Classes/Stuff

Well its still hot here, no surprise there. We have had running water for the last week though so that is exciting. Classes are finally beginning as well which is cool. It’s nice to have something to do and start to get into real life here. I don’t know for sure what I am taking yet but so far it looks something like Industrialization and Development, Human Rights in Africa, Political and Economic Reform and Democracy in Africa, West African Drumming, West African Xylophone, Traditional African Dance, and Spanish. The Spanish class is interesting because Spanish is not a very useful language in this region of the world so people aren’t all that familiar with it. I’m in a 400 level class since that is the hardest one they offer and most of the students still struggle with basic conversations. Even the teacher confuses the genders of words. It’s a really small class though so its easy to meet people and I am happy to stay practicing so that I don’t lose everything I learned in Chile. My other classes seem cool too. I did sign up for the Dance class with Oni, the dance instructor from orientation that I loved so I’m really excited for that. Drumming and Xylophone are also really cool. They are so relaxing and fun. Its cool to be able to take those classes here since they generally aren’t available or open to students that aren’t in the art or music departments at UCLA.

We’ve been keeping pretty busy outside of class as well. Last week we went to Reggae night at Labadi Beach which was really cool. They have a stage right on the sand where they play live music and that is pretty much the only thing lit up so its really serene and fun. And the weather at night is perfect. Its perfect for walking around in a dress or tshirt without feeling the tiniest bit too hot or too cold. Plus the beach was full of real Rastafarians which is quite a sight to see. It was just really chill in general. This weekend we also went to go explore a new area of Accra with a Ghanaian man named Justice who my roommate Anabel had met on the plane. He picked us up on campus and took us to his flat in Tema, a neighborhood in Accra, where he lives with his mom when he’s not at sea (he is in the marines). They we went to his uncle’s house where his aunt made us some delicious Red Red with yams, plantains, and some sort of eggplant salad thing. After that we went to see the marine academy where he is currently earning his master’s degree before going to visit his sister and brother-in-law at their home, and then his brother-in-law’s mother at her home. We basically met all his family members who were all equally sweet and welcoming. They were all so happy to meet us. It was just funny because we all felt to some extent like Justice’s new toy or something that he was showing off to everyone. It was really cool to see the way in which each of them lived though and talk to them a while. I think everyone we met individually asked each of us if we go to church. That is a pretty common question here but I still haven’t mastered a good response. If I say I don’t go to church than I feel like I have to endure their insistence in going to church with me one time. If I say I do go to church than I have to deal with the same thing. Lately I have been saying that I am Jewish, or that my family is Jewish. Usually that works because people sort of just accept it and respect that you have different beliefs and therefore do not go to church but Justice’s brother had never heard of Judaism before so that opened up a whole new can of worms. I pretty much just explained that Jesus was a Jew and left it at that.

It really is a very Christian country. Its kind of surprising since the traditional tribal culture is still very much alive. Historically in many parts of the world I feel as if the choice was to pick one or the other, the old or the new, tradition or modernity. Here both carry on strongly though. The women in particular are very Christian and very conservative on a whole, which makes it difficult to meet them and make friends because they don’t really do anything except go to class and go to church. The rest of the time they stay in their rooms. Many of the men on the other hand, are much less conservative and generally very outgoing, although sometimes they come on a bit to strong. They way the men and women interact here is actually very interesting and kind of sad in my opinion. Many of the women who come to school here, the most educated women in the country, aspire to nothing other than getting married when they graduate. And many of the country’s politicians actually come to our campus to scout out future wives because the women here are young, gorgeous, and highly educated. There is even a “Preparation for Marriage” class offered in the Home Science Department. I considered taking it just to see what it was all about. Its just so strange to me because people don’t marry because they love and care about someone here. They marry to have a partner in life to raise kids with. It is all about the kids. In some regards it does actually make sense, especially considering how frequently Americans divorce because our reason for marriage is based on a sentiment that is not stagnant, that changes constantly in every interaction and life experience. It still seems so unfulfilling though. Justice even told us a story about how his uncle had previously been married to a Nigerian woman but they constantly fought because they couldn’t have children. She blamed it all on him so he made her take a fertility test, and when it was shown that she was the one with fertility problems, he divorced her for embarrassing him. Now he is remarried to a much younger woman and they have a six-year-old daughter (the uncle is probably 60 years old now). It’s all weird too because historically women were very powerful. Among many of the tribes here, the royal bloodline was matrilineal, passed down through the Queen Mother. The sons of the king had no particular importance. And it’s weird because men still tend to carry very high regards for their mothers and aunts and sisters, they just don’t translate that into respect for their wives.

The other cool thing I learned from Justice was about a particular tree near Tro Tro stop 37 in downtown Accra where there is a group of trees that are constantly full of flocking and flying bats at all times of the day. We had seen it before on our way to Osu (also in Accra) and had wondered what the deal was because it was so strange to see. Apparently there is a legend that one time a chief was sick so he was taken to the hospital right next to the trees and the whole flock of bats came with him. He ended up dying in the hospital so the bats never left because they are still waiting for him to leave. Justice told us too that they have tried poisoning the bats, cutting down the trees, scaring them, shooting them, and just about everything imaginable to make them go away but they won’t leave.

Also, one last side note. I learned that people from Niger and people from Nigeria are both called “Nigerians” but people from Niger pronounce it “Nee-jer (J like a French J) – ians” while those from Nigeria call it “Nai-geer-ian”.