Embracing the Ghanaian disability community

Date: 10/02/2010
Time: 12:50pm
Location: Academic Center, Ghana



I am down to find the best part of me. I could not just stand and watch the Ghanaian community and not participate in any of it. I am actually not sure what person on this program would not take up the opportunity to do community service or an internship. As a Psychology major I knew I wanted to do something with disabilities. I have never worked with anyone who needed special attention and as soon as I saw this was an option I knew it was the right place for me.
I work at a school called New Horizon special school. We have a range of kids from kids with autism, kids with Down syndrome, some with cerebral palsy, and some that are non-verbal. I knew it would be a challenge but I did not know what to expect. I have now gone twice this week and I go again tomorrow (Thursday). The assembly is brilliant. It allows them all to sing, and learn how to say the date and gives them time to interact with each other. Some are extremely disabled and others are not so much. It is amazing to see how each one of the kids help each other out. One of the boys Godfrey he is barely verbal and he is unable to walk up straight yet he has an effect on the younger ones. When Godfrey signals to them to be quiet, they will be, when he pulls them to go and sit down they will do it.
I teach in the class with kids with Down syndrome and they are nothing but sweet. One girl Belinda everyday comes running into my arms gives me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. Muhammad always takes me by the hand and tells me that his driver will next time come and pick me up because we are friends. Joshua grabs my hand kisses it and never lets go. The 10 kids that are in my class love to make sure that I am coming back to them. “So you come everyday? You teach in our class?” me, “Yes I teach your class. But I only will come Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday”. “So you don’t come Wednesday?” “No, sorry!”
New Horizon 20 min walking distance from the NYU Academic Center is a school with hope and school of change. You can see that they are there to really get these young ones to develop skills that they may not have gotten anywhere else. For those that are too old to go to school they have workshops. They have carpet, doormat, baskets, jewelry and food making stations. I will say that they are amazing. I have never seen such great artwork been made. The school has opened “new horizons” for the disability population that is looked down upon here in Ghana. Ghana’s look towards people with disabilities is an attitude that is unlike the western world. No one gives them credit and they are just shoved to the side. I would not say that it is as bad as if one is homosexual in this country (As that is basically a death wish) but, those with disabilities are definitely not as welcomed in their own country as those without them.
After just two days I have only initial emotions and thoughts and wish I could share more. But as the months go on I will update you further on the New Horizon Special School service work I am doing. I do not even like to say community service, as I feel it is a more personal experience then so and community service is such a broad word. But for now, until I have done more hours, weeks, and months that is what it is!

Here I will leave my blogging phase to end until the week again has passed. The weeks here seem to be over in a flash and I can’t seem to break up my blogs to make them a little more reader friendly (length wise).

Sophs x

How did we get here?

Date: 07/02/2010
Time: 21:00
Location: Accra, Ghana



This past weekend was packed full of educational excursions and findings. The monkey sanctuary trip ended up being very successful, which was the beginning of the first NYU program trip weekend.

