Safari

I think I might just skip the bad details and go straight to the happy ones. I'll tell everyone all about it when I return. For now, let's just say I spent a lot hours on buses this past weekend, and spent a lot of wasted hours in another country--that country being Burkina Faso. I have realized now I have visited four countries but two of them were only for a day (Canada and now Burkina Faso).

Anyway, our travels got us where we wanted to be despite our problems. I saw an elephant. FINALLY. I went to Mole National Park. I'll also skip the roadblocks we faced even here. Because none of it really matters since I saw elephants!

This is the oldest mud structure in Ghana but this has been debated. In fact, the villagers probably just said this to boost tourism. Still, it's a cool mosque and it was in the town of Larabanga, outside Mole Park so why not visit?






Yay! Elephants! But if only I there was some way to get closer...

Warthogs. Not elephants.

Monkeys or Baboons or Lemurs? I don't really care since they're not elephants.

Antelope!

Monkeys carrying baby monkeys.

Just when I thought I wouldnt be getting upclose to elephants, I turn a corner and...

Elephants!!!

Elephants leave. We follow.

Elephant and me :-)

Oh, and even in Larabanga, the middle of nowhere, can you watch English football games:

The most Intense Trip Yet in Ghana

Too tired to even explain all the bad luck i had this past weekend in my desperate search for elephants. Will have a detailed summary with pictures up hopefully by tonight!


Also, I heard a lot of people don't have my number: It's 054-510-2. Call me whenever! ;-) Note: some people can easily call me; others have a hard time getting their call through. just keep trying!
Note 2: Ghana's area code is 233, so think you dial 233-054-510-2. But I'm not entirely sure it might be 0233?). Ask my mom....if you know her, haha.

Happy

Everything has come together for my film in the last few days. A third news station, GT3, provided us with the footage! I have never been so happy to see such tragic footage (like a room full of dead bodies). Editing has been really fun--I made a cool montage for the beginning of the film! I can't wait to show the film this Tuesday in class. Afterwards, our teacher will critique and tell us what changes should be made but there probably wont be many. Also we will have to just fix out some minor technical issues. So all of today I will be working on the film. Yay!

A few more things

I will try to post more pictures up sometime in the next week. Those of you who have facebook can check there--I'm uploading like 130 pictures!

Also, I was planning on doing a big trip up north to Burkina Faso with my friend and visit a park but because i was sick (see below post) I have postponed the trip until next weekend and go hangout on the beach saturday at Kokrobite and work on my film. Speaking of which...

For those of you who don't know, I'm taking a film class in which I must make a 10-15 minute documentary on something related to Ghana. The film takes up almost all my free time during the week and it is without a doubt the most rewarding/frustrating class ever. Although a lot for the technical issues i mentioned before are over, something much worse has happened. Our film deals with a riot that occurred May 9th, 2001 in Accra at a local football game in which 126 people died--the worst sports riot in African history. Because the whole riot was a huge embarrassment for the police, because the anniversary is just around the corner, because the world cup is also around the corner, and because the tv footage was used to indict the police officers, TV3 and Metro TV, two of Ghana's leading tv stations, have been extremely reluctant to hand over footage of the riot. TV3 only gave us about 60 seconds of bad quality no audio footage. And I have had to go to each place several times...a day. It was a slap in the face. My film partner and I joked that TV3 probably was spiting us after I made some "apparently mean" comments on one visit (basically I was an hour late and the guy gave me shit for it, then told me that the dvd I was picking up was not working anyway. So i simply asked him what the point was of making me feel bad for being late if he didn't do his job either! also, being told by a Ghanaian that I am late is extremely ironic since that is what Ghanaians are known to do allllll the time!!!!).

This film has had many highs and lows. Hopefully it will pick up again soon. I just really wish we had more footage.

Confession

So....i may have had malaria this week.

After my trip up north to Tamale I was feeling a little weak, achy, and feverish. i quickly realized that it could be serious and so I went to the hospital that night. The nurse did a blood test that came back negative for malaria although the doctor said it was only 70% accurate and also that my platelets were low (a sign that malaria would soon arrive!). So i was given medicine and was already feeling better the next day but....

