Another Night!

It seems to hold true that the more open you are to connections and new experiences, the more you attract those connections and experiences.  Tonight I went with a few friends to meet up with the 2 girls with whom we went salsa dancing last night, and they took us to the college town in the area.  We met a bunch of laid back college kids who all hang out together at the same spots on Thursday night, which has now been deemed college night in the town.  Since the island is relatively small (you can drive from one side to the other in about 4 hours), and since the youth from San Juan hang out in the same 2 towns, most students who go out know one another very well and are excited to see one another and catch up.  Everyone is so friendly and open to meeting new people, so I have come to know a bunch of young locals when I go out.  Not everyone on the trip is having this experience; many are hanging out closer to the hotel.  However, I was craving an authentic Puerto Rican experience, and now during only my first week here, I have already had them.  And when we meet up with locals, we really do talk about current events, debates in Puerto Rico about independence, the lively student protests that recently occurred at the University of Puerto Rico because of the fee hikes, and race/identity.  It is absolutely incredible to look around the room and see that each individual is from a mixed heritage (African, Indigenous, European), yet calls themselves Puerto Rican without question.  In the U.S., many people of mixed race have to constantly explain their race, where each parent is from, etc. Not here. You are simply Puerto Rican.

It was comforting when myself and 3 of my friends from my program were walking to meet our Puerto Rican friends and a few others from our group.  Two guys who are friends with the girls we have been hanging out with and who saw us earlier in the night would not let us wait for the other half of the group by ourselves; instead, they went out of their way to walk us to our meeting spot and wait with us until our friends came.  It just goes to show that in certain cultures, taking care of one another even if you don't know the person very well is a common practice.  Because if you help a stranger out, that stranger will one day help you out when you need it... karma.  Sounds like Ghana!

Salsa!

Last night was beautiful. I went with 6 friends, including the head of UCLA Travel Study who is here for a week to evaluate the program, to salsa dance with 2 local girls whom we met at the beach.  We made sangria at Ava's (one of the girls from here) beautiful house in Old San Juan, and they hopped between places to salsa dance, ending at a place with the most incredible live music!  We were so sweaty by the end, and the girls and all of their friends taught us how to really salsa the Puerto Rican way! Of course, we weren't great, but we had the time of our lives. We walked back to the hotel, smiling and full of life and music.  I am so happy we met these girls, they are taking us out again tonight, and they are taking us to a demonstration on Sunday.  The demonstration is happening because Donald Trump is attempting to buy up one of the poorest but most historic parts of the island, La Perla, which also has one of the most beautiful views on the island.  I think the demonstration will be incredibly interesting, especially being able to be involved and speak with people about the issue of the wealthy buying up land and pushing the poor out, along with the privatization of what was once public, which seems to be a very big problem here as well.  It is so wonderful to speak with locals, because even going out at night entails talking about politics and current events with young adults such as ourselves.

We rented a car for Saturday to go to El Yunque, a supposedly wondrous national park here.  It's both cheaper and more liberating to travel to the park on our own and hike/swim in waterfalls to be limited by a structured tour.  We also want to save our money for when we go kayak in a Bioluminescent Bay, which is something that everyone says we have to do!

It is so nice to have Sergio, the head of Travel Study, here to help me process my experiences.  He used to be a student like me with the travel bug, and has incorporated that travel bug into his life as a Travel Study coordinator.  He was telling me that the feeling of guilt for being in such a beautiful hotel, observing the life of luxury that takes place in a part of the world where tourism is essential to the economy, while I am still processing my experiences from Ghana is tough.  He validated that feeling, but said that I do not need to feel guilt; rather, I need to appreciate the experiences I am having here, for we only have this one life.  Although I enjoy living more simply (so does he), there is also something to learn from being here in Puerto Rico, experiencing this culture.  I feel very lucky to have met him, along with friends here who have a similar mindset as I do about going out into this community and experiencing all we can during these next (now almost 3!) weeks.  I am finally feeling a bit more settled, and at peace.

Attempting Simplicity!

My second full day in Puerto Rico. Coming off my time in Ghana, I already know how to live simply.  It is just a bit more difficult to do that when you are surrounded by excess, by the realities of the tourism that is at the core of the economy here in Puerto Rico.  However, food shopping at the grocery store instead of spending money going out for each meal is easy for me, and running/doing yoga on the beach has the potential to be one of the most meditative, peaceful experiences there is.  Last night, I went out with friends, and we met some locals (who I also met on the beach because all of the beaches are public), I rode a mechanical bull, and we went to the beach to drink a bit and get to know one another.  I still miss Ghana, but I think this place will teach me that I can give myself permission to relax, take classes, explore, go out dancing, run, and take a break from being challenged so much both physically and mentally.  For some reason inner peace was so easy for me to find in Ghana, and I will need to find a way to accept and appreciate this down-time... something I have always had a difficult time doing!

