Rocking the South Atlantic Ocean Like a Boss

You know how I mentioned before that the rocking of the ship got
bad? I lied. This time it is bad. At lunch plates were flying off
tables, the utensil table fell over, and at least five cups got spilled
at my table alone. Walking around is nearly impossible to do with out
walking into walls. It is kind of like working out on an elliptical set
on random... That also moves sideways... And makes you run into your
professors... Okay, maybe not the best example. I have gone back to my
room several times between classes to see if my things (computer and
drum, mostly) have fallen off of tables. Thankfully, only my iPod has
gone flying across the room so far. Earlier I tried tried to take a
picture out the window because the waves were so big that they covered
my window completely! But the pictures didn't come out well, so it
didn't work. Sorry...
Anyway, tomorrow we are docking in South Africa! I have a lot of
things planned, but I am not going to get to a safari, so that may have
to be a future plan. Anyone want to join me on an African safari
sometime in the next ten years? Maybe I am getting ahead of myself
here... While in South Africa I am doing a homestay (where I stay with
a local family), Habitat for Humanity project, see some penguins, and
maybe doing some rock climbing!... And I just heard the word 'chocolate
studio.' I have to go figure out what this is.
My next post should be more interesting since I will have been in
South Africa!

The Natives (of Deck 2)

    The last couple of days I have been sick so I haven't really taken the time to update my blog.  Sorry!
    So let's see what I forgot to write about...  Worship went a lot better this last time.  We got all of the slides right and I didn't mess up near as much. 
    Last night was the King and Queen of the Sea competition.  There were no girls on our deck that wanted to be queen so we had to convince someone at the last minute.  They had to compete in a costume contest (using anything but clothes), a kids joke competition (our guy rocked this one), and a talent contest.  Our king was a guy named Jimmy.  I still can't believe he didn't even place in the top three.  He does amazing impressions and he was way better than all the other guys.  The guy that won was pretty good too, though.  He was my other favorite in the competition.  He did some improv stuff, which was pretty funny.
    The only other important thing from the last few days is that Liz and I wrote a song for Deck 2.  I play my Ukelele, so it is pretty fun.  We have been hanging out in the Nook while I practice guitar and ukelele.  A few times some guitar players have joined in and we have had jam sessions.  Unfortunately, I am the only one with a guitar, though, so I have to share with everyone...  Anyway, here are the lyrics to "The Natives (of Deck 2)"

We’re deck two
Nobody knows us
We’re deck two
Just try and find us
 
If you head down the wrong staircase
You might find yourself in crew
Cuz we’re deck two
We don’t know you
We’re deck two
 
If you trip on your shoelace
You might fall down the stairs
And land in the Aegean Sea
Then we’ll meet you
Then we’ll meet you

How many times have you tried to find the clinic?
How many times have you gotten lost?
Inhabiting the lower deck,
We’re just like you…but on deck two

We’ve got Sotero,
A lounge
And the Nook
Too bad you don’t
 
We can’t fit our awesomeness
Into just one song
Cuz we’re deck 2
We’re cooler than you

 

My Dearest Mona Lisa

Liz K and I decided to devote today to trying to find drums to take home (Caitlynn came with us as well, so it wasn’t just the two of us).  We got up early in order to eat breakfast and get on the 9AM shuttle into Accra.  The shuttle was about a one to two hour ride depending on traffic.  Thankfully, we got there in 45minutes and headed straight for the ATMs.  We had been hearing a lot about a store call Global Mamas and decided to check that out before going for our drums.  It was a really cool store with clothes and other things made by local women.  We all bought a bit more than we had expected to, but it was all cool stuff, so it’s alright…  I guess that reasoning is good enough since it may be a few more years before I get back to Ghana.

The lady at Global Mamas said we could just buy a drum from one of the street vendors instead of going to the cultural center and looking for them.  We tried that for a few minutes, but there weren’t many and since we were short on time (it was already 11 and we needed to get back to the shuttle by 12) we decided to take a taxi to the cultural center.

First we decided to make a second stop at the ATM.  Some guy selling paintings followed us all the way down the street trying to show us his paintings, which was really annoying, but being white made us targets so there was no avoiding it.  He also tried to get in the taxi with us, but we didn’t let him.  The taxi driver told us we had to pay 5 cedi, but we got him down to 4 since we knew 5 cedi was too much and just what they charged non-locals because they don’t know any better.  After Tracy had talked to us about bargaining I really didn’t want to have to over pay for things.

