Roughly a week has passed since my last blog post…so much for staying on my game. I’m falling behind for several reasons: 1) The internet connection almost everywhere is just plain terrible. Internet at our house takes forever because all 16 of us students are trying to use it at the exact same time, which slows Read More …
At some point in the upbringing of most American citizens comes a time when they’re introduced to a bevy of cultural norms in the U.S. The shopping mall, Wal-Mart, Costco, conventions, and music festivals are just some of the experiences to be had in understanding consumer behavior in this country. I mentioned all of the Read More …
The human heart is not built to endure all situations in life. No human can ever say they’ve encountered every new challenge without some level of doubt, nausea or fear. Those who say they have are lying. In 24 hours I experienced several degrees of fear starting from Sunday morning through Monday morning. On Sunday Read More …
Your typical white American girl going to Africa to save cute black babies. That’s why most people assume I chose to spend my summer in Ghana. The narrow-minded inquires from anyone who heard my summer plans frustrated me for the six months prior to my trip. Now, I’m so in love with Ghana that the Read More …
At some point during our travels we as a group started to realize how diverse the people of Ghana are. The hospitality in particular has been overwhelming to points where I’ve felt unworthy of the affection I’ve received from complete strangers. The children have been some of the most endearing individuals on this trip. It doesn’t Read More …
Despite the title of this post, in which I am un-creatively stating the obvious, those exact words swirled endlessly through my head (I’m also pretty sure I said them about 200 times, which I’m sure sounded intelligent) as I stepped off of the plane and breathed in the humid, tropical air. The last few weeks Read More …
The attitude I bore coming into Ghana went something along the lines of, “Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.” I wanted to anticipate anything that could go awry during the trip. I followed the advice I had received before arrival as closely as I could to avoid a meltdown or intense culture shock. For Read More …
“Africa? Really? You couldn’t have picked Europe or something?” If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this, I would probably be able to afford this trip without the help of my parents (Thanks, Mom and Dad.) To those of you who have asked me this question, don’t feel bad. Whenever I Read More …
No other weekend could compare to the Volta Region trip. Beautiful place for beautiful people.
Pack light. That’s the modern traveler’s mantra. I bought into the ‘pack light’ hype after lugging 200 pounds of luggage around Europe in 2008. So, packing for Ghana, I decided my laptop would be superfluous with my thinner, lighter, capable iPad. Boy was I wrong. In Ghana, this is basically all the iPad is good Read More …
A few days after arriving in Accra we met the freshest, hippest Ghanaian to help guide us along this emotional ride. I wasn’t entirely sure how it happened. Bjorn and Rob were doing some spontaneous jig, and out of nowhere Sonny starts breaking it down, his hips grooving side to side as he rubs his Read More …