So the semester is wrapping up quickly here. I can't believe that it's already the end of November and I will be home in a little over 2 weeks. While I'm very excited to be (very), I am really enjoying my last little bit of time here in Ghana.
Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, which made me very homesick, being so far away from friends and family. I explained to my Ghanaian roommate what I would be doing each day of the Thanksgiving weekend had I been home, and that sort of depressed me a little. HOwever, our group had the opportunity to celebrate a good AMerican-style Thanksgiving at the house of a Ghanaian Calvin student. His parents cooked us turkey, stuffing, cranberries, macaroni, collared greens. It was fantastic. Good food and good fellowship, making for a genuinely good holiday.
This THursday I leave for a week vacation in Togo, which should be pretty exciting. We're doing it vagabond-style, staying in cheap hotels and eating from foodstands on the sides of roads to keep things as cheap as possible, but I'm very excited to spend time in a new place (and I got a sweet stamp in my passport). Also, it will be my first time in a non-ENglish speaking country, so I'll have to brush up on my French skills, which will be a interesting and wonderful challenge.
Next Thursday I come back to Ghana and begin the "wrapping up" phase of the semester and then the following THursday I'm outta here. It's crazy how fast it's going, but I am looking forward to coming home and seeing all my friends and family again.
I hope that everyone finishing up projects, papers, and finals is doing well, working hard. So begins the holiday season. Christmas is only right around the corner, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all very soon.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Team USA?
So, I have a friend in some of my classes here a Jerusalem University College who used to play basketball for Arizona state. He went on a basketball ministry trip to the Middle East and some scouts from the PBF (Palestinian Basketball Federation) offered him a contract. He took it, so he is a professional basketball player for a team out of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
Well, every year Palestine gathers the best players from the PBF to play for their national team against other Middle Eastern countries. So this Palestinian national team organized a game against the Americans from the league. My friend said they didn't have enough players, and since I was an American I could play. So one night I crossed the security wall, went into Bethlehem, made my way to the nicest gym in Palestine, and played for Team USA against the Palestinian national team. It was absolutely ridiculous. We won.
This story sounds really good the way it stands, so I don't think I will go into detail about the quality of basketball in the PBF or the seriousness of the game (evident in our lack of uniforms and numbers). I think I'll probably tell this story the rest of my life without going into those annoying details.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Notes on Elmina Castle
If you're going to read any of my posts, it should be this one.
I had planned on blogging about my week experience in northern Ghana; however, this past weekend we went to Cape Coast where we visited two castles formerly used to hold Africans before they were transported to America as slaves via the Middle Passage. In light of this, there is nothing more I can write about than this experience. These are the notes out of my journal that I took after visiting Elmina Castle, the oldest slave fort in Ghana. This is not a continuous story; each paragraph is an individual observation.
Elmina Castle was built in 1482 by the Portuguese who retained control of it for about 150 years. The primary purpose of the fort, at this time, was for trade in commodities--natural resources, gold, etc. In the early 1600s, the Dutch took control. It was about this time that the "evil trade" started--trade in human beings.
When the Portuguese built Elmina Castle, they built a church for themselves. When the Dutch took over, this church remained within the walls of the fort, though it was soon converted into a room used for the auctioning of slaves.
For African Americans, this is returning to their roots, a part of their history. But it is just as much a part of my history as it is theirs. I feel as if I am often told that I, as a European, will never understand the suffering of those taken as salves to the New World. But to say that is to ignore half of the story, because there is not way for someone like me, someone who feels responsible for the actions of my ancestors, to go into a place like this and NOT feel a deep, intense sense of guilt. This is not something I can never understand. This is something that we share.
Places like this make me intensely aware of God's grace, because sometimes I wonder how He will ever forgive us.
We crouch through the doorway of the "room of no return". Our guide makes a joke, "Be careful! You aren't coming back!" I find it hard to laugh.
A black gate with iron bars is the last threshold in this place. Through this door, slaves were forced to turn their backs on their homes and board ships bringing them to a new life of suffering. The gate was once padlocked shut but, now broken off its hinges, merely rests against the doorway. Still the padlock hangs there, the word "VICTORY" impressed on its side.
