In GHANA- catching up!

Helloooooooooo!
i'm so very sorry for not posting a blog in a while- this whole africa time thing is pretty nice for us, but i guess not so nice for americans ;)
I would really like to spend an entire blog about how AWESOME the end of my trip in South Africa was, but i'm afraid this is closer to the cliff notes version: we got back to johannesburg from the game reserve for enough time to see the apartheid museum and then say goodbye- or at least try to- it was an amazing museum, mostly because of all of the videos of protests and rallies/riots etc, as well as interviews with black and white leaders on apartheid. parts of it def made me sick to my stomach but i had no idea how large the museum was so i did not allot my time well enough and didnt get to see some parts very well at all :( :( :(
after people left for the airport, amanda (from UCD -<3 u!) and i set off on our adventure, beginning with a night in johannesburg and then to the N. Drakensburg area - this is the area around the east part of Lesthoto (pronounced LesUtU). it was BEAUTIFUL - very very steep mountains and our hostel (ampitheatre backpackers) was literally in the middle of nowhere. no fences, you could see the most gorgeous fields and mountains everywhere and it was totally chill, a VERY nice hostel! we took a day trip into the mountains to see the "world's 2nd highest waterfall, the highest in africa" which was an AWESOME hike (i dont have the pics at the moment but i will post them soonish?) up some VERY high cliffs, if i remember correctly around 2500-3000 meters high (esp for those of us who are scared of them!) but you would be TOTALLY proud of me for getting up there and not being toooo scared- the waterfall was (as we thought) just a trickle (literally, we scampered across the stream that creates it without noticing it much) but it was REALLY cool up there!
The next day we took another trip to Lesthoto, the highest country in the world, and only one of 3 that are completely surrounded by another country (can you name the other 2? heh). here i got some of my favorite pictures from the entire trip- there were no paved roads (coming up one, our guide had to tell everyone but the back seat to get out bc we couldnt make it up w/ all the weight!), and we saw random sheep/goats and boys selling us dead mice to be eaten! i passed on the mice, but did get to try some local homebrewed beer! it was absolutely disgusting, and im not sure if it was the beer or the clay pot we were all drinking out of - it def tasted more like clay! heh but we also got to visit a school (not in session) and learn about how/why it was set up (the people of lethsoto couldnt count! they counted their sheep/cattle by putting stones from one pile to the other) and we also got to see some cave paintings, some of the oldest in the world, and it turned out that our guide for the trip (and the day before) had written his thesis on the paintings! so it was really cool to learn it from him!
so since amanda's flight left the next day, we found a greyhound bus that would pick us up in harrismith, the closest town to our hostel- we were kinda sketched out bc our guide/bus left us at the stop, it was starting to get dark, and we didnt have a ticket, but he assured us that people did it all the time! yikes, but luckily, i was staying relatively calm and amanda is much better at talking to the greyhound people than i was, and everything was fine getting back!
not much happened after amanda's flight left- i went to the "top of africa" - the highest building in joburg (and all of s. africa? maybe?) and to a couple small places w/ the hostel owner's stepson, but honestly, there wasnt much for me to do other than that!

