Last day in Accra

On Wednesday morning Kayla, Jamie and I we woke up really early and met up with Paulane, Esenam’s Father’s assistant/driver. Her parents had arranged for him to take us around town to see some of the larger tourist attractions. Our first stop was the National Theatre. We were fortunate enough to receive a free tour of the facility and learn a lot about the structures history.  We also managed to watch an international Ghanaian dance group prepare for their yearly show. The tour guide took us into the main theatre and told us all kinds of interesting facts. He also told us a few wooden carving and Hand made drums. The drums he showed us were huge, and I found it interesting that they were the largest drums in Ghana…

Our next stop was Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. There we learned a lot about the first Ghanaian President. The park reminded me a lot of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Atlanta. There was also a museum there with a lot distinct items that Nkrumah used in his lifetime. They also had his Cadillac there…it was really nice. The walls of the museum were covered in pictures of Nkrumah with various influential international leaders. He was definitely a world leader and his assassination, like Martin Luther King’s is believed to have been due to the impact that he was destined to have on the world. One thing that I learned that really stood out to me was that the Ghanian Independence Day, March 6 1957 was exactly 33 years before my birthday. I shared this with the tour guide and he said that means I was destined to be great, “maybe the next Obama or something.” All in all it was wonderful to see the history of such a dynamic African leader. It made me feel good to know that despite the lack of publicity America gives to such great African Leaders, that they are still honored and highly revered in their homelands.

After sight seeing with Paulane, we headed to Esenams favorite restaurant to meet her for lunch. The menu had chicken fajita and French fries so I indulged…and sincerely enjoyed my non-Ghanaian meal. After we all ate, we said our goodbyes to Esenam and prepared to head back to Takoradi. We thanked her so much for her generosity and gave her a thank you card expressing our appreciation for her hospitality. I sincerely believe that we will all be lifelong friends and I intend on returning to Ghana and one day interacting with her in America. She hopes to attend Law School in the US, and I know that she will undoubtedly make it happen. Esenam and I exchanged twitter information as well, so I am now legitimately international.

Before paulane dropped us off at the Luxury bus station, we stopped at Kinichi (sp) market. It was a gigantic warehouse with floor after floor of vendors selling hand crafted jewelry, clothes and other Ghanaian items. Outside surrounding the market there were many people selling live animals—chickens, goats, fish and other sea food. We bought a few more gifts and headed back to Takoradi. I  truly enjoyed my experience in Accra, and sincerely hope to return.

Pics from Ghana will be added at a later date. A few, however can be viewed on my facebook page… (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506467396)

Accra, GHANA like a native continued

We woke up pretty early on Tuesday to check out of our hostel and meet Esenam for breakfast. She caught a taxi to our hostel and took us to her favorite breakfast spot. It was a nice mom and pop restaurant near her school. I ordered chocolate chip waffles and bacon and really enjoyed it. Kayla also got a few pastries for us to try. We ate really quickly and made our way to Esenams school to sit in on her finance class. Our taxi dropped us off in front off Ashesi College University in Labone, an area that was pretty close to our hostel and Esenams house. Her school was broken up into 3 buildings each of which were on different streets but within close proximity to one another. We got dropped off at building 2, and went to meet the school’s dean. Despite the small size every aspect of Ashesi was similar to school structures found in America. In meeting the dean, it was very apparent that Esenam’s selection to be an interport student for Semester at Sea was highly regarded.

Her class was in building 3 so we walked the black in a half to her finance class. There we met a few of her friends each of whom wanted to hear all about Esenam’s semester at sea experience. Esenam’s trip to Brazil was actually her first time leaving Ghana so she was really excited to share the experience with her peers. They had tons of questions for her and for her 3 black American friends (us). We sat down in a normal sized classroom and waited for her Finance teacher to arrive. Her classmates (2nd yr college students like Esenam) talked and interacted with one another like we do in America. Many of them came up to her and asked her about her trip, some asked to be introduced to us and they asked us where we were from and things like that.  Her teacher walked in and the room got really quiet, everyone put away their laptops and turned off their phones. Esenam explained that if her phone rang in class, she would be fined $25.