When the Dutch took over the castle, they converted one of the rooms into a Dutch Reformed church. Above the doorway to this room is inscribed a verse from Psalms: "This is my resting place forever" (132:14). But God doesn't live here. The church overlooks a courtyard where female slaves would be displayed for the governor who would choose one to sleep with. It was required that the windows that faced the courtyard were locked during this...so God couldn't see.
From the roof of the castle, I look down on a place that looks like an advertisements for honeymooners. The white sand of the palm-lined beach meets the rhythmic crash of the ocean's deep blue waves on its shore. I look down from my window at the top of the castle. I am a part of this evil that obstructs paradise.
Beyond the outer wall of the castle, the busy fishing village is bustling. Fishermen untangle nets and scrub down the sides of their canoes, decorated with colorful paint and bright European flags--another reminder of the history of this place. The castle looms somberly in the background of the lives of these people who seem not to notice it anymore. Something that brings tourists. It's remarkable--this formidable presence of evil constantly in the background. The constant reminder of a history almost too difficult to understand. And the lives outside its walls carry on as if to say, "We must move forward. Life goes on. We will not be defeated."
I had planned on blogging about my week experience in northern Ghana; however, this past weekend we went to Cape Coast where we visited two castles formerly used to hold Africans before they were transported to America as slaves via the Middle Passage. In light of this, there is nothing more I can write about than this experience. These are the notes out of my journal that I took after visiting Elmina Castle, the oldest slave fort in Ghana. This is not a continuous story; each paragraph is an individual observation.
Elmina Castle was built in 1482 by the Portuguese who retained control of it for about 150 years. The primary purpose of the fort, at this time, was for trade in commodities--natural resources, gold, etc. In the early 1600s, the Dutch took control. It was about this time that the "evil trade" started--trade in human beings.
When the Portuguese built Elmina Castle, they built a church for themselves. When the Dutch took over, this church remained within the walls of the fort, though it was soon converted into a room used for the auctioning of slaves.
For African Americans, this is returning to their roots, a part of their history. But it is just as much a part of my history as it is theirs. I feel as if I am often told that I, as a European, will never understand the suffering of those taken as salves to the New World. But to say that is to ignore half of the story, because there is not way for someone like me, someone who feels responsible for the actions of my ancestors, to go into a place like this and NOT feel a deep, intense sense of guilt. This is not something I can never understand. This is something that we share.
Places like this make me intensely aware of God's grace, because sometimes I wonder how He will ever forgive us.
We crouch through the doorway of the "room of no return". Our guide makes a joke, "Be careful! You aren't coming back!" I find it hard to laugh.
A black gate with iron bars is the last threshold in this place. Through this door, slaves were forced to turn their backs on their homes and board ships bringing them to a new life of suffering. The gate was once padlocked shut but, now broken off its hinges, merely rests against the doorway. Still the padlock hangs there, the word "VICTORY" impressed on its side.
When the Dutch took over the castle, they converted one of the rooms into a Dutch Reformed church. Above the doorway to this room is inscribed a verse from Psalms: "This is my resting place forever" (132:14). But God doesn't live here. The church overlooks a courtyard where female slaves would be displayed for the governor who would choose one to sleep with. It was required that the windows that faced the courtyard were locked during this...so God couldn't see.
From the roof of the castle, I look down on a place that looks like an advertisements for honeymooners. The white sand of the palm-lined beach meets the rhythmic crash of the ocean's deep blue waves on its shore. I look down from my window at the top of the castle. I am a part of this evil that obstructs paradise.
Beyond the outer wall of the castle, the busy fishing village is bustling. Fishermen untangle nets and scrub down the sides of their canoes, decorated with colorful paint and bright European flags--another reminder of the history of this place. The castle looms somberly in the background of the lives of these people who seem not to notice it anymore. Something that brings tourists. It's remarkable--this formidable presence of evil constantly in the background. The constant reminder of a history almost too difficult to understand. And the lives outside its walls carry on as if to say, "We must move forward. Life goes on. We will not be defeated."
Monday, October 15, 2007
So life in Jerusalem is a lot of fun still. In my Physical Settings of the Bible class, we've been going on lots of field trips, which are great. Two weeks ago we went to Samaria, and here are pictures from that.
