Falling in love with the place and all of its character

The white waves roll in from the Atlantic Ocean, crashing against one another onto the shore. The breeze peacefully calms the warm air against the purple sky, rhythmically blowing the leaves of the palm trees. The clouds glow an orange tint from the mystical night sky allowing the stars to sparkle in constellation beyond the fluffy shapes resting against the backdrop and every moment, I'm falling more and more in love with Ghana and my life here.
Living just a few minutes away from the Beach, La Tawala, we have begun going there quite often--during the day, at night, any time. And no matter how often I go, it never ceases to amaze me. This beautiful and relaxing aspect of Accra is pretty representative of how I feel here, and why I have so quickly felt at home.
The past week hasn't been full of huge endeavors, but more about the little pieces of culture and life here that are becoming familiar (the beach, being one of those pieces).
Last weekend, we went to a bar called Purple Pub, which was a nice, chill place. Nothing too exciting happened there except the hundreds of mosquito bites I got that night. The bar was outdoors and my friends and I were sitting at a table. I guess my chair was facing a bush where there must have been lots of hungry bugs! It's okay though, I've been taking my malaria pills (which is a whole other world of crazy, with wildly intense dreams, causing sleepless nights).

My Legs after the Mosquito Feast

My closest friends here and I have become close with some Ghanaians which has helped us familiarize with many local spots more quickly than we would have on our own. There's a food joint owned by a woman named Muri down the road from us. It's called Aunti Muri's place and she makes Waakye (pronounced wa-a-che) which is a combination of beans, rice, meat, plantains and eggs. You order it "African Style" and get one large bowl for your table (which is outdoors under a tent, creating a wonderful environment) and everyone grabs a spoon, and eats together. It was one of the most delicious and definitely spiciest things I've eaten here, I think I came pretty close to actually breathing fire by the end, but it was worth it. The atmosphere in these local places is so laid back, everyone is friendly, the seating is completely open and it feels impossible to have any anxiety or bad emotions.

Another food we recently discovered is Fan Ice. We had a movie night at our academic center where films from past students in the Documenting the African City class were shown. The last film we saw that night was about an ice cream called fan ice and how everyone becomes obsessed with it, locals, travelers--everyone. So of course, all 43 of us immediately felt compelled to try this ice cream treasure. Fan Ice sales people roll carts down the street with coolers of fan ice, honking their horn. I've already had fan ice three times in the past week, and every time I hear the honk (which happens at least once an hour) I'm tempted to go get more. It's pretty delicious and super cheap; a wonderful cold treat on these warm days. Speaking of which, I can't believe it's actually winter in New York, especially a winter this brutal. While everyone else is being smothered in snow, those of us here are all very appreciative of this extensive summer adventure. 

The Documenting class also went on a field trip last week to a place called Jamestown. We create our own documentaries in the class, exploring an aspect of African life. We took a field trip here so that our teachers could expose us to a different part of the city. It's a developing community and the couple hours we were there were really inspiring. There were lots of activities that all showed levels of closeness and happiness I have rarely come across in my life. We watched a boxing match, saw children performing in a band, watched dancers and a giant game of futbol. Not only did those partaking in the activities seem to truly enjoy themselves, but everyone around came to watch and enjoy the entertainment. I still don't have any ideas for my own film but it was an experience I'll definitely cherish regardless. Here are some pictures from the experience: I wish I could make set them up so they're a little easier to see on here, but I'm not great with the internet, computers or blogging.

Rules of the Boxing Gym

Women Cooking in Jamestown

Futbol Field

I really just love it here, everything about it suits me well. I'm going away the next two weekends and will, I'm sure, have more exciting adventures to report along the way, especially since I start volunteering this week. 

The Start to Something Bigger

Today, I visited City of Refuge, one of the sites I will be volunteering at. Although it was definitely an adventure to get to, it was totally worth it. We saw the home where Stacy and John, the people in charge of the organization and all the kids live as well as the school they attend. The school was divided into kindergarten, first grade and a class of older students who were working with a teacher who taught them at their own pace. Both buildings were on a relatively large property with lots of cows and chickens everywhere (in other animal news, we saw a baboon in the road a few minutes away!).

