So I figured I should talk about my daily life here in Ghana, since most of my other posts have been about traveling trips around the country. I'll talk about my Mondays here because I have a good balance of free time and class that day. Tuesdays and Fridays are free days for me, Wednesday is my busiest day with 4 classes (soon to be 3) and Thursday is my easiest day with 1 class. So Mondays are in the middle for me.
On Monday I have 3 classes: Biochemistry, Twi (pronounced "chwee") and Biological Psychology. I set an alarm for 7:59AM, just so I have a minute to lie in bed and stare blankly at the ceiling and ponder about the day ahead of me before actually getting out of bed at 8. I'll go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, maybe chat with one of my hallmates for a bit, shower, eat some toast, and walk with one of my hallmates, Timo, to class. Sometimes, I spend a few minutes trying to find the best toilet to do my business in or shower stall to shower in because some of them get clogged up and smell pretty bad, especially when there's no water (like this dry spell right now, day 10 of no water and counting).
Biochem isn't that far of a walk from my building, maybe about 10 minutes or so. I love how Legon is so centrally located in campus, as nothing is really "far" from my building. I used to leave around 9:10 for class since it starts at 9:30 but Timo said I should leave earlier so I can get a seat, since for some reason, Ghanaians like to show up particularly early for this class. So I started waking up an hour and a half before class and arriving to class at 9, killing the remaining 30 minutes by chatting with the people around me, listening to music or browsing through my notes in case of a pop quiz.
Ghanaian students come to class looking so damn nice, it's ridiculous. The guys will be wearing button up collar shirts, sometimes tucked in to their slacks with polished shoes and a big, shiny watch on their left hand while the girls will come in wearing heels or flats and fluttery, colorful dresses or blouses or skirts or other girl clothing I don't know the name to. The key point is, they look spiffy. On the other hand, I'll walk in to class wearing flip flops, basketball shorts and a tank top with my untamed hair and growing beard (lately I've been getting called "Indian Jesus" because of that). They're also meticulous note-takers, writing down everything the professor says word for word. I've had a few students ask me if I ever take notes or tell me I'm a fast writer because I paraphrase everything the professor says or only write down what I think is important. Sometimes it's annoying because the professor for my history class slows down his talking and repeats things a lot just so the students can write down what he says. It's definitely a stark comparison to the states, as people will come into class in their pajamas or sweats with baseball caps or hoodies and that professors NEVER slow down when they lecture. They pretty much make us look like slobs in terms of attire.
The classroom is honestly not big enough for a class this size, as seeing two people to one desk is pretty common. Also, if you're sitting in the back, it's hard to see up front since the classroom floor doesn't elevate the further back you go, so all you see is a bunch of heads. So I try to get a seat up close and push myself through the two hours of lecture.
Class ends at 11:20 and now I have about 4 hours till Twi. During this time I'll usually get lunch with my roommate or walk over directly to IPO to use the Internet or chill in the AC. If I need something in particular, I would walk over to the trotro station just outside of campus and take a trotro to my destination, usually Madina Market, about a 5 minute drive. I have to be careful when going out though because traffic is so unpredictable here, it can take 3 hours to get somewhere when it should only take 20 minutes. So I try not to go into central Accra unless I absolutely need to. Otherwise if I don't need to go to a market, I usually go to the little general stores around campus to shop for food or toilet paper or other necessities. I don't spend time doing homework because homework is virtually non-existent here. At most, I've had to write short papers or prepare presentations but those don't take out much time from my day.
My Twi class starts at 3:30 and goes on until 5. This class is pretty chill because everyone in it is from my study abroad group, so we're always laughing at each other when we're reading passages because we just sound so American. The professor is a pretty hilarious guy too who absolutely loves fufu, declaring it the only real food in the world. His lectures aren't always structured though, as he'll usually throw out a bunch of vocabulary words or grammar rules and expect you to get it on the spot. That's pretty much how the first day of class went as well, just giving us a bunch of random words and explaining the sounds and differences between Twi and English. It's all good, but I would've started with learning the word for "to be" and then using that to describe yourself, family, food, directions, body parts, emotions, and so on.