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039267&l=ee64c&id=15301972
Last week we went down south to Philistia, the Negev, and the Dead Sea area, and here are some pictures from that trip.
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039893&l=79720&id=15301972
Thursday we leave for a four day trek up to Galilee, which should be pretty exciting.
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039267&l=ee64c&id=15301972
Last week we went down south to Philistia, the Negev, and the Dead Sea area, and here are some pictures from that trip.
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039893&l=79720&id=15301972
Thursday we leave for a four day trek up to Galilee, which should be pretty exciting.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Last Wednesday our group travelled to the village of Akropong, about a hour and a half north of the University, for the annual Odwira festival. We arrived in Akropong on Wednesday and did nothing except wander around the little town, which is situated on top of a mountain, making for a nice change of pace from bustling, dirty Accra, not to mention some much-needed fresh mountain air.
Thursday was our first encounter with the Odwira festival, a week-long event meant to honor the ancestors and pray for blessings for the upcoming year (the years go by harvest schedules, not the typical calendar year). We were not briefed about the activities we would be watching apart from the purpose of the festival overall, though we were told there might be some things we would find disturbing. Still not knowing what to expect, we split into groups of 3 (me, Brad, and Kristen) and were brought to various stations on a long road where we were to observe the rituals of a long procession that would be travelling from one end of the town to a palatial construction near the center of town.
After about an hour of waiting and making friends with a group of beautiful old ladies next to us, the procession started to pass the station where we were sitting. I don't know if it caught me off guard simply because I'd had no idea what to expect in the first place, but what we saw was very unusual. Young girls (maybe in their late teens or twenties, some even younger), dressed in white and covered in decorative white body paint, were being led down the road as they carried baskets of food on their heads, which they were bringing to the a feast for the ancestors. Along the way (at our station, for example) designated people were offering libations, pouring water onto the girls' feet or pouring gin and schnapps onto the ground before them. Drummers, dancers, and bell-ringers were also part of the procession, as were several men firing shot guns full of air-soft pellets into the air.
The hardest part about the whole experience, the part that most unnerved me, was the fact that these girls were allegedly being possessed by the spirit of the ancestors. Some Ghanaians have told us that they are just pretending to be possessed; others truly believe that the spirits are possessing the girls. While some of the girls truly seemed to be pretending, others truly did seem depossessed of themselves. Some were violent, some making really furious grimacing faces, some would nearly faint , and most had to be restrained at some point. It was really weird and I don't really know what to make of it all or how to respond to it, except to take it as a cultural experience and try to understand the motivation behind everything involved.
Ghanaians who participate in this festival view the ancestral spirits who possess the girls as benevolent; they believe it is because of these spirits that they prosper, so the idea of being possessed by them is not a bad thing to them. To an outsider, particularly a Christian, the idea of possession comes with certain connotations and, especially with the girls who were acting violent, those connotations are not always good. We've been talking in our group a lot since then about reconciling these cultural practices with Christianity, etc. and it's made for some very good conversations.
Overall, a very good trip. We're back in Accra now for only a week and then we're venturing up to northern Ghana for an 8 day excursion. I'm very excited for that, as northern Ghana is very different from Accra...very rural and predominantly Muslim. In addition, several thousand Ghanaians have been displaced by the flooding of Lake Volta, so we may be volunteering at a World Vision IDP.
More to come later. Hope you all are well.
Thursday was our first encounter with the Odwira festival, a week-long event meant to honor the ancestors and pray for blessings for the upcoming year (the years go by harvest schedules, not the typical calendar year). We were not briefed about the activities we would be watching apart from the purpose of the festival overall, though we were told there might be some things we would find disturbing. Still not knowing what to expect, we split into groups of 3 (me, Brad, and Kristen) and were brought to various stations on a long road where we were to observe the rituals of a long procession that would be travelling from one end of the town to a palatial construction near the center of town.
After about an hour of waiting and making friends with a group of beautiful old ladies next to us, the procession started to pass the station where we were sitting. I don't know if it caught me off guard simply because I'd had no idea what to expect in the first place, but what we saw was very unusual. Young girls (maybe in their late teens or twenties, some even younger), dressed in white and covered in decorative white body paint, were being led down the road as they carried baskets of food on their heads, which they were bringing to the a feast for the ancestors. Along the way (at our station, for example) designated people were offering libations, pouring water onto the girls' feet or pouring gin and schnapps onto the ground before them. Drummers, dancers, and bell-ringers were also part of the procession, as were several men firing shot guns full of air-soft pellets into the air.