The home was divided into four bedrooms, one was the boys room which had space for nothing other than beds, all bunked. The second was a girls room which had a little more room (or just fewer beds), John and Stacy's bedroom and the elder student's teacher's bedroom. There was also a living room, kitchen and dining room with a big table. There were a few staff members at the house--a security guard and some care takers who prepare meals and take care of the youngest children during the day. It felt very homey, and welcoming--which is a novelty for most of the children who come to live there.
After giving us the tour of the place, they took us to their future site which truly amazed me. They have 20 acres of land where they are building new homes for the students, a separate home for John, Stacy and their own children, staff homes, a bigger school with more classrooms, which they plan to open for all students in the area, a giant football field, a center for summer activities and camps (also open to children in the community). A few things about this truly amazed and inspired me:

First of all, it was over ninety degrees today, but despite this about 15 men were all working on building--hand creating cement blocks to build the walls, digging trenches for water pipes, getting ready to pave roads--create an entire village with no machines or power tools. They began this process on December 28 and expect to be done by August. I couldn't believe it. In New York, there are some buildings I've never seen without scaffolding in the past year and a half because they take so long to finish an apartment building. These workers were creating a village. An entire village, and they were going to be done in 8 months? Absolutely incredible, I'm so happy and excited for them.
Secondly, John and Stacy were explaining their goals and stated they didn't want to compare themselves to other organizations but in researching how to create a program that would best serve and improve the lives of trafficked children, they visited many orphanages. They noticed, like most businesses, that money ran most of these programs and the staff often focused on profit rather than using every resource to feed, teach and provide health care for the children and thus, make sure City of Refuge is different. With their new space, they are going to designate 5 acres to growing crops so they will be completely sell sufficient and with this, they will also educate other programs on how to provide for their children more efficiently and effectively. As Stacy said, instead of working on projecting images of sad, starving children and announcing to the public that the children need help (we've all seen those commercials), just feed them. It was very clear, and Stacy even directly explained, that they weren't interested in any sort of profit, just keeping their kids healthy and happy. I completely admire that not only are they aiming to perfect their own program, but make sure to reach out to as many children in need as possible, just proving how much impact an individual can truly have. Maybe for the first time in my life, or maybe just in a more intense way than I've ever witnessed before, I have seen pure selflessness, which was inspiring just to see.

I'm really grateful that I've found this program because it represents everything I believe in and I am excited to hopefully add a new component to it by bringing art to these children. Stacy was telling us about how the children have a lot of trouble sharing their stories, when they try they often break down in tears and do not know how to process many of their emotions. Additionally, until the program expands to children from the community, each child in City of Refuge is relatively limited and I think having a creative outlet, a means to self-express will be really freeing and allow each student to explore him or herself and their unique potential.

It was a really great experience and I can't wait to start volunteering on Monday! I'll post again tomorrow about what else is going on here in Accra. Again, if you are interested in donating to City of Refuge, there is an easy way to do that online: http://www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com/ if you want the donations to go directly to my program, put a memo "Elizabeth Tulsky Art Program." Any donations (either to me or to the whole organization) would be incredibly appreciated, thank you so much!

