Greetings from Accra Part II

What's up Everyone!

Since you have last heard from us, our group has had some pretty cool interactions with Ghanaian culture starting with our last night in Kumasi to our homestays, which began on Saturday evening upon our arrival back to Accra. In our last night in Kumasi, our trusty, yellow Trotro (Ghana's mass public transit system/similar to local bus transportation in USA) and friendly escort from the Treasure Land Hotel led us on an exciting night on the town at a live band performance. Our group was open to the Ghanaian culture mix of live music, dancing and conversation, and enjoyed immersing into the culture in a fun and relaxing atmosphere. The next morning, before departing Kumasi, we were able to travel back to the locations where we placed our plastic recycling bins and assess how the Ghanaians had responded since Friday afternoon. We observed some new plastic waste in some of the bins, but we became more aware of the need for more time to spread our project and see concrete results and progress from the local people. Leaving Kumasi, we felt we put in tremendous effort and hope that in talking with the representatives from the local waste management company, ZoomLion, our project will be sustained with their continued support.

After putting in a lot of work this past week, the 5-hour bus ride to Accra gave many of us an opportunity to catch up on our rest. At some points along the ride, some of us were able to take in the beautiful scenery and were in awe of Ghana's lush greenery, mountains, and lots of palm and banana trees. Touching down in Accra, we rode into the city by way of the only highway in Ghana, which was constructed about 50 years by Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, as one of his plans for the country since its independence. Finally reaching the University of Ghana's Guest House, we anxiously anticipated the first meeting with our host families who were there awaiting our arrival.

Since Saturday night, we have spent all of our evenings with our host families, where we have had some exciting and adventurous experiences. Justine and Jen's host family prepared Fufu in peanut soup with goat meat for dinner last night. Unlike our first introduction to the traditional Ghanaian dish, they enjoyed their meal, which was a pleasant surprise. Kristen, Andrew Swain and Lo-Hua will have their Fufu experience tonight, among the rest of us who have had some great dinners. Reyna and I have been spoiled by our host family, who have served us twelve-person meals for two, ending with trips to the local creamery for ice cream or tea and hot chocolate at home while watching old episodes of American Idol. Andrew Lapin and Nelson are being hosted by Ghanaian celebrities, as their host mother is a broadcast journalist for Ghana TV and a local Ghanaian radio program. Their host father is a professor of Psychology at University of Ghana, where we are working on our recycling project as you know. In hearing about Kamayani and Kyra's homestay, their host family owns a hotel, which is adjacent to their home. They have enjoyed being transported by their host family's driver, fresh laundry and air conditioning (basically Ghanaian royalty). Last, Ellie and Margaret have had interesting experiences in their homestays with their host family's daughter, nicknamed Obama in lieu of her first name, Michelle, which is pretty cool. We will be staying with our host families until we leave Accra on Friday morning, so look out for more cool updates. Thanks for tuning in to our blog!

Until next time,
Peace, Love and Happiness

-Lyndsey