Coming from the States, I am accustomed to a very different kind of public transportation. I pay as soon as I enter the bus and I pull a string overhead my seat that informs the driver that I would like for the bus to stop so I may get off at my stop. There are Read More …
Every day I use a tro-tro as a form of transportation, and it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to get to work or home. But that’s only the beginning. Every time it’s an adventure and something different happens, so here are of my two most memorable tro-tro rides thus far. To Read More …
Last Saturday, two of the other students and I went with Professor Ed Madison to Nima to visit Nima: Muhinmanchi Art, an organization in Nima that teaches art to children and young adults, ranging from 7 to 20 years old. I was surprised when we got there and the two people in charge, Musah and Read More …
I have been in traffic jams before, but no amount of traffic in Los Angeles or New York could have prepared me for the chaos that is in Accra. It’s so normal too, so you’d expect the Ghanaians to be used to it. I’m sure they are, but they get just as frustrated. Especially when Read More …
Being in Ghana for this amount of time forces you to understand things that you never questioned before. Here’s a little something about this feeling.
My favorite thing to hear over my shoulder as I walk away from a Ghanaian that I just met is “Obroni te Twi paa!” which roughly translates to “The foreigner speaks Twi very well!” Twi is the most widely spoken of dozens of local languages in Ghana, and Obroni is often also translated as “white Read More …
Being an Indian, I thought that I was a pro at eating spicy food. Be it Mexican, Spanish or Thai food, I considered myself to be unbeatable in eating insanely high levels of spice. Little did I know that this arrogance was not to stay for long. A few days back, my colleague at work, Rosemary, Read More …
After my first story, Mr. Alimi said I was ready to go out in the field with one of the journalists and shadow him in the reporting process. That’s how I met Melvin. He has a thin layer of hair that he razors smooth every week. He wears black dress shoes that narrow to an Read More …
I have always been young for my age, so I was always the last one out of my friend group to celebrate their birthday. Waiting for my birthday this year was without a doubt the hardest. While all my friends turned 21 this year, I had to wait for the summer until I could finally Read More …
This Sunday, I marked two decades on this planet and one month in this fantastic country. Yep — I will forever tell anyone who will listen that I celebrated my twentieth birthday in Ghana! I was a little bit nervous about my first birthday away from home, but thanks to my amazing “fam” here, I Read More …
Friday, July 22, 2016 I woke up for work a little late today. Two hours late to be exact. I jumped in the shower about an hour later than when I’m supposed to the leave the house to catch the tro tro, knowing I had to be sitting at my desk at work in thirty minutes. Read More …
One of the things I have enjoyed the most about Ghana is seeing animals on the side of the road. Especially in the rural parts of Ghana, it’s very common to see goats/chickens/dogs/cats/cows/etc. roaming around close to the streets. In the United States, this doesn’t seem to be that common, and especially not in more Read More …
I was never conscious of how dependent I was on the Internet until the moment the plane landed in Accra, Ghana. My first instinct was to reach down into my bag and check my phone for messages and to see what was happening on social media. It was then that I realized I couldn’t do that, Read More …
Oh my home, you have brought me sadness 7,452 miles away. I am interning at a radio, television and online publication called Joy, here in Ghana. In the newsroom, CNN plays on the television, helping everyone to stay updated on global news. Today, CNN was reporting that two African Americans had been shot and killed Read More …