Later the next day my fever returned and became much worse. I would be shivering one moment and then extremely hot the next. And i felt very very weak.

The morning after I again felt better as my fever had gone away, although my throat was now sore. I talked to another student who had had malaria and she said a sore throat was not a symptom of malaria. I met with the NYU nurse and told her everything that had happened. She took my heart rate and told me it was way high (67, but i think she meant per half minute, no? sounds kinda low to me). She told me I had an infection and most likely malaria as well because I was peeing more frequently and it was hurting.

Today i woe up feeling much better. It's not completely over but i feel the worst is behind me. And i'm so glad because it was not a fun experience. Though it was nice to watch a dozen movies all day.....

Easter

I had a very unique Easter and Birthday experience this year. My friends and I were unsure exactly how to spend our four-day weekend up until the night before—we thought of going to Cote D’Ivoire, Togo and Benin, Togo and Keta Lagoon, Mole Park (though I was the only one who supported this one), and finally we chose to relax by the beach. I went back to Green Turtle—where I had been for a portion of my Spring Break—and then spent the latter two nights at hideout lodge. Both had great beaches and I just swam in the water for hours each day.

But that’s not all we did!

On Saturday we took a (long and exhausting) guided hike through a rubber plantation and a bamboo forest. Our guide cut up some sugarcane for us too. We also walked through the village of Akwidaa on our way where we saw a bunch of animals there.

Rubber Trees


This is how rubber is made!

At Hideout Lodge we took a (pretty unexciting but fun all the same) canoe trip.

Finally, we walked along the beach to climb a big rock that was protruding into the ocean. It was really cool sitting on the cliff of the rock, watching the waves crash and explode all around me; this was my favorite part of the trip.

I had good times—swimming, portions of the 4 hour hike, standing on the boulder by the ocean, playing apples to apples and Jenga by candlelight at Green Turtle, laying our on the beach at night looking at the stars, playing Mafia late at night in a tree house—and bad times unfortunately—obruni stealing my favorite sandals, taking a very very long hike, a mundane canoe trip (why do they always promise monkeys and do not deliver?), and taking a four hour bus ride on my birthday. But overall I had an amazing time. I think my pictures speak for themselves.

For my birthday my four closest friends and I went to a ritzy, expensive restaurant (it was a special occasion and a one-time thing!) called Captain Hooks. We had a great time and had amazing food (I had lasagna). Also, they sang to me—and not the typical happy birthday song. I wish I could’ve been home for my birthday but spending time with my friends over Easter weekend definitely made me happy and let me take my mind off (sort of) all the people I miss back home.

Oh and our last night we slept in a tree house!

Fun Facts in Ghana: Part 3

By Rainy Season Ghanaians mean cloudy season--I haven't seen the sun since Spring Break. It's a little depressing. Oddly it doesn't really rain though. Hopefully it won't be like this for all of April!

If you're Coca-Cola, Guinness, or a cellphone provider, you own Ghana. It's pretty despicable how many ads there are of these products in Accra. I'll have upcoming pictures to show some of it. I'm interested in 3 particular things: the fact that government signs like "You are now entering Accra" are actually advertisements as well for Tigo, a cell phone provider, which could be confusing for someone not familiar with Ghana, thinking the town they are entering is Tigo; the fact that National Monuments such as Independence Square and the Independence Arch )forgot correct name) appear on Guinness ads yet I can't take a picture of these government buildings; and the fact that the small shacks throughout the city are all painted as advertisements for coca-cola or a phone service such as MTN, Vodaphone, Vain, and Tigo. Who paints them and why do the owners let them?

This isn't a fun fact per se--My laptop is not functioning anymore. Some sort of power surge? That would explain why the battery died but i cannot get internet anymore either. We have an IT guy so i'll see what he says. Until then, I just have to keep it plugged in but will have to use the academic center computers for internet usage so communication with me has gotten worse if that was even possible.

Can't think of more facts....there's a large Lebanese Community in Accra. A lot of them love to go to the Accra Mall. Don't know if anyone reading cares though...