Her teacher was a younger Ghanaian man, he couldn’t have been older than 30…but he commanded the classes attention and all the students appeared to respect him. His lectured the class for a little over an hour. He used a power point presentation to teach them various finance concepts. Fortunately I had taken the class last year so I was flying through the practice problems…Esenam was quite surprised. After class, she introduced us to her professor and after showing us the rest of her campus we headed to lunch. As she showed us the campus she let us know what her classmates said to her about us. I was surprised that many of them assumed I was from The Ashanti region in Ghana before they heard me speak. We eventually took a taxi to downtown Accra. As we drove to the restaurant, we passed many landmarks. Esenam pointed out her dads office building, the National Theatre, the Supreme court, the lower courts, and most memorably Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. The restaurant we went to was right below the National Theatre.

At dinner the day before, Esenam’s parents really encouraged us to try fufu, so that’s what we ordered along with friend rice. The fufu was inside of a big bowl of light soup with chicken. Traditionally it is eaten with one’s bare hands, but since we were sharing a large bowl, we all agreed that we should use spoons. I was the first one to try it so as tasted it, both Kayla and Jamie tried to read my facial expression. It was definitely different. It appeared to be a big ball of cookie dough that had been placed in the middle of chicken soup. In tasting it, it was the same consistency as well. I didn’t mind the taste but I still haven’t decided if I liked it or not. The fried rice was really good though.

After the meal we headed to Esenam’s house to drop off our things so that we could grab a few more items from Oxford Street. When we got to her house, her mother greeted us and welcomed us inside again. She offered us water and assured us that our items were welcome in their living room until we returned. Before we left for Oxford Street, we visited the third grade class of her mother’s school. The students had just finished eating lunch. There were 6 kids in the class, 3 boys and 3 girls, each of them were dressed in a school uniform. The girls wore black and white dotted dresses while the boys wore yellow collared shirts with black pants. They were initially really reserved and quiet but once their teacher encouraged them to ask questions, they livened up. “Do you all like cheese pizza?” “What about chocolate?” “In America are there Alps?”…they had learned about the Swiss Alps earlier that day. We answered each of their questions and showed them our home states on the big map they had in their classroom.  I pointed to the mitten, Kayla to California and Jamie to St. Louis. Before we left I gave each of the children a bag of crayons and a few pages of coloring books…fortunately I had just enough for the entire class. It was a great experience and I plan to check up on my new little friends in the future.

After more souvenir shopping we headed back to Esenam’s house to retrieve our things. But not before participating in Terrific Tuesday, a weekly occurrence when a specific pizza spot has a 2 for 1 sale. Though slightly less cheesy, the Ghanaian pizza was really good and didn’t differ much in taste. While on Oxford Street we ran into a few of our Semester at Sea friends that we had intended on meeting up with later that evening so we all checked into a close hostel and made plans for the evening. After checkingin, Esenam, Kayla, Jamie and I headed back to Esenam’s house to gather our things. When we got there her father had arrived home from work and he was really excited to see us. He welcomed us all with open arms and invited us to sit down and converse a little more. At one point her older brother, Roland, came in and introduced himself to all of us. He shared with us that he was an artist and pointed out some of his work that was hanging in the family room.  He offered one picture to Kayla at least 5 times. He also told us that 4 of his paintings are in the Art Gallery in Down Town Accra. Before we left, we took plenty of pictures and exchanged contact information with Esenams parents. Her mom took us back to the hostel and said her goodbyes.
That evening we just hung out around oxford street, we got a late night meal at a local lounge and called it a night soon after.

