The rest of Ghana

So the first two and a half days of Ghana were very eventful! The
third day was Julie's 21st birthday-so of course it was one heck of a
day! After a 2 hour shuttle ride to Tema, we decided to explore the
markets. Markets are huge in Ghana. You don't really see stores-just
outside markets, that sell anything and everything. Food, fabric,
dresses, beads, shoes (mostly old and worn shoes)...it was rare to
find anything sold that was new. People just can't afford it. We
stuck out like sore thumbs once again, as we were literally the only
white people walking around the markets of Tema. We then stopped in a
bar and had a Ghanian beer and a delicious gin drink called Gordon's
Spark that tasted exactly like ginger ale, for Julie's birthday. We
headed back to the ship, ate dinner then headed out to a club where
tons of Semester at Sea people went. It was so much fun. It was
outside with a huge dancefloor and a disco ball. It was a local bar
completely invaded by Semester at Sea kids.

The next day we went to Accra (1 hr and a half shuttle ride with a lot
of traffic). There we went to the Arts Center, where there is a huge
market with tons of beautiful, awesome African crafts, clothes,
jewelry and drums to buy. Our first stop was a little place that made
and sold African drums. We went inside and Jackson, this really sweet
Ghanian gave me a drum and started teaching me rhythms. I played
drums with him for probably almost an hour. It was so much fun! He
would teach me a different rhythm and we'd play together and we'd
speed up. Jackson was so sweet too! I decided to buy a couple small
drums after that. We made friends with him and a couple other guys by
the drum shop and around the market. All day we shopped around and
hung out at a really chill outdoor restaurant and talked with the
locals. One local knew a professor that was from Ithaca who came to
Accra, Ghana every year, with students! Small world! That day was such
a wonderful day. Relaxing, chilling, eating, drinking, shopping and
talking with locals. Everything is so cheap-I got a lot of really cool
African things, including dresses, beautiful beaded jewelry and
paintings. The locals brought us to a train and we rode that to Tema.
That night we went to the club Manilla again, and it was such a blast
once again. We danced the night away. I met a guy from Sri Lanka who
claimed to know my friend Oshan-but it was really loud so I'm not sure
if he does or not.

The next day Julie, Lindsay (suitemate) and these guys Steve and Sean
went with us to Labadi beach in Accra. We ate and drank and had a
great time. I rode a horse along the beach and the water was so warm
and beautiful. It was so much fun. The only bad part of our whole time
in Ghana was the very end. The lady at the beach restaurant where we
were buying food and drink from accused us of not paying all that we
bought. We were positive that we paid for it all and she was just
trying to rip us off. After arguing with her for a while we tried to
walk away but she chased after us. There was no one around besides
about 8 taxi drivers who were all trying to get our business. She
told them we had not paid enough and so most of them get on her side
and tell us to pay more. We continue to argue and we're starting to
get nervous that we wouldn't get back to the ship in time (because of
traffic). For some reason the lady kept pointing at me, like I needed
to pay more. After I keep getting fingers pointed at me and people
continue to scream and argue I start crying out of frustration and
just because I was scared. One cab driver starts hitting Julie and she
hit back and she has bruises now. I'm sitting in a cab still crying
and take out $10 US dollars-basically all I have left and say "If i
give you this will you please leave us alone" through tears. And
luckily that did the trick and the cab driver drove off and got us to
the ship with an our to spare.

Besides that experience, I had an absolutely amazing time in Ghana.

People are so poor in Ghana that they are so desperate. It was very
sad and eye opening to see. You also bargained for everything. It was
like a game. They tried to take advantage of you and charge you a
ridiculous price because you're from America. It got frustrating after
a while-but if you're good at bargaining you were usually able to get
everything very cheap.

A couple other side notes to mention-Mama Viak taught us that thank
you in their language is Acba (ack-bah) and thank you very very much
is acbagagagagaga. She had us saying that a lot! Pretty much all
Ghanians speak English (thought with an intense accent so it made
communicating a little difficult) but all Ghanians have a native
language. There are so many languages in Ghana. Most Ghanians know
about 4 languages but its not uncommon for some to know 10. Another
thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that on the ride to the
orphanage the bus driver was playing a Christian radio station. I
heard This is the Air I breathe, In Christ Alone, Draw me close and
Our God is an Awesome God. I couldn't believe it. I felt so at home.
It was such a cool experience hearing those songs and seeing every
store sign practically praising God.

2 days ago we had our 3rd worship service on the ship. I lead the
singing and 1 girl plays the guitar. It's really great. There was
bible study yesterday and an ash wednesday service tonight. 2 nights
ago there was King and Queen of the sea "pageant". It was so much
fun. The ship has different seas based on where you live. I'm in the
yellow sea. Everyone got really into it and competitive. It was like
a huge pep rally. There were representatives from each of your seas
who competed for the crowns. There was talent and joke competitions
and ABC costumes. It was a lot of fun! I've been able to have some
really great 1 on 1 conversations with a few people the past couple
days. I really cherish them and feel blessed to have them because they
are pretty hard to come by I find on a ship where there are constantly
many many students around.

We're all so anxious for South Africa. There's so much to do there!
I'm hoping to hike up table mountain for sunset, I'm going on a safari
and wine tours, a service trip and hopefully sky diving! Also I'm
planning on going to Hillsong United's church in Cape Town! So pumped
for that! We arrive on Friday, so one more day on the ship! We've had
so many beautiful blue sky days and I've enjoyed a couple beautiful
sunsets. The seas are supposed to get rough tomorrow! I'm feeling it
in my extra rocky room. I'm headed up to check out the stars-I hear
they're gorgeous tonight.