This week I had the opportunity to travel three hours away from Accra, Ghana to Cape Coast, home of one of many castles used during the European slave trade. Though the castle and its surroundings were very beautiful, it was very sad to hear about the conditions the African slaves were kept in before they were shipped off to Europe or the United States.
We went on a tour of the Cape Coast castle and viewed all of the rooms the slaves were kept in. After our tour of the castle, our group stayed at the Hans Cottage Botel, a hotel just outside of Cape Coast. We all enjoyed a very home-like atmosphere at this hotel as we swam in the pool and listened to a live jazz band.
Some of our guys were even fortunate enough to jam with the band. I would have tried too, but I don’t think they are used to jamming out with classical piano.
The following day we all went to the Kakum rainforest where we went on a short hike and crossed one of the only remaining canopies in the world. These canopies were suspended hundreds of feet above the rainforest floor and definitely had me nervous as it swayed back and forth with every step I took.
I have never considered myself to be afraid of heights – until then, that is. On the way down we got to try palm wine for the first time. I took one sip and was instantly repelled, but some people liked it. I thought it tasted like ham.
It was definitely not what I was expecting. The bus ride to and from Cape Coast introduced me to some of the poorer parts of Ghana. We passed two village dumps where I saw children relieving themselves in the mounds of garbage.
Witnessing this lack of proper sanitation broke my heart and made me realize the large amount of sickness and disease that must be prevalent in those villages. Another problem I have seen here is the massive amount of litter. Everywhere you go there is trash cluttered across the potentially beautiful landscape.
Even here on the Legon campus there is a big problem with littering. People seem to have no problem dropping their wrappers and plastic bags on the ground when they are finished with them. Littering is something I have always had a hard time understanding.
My classes have started in full swing, and I’m really enjoying them. For the most part, the classes meet once a week, but for two hours instead of just one. I’ve even started piano lessons here at the university, and was very saddened to see the conditions the pianos are kept in.
I guess if you are not a pianist then you would not understand. There is one baby grand piano in my instructor’s office; however, it is slightly out of tune. This is no doubt due to the fact that it is kept in a room where there is no air conditioning, only windows that sometimes allow a cool breeze to blow through.
A piano kept inside an air-conditioned room should be tuned approximately every six months. I’m not sure when the last time this piano was tuned, but from what I gather, it has been a while. There are very minimal pianos to practice on as well.
I guess that is my fault for playing a not-so-African instrument. When it comes to drumming, on the other hand, the possibilities are endless. I love walking past the performing arts building and seeing all the Ghanaians inside practicing their traditional dance routines to the sound of drums.
This week also taught me an important lesson that every traveler learns at one time or another. Don’t drink the water! All of my friends jokingly told me this before I left for Ghana. I laughed along with them and knew that I would never be dumb enough to actually drink the water.
Here in Ghana there are bags of water, called sachets, which are sold very cheaply in all the markets and by individuals on the streets.
Well, I held off on drinking the sachets thus far; but a bunch of other international students were drinking them with no problems, so I decided to give it a shot.
This was a bad idea. In Twi, to say you have to go to the rest room, you would say, “I am going to meet with the chief.”
If an African chief requests your visit, you must go.
If the rest room requests your visit, you also must go.
So don’t drink the water, or you will have to meet with the chief.

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