Fun in the sun!

I was invited on a scuba diving adventure to rescue an ancient anchor from a ship wreck in the ocean! It was quite the task considering there were only two scuba divers, two boatmen, and me haha. It was interesting to see how they got the anchor up; they used a water balloon type thing that they attached to the anchor, then filled it with air and the anchor lifted! It was my school lesson for the day haha! Then the anchor weighed so much that we had to hang it from the side of the boat until we got to shore; the boat was going REALLY slow. But then we got back and it took eight guys to haul it up. Then after that was accomplished we went back out to snorkel and scuba! The scuba divers have these underwater fish guns/spears that they use. They go to the bottom of the ocean then shoot fish from underwater; intense stuff. While they were doing that I snorkeled! The water is so much nicer farther out! People tend to use the ocean shore as the “Ladies and Gents” so most beaches have nasty ocean access. I was just flipper-ing around looking at fish when I realized I was in the middle of the ocean then freaked out and sprinted back to the boat haha. I didn’t want a shark or whale to eat me haha. It was a fun day!

Week in Review!

So, this past week was exciting!

1. My exams started at school last week! I have one or two tests a day, 2-3 days a week! The first few tests haven’t been difficult, but because I came into the term late, I didn’t know a lot of the questions…but I’m not too worried! But I have had a lot of down time otherwise.

2. So, I also helped paint a metal sculpture for a shop! It was a lot of fun to do! When they were putting the sculptures up, everyone stopped and stared and asked questions. There aren’t a lot of art like that around Accra, mainly because stuff would get stolen or vandalized.

3. I visited Amy’s village this weekend in Swedru! She actually lives in a Village! It was very different. Her neighbors just got electricity…so it was pretty rural. But the area was very scenic! It was such a peaceful area! But I did hear a lot more “obruni, how are you” phrases. But it was ok. We went into her town, which was small but very cute and efficient!

4. I went to Krobo! On the way to Krobo we saw Baboons roaming on and near the road! It was so cool! I felt like I was on a safari! Then I got to tour the place where the ladies assemble and make the beads! It was neat to see how production was done! Apparently one lady came make 5,000 pieces of jewelry a year! Is that not a crazy amount? But then I got to go to market day and buy A LOT of beads! The beads are so pretty! They are all hand painted, EACH bead…crazy stuff. I got some “old beads” which were used for trading hundreds of years ago! They are the prettiest but the most expensive…and by expensive I mean up to 30 cedi PER bead…some necklaces were hundreds of dollars…and that wasn’t the Obruni price either. But that was an awesome little trip, very cool to see!

5. The weather here has been ridiculous. The sky is a yellow color. No one really knows why. Some say it’s the dust and my classmates say it’s God, so who knows! But it hasn’t necessarily been cooler unfortunately haha

6. I found the best Jewelry maker in Ghana! This little Lebanese lady (maybe 80 something years old) and her husband (who has passed) have owned this shop for 50 some years! And when I mean “shop” I mean a legit store that accepts credit cards! Wahoo! Her son even went to my school 30 years ago! She is the cutest person ever! I bought a beautiful silver ring from her. It’s interesting that she charges on the weight of the piece and not what she thinks she deserves. She said that I can bring her a design and she will make it for me! So, if anyone wants to send me a design for jewelry, email me! She even said that I can come visit her and I don’t even need to buy anything, I can just come hang out with her; I’ll have to get a picture with her!

Everything is well over here! I heard that Obama passed a health care bill, but that's all I heard! So, I hope everything back home is going well!

Ashanti Region

So, over this past weekend I got the opportunity to go to a disabled and rehabilitation school just outside of Kumasi, up north. I will be putting together a PowerPoint presentation and a short video documentary of the school, so I was able to spend the weekend up there with the kids and was able to explore the Ashanti Region! The actual school is very very nice! The kids there are absolutely wonderful! They are the happiest people I have met so far! They laugh all the time and are just enjoying life! Before they came to this school most of these kids had either been abandoned by their families or locked up in cupboards (some were put in wells) to keep their neighbors from knowing they have a disabled person in their house. The owner of the school, Uncle Ike, actually went on a campaign to go and find and rescue these kids that were secluded from society. These kids aren’t only from Ghana, but even from some of the bordering countries like Togo. It was absolutely heart breaking to see that people are shut out if they are even missing an arm. The students are nonexistent because it is seen as a sin and disgrace. The causes for these amputations and other physical problems didn’t all just come from birth defects. Most of them came from car accidents and tro tro collisions, but once someone loses a limb, their life and all opportunity is gone for them. But I was wondering why I never see kids with Down syndrome, autism, or other mental disabilities. There isn’t even a school or sanctuary for people with those types of problems. I asked why and I was told that the babies are killed at birth…I was shocked…I couldn’t believe what I was being told! But back to the school, when I was getting a tour from one of the girls, she showed me the last room, where the people that have the physical disability where they can barely move and can’t talk. The one boy used all of his strength just to move his hand to greet me, it was so warming but depressing at the same time. Then I actually had to leave the room because I started crying because the thought that the person I just met that could barely move, probably lived with farm animals in a barn or some other unsuitable living situation. And to think that parent could throw their child out of their lives like that is really disheartening. Then when they had their church service on Sunday, they put us in the high chairs…in the front of everyone…ahh…it was awkward…haha! But some of the students’ parents were invited to come see their kids and progress, but during the service Uncle Ike got really mad because he knew that the parents came all that way to come to the school, but the parents didn’t even say hi to their kids…so, Uncle Ike had the kids stand up and point to each of their parents. But the reason the parents didn’t want to openly say hi to their kid, is because they were ashamed of what they produced…so sad. But other than that, my Twi improved this past weekend! They know English, but not more than I know Twi, so I was really forced to get phrases and words engraved into my mind. It was good though! Then we also took a side trip to Bosumtwi Lake. It took a couple of hours to get there by tro tro but it was worth it! The lake was actually where a meteorite hit a long time ago so it was all forested and green all around, it was really pretty! Oh, another side not, I took my first bucket shower! Haha! I really like Kumasi and Offinso (where the school was)! It was the legit village, but it was really scenic, AND they had really nicely paved roads! If a road is paved here (in Accra), 80% of the road is made up of pot holes. But ya, the weekend was awesome! I will never forget it.

