Bumper to Bumper

Ohhh I am terrible for taking so long to blog again. So much has gone on in these past three weeks.

So I left off saying I was going to Aphrodisiac Night Club. It was crazy fun and it was Dance Hall night- that was the first time I went to a club that played absolutely NO Hip-Hop. Good thing I'm from NYC so I knew most of the raggae/dance hall songs. The club security tried not to let Alesha in because she was wearing flip flops which they called “slippers.” Anywho they lectured her then let her in. That's something they do here-lecture you if you're doing something wrong and then let you do it anyways lol. Aphrodisiac was so fun that we went back the next week and wound up not getting home until 5am. Good thing I don't have class on Friday.

On Monday morning I went to my internship at Save Them Young Mission Inc. for the first time. It is kind of far from campus and it takes about 1 hour and a half to get to. I have to take two tro tros and a shared taxi. It's not that difficult of a journey though and the kids are worth it. I was told I would be working with the pre-schoolers who are a handful. There are about 45 kids in the orphange and about 20 of them are 4 years old or younger. When I arrived on Monday with Alicia (not Spelman Alesha) we stood around for about 10 minutes until they showed us to the preschool classroom and said “they are ready.” Who is ready? And for what? They wanted us to go in there and teach preschoolers. Hmmm. I have no experience teaching preschoolers. Where do I even start? Better yet where was there real teacher? However, there we were. The kids staring at us, us staring at the kids and we had to do something. Theo, who works in the orphanage's office helped us by telling us their names and that we should teach them through songs. Their teacher, who had to step out for a few hours, had taught them “Rain, rain, go away. ” Cool. So we teach through songs. Duh. So next we tried the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” with the hand movements and stuff. Overall, it was a failure. Some kids got it other kids didn't. There were just too many ages in one room- from 2 year olds to 6 year olds. Some spoke English, some only spoke Twi. After about one hour of us being on our own the teacher came back and we helped her teach the kids how to write the letter A. That was better. I helped about 5 kids successfully write the letter A. That felt really good. Next time... the letter B! The rest of the morning was spent coloring and trying to convince the kids not to climb on their desks/chairs lol. They really were a handful and they hit each other a lot. But you can't help but to fall in love with each of them. They are sooooo precious. We left during their nap time which was about 2pm because the director didn't want us to get stuck in rush hour traffic. Before I left I talked to Theo about how long the children stay, adoption, where they got the kids from and what the orphanage needs. We sat there and wrote out a list of things they absolutely needed which was lengthy. Some of the kids don't have shoes, there aren't any dining tables, they run out of basics like toothpaste and soap, they need sheets and towels, and they could always use more food and school supplies. I am going to run a fundraiser for the orphanage immediately which is why I am working on finding a way to have a permanent internet connection in my room. I can't wait to go back to the orphange next Monday to learn more and help more. What those children don't know is that as I am teaching them how to write A's they are teaching me so much more about myself, about Ghana, and about the difference one person can make. I was supposed to go today but I lost my cell phone (well I thought I did, a friend had it- Thank God) and was freaking out. Since I got lost going there last Monday I didn't want to risk it again without having a cell phone to call someone to come and get me. I was not trying to get lost in the middle of nowhere alone. And because I didn't have my cell phone with Alicia's number I couldn't call her and tell her I wanted to meet her so we could go to the orphange together. I learned a valuable lesson today-I need to write all my numbers down in an address book so that I will never feel completely helpless if I lose my cell phone. MESS.

Besides going to the orphange on Monday the week was filled with a lot of fun. I went out every day that week. Monday I went to Vienna City Entertainment Complex which was a huge place with a lounge, club, bar, and tons of pool tables. We played pool for a few hours. Tuesday we went to Mama Lit Special Restaurant in Medina and then went to Verbs to play some more pool. Wednesday night we braved raggae night again and since we went with Edem and his friends it was much better because we used them to keep all the other guys away lol. Thursday is when we went back to Aphrodisiac for a second time like I mentioned earlier. On Saturday afternoon we had an Akwaaba Dinner thrown by the IPO office with delcious Ghanian food and Ghanian drumming and dancing. The drummers and dancers were really impressive so of course I took tons of pictures and even recorded some. Later that night we went to Mirage night club in Osu for Claire's birthday. Good thing it was free for ladies because I did not have a very good time. They were playing some funky techno hip-hop and I just couldn't get down with that lol. However, I was told by one guy at the club “I've got beat.” He better recognize. Lol.

