An ocean and time zones will not stop this guest Blogger.

(Marissa's her name, guest blogging is her game!)

Hello WWoW. I am stepping in for Hallisicle while she enjoys a much needed vacation. First off I would like to apologize to her for all of the times that I have given her a hard time about the cold weather and snow while I bask in the equatorial sun. That’s right folks- the equator. I am currently studying at the University of Ghana in Legon/Accra, about 4 degrees north of the equator. You can follow my educational, social, and everyday adventures at MY BLOG along with lots of photos. That’s all I am going to say about my blog- but have a look if you want and maybe follow! Hallisicle and I have know each other for a few years- my mom and her worked together and CJ and I worked together for a while- weird how things like this happen- I started as a WWoW reader from the beginning….

Most people who live within a few hours drive from the ocean will visit many times over a course of warm weather in the states and if you live within a 10 minute walk from the ocean, I am sure a drink on the beach after work might be a regular occurrence. Imagine- being a child who everyday walks out of their front gate and can smell and see the ocean but has not been to the beach in 2 years and everyday of the year here is at least over 70*F. Well this happens- I am specifically speaking of the Teshie Orphanage but I am sure there are others. TESHIE ORPHANAGE This is the social organization that I decided to spend some of my free time with over the term in Ghana. Their building lays about a quarter of a mile from the ocean- most of the children have never been to the beach. One thing that I came to Ghana for was to make a change in just one person’s life. But on April 10th I will with the help of some of my fellow students venture to the beach with 10 youngsters to build sand castles, play in the water, and don’t tell the ‘mother’ get them ICE CREAM! These joys of childhood that many of us take for granted and even in adulthood we do- it might not be these specific things- but think about (no matter how long ago it was) the things in childhood that made you happy- building a fort, riding your bike, chatting with other youngster, playing in a pool…. I have realized I can not save the world while I am here but a field trip for these kids that will make them happy for the next two years is all I need to leave with. This is a photo of me with two of the kids, Sara and Kofi at the orphanage:

I have been in what most of you would consider tropical paradise for about 9 weeks and I have about 9 weeks left but one very important aspect to my life is missing! DIET COKE. This is one thing that Hallisicle and I talk about a lot. Diet Pepsi (yuck) can be found some places but it is not readily available and they charge you more then any of the other sodas for it! If it wasn’t heavy and bulky I would ask for a care package- but I am half way there and will have to let Sprite continue to be my drink of choice but its not the same. This will be the first drink I will have when I get home-- oh wait I can get it on the plane!!!

This is where I spent Valentine's day- could not have asked for a better day- it was followed by a tropical storm!

For those who dislike grocery shopping and picking up those pesky things on the commute home because you forgot them- Ghana is the place for you! Things are for sale on every corner- water, soda, plantain chips, grapes, onions, notebooks, fans, sweat rags, Bibles, pineapple, biscuits, meat pies, ice cream, bootleg DVDs and CDs. I could go on for ever but what ever your route home by car, bus, or trotro you are covered with the things that you need! You just shout out the window and they run to you (I will sort of miss this at home in some ways).You may be asking what a TroTro is. It is a 12-22 passenger van that have routes that they follow similar to a bus but you can get on and off anywhere on the route by yelling at the Mate to stop. The Mate is the second crew person who collects the fare and communicates with the driver to stop or go by each schedule stop. Flagging down a tro has a process that you have to learn- different hand singles that the mate does when driving by or by you on the side of the street making the hand gesture (One of them is actually pointing to the sky while pointing with the middle finger- does not mean the same thing here). I have gotten most of them down- and only once did I flag down the wrong route- oh well I am still new and they forgive Oburonis for this and keep driving- you sweat a lot! get sardine-ed in, and some times are stopped by police and have to bribe or get out. It is all apart of the adventure.

This is a small trotro about 12 passengers:


The term Oburonis is derived from “from the sea” so meaning “person from the sea” in Twi one of the 40 tribal languages in Ghana derived from Asante. Mostly used with White travels but it does not matter your origin: Hispanic, Latino, Asian, or African-American. Men use it more then women but in the markets you are called after a lot by everyone! A child calling it out is one of the cutest things ever!!!! Some of them have not seen a lot of or any Oburonis in their life so it’s a discovery of people- especially when you wave to them their smile gets sooo big. One day on a tro a friend and I were aboard and a baby kept looking at us and the mom leaned over and said “you two are her first Oburonis.” Sometimes waving at a child will make them cry- and most of the adults laugh because the children are afraid of our light colored skin. Some of the people in my exchange program do not like it- the word has no negative meeting, so I don’t see the problem. This has also let me see some light on what we as a nation in America has done to minorities for years. A lot of people have also changed it into an Obamoburoni as one word. The excitement about the election here is still out there everyday on the streets- Obama hits most papers everyday here even if it is something silly (aka stupid here- a thing I learned at the Orphanage- I was calling the kid stupid not our silly in the States.) I get asked on a regular basis here if I voted for him. I am not gonna get political here but I don’t know what would happen to people if someone said no. Mobs have killed people for speaking out against the masses politically…. So for our safety we all answer yes- if we did or not. Independence Day of March 6, celebrated the change for the world. Ghana got a new party after 8 years of corruption so there is a lot of excitement about that here as well! I attended the festivities and it was one of the best things I have done yet here.

This is the same place where independence was declared 52 years ago from Britain- Ghana is one of the first countries in Africa to have gained their independence!


A little Ghana and Africa lesson for the day. Daily adventures, sickness, marriage proposals, and the academia world can be found on my blog. Hope you all have a very good day no matter what weather you are facing!

-Marissa (Midge)