So now that it's evening time, you'd expect me to be done for the day, right? Nope, I have my last class, biopsych, from 5:30 to 7:20. Honestly though, its not that bad since the material is my kind of thing, learning about the brain and its anatomy, neurological disorders, cognition and learning and all that good stuff. The professor has a major accent which makes it hard to understand what he's saying. There have been countless amounts of times where he says something and everyone starts laughing and I'm just sitting there like, "Wait, what?" He's pretty funny in a strict manner though. The location is much more like the lecture halls we're used to back home, with elevated seats and all. However, it sometimes reminds me of a church because the seats are basically wooden pews and I start getting fidgety after a while because my butt will start hurting. Can't do anything else but power through it. When class ends though, it's nice and cool and dark outside, which is a nice relief from the heat of the day, so I usually take my time walking back to my room.
When I get back to my room I'll put my stuff away and rest on my bed for a little while, just to relax. Then I'll go out and try to find dinner from the nightmarkets on campus or from the auntie located near ISH who always has food for me and my roommate, as we're kind of her main customers. I'll either stay for a little bit at ISH to see what's up or maybe even shower when there's no water and I feel like it's time I shower, or I go back to my room to read for fun or watch stuff on my roomie's laptop, such as The Simpsons or other movies.
In essence, my days here are pretty chill since classes are definitely not as stressful as back in the states. I think the UC system prepares you well for education here, as you're more on edge about studying and grades and all but here it's somewhat the opposite. It's nice having some free time to myself as well to get errands done or to just bask in the AC of IPO. Although the next 2 weeks are going to be busy for me, as I have 2 midterms (I've already taken 2 other midterms, don't know how I did yet), a short research paper, and enrollment for classes back home to think about, but so far, it's been smooth sailing. My next post will probably be about the Togo trip. I'm also planning on going to Kumasi and Benin after all that is out of the way as I only have 6 more weekends left! Time is just flying by...
On Monday I have 3 classes: Biochemistry, Twi (pronounced "chwee") and Biological Psychology. I set an alarm for 7:59AM, just so I have a minute to lie in bed and stare blankly at the ceiling and ponder about the day ahead of me before actually getting out of bed at 8. I'll go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, maybe chat with one of my hallmates for a bit, shower, eat some toast, and walk with one of my hallmates, Timo, to class. Sometimes, I spend a few minutes trying to find the best toilet to do my business in or shower stall to shower in because some of them get clogged up and smell pretty bad, especially when there's no water (like this dry spell right now, day 10 of no water and counting).
Biochem isn't that far of a walk from my building, maybe about 10 minutes or so. I love how Legon is so centrally located in campus, as nothing is really "far" from my building. I used to leave around 9:10 for class since it starts at 9:30 but Timo said I should leave earlier so I can get a seat, since for some reason, Ghanaians like to show up particularly early for this class. So I started waking up an hour and a half before class and arriving to class at 9, killing the remaining 30 minutes by chatting with the people around me, listening to music or browsing through my notes in case of a pop quiz.
Ghanaian students come to class looking so damn nice, it's ridiculous. The guys will be wearing button up collar shirts, sometimes tucked in to their slacks with polished shoes and a big, shiny watch on their left hand while the girls will come in wearing heels or flats and fluttery, colorful dresses or blouses or skirts or other girl clothing I don't know the name to. The key point is, they look spiffy. On the other hand, I'll walk in to class wearing flip flops, basketball shorts and a tank top with my untamed hair and growing beard (lately I've been getting called "Indian Jesus" because of that). They're also meticulous note-takers, writing down everything the professor says word for word. I've had a few students ask me if I ever take notes or tell me I'm a fast writer because I paraphrase everything the professor says or only write down what I think is important. Sometimes it's annoying because the professor for my history class slows down his talking and repeats things a lot just so the students can write down what he says. It's definitely a stark comparison to the states, as people will come into class in their pajamas or sweats with baseball caps or hoodies and that professors NEVER slow down when they lecture. They pretty much make us look like slobs in terms of attire.
