Welcome to Atlanta

I'm back in Atlanta! My flight back was a perfect ending to a great trip. During my flight from Ghana to NYC, the Black Stars were playing the Yanks. The pilot updated us at every goal and our plane erupted in cheer everytime Ghana score; a guy on the flight managed to bring on board a vuvuzela (large air horns at the World Cup) and it made it all the better! As we were about to land, the pilot notified us that Ghana had beat the U.S. and it was a cool ending to my Ghana trip to have everyone on board cheering for Ghana.
One of my favorite things about Ghanaians is that they appreciate little things. As we landed, most people on board started clapping. As I thought about how I just flew 8000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean while sitting in a chair, I too joined in clapping!
I'm glad to be back at home in Atlanta and I'm very thankful for the great trip I had to Ghana. Let's go Black Stars!!

Out of Africa

I'll be leaving Ghana and returning to the U.S. tomorrow morning. I will be over the Atlantic, halfway between Ghana and U.S., during the World Cup match. I have both jerseys packed in my bag, we will see which jersey I have on when I get off the plane!

Days of Our Lives in Ghana

Here is what a normal day in Ghana (if there is such a thing) looks like for Lael and I.

5:00 a.m.: The first rooster crows, wakes me up, I grunt for a minute and go back to sleep.
6:00 a.m.: Random loud noises start to occur on our hall. Sometimes it is African soap peras, othertimes english lessons (I think) and also one of the rooms is being renovated near us so we hear glass breaking and cement pounding (why it starts so early, I have no idea).
6:30 a.m.: I get out of bed.

Breakfast: On a good day, we go to the mall or the canteen next door. I usually get a spanish omlette with toast. Lael always gets something caffineated and something sweet.

Transportation: It takes us 2 hours each day to get to Korle Bu Hospital, so we walk outside our hostel and catch a trotro.
 
A trotro is a bus that carries up to 25 people at a time. It costs anywhere from 20 cents to $1 to ride. It usually takes us about 90 cents for our 2 hour cross town trip. Also, it is safer and more reliable that Marta!

 
Once we get to Korle Bu, we get down to work. We spend the day looking for charts and convincing docs and nurses to let us look through charts. The hospital has been a neat experience, it is very different than what we see in the States.

We try to finish work around 3 so we can avoid traffic and eat a late lunch. Our staple food location is Barcelos. Barcelos is like Ghana Chick-Fil-A. We always get the chicken and chips and I always get a soda (the soft drinks here are awesome, they are made from pure sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup).

 
We also love the Very Peri sauce at Barcelos!

At night time we often go to Osu. Osu is like the Buckhead of Accra. We'll go there for dinner and drinks. The funny thing is that we eat Chinese A LOT!! There are Chinese restaurants everywhere and they are pretty cheap for the most part! They are also the safest place to eat vegetables. I literally have eaten more fried rice in Africa than I have at home or in China!

 

Recently we've been watching the world cup everyday! Before the World Cup, we would go out to jazz concerts and other events around the city.

There is no twilight (sunset) period here in Ghana. It goes from light to dark in about 30 minutes or so. It is usually dark around 6:30 and street/city life is a lot slower once the sun goes down. I usually hit the sack around 10 and look forward to hearing the rooster crow.

Research Update

Quick Update: We finished our research at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital last week and today we finised our work at 37 Military Hospital. We have gathered a good amount of data from the two hospitals and will be analyzing the information once we get back to the states.
In addition, we have identified research needs and communicated with the right people to setup a larger research project for next year.
Mission Accomplished!!

We will be traveling the rest of our time here. I will be flying back to Atlanta on June 26th.

Ghana Ghana

We're on our way to watch the Ghana v. Australia match! The whole country shuts down during the game. Ghana Ghana!

Kakum National Park and Elmina Castle

After hiking Wli Falls 2 weeks ago we realized we needed something more hardcore, so we decided to hike the jungle from the top of the tree line at Kakum National Park. Kakum is a canopy walk above the tree line, about 40m (120 feet) above ground. There are 7 sets of rope bridges that you walk across.



In this picture, I thought it'd be fun to do part of the bridge backwards.



You can see for miles, it was quite the thrill!


The place I knew I had to see in Ghana was Elmina Castle. Elmina Castle is where the majority of western slaves were shipped out of. Slaves were gathered from all over western Africa, taken to Elmina in Ghana and shipped out to various parts of the west.

Background of Elmina: The castle was built by the Portugese in the 1400's to trade gold and other resources. The Portugese needed more man power in South America, so they started shipping out slaves from western Africa to what is now Brazil. In the 1600's the Dutch took over the Castle and started doing the same. The Dutch moved the slaves from Africa over to the Carribean and Dutch colonies in present day Latin America. And then in the 1800's the Brisith colonized Ghana and started shipping out slaves to the U.S., Jamaica and other British colonies.