Accra, GHANA like a native

Monday Morning we woke up really early to head to Accra, with our new friend, Esenam, the interport student who joined the voyage in Brazil to educate us on Ghana. With Esenam’s assistance we all made it to the bus station, stocked up on bottled water (1.5 liters for 1.2 cedis or $.85) , and boarded another passenger for the 4 hr ride to Accra. The ticket was only 8 cedis or $5.75…though the bus was packed it was still a great deal. At some point in the ride we stopped to at a petro station to recharge and let a few people off. A couple of us had to use the restroom so we got out also. We asked the locals to show us to the bathroom and they pointed us to a path the led behind the petro station. We continued down the path, which eventually took us into a village of sorts. We walked over hand made wooden bridges, past wild chickens and goats and eventually made it to a bathroom in the middle of the village with a few urinals and sinks. After paying to use the rest room we made our way back to the petro station. Along the way we ran into a couple of young girls with low cut fades dressed in their schools uniforms. Fortunately I had my book bag on so I gave each of them a bag of crayons and few pages from various coloring books. That experience alone was amazing, but it doesn’t even compare to the rest of my time in Ghana. A few hours later, the passenger van dropped us all off at a total petro station in Accra and our group of ten split up.

I, along with my roommate Jamie and my “Orange, California” friend, Kayla, went with Esenam. Her father had arranged for his assistant/driver, Paulane, to pick us up from the station and take us to our hostel to get settled. While we checked into our room and got settled, Esenam dropped her things off at her house. Paulane brought her back a little later and took us to Oxford Street to do a little souvenir shopping and sight seeing. We spent a few hours walking through the shopping district and bartering with many of the vendors. I got a lot of nice items, and at one point Esenam told me that I barter better than most locals. It was great to be immersed in the culture, I felt so welcome and at home amongst the native Ghanaians. Each little street shop had something to offer, some had colorful paintings, traditional African clothing, handcrafted wooden artifacts, fabrics, instruments, jewelry, luggage and even shoes. You could seriously find just about anything on Oxford Street! After a few hours we headed to Koala, local grocery stores to get some ice cream as Esenams parents asked her to. I distracted Esenam while Jamie and Kayla picked out a nice card to give her parents after dinner.

We took a taxi to her house and as we drove there she pointed out the different landmarks that we passed. It was kind of cool to see the American Embassy, unfortunately pictures are prohibited but it was a lot bigger than all the other embassies.  We also passed the German embassy and the visual arts and media college. We pulled up in front of a large white cement structure with a big wooden gate. To the left of the gate doors was an awning that read “Mothers Nest School” and to the left was a sign that read “cake school.” Esenam told the taxi driver to stop and we got out. There was a guard standing in front of the mahogany gate and when he saw Esenam he opened the doors. She let us know that we had arrived at her family’s compound.
We walked inside the gate and Esenam told us that the right side of the compound was her uncles and that the left side was her parents. As we walked towards her side of the compound, she introduced us to her mom who was standing inside of their guesthouse. Her mom told us to go inside the main house and Esenam took us inside. The foyer area had been converted into an office space. She later told us that the guesthouse had been renovated and is now a third grade classroom of the elementary school that her mother runs. She also told us that the office was the schools main office area. When we walked into her actual house, she introduced us to her father and he welcomed us graciously. He invited us all to sit down and immediately began further introducing himself. In the midst of conversation, Esenam’s mom walked into the house and let us know that it was Ghanaian tradition to offer guests water …and so she brought us bottled water on a platter and let us know that traditionally they started with the person on the right. Afterwards she continued to set up for dinner.

