Our First Lecture @ NYU-Accra

I woke up this morning sick. My guess is it was definitely from the drinks we had last night, because we all forgot that we are not SUPPOSE to have ICE!! Guess we were so caught up in the moment!

So today we had our first lecture on campus today. It was nice that we were able to hold class outside, I'm guessing this will be our permanent spot. I have already adjusted to the warm climate and can really appreciate the increase in temperature. We had brief introductions to other CRAS (Community Resident Assistants) at the Accra campus about life and culture in Ghana, what to do's and not to do's. The lecture was very informative and we learned a couple of traditional customs. We also received handouts about community safety and so forth. Here we had our formal introduction to Christa who is the head of the international program in Ghana. One interesting thing I learned was how "not" to wear your handbag. Apparently women should not wear bags with shoulder straps off to the side of their bodies, as it has been common for taxi drivers to grab the woman's purse and drag her down the side of a road, because she is unable to take the purse off. SCARY! But other than that, the first lecture was nice.

During our orientation we also received folders with our itinerary in it, places to go and see in Accra (although we didn't have much free time do so). Places to eat, cinemas, malls, a phone call guide, etc., were included. We also met Nurse Mary, who spoke about malaria prevention and what foods to steer clear of so we do not get sick. ((Hence the mocktails/ice situation)).

Following orientation we had a neighborhood tour of the Accra campus which was very refreshing. We were able to view life in Ghana in a more prominent neighborhood. We also ran into the coconut man and had a nice refreshing drink.

We also had tours of several of the places where the students call home during the academic semesters. I also took notice to the disabled population in the streets of such an affluent neighborhood. A man we saw was happy to see us, in fact urging us to "keep up with the crowd"as we were lagging behind because we were taking so many pictures. I wondered what this man's life story was composed of, as he waved and sat in his make-shift wheelchair/tricycle. How does he get around? Does he have a home? Does he have a family? Is angry at the life he has been given? Those were the thoughts I had almost everyday in general about the disabled population in Ghana.

During this tour, we also started to think about the structure of the city and how poorly maintained the sidewalks are. How could anyone in this man's situation really get to wherever he wanted to go for the day? There were holes, gaps, and raw sewage in the middle of sidewalks, I had to make sure I was on firm ground every time I decided to stop and take a picture. AMAZING.

Once arriving back to campus we had another lecture about Family Life and General Health in Ghana, given by Mrs. Faustina Oware Gyekye, a retired midwife who works at NYU-Accra Academic Center.