SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2011
The white breasted crows infest the streets of Accra like pigeons do in New York, and, with each sighting, I am breath taken by their beauty and elegance. I have never seen such unique looking crows until I crossed the Atlantic this summer. Their black coats and white underbellies are reminiscent of that of a handsomely dressed man in a tuxedo at a black tie event. I’ve tried to take some nice pictures of these avian creatures, but, I do not think justice is being served to their bounty. Photographs just do not captivate motion the way it is seen by the human eye. I hope I’ll get a chance to do some more formal bird watching at a national park around here before I leave. Anyhow, this is what I’ve got for you: INSERT CROW PICTURE HERE!!.

I am certain that when I come home I’ll be missing these birds.

In other animal news: I still haven’t succeeded in picking up a goat and petting it. They are all too fast for me! INSERT GOAT CHASING PICTURE HERE!!!

I miss my dogs Sasha, Tiffany, Kashmir, and Tate at home. The dogs here are not cute. They roam freely and are unkempt and of the same breed. They bore me. I miss my American Eskimo Dogs’ fluffiness, neediness, and constant displays of affection.

There were some pigs playing in the mud at a very filthy, trash-ridden beach which my group and I had the misfortune of encountering. The pigs actually grossed me out a little bit. I am not usually satisfied with admiring animals from afar, but here I was comfortable maintaining my 30 foot distance that would shield me from any accidental mud splashings and hoof kickbacks.

The pig sighting occurred on the first day of my first and probably one and only three day weekend! Friday was July 1st, the Ghanaian national holiday Republic Day, which was instated to celebrate the milestone of Ghana becoming a republic. For some reason this holiday exists in addition to Independence Day on March 6th, which basically exists for the same reason and, yet, is more extravagantly celebrated. Still, I’ll take any second-rate holiday that gets me a day off. :P

Our journey to the arts center was quite eventful. It began with bringing the n00bies in town (the volunteers who had just arrived) to exchange their U.S. dollars into Ghana cedis. We could not hitch a tro-tro because all of them were full, but we were able to make our way to Nkrumah Circle via taxi. Nkrumah Circle is a landmark in Accra that is named in honor of Ghana’s first president. I had tried to find some information on Republic Day via the internetz, and I had come across a website that said that the government had put together a photo exhibition of the history of Ghana and that it would be near Nkrumah Circle. Well, that was nonexistent. To discover this was a process involving many arm grabs by Ghanaian men as we were walking on the sidewalk, many attempts at hustling by market vendors, a walk across a bridge above a street congested with cars and crazy drivers, and a run-in at a dance party within the market where everyone was dressed in red and black and apparently celebrating the life of their friend who had just died (which we joined). Needless to say, we may never know if the photo exhibition actually existed, but, in looking for it, a good time was had by all.

We then caught a tro-tro out of Nkrumah Circle that took us to the arts center, which I had assumed was a building with art in it. Turns out I had assumed incorrectly, as it was just another open market with even more persistent sellers than what I was used to. It sucks having the name Chelsea because everyone remembers it, and I had sellers to whom I had not introduced myself calling out my name from afar. It was unpleasant. Our group thought it would be a good idea to take a breather in the beach area behind the market, but all we found were some pigs rolling in mud and trash everywhere.

So we went back. I went into a few shops and bought some awesome African carved goods. I am not a wealthy woman; in fact, I am a student without an income. When presented with stuff I lust for, I am like a cougar that prowls for young men: I simply can’t help myself. What I spent that day amounts to a number that would put my mother who raised me to shame, so I won’t say it.

It has been an interesting experience to watch volunteers come and go. More and more I am becoming the veteran. I could not fathom spending just 10 or 20 days on this trip. It takes just about the same amount of effort to plan this trip to spend 10 days as it does to spend 60. The only difference between a 10-day and 60-day trip is the cost incurred from lodging. Otherwise, the required fundraising amount is still $1700, the 500 eyeglasses still must be procured, the plane tickets still come near $2000, the required vaccinations are the same, the visa still must be obtained prior to traveling, and the training modules are the same length. Even so, I have seen volunteers come and go. Fleeting friendships are kind of a sad thing to think about, but they are inevitable in life. We simply cannot avoid the fact that we will not ever be the same group again, the same n00bies in town in Accra, Ghana for our first volunteering experience abroad. I don’t know if I’ll ever see many of these people again. For a few of us, Wednesday’s reggae night at Tawala Beach in Osu was the last “hoorah!” before leaving Ghana, maybe forever. We saw many an obroni and did much mingling and chatting beside bamboo fires on the crowded beach. I’m looking forward to Kumasi to get to know the next new bunch, and I’ll probably have to deal with confronting the same inevitable fate that I may not see these wonderful people again. Life can be sad sometimes.