Although to some getting up at 5:45am is early… to us NYU in Ghana study abroad kids- it is just another day in the life of Ghana. It seems that we have all got in the habit of going to bed by 10pm (if we are not going out) and getting up between 6:30 and 7am (Get used to it Daniel and Anthony!) Normal days we do not have an excuse for the early morning wake ups other than we feel lazy staying in bed until 9am because everyone in Ghana is bustling by 7am. But, Saturday we had an excuse. We were off to Cape Coast. Cape Coast is a 2.5 hour drive from Accra as if heading toward Sierra Leone. The bus fell silent after about 30 minutes of driving- sleep I guess was more important to some people, but to me... it was an opportunity to finally get some alone time with my thoughts whilst passing some great scenery.
We finally arrive at Coconut Grove Resort. Christa starts to harp about how we will not always be staying in places as nice as this resort, but since it is our first trip she just wanted us to start off with a bang. But knowing Christa… I am pretty sure none of the places we will stay will ever be just a hut and fending for yourself in the African wild! Oh you just wait for some lovely Christa stories (We all know these are the best part of my blogs- because they sure are my favourite part!)
We roll up, and we go down to breakfast. Buffett style… yeah… buffet to start the day on the beach- not too shabby ehy? I felt like I was back in Club Med with the family where the first day of eating was all about filling up your plate with whatever they offer. First time up, second time up, third time up… should I go for a fourth?
After gaining about 10pounds we were now directed toward Elmina castle. Elmina Castle was one of the biggest slave trading prisons and “swip swapping” areas. I listened to the guide with full ears as it was quite hard to understand his accent; we stood in the cells of the African slaves as well as the cell for all those European soldiers that “misbehaved”. We stood in the area where families would come together for the first time and where they would see each other for the last. We went upstairs to where the Dutch would stay while the terrors were right below them. What kind of human being lives just above humans that are being tortured and sold, when you have wonderful ocean front views and living quarters? The holding cells still smelt like rotting bodies, and just imagining the stench now, you can hardly understand what it must have been like with hundreds of sweating, diseased, sick, impoverished people laying standing and sitting up against you. It is a site that I know will take me a few more days to fully comprehend. The words that come out of my mouth always seem to be, “why?” “How?” “Disturbing” “sickening” but no words can describe the “castle” we saw. It was not castle… it was the prison of dead. Many walking in would not come out, and those that did were being taken to another imprisoned life.

Elmina castle was a rude awakening to the beginning of the day, but the show must go on. Canopy walking is next on the agenda. As we stood waiting for our turn, on the canopy walk I figured it would be a two minute walk across from tree to tree. But how I was wrong! I felt like I was on top of the world. Tree’s below us, in front, behind, and beside us. Nothing could save me from the fall; it was me and the rope. I must say I felt so jack Baueresk but Tarzan style (Rob I am disregarding the shooting range as that was just ultimate Jack Bauer!) What was I doing in Ghana on a canopy walk? Who cares… why question it? Fun and games on canopy walk just make it that more fun... “be a lion, now be a sea lion” wow Doug.. could you choose any more African animals? But Akua (RA) was definitely following in Christa’s Tyra Banks style. Which by the way Akua got a new weave and looks so good. She is racking in all those men, as I am a witness to a late night (10pm) visit from a boy.

It is interesting to see how are RA’s and one of the staff members all went to bed exactly at 9 on the dot. As we were enjoying a buffet dinner on the beach with a bonfire and music the RA’s left. It was just us NYU study abroader’s and Christa. I was quite jealous because as a group of the people in the group was in an in-depth conversation with Christa I was chatting with some other foreigners. Oddly enough one of the guys comes from Chesham a town over from where I partly lived when I was in England (Great Missenden) and then another of the guys went to University of Edinburgh so we chatted about that, and we all just hung out on the beach. While others were grabbing details about Christa’s love life and giving her advice I was meeting new people. Great! But it is okay… I still got the details about Christa. I will not spread her details online… but to all the men- she is free!
The weekend ended with a day sitting by the pool side and on the beach. I will say it was a little like sandals but as this blog could be read by NYU’s Business school heads (yeah I think my blogs are that good) I will say that it so far has been a very educational 4 weeks that I have been here.
With weeks moving so quickly I will have to start updating my blogs more regularly making them shorter and giving you more details about my lovely travels around Accra, Ghana and the rest of Africa.
For now I hope I was able to inform you all enough about my weekend. If you need any more details I will be glad to email you with fuller explanations of the places we went and my take on what I have seen.
For now Goodbye,

-KR x

Monkeys, Skinny Dipping, and two hour taxi rides.