We got to the cultural center at 11:30.  I immediately took us to the first drums I saw and started testing them out.  I don’t know a lot about drums, but after testing them a little I thought they sounded really good.  I wanted to try to get the big drum on the ship, but Liz K and Caitlynn thought it was too big and security wouldn’t let me on the ship with it.  The guy selling the drums first told us they were 65 cedi each.  We bargained him down to fifty each.  I had thought we were going to have to pay twice that and had way too much cedi left over, but that’s alright.  We found another taxi and headed back to the shuttle, making it back in time to get back to the ship by 1pm.  We had to get our drums back to the ship by 3pm and if we had missed the 12pm shuttle we would not have made it.

We dropped our new drums back in our room and took off once more.  We were on a mission to buy Fan Milk.  We took the shuttle back out of the port.  The shuttle was surrounded by taxi drivers when we arrived.  We pushed our way passed them and went straight to the Fan Milk dealer by the shuttle.  We bought about 5 each.  The Fan Milk dealer seemed completely delighted by the business.  We then had to wait another 20 minutes for the shuttle to come back.  During that time we had two guys come up to us trying to sell things (I bought one painting, but that’s it) and another guy who just wanted to talk.  He gave us his address and phone number and asked for ours as well, but we just said we would contact him.  I am thinking we could send him a postcard from the next port, but definitely not giving him any specific information about ourselves.

Back on the ship we didn’t do much until dinner time.  Liz K got her birthday cake a day late, so a bunch of us went to dinner and had some ice cream cake.  Then the Officer’s Club had a meeting.  During the show an announcement came on saying there would be no drum inspections!  So my drum (whom I have name Mona Lisa) will not be incinerated!!!!  I had been a little worried about her, but now I know I will definitely be allowed to bring her home.

I didn’t go to the reflection tonight.  I didn’t feel like I got anything out of the last one, so I decided not to go tonight.  However, if I had gone the one word I would use to describe Ghana is “affirmation.”  For years now I have said that I want to spend my life traveling and writing.  My experience in Ghana has assured me that I am on the right path.  God has showed me so many amazing things, people, and places during this voyage and I know I am still only at the start, but I want my life to be an adventure that no one saw coming.  As the voyage goes on, I am becoming more and more certain that God is calling me to be a traveler.

Oranges and Sugarcane (GHANA Day 4)

On the 16^th we spent a lot of time driving back towards Tema.  On our way we did some interesting things, though.  Just a little while into the ride Tracy stopped the car so we could get some sugarcane from a stand on the side of the road so we could try some.  I had tried some before in Dominica, but it was still good.  It tastes like sugar and feels like eating wood.  I kept getting pieces of it stuck in my teeth.  It would have been nice to have some floss.  We also tried oranges for the first time (in Ghana, that is)!  Ghanaian oranges are extremely juicy.  Instead of peeling oranges and eating them, they cut off the top of the orange and drink out the juice.  I am pretty sure the guy in the car next to us was laughing at us.  It was very sticky, but the oranges were amazing!

We stopped at a handicraft place called Wild Gecko and then realized we forgot to go to the ATM.  We decided to look around anyway.  There wasn’t much we wanted to buy.  It was a cool place, but there wasn’t much that was actually made in Ghana.  I saw a scarf that my Dad had bought me in another country being sold there.  Next we went to the mall to find an ATM, get lunch, and try to find some cool clothes.  After spending the last few days in real Africa the mall seemed extremely western.  It really was just a mall, Apple store included.  We didn’t spend too much time there before going back to the ship.

We said goodbye to Tracy and headed back to the ship for the night.  I am so glad to have been able to meet Tracy while in Ghana.  I am certain I would not have had near as much fun without her and Noah to show us around.  We ate dinner on the ship, but we didn’t stay up too late since we had to get up early for our last day in Ghana.

A few other things…  It was Liz K’s birthday!  If you ever go to Ghana be sure to try Milo and Fan Milk.  Milo is like hot chocolate and Fan Milk is like ice cream in a bag.  It’s amazing!

 

 

Monkeys, Fufu, and the Crazy Dutch Couple (Ghana Day 3)

We woke up early for breakfast and met the driver just outside of Hans Cottage.  Noah drove us to Kakum national forest.  A few people had mentioned to me before I left home that I needed to do the canopy tour while in Ghana, so that’s what we decided to spend our morning doing.  Our tour started at 10AM, so we had a half hour to walk around before it started.  We spent the time walking around the shops and seeing what they had.

There was a short walk to the start of the tour.  It was slightly uphill, but they had us take a break halfway up…  Which was maybe five minutes in.  I guess they are used to having some pretty out of shape guests.  The canopy tour was very cool.  It was set up in the trees with rope bridges and ladders.  Our group made sure to go last so we could take out time and get lots of pictures.  My only complaint is that it was over too quickly.  I would have loved to have spent more time up in the trees.

