09/27/10 We’re Emerald Shellbacks!

Today at 1230 we crossed the Prime Meridian and Equator at the same time!! This means we were at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude!! Not many people can say they’ve done that!! That day we all became Emerald Shellbacks which is one of the rarest form of a shellback! Woo woo :P

You can check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony#honors

ALSOOOO guess who I ran into when I was at 0 – 0! Desmond Tutu!!!! Me and Shannon were trying to get to the front of the ship on deck 7 and it ended up being closed and as we were about to turn around we ran into Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu! :) :) :) We got a picture with him and he asked us “Did you feel the bump!?” when we got to the Prime Meridian/Equator :P then he showed us where to do to get back out. Which we already knew but followed along anyways. :D

9/28/10 Neptune Day

Neptune day is to celebrate crossing the equator. Which was a day late for us lol. We get woken up real early by the crew who are dressed up in robes, beating drums and making a ton of noise. After being woken up we all made our way to the 7^th deck for the ceremony. Which includes having “fish guts” poured on you, kissing a fish and kissing the ring of “King Neptune” AKA Dean David. It was a lot of fun! And I have so many funny pictures. A lot of people shave their heads too. And a TON of girls did too. But don’t worry I didn’t lol!

09/29/89 The big 21!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEE :) Lol I had a great birthday :) I woke up to my door being plastered in post it notes by Shannon .. thanks Shan!! And got cards, presents and cakes .. my friend Loryn made me a “I’m 21 .. buy me a drink” sign for South Africa & a shot book .. which will be fun to fill out!! I’ll have to make up for it in South Africa seeing as I don’t drink on the ship .. wayyy to much $$. But it will be fun and I can’t wait ot celebrate!! My other friend from work offered to cover my shift so I didn’t have to work that night which was really nice of him! :D Another cool thing is Desmond Tutu had a discussion panel that night too. And where we sat he sat just a few seats from us. So all and all I had a great birthday! Thanks everyone for everything :) and thank you everyone back home for all the facebook birthday wishes!!

9/25/10 Our Last Day

During the morning a few of us made our way to the markets to explore. The markets are more targeted towards the locals so there was a lot of food, spices and household items. It was really fun exploring the market in Takoradi, seeing how they shop and live. Everyone would say hi and the children would follow you around.

That afternoon we all got together again for lunch and final goodbyes with Fred and Olivia. It was sad saying goodbye to them because they had been so kind to us over the last few days. And I can’t say enough good things about Fred and Can Do Land Tours. Although I was on a tour for the past few days it really didn’t feel like one. I felt like I was hanging out with my good friend who was showing me his home and I couldn’t have asked for anything more! Everything happened exactly as it should have. I met the most amazing people and have made lifelong friends! :)

We headed back to the ship and stopped at the markets that were set up right next to the ship. I bought some nice souvenirs which will help me remember my times in Ghana. The few days following Ghana was very overwhelming. Before Semester At Sea I always told myself I wouldn’t experience culture shock and that I was ready to see what I was going to see. But Ghana was definitely culture shock for me. These past few days were full of things that I have never experienced before. And I’ll always hold them close to me and never forget them. I would find myself tearing up when I thought of the people I met and places I visited, how the children in Akatim village deserve so much more then what they have. I hope someday that I will be able to help them and give them what they need.

Dancing & Drumming! 9/25/10

Today was our last morning in Senase. We had breakfast in Freds mothers house which they prepared for us and after our goodbyes, lots of hugs and pictures we were on our way. We stopped in town for our welcoming ceremony which had been put off since the first night. There wasn’t as many people in town then there was the first morning we went in but as the drumming and dancers began the crowds formed. The dancing was amazing! I do not understand how they move like that! There are some videos on my page of it that I’m tagged in .. and I’ll be posting some once I get to free internet. Hopefully in South Africa.

They danced a few different dances, all with different meanings – and the drummers were so talented. After the dancing stopped someone came over to us to let us know that culturally – after they dance we have to dance for them. OH MY GOD!!! I was so nervous at first. The crowd had grown so big and there was not one open space in the crowd surrounding us. But once we got up there and started to boogie & make fools out of ourselves it was so much fun.. we were all laughing, dancing and jumping around. The crowd (including the Chief, Queen Mother & Elders) loved it and I’m sure they got a laugh out of it!

