feel the rain

(this is about a week late, getting lazy with my internet-ing)

I’m typing this offline, and don’t recall where I left off, so some overlap is possible.

Last Saturday we attended the Durbar. We didn’t no what it as any more than we knew how to pronounce it. It ended up being this fabulous welcome celebration sponsored by the International Programs Office. There was ribbons and fabric strung all over the Balme Library Courtyard with music playing and dancers in traditional dress. We were welcomed to campus by various deans and heads of offices and the like and then entertained by members of different study abroad groups with song, dance, poems, and jokes. And then the Ghanaians provided entertainment. They performed 5 or 6 traditional dances for us while we were eating (delicious Ghanaian cuisine) and it was so beautiful! All of the dancers looked like they were having the time of their life and all were definitely able to move their bodies in ways we Americans could not even consider. But then they tried to teach us..haha. It was actually a blast and a bunch of us stuck around for a while and let loose. It was a really great time to meet students from all the different programs, and all over the world.

The rest of the weekend was wonderfully relaxing, filled with beaches, fresh fruit, and homemade guacamole. Couldn’t ask for a whole lot more.

I started going to classes this week. But don’t be fooled. Just because I started going doesn’t mean my professors started going, because apparently they get to pick when they start their class. While mildly frustrated at first, I just keep repeating to myself the American students mantra here in Ghana: TIA – This is Africa.

One night this week a girl in my program got invited to a nondenominational Christian drama and choreography group, University of Ghana (UG) Mass Theatre. Natalie and I decided to tag along with Kaci and her classmate Leslie. Leslie informed us on the way over that we were the first white people that had ever been to Mass Theatre- oh good! We arrived at the meeting as they were circled up praying and were immediately welcomed with open arms. Literally. Praying with them was so beautiful and I realized I really miss that aspect of campus. Attending Mass is so important to me, but so is having that interaction with people throughout the week. We met so many people and they are so good at remembering faces and names, I know I’m going to embarrass myself someday and completely not recognize someone. I feel like they would understand.

It rained on Friday. And if you know anything about the Ghana dry season (which I don’t, so don’t really expect you to know much either), that’s really weird. And it when it rains in Ghana, it pours. POURS! We were eating at the Vegan stand and it got really windy all of a sudden, and apparently Ghanaians can tell when it’s coming, because immediately the night market started to close down; tarps thrown over stands, chairs folded up, money swept under tables. And they were right. Within a minute you could hear it coming. And then it hit! It was beautifully refreshing though and most of us stayed out and played in the rain. The pot-holed parking lot that normally served as the ideal place to sprain an ankle, now provided some of the best puddle-splashing. After drying off we ended the night with some intense rounds of spoons and even more brutal mafia games.

I’m so enjoying getting to know everyone on the trip and am constantly learning fascinating things about people and places. Everyone has really unique reasons for being here and all are very determined and motivated people.

I’m also learning a lot about myself. Cheesy, cliché? Yes, yes. But so true. I have faced struggles here I never imagined myself facing and each of them have forced me to grow immensely. I have time, for once, to relax and pursue things I never made time for before. But this also gives me a lot of time to think. And I have never been more scared of the future than I am right now. The short time here has showed me that I really don’t know what I want. I know there are things that I want to do – and I will fight and struggle as much as it takes to get those things. But I also realize there is just so much of everything out there, and I have not explored even a fraction of it. And I don’t mean just traveling. Causes and people and opportunities are everywhere in Ames or Grinnell or wherever that I have never dared to uncover. I realize how much I take advantage of the loving people that surround me and the comfort of being comfortable. I’m learning to appreciate. And to be uncomfortable.

love