Puerto Rico

I arrived here feeling shockingly confused. I walked into what I knew would be a very nice hotel, and memories of Ghana just came rushing in, flooding my mind. I came here with what I thought was a completely open mind, but I do not think I have fully processed my time in Ghana, nor will my experiences there be fully processed for a long period of time. Tears filled my eyes as I walked outside to the 3 swimming pools and the beautiful ocean. Why am I here? Of course, I knew that this was one of the only programs where I could get 2 full class credits towards my major, so that I can graduate on time and hopefully finish my Education minor along with my World Arts and Cultures major.  Lisa had a wonderful idea: think of this as a conference. A month-long academic conference, where I can also learn to enjoy the nice things that I am provided with here. I think this perspective will be incredibly helpful.

My friend Giselle from my trip to Ghana also had brilliant insight, which I am so incredibly thankful for.  She said to me, "You are who you are not where you are, so make the best of the luxury hotel, and keep your Tro-Tro- bush stops- Ghana simple life self." And she's right. I don't know what my time here is about yet, but if anything, it is about maintaining my love for a simpler life while I also enjoy learning and relaxation (which I don't know how to do very well).  I will also learn how to seek out adventure on my own, because this adventure was provided in Ghana each day.  Here I have a choice.  And I will be sure to make the most out of these 4 weeks!

End of the Road

It has been a long time since blogging, but that's because I have been in the field for a month conducting fieldwork, and then getting my 45 page Independent Study Project finished and bound!  But now we are DONE, just waiting to present our projects, and strangely waiting to return to the states.  This has been the most life-changing journey I have had thus far, and I have met some of the most inspirational, beautiful human beings during my time in Ghana.  This SIT group is my family, and I do not know how I will cope with being apart from them after forming this indescribable bond over the past 3 and a half months.  Transitioning from life in Ghana to life in the states will be beyond difficult, but for all of us, our bodies need some physical and mental nurturing after traveling around this country without rest for quite a long time.  I will miss this place so much, but I know that one day I will return.  I also cannot wait for planning my next travel adventures with this family, for we are all like-minded individuals who live to see the world.  For now, I will enjoy my last days in this country, with these beautiful people, and I will see everyone in the states very, very soon!

Simpler Living

Greetings! I have just returned to Kumasi for 2 days to type up the first half of my fieldwork before heading to another rural village for the last 2 weeks of my Independent Study Project! Then it's one week of presentations and goodbyes with my friends, and then back home... I don't think I'm ready!  There's too much to write about these first 2 weeks, but I can say that they were some of the most beautiful and the most challenging weeks I have had here in Ghana.  Fending for ourselves in a very rural village, interviewing all day long, walking miles in the excruciatingly hot sun between different villages for interviews, food, and charcoal for cooking, millions of bug bites (not just mosquitoes... stinging bugs as well!), heat rashes...but all worth it! 

I have met some of the most incredible people during this fieldwork, and in particular, I realized that the homestay family I stayed with during my last time in the rural village neighboring the one we were just in is one of the most beautiful families I have ever met, I cannot even explain.  I would walk to their village (called Ntinanko) almost every other day, both to do interviews and to spend time with them. Each time, they would smile, hug me so many times, give us cold drinks and bananas, and talk with us until the sun went down.  They would not allow me to ever pay for the taxi ride home (at night taxi rides are the safest option) even though I found out that my homestay Dad recently sold his only car in order to pay for his 5 childrens' education.  My homestay father is a quiet man who sacrifices everything for his children (but doesn't tell a soul... I just found this information out from his son Wise), and who works on his cocoa farm all day long.  My homestay Mom smiles and laughs more than anybody I know, and whenever I see her I get a billion hugs.  She works in processing palm nuts into palm oil.  Somehow with these two jobs, my homestay parents can afford for their two eldest sons to go to University, and for their three daughters to go to school as well.  My homestay Dad also built their house himself.  They told me that if I ever needed a place to stay anytime between now and when I go back to the US, I have a family and a home with them.  When I gave them parting gifts, the response was unreal; I got a shiny new bag for my homestay Mom, and she paraded around her family, laughing and crying, showing off her new bag.  My homestay Dad gave me a triple weaved Kente cloth which he got when he went to his home village between the weeks I was not in the village; he said he knew I would be back, and that is why he got it for me.  My homestay sister knitted me a purse.  This family is beautiful, and I will miss them so much.

