GHANA!

Random things from Ghana:
        Not that many dog but goats are EVERYWHERE!
        All the children are so adorable and love waving at you when you walk by.
        Ghanaians are obsessed with Obama and love Americans
        When you are trying to buy something you have to cut their offer price by at least half. (even though they say because you are my friend I will give you a good price)
        Every woman carries their baby on their back with a colorful piece of cloth. The babies cheeks are pushed against their mothers backs and is the most adorable thing ever. (wish I could upload a picture)
        The women carry everything on their heads. Some of the baskets are half the size of the women and they don’t even need to support it with their arms
        Toilet paper barley exists. Had to drip dry more than I would like to say
        The safe (and cheaper) water comes in 5 x 5 plastic bags that you would see everyone suck on. The sad part was that everyone would just throw them on the ground when they were done.
        Being gay is illegal (which was a bit of an issue because there are so many gay people on the boat)
        Every child has to go to school by law so on a week day you see all the children in different school uniforms
        There is rice with every meal which was AMAZING!
       
After 9 days of being on the boat I was so excited to get off and see Ghana. First day I went to the two main slave castles, Cape Coast and Elmina. We went to Elmina first and on the way I found out that my teacher from UVA who taught Art and Culture of the Slave South (where I first learned about the castles) was on the tour as well. He talked about drumming in African culture and I remembered his lecture on that topic back when I took his class the spring of first year at UVA. At the castle we walked through where they kept the female and male slaves and heard about the system of the slave trade. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was how Africans took such responsibility of the whole system of the slave trade. I really had only ever thought about the demand side and how the west created and perpetuated the buying and selling of people out of West Africa but in our tour the tour guide kept emphasizing how there could never have been a slave trade without the in depth involvement of Africans of capturing and selling other Africans. Cape Coast Castle had much of the same history but was a bit bigger. The male slave dungeons held 1,000 men and had no bathroom, lights, and barely any ventilation. The whole day was very heavy and intense. The weird part as well was that when you were not where they kept the slaves it was a really pretty fort with gorgeous views. Wish I could upload pictures to show you all! It was interesting going to Cape Coast as well because Obama (who everyone in Ghana LOVES and wherever you go they always talk about) was there in 2009. At both castles they had “the door of no return” where the slaves would walk through before getting on the boats for the middle passage which they have renamed because people now can return through the doors. All in all was a very interesting and worth while day. Very sad and moving but an interesting place to visit.
Right across from the boat was a duty free shop so that night everyone convened at the duty free to drink and hangout before the superbowl. The fact that they really only sold handles of alcohol prob wasn’t the best… Ghanaian men came up and started drumming while everyone was hanging out and I saw one of my teachers, who was really drunk, dance for like 30 min. pretty entertaining. Next we went to a bar called Ocean Bar which kinda sketchy but because there were so many SAS kids there it was fine. Went back to the boat in time for the superbowl but only stayed awake for a little of it.
Day two I had to wake up at 6am for a 7am trip to Kumasi. Hangover hit about 2 hours into the 6 hour drive… pretty rough. Got to Kumasi around 12 and had lunch of spiced rice, chicken and French fries (which I found they had pretty much everywhere). The highlight of the day was going to a ceremony where the king of the Kumasi region appointed a new council member. Everyone was wearing black cloth wrapped around them in the traditional material worn for funerals and other serious events. We got to the ceremony right when the new man was announced so men began to drum and the royal women danced. We stuck out like a sore thumb but everyone was fine with us being there. I guess the king is extremely powerful because of all the money he gets from gold mining in the region. The president of Ghana has to have a good relationship with the king or else he will have no control over the Kumasi region. That night we stayed at a hotel and I got to call mom and dad!!! Was so so nice to hear their voices! Im getting so excited for lizzy and mom to come visit!!!
