settling in

    I was talking to my mom today and she asked me: "are you settling in?" I immediately responded that I sure hope I've settled in because I have been here 3 months and if there is any hope that I'll "settle in " before I leave, I better achieve that soon. But, after we were done talking, I got to thinking- am I really settling in here in Ghana??

    I guess i knew that everything would pretty much be completely different in Ghana and that I would have a hard time adjusting to the cultural differences, the foods, etc. But, to be honest I was more worried about classes and making friends. I have since realized that those have probably been the easiest part of the semester. The beginning of last week reminded me of a typical week at Colgate. I had a test on Monday, and a paper due the same day for a different class. Wednesday I had two papers due for my psychology class, so I spent most of Tuesday working on those papers. However, after Wednesday I found myself with nothing to do and completely finished with assignments for the week. If I were faced with this situation at Colgate, I would know exactly what to do: spend an afternoon at the COOP talking with friends, spend an extra long time at the gym and then maybe venture out after dinner, anything to avoid Case. Maybe a bit boring and typical, but it satisfies me. Here, though, my free afternoons usually turn into some type of adventure and cultural experience-- never typical or boring.

    On Thursday, after class, a few friends and I  decided to go to the Accra Art and Culture Center. The art  center is the epitome of a typical tourist spot. The place abounds with low-priced jewelry, t-shirts and cheaply made dresses. An unknowing passer-through could easily be conned into spending $10 on a factory made necklace and all of the vendors are very good at convincing people that their product is worth the extra money. Fortunately, I have been in Ghana long enough to know that bargaining is absolutely necessary because vendors will quote ridiculous prices that are usually 2-3 times higher than what they will sell it for. In order to save money, we took a tro-tro, which is not my ideal form of transportation and is not for anyone who desires comfort or quick arrival. The tro-tro is usually an incredibly old van of some sort that goes from designated spots around the city. People hop on and off at random times and every person is expected to pay (usually about 20 cents). It sounds great in theory, but these vans are always packed with more people than were ever meant to fit in one van or minibus and the door is most likely held shut by a leather strap. People have their heads sticking out of windows trying to get fresh air and the constant movement of passengers in and out can get confusing. At the beginning of the semester, I was terrified of tro-tros, mostly because I thought i would get lost. The drivers have hand signals and abbreviations for the stations and if you don't know them, you could end up on the wrong side of the city.

    Anyway, so we got to the art center later in the afternoon than we had originally planned and the vendors were beginning to close up their shops, but this ended up being an advantage because they all were really eager to sell. I walked away only spending about 15$ and had a necklace, 2 t-shirts, a soccer jersey and a painting. I was pretty proud of myself and my new found bargaining skills. It will be a little bit upsetting when I get home and can't argue for a lower price. As usual, I was completely exhausted when we got home (it took over an hour to get back because of the TERRIBLE Accra traffic), and we enjoyed an evening of movie watching!

    Friday I have no class at all, so about 6 of us went to the pool for the morning, which is something I have never enjoyed in mid-November before.  After tanning for an unhealthily long time, we went to lunch at one of the best restaurants in the neighborhood. And, even though the place looks like it could be in New York, the service was true to Ghanaian standards. Our food took about an hour and half, but it was delicious and reminded me of home. It was a pretty good end to the week, but I can't expect it to happen again as finals are approaching! -Kalin