In’s and Out’s of Ghanaian Life

In’s and Out’s of Ghanaian Life:

I have been here now a little more than a week and I must say that I absolutely love this place. However, for the first time since I have been here I have experienced moments of frustration, particularly in the past two days. First I am going to discuss this past weekend and then I will talk about the classes I am taking and my first two days of class.

On Friday I continued registering for classes during the day. For lunch we ate at one of the resident hall cafeterias. The name of the place was called Tyme Out, and it was set up like a restaurant and bar club-like atmosphere with pool tables in the middle of the floor, large U-shaped tables, and music playing. The food was also really good (although I will talk about Ghanaian food in another post). Friday evening was the first night my friends and I actually “went out”. We went with the RA – Prince, the greatest RA ever – and many of the other international students to a place called Chez Afrique (but when you here a Ghanaian say it it sounds like She a Freak). Chez Afrique is French for Dear Africa or Home of Africa. Chez Afrique is an outdoor restaurant with a dance area and live music about 15 minutes away from the campus in one of the wealthy neighborhoods called Opongo (I spelled this incorrectly but this is how the word sounds). Mostly older folks (30s and above) usually eat there. The food is absolutely delicious as of course I ordered a full catfish and fried rice. The night life atmosphere of Ghana is one of the most attractive qualities about the country. At Chez Afrique, the atmosphere is very laid back and mellow and the musicians play traditional Ghanaian music, known as highlife music (it has a nice reggae type of feel to it). They also play a good mix of hiplife – a fusion between highlife and hip hop. My friends and I all danced the night away that night as we enjoyed the music, the people, and of course the food.

On Sunday we all ventured to La Pleasure Beach and enjoyed a nice day of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the beach was great, I became highly frustrated after a while. Besides going in the ocean and swimming a little bit, I also played soccer with several locals. Unlike American beaches where you go to relax in the sun and read a book, there is no way to do that at a beach in Ghana. There are hundreds of people selling paintings, shades, jewelry, and all other types of things. They all bombard you at once – especially if you are a foreigner and although it is nice at first it becomes annoying if you are trying to relax in the sun. There was a dance group who performed for us (I have it on video and will have those pics and video uploaded) and there was also a man making sand sculptures with sand and water. He made several beautiful sculptures of a man sitting down playing a drum and women laying down. Overall, the beach is very lovely, but in just experiencing how the locals are always trying to sell I have noticed that they are very aggressive. As mentioned before, everyone here is a salesman and entrepreneur. They are all trying to make money and earn a living. It is really appreciable to see people working hard and as we say back home – “hustling”. Everyone uses their talents – whether it’s painting or dancing – to sell to others and try to make money.

Okay so this is my classes and class schedule:

Theatre: Theatre for Development – time for the class has not been released yet
Sociology: Poverty and Rural Development – Friday 1:30pm – 3:25pm
Dance Studies: Traditional African Dance Technique – Monday 11:30 – 1:25 and Tuesdays 8:30 – 9:30
Dance Studies: African Drumming – Mondays 1:30 – 3:25
Business School: Export Administration (discussing the export business as a strategies of development for Ghana) – Wednesdays 12:30 – 2:25
Religion: African Myths and Symbols – Thursdays 9:30 – 11:25

The academic system here is very unique and interesting with how the classes are set up. Back at NC State, usually you have class either three times a week or two times a week. Here at UG, you only have class once a week for two hours. So for example if you look at my courses above you noticed that I only have religion once a week on Thursdays. After that class, I am done for the day to do whatever I want. In addition, most classes don’t give daily assignments, instead, they lecture and it is up to the student to read, research, and keep up. For most of the classes the only grade you get is the final exam grade – which is writing a paper (they place great emphasis here on papers and writing essays instead of multiple choice and fill in the blank). Most of my classes deal with development/entrepreneurial ventures (since entrepreneurship is my minor) and music/dance. There are opportunities for us to get involved in the community here, so I will update what I get involved with when I have more details. In addition, there are several sports teams that we can join and get involved with. I am going to see if I can make the basketball team (wish me luck). The way you join teams here at the university is first you have to join your resident’s hall team and then they have an interhall competition. From that, they then pick the best players from each hall and that makes up the university team. Classes started on Monday, (although most were canceled due to all students not being registered yet). I attended my dance class on Monday, and I really enjoyed my professor. He is very lively and loves to tell jokes. I love how personal and friendly the people here are. They make you feel part of the community and its like you are one big family. On Tuesday I also had my dance class early in the morning and we began learning dances today. It was a very exciting and great workout. We learned two dances, kpologo (pronounced pologo) and the Gota dance and we began learning the basic steps for a third dance called Bima (practiced in the northern region of Ghana). Although the moves felt a little weird at first, once you enjoy the drums playing and feel the beat you get lost in the rhythm and it is really enjoyable. As I have more classes I will update more about them.

Let me talk a bit about open markets here. There are no such things as fast food restaurants in Accra, no McDonalds, no subway, no taco bell, no burger king. There are restaurants (which are expensive), but there are plenty of open markets filled with vendors selling rice, chicken, fish, fried plaintains (it’s a cousin of the banana), and all types of other foods. Right beside the hostel I live in is a place called the night market (because people are usually there all night) that has all types of things from movies, food, fruits, etc. Some mornings I stop by a lady named Ms. Francisca and she chops me a full pineapple, or I may go to another vendor and get an egg and sausage sandwich and a coke for 1 cedi 50 pesawas (which is almost equivalent to $1.50). I love food from the night market because it is just as good as food from restaurants, they cook it hot for you right there, and it is really cheap. For example, last night I got a full plate of fried rice, vegetables and chicken all for 3 cedis (about $3.00). I like the idea of open markets here in Ghana (think of the fair or a festival in which people are on the side of the streets selling items) because they are much more personal and homey than a fast food restaurant. As I mentioned earlier, I really appreciate how everyone is a salesman and everyone uses their talents to make money – the entrepreneur way.

Of course I will have more updates on other tidbits of Ghanaian life, other types of Ghanaian food, how classes are going, and of course pictures. Please bear with me and keep in mind that internet here is much slower and more frustrating to use. Not everyone has a computer and computers are scarce in numbers here. Thanks for reading!!!