Today is my fourth day without electricity or running water. Welcome to Ghana.

The week kicked off with a surprise 4am evacuation from our dormitories. After the tragic events in Haiti, a few loonies suggested that due to Ghana’s “intrinsic spiritual and cultural connections to Haiti,” Ghana was bound to experience an earthquake as well. And so in the wee hours of Monday morning, I woke up to the frantic calls of our porters, running up and down the five story building with kerosene lamps. After ten minutes of yelling and confusion, several hundred students made their way to the nearest parking lot, half naked and wrapped in bed sheets. Oh what a sight this was- and all this panic and chaos just because of a silly rumor and a few superstitions! Gotta love it.

Dormitory life in general is quite exciting, a bit like Ghanaian “Animal House.” There is large posse of boys who frequently wander the hallways in their boxers, blasting American rap out of their large Prince of Bel Air-esque boom boxes. This morning, one of these young men named Kofi even offered to smoke a joint with me before I went to class. Oh boy. (On a side note- I have learned that when in doubt, a Ghanaian man’s name is Kofi).

Women spend a great deal of time on bathing and laundry- the process is a combination of lethargic relaxation and pure exhaustion. Since there is no running water, I fill up a large bucket from a nearby water tank, and then shlep it up two flights of stairs to my room. I sit on a stool with the bucket in front of me and spend a good three hours washing less than one load’s worth of clothing. Then I hang everything on a clothes line or drying rack, and moments later half of the whites have fallen back in the copper colored earth- I am so tired and apathetic that I usually just put the clothes right back on the line. Oh well, I say, they’re going to get dirty anyway. I have simply accepted that I will be perpetually dirty in Africa- hygienic, but not clean. My feet look like I had a bad spray tan, and that look coupled with the mosquito bites… well it just screams sex appeal.

In the meantime, baby wipes have been my best friend- I don’t think I’ve used this many since I was in diapers. Bucket showers are also a fun one and in this heat and humidity, pouring a gallon of water over your head is pure bliss.

And so this week has turned out to be a particularly challenging one, but none the less loads of fun. We go out practically every night, and tonight (Wednesday night) is reggae on the beach. I think Kofi with the joint will be our escort.

More tomorrow!

Peace, Love, and Bob Marley,
Marissa