Kokrobite Beach

I've gotten into the swing of school and all my classes are going really well (I've met a lot of students in the Geology department, I think they just like me because I'm white and nerdy). This weekend a group of girls from our program trekked to Kokrobite Beach about an hour away from Accra. It was a bit of a struggle getting there, when we got to the overcrowded main tro tro station in Accra we had to ask around but finally a driver said he was going in our direction and miraculously all eight of us fit in one tro tro and we arrived at Kokrobite about an hour later. What we found there was the Mexico equivalent for Euros. That might make it sound bad, and this place was truly awesome, but it was swarmed by Europeans. We stayed at Big Milly's Backyard a charming yard of huts, houses, small shops with local crafts, a bar, and a restaurant right on the beach. We stayed in an outdoor loft above the bar and stage where they had drummers and dancers friday night and live reggae bands on saturday night.
When we found out there was an Italian restaurant down the road, our white, american, girl selves couldn't resist. It was a lovely outdoor place, run by a Spanish woman and her husband with a glorious menu. Hmm maybe we should have known better... an Italian restaurant, run by a Spanish woman, in Africa. That's too many nationalities mixed in one and consequently Keni and I paid the price (Keni especially, that's all I'll say).
During the day on Saturday we lounged on the beach, swam, and made friends with some of the local rastas. Stella (my home girl; see picture) and her twin brothers run little shops on the beach selling their hand crocheted clothes and they gave us free coconuts that we enjoyed on the beach. That night I proceeded to dance the night away with Stella to the live reggae bands, she was all about it (imagine Charlie Brown and the gang's style of dance but to reggae music). For the most part it was a pretty harmless trip, we made friends with the staff and all eight of us got back in one piece with plans to visit again. As wonderful and paradise-esque as it was, I was glad to be back yesterday to a real shower and bed.

A few things I've learned/found/experienced so far:

-My nose has endured the worst stenches known. Everyday I seem to come across a different, worse one.
-If you tell your professor that you are tired of taking notes he might let you leave class.
-I have discovered the origins of the term "big booty"; it is synonymous with "Ghanaian woman"
-My feet might be clean after I'm home for a month, so January. (at least they look tan)
-I've started making bets with myself on what possession of mine will start to grow mold next (my jeans took the cake yesterday, today it's a pair of sandals)
-If you need a question answered, ask five people and then see what answer you get the most, it might be the correct one!
-When Ghanaians I know said hi to me on campus I responded "hi how are you?!" and waved violently which is apparently a bit overly friendly and enthusiastic based on their reactions.
-As an American, the best way to have a good time and enjoy yourself is to accept that you are white and laugh at all of the frustrating and backwards ways of life here that are different from home.
Miss you all!

Here goes! My "Akwaaba" to Ghana

Well after saying I wasn't going to blog while in Africa, I gave in. Let's be honest I'm not very good at staying in touch when I'm home and it's been rough here too so I might as well inform everyone at once! So far, things have been amazing here. The first two weeks we had an orientation program set up for us through UC and the University here that was basically camp for a week (my favorite) but honestly it was the best way possible to get introduced to life here. Eight Ghanaian students (all volunteers) essentially gave up their lives to lead us through this crazy country for two weeks and they couldn't have been any more generous. First off they are all so funny and friendly but apart from that their devotion to this job is unreal! I mean I was trying to imagine myself in their position having to guide a bunch of whinny Americans around and I would have quit after the first five minutes. They showed us around campus, the city of Accra, helped us sign up for classes, tell us where to eat, where we shouldn't go because it's dangerous, who to look out for, how to get by speaking twi. And on top of it all they are our friends and come hang out with us from time to time.
Monday was the "first" day of classes but in Ghana that means that classes might happen, or they might be tomorrow maybe next week, who really know?! And good luck trying to find out where to sign up for the course. Fortunately the majority of my classes actually happened this week but when I asked someone on monday morning where my geology class was, I got laughed at because apparently no one goes to class on the first day. Not to mention a lot of the departments didn't even post the times of their lectures until yesterday and I still don't know when one of my classes is. The other day when I was trying to sign up for a music class, I got directed to about three different doors before finding the right one.
Dance 205, Introduction to Traditional Dance, might just be the best class I will ever take. It's taught by a man named Oh! Nii, (yes punctuation included). He's an old man who demands respect by all (we can quite figure out why, one night he showed up in tribal attire and another night he was wearing sweats and a T-shirt). He always enters the room cryptically with a cane and then ditches it a minute in and starts boogying. We dance to live drummers and around 10 dance TAs help us out, I have never seen anyone move their body like that, Ghanaians can shake it and with passion! For an hour an a half twice a week we learn Ghanaian traditional dances but mostly just get to forget about everything and have a great time being awkward Americans trying to move our hips and feet in sync, not too easy. And luckily for me, my skin tone really helps me blend in around here and it's rare that I get stared at an called "Obruni!" (their term for foreigner). More to come I'm off to dance class in a bit!