The hardest part about the whole experience, the part that most unnerved me, was the fact that these girls were allegedly being possessed by the spirit of the ancestors. Some Ghanaians have told us that they are just pretending to be possessed; others truly believe that the spirits are possessing the girls. While some of the girls truly seemed to be pretending, others truly did seem depossessed of themselves. Some were violent, some making really furious grimacing faces, some would nearly faint , and most had to be restrained at some point. It was really weird and I don't really know what to make of it all or how to respond to it, except to take it as a cultural experience and try to understand the motivation behind everything involved.
Ghanaians who participate in this festival view the ancestral spirits who possess the girls as benevolent; they believe it is because of these spirits that they prosper, so the idea of being possessed by them is not a bad thing to them. To an outsider, particularly a Christian, the idea of possession comes with certain connotations and, especially with the girls who were acting violent, those connotations are not always good. We've been talking in our group a lot since then about reconciling these cultural practices with Christianity, etc. and it's made for some very good conversations.
Overall, a very good trip. We're back in Accra now for only a week and then we're venturing up to northern Ghana for an 8 day excursion. I'm very excited for that, as northern Ghana is very different from Accra...very rural and predominantly Muslim. In addition, several thousand Ghanaians have been displaced by the flooding of Lake Volta, so we may be volunteering at a World Vision IDP.
More to come later. Hope you all are well.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Africa, up close and personal
So, yesterday was my first real African adventure. We went to Anesema Waterfall, a couple miles north of Accra in the town of Adukrom. The falls actually weren't that impressive but it was such a nice change of pace from Accra that I think we all really needed.
It would take us 2 hours to get to the falls, so we decided to treat it Amazing Race-style by breaking into 3 groups and seeing who could get to the destination first. each group was required to have a cell phone, a guidebook, and a boy...a perfect travel kit. My group (Kristen, Emily, and Matt) got on a tro-tro* pretty quick and, as we drove off, saw the rest behind us. Off to a good start for us! :) Pretty impressive since travelling with 4 is actually a hindrance to tro-tro riding
We got to the falls and Matt and I climbed up onto this rock ledge behind the water, which was pretty sweet. Little did we know there was a MUCH easier way of climbing up, which everyone else took advantage of, but we hold ourselves as the true explorers, having done it first (as well as tackling the more difficult route).
Later in the day, Derek, Jordan, and I decided to find the source of the falls, which ended up involving blazing our own trail through 5-ft visibility grasses and pricker bushes up the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, Jordan's shoe broke and he ended up having to make the trek barefooted. But we eventually found the source, which was pretty sweet, but what we couldn't find was our way back down. I mean, we knew where we were, but we couldn't find a navigable path. At one point, Derek said to me, "So...we're hot, thirsty, in our bathing suits (and basketball shorts for me), and stuck in the middle of the bush in West Africa." ("in the bush"....Nate, you would've been proud). But what an adventure!
All this to say, we found our way out without too much trouble, though we did have to tackle an obstacle worthy of a youth group team-building retreat, which was to boulder our way across a short rock face to get to clearer ground (in retrospect, we could've probably just jumped down, but this was a little more extreme...Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible style...). And the boys were pretty heroic, I have to say. I think Derek has a shoe imprint on his shoulder still from letting me step on my back and lowering me to the ground.
We also had to cross the river to get to the path that would bring us back to the foot of the falls (well....it was really more like a creek at the point we chose...like, 2.5 ft across and about 8 inches deep...but river sounds so much better), and unfotunately, I had twisted my already-bad ankle while we were hiking so when I put too much weight on it in the water, I basically wiped out (not my most graceful moment) and got soaking wet.
But we made it back safe and sound with the best story of the trip so far and only a few minor injuries to speak of....Jordan's feet are a little raw, Derek's back is pretty scratched (he was our trail-blazer), and I have a bit of a raspberry on my leg from my nice (read: embarrassing) fall in the water. But this is what I came to Africa for....excitement and adventure and sundry humorous stories that will keep me laughing for a long time.
