I’m not quite sure yet, but it seems like Ghanaians get up pretty early. It’s barely seven o’clock and someone’s been mowing the lawn for the past ten minutes. I’m very happy to report that grass here smells like grass at home!
Breakfast was homemade oatmeal, an egg omlette, a sweet bun with jam and a hot dog. I wasn’t fazed by the hot dog like many others were; it definitely brought back memories of Russia! The great part was it brought back those same memories for another girl too. Sarah, from Oregon/Australia, is a Russian minor and lived in Moscow for a few months! It’s awesome to have someone to talk about Russia with. We’d start saying something about a part of their culture and the other would start excitedly nodding before the sentence was finished. She has almost talked me into auditing a Russian course with her; if times don’t conflict I probably will. Then mom can get off my back about keeping the language.
After breakfast we went through the first day of our orientation sessions. The first speaker was the head of a health department on campus. She went in depth why exactly we should be taking our malaria medication. With it, if we catch malaria, it’s easy to get rid of. If not, we could catch complicated malaria. Symptoms for the latter range from confusion, coma, spontaneous bleeding, severe diarrhea and severe death. We also covered Cholera which can apparently kill after five minutes in the blood stream (nooot too sure about that one), and deaths caused by waves knocking you over on rocky beaches. Over all, it was a lecture about all the ways you can die in Ghana. Very reassuring. Our second lecture of the day was on taboos, basically saying don’t do anything with your left hand.
After our lectures ended, we went to lunch in a different part of campus. After struggling between Jollof rice and Fufu with goat soup, I ordered the rice and sat down with a bottle of mango juice. We’ve discovered that no matter when you order or who you’re with when you order, your food comes when it’s done, to each person separately. By the time the last girl at our table today got her meal, two of the others were already finished. I think the key is to order something easy! My taste buds rejoiced in my decision when the girl sitting next to me’s mouth burst into flames after the first bite of her Fufu. Jollof rice is awesome, like rice cooked with curry (not in a sauce) at home.
After lunch was nearly a very painful death as we toured campus. Today I wore sandals to save the integrity of my white socks. Bad idea. Before coming, I knew the campus was in a section of Accra named Legon. What I didn’t realize was that the campus made the city of Legon. Legon is campus, campus is Legon. So today we walked around campus, which happens to be maybe twice the size of Cross Plains. It’s like seriously ten times the size of campus in La Crosse! Hitting most of the major parts of campus took three and a half hours. The walk from my dorm to the center of campus, meaning only halfway through, took us 45 minutes. Unfortunately for me, many of my classes seem to be on the other side of the center roundabout. I’m very proud to have any part of my feet left! Wearing flat sandals today wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Tomorrow another pair of white socks will take a dirt bath.
Luckily for us the weather hasn’t been bad at all! We’re still in the Harmattan season when dry dusty winds come down to the ocean from the Sahara. The dust forms the cloudy haze that blocks us from direct sun rays and the breezes provide needed relief from the humidity. I tried to psych myself into the humidity before leaving home so it wasn’t such a shock. I think I was pretty successful; I’m not scared of looking disgusting here! Well, maybe only for pictures. I think once I’ve been here long enough I’ll get used to it…right in time for summer in WI.
I had some good laughs with this update! (I'm glad about the Russia thing, do it!)you should be a Russian minor too! anyway will you need more socks and shoes?? So you be careful....I didn't like the part about the "severe" death. I did like the food part! can't wait to read more.
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