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!