Visit to my hometown (A.K.A. Kumasi)

In Ghana, everyone is associated with a tribe. I decided to become an Asante for many reasons (though the main reason is that I speak Asante Twi and Asantes are strong). Anyways, so CIEE took us to the capital of the Asante Region, Kumasi. At one point, the Asantes had an empire that was bigger than Ghana and they fought the British colonists fiercely. They are probably the most powerful and populous group in Ghana.

Anyways, so last Friday we went to their capital, which is about 4-5 hours north. We visited the chief's palace, which was somewhat interesting. I think the best part were the peacocks roaming around and we even saw one open its tail, which was AMAZING. Then, we went to a market, which is the biggest market in all of West Africa. It was pretty big and crowded and very overwhelming. Everyone is shoving you every which way and screaming. The aisles are tiny and there is practically no room to breath, let alone walk. I ended up buying some fabric which I intend to make into a skirt. The most common way to buy clothes is to buy the fabric and then bring it to a seamstress. Then, Rivky, Zahava, and I went back a little early for shabbos. We ate a gourmet meal of hard bread, canned beans, and yam balls with a superb sauce and we had the same for lunch. Pretty fancy if you ask me. We slept a ton over shabbos in the luxurious air conditioning and enjoyed each others' company. Unfortunately, the rest of the group went on a exciting adventure to a lake and a village that we could not partake in.

Then Sunday morning we trekked back to campus and the bus literally stopped 7 times in a 4-5 hour drive for people to go to the bathroom. But at least I got to enjoy the A.C. on the bus for more time. Simple pleasures in life... AND we bought 15 bananas for 1 cedi (which is like 66 cents, but it's the small kind of banana).