Happy Valentines Day!!!

{I forgot to tell you all about one of my favorite experiences of my world tour in my entry yesterday. I guess I just had to much ground to cover! So on the road from Kumasi to Tamale, we stopped half way through (because it is a six hour drive) at Kintampo. In Kintampo is the largest waterfall in Ghana, and let me tell you, it was gorgeous!!!!! I was simply taking in its beauty and grandeur when suddenly I just could not resist any longer going in. I had no bathing suit, and sorry mother, but unacceptable undergarments for swimming in front of the whole group, so I just took off into the waterfall, long pants and all. It was glorious!!!! We were all climbing this beautiful waterfall, falling and eating it several times and best of all escape the HEAT. I felt like I was five again, and that felt gooood. However, then we had another four hours on the bus before our next stop and no change of clothes, so I had a brilliant idea to dry my clothes out the window, while on a crowded bus, surrounded by 28 other people, in the middle of rural Africa. Needless to say I turned some heads.}

Yesterday, Feb. 13^th, we took our last day trip before the start of school the coast of Ghana to Cape Coast and Kakum Rainforest. Cape Coast is vastly different from Accra, which is also a coastal city. For one, it is absolutely beautiful; you are transported from the metropolis, to the Island-ish life. Palm trees and fishing boats are everywhere. In Cape Coast there are two castles, one built by the British and the other built by the Portuguese, where more than 12 million slaves each were transported through. They were collected from throughout West Africa, forced to walk for weeks to Cape Coast, chained up in dungeons at the castle, where they then waited another three weeks to be shipped of to the Americas and the Caribbean. These castles are yet just another intense reminder of the horror that was the slave trade. I have never seen 28 Californians so quiet before in my life. Although seeing such relics of past injustices is difficult, I find it so essential to understanding much of the pain the West has put Africa through. Of course I will never understand it…

Something I have realized during my short time here so far is that there is always some antithesis to despair, always a lighter note lurking around the next corner. After we toured the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles, we took a side trip out to Kakum Rainforest. The terrain obviously changed drastically, from breezy palms and sandy shores, to dense trees everywhere. Also, it was so loud! Every bug in the universe must have congregated there. So in this particular rainforest, there are Ghana’s famous canopy walks. This consisted of a plank with rope on each side, 100 FEET UP IN THE AIR. You are literally walking on the tops of trees (of course ignoring the cracks and creeks in the boards you are scrambling across). I felt a huge sense of pride up there because not did I hike up to the base, and glide through the sky, I still had malaria! So sorry if this is me bragging, but come on, don’t I deserve a little credit? I’ve sat on a crocodile, walked 100 feet in the air, and got malaria…so I am pretty tough right? Probably not, for the next day when we had to sign up for classes, I wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there. Administration in Ghana is so much different from the US. Back home I would have sat down at a computer and pressed a button and be registered for my classes. Here you have walk to each department individually, view the classes offered and when times conflict, and sign up in person with a passport photo. Except, huh, the African studies department just wasn’t ready to post classes, come next week, when classes start! Or sign up for a history class, but we don’t know what day of the week it is yet. So, to say the least, everything is a little stressful, but I should be able to survive (at least this is the mantra I keep repeating to myself). I start classes on Monday, and so far I am hoping to take Introduction to Twi (the main language in Accra), Traditional African Dance, Sociology of Culture in Africa, History of Ghana, and Islam in Modern Ghana. However, with this system here, I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve been reminded to post my address which is:

University of Ghana
UC-EAP
P.O. Box LG 356
Legon, Accra, Ghana
West Africa
And my phone number is 011 233 206 538895. The best way to go if you want to call me is to buy a calling card, you can get them really cheap, and just call me knowing I am 8 hours ahead. I normally get up at 7am (so like 11pm your time) and go to bed like at 12pm (so like 4pm your time) so anywhere in between those two times is just fine. Please call, or email (asernst@gmail.com), or send mail. I miss home and all of you! Also, comment on my blog and let me know if I am doing something to annoy you. Oh, and I know you want photos, NEXT STEP I promise!! (But don’t get your hopes up because I have been surprisingly not snap happy).

Love ali