Chyeah. Kumasi will be fun. I’ll be rocking MY NEW HAIR THAT IS NEW AS OF THIS MORNING! World, I have to tell you something. I look different these days. A little more African, a little less Caucasian. Get ready to have your socks blown off. It only cost me 31 GHC (US equivalent of 20 bucks). This success might have launched a new phase in my life. I love the idea of being able to fully customize my hair without having to commit to a color or a style for more than a few weeks. I’ve always wanted to experiment with my hair, and I think I’ve finally crossed the threshold of fear that has been holding me back all of this time.

--
SUNDAY, JULY 3rd, 2011

Things I’ve lost during this trip: my sunglasses; one of my two eyeglasses cases; the cord that connects my camera to my computer (sorry, no more pictures for the blog because of this loss); and, my wallet, which probably had around $300 worth of cash in both Ghana cedis and U.S. dollars. A traveler’s nightmare.

It was almost as if losing my wallet was an act of fate, because a few events of the past week seem to build to this loss. First: I had noticed that I had no use for my traveler’s checks because no place accepted them, so I removed them from my wallet and placed them with my stash of cash that I kept separate in a safe place. I should be able to cash those checks to myself at a bank (yes, there are banks in Ghana)! That is a sure plus.

Second: While purchasing cloth at the Kejetia Market in Kumasi today, I must have been caught up in all of the pretty patterns and shiny colors that I was imagining as pants, shorts, bags, shirts, etc. FYI, this market is the largest open market in West Africa. Anyway, I had left my bag open after making a purchase and a Ghanaian woman came out from behind me and was holding my wallet. She said “you need to close your bag because the next person who sees this may not be so nice.”

Then, after splurging on a pretty huge amount of traditional African kente cloth and various apparel plastered with “Chelsea Football Club” on the front, I had reached my threshold. As the member of the group everyone else had to wait for because I was busy buying things, I knew it was time to call it quits. I declared, “mark my word: this is my last and final purchase!”

Somewhere between my declaration and getting into the cab to find a restaurant for a late lunch (which was actually necessary because everything is closed on Sundays), I either dropped my wallet or someone stole it from me. Whatever the case, someone has my license, credit and debit cards, my toothpicks that I’ve been collecting from my sliced pineapple purchases, a fairly heavy sum of Ghanaian and some U.S. cash, my Yale student ID, and some business cards I collected from a few interesting individuals during this trip. I was super bummed. Some Ghanaian person has a lot of my identifying information and spending money I was hoping to use for this trip. All gone. I felt like an idiot. I still feel like an idiot for letting this happen.

On the bright side: I had some amazing red-red today. Red-red is by far my favorite Ghanaian food. I’m surprised how difficult it is to find relative to other Ghanaian staples that I don’t think taste as good. I also had a slice of pizza, which was not like the pizza I’m used to, but still a friendly reminder of home. The money I had spent on all of those purchases went towards the purchases, not to the person who has my money! So that’s good, I guess. Also, I rode three tro-tros today. This is getting to be too normal.

Ahh. This is just really cruddy. I figured out a way to work out in the hotel. I suppose I felt like I needed to do something good for myself after the not ideal happenings of the day. I ran up the three flights of steps they have here ten times and, with each descent, I ran back and forth in the hallway. Also did 100 push-ups today. Also did some of a leg workout outside. I sweated up and felt a lot better. I must say, I really miss exercise-induced sweat.

Kumasi is proving to be a much nicer city than Accra. The roads are all paved and the city’s layout is what I would expect when going to a city—it actually makes sense! I can walk places and not feel as if I’m going nowhere. Even with this sour beginning I think there’s hope for an excellent next two weeks. I’ve counted up the money I stored elsewhere (thank you, Daddy, for this very sage advice) and calculated roughly how much I’ll need for the next month. I should be fine for the rest of the trip. Vundahful (in Ghanaian accent)! I love the dynamic of the group with whom I’m traveling and I’m super excited about our optometrist, Kate, who is a female! She is so warm and nurturing and is a great motherly figure while I’m here. She can surely provide me with advice with my first African hair style.

P.S. I wore pigtails today.
INSERT PIGTAILS PICTURE HERE!

--
MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011
Dear USA,

Happy 205th birthday! I love you more than I ever could have imagined. I wish I could have watched your annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Staten Island either in person or live on tv. I would have loved to see fireworks displayed in NYC over the water. ‘Twould have been splendid. The idea of eating at a barbeque with meat patties fresh off the grill and corn dogs and ‘freedom’ fries and onion rings and full sour pickles and pasta salad makes my taste buds feel like they’re going for a ride on Aladdin’s magic carpet. I realize I am so fortunate to have been born on your lawn, and I promise to never let a day go by that I do not appreciate your existence. Thank you for being awesome. I love your continual investment in my life. Also, thanks, Mommy and Daddy, for choosing this place to raise me and make my home. I am eternally indebted.

Love always,
Chelsea