We decided not to take the guided nature walk and went back to the front area of the park.  Our walk back was a lot like a nature walk anyway, since we were walking through nature and all.

 

We set up my GoPro on a tree to get some good group shots.  Unfortunately, I ended up setting it so it took pictures upside down for the rest of the day.  I had to flip them right side up on my computer, but I think I have it set right again.  As we came out of the rainforest an SAS bus pulled up and a bunch of our classmates piled out to take the canopy tour.  We really can’t get away from these people!

                While Tracy, Caitlynn, Liz K, and I went to the museum to look around Noah, our driver, went to look for a good place for us to try fufu.  There was a shop just outside the national forest that he found and we all walked there since he said the car would be safer inside the park gates. 

Eating fufu is a lot like eating dough.  It was basically just cassava bread and yams mashed together.  You eat it with your fingers in some kind of sauce.  It came with some kind of meat, but I didn’t try that because I could quite figure out how to eat it.

                Next we visited the monkey sanctuary.  We had heard it was too expensive and not worth it, but we decided to try it anyway.  The price was cheaper than what we had thought and wasn’t too bad.  It was really interesting to see all of the animals they had.  There were a lot of monkeys and then some snakes, parrots, and several cool things that I can’t seem to remember the names of.  The owners were a Dutch couple that had been living in Ghana for the past eight years (I think) and working to rehabilitate sick monkeys.  They were very interesting to talk to.  Dennis, the owner kept referring to himself as crazy for deciding to drop his highly paid position as a chef to come down to Ghana and work with monkeys.  They talked about how they lived with absolutely no electricity, living like locals, and how much fuller their lives have become since leaving their old lives behind.

                After we left the monkey sanctuary we planned just to head straight back to Hans Cottage, but ended up stopping on the side of the road to watch a family working to extract palm oil from palm nuts.  They seemed to think we were insane for stopping to watch them, but they didn’t seem to mind.  Back at the Cottage we went for a swim, talked about our plans, and got cleaned up.  The internet had broken down once again, so I wasn’t able to email anyone like I had hoped.

                Dinner was amazing!  I had grilled lobster, and someone else had groundnut soup.  While we were sitting at dinner we listened to some man trying to scam a woman at the table over from us.  Despite the fact that the internet had been out for several hours, he had a website pulled up on his computer and was trying to get her to give him money for some schools.  We would have stepped in and said something if it had gone any further, but the lady seemed to figure it out pretty fast.

                We watched one episode of Doctor Who before heading to bed.

                Here’s one interesting fact about Ghana!  In Ghana the day of the week you are born on is very important and people often use it as their names.  I was born on Wednesday, but I can’t quite remember what the name is.  You can probably Google it and figure it out pretty easily!

GHANA Day 2: Cape Coast

Liz and I woke up early and finished packing so that we could meet Tracy outside of the port by 7am.  Tracy and Noah (our driver) were already there waiting for us.  I had not seen Tracy in almost three years, so it is really a blessing that she would be able to meet me on the other side of the world.  We immediately set out for Cape Coast.  We bought some papaya from a woman selling it in the street.  I am still not sure how I feel about papayas, they seem like something I would like (although since I like most things, that is not saying much), but I am not sure.

                It was a long drive and I spent most of it trying to keep my eyes open.  I am pretty sure I was asleep for most of the ride.  We stopped at one of the slave castles and dungeons in Cape Coast.  Before getting out of the car Tracy turned to me and Liz to make sure we knew that we were going to get surrounded by people trying to sell things the moment we stepped out of the car and we just had to say no thank you and walk fast.  It was a little harder than it sounds, since we are supposed to be polite at the same time.  It is honestly, really annoying, but I guess they have to make a living somehow.

                We went through a tour of two of the slave castles.  It was an emotionally draining experience.  Everyone knows that there were slaves being sold from Africa, but seeing the building made it much more real and horrible.  Despite all of that, it was still a really good thing to see while we were in Ghana. 

                On a happier note, I got to drink my first coconut!  Obviously I have had coconut before, but never from a vendor on the side of the road in Ghana.  It was awesome!  I have pictures, but I don’t have my camera cord to put them onto my computer at the moment.

We met up with Caitlynn at the second castle (Elmina).  She wanted to come with us, but had a trip to the dungeons that she need to do for one of her classes.  We stopped in a shop and bought some necklaces and beads before leaving.  Now that we were all together we headed off towards where were planning to spend the next two nights.

