Slow Goings
Monday, August 14
After a depressing weekend, a day off was exactly what I needed. I was able to sleep in until 9:30, which is rather miraculous considering how un-soundproof the dorms are. Ghanaians go to bed early and wake up at the crack of dawn to start working, so it gets loud pretty quickly.
I tried to register for classes today, but registering here is not like registering at San Diego. No computer registration, so we need to go around to the departments to register. We also need to give a passport picture for every department we register in. By the time I got everything done, registration was closed for the day. Lame.
With nothing to do for the afternoon, I decided to take a nap. I needed the energy because we were in for a fantastic night of food, music and dance at Auntie Irene's house. The food was unbelievable and everybody was in the mood to dance. No one got hurt.
Considering the events from the weekend, today was a walk in the park, and it was needed.
Tuesday, August 15
Today, like yesterday, was pretty mundane, but even the slow, boring days are pretty interesting.
Day 2 of trying to register was a complete success. I'm officially registered for 4 classes, 16 UC units worth. The 4 classes I'm taking are: Organisation Theory, Theory of Underdevelopment, Conflict in African States, and Government and Politics in Ghana since Independence. I'm pretty satisfied. I really wanted to take a class on refugees, which is offered, but it's at 6:30 in the morning, and that just doesn't work for me. Lucky for me, I'm on a three day schedule so I'll have plenty of days for trips.
After registering, I decided to get a hair cut. I blew out my razor trying to plug it in without a voltage converter. Dumb. So my haircut -- and shave -- cost me a grand total of 10,000 cedis, just more than a dollar.
I was hoping to get a nap in this afternoon, but I was rudely interrupted twice: once by Desmond, one of our guides, who asked me to give a cell phone to Francis, my roommate; and once by the school carpenter, who was asked to change the lock on our door. For the first week or so in Legon Hall, we needed to all but kick in our door to get in. It got old very quickly.
Today was our friend Hao's birthday, so a formidable posse took her out to dinner at China House, a "fast food" Chinese place in Osu. Surprisingly, the Chinese food here is pretty good. Everything was normal until Liz brought in this man named Emil. (Brace yourself). Emil is from Bulgaria, but he is being held hostage in Ghana. He told us he was persecuted in Bulgaria -- and across Europe -- for having "the mental power to crush governments." He made his way through Europe, down to Morocco, Mali, and Burkina Faso until he made it to Ivory Coast, where he was held hostage. He then got across the border into Ghana, where his passport was taken because he couldn't buy a visa. Now, he doesn't have enough money to buy a new passport and visa, so he is stuck here. We think he's just insane.
Today also saw our first malaria victim, Joy. She was rushed to the hospital (she is doing okay now). Malaria is only a deadly disease if it is not treated. If it is diagnosed immediately -- and it's pretty easy to figure out -- then it can be taken care of. And the medication to take care of it is cheap. That's what makes the high mortality rate -- 3 million people annually -- so shocking.
I also learned to play cribbage today. Pretty fun, but it doesn't seem to be a game of a lot of skill or thought. Nothing like Hearts, at which I am improving daily. While playing this evening, I got bit by some sort of bug on my left hand. It got swollen immediately, which is just awesome. It doesn't hurt though, and there are no noticeable side effects, so I'm not worrying about it.
Wednesday, August 16
It's been a really nice few days of just being able to relax. I know that an interesting weekend will be in store, one way or the other.
More than any day, today was slow. I enjoyed lunch at "Tacobell," which always makes me laugh when I eat there. No tacos. For less than 2 dollars, the food is rather good.
I planned on getting some more laundry done. My first few loads of handwashed laundry have been mostly successful. I would give myself an A- for my work. It just really is a pain in the ass to do for two reasons: the amount of time it takes and the lack of items that I can wash at one time. I came to the realization, while doing laundry, that nothing every really gets clean here; as soon as something gets clean, it immediately gets dirty.
My plans were distrubed by an obligatory book launch. It was the first book in a series that is edited by Auntie Irene called "Chieftaincy in Ghana." It's a pretty big deal here -- there were a ton of chiefs and queen-mothers at the event. But like any book launch, it was 2 hours of boringness.
The evening was greatly improved by going to dinner at Rich Love. It's great Ghanaian fast food. It's the second time I've gone. My roommate, Francis, and I made friends with Yaw (pronounced like Yao Ming) and he hooks us up with food for free. He makes the most amazing chicken. Many of us have found that if you do good for a person, they'll do good for you. Yaw is a great example. We bring in a ton of business for him, so he gives us food for free. The same can be said about many of the craft shops: if you bring in business, they'll give you good deals.
I owe everyone an apology: I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get my pics up. It's gonna take
hours to get them online. I'll try to do them in groups over the next week or so.
I'll post after the weekend. Talk soon.
