Go Big or Go Home!!

For those of you who have not heard, I have extended my stay in Ghana for the rest of the year. I will be here until the end of May and I will be spending my Winter Break with my best friend, Katie, in Israel! This may come as a shock to some but I am having the adventure of a lifetime and I feel that there is still so much more for me to learn here.

Saturday my roommate, Ariel, and I headed to Makola Market in Accra. We bought some incredible fabrics that we are going to have the seamstresses make skirts for us out of. The market is pure chaos, full of traders constantly hissing at you or grabbing your arm to catch your attention. My favorite area is the food market on the side of the main road- pigs’ hooves, large snails, and huge fish and crabs stare back at me (and smell too!)

Sunday I did my usual teaching for Exponential Education. We caught a cab to the Accra Sports Stadium to meet up with our EAP group and watch the soccer game between Accra Hearts of Oak and Berekum. The stadium was awesome and it was cool to see how passionate Ghanaians are about soccer. The game ended in a tie and no penalty kicks were taken because it was a season game.

The past week I have been participating in the Inter Hall Competition. Basically, it is a week full of athletic events in which each dorm has an athlete or team represent them in a certain sport. I was selected to represent my hall, Volta, in tennis. From my experiences thus far up at the courts I was not anticipating there to be any competitive girls. However my first round match instantly changed my opinion in that arena. My opponent was straight up skilled. She walked in wearing her Nike shirt, Nike skirt, Nike shoes, and yes, Nike socks. We had quite the crowd gathered around our court and my nerves had my hands shaking all over the place. Despite all the support I had from my Ghanaian brothers, I lost the match 4-2, 4-3. What I did not know at the time was that my opponent was a member of the Ghanaian national tennis team. Apparently the team captain had brought coaches from Accra to watch me play. After the match I was approached and asked to play for the UG team in January at the University Games held in Nigeria. At this point I don’t know if I will be able to do it but I sure hope so! So the tournament continued…I won my next couple matches and I ended up in the championships, playing my same opponent. Yet, she refused to play. When we were supposed to play the match this week she didn’t show up. Everyone is joking that she is afraid to play me- secretly I am afraid to play her! Worse yet, as I waited for her to show up on Monday, the sky turned black. My coach swore that it would NOT rain. A breeze built up, meaning the rain was coming and before we knew it we could literally see the wall of rain moving towards us. And when it rained, it POURED! We were soaked within seconds. We ran for cover but it was too late. When I made it back to Volta I was informed that I looked like a “wet beaver,” great! The only positive part was that I got to have a fascinating discussion with my friend, Zainab, from Kenya. We talked about how tribal affiliations are still extremely important in Ghana and decide who you will and will not be friends with. We also discussed her perspective on foreigners, tourism in Africa, and development. During my lecture that night my professor had to stop talking because she could not b e heard over the thunder. AND late that night I awoke to my room shaking from the boom of the thunder and my bed was wet from the rain (because there is no such thing as glass windows here that close). It was actually scary it was so intense. I kept thinking if they had a hurricane warning system and if I missed the alarm. But don’t worry, the heat is back!

A couple hours ago I got back from my dance midterm. It was a mortifying and unbelievable experience at the same time. For the past semester my class has been learning two traditional African dances. Our class was split into groups consisting of six people- me and my friend, Monique, were the only obrunis in our group...and our sixth member didn’t show up causing for more difficulties. Now let me set the scene. The live band of drummers sat up against the wall next to the panel of judges who sat at an official table with their notepads ready to critique our every move. Directly opposite them was a stage where 150 of my fellow classmates sat watching. Sandwiched in the middle of these two groups were me and my group. The five of us each had a number pinned to our stomachs like we were marathon runners. And then the drumming began… fifteen minutes later I was a slip ‘n’ slide of sweat- but all smiles of course. I think I did okay- nothing near the hip shaking of the Ghanaians but not too shabby. We had a solo part at the end where we were supposed to get creative, let loose, and show the audience what we got. I tried to not let my nerves get the best of me and I just put it all out there. It was nerve-wracking but at the end of the day, I had fun and it is definitely one of those moments that will stick out in my mind when I am back in the States.