                I didn’t know anything about where we were staying the night.  I had left it up to Tracy since she had been in Ghana before and knew much more than I would.  All I knew was that we were going to a place called Hans Cottage, which she referred to as ‘the cool crocodile place.’  It turns out there are crocodile wandering around.  I have not seen one yet, but I expect to before the trip is over.

                While they were getting our rooms ready we went to the restaurant and got some dinner.  Since we had missed lunch we were all starving, except for Caitlynn, who ate with her tour group during lunch.  As we were eating we talked about Tracy’s work on MercyShips, where we were going next on SAS, and what happened during the past three years.  In the tree beside where we ate were a ton of bright yellow birds.  They were called Weaver Birds (or that was what we called them), because they actually weaved their nests.  It was amazing to watch!

                After that we all went to the internet café (meaning table next to the pool) where we could Skype our families.  I got to talk to my parents for a little while, which was great since it was the first time I was able to get Skype on the voyage so far.  We went back to the restaurant for a late night snack of fan milk (sort of like ice cream in a bag) and Milo (sort of like hot chocolate) before heading to our rooms for the night.

                I am so glad to have been able to meet Tracy in this country, since I would have had no idea what to do with myself and would have had to spend the whole time in tour groups.  We were able to get far enough away from Tema that there are not buses of SAS kids crowding us, but amazingly enough, there is another girl from SAS that lives on Deck 2 here as well.  You just can’t get away from these people!  (Disclaimer: Just kidding!) 

Anyways, we are off to Kakum National Forest in the morning, so I should get some sleep!

Clarification:  Liz is the one I met in Nassau and was discussing starting a bible study with, I will now be referring to her as Liz K.
Other Liz is part of the Officer's Club, I will now be referring to her as Liz O.
Other Other Liz lives down the hall from me and is a part of my extended family, I will now be referring to her as Liz C.
This blog post and the previous one both have Liz K.  Hopefully that helps!

Ghana Day 1: Tema

The morning of our first day in Ghana I got up at 5:15, went up to the observation deck and watched sunrise as Africa came into view.  To start it was just me, Liz, Reanna, and Jeff, but as the sun rose it got a lot more crowded.  I don’t know who told all of these people that sunrise happened today, but somehow word got out.  We went to breakfast and then there Sheriff Gale, our inter port lecturer was to give one last performance.  I had not got to hear him play as much as I would have liked, but I got to see the last performance.  He is really cool and you should look him up on iTunes if you get the chance.

Liz and I were not sure what to do for the day since we weren’t sure if we were meeting my friend Tracy that day or the next.  Since Tracy is working with Mercy Ships, she also had extremely limited internet and it was a little difficult to connect.  Especially when the ship’s internet stopped working completely.  It probably won’t be working for the rest of the time we are docked in Ghana.  I bought a phone card to try to call Tracy since my phone was having issues, but I couldn’t figure out how to work it.  Eventually I just turned my phone off and back on and it was fine.  Figures…

We decided to walk around Tema.  So we left the ship in search of the shuttle, which we didn’t find.  However, we did find Josh and Yesenia who were also wanting to go into Tema so we joined up with them and went back onto the ship for lunch.  On our second try at getting to Tema we picked up another guy, Adam, who had been sitting in the piano lounge looking bored and waiting outside for the shuttle to show up.  It took a long time for the shuttle to show up and another person joined our group.  With the new additions of Molly and Adam, there were now six of us. 

When the shuttle finally arrived, we headed into Tema and then had to take a taxi to get to an ATM.  We decided to wander around the market place for a while.  It was fun, until we realized there was pretty much nothing to do in Tema besides wander around the overcrowded marketplace.  Eventually we found some boys who had just gotten out of school and asked them if there was a school somewhere nearby we can visit.  They decided they felt like being our tour guides and took us to a school.  At the school we met a huge group of students.  They all wanted to play with our cameras and take pictures of themselves (I thought they were about to start a fight over mine, so I took it away and hid it from them).  A group of older schoolgirls, maybe fifteen year olds, were at the school and talked to us for a while.  We high fived everyone and said goodbye before heading back to the market.  The group of older girls came with us.  They were very happy to show us where to find good chocolate, which foods we should try and what we should do while in Tema, and eventually helped us to get a taxi back to the ship.  In my opinion, kids make the best guides.

Back at the ship I was finally able to get a hold of Tracy.  She was coming into town that night, but we wouldn’t be able to meet her until the next day.  I spent the rest of the night talking with friends, playing cards, and packing for the next day.