It would take us 2 hours to get to the falls, so we decided to treat it Amazing Race-style by breaking into 3 groups and seeing who could get to the destination first. each group was required to have a cell phone, a guidebook, and a boy...a perfect travel kit. My group (Kristen, Emily, and Matt) got on a tro-tro* pretty quick and, as we drove off, saw the rest behind us. Off to a good start for us! :) Pretty impressive since travelling with 4 is actually a hindrance to tro-tro riding
We got to the falls and Matt and I climbed up onto this rock ledge behind the water, which was pretty sweet. Little did we know there was a MUCH easier way of climbing up, which everyone else took advantage of, but we hold ourselves as the true explorers, having done it first (as well as tackling the more difficult route).
Later in the day, Derek, Jordan, and I decided to find the source of the falls, which ended up involving blazing our own trail through 5-ft visibility grasses and pricker bushes up the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, Jordan's shoe broke and he ended up having to make the trek barefooted. But we eventually found the source, which was pretty sweet, but what we couldn't find was our way back down. I mean, we knew where we were, but we couldn't find a navigable path. At one point, Derek said to me, "So...we're hot, thirsty, in our bathing suits (and basketball shorts for me), and stuck in the middle of the bush in West Africa." ("in the bush"....Nate, you would've been proud). But what an adventure!
All this to say, we found our way out without too much trouble, though we did have to tackle an obstacle worthy of a youth group team-building retreat, which was to boulder our way across a short rock face to get to clearer ground (in retrospect, we could've probably just jumped down, but this was a little more extreme...Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible style...). And the boys were pretty heroic, I have to say. I think Derek has a shoe imprint on his shoulder still from letting me step on my back and lowering me to the ground.
We also had to cross the river to get to the path that would bring us back to the foot of the falls (well....it was really more like a creek at the point we chose...like, 2.5 ft across and about 8 inches deep...but river sounds so much better), and unfotunately, I had twisted my already-bad ankle while we were hiking so when I put too much weight on it in the water, I basically wiped out (not my most graceful moment) and got soaking wet.
But we made it back safe and sound with the best story of the trip so far and only a few minor injuries to speak of....Jordan's feet are a little raw, Derek's back is pretty scratched (he was our trail-blazer), and I have a bit of a raspberry on my leg from my nice (read: embarrassing) fall in the water. But this is what I came to Africa for....excitement and adventure and sundry humorous stories that will keep me laughing for a long time.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Pictures
Here's a link to some pictures I posted on facebook:
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037832&l=3e26b&id=15301972
http://calvin.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037832&l=3e26b&id=15301972
Thursday, September 13, 2007
So, my semester in Jerusalem is going very well so far. Classes are very interesting, the people here are great, and it's awesome just walking around the old and new cities. I've been making friends with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim shopkeepers in the old city who are all very interesting people to talk to. Although everyone lives in the same city, there is palpable tension. Besides the fact that three rather large, monotheistic religions struggle to lay claim to the same city, the biggest conflict is between Palestinians and Israelis. Every Tuesday and Thursday I travel to Bethlehem, just a few miles from Jerusalem for Arabic class. To get into Bethlehem, you have to go through a checkpoint in order to cross the huge wall being put up all along the border between Israel and West Bank. This wall is being put up by Israeli authorities for "security purposes." Basically, though, it traps many innocent Palestinians in West Bank, because they need a good excuse to cross or they are denied access. The first few mornings of Arabic class, across the street we saw UN workers handing out bags of food to Palestinian refugees. It's a crazy thing to experience. Also, the Gaza Strip is walled off and even more like a prison than West Bank. So, anyway, this is what I have been trying to learn about recently, and it is a very disturbing situation.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
the key to a social life in...anywhere but America
I bought a soccer ball at the market about a week ago to give us something to do in the ample free time that we had, and in no time we were being stopped by Ghanaians and international students alike, who invited us to kick around or join their games. The best part of this, though, was that Kristen and I were stopped by this guy named Immanuel, who invited us to join the girls' team for Legon Hall ("the premiere hall"--sounds like we chose the right one!). So today I had my first soccer match since senior year of high school (unless you count intramurals, I guess). It was great, though people seemed to be surprised that I've played soccer before, I think because I'm white, American, and a girl. haha. But I've made a lot of friends with the girls on the team, which is nice. My roommate Claudia says I need to make friends with more Ghanaians and not just these crazy Calvin kids.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Ghana pictures!