After our little dance it was time for us to leave.. I did not want to leave.. these few days were not enough time at all! We said our goodbyes to the little ones who ended up sitting on our laps & surrounded us during the ceremony and made our way to the van. The swarm of people waving, shaking hands & hugging us grew so big! There were just too many to say bye too but I wish I could have said goodbye and thank you to each person for welcoming me into their village and being so kind and loving. The children poked their heads into the van and waved until we started to drive off. Driving away was very overwhelming and I started to tear up. Just thinking about how much I’ll miss the children and how I bonded with them so quickly, made me think of how much I wanted to come back there.

Seventh Day Adventist Church & School

On our way home we stopped at another school called the Seventh Day Adventist Church. We visited it to see the difference between a school that was well off compared to the one we visited in Akatim village. Before we even entered the school you could see the difference in uniforms, how they didn’t have holes and weren’t worn out. Entering the school was a big shock. It was huge compared to the Akatim school. This school had cement walls and a water system. There were classrooms outside as well but they were built sturdy with no holes in the roof. The children were much more welcoming and right away wanted to play with us and take pictures and were very eager to greet us. They had drawings on the walls and windows with shutters to keep the rain out. It was like two different worlds!

We didn’t get to spend much time at the school but we got to play with the kids and they were given a few school supplies and a soccer ball. They kids loved the soccer ball and right away they were running and playing with it. The children were wonderful there and I wish we could have spent more time there.

The rest of the ride home went by so fast we all chatted and got to know each other more. Fred told some of us a story about the egg and what it symbolizes in Ghana. He told us that the people dear to him he calls his egg because you have to support them and be there for them. If you don’t support them they will drop and break and like an egg they will be gone forever. I think this is such a strong message. I ended up spotting a wooden egg carving and bought it to remind me of my time in Ghana. :)

That night a small group of us decided to get dinner with Fred and his sister Olivia. Olivia is such a sweet lady. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed eachothers company. I loved spending time with them!

Around Senase & a Visit to Akatim Village School 9/23

That morning Sarah and I had a very early wakeup call at 4 AM from the rosters outside. We both managed to fall asleep again and were woken up around 6 AM to get ready for the day. We explored the village a little this morning while we were waiting for the others to get up. We went along with Francis to get water for the day from the water pump. At the water pump there were a few people there already gathering water. They greeted us with big smiles! To gather water people would use BIG bowls or jugs, always carrying them on their heads back. There was a little boy there, who was SO cute, standing by the pump with a small pot of water on his head staring at us. When we walked off with his mother (who had a big bowl on her head) he kept on looking back and spilling his water EVERYWHERE. He was so adorable!

After everyone got together we went into town center to have breakfast. When we first headed out I didn’t think there would be a lot of people out in the town center but when we arrive there were so many people! There were a lot of kids wearing their school uniforms. There was even a live band playing! Haha it was a lot of fun. We had porridge & donuts for breakfast which was really good. The donuts weren’t like ours, they were basically fried dough balls – there was one called a sweet bar which was really good! While we ate we were surrounded by young children and people were lined on the streets watching us. We spent the morning socializing with the villagers, taking & showing pictures to the children, eating and dancing. It was such a good time!! The children love the pictures and keep on asking for more and more pictures. And when you show the pictures to them they light up and start pointing and laughing & screaming.

After we had breakfast it was time for us to be welcomed into the community by the Chief. We walked down the street to the home of the Chief. As we went in the Chief’s home, one by one we greeted and shook the hands of the Chief, Queen Mother and Elders. They were all so nice and welcoming to us and were so grateful that we were visiting their village. The Queen Mother even spoke directly to us which is a great honor.

After the welcoming ceremony we headed back to the center of town and piled into the back of a truck bed to head to the school in Akatim which is a close by farming village where Fred actually attended school. As we settled into the truck bed the rain started to pick up a bit but it wasn’t until we were on our way that the downpour started!! We were all soaked from it but it was so fun we were all laughing and I even have a really funny video of it with my waterproof camera which is hilarious!