The classroom is honestly not big enough for a class this size, as seeing two people to one desk is pretty common. Also, if you're sitting in the back, it's hard to see up front since the classroom floor doesn't elevate the further back you go, so all you see is a bunch of heads. So I try to get a seat up close and push myself through the two hours of lecture.
Class ends at 11:20 and now I have about 4 hours till Twi. During this time I'll usually get lunch with my roommate or walk over directly to IPO to use the Internet or chill in the AC. If I need something in particular, I would walk over to the trotro station just outside of campus and take a trotro to my destination, usually Madina Market, about a 5 minute drive. I have to be careful when going out though because traffic is so unpredictable here, it can take 3 hours to get somewhere when it should only take 20 minutes. So I try not to go into central Accra unless I absolutely need to. Otherwise if I don't need to go to a market, I usually go to the little general stores around campus to shop for food or toilet paper or other necessities. I don't spend time doing homework because homework is virtually non-existent here. At most, I've had to write short papers or prepare presentations but those don't take out much time from my day.
My Twi class starts at 3:30 and goes on until 5. This class is pretty chill because everyone in it is from my study abroad group, so we're always laughing at each other when we're reading passages because we just sound so American. The professor is a pretty hilarious guy too who absolutely loves fufu, declaring it the only real food in the world. His lectures aren't always structured though, as he'll usually throw out a bunch of vocabulary words or grammar rules and expect you to get it on the spot. That's pretty much how the first day of class went as well, just giving us a bunch of random words and explaining the sounds and differences between Twi and English. It's all good, but I would've started with learning the word for "to be" and then using that to describe yourself, family, food, directions, body parts, emotions, and so on.
So now that it's evening time, you'd expect me to be done for the day, right? Nope, I have my last class, biopsych, from 5:30 to 7:20. Honestly though, its not that bad since the material is my kind of thing, learning about the brain and its anatomy, neurological disorders, cognition and learning and all that good stuff. The professor has a major accent which makes it hard to understand what he's saying. There have been countless amounts of times where he says something and everyone starts laughing and I'm just sitting there like, "Wait, what?" He's pretty funny in a strict manner though. The location is much more like the lecture halls we're used to back home, with elevated seats and all. However, it sometimes reminds me of a church because the seats are basically wooden pews and I start getting fidgety after a while because my butt will start hurting. Can't do anything else but power through it. When class ends though, it's nice and cool and dark outside, which is a nice relief from the heat of the day, so I usually take my time walking back to my room.
When I get back to my room I'll put my stuff away and rest on my bed for a little while, just to relax. Then I'll go out and try to find dinner from the nightmarkets on campus or from the auntie located near ISH who always has food for me and my roommate, as we're kind of her main customers. I'll either stay for a little bit at ISH to see what's up or maybe even shower when there's no water and I feel like it's time I shower, or I go back to my room to read for fun or watch stuff on my roomie's laptop, such as The Simpsons or other movies.
In essence, my days here are pretty chill since classes are definitely not as stressful as back in the states. I think the UC system prepares you well for education here, as you're more on edge about studying and grades and all but here it's somewhat the opposite. It's nice having some free time to myself as well to get errands done or to just bask in the AC of IPO. Although the next 2 weeks are going to be busy for me, as I have 2 midterms (I've already taken 2 other midterms, don't know how I did yet), a short research paper, and enrollment for classes back home to think about, but so far, it's been smooth sailing. My next post will probably be about the Togo trip. I'm also planning on going to Kumasi and Benin after all that is out of the way as I only have 6 more weekends left! Time is just flying by...