Date: 05/02/2010
Time: 23:00
Location: Accra, Ghana


The game of bargaining is a simple one. Bargaining requires some talent and the ability to not feel guilty of how much you are bargaining down. It also requires though the ability to realize when one is getting ripped off. Bargaining down from a 30 cedi taxi ride to hopefully getting 10 cedi was a challenge. We finally agreed on a 15 cedi ride. What we thought would be a simple little less than an hour’s drive turned into much more. Not only did we have an odd number of people where one taxi was carrying an extra person, but we also had a little bit of communication issues. Our taxi drivers had a vague idea of where this monkey sanctuary was, so we told them to follow each other. My taxi driver went speeding away so there we were (molly, Sara, Doug, Elena, and myself) were saying, “We need to follow the other taxi. The other driver knows how to get to the place. Go behind...” Our conversation was us trying to get him to understand what we saying and him were just sitting there laughing at our “obrunie” selves. In the end the other taxi was able to catch up. But one problem arose. Sara, “um guys.. . I really need to go to the bathroom… like GO! “Us knowing what that meant, we told the driver to stop at the next petrol station. We stopped Sara ran out the car to find a toilet. Next thing we see molly comes running down from the toilet area... “Do you guys have anything we can use to wipe?” None of us had anything. Sara and molly came back for us to realize that Sara had to use receipts to wipe up the lovely “D’s” that she had. But… thankfully after that she felt a lot better and our journey towards the monkey sanctuary could continue.

Our car ride consisted of us stopping asking locals to show us how to get to the solo monkey sanctuary ( no one had a clue!), it consisted of us having some sweet jams being played in the car, and our driver just smiling every time we asked a question. We arrive in the general vicinity of the monkey sanctuary. This is where we start driving around for about an hour. We went into the town area for them to send us up the street, where we stopped again and asked locals, they sent us back down the road, we were sent then to Bojo Beach. (What paradise. It was as if we were in the Caribbean!) We finally had a local taxi driver take us to the forest where the monkey sanctuary lay, going through basically peoples back gardens, and bumpy bumpy dirt roads.

We arrive at the monkey sanctuary. Our cab drivers at this point are for the lack of the better words, “pissed”. We had just taken them 2 hours out of the city. They said they would stay and wait for us. At first we did not want them to wait around as we are cheap students who knew we would have to pay for them to wait around for us. But, I guess our bargaining skills have just started to become natural as we bargained for the first two hours they waited to be free, and every hour after was 10 cedi. Not a bad deal I would say. So at this point… we have taken two Accra taxi drivers out of the main city, where they will be waiting around in the forest for us until we are done! (Can I say...VIP service?)

The day was a day like I have not had in a long time. I would say I have had a lot of experiences in my life, and this was one excursion. One of the girls knew the owner of the solo monkey sanctuary. So, he gave us a nice deal to take us into see the monkeys (only 3 cedi each= 2 dollars) But he exceeded any of our expectations. He first took us to the school in the area because it was “obrunie Fridays” Any foreigners/white people they get on a Friday they bring them to the school to give the kids a little more incentive to come to school on Fridays. The kids were adorable. They came up and gave us hugs; they were like little kids in a sweet shop. Extremely excited we were there. After all the pictures and playing, he took us around the village. He bought us through the nooks and crannies...we were in a real live African village. Komiate (the monkey sanctuary guy) said that he basically is the provider for the village. And when he isn’t providing people just provide for each other… people for the community. Through the village the rubbish around was immense. Rubbish in every corner of the street, and houses (stone/thatched roofed/huts) placed in random little areas. Shops right next to houses, and woman making food everywhere you look. Weaving in and out of the dirt pathed houses community, we finally reach the beach. It was as if we were stepping out into the outside for the first time. A huge amount of fishing boats appeared out of nowhere, the beach and water all providing a perfect picture. Komiate bought us down the beach walking through the fishermen rigging up and relaxing on their boats. He then grabbed a small boat from these kids and told us to get on. We all stepped on carefully making sure not to rock the boat, facing forward we began to move. Komiate had a large wooden stick to stear and move the boat (was like in venice the gondolas). He bought us to the private beach of Bojo resort. This is where all hell broke loose.