When the classes are great and the rest is even better

This first week has been everything I could have hoped and more. Although my classes are all amazing and I'm learning a ton already and have great hope for what's ahead, that's not even half of what's on my mind.
We got our community service placements and I will be volunteering at both the Dei Center and the City of Refuge. With these two organizations, I will be starting my own program where I will be bringing arts to the lives of young children who need substantial and untraditional help in their lives.
As Naa Seidu Braimah, member of Ghanaian Council of State publicly addressed last August, child trafficking is a growing concern in Ghana. Lake Volta, unfortunately stands as a trafficking ground for thousands of children who are enslaved and given very little food in return for their labors. These children, by and large, have no way to escape, coming from families who often have no income and no way to support them. City of Refuge aims to save these children and bring them better lives, if unable to return them to their initial homes or families, the children are placed in the organization's orphanage, the Freedom Center.
Through the Dei Center, an art organization that devotes much of its time to enlightening youth on the importance of the arts, I am going to start a program that uses art as a means of therapy to improve the lives of children in the Freedom Center. As an art history and social work double major and global visual arts minor, I passionately believe in the positive effects that art can have in any situation, especially for those who have been through such tragedy and have a difficult time sharing and channeling their experiences and emotions.
If you are interested in learning more and/or donating (tax deductible) to this cause, you can go to the website, http://www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com/ If you choose to donate, put "Elizabeth Tulsky Art Program" as the memo. Any little bit will help begin the program which will bring arts supplies to the children and potentially, depending on the amount of donations, enable these kids to go on field trips to see art galleries, meet artists and become truly inspired and explore their own abilities and potential.
I am incredibly excited for this experience and cannot wait to see where it ultimately leads me, and, of course, the children involved.

Orientation finally wrapped up

Orientation week ended up being full of chaos, but now that that's finally winding down, there's time to reflect and post again.

Things here are amazing though, on Wednesday we had a tour of Ashesi University, where I have my first class tomorrow, African Literature! Then some friends and I went to a local restaurant nearby and ran into some one we met on campus, and thus made our first real Ghanaian friend. The place actually ran out of food, but what I tried was delicious! Wednesday nights are apparently Reggae nights on LaBode beach.

LaBode is one of the more crowded beaches by us, as proven Wednesday. It was crazy. There were tons of people, live reggae music and, just a very overwhelming but fun and exciting place. Some times, during the day, it can be really crowded too, but today, we went again and we weren't completely flocked by natives to buy things, ride horses, or pet snakes (not too often at least). There was however lots of soccer, swimming, art and, for the first time since we've been here, blue skies!

I shot with film today, so I don't have anything to upload, but these are a few shots my friend took from the beach.

 These are our amazing CRAs, we live with Kelvin, the one on the right, and they're all incredible. They're knowledgeable, caring, helpful and fun.

Because it's Harmattan (the dry season) we really haven't seen anything much other than a haze of dust from the desert, so seeing a bit of blue today, really made it wonderful, although, as you can see, it didn't come out till later in the day. Today was a great day though, we also had a brunch where a seamstress came to measure us to make us our African clothes! For now, I'm getting two skirts made but I plan to get dresses in the future too!

Yesterday, we bought the fabric for the seamstress at the market, which was insane. The streets are filled with stands and people selling things, constantly grabbing you, urging everyone to buy everything, handing out marriage proposals and shouting "Obruni" (foreigner). One of my friends got hit by a car (taxi crashes are apparently the leading death in Ghana, the drivers are absolutely insane and the cars are really old) but was fine, it was just a crazy experience. Luckily, there were more inner parts of the market which were calm and everyone was really friendly, definitely an experience to say the least.

It's really nice though, I've only been here a week, but at the market, the beach, and the restaurant, I ran into some one I've met here. At the market, I ran into a woman who works at Tanta Marie's (the restaurant we eat at on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and she reintroduced herself to me as my mother, it was very sweet.

Thursday and Friday were pretty fun too! Well, Thursday night and Friday were pretty fun. Thursday was pretty boring and filled with standard orientation sessions, but Thursday night our CRAs took us out. We went to this little place, where there was a live band, two bars, one being under a hut with a sign "Reserved for couples and senior citizens" which made me laugh a lot, especially since PDA is extremely rare here (I have yet to see two people kiss in public). There was dancing, and it was really laid back, all the NYU students that were there and the CRAs made a huge dance circle that pretty much took up the whole floor, it was really fun even though I definitely embarrassed myself more than anything.

Friday we went to a gallery, Artist Alliance (you should check it out http://www.artistsallianz.com/index.php). It was one of the most amazing galleries I've ever been to, everything was beautiful and inspiring. Later, we went to the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum. Nkrumah was Ghana's first president and was actually a pretty interesting person, and the mausoleum was beautiful (see below).

