Your burning questions answered.

Today is the day that I finally answer all of those burning questions you all have sent me in your comments. I shall first list the questions and then answer them. Most of these are from my brother or from Wes. Thanks guys!
So what are you going to do for the rest of your time there? after all, doesn't farewell usually mean goodbyes?
So other than a little bit of the entomology of acid bugs what are you learning?
is there anyone outside of the raymond clan and the senior citizens who might have gotten your song reference?
After you moved from your homestay, how much interaction do you have with "locals?" Basically, do you get into the community, or is your involvement mainly with the university and other exchange students?

For the rest of my time I will be "studying" taking two exams, picking up my suit I'm having tailored and wandering around Accra visiting people and looking at things. In the middle of the next couple weeks I will be going to Burkina Faso to ride some camels in the Sahara and hanging out in a Benedictine Monastery. (The bus ride from Accra to Ouagadougou is about 30 hours) AHHHH!!!! The Farewell dinner means Goodbyes for many people but it's true not all. There are most people leaving this Saturday for trips in and around Ghana, including myself and we won't see each other again or at least until we meet up in the States or something.

I am supposedly learning Modern European Drama and Play Analysis. I already supposedly learned some voice, drumming and dance, but I feel like I really learned the dance the best. I'm also learning how to be a better procrastinator than before. Not an easy task.

In terms of the song reference, I honestly could not tell you if anyone else understood the song reference. Technically anyone who watched Bend It Like Beckham should know the song as it is in the credits with the actors singing along, but you never know.

My interaction with the "locals" really just depends on the day. I feel like I interact with everyday Ghanaians everyday, but in terms of being at someone's house or meeting their families or having conversations I would say about once a week. Most of the students in my dorm are Ghanaian, Nigerian, or other internationals.

I apologize for the lack of insightful ruminations today!! It is just really hot and it kills the brain waves. I will be leaving this Saturday for Burkina Faso and will probably return to Accra around the 7th or 8th of December so feel free to leave plenty of comments or questions about things. Hope you all have a great week and a half!!!!

Kpetoe and Babies/Puppies

Yesterday I went on a one day trek to a little village outside of Ho just to get some kente cloth. Total travel time= 8ish
Total time in village= 45 min

Sort of seems ridiculous but honestly...what else was I gonna do? Might as well. I ended up buying more than I wanted of course, but I came away with a ridiculously beautiful blue and green kente blanket. On the way to the village there was a man with basket on his lap in the tro tro. I assumed that this was a basket with a few chickens..but it turned out that it was a basket of about five really cute puppies. This gave me something to look at. On the return trip I was treated to several treats. At the tro station, we were waiting to leave sitting next to a tro which had a large sheep tied to the roof. It was still alive and standing. On the way to Ho from Kpetoe we found out that there was a goat in the boot of our tro. It sounded like a baby at first but then it started to get more goatlike. Every time we hit a bumbp. Meeeeehhh!! It was hilarious. On the ride back to Accra i sat next to a little baby girl who has a good time licking her palms and rubbing them all over me. We play some games like "make ugly faces" "play wth the white man's hands" and "fall asleep and drool on his shirt" it was a great time and made the trip pass by very quickly. Tonight is the Farewill dinner and I am going to be "dressed to kill." I have a great outfit all picked out and I just can't wait. hahaha. I'm pretty much a baller, what can I say? Have a great day!!

Baby Turtles, Bangers and Mash, and leaky canoes.

