Mamma Academia

Hello hello,

I didn't realize how long it's been since I last posted! Three weeks have passed, but there isn't too much to report. I've mainly been wrestling my schedule into the ground. There was a day where all the bureaucratic confusion had me tied to the train tracks begging for mercy, but I ended up sorting it all out and somehow, magically, a five-day weekend emerged from the dust of the tumbleweed struggle. That's right, folks. I only have classes Tuesday and Wednesday, which means traveling is a piece of peach pie.

Speaking of pie, I haven't had any in far too long. I've heard rumors that the little restaurant in our international hostel boasts apple pie with rum sauce, which I'm saving for a particularly rainy day. It's been drizzling a lot, but it's humid, almost warm rain, and can be pleasant to walk around in if you let go of the idea that you're going to look dry as a summer daisy in class. And the classes? So far they've been interesting, but I think I'm more interested in how different it all is than what they're actually saying. I'm taking Twi, which reigns supreme so far as my favorite class, taught by a very funny little man with gigantic hornrimmed glasses and a love of hand gestures rivaled only by sign language interpreters and drunken orchestra conductors. The language is very different from anything I've ever attempted, which makes it ridiculously fun and the best candidate for a secret language when the other two Berkeley girls and I run into each other back in the states.

The other classes I'm taking are: Colonialism and African Response (most engaging teacher of this list by far), History of Science and Technology (just added that yesterday, so I'm still in the dark with my primitive handtools), Foreign Policy Analysis (oh dear), Educational Psychology (not bad so far, and where I met my first three friends outside the program, a Ghanaian named Joanna and two Nigerians named Des and Amaka. They're hilarious and wonderful to talk to, especially when they all start talking at the same time, quickly, because they're so excited about something. They promised to make sure I have the best birthday of my life), and Creative Writing. The last class has been kind of slow, but it's so interesting to hear local fiction, which can be so much more revealing of culture than any of our clumsy, academic stabs at it. So far we've had to write a memoir, which I may post here in the future.

I've been fumbling with spices a bit, too. Last week we went to the mall, which, although I had heard all about it long before I went, was still an eyeful. It's like walking right back into the Western world, window after window of haute couture hanging off lanky mannequins with posture that conveys what can only be described as elegant boredom. The supermarket has lots of familiar stuff to buy, although most of it is priced to the stars. For instance, a package of six strawberries was fourteen dollars. I can only imagine the demographic for that product. Diplomat's daughter wants a sundae? Anyway, most of the food is affordable and I managed to rustle up some veggie burgers and lavash bread, which I used to make wraps with grilled vegetables from the night market across the street. They were delicious!

Also, a handful of ladies have designated Sunday as community dinner night, kind of like a pot luck. Last Sunday we ate an El Salvadorian stew made with pineapple and beer, made by our friend Miriam, which was amazing. This Sunday, however, we'll be in Cape Coast. We're leaving in about four hours, actually, and clambering onto that giant bus for the first time since we were left to roam solo three weeks ago. We're heading over that way for a festival, which will be a first for many of us. I'm so excited! We're also going to Kakum National Park, where I'll finally get to wobble across that long, narrow rope bridge that would send Hitchcock's Scottie Ferguson into a dizzy spell.

On that note, I have to scamper off and pack, but maybe by the time I get back the internet will be back to a speed that will allow me to post pictures. The caterpillar's gettin' awful lonely up there.