Running into the water as if we hadn’t seen it in years, and jumping into the surfer style waves. Elena screams, “ I am ready to go free… top coming off” So… the 8 girls and Doug followed suit. Have you ever felt so free that nothing could harm, break, or get in your way? I must say this was pretty close to that. Nothing but the water and me crashing into each other. Almost 4 weeks of being in Africa and finally in the past two days I had seen a lot more and felt so many different emotions that this break from the world felt so good. After our “running naked in the paddling pool” and Doug losing his swimming trunks it was time to get some real monkey action. Komiate bought us back to the forest where we watched to find the monkeys. Monkey!!!!! It was so cool to watch the couple that came to see us. Watch them swing from tree to tree, climb up the tree and sit. It was a perfect ending to a day in the day and the life of a true Ghanaian village.

After a day like today nothing could have gotten me in a bad mood. Except for the taxi driver. We all decided that we would pitch in 10 cedi for the drivers. That meant that each driver at the end of this got 65 cedi. (20 cedi there and 45 cedi on the way back). Perfect deal I would say, but no to the Ghanaian’s we are just rich white kids that can afford to give them a lot more. I ended up getting in the other taxi on the way back with the grumpy driver. He was a slow old grandma driver, and I was hungry. I was getting annoyed because I did not want to miss out on Tante Maries (one of our meal plan restaurants). As we got home he said, “How much you give?” we say, “45 cedi, and that is way more than we said originally so that is enough!” driver, “I beg, 50!” “No, bye!” Our white colour will not give into the “Obrunie” prices that they give. We are living here for 4 months and I will not get ripped off. I will pay “Obibinie” (Black) prices (at least try and get Ghanaian rates!)

I hope I painted a good picture- but no words can describe a day in the forest, beach, and with kids. ( Oh yeah missed out the big about us playing with the kids at the beginning of the whole day!) oh well… Perhaps I will post some pictures and videos if the internet will be able to handle the uploading of them.

Goodnight to all- as I got to get up at 5:30am to leave on a NYU Program trip to Cape Coast.

-KR x

Special Edition: First proper “African” experience

Date: 4/2/2010
Time: 16:40
Location: Accra, Ghana



I have been losing myself in what I am trying to say. I just can’t find the words. Today was one of the most productive days I have had so far, and I am blown away. Not only did I 1. Go ahead on work for once. But I was able to see the special needs school I will be helping out at three times a week, and then I had an afternoon trip into Jamestown.

Jamestown is one of the poorest places within Accra. It is a place where “Obrunies” really are not that welcome; unless you are with someone from the area it can be toured. I have hardly any pictures as it is a place where taking pictures is completely frowned upon. Although at first I was annoyed at the idea of not being able to take photos of what I came here to see, I completely respect the wish. How would you like if England, Germany, or USA were underdeveloped countries and the other countries only ever see the slums and the poor conditions and never any of the developed areas? For these reasons it is very hard to capture these poor areas in pictures and I would recommend just coming yourself and storing forever a mental picture. It is something like I have not seen before. I have been fortunate to see a lot of places in my life with the move to Japan, but I was young, and I will be the first to say- ignorant. I went to El Salvador this past May and that was the first country I had seen in my “adulthood” life where I felt I could fully understand the nature of how and why they were living like so, and just understand the pain the country went through. Now having gone to Jamestown I have seen more of the “Africa” that is always shown.

