January 6, 2010
Today we woke up around 8:30 this morning and went to get breakfast. They had yogurt! So, I had some of that instead of the cereal with hot milk. The yogurt definitely tasted different, but it was good. It had a perfume-like taste to it but I didn’t mind too much. They also offered fresh mango. It was the ripest and sweetest mango I have ever tasted. It’s so nice to be somewhere where the fruit is exotic and delicious! After breakfast we had class in a classroom a little ways down the campus. The room is air conditioned which is awesome, but it can sometimes get a little chilly in there. But, we had Political science first, for 2 hours. This class will mainly zone in on the culture and facts about Ghana. After our first class we had an hour and a half lunch break. Instead of lunch, a bunch of girls and myself got changed into bathing suits and went tanning outside. It seems like the 50 spf will not be be getting me a tan! Then we had another 2 hour class, Contemporary West Africa. This class will be all about the whole continent of Africa and the 5 different regions. The power actually went out during that class! Edwin, our friend from GIMPA, said that the power just goes out sometimes. Lucky for us, the campus has its own generators so our power returns in less than 2 minutes. But, for people who live in the city of Accra, they could lose their power for as long as a day! How crazy is that? After class, we got ready and we took a ride to Kwame Nkrumah’s memorial and museum. He was the first President of the free Ghana and was a visionary for the way that Ghana should be run! Now he is repected and people understand what he did for the country, but back when he was in office there was controversy. He was friends with the communist leader of China and Castro at the time, and it has been said that the CIA created the plan to overthrow Nkrumah. He was overthrown, and he fled the country, becoming the new president of Guinea. His memorial is beautiful, with stone and water. The museum had wonderful pictures of Nkrumah with many leaders, such as our own JFK. After the memorial and museum, we took a ride to Freedom and Independence Square. This square is very large and is right next to the ocean, which gives it a nice breeze! This square is used every March 6, the day that Ghana became free, to celebrate and party. To the left of the square in the distance is the parliament building. There are military officers with guns guarding the square because nobody is allowed to take pictures of that building. Scary! After this, we drove through Osu, and it took us 1 hour and 30 minutes to get back to GIMPA because of all the crazy driving and traffic. On the way home, Dr. Davis purchased some plantain chips for us to eat from a woman who carried them on her head! They were absolutely delicious. We finally arrived back to GIMPA and our dinner was waiting for us. There was chicken, fish, rice, plantains and pineapple. It was so good! All of the food here is good for you and tastes good as well. We learned some interesting things today from Ernest. During our ride he talked about Ghana’s traditions regarding the circle of life. He started with birth, saying that when a baby is born, the child is not named for 7 days. The child is considered a stranger until it is named. On the 8th day, the child receives a name and is placed in the arms of a trusted uncle. The child will be named after a family member of good upstanding in society. If the child is given the name of a family member who is a drunkard, the child is expected to inherit that behavior too. They will annoint the baby’s lips with palm wine 3 times. Ernest also told us about marriage. This next tradition is not that common in big cities anymore, but it is common in smaller villages. When a girl gets her first menstrual cycle, the women of the village will get all of the young girls into one place and hold them there. They will then teach them about sex and marriage and how to take care of themselves and not have sex before marriage. They talk to them about this because a girl is supposed to be a virgin when she marries. The man pays a dowry for her, and most girls have arranged marriages their first time around (Ernest said they sometimes can get out of the marriage later, that is why lots of women have been married 2 times). In some cultures, a 16 year old girl will be married off to a 96 year old man because he has enough money to pay a dowry. When the girl and her new husband are about to have sex for the first time, they will lay down a white sheet and if there is no blood on the sheet, the girl is assumed to not be a virgin and will be returned to her family shamefully. When someone dies, the body will stay in the morgue for about a month. Then the body will be released on a Friday, and the services will be on the Saturday following. They will cry, but then the day after, they have a thanks giving. They will celebrate with friends and family and there will be food, drinks and fun. They still believe in witchcraft and voodoo here too!
Kwame Nkrumah's Memorial
Fruit Bats EVERYWHERE
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