Keeping up this blog has been quite the challenge for me as I’m
sure you’ve noticed. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Quite a while ago, CIEE took our group to Kumasi for a
weekend. We all skipped classes on Friday morning, loaded up two coach buses,
and set out to the northern region. To say the least, I absolutely loved Kumasi
(but low-key, I’ve found that I love everywhere in GH except for Accra. Whenever
I travel outside of the capital, I fall deeper in love with Ghana. Accra does
the absolute most in the worst possible way. We have a very love/hate
relationship). Arriving after a five hour drive, we checked into our hotel, had
lunch, and went to the King’s palace (formally known as the Asantehene of the Ashanti
kingdom). The castle and museum was very interesting, and our tour guide had
the driest and most hilarious personality. He was tastefully awkward! We also
went to Bonwire Kente village and did shopping. I got tons of gifts there for
friends and family, and purchased a few kente cloth stoles for graduation
(ekkkkkkkk so soon!). I’ll post photos of them on Facebook…after Bonwire, we
went to the adinkra stamping village, and it was decent. Nothing too special.
Lastly, we headed to the largest market in Ghana, and I had a ball lol. To
start off with, as SOON as we stepping into the place, we saw this man get
jumped by stall owners because he was caught trying to pick pocket a shopper.
The vigilante justice is ever so real here. Next thing I knew he had tires
being thrown at his head, and was getting belted by some man. It was clearly
time for me to move along. In the market, I got tons of shea butter, black
soap, waist beads, and ntoma (fabric). I was in fabric heaven. As an ntoma
addict, I knew I had to hoard to get clothes made…and I did just that J As a random tidbit, I
also head the best Indian food I’ve ever tasted in Kumasi. The irony…
The rest of April was pretty low-key. I didn’t do anything
that would blow your minds away, but strangely enough it was my second favorite
month in Ghana. I’m sure it’s because I’m fully adjusted to life abroad, and actually
feel like I live here (which is gonna make it very hard to leave, but I’ll
elaborate on that later). Classes ending the end of last month, and I couldn’t
be any happier. I’ve been using my free time to just do what I want. Shelbie’s Brother
Teddy surprised her from DC and stayed for a week. Her friend Rebecca from home
has a house in Osu which was amazing to get away to. Like I said, any excuse to
get out of Legon/Greater Accra is fine by me. We did touristy stuffs (lol
insider) with him like visit the art market, practice bargaining, eat banku and
tilapia, and head to the beach. I’ve still been going out, meeting randoms, and
running amuck in Ghana. Y’all know how I do.
At the end of last month, I headed to Nigeria for a week to
visit my family! It was a wonderful time. My first stop was Lagos w/ Aunty
Ifeanyi and Unlce Tony. I went to her business where she does marketing, and
makes party favors. It was actually very cool seeing how a business like that is
run. I also learned the basics to sewing (which I will become a pro at by the
end of the summer. I can’t come from Ghana where having clothes made is dirt
cheap to buying like I used to. Oh no no Tito. Feel free to call me seamstress
Oli from now on!) I then went up to Abuja to see Aunty Priscilla, Uncle Ife,
and my little cousin Tobechi. Tobechi has GOT to be the most
energetic/talkative/entertaining girl in Nigeria. She woulddddd not stop
talking!! Lawd! In Abuja, I was shocked by how conservative the place is. I couldn’t
go anywhere without being stopped and reprimanded about how my clothes weren’t long
enough/hair not being tied, my one tattoo,
being loud, etc. Women there are also hella docile. It pisses me off. I was
actually starting to get very annoyed by how people there thought it was their place to tell me how to dress and
behave, but luckily I left before I had to black on someone. My next stop was
Asaba in Delta State with Uncle Enyi. He moved back to Naija last year after
retiring, built a massive house, and now lives there permanently. It was great
spending the night there. The following morning, he, myself, and his driver set
out for Benin City. We stopped in Igbodo (my family’s village) to look around
and drink palm wine (which I’ve taken fancy to thanks to Naija). I loved it!
The men there thought I was his daughter, and kept trying to propose marriage.
They also thought it was hilarious that I don’t speak Igbo. My name in the
village was unofficially Oyibo girl which means white girl. Rude lol. Anyway,
once we got to Benin, we stayed with Uncle Ben, Aunty Ivy, and Ebele. Uncle Ben
is now called Grandpa Ben because he’s mad old. Like ancient. Great times all
around learning, and seeing all of my family. Then I came back to Ghana.
Most recently (as in 30 minutes ago) I got back from a mid
week trip to Cape Coast (again) with Shelbie and Afia. We left Wednesday
morning, took a taxi to Kaneshie station, and boarded a sauna of a bus to Cape
Coast. Afia’s cousin lived there, and since we wanted to make sure we went to
Elmina Castle as opposed to Cape Coast Castle (did that a while ago) we decided
to go! The ride was only 7 cedis and two hours long. Up up Jesus! We were going
to stay at the Elmina Beach Resort, but it was entirely too expensive by anyone’s
standards! It would’ve been around $200 a night, and that got an absolutely
not. We ended up staying at the Sanaa Lodge Hotel for a much reasonable price.
The first night, we hung out at this place called Oasis with Afia’s cousin and
friend Ben. Since it was Wednesday, it was reggae night, so the hot mess of
Rastafarians were out in the fullest of forces lol. We ate, drank, laughed, and
were merry. A lot of stuffs happened in between, but this needs to be kept PG.
If you’re really interested, just ask lmao. On Thursday, we slept in after our
long night, woke up, had breakfast at the hotel, then headed to Elmina Castle.
While the tour at Cape Coast Castle was more extensive, being in Elmina was
much more real. Most notable, was the stench that still remains from the
decayed bodies that were kept in the holding cells for months on end. I won’t
even try to describe it, but it was scary! I’ve always read about it in books,
and heard of it through people who have gone, but experiencing it firsthand was
surreal. I will never ever forget Elmina, and am so glad we went! After our
tour, we were ravenous, so we headed to the Cape Coast Castle Restaurant and
had the best banku and Okra soup in the world. My belly was happy. Thursday
night we didn’t do much since we were over stuffed. Just watched Naija films
and slept. Woke up this morning and headed back to Accra.
So now I am back, with about 8 days before I head back to
the States. If you would’ve asked me a few months ago, when being in Ghana was
a little rocky, I would’ve eagerly jumped on the next plane back. But at this point, I have absolutely NO desire to go home! Don’t get me
wrong, I miss my friends, family, home, etc more than anything, but being
abroad has enriched my life in ways that you couldn’t even begin to understand.
I always laughed at people who overdramatically explained how spending a
semester abroad has changed their lives, but I am now one of those losers. I
have conversations with my friends everyday about how the quality of life is
soooo much better out of the US than within it. We that being said, I have made
it a mission to finish school, and embark on my 5 year plan (hopefully less) to
move out of the States for good. I won’t go into too much detail here because
my plan is not concrete at this point, but what I can promise is that my
adulthood will be spent as an expatriate J
Feel free to come visit me wherever I am.
For now, I am waiting to take my last two finals next week,
pack, and head home L
I’ll be working on Colby’s campus making it easier for me to focus, study, and
plan. I actually just got so sad about leaving soon, so I’m gonna end here so I’m
not an emotional mess at my laptop.
Sending pots of red-red and love from Ghana!
Xoxo
Oli Baby (tehehe)