While I am staying here in Accra, I am living in the richest part of Ghana- Labone. I appreciate all that I have, but it was time for me to get out and see more of the surroundings. Jamestown like Baltimore (which is depicted as a crime city and nothing more) has an inner beauty. We bargained our way from a 10 cedi taxi ride to a 6 cedi ride from Labone to Jamestown. As we got there we headed straight to the lighthouse. Here the locals saw us and thought, “Obrunies” and knew they could try and con us into a higher price. But we negotiated our way to a great price. We climbed the windey stairs, at the top went up some very what looked to be unstable stairs and crawled through a hole. Here our eyes were opened to a whole new world. One side you had all the fishing boats and the fishing community, to other you had open sand and water, the next side a strip of houses and even the boxing area, and in front the vast amount of Jamestown houses and shops. A view of “shacks” and palm trees, and even mountains in the background. I hate using the word shacks for someone’s house and to the people that live in them it is not, but to everyone I have ever known in my life that is the nearest thing that would compare to what we all know. The lighthouse literally was a lighthouse. It shined its light on the aspects of life that I could not even begin to imagine. The beautiful thing is that no child has anything to compare it too, and is hopefully grateful for the roof over their heads, and the friends and family they still have. Such beauty to see the simple life that they all lead no technology or everyday western distractions to take them away from playing football, or running about in the sun. I will say it is disheartening to get asked by a child for some money because they are hungry or are thirsty.

Heading across the street to Jamestown fort (across from the Jamestown king’s house) the idea of standing in prison cells where the slaves were kept and shipped and bought was disturbing. I have been learning in-depth about the slave trade in Pan-Afracanism and it was great to be standing in a cell that was first hand evidence of history and the many lives that passed through. In 1 cell that really was probably the size of Loyola Kitchen in Campion (not including the eating area) there would be some 30 odd people and in some even 70. People are messed up. To think of enslaving another human being is crazy (never use crazy here as it literally means Insane and it is another very disrespectful thing to say) to me- but I guess a lot of things in history have been incredibly disturbing.

Now we shall take a trip down to the fishing boats. Place where kids ran up and greeted us and a lot of older people were not happy to see us. We were not sure if Emmanuel (our tour guide that we met in Jamestown) should take us any further, but he said it was okay his family lives in here. The boats reminded me of the big Viking rowboats you always learn about in school, but the air was defiantly fishy. The fishermen were welcoming and even wanted to take us out on the boat- but we unfortunately ended up not getting on one. The small community was as if were those little boys running through the streets in slumdog millionaire; but a bit more spaced out. Clothes out on the clothes line, woman cooking up whatever they were cooking up, children running around everywhere, houses with a few people in them. I can’t even properly give a description as Emmanuel was rushing us through because he knew we were unwelcome. Emmanuel definitely earned his “Dash” though as he then afterwards took us over to the boxing arena. It was called, “House of Pain”. Here, the complex around looked as if it was falling down, but the boxing guys were happily playing a competitive game of football. I think that is what I love most. Even in a place that may not look as nice as our million dollar houses (or whatever they may cost) they are still able to enjoy life and see life for what it is. The only thing they may complain for is food and water, but no kids have said, “Daddy, this isn’t what I wanted, I wanted a blackberry!” Life is not materialistic but more real. Yes I used real as honestly materialistic things are not something you hold on to for life, whereas family, friends, and your everyday basic needs are part of what life all started with.

Today was a good day. I can’t wait to start at New Horizon a school for kids with disabilities, and I was finally able to get out of Labone. I will leave on quiet a funny remark. The taxi driver we had on the way to Jamestown says, “You from Obama land. You have money!” Liza, Doug, and myself, “No, we are students we don’t have money.” Driver, “Everyone in America has money. So you have money. Obama has jobs so there is money” Doug, “umm… there is only hope!” Liza, “Obama does not give us money. I only wish he did!”

I will say that was an amusing taxi ride.