The picture album on Picasa details the castle and what we saw. I'm glad we got to see such an important part of world history.

The Ghana Diet

South Beach not working? Craving the carbs with Atkins? Feeling jipped at Subway?
We have the new revolutionary diet... The Ghana Diet! We have been here 4 weeks and I am over 10 pounds lighter and Lael is at least 5 pounds thinner. So you ask, what are you eating, what is the trick?
We average 3 scoops of creamy high fat ice cream/gelato a day, 1 bar of chocolate, a breakfast/Cliff bar, a plate of french fries, and a 40 of beer. I also crave meat, so I have chicken at least once a day.
So what's the trick? Come to Ghana and find out because we have no idea!

Check Us Out!

We know you miss us! We know we're ridiculously good looking and you want to bask in our presence. It's ok, we are awesome and worthy of your praise.

Stalk our pictures and fulfill your need for our smiles:

www.picasaweb.google.com/DavidYeeChen/Ghana2010?feat=directlink#

Another (mis)Adventure in Ghana

We've been MIA for a few days, but not without due cause. Michelle Henry and John Donovan graced us with their presence last Wednesday and we set forth on another (mis)adventure around this crazy world called Ghana.

Michelle and John are from the NYC. Let's start with that. And let's finish by saying things in Ghana move slowly. Like, three-toed sloth slowly. So Michelle and John, leave the NYC pace at home and embrace this new world where no decision can be made in less than an hour. Welcome to Ghana.

And so they arrived.

And we didn't waste any time in immersing them into our new world. We planned their trip - off to the wild wild west (Will Smith anyone?). We'll start in Cape Coast, explore Kakum National Park and Elmina Castle and then head farther West to relax by the sea at the Green Turtle Lodge (http://www.greenturtlelodge.com/).

Welcome misadventure numero uno. It rained. It monsooned. For two solid hours we waited at a tro-tro station (which turned out to be the wrong tro-tro station) for a bus to Cape Coast. My non-waterproof backpack happily soaked up the wetness and left me with damp clothes all week. Stinky stink stinky (hefty hefty hefty). We were teased by the locals. And they didn't understand why I didn't need (or want) a hairnet. Haha.

Welcome misadventure numero dos. After finally making a decision (on Ghanaian time obviously) we flagged down a taxi and arrived at the appropriate station. We jumped on a bus to Cape Coast. And for the first time ever, the bus was air conditioned. Oh my. Here we were, a wet mess, looking forward to a sweaty bus ride, but oh no, we had to find a cold bus. Great. And to top it off, we had a preacher on the bus. Michelle and John had seats in the front and I was in the back. The preacher was standing right next to them. He was enthusiastic to say the least. He was speaking Twi, but just about every other word was Jesus or Devil. And after an hour of this (our two hour journey took a solid five hours) they put in a movie. What movie? I have no idea. But in case you were partially deaf they turned the volume up so loud that the speakers became Charlie Brown's teacher. Great. Some Asian blood and guts ninja movie that sounds like 'waa waa waa waa.' And in case you slept through it the first time, they played it twice more. I believe this is the point when John decided this trip was a mistake. But don't worry, the story has a happy ending.

But first, misadventure numero tres. The driver passed our stop. He drove right through Cape Coast. We realized this, but we're not in America. There's no turning around. There's no stopping now because we would be homeless in Africa. Not too good. But maybe I'd find a black mamba to snuggle with.

And so we sat on that freezing cold Asian ninja movie bus for another two hours and landed in Tacoradi. Michelle made friends with a local who graciously took us to a hotel. We passed out. I woke Michelle and John up with bread and water (sorry for the disappointing breakfast John aka Cinderella) and we reevaluated. We were now almost to Green Turtle, so we decided just to continue on. After catching (the right) series of tro-tros we arrived. It was paradise. A pristine beach dotted with palm trees and pink huts. And Star beers (40 oz of course) for $2.50. Paradise. Here's when Michelle and John finally started enjoying themselves. And I enjoyed this.

And there we were, finally. Beachfront property. We played in the ocean. We canoed through a mangrove forest. We saw toucans (toucans!). I adopted two snails and affectionately named them Barack and Michelle (tribute to Stan for that idea) and let them slime their way around my canoe seat (slimey little boogers). Michelle has the beautiful photos from this and I'll get a link up soon. We also explored a local village. It's surreal - the stark contrast between the pristine beach and the primitive village. It's magical. Africa is a magical place.

