Bienvenue au Togo!

Last weekend I traveled to Togo with two USAC amies. We took a very long, bumpy ride through Friday traffic on a trotro (bus system here--only the buses are very crowded vans). After a tense hour getting our visas and crossing through the border into the Togo capital, Lomé, we felt like we had entered a different world. We noticed that people were a little more reserved and the streets were sandy and quiet. A very nice older Togolese man showed us to some hotels and I got to brush up on my very rusty French, as few people spoke much English. Our hotel was quaint and filled with French tourists. The best part of the whole trip was probably the food; pasta with meat sauce, baguette and jam, real REAL coffee and a delicious burger. Food that's hard to get in Ghana and that we've really missed!

 jazz music at our hotel

delicious breakfast the next day consisting of baguette, coffee, and freshly squeezed juice

view seaward from our hotel

at the Marché des Fetiches (Fetish Market)

animal, aminals, and more animals

stone that you put in your child's bath to make them stronger

only understood about half of what this man was saying, but the seed he holds is supposed to make your memory better if you rub it across your forehead

walk back to the border

home sweet home

My Acting Class

I realized that I haven't written much about any of my classes or campus life in general, so I'll get crackin' on that now. I'm mostly taking performing arts courses here--Drumming, Acting, and Traditional Ghanaian Dance. I'm also taking Twi (the local language) and History, Government, and Politics of Ghana. A lot of classes. In addition to this, I just started rehearsals for a theatre production. The difference between classes here and classes in the U.S. is that classes here only meet once or twice a week for two hours. So though this seems like a heavy course load, I'm in class for about the same amount of time as I am in the U.S.

So you want to know about my acting class...

I was really excited to take an acting class here and compare it to my acting classes at UMD. In some ways, this class is very similar to my acting classes at home, but occasionally something in the class surprises the bojangles out of me and reminds me of the differences between our cultures. 

The course is based in physical theatre--a theatre I'm pretty familiar with from home. The focus is on learning how to use the body to create works of art. We meet Mondays for two hours and do a lot of stretching and improvisation exercises. But on Tuesday mornings we meet at 7 and play sports. That's right--sports. Theatre kids playing sports. We've always talked about the similarities between theatre and sports at UMD, but we've never put them into practice. I'm really liking this aspect of the course though. So far we've played basketball, athletics (track), frisbee, and handball.

 

Sports are not the only aspect that make this course different. There is one little part that I'm finding hard to wrap my head around, and that is that we pray before and after class. Most Ghanaians I've met here are pretty devout Christians. But the fact that we pray in class still boggles my mind and honestly made me feel a little uncomfortable at first. At the beginning of the course, the professor explained that we can pray to whomever and whatever we want. But the students chosen to pray for us always recite Christian prayers (not surprising since most are Christian).

 

I asked a Ghanaian friend about any laws separating church and state in Ghana and he laughed! He explained that in public education they are supposed to be separate--teachers cannot force their religious beliefs on students. But this does not mean that religion is not apparent in school. It is such a big part of the culture, so it's not strange to most of my Ghanaian classmates when we pray in class. But I can't help but think about what an outrage this would cause in the U.S...praying in class just wouldn't fly. Apart from praying, there is no other mention of religion in class. It doesn't really bother me anymore--In fact, everyone here has been very accepting of different beliefs. A girl at the market asked me if I went to church this morning. When I replied, "no," she gave me a coy smile and said, "me either."

Monkeys, Mountains and Mayhem

The USAC group went to the Volta Region last weekend, home of a monkey sanctuary, mountains, and a huge waterfall. 

[photos by Celeste M.]

mmm banana and baby

 friendliest monkey

parasite tree

 should have taken this sign seriously...

 almost there!

 Finally at the top! Victory was bittersweet--the view was incredible but we were attacked by tiny nats that sometimes bit and got stuck in our sweat. yuck!

 Victory Sit

 Our tour guide trying to find some shade

 

 USAC group!

Wli Falls

 very cute baby at ze waterfall

 Celeste (the photographer) et moi

Ms. baboon

The Volta!!

Two weekends ago, my study abroad group went to Cape Coast, home of beautiful beaches, bustling little towns and old slave forts. We stayed in little circular villas near the beach and took a tour of Cape Coast Castle, one of the slave forts used by Europeans to hold slaves in before they were shipped to the Americas. As beautiful as the scenery from the castle was, the interior was dark and suffocating--no place for any human to be held in. 

Of course, my camera died right before we got to the castle so I will hopefully be borrowing photos from someone else. In the meantime, here are some other photos from the trip!

 Beach we stayed at

 Sand made of tiny pieces of sea glass.

 So happy to be at the beach!

 These little guys are all over the place here. One came near us at my drumming class today and was doing these weird push-up things that made it look like it was dancing.

  rawr! I got to touch one of these crocs.

 Canopy tour! Possibly my favorite part of the trip.

WATER!

We have water! For the past day or two we didn't have running water in the hostel. Yes, it seems like a short period of time, but if you consider the fact that the temperature is in the 80's or 90's and it's so humid you feel like you're walking in a dog's mouth...it's a long time.

I had to play basketball with my acting class Tuesday morning at 7 and was really looking forward to that cold shower, but alas, no agua. Later that day I had dance--also a sweaty affaire--and still no water. Luckily there is water that comes out of a pipe outside (from a rain barrel I think?) I took a few showers from a bucket and they weren't bad. Yesterday the water finally came back only to shut off again this morning. Most Ghanaian students in the hostel don't seem to make a big deal about it. It's not too uncommon and occurrence. I just think about what the reaction would be in the U.S. if there was no water in the dorm for a few days. Wow.

Ada Beach!

Last weekend the USAC group went to Ada Beach, about an hour and a half east of Accra. We took a boat ride to the beach, which was a sort of peninsula with river on one side and ocean on the other. 

little huts on the beach

party trees!

boat ride back

We're Not in America Anymore.

Ghana doesn't enjoy a lot of the privileges that the U.S. does. In the hostel and in most public places, there is no toilet paper or soap. Internet is slooooww. Some mosquitoes carry malaria. Many women carry their babies on their backs to work--while carrying things on their heads. Despite all this, everyone I've met--in the markets, on the street, on campus--has been friendly and helpful, always smiling or willing to help you find your way around.

Bags of water. Most people drink out of these. They're cheaper than buying water bottles. This whole bag was 1.5 cedis--about 50 cents in the States.

Trash outside the hostel. Open sewers line the streets so you have to be careful not to step in one! I've seen people picking up trash occasionally. There is so much though! I'm taking a theatre for development course where we will focus on improving sanitation in Accra through theatre.

First bug bite...I've had plenty since.