Let’s see how short I can keep this one.
We got off campus again today! They took us on a driving tour of Accra proper, which we haven’t gotten to see yet. The city, like this country in general, is a lesson in contrasts. Old/new, traditional/modern, rich/poor, its got ‘em all. There are surprisingly affluent neighborhoods alongside slums, with not too much to represent any middle ground. Seeing a lot of the traditional clothing being worn in the center was really striking as well. It was one thing to see so much of it in the more rural areas we drove through yesterday, where you expect there to be less of a modern influence, but it’s something else to see the full outfits being worn on city streets alongside office buildings, paved sidewalk, and parked cars. Definitely challenges the National Geographic image of Africa.
As for pictures I got some more shots of the religious names and quotes that seem to be everywhere here. This time I got ones mostly on taxis, since we were driving around. I got a few shots of signs and storefronts, but driving by them at 30mph didn’t make it easy.
So I’ve gotten the day names down. The Akan, the predominant ethnic group in Ghana, give names based on the day of the week you’re born, in addition to your given name from your parents. Here, not knowing the day of the week you were born is like not knowing your own birthday in the States. There are male and female versions for each day. I was born on Thursday, which means my Akan name is ‘Ya’. For some reason, the names for Thursday are really short. For instance, from Sunday to Saturday, the guys’ names are Kwesi, Kojo, Kobena, Kweku, Yow, Kofi, and Kwame. Where does the Yow (the male ‘Ya’) come from? But yeah, Kwame and Kofi seem to be heard and used more often, which makes sense because Kwame Nkrumah (the first president of Ghana) is a national hero and Kofi Annan is currently head of the UN.
Anyways, back to the lecture thing tomorrow, but Wednesday is the last official day of orientation, and then we go to Cape Coast this weekend, so that should be cool.