I will explain my fieldwork at a later date, but as of Tuesday I am off to another village called Krobo-Odumase to experience Dipo, one of the last traditional puberty rites practiced in Ghana!  I love and miss you all... less than 4 more weeks until I am back in the states!

Back to Accra!

I am so sorry for not posting for a long time, but I have not had computer access for weeks.  It has actually been extremely liberating, not being connected to anything that is not in front of me.  It has allowed me to be so present, I am completely enveloped in the experiences I am having and the environment in which I am having these experiences.  I cannot believe that in 3 days, my friends and I will be off to our separate parts of the country for our Independent Study Projects.  They have become my family, I cannot believe we will leave each other in just 5 weeks time.  I have never felt closer to such a large group of people who operate in this way, just laughing all of the time, dancing, completely enveloped in this life in Ghana. 

After Tamale (the city in which I was sick with malaria), we headed to Cape Coast.  I am beyond grateful that I completely recovered for Cape Coast, because it felt like our African spring break.  We all stayed in a hostel together, visited the beach every day, celebrated two of our friends birthdays (danced and had the time of our lives), went skinny dipping in the ocean at night, experienced the music and dance of this part of Ghana, ate TOFU at a vegetarian restaurant!  We also had some incredibly intense experiences visiting two slave forts here, going into the tiny chambers in which thousands of slaves at a time were forced to live for at least six months with barely any light, air, room to move, room to even breathe... one meal a day, nowhere to go to the bathroom.  I cannot fully describe the unimaginable things that occurred in these places.

After Cape Coast, we went to Volta Region where tradition has been kept alive.  We learned to make pottery which women here use to carry water on their heads, and we learned each and every part of the process of making pottery (from fetching the clay in the desert-like bush, to creating the pots, to firing them, etc.)  We also saw some of the most incredible traditional dancing and drumming I have seen here in Ghana, one from the only all woman's traditional dancing and drumming group in Ghana, and one from a group of men and girls who presented war danced to us that were absolutely amazing! 

We recently left Odumase, a small town an hour and a half from Accra where tradition has been maintained more closely than anywhere we have been in Ghana.  Here, bead-making is extremely common, and everyone wears beads to symbolize different phases and aspects of life that they may be facing.  We learned how to make our own beads, which are made out of recycled materials such as recycled glass.  These beads are particularly worn in great quantities during a female rite of passage called Depo, which I will be studying during my Independent Study Project.  Depo is one of the only traditional rites of passage in Ghana that is still practiced by an entire community, and it is a rite that is done by girls starting at the age of 12.  Girls are taught how to become women during this time, and traditionally (before formal education was introduced) girls would go through this rite for a few years.  Now, the majority of girls in this community attend school, and perform Depo rites of passage on the Easter break from school.  It is interesting because the school and the church place a taboo on this rite of passage because the education system in Ghana is based on the British colonial system and both the schools and the church do not promote traditional cultural practices.  However, the majority of girls in this community still perform this rite of passage.  I think you could call this both the best balance of modernization and tradition, and the most terrifying clash of modernization and tradition, because it is not certain whether this delicate balance will hold and the tradition will remain. 

For my Independent Study Project, I will be looking at both formal and informal education for females in Ghana.  I will be spending 2 weeks in the rural village a little over an hour outside of Kumasi with 3 of my friends, a cook from the SIT staff who we love, and a traslator who we have worked with for much of the trip and who we love as well.  I will be working at a school in the rural village, and I will be interviewing females of all ages to talk about formal education and how the informal education of "becoming a woman" is introduced without the presence of rites of passage (the rites of passage have dissappeared in Akan villages such as these).  I have a feeling that the reality of many girls not going to school past a certain age in these villages may have to do with the lack of a rite of passage that creates an atmosphere where the girls can learn this informal education together during a distinct period of time, not during school days.  These rites of passage also teach girls about sex and sexual health, and the lack of these rites may lead to the current situation that many girls are in in much of Ghana of getting pregnant at a young age because of their lack of access to sexual education.  Today when we finally returned to Accra, two of my friends and I met with our advisor at University of Ghana named Dr. Delali Badasu who is an amazing woman.  She gave us so many books and resources for our projects, and I will meet with her Monday morning before I leave for Afrancie (the rural village in which I will be staying!) 

That is an update on everything that has been going on for the past few weeks, and I after Monday I will most likely have little Internet access for the next four weeks until I return to Accra to type up and present my Independent Study Project.  So if you don't hear from me for a little while, don't worry, I am dancing and laughing through life here and do not want this experience to end!