Visit to Akatim Village School

We arrived to the school all drenched and the children were all lined up sticking their heads out looking at us. The day we visited was the second day of classes. There were four classrooms in the school with the youngest children set apart in a different building. The school was not in good condition, there were no walls, just boards nailed up, the roof was leaking and almost all of the children could not afford to buy books or school supplies. We spent the day doing activities like coloring, singing, clapping and using other sorts of games. Grant and I worked with the older kids and we all colored. The kids loved it, they were so proud of their work and they all did so well! The teachers even joined in and loved it. They played some of the games in the coloring book and they had so much fun. One of the teachers was only 20 years old and came to the area just to teach the students.

At first the children were very shy around us but after a while they opened up to us and welcomed us in. It was so sad seeing them there when they deserve so much better. I know the students are very smart and are capable of learning so much but without their school supplies and the ability to do homework it are almost impossible for them to learn. After we spent the morning with the children we got to meet with the headmaster of the school. We asked him questions and got to know a little more about the school. They have about 80 enrolled students in the school but not all of them continue to come because they can’t afford to. A large majority of them can’t even afford a notebook or pencil for class. We also learned that we were the first white people that the students have ever seen! After our talk we went back to spend more time with the children and presented the school with a soccer ball to share among the students. They were all so excited about it!

We also had the pleasure of walking some of the students home to see how far they have to walk to get to school. We set out with the children, who usually will walk alone, down the road towards their homes. The whole time the kids were asking for pictures and making funny faces and laughing. At one point I handed my camera over to one of the boys to take some pictures and he had a blast with that! I love them so much you can tell they are his because you can see his fingers in about every one of them! :)

We walked for about 45 mins until we got to one of the boys houses. The boy and his father invited us in to visit his home. It was sad to say good bye to the other children who had to continue to walk. Some had to walk another 2 hours to get home!!

We walked to the boys house which was pretty far into the woods and when we got there the boy climbed up and orange tree that was about 20-30 feet high! He picked a bunch of oranges and we headed out. The ride home was very fun! We were in the back of another pickup truck, but this time it was full of produce from the day. Along the way we made 4 or 5 stops for more people and more of their produce. There were almost 30 of us in the back of it and the first 2 rows were packed with stuff. People were sitting on the edge and it was so nerve racking thinking that they would fall off! Everything was fine though. :P

We arrived back home and spent the evening with the children in the village. I went down to the soccer field in attempt to play soccer with the kids but there was a practice going on. After a few minutes there was a mob of children surrounding us, watching us and posing for pictures. There was one point where I was sitting down that the circle of children was so thick that I couldn’t see anything past them. This was also the most I’ve ever been asked for my contact number by 6 – 10 year olds or being asked to be there future wife. One little boy was so cute, he came up to me and poked my arm and said “you are so soft! Will you be my future wife?!?” then word must have gotten out that I was really soft because I was getting poked for about 10 minutes by the children. 4 of the girls: Celestine, Lydia, Dorothy & Francisca were around me a lot that night and once they opened up enough for me the girl began playing with my hair and braiding to too. They were so sweet. I printed out some pictures of us and gave them to them and it was a huge hit..they loved them!!

That night for dinner we had Fu fu - it is soooo yummy! We ate it communal which was so much fun and we also had some rice and stew which was supposed to be served individually but we all got caught up in the moment and dug into whatever bowl we wanted!! It was a riot. After dinner we headed into town briefly and grabbed a beer at a local bar. The bar was blasting reggae music and it had a really good vibe. A man walked up to us with a big smile and said: “You are white people, I am black man, I love all people!” and he was dancing and having a grand old time! We called it a night once we got back from the bar seeing as we all had a very long day. Before bed Sarah, Fred & I had a long talk which was really nice. The day was amazing and it was something I will never forget. There was not one point during the day that I was not smiling!

On our way to Senase!