My friend Kristen posted some pictures from our trip on her Facebook page. I forgot my camera cord at home, so this is the best I can do for pictures. But at least you can get a sense of what it's like here....
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037731&l=ccddc&id=15301980
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037731&l=ccddc&id=15301980
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
T.I.A.*
Well, We've been in Ghana for a week now, and I'm starting to get settled into my life here in Africa...starting to find my way around campus, making new friends, and learning the cultural quirks, though I continue to feel incompetent and embarrassed in any new situation.
I wanted to share just a couple of the new adventures I've had in my first week:
Laundry--Today I did laundry for the first time since being here. All laundry is handwashed and air-dried. Most international students pay a washer woman to do their laundry, but where's the fun in that!! I don't think I did a great job at it, but the water was dirty when I was done so that's a good sign that I was at least mildly affective. Embarrassing pictures of uscrouched in the shower stall with buckets of soapy water, wringing out piles of wet clothes, are soon to come.
COLD SHOWERS--Because we're in the rainy season, it's pretty cool here. I'm really glad I brought my jacket, but the temperature makes the fact that our only bathing option is an icy cold shower mildly depressing. We've adopted the military-style shower...Rinse, turn the faucet off, soap up, faucet on, quick rinse off.
Church--Last Sunday I went to my first Ghanaian church service. It was AWESOME! The walls of the sanctuary were open to the outside, and it was kind of cool because it was raining out. But through the open walls, we could hear hymn singing coming from neighboring churches on all sides. It made me feel like I could go anywhere in the country and still be surrounded by the voices of believers in song. It was my favorite moment of the trip so far.
That's all I have for now. Classes start tomorrow! I will try to post pictures soon, because Jon is starting to show me up in that department.
**T.I.A.--"This is Africa." Referenced in the movie Blood Diamond, this common phrase refers to the unpredictable, unconventional, and--at times, for foreigners--potentially confusing or frustrating nature of this wonderful continent.
I wanted to share just a couple of the new adventures I've had in my first week:
Laundry--Today I did laundry for the first time since being here. All laundry is handwashed and air-dried. Most international students pay a washer woman to do their laundry, but where's the fun in that!! I don't think I did a great job at it, but the water was dirty when I was done so that's a good sign that I was at least mildly affective. Embarrassing pictures of uscrouched in the shower stall with buckets of soapy water, wringing out piles of wet clothes, are soon to come.
COLD SHOWERS--Because we're in the rainy season, it's pretty cool here. I'm really glad I brought my jacket, but the temperature makes the fact that our only bathing option is an icy cold shower mildly depressing. We've adopted the military-style shower...Rinse, turn the faucet off, soap up, faucet on, quick rinse off.
Church--Last Sunday I went to my first Ghanaian church service. It was AWESOME! The walls of the sanctuary were open to the outside, and it was kind of cool because it was raining out. But through the open walls, we could hear hymn singing coming from neighboring churches on all sides. It made me feel like I could go anywhere in the country and still be surrounded by the voices of believers in song. It was my favorite moment of the trip so far.
That's all I have for now. Classes start tomorrow! I will try to post pictures soon, because Jon is starting to show me up in that department.
**T.I.A.--"This is Africa." Referenced in the movie Blood Diamond, this common phrase refers to the unpredictable, unconventional, and--at times, for foreigners--potentially confusing or frustrating nature of this wonderful continent.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Jewish Appreciation
So, classes started on Monday. They should be pretty exciting. I'm in Physical Settings of the Bible, Arabic (taught by a Palestinian ), Introduction to the Modern Middle East (taught by a jaded Israeli), From the Jewish Jesus to Christianity (taught by a Jewish professor), and Rabbinical Thought and Literature (taught by a Rabbi). It's going to be great getting to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity. I met a Jewish shopkeeper who feels called to build bridges between Jews and Christians (and Muslims as well). I've been back to his shop once to ask him questions about his beliefs and will probably make that a habit, which will be amazing. I will leave you with some Jewish insight...
