in India. We were not close to any sort of business or establishment; in fact, this time, Semester at Sea charged our student accounts and set up a shuttle system to bus us, the hour-long ride back and fourth to Accra, the capital.

After we were cleared for landing, we all crowded off the ship and stood around, waiting for the buses to come back and pick up the remaining 400 students. Luckily, I made friends with a girl on the ship who attends the University of Arkansas, but grew up in Ghana and she invited me to her house for an authentic Ghanaian lunch. My Ghanaian friend's name is Sheila and her Father was waiting outside the gate to pick us up and take us to her house. Her Dad was a big stern black man who seemed very guarded, but was very polite and seemed nice. Her mother and aunt, who were also there, were very nice great hosts. The group was about 10 of us who went to her house, and they cooked SOOO much food. The food was different and very interesting; I ate lamb, full fish, and even snail. The snail was very chewy and tasted like fish. Sheila's house was in a part of town that you never would have guessed it was there. There are random streets where all seems to be a little more sketchy and even dangerous, and then we pulled into Shiela's house. It was part of a set of condo's that her father owned. We passed the gate through a high cement wall to her property and found 3 cars owned by her parents, a dirt yard, and 3 dogs. Sheila's mother also ran a shop that stood directly outside the home. After noticing this, we learned that many people set up shops outside their house and sell drinks and snacks. Upon this, I started noticing these stands set up all over the streets.

It was after we finished lunch that I grasped the concept known as "Ghana time". Ghana time was a sense with a lack of any sort of urgency, it drives American's absolutely loopy, but Ghanaians were very loose with the perception of time. It was all about "get to it when you get to it", and things will happen when they happen, and if they don't then they don't. I went for lunch to Sheila's house and didn't get back to the ship until 10:30PM that night. We left Sheila's house around 6PM and went to mall, unfortunately it was a Sunday and they sure do obey the Sabbath. Everywhere you looked, there were signs of Christianity. "Jesus Saves" and "through Christ, I" and "God is my rock" written all over buildings, bumper stickers, and clothing. So none of the stores were open in the mall, and after cruising the only open grovery store like shop, we still spent about an hour and a half.

The next day, I woke up bright and early at 7AM for a trip to go see the Wli Waterfall and Mona Monkeys, the bad part was that these attractions were 4 hours away. We loaded up on a bus, which was actually pretty nice, it had comfortable seats and even air conditioning. I sat in the back of the bus with some of my friends and tried to sleep. We soon found out that sleep was next to impossible with the conditions of the roads; it was so bumpy and there were so many pot holes, that my friend Jason, who was laying down across the seats actually got thrown from his seat onto the floor. So we spent the ride talking and getting to know each other a little better. Once we got there, we got out and I bought an African-style necklace with shells and then we began our hike to the waterfall. Now I was traipsing through the jungle, shirtless, and wearing an African necklace; really trying to play the part. We criss-crossed the stream multiple times before we reached the waterfall. At one of the crossings, we saw villagers washing their clothes in the stream. One girl was wearing a shirt that read "Obama Girl". When we finally reached the waterfall, it was a magnificent sight. It was about 100 feet up and had a shallow pool at the bottom. When you looked up, there were hundreds of bats swarming the cliff that they nested in. Most people took a swim in the water and played in the waterfall which was unbelievably refreshing after the long hike, we found a short cliff to jump off of as well. If we could have stayed there all day, I'm sure we would have, but the guide was rushing us along.

On the way back down, I decided to pick up one of the many mango littering the ground and have a snack and I'm glad I did, it was one of the juiciest and most delicious mangos I've ever had. After the hike back down, we had quick lunch on the bus of some-sort of pita-like chicken wraps as we headed to the village where the monkeys were. When we neared the village, the kids from the local school ran out to greet us, very curious about the white people. They were all so happy, they would smile and come close to us, but when we would walk towards them, they would run away and laugh. That is, until we offered our black friend Jason to them, who they ran to immediately. The group moved on, into the jungle and we found where the monkeys were. The first one came a little hesitantly up to us in search of food, and then when he started after the bananas we brought, it wasn't long before the rest mobbed us. They would come close enough to grab the banana, but after they got their food, they were hesitant about distance. I was able to grab one of the tails that was hanging down before he scurried off, and I touched another ones arm as he was eating the banana in my hand. After the monkeys, we took a walk through the village, which was most definitely third world conditions, and boarded back up on the bus. The village was composed of huts made from scraps of garbage, and odds and ends of steel and wood, and there were goats and chicken roaming the place. The people who were outside would smile and wave to us as we walked through, and seemed happy to have company. On the way home, our guide gave us some banana chips that were delicious and I finished an entire bag throughout the 4 hour return drive. We had more bonding time on the way home, and that evening, I went out with some of the kids on the trip.