Esenam’s father talked to us a little about African traditions and his family history, he spoke with so much pride about being from the Volta region. He also talked about his three children, and how proud he was of them.  He shared with us that Roland, Esenam’s eldest brother recently graduated from college and is currently completing his national service and that her other older brother is an upper division college student. He talked about his profession as a manager for the Ghanaian Electricity Company and how much he enjoyed his work. Her father was so kind, and he was so proud of his culture and just life in general.  After sharing a little information about ourselves, Esenam and her mother returned and informed us that dinner was ready.
We moved into a different room where the table had been set and there was a full spread of various local dishes. Before we could eat, we each washed our hands. Esenam’s mother brought each of us a bowl of warm water and hand soap to wash our hands. We began the meal with “light soup” which consisted of a spicy broth and beef chunks. It was delicious! I wanted seconds but knew that there was so much more food to be had hahah. The main dish consisted of Jolof (sp), a rice and vegetable dish, fired plantains, both baked and fried chicken and a seasoned tomato sauce that natives refer to as stew. The meal was seriously amazing and the Ghanaian strawberry ice cream we had for desert topped it off. Over dinner we talked about Ghanaian traditions, specifically the local custom of using the right hand for everything. Esenam’s father explained that the left hand is considered impure and that its use is offensive. He even shared the fact that in the past you couldn’t even flag down a taxi with your left hand. Esenam’s mom also talked about the chances in Ghanaian culture. She specifically talked about the way the family structure is changing so much in the country and how when she was growing up they took the whole “it takes a village to raise a child” to heart. She attributed the change to urbanization and the influence of western society’s on the Ghanaian culture. The experience was amazing and I truly hope to be able to come back and visit one day. Before we left to go back to our hostel, we gave Esenam’s parents a thank you card. They were so happy and invited us back to visit anytime.

Ancestral Blood Sweat and Tears

On Sunday February 6, 2011 I made it home! We finally docked at an industrial port in Takoradi, Ghana. In our nine day journey to mama Africa, I forged a great friendship with the Ghanaian inteport student, Esenam (Es-see-nam), and had made plans to spend a few days in her hometown and the Ghanaian capital, Accra. The first day in Ghana, we were welcomed into the country by many locals; some were playing handcrafted drums and dancing in the local garb.  Others were selling local crafts—utensils, paintings, instruments, jewelry. We got off the ship as soon as the ship received clearance from Ghanaian Customs and made our way to the taxis. I was immediately embraced “my brotha! my brotha!” The locals were so happy to see the few black faces amongst the sea of other races making this journey around the world. They were so welcoming…I cant even recall how many times I was asked my name, email address or facebook account information (I was reluctant at first).  After getting a taxi to the bus station we paid 3 cedis or $2.15 for a 1.5 hr ride on a passenger van to cape coast so that we could tour the castles and slave dungeons.

The ride to cape coast took us through various areas and it was amazing to see the local women and young girls carrying baskets and other containers on their heads as they walked along side the road. Our van made a couple stops along the way and our windows were constantly swarmed with local vendors selling water bags and bottles, fruit, boiled eggs and other random items. I was so tempted to take pictures but realized how disrespectful and annoying that would have been. As we got closer to cape coast, the scenery changed from small roadside villages and long stretches of jungle to a beautiful sandy coast. The water was so blue and untarnished…I honestly felt like I had been thrust into the middle of a travel magazine—a literal utopia. We eventually made it to the end of the bus line and caught a taxi to the first castle.

Years and years of learning about the slave trade and countless visits to the African history museum don’t compare to impact of visiting both Elmina and Cape Coast castles. Both structures were striking in exterior appearance, but the history and the blood shed that lies deep within them are shrilling. The stench from within was unbearable and the thought of my ancestors being forced to live in such horrible conditions was surreal. I set foot in the male and female slave quarters—each of which lacked ventilation, had little to no lighting and reeked of bodily waste, blood sweat and tears. My description doesn’t do the experience justice in the slightest and I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO MAKE THE TREK TO BOTH CASTLES.

After interacting with the local children and grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant outside of Cape Coast castle, our taxi driver for the day, “Lord”, took us to a roadside passenger van station and ensured that the group of 4 of us that were in his taxi got back to Takoradi. On the ride back our van made so many stops…dropping locals off and picking them up. It took us about 2 hours to get back but the experience was well worth. That night I along with a lot of other SAS students went to Ocean bar to watch the superbowl…we had a great time and really didn’t get to watch much because the venue was over capacity.