I think that everyone will agree that during our first week here, the most intimidating thing about starting our internships the following week was not the internships themselves, but rather how we were going to get there and back. This may seem kind of silly to those who have never been to Accra, but believe Read More …
I finally pulled myself from my nap when the lullaby of the engine stopped with a “thudunk thudunk” sound. We pulled over and the driver hoped out to relieve his waters. In a slightly dazed and confused state I rubbed the cloudiness out of my eyes and realized that I had just woken up on Read More …
As I sit here in the faded yellow, dilapidated Public Agenda building, facing the cobwebs in a corner of the newsroom (my desk is the only one that is diagonal) and shivering (I am right under the air conditioner), my coworkers kindly converse and laugh in Twi around me. Sometimes I try to listen and Read More …
“I can’t believe how tired I am.” Patrick was barely keeping his head off the table at Chez Afrique, where we had eaten lunch just days after arriving in Accra. He had slept fine the night before but the midday slump had hit hard. “It’s like we’re babies,” I said. “We’re experiencing all these new Read More …
Around the third hour of sitting in a chair, quietly reading a book and waiting for my boss to arrive, I began to wonder what I should do if he failed to show up at all. Several people had walked by me and murmured “Good Morning,” one man had yelled “Oburoni!” and waved cheerfully from Read More …
The other night, Jolene and I had just finished a gourmet dinner of oatmeal topped with mango and banana. The fruit here is delicious beyond description, especially the mangos. They put their stringy, tough, tasteless counterparts in the U.S. to shame. So it should be no surprise that such a simple meal can be belly-rubbingly Read More …
We had a very sobering trip to two of the oldest slave castles in Western Africa, Elmina Castle and the Cape Coast Castle, this weekend. These 500-year-old castles saw the worst of human behavior. The dungeons that we went in to were too dark, too hot and too small to hold the 70,000 men and Read More …
As I stood knee-deep in the Ghanaian ocean, waves aggressively slapping against my body, Shawna flailing helplessly by my side and the figures of Sung, Michael, and Patrick vaguely recognizable struggling in the surf, I smiled and thought fondly to myself: “This is one of those moments I’m going to remember for a long, long Read More …
Last night I had a dream that resembled a Taco Bell commercial. There was flowing cheese and crunchy taco shells mingling with a river of fire sauce- all for under five dollars. Meals in Ghana have been rough. With 14 cooks in the kitchen, even Top Ramen is time-consuming and people try to secretly add Read More …
So many words have already been used to connect the individual to his or her senses of the sea. I don’t sit before the Atlantic in total isolation, and I probably am not in from of one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen, but I’m compelled to write.
…they’ll probably ask you for more. Ever since that fateful moment when I first found out I would be living in Accra this summer I made a mental list of things to look forward to. Said list ranged from a canopy walk through the Elmina jungle, to attending “reggae night” at the local beach, to Read More …
“Please, come and look.” It was a hazy Wednesday afternoon up in the hills east of Accra, and I was being summoned. We had arrived just a few minutes earlier at the Aburi Market, where we were tasked with both purchasing handmade wooden items and, more importantly, learning the art of bartering. I’m from the Read More …
It’s always funny when it’s not you… so the saying goes, as I sit here in the dimly lit living room, dripping in deet from head to toe, awkwardly situated on three uncomfortably thin pillows on the couch with the only movements of my body in slow robotic gestures. As a fan from 1973 slowly Read More …
It’s day five here in Ghana and I’m enjoying myself immensely. In fact, I’m enjoying myself so much that my cheeks are actually sore from the gigantic grin which has been consistently plastered across my face. Today, while posing for a group picture at a local school, I couldn’t even hold my smile without my Read More …