Rabbi Moeshe to our Christian class:
"As a Jew I would like to thank you Christians for the idea of dividing the Bible into numbered chapters and verses. Christians came up with the idea in the Middle Ages. So...I can thank you for verse numbers, and you can thank us for the Old Testament."
Friday, August 31, 2007
So Far From Urkel
Yesterday I ate a ham sandwich and watched Family Matters. Today I ate hummus and watched thousands of religious Jews pray at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount to begin the rituals of Shabbat (Sabbath) with the Dome of the Rock looming overhead and the Muslim call to prayer sounding in the distance. So I made it to Jerusalem all safe and sound...hopefully my baggage will soon too. I met seven other students from the school on my flight, so that made it a little less stressful making my way from Tel Aviv, where I flew in, to Jerusalem. Campus is beautiful, it looks very middle eastern with a garden growing pomegranates, olives, and grapes (which I am allowed to steal). Jerusalem still feels larger than life...the fact that I'm actually here after so much anticipation might take a while to sink in. Tomorrow is orientation and registration, then classes start on Monday (which is apparently NOT Labor Day here).
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Ghana address
For anyone who might want to know:
Erica Boonstra
Calvin College, c/o Dr. Randall Jelks
University of Ghana
PO Box 73
Legon, Ghana, West Africa
Erica Boonstra
Calvin College, c/o Dr. Randall Jelks
University of Ghana
PO Box 73
Legon, Ghana, West Africa
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
"obrunis" in africa
I looked out balcony door of my dorm room this morning and there was no question that I've arrived in Africa. Our flight arrived yesterday night and we made our way to University of Ghana International Student HOstel around 10:30. All safe and only one lost bag (not mine). Our flights went well but I'm very relieved to be here. Traveling becomes emotionally draining very quickly.
I could go on and on telling you about my dorm, the campus, the food, the bathrooms, etc. but, in an effort to keep things short, I think I might adopt this new format for these posts, limiting myself to five interesting, semi-interesting, or not really very intersting things about my life here in Ghana. Here goes:
1. Community bathrooms--many of the bathroom stalls don't have locks on the doors, and oftentimes the toilets don't flush well, which makes a bathroom experience for someone like me, who positively hates any toilet other than my own, the greatest challenge thus far. And there's no hot water AT ALL.
2. Lots of white people--I didn't realize how many other American students there would be here besides our group. Obruni is the Twi word for white person. So far I've only been called that by other white people. It's allegedly not an insult.... :)
3. Lizards--everywhere. Big ones.
4. ISH 2--that's the name of our hostel, and (let me tell you) it's a happenin' place. Last night people were up having a party until 11:30 p.m.! The U of G is not like Calvin at all. Students are everywhere!! Especially at night.
5. NOISE!--Some students have class at 6 a.m. so everyone is up pretty early. I was woken up this morning at 7:00 by the bustle of people and trucks on the street right outside my window.
Alright, that's all for now.
Peace.
Erica
I could go on and on telling you about my dorm, the campus, the food, the bathrooms, etc. but, in an effort to keep things short, I think I might adopt this new format for these posts, limiting myself to five interesting, semi-interesting, or not really very intersting things about my life here in Ghana. Here goes:
1. Community bathrooms--many of the bathroom stalls don't have locks on the doors, and oftentimes the toilets don't flush well, which makes a bathroom experience for someone like me, who positively hates any toilet other than my own, the greatest challenge thus far. And there's no hot water AT ALL.
2. Lots of white people--I didn't realize how many other American students there would be here besides our group. Obruni is the Twi word for white person. So far I've only been called that by other white people. It's allegedly not an insult.... :)
3. Lizards--everywhere. Big ones.
4. ISH 2--that's the name of our hostel, and (let me tell you) it's a happenin' place. Last night people were up having a party until 11:30 p.m.! The U of G is not like Calvin at all. Students are everywhere!! Especially at night.
5. NOISE!--Some students have class at 6 a.m. so everyone is up pretty early. I was woken up this morning at 7:00 by the bustle of people and trucks on the street right outside my window.
Alright, that's all for now.
Peace.
Erica
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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