This past weekend I became acquainted with emotions that I didn’t know I was capable of feeling: everything ranging from a deep, gut-wrenching guilt that I still can’t shake, to a profound sadness fueled by frustration at my inability to change the past. I felt primed for our trip to the Elmina Slave Trade Castle. Read More …
I have always liked long braids because they’re beautiful on most women. Once I came to Ghana, I learned that wearing braids is a huge fashion trend. So one night while we were all talking, I got the idea to get braids. Another student in our group got her hair done and it looked great, so Read More …
Yesterday Ryan and I got the privilege to take part in a Ghanaian press conference at my work at the Ghana Football Association. With both of us having played college football, we have interacted with the media and taken part in press conferences plenty of times before, so we figured we understood what we were Read More …
Why are you vegetarian? What?! How do you survive?! I couldn’t live without meat! Aren’t you deficient in protein? Don’t you love animals?? I do, they’re so tasty! I tried once for a few years! What do you even eat?! How come you’re not skin and bones? These are the most typical responses I get Read More …
Picture a traditional American wedding. The bride walks gracefully down the aisle with her father to join her husband-to-be at the altar. Close family and friends watch silently with joyful tears in their eyes, waiting for the couple to say, “I do.” After the kiss, the 100 or so guests applaud and the couple leaves together, Read More …
When I am not working with Asante Kotoko Publications, I am at the Ghana Football Association helping out any way I can. One of the projects they have Alex and me working on is helping brand the Ghana National Women’s League. Unlike the Premier League here in Ghana, the women’s league does not get much Read More …
Roars of laughter echoed the hall as the bride and groom awaited their holy matrimony. The minister spoke of love, but not of the couple to be wed. Instead, he gently spoke of the mental illness known as “homosexuality.” Eruptions of applause followed each bashful sentence about the family values and lifestyle choices of Americans. Read More …
For the past three weeks, have been interning at an advertising agency called Orakle Multimedia Ltd. I hoped to learn a lot and acquire new skills in the advertising and design world. Rather, I was taught more valuable lessons than learning to design my own font and mastering the Adobe programs. There was one coworker that I Read More …
One of the funniest things I’ve noticed since coming to Ghana is the way that barber shops sell themselves to the public. Though the ads aren’t large scale, they all have something in common: various African-American rap artists. The most common of those displayed is definitely Ludacris. Though he’s seemingly out-of-date in America, he doesn’t Read More …
One of our visits this past weekend was to Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti Region. One of the villages there specializes in Kente cloth weaving. I was so excited to see how they made Kente cloth, because I can’t believe how beautiful some of them are. They are so detailed too. After we got Read More …
Since I have been in Ghana, my diet has mainly consisted of chicken and chips (French fries) or chicken and rice, which seem to be the most common dishes. However, I have managed to try some new types of food as well as some Ghanaian dishes. Since arriving in Ghana, almost everyone I have talked Read More …
I showed up to my internship today and I thought my day was going to be filled designing and finishing my e-mail templates and creating invitations and flyers for an event that Penplusbytes (my internship company) is hosting in August. However, shortly after I arrived and showed my progress to my boss, he quickly sent Read More …
As my first month in west Africa comes to a close, I’m finding things are beginning to settle. Flying into Accra with Morgan, we arrived in the night to an airport crowded with people and humidity. Eventually we made it through a long customs line and received a very minor taste of the well-orchestrated chaos Read More …
Since I’ve been here, I have repeatedly made the major mistake of holding out for one adventure to stand out from all of my other experiences to write a blog post about. Now, sitting among my fellow students in our mansion in the outskirts of Accra and looking back on the last couple of weeks, Read More …
Technology. Intended to make our lives easier, better, and more enjoyable. Right? Eighteen days spent in Ghana and my belief is, no. A phone means more than just calling in today’s world. You can search up absolutely anything in almost any place in the world (if you have service). But unlimited access and knowledge of Read More …