Next day we went to villages outside the main city to see where the made crafts like wood carvings and their traditional woven cloth. Weaving is taboo for women to do because the loom is close to your stomach and they think that if women weave and they get pregnant it will mess up the pregnancy. They have 1, 2, and 3 weaves. The 3 weaves are only supposed to be worn by royalty and if you wear it in front of the king you have to take it off and change into something less nice. Everywhere we went they followed us around trying to sell stuff to us. I am used to dealing with that and bartering just because of the other traveling I have done but some of the other people on the trip were extremely uncomfortable and I had to talk to locals for them. The trip was a ton of fun though especially because it was only 4 students and the rest were life long learners and teachers so I got to know more people on the boat much better.
We got back to the boat and I couldn’t have been happier to get back to my room and take a shower and eat normal food. Im starting to appreciate more and more the kind of traveling I am doing. Normally when you travel home base is a hotel but for me I get to go back to a room that’s mine, food that’s safe to eat, and a shower that has hot water. Anyways that night we went to Axim beach which was about an hour drive away. After a stressful drive there where the bus driver really screwed us with how much he charged us we got to spend the night on the beach just drinking beer and watching drunk people go skinny dipping in the ocean. There was no way in hell I was going to go in the water. It was dark and we were in Ghana, I had no idea what was in that water. (ps why has the blog been a lot about me and water??? I’m a freak) Next morning I didn’t have a bathing suit at the beach so I wore my friends athletic shorts and a sports bra. I looked reallllyyy cute. We left around mid day and went back to Takeradi and the boat. The cab ride back was no AC and my lungs were filled with dust by the time I got back. The had turned back on the water, which they had turned off to conserve while in port, so I got a nice cold shower.
That night was back to the duty free, this time in smaller numbers because many people were doing overnights outside the city or still at the beach. After duty free we went to another sketchy bar called Spike…. The bar was like caged in (maybe so people couldn’t steal alcohol??) anyways went back at a decent hour and had to make the 20 min walk back to the boat. AHH I haven’t said anything about the port and where the boat was! So we were docked in a shipping yard where we had to walk 20 min through a construction and shipping area to get to any taxis. Was a little creepy at night so always made sure to be with a lot of people.
Next morning was another early one. I went on a SAS trip to what they called a Water Village. We took a two hour drive outside the city to the welcome center where we were all given life vests. And oh yeah it was pouring raining… I was just wearing shorts and a tshirt. Four of us got in a canoe and a man in the back paddled us through this stream and lake for an hour. We were absolutely soaked when we got to the town. On the way people were putting their hands in the water and stuff. So weird. That water was brown and I had no clue what things were living and swimming in it. The canoe we were in was barley wide enough for a person and when we moved it would tip. I was not a happier camper to say the least. Anyways the town was really interesting. They had built their houses on stilts out in the water and had had a village there for over 400 years. It was sad though to see all the children barley clothed and all the garbage in the water everywhere. It was also a bit hard for me because I felt like I was intruding on their lives. People would go up and look into windows and take pictures of the local people. It makes me so happy how fortunate I am to have all that I do. After walking through the village (which was really slippery because of all the rain and I was petrified of falling off into the garbagey water) we took the hour long canoe back to the bus. We all looked like wet dogs when we got back. I was freezing cold and think I am going to get a cold soon because of it. Im just thankful I didn’t fall in and I wasn’t struck by lightning. I had three of my friends with me as well which made it much better. We would all just start laughing randomly because of the absurdity of the situation. After the two hour bus ride back I immediately got in a hot shower and stayed there for a solid 20 min. was amazing.
Back on the boat now. Today we passed through the prime meridian and equator. I guess that’s a big deal?? I don’t really get it. Today was absolutely gorgeous though. Sat outside and red for two hours in the afternoon and could not have been happier. I am sitting out on the 7th deck right now. I watched the sun set while blogging this absurdly long post. Its dark out now and I can see the stars. I’m sticky with salt from the wind. So happy. Love you miss you all