Costs

This entire entry will be in cedis using the conversion rate of 1cedi = 1.35 US dollars. :)


With my estimates, I spent about....

100-150 cedi on food per month.
- You can live off 3 cedi a day if you eat frugally.
- I usually ate an egg sandwich for breakfast (1 cedi), red-red and plantains for lunch (1 cedi) and shared a meal with someone for dinner (1 cedi).
- okay.. maybe 5-7 cedi is a more realistic expectation. It was weird eating out all the time, but then again, it was so cheap and much more easy than cooking, especially since cooking required purchasing all that cookware.
- If I cooked, I would spend less than that on cumulative groceries. and if I splurged and got fruit, or if I wanted a coke, or went to a nice restaurant, I could spend more. With all this included, I could comfortably live off 100-150 cedi a month.
- I rarely splurged on food. :)

30-50 cedi on phone credit and internet use.
- I would call my boyfriend and parents regularly (3-4 times a week) They would call me too, but receiving calls on a phone is free. :)
- Initial investment for a phone will be at least 35 cedi, so that take into account to.

anywhere from 1-20 cedi on gifts per person.
- earrings are as cheap as 1 cedi per pair.
- getting a shirt made for someone can be as much as 20 cedi
- I bought a drum for myself for 35 cedi, but it was from a really good friend who carved it himself. most people got from for 40-80 cedis.

I spent about 20 cedi on school supplies for the entire trip.
- you will need to buy course readers or packets of reading that are charged at 5 cents per page.
- you won’t need to buy any books.
- I brought my own school supplies so I saved money in that aspect, but you can buy notebooks and school supplies for cheap at the bookstore.

Most of my money was invested into traveling. I can’t quite remember how much money I spent traveling, but although hotels can be cheap (as low as 4 cedi for a tent on the beach to 20 cedi for a room and bathroom), it can add up pretty quickly. EAP takes you on a couple trips, so take advantage of those free car rides. :)

Other expenses
- laundry (soap, washing powder, buckets, or paying others to do it)
- health expenses (a doctor’s visit at a private hospital can be about, 50 cedi for check in, lab test, and medication)
- nights out in the town to see shows, visit clubs. This is a real money sucker. Taxi drivers know that they can get more money from you at night, especially since there are less taxis. And since its not as safe to take a Tro-Tro at night, it’s probably worth bargaining it down. Going out and paying for entrance fees, bar tabs, club admissions and still are significantly cheaper than US covers, but will add up if you go out a lot.

I probably spent about.... 2,500 cedi on the entire trip, not including what I paid to UC EAP for tuition and housing.

Rest in Peace Dr. Asiama

Picture of Dr. Asiama, taken by someone in the fall 2008 program.

I didn’t know Dr. Asiama for very long but he has left an impression with me that will last a lifetime. He was a truly one of a kind professor. I have never had a professor who was so enthusiastic about his course material and so enjoyable to be around. He somehow managed to teach Twi to us in such a unique and easy to understand way that the entire class became intermediate speakers of the language in a very short amount of time. My exceptional bargaining skills at the art center, my ability to converse with the nurses and patients at the hospital across the street, and the laughter I brought my Ghanaian friends when I attempted to speak to them in Twi were all made possible by Dr. Asiama. I still have the vivid memories of Tuesday and Thursday morning, when he would walk into the classroom, always on time with a giant smile on his face, ready to teach his seven students in the introduction to Twi class. He would joke with us, laugh with us and try to learn American colloquialisms and mannerism from us- he really made an effort to engage his students. With Dr. Asiama, the answer to “ete sen?” was always “eye paapapaa.” He was such an optimistic man with such a positive outlook on life. Though he is gone, his memory and good spirits will always be with us. It is a tragic loss to the EAP program, the University of Ghana, and to all the past, present and future students of the University, and it is unfortunate that such a serious illness had to claim his life. However, we all know that he is in a better place now, gracing others with the happiness and kindness he has so graciously shared with us. God bless you Dr. Asiama. Thank you for all the lessons you have taught me, and have passed on to all the other students that have come across you. We will never forget you.

- Written by me, for his eulogy.

The Day Alice, Megan and Ama prepared a feast.

The day before Megan and I left for the States, we decided to prepare a meal for all our friends at our friend Ama’s house. After inviting about 25 guests, purchasing 50 dollars worth of groceries, cooking for 4-5 hours the morning of the event, and renting enough tables and chairs to seat everyone, it turned out to be a really fun and really successful event. Here is slideshow of the day. :)

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Hopefully no one got sick from oburoni Ghanaian food! :)

Fashion

So, when I came to Ghana, I wasn’t sure what to pack. Everyone at the EAP office told us to pack conservatively. But when talking to students who had returned from the trip, it seemed like everything was up for grabs. As long as you did not show any midriff or too much leg above the knee, you were fine! Spaghetti straps, halters and tube shirts were fine. Dresses are key for staying cool in the hot humid weather. Don’t worry about buying clothes to bring, because you can always get some made there!

I ended packing pretty conservatively, and wished I had brought more tank tops and tube tops. I ended up getting a couple dresses and shorts made to wear. i would recommend doing that, because not only is it pretty cheap (about 8 dollars to buy a pre-made dress, 15 to get a custom made one), but Ghanaians also have all sorts of beautiful hand-dyed fabrics!


pre-made dresses at Osu.