The next weekend was also pretty eventful. On Saturday we were supposed to have a planned CIEE trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens, the first Cocoa Farm in Ghana, and a wood carving village. Our bus didn't show up. Oh Ghana. So instead of going on Saturday we just went on Sunday and we had a good time. Instead on Saturday Edem, Fofo, Alesha, and I went to Ghana's Old Skuul Reunion at the Trade Center which was a huge event where all Ghanains who went to school in the Greater Accra region and beyond came to reunite. There were tons and tons of Ghanians, a stage with live performances, men in the streets chanting their school songs, men dressed like women(umm?), and tons of vendors everywhere. I was kind of amazed to see that many Black people and I couldn't help but think about the fact that if such a large event with that many people of color happened in the US many White people would have been so afraid and the police would have been EVERYWHERE. Don't get mad. I'm just saying the truth. Anways, they also had a club section with a DJ from a local hip hop radio station so we went and danced for a bit. They even had a Michael Jackson dance contest on stage. It was pretty hilarious to watch. Some people were really good and others just looked ridculous. I was proud of Michael though- being shown love all the way in GH. After leaving the Reunion we went to take a nap and then went to Pool Bar which was another club/restaurant/pool place. I was told they played a lot of Hip-Hop so I was kind of excited to go. Lies. It was mostly Ghanian Hip Life music with some OLD Hip-Hop mixed in. I still had a good time though. Ghanian Hip Life music is really really good and I'm always jamming out to it. I already have a list of about 10 “favorite” songs. My favorite of them all is “World Trade Center.” It's hilarious. They are essentially saying the girl's booty is as big as the World Trade Center. That's a BIG booty! Lol. Other favorites of mine are “Bumper to Bumper,” “Simple,” “I Think I Like Her,” and “Ringtone.” I probably got half of those titles wrong but those songs are really fly. Youtube them or something if you get a chance.

On Sunday, the bus did show up so we got to go on our long awaited trip. At the Botanical Gardens I got to stand inside a tree, taste cinammon from the bark of a tree, smell a peppermint leaf, stand in an old war helicoptor (random), and touch a plant that shrinks when you touch it. It was cool. At the Cocoa Farm we got to learn the history of Cocoa in Ghana which is the country's leading export. As the Ghanians say “Ghana is Cocoa and Cocoa is Ghana.” We also got to crack open a cocoa and eat the seed which was really sweet and delicious. Then we got to taste a dried cocoa seed and the inside tasted like dark chocolate. It was bitter but still good and just seeing the whole process of how cococa is grown, picked, and processed was cool. We even got to see the “go to hell stick” that cocoa farmers use to cut cocoa down from trees with. Interesting name for a stick huh? The wood carving village was my favorite part of the trip. It really wasn't a village though it was more like a strip with a whole bunch of wood carving shops. They had some really beautiful things and I forgot we were going so I didn't bring enough money. I only had like 15 cedi on me. However, I was able to buy this wooden map of Africa (for myself) and something else for my mother. I'm not going to say what it is because I want all my gifts to kind of be somewhat of a surprise lol.

This past week was very chill. No pool, no beaches, no clubs. Just hanging out with friends and I spent a lot of time making my room look a a home. I rearranged my furniture, put up picutres and posters, set up my desk, etc. I figured I'm going to be here for a while so I might as well make my room look like something. On Thursday we had our first Twi test which I think I did very well on. I studied hard so it paid off. On Friday I went to Osu to try and get a portable internet modem from the Zain(a phone company here in Ghana) store. Meghan has one and she can use the internet whenever, wherever. So I went to buy mine and it was just a complete failure. The people at the Zain store couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. It wasn't my computer or the modem I bought but something with the network. After being there for like 5 hours I walked out without my internet modem. I got my money back but I was still upset because I had my hopes up and I had wasted my whole day there for no reason. Ugghhh. I'm going to go back and try again someday, I still need to calm myself down about the whole situation though lol. Friday night we went to this house party thrown by NYU students who are also studying abroad here in Ghana. The house was BALLER and the party was actually outside in the BALLER backyard. There was a DJ, food, tons of drinks, and Hip-Hop! They played “Turn My Swag On” and “Get Me Bodied” and we went crazy. There also was this random performance by a Ghanain acrobratic troupe. They were AMAZING and all I could say was “WOWWWWW!” I mean they were doing all types of stunts and back-flips and stuff on concrete with no shoes on. I got to give them their props for that. I had a really good time. Saturday night we went to Neighborhood which was another pool/bar place. It was really snazzy and I had a good time. We even got to see the Brazil vs. Argentina World Cup Qualifying match on the big screen.

Speaking of Football (soccer to Americans) I went to the Ghana vs. Sudan FIFA World Cup qualifying match yesterday. It was sooooo exciting! We had VIP seats so we saw everything up close and personal. Alesha, Meghan, Danielle, and I were decked out in our Ghana gear. We had on Jerseys, wrist bands, head bands, bracelets, necklaces, and I even had a huge flag. We were pumped! Ghana won, 2-0!!! The crowd went crazy every time the Black Stars scored a goal. Sudan didn't stand a chance. The whole stadium did the Wave like 5 times and it was just the coolest thing. The funniest thing about the match yesterday was what I ate. They weren't selling “game food” like hotdogs and nachos instead they were selling real food like jolof rice, fried rice, and chicken. Lol. It was good! Another great thing about sporting events here is that the prices of things are not ridiculously high. Our VIP tickets were only 10 cedi, our Ghana trinkets were 1 cedi or less, the chicken and rice was 3 cedi, and the popcorn was 50 peswas. I just love going places, having a good time, and not getting ripped off. The US could learn a few things from Ghana. The game was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so happy I was able to go. I am having an amazing time here in Ghana and I know it is only going to get better... I love and miss you all, thanks for keeping me in your prayers.

Love,

Tamika Nicole