markets, beaches, and school

So classes have started but I still do not feel like I'm going to school. I went to my Legon class yesterday (Colonial History in Africa) and the professor never showed up, which is I guess typical for the first week. After waiting for half and hour I went to lunch on campus with some of the other obruni (white person) students in the class. Aside form maybe two ghanaians we were the only people foolish enough to show up. I got some jollof rice, red red (bean stew), and some vegetables for only 80 pesewas, which is less than a dollar!
The Legon campus is beautiful. It extends from the base of a hill up and overlooks Accra. There are lots of little courtyards scattered within the main street, which are nice and shady. It's kind of it's only little village, with a bank and a post office. Yesterday, as we were passing the student housing we could see everyone's colorful laundry hanging up to dry.
This past weekend we were supposed to visit Torgome village in the Volta region (eastern Ghana) but the chief's mother died so the trip was post-poned or cancelled. Instead we went to Keneshi Market, one of the two major markets in Accra. It was quite overwhelming but also absolutely incredible. Aside from fruits and vegetables, women sold all sorts of meat from chicken and fish to pig legs. The market had indoor and outdoor sections. Most of the produce was outside, along with piles of shoes, pants, hats etc. while the meat was indoors. The upstairs portion inside was dedicated to fabric (!) and kitchen supplies mostly. The fabric here is so vibrant and relatively inexpensive. It's great, we can have pretty much whatever we want made. As we were leaving the market (waiting at the bus for stragglers) children slowly began to migrate towards us. We took pictures of them, while they danced and high fived and posed. When we went onto the bus the kids followed, at first timid, but soon they were crowding the front of the bus and showing off.
Sunday, we went to Labadi beach, which is the nearest beach I believe. It's rather touristy though and like always, the people selling things flocked to the horde of obrunis. So even when we're trying to relax someone is trying to get us to buy something. I've gotten pretty good at ignoring them though.
Anyway, it's still great here, although not as sunny or starry as i thought it would be. It's harmattan season, so the dust from the Sahara is getting blown into the sky and making the weather more gloomy- although really it's hardly gloomy at all.
Oh, and for the inauguration yesterday we went to this event the US embassy was hosting. We all watched the ceremony together and so many Ghanaians were so excited.

love,
katja

p.s. Chris your Ghanaian name is Kofi- it's pronounced just as it's spelled.

the first days in ghana...

When I stepped off of the airplane the first thing I felt was the humidity. I'd been shivering first in the Amsterdam airport and finally warmed up a bit huddled under two blankets during the flight to Accra, so the heavy, warm air was just what I needed.
Nevertheless, the adventure began in Amsterdam. Myself and three other students decided to brave the cold (about 30 degrees F) and venture into the city. None of us had winter jackets and the ticket vendor looked at us like we were crazy. He was a friendly Dutch man ("no of course we do not accept American dollars. This is Europe! Only Burger King takes those") who pointed us in the right direction and helped us locate the next train when we missed ours. It was 7am and the sun had not yet risen. The train wound its way through the dark and still sleeping city. We walked through the cobblestone streets and canals, trying not shiver, but taking in the beauty nonetheless as well as the abundance of bicycles. We meandered through the city, passing through the redlight district, and finally found a nice spot to warm up with a cup of tea. All the while the sun was slowly rising and by the time we were walking back to the train station we were witnessing a whole new city.
There were maybe 25 other NYU students on the flight from Amsterdam and somehow we were (mostly) all drawn to one another.
Upon exiting the airport I was reminded of India-the warm, slighlty spicy smell, people hanging out outside, presumably trying to carry confused foreigners' bags, as well as the lines and lines of people behind a barricade waiting for whomever.
The forty plus NYU students piled into three vans, bags stuffed in the back and even strapped to the roof. We arrived at the dorm (more of a gated in complex, with four separate houses situated around a courtyard) which is far nicer than any housing at NYU. It's air-conditioned and there is a large balcony attached to my room.
Thus far, not much has happened. I've been in a small NYU bubble, shuttled from place to place. This week is orientation, so we are being bombarded with information, which on top of being jet-lagged just makes me want to go to sleep.
We had our first encounter with the real Ghana (or at least what I see as real Ghana) today. I accidentally bought a 20 cedi painting (a little less than $20) after the talkative and interesting artist brought me and one other girl into his little stand, invited us to sit down and proceeded to converse with us for 30 minutes.
We ended up missing the vans that were to take us back to the academic center for our first Twi lesson (pronounced kind of like "tree") and had to take a taxi. The driver didn't recognize the address, but we knew it was near Ashesi university and luckily the girl I was with recognized where we were and we made it there in one piece!
I'm off to dinner now!
love, katja