A bunch of Voltarians getting ready to celebrate Volta Hall’s 50th birthday. Look at all the colors!!


Performers dressed in traditional dancing garb.

They also like to print fabrics for different organizations. For example, this year was Volta Hall’s (the all-girls Ghanaian dorm at the University of Ghana) 50th birthday. In commemoration of this event, there was Volta Hall Fabric printed! A bunch of people bought it, turned it into an outfit, wore it on the day of the celebration.


Volta Hall porters. All the cubicles behind them is where we store our keys when we go out. There is only one key per room so you have to drop it off when you leave.

Even I got one made! Here is me with Uncle Ben, the head porter of Volta Hall:

Laundry in Ghana

There are two ways to do laundry in Ghana. You can take it to the launders (above), where they charge you based on the weight of your clothes. (I never used this option so I’m not sure how much it costs OR you can do it yourself!

Having never really hand washed my clothes before, I wasn’t sure how to do it so I had a few of my Ghanaian friends teach me.

First, you need a bucket filled with water. We usually did laundry early (like 7am) on the weekends, so here I am with my water, ready for laundry and my breakfast. :)



Here are all my clothes :(. So much. I would usually wash every other week, and it would take me anywhere from 1.5-3 hours to finish everything.



Using Omo washing detergent (you can kind of see it in the picture) and a bar of soap (not pictured), I would wash garment by garment, light to dark. After washing it, I would try to squeeze as much soap and water out of the garment before soaking it in a second bucket of water. That second bucket of water would usually have a few capfuls of dettol disinfectant (the bottle pictured next to the bag of omo detergent).



After soaking in the dettol mix, I would rinse it again in another bucket of clean water, getting all the soap and such off before wringing it dry and hanging it in on the clothes line in the courtyard. I wish I had a picture to show...

Laundry ended up being a really good time to bond and talk to people. Sometimes, when I didn’t have anyone to wash with, I would do it by myself, using the silence as a time for contemplation.

I am really thankful to have a laundry machine at home. However, washing by hand isn’t too bad. It was nice to slow down and shift the gears of life into park for a while.

Sharing Food

Okro stew (spinach, okro, crab, peppers, palm oil...) with rice. Usually okro stew is eaten with banku, but we opted for rice today.

I feel like you can really learn a lot about someone based on the way they eat.

During the month of finals (yes, there is a month long exam period), there are no classes. Thus, my friend Ama would come over just about... everyday, and we would cook! After cooking, we would invite all the girls in the hall to my room and we would all sit on the floor and eat out of a communal bowl. It was really cool. I feel like I bonded on a whole new level with these girls because we would always share our food and eat together. :) Ama would teach us how to make Ghanaian specials and we would, in turn, introduce her and our other friends to s’mores, pancakes, and chinese stir fry! :)

I loveee communal bowls. I think I will try to bring this to the US.


Sharing fried plantains with stew and rice. :)

Thirsty? Drink Pure Wat-ah

I don’t think I’ve ever felt as hydrated as I did when I was in Ghana. Water is so accessible. Whenever I was thirsty, there was usually someone nearby that sold “pure water,” these little bags of water, ice-cold, ready for you to drive. At less than five cents a bag, it is definitely affordable.




These water sachets usually have cool messages or designs on top, but there are a few brands of “trusted” water sachets available. My favorite is “Mobile” water.

Apparently, some people (no confirmed sources on my end though) have conducted studies on these water sachets. They claim to find that about 70% of these water sachets contain some kind of contaminant. While I am unsure of what these contaminants are, I would like to say that I, personally, never got sick off of drinking a pure water. There will be times when these waters will taste a bit chlorinated, bleached, or rubbery, and if that is the case, DON’T DRINK THE WATER (I hope that was obvious..) So yea, use common sense.

When I first arrived though, I must admit I was a bit scared to try this. I never really liked the idea of drinking/eating/consuming anything out of a plastic bag except maybe a sandwich. However, it seems like everything comes in plastic bags in Ghana. Water, rice, salads, coffee, tea, fruit.. anything. If you want it, you can probably eat/drink it out of a small plastic bag. Also, I was scared of the quality of the water in these bags. Some of them lay lying out in the sun for days, and then when it’s time for them to be sold, they are put in an ice chest with a tub of freezing water. While I’m sure some plastics melt and have leeched into the water source, these sachet bags are the most affordable sources of water.

If you want to stay safe (and spend a LOT of money (relative to Ghanaian context)), feel free to drink Voltic bottled water. A liter of Voltic water is about 1 US dollar, although prices were on the rise when I left Ghana in June 2009. While it may not seem like a lot of money, when I was able to live off of three dollars a day, spending the equivalent amount on water seemed a bit silly and excessive. I rather spend it on amazing fresh fruit that is sold everywhere!!! (I wish I took a picture of this grand sight.)



I ended up spending my first two weeks on Voltic bottled water, but quickly made the switch to pure water two weeks into my trip. I found the transition pretty smooth. I don’t think anyone on my trip had any difficulties adjusting. There were a few people that resisted the bottle to pure water switch for safety reasons, but I think by month 3, everyone was drinking it. Pure water was much more accessible and affordable--people sold it everywhere and it was always five cents. Bottled water is harder to find, you would most likely have to go into a store to buy one, and prices vary per place.

I would drink about 4-5 pure waters a day to stay hydrated. I also cooked with it as well. Long live pure water! :)