Well, where so I even start. I have so much to say about Ghana and it’s crazy to think that in just 4 days I had the experiences that I did. This honestly has been the best time of my life by far. And I am so sad to leave Fred and his family. They were all so kind and welcoming and really are one of a kind.

We arrived in Takoradi, Ghana on the 22^nd (wedsnday) and we were cleared to get off at 10 AM. After waiting for a few people we began our walk to the gate to meet with Fred, our tour guide. I was so excited to meet Fred! I had been talking to him for months before the trip through facebook and when I finally met him I had the biggest smile on my face and had to give him a BIG hug!!

Once we all met we piled into, well attempted to pile into, a van that was not meant to fit the amount we had. But we did it!! I have no idea how! Luckily though it was just a short ride to the ATM and our new bus was waiting there for us. Oh just a heads up on anyone planning to go to Ghana the master card is not accepted in most places – so it can be a pain to try to find a bank that will work.

We were on the road again for about 2/3 hours then we stopped in a village for bathrooms and snacks. I got some oranges and crackers. The oranges are so good and juicy but it’s funny because they are not orange – they are either green or yellow. On our pit stop I got my first taste of the squat toilets -now im a pro at them. :P the first few times are always interesting! A local in the village let me use their bathroom which was a cement structure with a hole against the back wall. Basically you just squat, aim & go. I wont give you all the fun details but if you want to know more just ask me haha.

At the house we went into there was an older woman holding a baby who was so so adorable. All of the children are so precious! You’ll be hearing about them a lot! Most of the children will yell “abruni” which means white person. One little girl screamed when she saw us and was calling it out and jumping up and down smiling and pointing at us. There was another time where a group of kids were hanging out a window across the street calling it out to us and waving. It always makes me laugh and smile when I hear them call it out, it’s so cute.

We got on the road again and after about an hour a dog ran out in front of our van and the driver had to slam on the brakes. Something happened to the van because after driving for about a minute we broke down. The break down was really a blessing in disguise because were we broke down was a church that was filled with children! We noticed that about after 15 minutes of being on the side of the road the children started to gather and stare at us. A group of us decided to go say hello to the people that lived there.

At first it was a little tense but after a few minutes of talking and smiling at the children and waving they began to open up to us. We played with them for about an hour or so while the van was getting fixed. We took so many pictures of/with them and after every picture you take of them they all have to see it. When they look at the pictures they laugh, shout and really light up with joy! The adults loved the pictures too, they kept on coming over to us with the babies to get pictures with them. There were really cute baby twins there too! OH! And a little boy had a boston red sox shirt on! :) We also got to see the adults prepare fu-fu and they showed us where they bath in the river by the church.

One of the people with us brought down dum-dums and gave them to the children. I noticed that one of the boys tongue bright blue from the pop and I kept on sticking my tongue out at him until her did it back and got a picture of him doing it. They all laughed hysterically at it and then they all began sticking their tongues out at me and doing silly poses for the pictures. Another person brought down a soccer ball for the children to play with and they loved it so much that he decided to leave it with them. Oh yeah and the dog that caused us to break down lived at the church, his name was Peace! Haha :P Soon we were on the road again and really didn’t want to leave the children. This gave us all a taste of what the village would be like and we were all so excited to be getting closer to Senase!

Due to the break down our itinerary shifted a little. Originally we were supposed to be having a big welcoming ceremony to meet the villagers and the Chief, Queen Mother & Elders of Senase with music and dancing but because we broke down and after waiting for so long the welcoming was put off. We arrived in Senase a few hours after sundown. Maybe around 9ish, I’m not too sure and headed to Freds mothers home in the village. We were welcomed by his family and some others and had a delicious dinner of rice and stew! It was soooo good and I’m going to miss eating with my hands we ate every meal with our hands. It is so much more practical and it gives me a good excuse for being a messy eater. ;)

The night was pretty low key which was nice. We hung out around his mothers home and we all got to know each other and his family some more and talked for a while. We figured out the sleeping arrangement and we paired off in groups of 2 and each pair stayed with a family in the village. Me and Sarah stayed in Freds room that he gave up for us which was very nice – thank you Fred! :)