All right, all RIGHT!

ok, so lots of catch-up but here goes!
so i actually have been on the verge of busy in the last month or so since i last posted. its really easy to be bored here, but somehow i manage to fill up my time pretty well ;) sports generally meet "5:30-7:30am and 4-6" or so, so that in and of itself ate up a lot of my time for a while, especially during the "fresher" games, when i had 4 games in a week! luckily, however, people dont care quite so much anymore, so i've been taking it a bit easier :-D
I also started volunteering at the university hospital this week. im not really sure what to think of it yet. they put me in the childrens' ward, but they dont really have anything for me to do. its generally just one or two nurses, and then a herd of nursing students, and then me. when i went in, they told me to get a lab coat as my uniform. this is/was problematic because 1) im the only one who wears one - the students all have matching, fitted 50s-60s style outfits, 2) it makes me look like im trying to be a doctor, 3) getting one was problematic - when i asked where i could find one and the response was "i dont know"...and it went on from there...3) i dont really do anything, but its really hot, esp in the afternoon.
i mostly spend my time waiting for someone to come in, and then watching the nurse put an IV into the screaming child, and then wait for something else to happen. i would love to at least interact with the kids SOME, but (almost) all of their mothers are around all the time, and even if they are awake and alone, they just kind of stare at me :( but we'll see what happens - just before i was going to leave i watched them administer nighttime medications, so there was actually something to do, but they were all speaking twi, so it was just a little more interesting to watch..... however, most of the students said they go to a different university and are just on vacation right now so maybe when they leave in the next few weeks i'll be of some help!
anyway, so at the beginning of this month, we (our EAP group) went to Cape Coast for a festival! it was SUPER SUPER fun- as usual, we had no clue what to expect about it in any way, but had a great time. gotta admit, it was SUPER strange to be back with the big group of about 70 of us. it was REALLY good to see a bunch of ppl that i dont really hang out with anymore but after spending SO much time with ghanaians in my classes and sports, and only a handful of American friends, it was crazy to be around so many americans again!
the first night we were there, we all set off in different directions in search of food, drink, and traditional rituals. heh, i think we were all successful! you can get good, cheap food and drink absolutely anywhere here (see my blog to come - i had to write an 8 page paper about something in Ghana and i chose FOOD!) and the festival did not disappoint!! the same mob of people singing and dancing on and around a pickup, circled around us more than once, trying to get us to dance with them! people had pretty much taken over the streets so you could walk anywhere without being afraid of being hurt. However, we were warned (w/ horror stories) about pick-pocketers EVERYWHERE. we were totally minimalists, but even when i kept my hand in my pocket around my phone the entire time we watched a fetish ritual/dance the guy next to me kept telling me to be careful.
speaking of Ghanaians, they were SO nice to us, it was embarassing some times. Any time we were in a big crowd of people trying to get a better look, someone would push us forward and yell in twi for people to move so that we could see. SUPER embarassing, and i think most of us spent a good amount of time explaining that it wasnt necessary, but when you get pushed/shoved SO much, its not entirely possible! But the good side to that is we could always ask what was going on - how people were dressed, what was being poured on the ground, what was being said in twi, etc and we'd get an earful of a response haha....
The next day our program said that we were going to watch a bull sacrifice and go to kakhoum park for a canopy walk (wow guys, i really cant spell, sorry!). After getting up at a decent hour (ok so 8 am is officially nice for me after waking up at 5:30 every day!) we went to the Cape Coast Castle, which we had toured on our previous trip to CC. However, we spent more than 3 hrs waiting for the procession etc to start- BOOO.
anyway, we followed a mob of people leading the bull away. wow, did i ever mention how much i love being in a mob of crazy people?!??!?!? everyone was super excited (cept possibly the bull, who got tired and decided to sit down halfway through) as we walked/ran up and down streets yelling and singing, and a bunch of the chiefs came through too (ID'd by the fact that someone was holding a giant umbrella over them) hehe.... but by the time we got to the place for the slaughter, it was CRAZY packed, and i didnt even know that the bull was dead until i got knocked really hard, almost off my feet, as they wheeled it out of an enclosure! if i had ANY personal bubble space before then, i really dont anymore! for all you animal lovers, yes, the bull was eaten, with the most choice parts going to the paramount chief and priest(esse)s etc!
anyway, so by that time we were almost too late to go to kakoum, but we made it! the canopy walk was not quite as high in parts as i was expecting (something said 40m) but in parts it DEF was, and the fact that there were SO many people on them was not too heartening for me. they were pretty stable, and i got some really cool pictures, but im not sure its the outdoor activity for me! i was much happier on the mini-hike back ;)
anyway, back in legon (campus) it was REALLY good to be back. as much of an amazing time that i had in CC, (and although i havent been traveling much, i would really like to more) it was really good to get back to campus. everyone welcomed us back, from the porters, my teammates, the ladies who clean (or just sit around doing nothing) volta hall, other friends, and get back into a regular schedule! i really did feel welcomed back! awww ;)
ive also been cooking a TON lately, like a LOT,
on the academic front, things are getting better. a lot of the classes have been pretty disappointing to most people, but 2 of mine are actually good, plus twi is going better than expected, and my independent study project is going even better! i was planning to do a history project on the history of epidemics, but its morphed into looking at sanitation and environmental health policy 1900-1920 or so. i honestly was mad at myself for being a history major for a while bc i thought "why the heck would you go to ghana to study in the LIBRARY, which is probably not as good as the US (which it isnt in most ways) and not do field research etc blah this is lame....." BUT once i got here, i realized that it actually is an important topic here. my advisor is a really cool american professor who really keeps me in line and helps me out a LOT. i also realized that although the journals etc arent catalogued well, and and are therefore really hard to find, if you just roam through the library long enough they have CRAZY cool/old books! granted, you have to read every torn-off, dirty, insect-hole-d label, but ive found some really cool stuff, and the head of the history dept is really into my work too. WOOT! so i've been traveling to the medical school library a lot, which makes for a long day, but its been really rewarding so far!
anyway, i gotta head out, but yes, im alive and very well! for future reference, my facebook has been uber tempermental lately, so its better just to email me ajatucsd@gmail.com or comment here orrrrrr i made a skype account (ajatucsd) and although i dont have a computer, i can borrow one and we can try to meet up there, let me know!
oh, and i've been listening to BBC radio news a lot, and what the HECK is going on with the economy??? DUDE!!! washington mutual??? seriously???? jeez, americans!
haha, hope everything is going well, esp those of you who are just starting classes again!
peace!

-meeeeeee