 
 



Although everything has been pretty great, I can't even describe how excited I am for what's to come. Tomorrow I begin classes, starting with an African Literature class at Ashesi University and then a Twi class at NYU. Tuesday I have African Music and Dance at Ashesi, Art History (with an incredible professor, I can't wait for that class) and a class called Documenting the African City, where we learn to make documentaries and leave the class with what is supposed to be an amazing film of our experience. All the teachers really push it and everyone who has taken it in the past has loved it, so despite my lack of film experience, I think it'll be pretty great. Both Wednesdays and Thursdays I only have one morning class at Ashesi and Fridays I have off.
I'm really excited for this free time, because I hopefully have big plans. I actually plan to start a program through a foundation called the Dei Center, which is an art center that focuses on bringing art into children's lives. My program will be geared toward disadvantaged youth, primarily trafficked children through an organization called the City of Refuge. It's a pretty incredible place, I really recommend you check this out too: http://www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com/ I'm working on getting the program started and I start volunteering not this week, but the week after (I think, but could be wrong about the date).

Everything about Ghana is really refreshing, the atmosphere is so laid back and peaceful and I know this may be somewhat cheesy, but I feel truly inspired and happy here, right now.

One last thing, here's a picture of our first Ghanaian meal from the first day!

Global Connections: Accra

Our first full day here, we began with orientation. It's all a bit of a blur at this point, we've been getting our minds filled with information these past few days, but after learning about some of the general safety and basics of Ghanaian culture, the staff took us to a Bed and Breakfast for a buffet lunch (bed and breakfast shown below). We sat outside under a white tent, surrounded by trees, flowersbutterflies, and grass, something you don't see very often in New York City. We were immediately greeted warmly and our glasses were filled with delicious fresh juices. It had only been a few hours and everyone was already laughing and referring to our group as a family, with the staff as our parents, aunts and uncles, creating a completely welcoming and safe environment. I was already completely satisfied and content, and lunch still had yet to be served! A bunch of men filled the buffet table with hot trays and our program advisor, Krista (who is absolutely amazing) instructed us on the customs; elders serve themselves first, then vegetarians (to make sure they have enough food) and then everyone else. Although I was one of the last to eat, it was worth it. We were served a spicy peanut chicken soup, two completely different kinds of rice, chicken curry, fried plantains and a few spinach dishes (one with mushrooms, one with tuna). Everything was unbelievably delicious and topped off with fresh fruit. 

After lunch, we walked home. The whole walk was filled with beautiful greenery, small stands of fruit, clothing and jewelry and children walking home from school in uniform (which is oddly charming) and we came back and relaxed for a few hours before dinner.  (This is our housing complex, my house is to the right, but cut out of the picture. The haze in the sky is caused by Harmattan--the dry season, which ends in about 4 weeks, bringing extreme heat)

Dinner Monday was at Tanta Marie, a place our meal plan covers us to eat a group dinner at on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As soon as we got there, the host welcomed us into his family as his new brothers and sisters. He told us we were welcome to come to him for anything and on any day of the week (outside our meal plan too). With this, I think the entirety of our group was sold, but yet again, the food surpassed any and every expectation. 

Later that night, we went to a Ghanaian bar, but since we didn't really know where to go, we asked our security guard for advice/directions. He sent us on our way but within a few minutes, we realized we had gone the wrong way. Right when we started to turn around, a man ran up showing us his ID and telling us his name. We were really confused at first, but apparently our guard had sent him to help us not get lost, I'm not even entirely sure who this person was, but it worked! We found the bar eventually and after a nice evening, came back to get ready for orientation the next morning. 

