Cards, Clinic and Clothes

Monday, September 18

After the exhausting weekend of a lot of travel and little to do, I was welcomed with an obligation-free Monday. I slept late, later than usual, which was much needed. For the better part of the day, I lazed around, played Hearts on the computer, and played Spar with Duncan.

Spar is a Ghanaian game which is something like War, but requires a lot of thinking. I really can’t explain it well, but I’ll do my best. First, all of the twos, threes, fours and fives are taken out of the deck. Aces are high and sixes are low. Each player is dealt five cards. A player (the person who lost the previous hand) opens with a card. The opposing player must play a card of the same suit if he or she has one. If the card played by Player 2 is larger, then that person takes control, and plays a card. Otherwise, Player 1 remains in control and plays another card. If Player 2 doesn’t have a card in the same suit, he or she can play any card, but Player 1 remains in control and plays another card. This goes back and forth through the five cards.

This is where points come into play. On the last card, if Player 1 plays a card and it is bigger than Player 2’s same suit card or unsuited card, then Player 1 gets a point. However, a player gets two points if their last card is a 7 (the second lowest card) or three points if a 6 is the last card played and goes unbeaten. Further, multiple point cards are additive, so if Player 1’s final two cards are a 7 and a 6, the player gets 2+3 = 5 points. (Duncan and I have recorded 8 a piece in our own games. Duncan got 9 playing someone else). Player 2 can steal a point if their final card is larger and in the same suit as Player 1’s cards.

In all, it’s an easy game to learn, but it does take a lot of game planning and analytical thinking. Duncan and I learned the game the first week here, but now we’re taking a much more analytical approach to the game. We’ll play the same hands out a couple times to see how it can be played out differently.

Anyways, back to reality. Monday was Orion’s birthday so we did a little drinking to celebrate. Upon returning, Orion and Duncan learned that their key was with the porter and the porter was out for the night. Oops. Luckily for the two of them, our rooms connect. I went into my room, went out my back door, and climbed over my balcony and onto theirs (by the way, we’re four floors up. Don’t worry Mom). Sadly, their back door was locked, so I ripped the screen off their window, reached my hand through and unlocked the door from the inside. It made me realize how easily our rooms can be broken into.

Tuesday, September 19

Apparently, international students have mandatory medical examinations, which no one told us about. Luckily, I saw the posting for it the night before, and made my roommate Francis aware of it. We went to the clinic and waited. And waited. And waited. This was not the most organized operation by any means. While we waited and complained, we started talking with people from other abroad groups. I met three Jewish girls who were planning to go to Sefwi for the holidays, which was perfect. They clearly had a better contact than I had and got the okay to go a while ago. So, I latched on to their group, and will be going with them. Anyways, three hours of waiting resulted in 5 minutes of procedures. Totally worth it. Right.

For the afternoon, Devereau, Duncan and I started to hit up some travel agencies looking for flights to Egypt. We found one for 708 – 100 dollars cheaper than the airline quoted. It appears that my trip to Egypt is on. I’m really looking forward to it. It will be a good break and a great opportunity to see some history.

Wednesday, September 20

Back to clinic today. Another couple hours of waiting. Blah blah. Everything is okay with me. I guess I’m healthy – at least by Ghanaian standards, I am. I ended up missing a class, which didn’t break my heart because I hate the class.

Today was one of those rare days where we had both electricity and water for some period of time (wow!). I was able to shower and shave, which was long overdue. I’ve learned to shave with cold water, which is painful, but I deal with it. It’s nice to get clean every once in a while.

I also picked a super-sweet pair of shorts that I had made. Check em out.

Still Alive in Ghana

Finally, finally, going to Sefwi for the weekend for the High Holidays. I’ll post on Sunday or Monday, hopefully with pictures and definitely with a new idea of how the High Holidays are celebrated.

Have a great weekend. And to all the Jews, L’Shana Tova.

LDG.