This last weekend I traveled to the Western region and did some "exploring." We took an STC bus from Accra to Takoradi which is the biggest city closest to Cote d'Ivoire. We then took a 2 hour tro tro ride to Beyin which is a small village. We stayed the night there at a small little resort on the coast that is actually run by a young British woman. Part of the resort is the sea turtle conservation that they do and we got woken up early in the morning to see clutch of sea turtles hatch and wriggle their way to the ocean. It was a very cute and funny but kinda scary cause the little turtles get bashed around by the waves, stop, and then keep going until they finally make it into the ocean. The night before we ate some over-priced under served but still delicious bangers and mash. This is basically mashed potatoes and sausage. It was quite good just small. We then took a ride to a stilt village called Nzulezo. It was an interesting combination of a good trip to see something new and the feeling that we were getting ripped off for a tourist trap. The canoe ride which was supposed to be included in the fee was an extra charge and we were expected to row it ourselves and bail it out as it started to fill up with water. Once we got to the village it did look interesting but it was incredibly small and the only thing that happened was that we were met by the chief's son who mumbled his way quietly through the history of the village and then we were asked to pay more money to help pay the teacher's salaries. Once we bailed our way back to Beyin we took a tro back to Takoradi which promptly blew out a tire. We made it back to Takoradi too late to go to Kakum or to Cape Coast so we found a cheap hotel overlooking the big circular market in the center of Takoradi. At night we went out to eat for Elliot's 21st birthday at what ended up being a really fancy looking restaurant. All of us guys ordered cheeseburgers which were amazingly good and for some reason tasted like gyros. We asked the waiter if Elliot got a free piece of cake for his birthday but he said no. After a few minutes however he came out with a bowl of ice cream and cake and made us sing happy birthday and he sang along. He then brought out a bottle of sparkling apple juice. We were a little nervous that these would show up on the bill but they did not. At this nice restaurant with main courses and drinks the total was only 42 cedi for five people. Because this guy was so great we tipped him well despite the fact that people here never tip at all. I started to get more sick as we stayed there so I definitely was just in the mood to get back to Accra. While on the way home we had to give way for a political rally which was fun. The political rally was great because all of the parties have various songs and dances that are pretty funny. While in Beyin we tried to get some CPP Convention People's Party t-shirts but they were all out. Hopefully I can get some t-shirts soon. This week I have very few plans but hopefully will get some more Kente cloth from the Volta region and will explore Accra a little. Our farewell dinner is this Friday so things are definitely winding down even though there is basically a month left. My plan over the next few weeks besides a big trip to Burkina Faso and Mole are to "study" very hard by sleeping, eating, watching movies. Hope everyone enjoys the increasing cold while I "enjoy" the increasing heat. Have a great day!!

HOT HOT HOT!!

How you feelin'?
For my response see above blog title.
The last week has been an interesting combination of extremely lazy, hot, frustrating, and relaxing days. Yesterday I FINALLY took my dance final and eventually took my drumming final. Both went fairly well but it was a stressful day getting them actually done. TIA. At some point this week I have to do my voice final which should be interesting considering because of being sick and the instructor being sick, I've had about 5 lessons and don't have one of the songs memorized at all. Working on it Mom!! This last weekend Jack, Elliot and I decided to go on our adventure for bushmeat and it didn't quite work out. The bushmeat was "finished." Finished means that something is out of stock. We ended up eating at the chop bar anyway and having goat meat and banku. It was quite delicious. We then went to Elliot's homestay and sat in the shade outside eating Fanchoco and just doing nothing except some sporadic conversation. We then did some hard work and applied our extensive fruit experience and examined the mango tree in his yard to guess when some of them would be ripe.
On Sunday some friends and I went to Bojo Beach to relax and have a fun day playing in the sun. Sort of ironic since I spend the rest of my days trying to avoid being in the sun, but whatever.
Bojo Beach is a small resort where the beach is on a little island about 30 yards off the main shore. It was more expensive for a day trip but it was extremely relaxing and the beach was the cleanest I have encountered so far.
The TIA moment of the week so far has been the burn marks that several people, including yours truly have been getting. It turns out that some bugs are coming into season that leave a trail of acid where they walk. When they walk on your skin they burn you and if you smash them on your skin, you get a huge mess of acid on your body and hand. Exciting huh?!?!?!
I just have a few on my arms but they aren't exactly fun. Tomorrow is my last day of official class and depending on when my voice final takes place, I will be done with everything except for two written exams later. This weekend I will be going to Nzulezo and back to Kakum National Park to sleep on a tree canopy hut. I will let you know how that trip went and more exciting stories later. Have a great week!!

I'll trade you!!!

Hello Everyone!!
Today I went to a woodcarving village/market near Aburi outside of Accra. This trip led me to see three things. A bunch of really cool carvings, the advantages of the barter system, and a cow on top of a pile of dirt munching on leaves and three blades of grass. The carvings and products at this market were amazingly beautiful and there were just soo many things that it was hard to find things that stood out because there was sooooo much. The hardest thing was finding things that were small enough to fit in a suitcase. Many of the really intricate masks and carvings were the size of a small child. The beauty of the barter system is that I was able to trade my watch that I bought from target for a mahogony rhinoceros the size of my head. It was a pretty fun day overall. Yesterday I was able to go to Cocoa Beach and have a semi-relaxing day at the beach just taking it easy. I ended up getting into a pretty physical soccer match that was really fun. I tweaked my foot a little and had to spot but it was great to have a ball at my feet. The beauty of beach soccer is that it really tests your ball skills and endurance.
TWO WEEKS OF CLASS LEFT!!!!!!!!!
I guess that about sums up my feelings on that.

My dance final is monday, my drumming final two thursdays from now, my voice final......whenever i schedule and memorize my songs, other finals are on the 27th nov and 13th december. I suppose this might be the moment to start doing my reading and studying. Well, i suppose I won't be too hasty with that.

That's about all the fresh news for now from Ghana. I hope everyone had a great Halloween/alternative Halloween festivities. Talk to you later.