SO my flight to Ghana had a 13 hr layover in egypt, (dude, for $200 cheaper, i figured i might as well!) and i hoped to meet my friend kevin, who had been studying there for the past year - i got in at 7am, and i got in the "transit passengers" line, where everyone was showing the man their passports and itineraries/boarding passes for their next flight- i handed him mine, and he takes it from me and tells me to come back in an hour! i had a minor freakout moment, but realized that there were lots of other people doing the same thing and that i should just chill, call my friend, etc. very long story short, i was not able to call my friend because the phone cards required Egyptian pounds and the only atm inside security was broken, and at 12:15, i was FINALLY called over the intercom that i could get my passport. however, by this time, kevin's flight was about to leave and i did NOT get my passport- they told me to get on a bus to a hotel- they had reserved a room for me, and a voucher for free lunch! they also said that i should take the same bus back, and THEN go to customer service to get my passport again! i tried to explain that i really just wanted my passport, was willing to pay the $15 visa fee, and just wanted to get out to check out cairo!!!!! (kevin had given me instructions on how to get to the pyramids by myself, but he said it would take about 5 hrs and my flight to ghana was changed to 6:30pm!) but to no avail- i was ushered onto the bus and away! so instead of being all cool and going to see the pyramids or ANYTHING in cairo, i saw the airport (very well) and some random hotel. i know. sooooo anti-climactic, but i guess it was a lesson in patience?
so i FINALLY got to Ghana, and everything was fine with getting me through the airport and to the university- o and btw, they drive on the RIGHT side, slightly freaky after being on the LEFT in south africa! so we get there, and all the power is out! everyone was apologizing about it but nobody was really complaining, and i started to learn about both Ghanaian hospitaliy and Ghanaian time. heh, both quite interesting. hospitality: EVERYWHERE you go, people say "you are welcome!" we started learning about what (not) to do around here, especially use of the left hand, gender relationships, the fact that "flirting" means "having an affair" and "portable" means cute (aka portable houses are NOT white trash heh), intros to the great food here, how to eat it, *crossing the street!*, registering for classes (more about that later) etc..... the hospitality has been very nice, except when it applies to random guys talking to you to get your number (3 so far today, and its only noon!) but really nice when you're lost looking for classes or somewhere to eat!
we spent the first weekend here in kumasi- the capital of the ashanti kingdom, and where the kwame nkrumah university of science and technology (KNUST) is. it was incredibly beautiful up there, much more green than here in accra/legon, and the campus seemed much more developed (from what we saw) i think it got a lot of our minds turning about returning to KNUST in the future ;)
we also spent a day at cape coast- home of the infamous slave castles. very emotional. we vistied cape coast castle and elmina castle, both of which brought you into dungeons where the human waste, food, etc had not been cleared out, so while they looked like dirt floors, they were so much more :( they also explained how those who misbehaved were dealt with (put them all in a single cell until they all die- and again, the floors were not completely excavated)
registering for classes (o ya, i'm supposed to be studying, right?) has def been a challenge. you: 1) dont bother looking at the course catalogue, only a few classes are offered each semester, so 2) you go to the dept, check the schedule, stand in line, register for classes you want, but the times might not be up, so you might have to come back later (sometime in the week) and then 3) go online to register for them again. however, i spent all morning yesterday, and on my 5th department, polisci, i was finally able to register for one. i stood in line at the history dept for 2 hrs before they told me that they're not registering my level (300) until wed. i should come back then. however, i was more successful today! woot!
you will ALL be jeaous to know that yesterday i heard BOTH PRESIDENT KUFUOR and KOFI ANNAN speak, and they walked by me less than 20 ft away! only 2 guys with large guns (walking casually WITH them, not just standing in my way) separated us! turns out that KOFI ANNAN is going to be our new CHANCELLOR and it was being installed!!!! very very cool! i thought it was just a lecture, so i didnt bring my camera (BOOOOO) but it was a huge celebration!
aight, i'll prob get a more emotional post out soon, sorry that this was more of a list again, but i think you're mostly caught up! but before i forget some random facts that might make you :) 1) my ghanaian name, based on being born on a thursday, is Yaa - how appropriate? 2) i've already lost 2 pairs of shoes- my SALTWATERS (aka my identity!) were left in south africa, and my "hippie n. california shoes" on a bus back from kumasi 3) i've gotten called a guy more times than fit on a hand- i understood some of it, but then i realized at an orphanage that we helped out at, that it was because my ears arent pierced. go figure! 4) ive actually been dressing more nicely, and have bought 3 dresses and worn all of my skirts at least once! we'll see if this trend lasts......

anyway, sorry for such a long post, hope you all are well! <3 the emails!