LDG
After a depressing weekend, a day off was exactly what I needed. I was able to sleep in until 9:30, which is rather miraculous considering how un-soundproof the dorms are. Ghanaians go to bed early and wake up at the crack of dawn to start working, so it gets loud pretty quickly.
I tried to register for classes today, but registering here is not like registering at San Diego. No computer registration, so we need to go around to the departments to register. We also need to give a passport picture for every department we register in. By the time I got everything done, registration was closed for the day. Lame.
With nothing to do for the afternoon, I decided to take a nap. I needed the energy because we were in for a fantastic night of food, music and dance at Auntie Irene's house. The food was unbelievable and everybody was in the mood to dance. No one got hurt.
Considering the events from the weekend, today was a walk in the park, and it was needed.
Tuesday, August 15
Today, like yesterday, was pretty mundane, but even the slow, boring days are pretty interesting.
Day 2 of trying to register was a complete success. I'm officially registered for 4 classes, 16 UC units worth. The 4 classes I'm taking are: Organisation Theory, Theory of Underdevelopment, Conflict in African States, and Government and Politics in Ghana since Independence. I'm pretty satisfied. I really wanted to take a class on refugees, which is offered, but it's at 6:30 in the morning, and that just doesn't work for me. Lucky for me, I'm on a three day schedule so I'll have plenty of days for trips.
After registering, I decided to get a hair cut. I blew out my razor trying to plug it in without a voltage converter. Dumb. So my haircut -- and shave -- cost me a grand total of 10,000 cedis, just more than a dollar.
I was hoping to get a nap in this afternoon, but I was rudely interrupted twice: once by Desmond, one of our guides, who asked me to give a cell phone to Francis, my roommate; and once by the school carpenter, who was asked to change the lock on our door. For the first week or so in Legon Hall, we needed to all but kick in our door to get in. It got old very quickly.
Today was our friend Hao's birthday, so a formidable posse took her out to dinner at China House, a "fast food" Chinese place in Osu. Surprisingly, the Chinese food here is pretty good. Everything was normal until Liz brought in this man named Emil. (Brace yourself). Emil is from Bulgaria, but he is being held hostage in Ghana. He told us he was persecuted in Bulgaria -- and across Europe -- for having "the mental power to crush governments." He made his way through Europe, down to Morocco, Mali, and Burkina Faso until he made it to Ivory Coast, where he was held hostage. He then got across the border into Ghana, where his passport was taken because he couldn't buy a visa. Now, he doesn't have enough money to buy a new passport and visa, so he is stuck here. We think he's just insane.
Today also saw our first malaria victim, Joy. She was rushed to the hospital (she is doing okay now). Malaria is only a deadly disease if it is not treated. If it is diagnosed immediately -- and it's pretty easy to figure out -- then it can be taken care of. And the medication to take care of it is cheap. That's what makes the high mortality rate -- 3 million people annually -- so shocking.
I also learned to play cribbage today. Pretty fun, but it doesn't seem to be a game of a lot of skill or thought. Nothing like Hearts, at which I am improving daily. While playing this evening, I got bit by some sort of bug on my left hand. It got swollen immediately, which is just awesome. It doesn't hurt though, and there are no noticeable side effects, so I'm not worrying about it.
Wednesday, August 16
It's been a really nice few days of just being able to relax. I know that an interesting weekend will be in store, one way or the other.
More than any day, today was slow. I enjoyed lunch at "Tacobell," which always makes me laugh when I eat there. No tacos. For less than 2 dollars, the food is rather good.
I planned on getting some more laundry done. My first few loads of handwashed laundry have been mostly successful. I would give myself an A- for my work. It just really is a pain in the ass to do for two reasons: the amount of time it takes and the lack of items that I can wash at one time. I came to the realization, while doing laundry, that nothing every really gets clean here; as soon as something gets clean, it immediately gets dirty.
My plans were distrubed by an obligatory book launch. It was the first book in a series that is edited by Auntie Irene called "Chieftaincy in Ghana." It's a pretty big deal here -- there were a ton of chiefs and queen-mothers at the event. But like any book launch, it was 2 hours of boringness.
The evening was greatly improved by going to dinner at Rich Love. It's great Ghanaian fast food. It's the second time I've gone. My roommate, Francis, and I made friends with Yaw (pronounced like Yao Ming) and he hooks us up with food for free. He makes the most amazing chicken. Many of us have found that if you do good for a person, they'll do good for you. Yaw is a great example. We bring in a ton of business for him, so he gives us food for free. The same can be said about many of the craft shops: if you bring in business, they'll give you good deals.
I owe everyone an apology: I'm sorry that I haven't been able to get my pics up. It's gonna take
hours to get them online. I'll try to do them in groups over the next week or so.
I'll post after the weekend. Talk soon.
LDG
posted by Lee Gerston at 1:56 PM
1 Comments:
Stewie, when you return home, make sure to read the book, "Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King. I think you'll appreciate it by the end of the semester.
Take care, hope your hand doesn't fall off.
Tim...aka...Redhill
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