Orientation Tuesday was much more productive, at least, in my mind. We learned a lot more about our course offerings and opportunities here. I'm really looking forward to all of my options, and I'll post more about those when they're secured. After we figured that out, former mayor of Accra and NYU in Accra professor, Nat Amarteifio gave us a lecture and a tour of Accra where we saw a beach:

 Lots of local stands, women with baskets on their heads, children playing superheroes and soccer...etc

 And a slave owner's home. With his home in the very back, the place where slaves were auctioned off in front. When we visited, inside one part the home, a religious ceremony was going on and in other parts, some mothers and children were packaging fruit, one mother was nursing and one man was urinating (which I guess explains the "Please do not urinate here" signs that lie under the "Post No Bills" signs around town.

All in all, it's been a fantastic past two days and I can't wait to see what's coming next (although I know we're seeing a live band, going to the market, and the beach within the next few days, so it seems like a golden plan to me--guess that's why I'm on the gold coast!)

Here Today, Ghana Tomorrow

Well, as you can imagine, a full twenty-four hours of travel is bound to be full of boredom, chaos, stress, you name it. But, as it happened, it didn't end up being so bad, even if it wasn't quite literally a smooth trip. The first leg of the flight (from JFK to Heathrow) included an hour and a half so full of turbulence, it felt like we were dice being violently tossed in a giant's hand. The woman next to me was shrieking and sobbing in fear, clutching her baby with her life. After things calmed down, we finally made it to the airport where we got to enjoy 6 hours of waiting. Luckily there was a group of over 20 students from NYU on the flight from London to Ghana (many had been on the previous leg of the flight as well) so we kept each other as entertained as possible. The second flight seemed to go by even slower than the first but once we got there, nothing else seemed to matter.
As soon as I stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac, my eyes were swallowed by an incredible wave of lights. Draped over the terminal and a giant Akwaaba (Welcome) sign were thousands of beautifully flashing christmas lights, just my taste. The lights initially kept me distracted from the 80 degree  humid blanket wrapped that around me, startling my snow-accustomed self. After getting our passports stamped, we waited for our bags and a Ghanaian soccer player from the world cup team walked by! He was wearing an incredible shirt with Ghana printed on the back. Fans didn't gawk over him to his face (as some one joked--like Americans would over Justin Beiber), but politely shook his hand as he powerfully walked through the crowd. After about an hour of waiting, we finally all had our things (nothing lost!) and we headed for our dorms!
There are two separate living arrangements. About twenty of us got on a van to Church Crescent (where I live) and the rest went to their dorm (Solomon's Lodge). After a ten minute drive through what was pretty hard to see, but passing a military base, some homes, a school, stray dogs, some people and more christmas lights, we pulled into our gated community, which consists of four homes. We all got out of the van and waited in the lot in the center, that tied our houses together.
My friends Lauren and Kaleigh and I had requested to live together, so we weren't surprised to see we all lived in 4C together. A man who shares our building brought us inside the fourth building. We opened the door to an open living room with really high ceilings, couches, a TV, a huge table and chairs. In the next room, we have a huge kitchen and laundry room which, along with a bathroom, consist of our downstairs. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms. One is our bedroom, which has a perfect deck with windows and glass doors making up our wall. We also have our own large bathroom! In the other upstairs room are two boys, one of whom is also, coincidentally, in the school of social work! I think we'll all get along really well, but, as amazing as the house is, I'm sure very little of our time will be spent here.  
I'm realizing none of this is even about the actual country yet, which I guess makes sense since we got home at about midnight and I haven't really been outside yet. Tomorrow we start orientation so I guess the experience starts then, and I can hardly wait!

Pre-departure

Well, I don't leave till Saturday but I figured I'd write my first post anyway, just to get this started. I'm pretty excited, although it's hard to know what to expect. Everyone asks if I'm scared, but honestly, I'm not. Maybe it's just that it hasn't hit me yet, I still have too much packing to do or maybe it's just too cold in New York for a world of warm weather and beaches to seem daunting. I almost wish I were scared, it just doesn't feel like it's happening yet. Anyway, a group of us fly out of New York on the 8th and we'll arrive about a day later. I'll be living with two of my friends from the School of Social Work which is great, but that's about the only concrete detail I have.

Guess we'll find out next week!