Alright good evening to all,

-KR x

The Last King of Jamestown

Date: 31/01/2010
Time: 18:00
Location: Accra, Ghana


Yet again another week at sandals has passed. I try to look back and see what I have done. And honestly I am ashamed. Classes are great, but what else have I to show after being here now 3 weeks. This week consisted of class, homework, going out, and doing two cultural events. I will tell you though the things that I did were absolutely fabulous. As I sit here not feeling well, feeling like I want to throw up I will explain the chain of events.
NYU in Ghana offers a Documenting Africa class. Basically a class where groups can decide what topic they want to document then they go out and film. Well this past week they showed us previous documentaries from the previous students. All were quiet controversial, some I enjoyed, and some I was getting very frustrated with. First, I will give a big round of applause to those that did a documentary on homosexuality. For those of you that do not know, Homosexuality here in Ghana is Illegal. The sign at the airport welcomes everyone except those of homosexual orientation. It is something that you can be imprisoned for, and a subject that is very hush hush. The society does not take any notice to it. And as the documenting teacher clearly stated, “they look just like normal people” This cause a lot of commotion amongst us that were sitting watching the documentaries. It was nonetheless a great movie and something that will be interesting to see and try and spot here. Another documentary example was one made by the black students from NYU that came here. It talked about what it means to be black, and how they are oppressed, and a lot of other things. This was one of the documentaries I got very angry with. I will not say much more because I will just rant and rave, but it was extraordinary to see that in today’s society people have still not gotten over race issues. I realize there are still issues but I get very angry at the issue of blacks being oppressed still. I will say that there are probably places in the US and some other places in the world that there are still some people out there that have a racist view against black people… but to say that you are still totally oppressed is a very bold statement. If any race could say anything these days it would be the Muslims. The two biggest groups that are under fire these days are Muslims and homosexuals. Anytime a Muslim steps into the airport, they are guaranteed to be searched, not a black person anymore. There are black people making millions, there are black people getting into university everywhere, I do not see black people getting stares on the streets, and I see blacks and whites socializing every minute of each day. I may be ignorant in saying all of this, but I think every person is in some way is as if a black person says they are still oppressed they are not opening up their eyes properly and are still shadowed by the history, which may I add… you do not hear Jewish people anymore talking about how they are oppressed anymore, as well as Japanese from when the Americans basically imprisoned them too. As you can all see, it is a very sore subject as it is with everyone, but this was a film that really got to me.
I am sorry to all for starting on a very serious subject. I figured I might as well start on something more serious than the sandals trip idea that I have been talking about on every other blog that I have written. The only day of sandals I had this year was well…went for a night swim at one of the hotel swimming pools on Wednesday night, then Thursday night was wine on the outside top porch balcony, and Friday. Hah shall we talk about Friday night adventures (our adventures always seem to happen on Fridays, but ah well.. that is what the beginning of the weekends are for!).

Friday all started with seeing royalty. For those of you who know that I am indeed half English (the other half being German), but I will say that I was not able to see the queen of England unfortunately (but Chase did this past semester in England) Even better I saw the King of Jamestown. We took a trip down into Jamestown (The poorest part of Accra) and went into the Kings quarters. We were welcomed and also dismissed with traditional drummers, and also welcomed and said goodbye to the king traditionally (for obvious reasons). It was such a surreal experience. We shook with two hands as if you just shake with 1 that is disrespectful, you can never cross your legs in front of an honorary figure as that is also disrespectful because if you cross your legs then you are showing the souls of your feet. This is the idea that the king stands on the holy so by not standing on the ground you are not showing your respect. The king also never directly spoke to us; his linguistic would answer all questions that were asked. What made us feel even more special though, ready… the king actually spoke to us! The last words came from him. Traditionally the King never says a word, but he personally thanked us for coming to learn about their culture, and was happy that he could provide us with some insights. He was very soft spoken (just like the Krieger-Redwood- Turner family! ☺ ) It was one of the highlights of this week. I feel so royal being in this country. As a normal tourist you would never be able to see the King- and we were able too- man it feels good to brag about it!