I MET JESSICA ALBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MET JESSICA ALBA TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK, SO MY AUNTIE VALERIE WORKS IN A FAIR TRADE STORE AND SHE TEXTED ME "JESSICA ALBA JUST WALKED IN THE STORE" AND I WAS LIKE "YA RIGHT!" BUT IN CASE IT WERE TRUE I RAN AND CAUGHT A CAB, BUT THEN THERE WAS TRAFFIC AT THE ROUND ABOUT, SO I RAN TO THE STORE AND I WALK IN AND HER MEGA HOT HUSBAND IS STANDING THERE AND THEN I SEE JESSICA FRICKEN ALBA..............I COULDN'T BREATHE!!! MY HANDS WERE SHAKING AND EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN I SEE MY ONE FRIEND LAWRENCE THERE, AND HE DIDNT RECOGNIZE HER AND HE WAS CHATTING TO HER ABOUT HER SOLAR PANEL BACK PACK:
lAWRENCE: DID YOU MAKE THAT BAG YOURSELF?
JESSICA: NO
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
THEN I CALLED LAWRENCE OVER:
ME:OMG...LAWRENCE..IS THAT JESSICA ALBA...???
LAWRENCE:....OMG IT IS!!!!
THEN I WALK OVER TO HER (WITH MY CAMERA BEHIND MY BACK
ME: ARE YOU JESSICA ALBA?
JESSICA: YES
ME: OMG OMG OMG CAN I TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU??????
JESSICA:SURE!
THEN I TAKE MY PICTURE WITH HER!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! AT THIS POINT MY HANDS WERE SHAKING AND I SOUNDED LIKE A RETARD WHEN I SPOKE BECAUSE I WAS SO STAR STRUCK!!
JESSICA:WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
ME: SEATTLE
JESSICA: OH COOL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IN GHANA?
ME: OH! I GO TO A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL HERE
JESSICA: THAT'S COOL! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
ME: CELEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THEN WE SHOOK HANDS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
THEN WHEN SHE LEFT I CALLED MY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I THINK SHE SAW ME JUMPING UP AND DOWN IN THE STORE HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

SORRY FOR ALL CAPS, BUT THIS IS AMAZING! I'LL PUT THE PICTURE UP!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!

Independence Day Weekend!

This past weekend was Independence Day weekend! It was such a blast! It started out on Saturday when I got a call at around 3am telling me I need to be at the school at that exact moment. So I practically ran out of my house, to my school, and had to change into my Navy uniform that is completely white. I was so worried about getting it dirty because dirt just floats in the air here. But anyways, then I ate breakfast at the school (I never do) and it consisted of a starchy backed dough (not fufu, but something else) with Shittu, and a dried fish thing. It was interesting haha not my typical breakfast! But then we were all ready to head down to Independence square and compete for the top march past! When the parade/assembly started, we were out there on the square for maybe three hours total. It wasn’t too bad, but my hat was too tight so it was kind of cutting of my circulation to my brain but I’m ok! Then when the parade was over, we had to march to the state house to get the results to see who won. We came in 6th!!!!...out of 9…HAHA. It was fine though because it was a lot of fun! And barely no one fell out of line during the actual performance, so it was all good! Our officers weren’t happy…but what can you do at this point? Next year! But then we just had a small gathering at the school with the group which was a lot of fun! I love the cadet group, everyone is so nice and friendly, it’s just a nice atmosphere overall! Oh ya, Amy came to visit on Saturday as well and she stayed the long weekend because we have a midterm break. She didn’t come to the parade, but she said she saw me on TV! YAY!  Then on Sunday we met some of the people in our AFS group and went to a Ghanaian arts center where they had some tradition cultural clothing and instruments and stuff like that! It was a cool place! Then we decided to go to our favorite beach! But as our cab was still in park, getting ready to leave, we hear this thud and then see a guy face down on the sidewalk!!!!!! We are all just stunned! Then the guy lifts up his head and starts spitting blood out of his mouth and he face and body is all bloody and torn off! We get out of the car and he gets up and starts spitting and pulling out his teeth!! It was the most gruesome thing ever! But what happened is that his motor bike hit our car (which was parked) and he flew over his handlebars onto the pavement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHH I don’t even like thinking about it because then I start seeing it in my head over and over again! So, subject change…We got to the beach and met some of our friends there and chilled out and enjoyed the sun! Then on Monday I spent the entire day at the Ghanaian Naval Academy/Training Base in Tema! We also went down to the harbor and we got a boat ride on one of the Navy boats! It was so much fun! They even gave us free sodas and meat pies! I even got to shoot a gun! They taught us how! We saw all of the real navy cadets and saw them march with their riffles and stuff! It was really cool to be part of! All of the early morning wake up calls paid off! But yep, it was a good long weekend! Very exciting and tiring haha! OH!!! I also forgot to mention that I went to a play at the Ghana Nation Theater Saturday evening! We saw Cinderama, the African Cinderella. It was actually incredibly good and funny! It was completely Ghanaian-ized! It was hilarious because they took all of the normal things one would see and hear in a normal day in Ghana and they just pumped it up, all in good humor! Not in a negative way, but it was just good!