Really, I'm still alive

Hello all!

So I've finally got my act together - I'll be posting as often as possible on this blog.

So I've been here three weeks today, but it feels like its been so much longer. These last few weeks have been so amazing and overwhelming and busy and exciting. We had an extensive orientation - there's about 60 of us Americans, mostly from the UC's. About five Ghanaian students basically showed us around the area for the first two weeks. It was a great opportunity to get used to life here, and get shown around by Ghanaians. Our orientation leaders are all very sweet, and most of them will be living in the dorms with us this year so I've already got some connections. This last week has been devoted to registration for classes. Registration is truly an adventure here. Instead of registering online, you have to go to each department, and sign up in person. The really fun part is the the classes offered rarely match up with the classes in the course book - but really I've just learned to go with it all. It's new and it's different, but that's why I'm here, right?

So I'm living in the the Volta dorm with Kelly (my suitemate from last year!). The American students are all rooming with one another, but there are also Ghanaian students living in the dorms. Not all of them have moved in yet, so I really haven't met that many Ghanaians in my dorm (besides my friends from orientation). I'm ready for classes to start on Monday, and for everyone to move in. Dorm life is a bit different here - the power and electricity are intermittent. Sometimes we have to take bucket showers or work by candlelight. There are no meal plans here, and the food that you can buy around campus is pretty exclusively Ghanaian. Ghanaian food is lot of rice and beans with spicy sauces. Now that I'm finally used to the food, I'm loving it. I think fried plantanes are my new favorite food. It's also easy to get fresh fruit at the markets. For some reason there's also a fair amount of Chinese food, but I find that when Ghanaians cook it, it all ends up being pretty much the same. The best part is the prices - usually a meal costs about a dollar, and if that's too much for your budget it's not to hard to find something for less.

I've been trying to squeeze as much as possible into these last few weeks - between the end of orientation and registration, me and 7 of my American friends went off for a weekend trip. I felt very independent figuring out the bus and trotro (taxi van) system, and basically just following my nose. We stayed at an awesome hotel that had a restaurnt on stilts above a crocodile pond, so we could watch the crocs cruising around while we ate! We also visited Kakum national park and did a canopy walk, which was one of the most beautiful experiences. The next night we found ourselves in a small village with no running water or electricity. It felt like a completely surreal experience and I couldn't believe that I was truly there. Our presence was the event of the month - we were constantly surrounded by kids yelling "obruni" (which means white person/traveller), and we were introduced to the chief of the village and the elders, which was a huge honor. This village's attraction was a rock shrine, which we took a tour of. We even got to climb up to the top of it... using jungle vines!! It was truly and unbelievable weekend.

Hope you all are well and enjoying your summer! I think I'm starting to figure out my schedule, and what computer labs to use, so I'll try to stay in contact on a more regular basis. I miss you all!