Bucket Showers and Tour of Accra

This morning a group of us went for a morning jog, and came back only to find there was no running water. Oh yes, good 'ole bucket shower! Each bathroom has two trash can-sized buckets. We took them  to the side of the house and filled them from a pipe. Where this magical source of water came from, I'm not quite sure but the pipe seemed to be connected to a water source next door. After using only about 3 gallons of water to take my morning shower, its amazing to think how much water is wasted when taking a normal shower! Anyways, fun experience and first of many while in Ghana I'm sure.

Just a disclaimer: You may notice there aren't many photos of local Ghanaians. From day one during orientation we learned its quite rude in the Ghanaian culture to take photos of someone without asking. If you think about it, I guess it is pretty rude in any culture. I'd be a bit annoyed if someone stuck a camera phone in my face and snapped a photo of me. As part of the photo etiquette in Ghana, it is also not allowed to take photos of government, military buildings, and/or police stations.

We were lucky enough to have former mayor and architect Uncle Nat Amartefio speak to us and give us a tour of Accra. Uncle Amartefio entertained us all morning with his impressive knowledge of Accra's trading history, witty jokes, and descriptive storytelling.

Below is the arch honoring Ghana's independence in 1957, located in what is called Black Star Square or as Uncle Amartefio would say, "the epicenter of Ghanaian political culture". 

Below are photos of James Town, one of the oldest districts in now called Old Accra. In the 1850's it was the marketplace hub for trade and today still remains a fishing community. I can only imagine the hustle and bustle of this township during the pre-colonization period at the peak of its trading activity with the English.What I love about this photo is that you can see the shanty towns of James Town peeking out from around the corner. In a few weeks we'll be visiting JayNii Streetwise Project (JSO), a nonprofit located on this beach in James Town that aims to improve the lives of its local children and youth through academic and cultural education. Not only will we be learning about JSO, but we'll get to interact with the youth by learning drum beats and choreography to be performed with the children.

I was intrigued by the names painted on the sides of the boats - 'God is King' and 'Black Power'

Bracelets I bought from Elvis and his friend on the streets outside of the Koala market in Osu.

Dinner at Tainte Marie in Accra - fried plantains, rice jollof. Not sure what the green sauce is made of, but it is SO good. Super spicy and tasty. Its my favorite sauce thus far.

I Skyped with my Grandpa today since I forgot to mail his Father's Day card this past Sunday. (I also forgot to mail my Father's Day card to my Daddy - sorry!) Sky suggested I take a photo of his card and post it online so she could read it to him, but I ended up reading it to him over Skype instead. Anyways, this was after I already posted his card online. At least its proof that I did intend to mail him a Father's Day card!