Food, Fun, and Fear (I like alliteration)

January 24, 2011


Waking up under my mosquito net yesterday morning I wasn't quite surew what to do or think.  I was on my own because we didn't have anything with CIEE until 4 PM, and I woke up at 9ish.  So I wandered! And eventually the u-pals took us on a tour of campus, which was really helpful because a 30,000-person campus at home is unthinkable to me, let alone here in Ghana where I know no one, have no iea where I am, and am constantly dodging open gutters.  Quite different than the Bucknell brick.

I had y first major bits of culture, too.  I shopped at the market across the street from my dorm and bought some water, a bucket for laundry/showering when necessary and toilet paper.  The girl who sold it to me was named Vivian and she isa dorable.  She introduced herself and shook my hand and wants to be my friend.  Well, me, and every other international kid who will give her money.  But she was wearing an anchor shirt, so clearly she's my girl.  Go ahead, judge me.

For breakfast, I had the most delicious pineapple and mango ever, and for lunch I tried my first Ghanaian staple: Banku.  It's basically this hot but uncooked dough that you dip into a spicy groundnut sou and swallow without chewing.  You don't use utensils but you are expected to work around the bone of the meat in tehs oup, and bankuy is also the stickiest substance ever.  It's kind of like the dough they used to give little kid at Bertucci's, but they had to stop because kids wre eating it.  Except the Bertucci's dough tasted better.  Hm.  I was also sitting next to a Ghanaian eating fufu (same idea), which didn't help my ase.  He was nice and showed me how to eat it, but he finished three times as much in half the time, and was quite a pro.

Then we had a traditional dance workshop which was so fun! That doesn't mean I was good at it, but I didn't care.  I got placed next to the one Black CIEE girl who has been to Ghana before so her moves accentuated my whole "white girl can't dance" syndrome pretty entirely.  Music majors were playing the drums and dance majors were teaching us the moves.  We started with basics and then played a way cooler version of trust falls (you sing and clap and dance while throwing each other around in a circle) and then they taught us two traditional dances, the names of which I don't remember nor would I be able to spell if I could.

We tried to go to a bar last night to watch the Packers game (me? watch football? I know.  When in Ghana...) but they didn't have the channel, so there went that plan.

Today we started international orientation for all the study abroad kids, not just CIEE, so we met our fellow abranees (ah-bra-knees, that's what they call us).  I was standing in line for the bathroom and the girl next to me forgot to bring toilet paper with her, so I tore mine in half and gave her some, and it turns out she's from Brockton.  Bostonians unite, I suppose.

We had the afternoon free so a bunch of us wandered.  Rode our first tro-tro without the u-pals' help, bargained our way, ate some rice.  Those sorts of things.  I guess we're on our own!

Thanks for bearing with me.  Sorry for double-posting.  Thanks for reading!