Friday ended with just of an epic night as of a day. The social mixer that the CRA’s put on for us. This social mixer was for our program and for any Ghanaian student from University of Ghana and Asheshi University, as well as the CIEE abroad program. We popped open a bottle of wine and waited for some of the students to arrive. As the night went on more and more Ghanaians showed up, more and more wine was being “sipped” down, and the night was getting more and more less awkward. But… I love awkward moments so I was embracing it and making friends with all the Ghanaians! Some were teaching me how the Ghanaians’ dance, and then I fell in love with one of the CRA’s. I have a new found love for one of the CRA’s that is an RA for the other dorm building. But as the social mixer was coming to an end some of us ended up going back to Champs. Guess who we ran into? Yes that is correct, the South Africans. This time around we found out that Tess and my South Africans new Sara, Doug’s, and Heathers South Africans. Sara, Doug, and Heather… again ended up having a very interesting night but this night they ended up coming home earlier than Tess and me. Tess and I had a little adventure of our own again. Playing pool for like 3 hours and then driving around for like 2 hours trying to find our place. Mind you the streets of Accra are bustling at 5:30 in the morning. As I was just getting home, people were waking up in Ghana. Great! Saturday was a day of rest. I sat by the pool side and read the 100’s of pages I had to read for Pan-Afracanism. It was quiet a lovely day if I must say so myself and as locals came pouring into the pool the tunes were put on and I could not concentrate anymore so I just swam, danced, and sang along with some of our new found love for the artists here (Ruff N’ Smooth being one of them, and 4 x 4 being another). Then Liza and I had a little date and watched Changeling- what a messed up movie. And to think that it was based on a real story made it all even worse. It is a movie I highly recommend to everyone.
If any of you ever come to Ghana, do not be scared to tried the traditional foods of West Africa. The food is absolutely to die for. Fufu, Red Red, plantains galore, Palava source, Banku.. I could go on and on. Food is obviously something very “holy” to me. Food and me= relationship status. I do not mess around. Today was the day I was in Food heaven. The CRA’s put on cooking lessons for us to learn how to make a few of their favourite Ghanaian dishes. It was Aqua is ma house- representing house 3. Abna is house 2 and Doug in House 4. RA Chris was MIA! I am not going to lie I kind of felt like I was Julie from Julia Julie. Anyone seen that movie? It is a cute movie… I would say snuggle worthy- and if you like food then it just makes you that much more motivated to go and make your own foods. I will say it was a Julie Julia weekend for me because Saturday night I made such a good dinner. Mash potatoes, egg, beans, and peas. It was delicious- LIza can attest to it! But anyway, today was fabulous. I felt like I was on a resort just doing cooking lessons, and enjoying the hot weather. After we stuffed our faces, it was time to go and support Ghana in the final of the African Cup of Nations. It was all fun and games while we were down in Osu town with the Ghanians. Got our face painted, cheered, and cried. Although Ghana were clearly the better team on today’s match the game of football clearly showed them up when Egypt took the only true opportunity they had and scored! This is why I love the game. It is such an unpredictable sport.

I am now sitting in my sitting room feeling quiet crappy. I feel like throwing up, I am hungry but if I eat I will throw up. I am feeling sorry for myself and probably will ring my parents even though they can’t do anything for me. Does anyone else do that? Ring your parents whilst you are at university or somewhere completely different and tell them that you are not feeling well? I do! I do not know what they could ever possibly do for me.. I guess I just like the comfort that they give me! ☺ Love the family.
Before I go… another Christa story. So Some of us wanted to get a gym membership so we went to go visit the gym, Christa came with us, toured it with us and as we were done she said. “Go to the car guys are am going to work some magic!” So. We waited. She came back and said, “Call me the negotiation queen!” She ended up being able to work out some kind of deal. I go later that week to give her how many people wanted to sign up and she said. “Sophie, you ready to hear some good news?” I said, “Um. Yeah!!” and she said, “ I have been talking with the gym and NYU and I am 90% sure that we can get everyone to the gym without paying!” so I was like.. What…. and so the next day- Well all I will say is. “SHE IS GHANA!”
Alright, that is it for me as I am going to go curl up in a ball on my bed and watch Jerry McGuire.

-KR x