Ghana is so laid back, man. We are actually fully reclined. An my New York mind is trying its hardest to be accepting. But good god. Even after being here for two weeks, I am noticing a change in myself. The thing is with this experience is that, well, it’s really hard! Usually when people study abroad it's this really relaxing, effortless experience, academic and otherwise. But Ghana is not effortless at all, it’s really challenging. It’s rough on the body and demanding of the spirit. This feeling was the most aptly realized as I was in the dingy bathroom of some dingy restaurant coping with what we students call the fox-trot, swatting helplessly at a mosquito and muttering “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”….
Being here makes me feel so vulnerable, because there is nowhere to hide. You absolutely have to stand up to the challenges that come your way. You have to be smart about your health; take your pills and eat carefully. You have to stand up in social situations; you will always be identified as a foreigner and people will call you out on the street. But for as challenging as this whole situation is, it makes me feel strong. It makes me feel capable of anything. And therefore, I’m excited to wake up every morning and tackle the day.
Classes started this week. To a semi-rough start no doubt! The thing is with Ghana, that everything is soo incredibly laid back that you can’t expect anything but the unexpected. So showing up to class only to find out that the professor was busy that day or that the course has been canceled is no big surprise…quite different in comparison with the obsessive-compulsive way that I’m used to approaching school in New York.
Especially with the African Cup being held this weekend, the traffic is absolutely bananas. Accra is expecting 1 million visitors for the soccer fest. Now obviously the infrastructure of the city is absolutely not fit to support that many people. In fact, the University of Ghana has postponed its spring semester in order to house the soccer players (would that ever happen in the US? Not a chance!) In order to get to the University of Ghana from my house it takes about an hour, which would usually be 30 minutes (and 15 minutes, tops, if this were New York!) But nonetheless, the games start this weekend and we are all hyped about it because the Ghanaians are all about national pride!
As a side note-I got a job! Of course I got a job…in Ghana. Haha! How could I possibly not super stuff even the most laidback schedule? But this is an interesting one, for sure. I’m going to be doing an Internship with the Bokoor African Music Archive Foundation. Basically, my job is to sort out tons and tons of vinyl recordings that will eventually be digitized compiled in an Internet database. I also get to do research many of the different musicians and musical movements and write reference articles. Sweet!! The man who is in charge of the whole deal is John Collins, who is basically the Einstein of West African music. I’m so incredibly lucky to get to work and study with him.
A note on the NYU students I’m here with. They are so chill! Before coming, I had imagined that there would be a lot of righteous humanitarians and tree-huggin hippies. Not that I am either of those things…. But they are not like that at all! The only sweeping term is that these kids are risk-takers. My roommate, Kathleen is the illest! Really though, everyone is so intelligent and compassionate. Truckin….!
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