And I'd be lying if I stopped there. You see, at Green Turtle, you keep a running tally of your food and drinks and pay at the end. Room charge = Lael's BFF. And beer, good ol Star Beer, all 40 oz of it, is only $2.50 (and that's in Ghana Cedis). Oh, dear. (I did have a bar tab close to $40 after two days.) To add to this problem, we made friends from Amsterdam. Trip and Marlin. And we made friends with some Canadians and a few Ghanaians. And John decided to teach them how to play UNO ala Stieglitz family style (aka you draw = you drink, you cheat = you sing a song on the table). If you play cards with me you know I cheat, not in a mean way, but in a 'I always know what cards you have in your hand because I have wandering eyes' way. So I was busted. I sang Happy Birthday, Michelle and I sang Pi Pi ADPi, and David sang Canada's National Anthem. Stop here - David sang Canada's national anthem - what?!?! We also heard many a Dutch song and a few improv numbers from John (who still swears to his innocence).

Oh, and I'd be an awful blogger if I didn't mention misadventure numero quatro. This is best captured by photos, but those are on Michelle's camera.

Michelle was the only one (of the five of us) who brought soap and shampoo. I mean, come on, we're in Africa, who uses soap? So I decided I'd shower with her so we could share the goods. We are staying at Green Turtle, and it is community showers and bathrooms. So there was no escaping the wrath of John. He heard the words 'Michelle we can just shower together' and he threw on his speedo and invited himself in. Yes, we were all in bathing suits, and yes there are images worthy of lifelong blackmail. If you're lucky you'll see some, because they are hysterical. But then again, what happens at Green Turtle stays at Green Turtle (or is that Las Vegas?).

And so, after enjoying some more rays and yummy meals we packed up and ventured into Cape Coast. We toured Elmina Castle, the major hub of slave trade servicing the Caribbean and the Americas, and Kakum National Park where we walked the rainforest canopy. David will update you on these, so hold tight. We're at the mercy of the internet, which in turn is at the mercy of electricity, which is never predictable. And so you shall wait patiently. But in the meantime, enjoy the following images from our Super Model Documentary Hour (Superstar anyone?!).

Weekend Update

This weekend we will be traveling west of Accra. We will be going to Elmina Castle (this is the main slave castle that western slaves were shipped out of) and Green Turtle Beach. Western Region beaches in Ghana are suppose to be some of the best beaches in the world!!

Play That Funky Music White Boy

The music here is quite diverse and interesting. I hear Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' at least once a day. On our trip last week, we were in a village with a scarce source of electricity and was located in the middle of no where and surely enough, as we waited for the bus, I Will Always Love You is playing in the background.
In other music news, Bieber Fever is plaguing Ghana. Bob Marley and the Rastas are jammin mon'. The educated population are slappin' the bass with jazz. The taxi driver changes the radio station to old school rap everytime we get a cab. And someone in our hostel keeps blasting Rod Stewart out of what seems to be a pretty sweet sound system; totally loving it!

Quick Update: We are now two weeks in and haven't gathered a bit of data. We've met with the doctors and have been working the bureaucracy. Our doctors here are awesome and have been a great help, but just like the U.S. it's one hurdle after the next.

In the Jungle the Mighty Jungle

Pictures speak a thousand words and our picasa album will tell our weekend best. We left Friday for a 2 hour bus ride to the city of Ho. After 9 hours on a bus, we learned that many Ghanaians think everything is 2 hours away (Fun Fact #1). Ho is located in the Volta Region, which is northeast of Accra (where we are staying); in terms of distance it would be like traveling from Atlanta to Ashville. Our bus pulled in late at night and we scurried to find the first vacancy available at a hotel. Somehow we managed to find the very posh Freedom Hotel for a very cheap price and we had air conditioning for the first time since we arrived in Ghana!! Having become acclimated to the hot weather, we nearly froze to death Friday night. Saturday morning we woke up and realized that we had actually stayed at a bed and breakfast… free food is the best surprise in the world!! After our ‘free’ meal we took a true 2 hour bus ride to Wli Falls.
Wli Falls is the highest waterfall in Western Africa. Some poster we saw said that Wli Falls could be anywhere from 20m to 400m… kind of a big range, so we don’t actually know how high we climbed, but judging from the pictures and our muscle soreness, it was quite high! While at Wli Falls we met a friend Natalie. Natalie is from Australia, taught in London for a year, worked in Tanzania for a few months, currently is in Ghana for the month, and plans to finish the trip with a tour of eastern Africa (education friends… there’s definitely some cool opportunities out there!). So Matt, Lael, Natalie and I set on our journey led by our local tour guide Jonathan, who hiked the whole mountain in a pair of flip flops.
As we were surrounded by thick vegetation and animals we have never seen I realized ‘WOW!! I am hiking in the African jungle’. In short, our senses were overwhelmed. We saw scenery more beautiful than anything we’ve seen, heard animals we’ve never heard, and felt more exhausted than we’ve ever felt on a hike. The pictures will tell the rest of the story, so check out http://picasaweb.google.com/DavidYeeChen/Ghana2010?feat=directlink.