more accra

it's great to be back in accra and to have some free time here. yesterday i was able to walk around the university of ghana's campus; something i had not really been able to do even though we had had classes there. the buildings and greens are beautiful; i think maya angelou described the campus best in her book all god's children need traveling shoes - "the university of ghana with its white buildings and red tiled roofs loomed like a chimera atop legon's green hills. the moroccan architecture of arches, wide, low steps and loggia gave the institution an unusually inviting warmth." i eventually wandered into the library where the dust covered, wooden shelves and pull out card catalog drawers made me feel like indiana jones; and like in any good library, this one was very easy to get lost in.

i decided not to stay with mame vida (my former home stay mother) since returning to accra. as much as i loved her and her family, her home was very far away from campus. instead i have been staying with my friend jones and his home stay father papa quenu. papa is 74 years old and fought with the colonial army when he was 14. he was also the head of security at the university. i have enjoyed staying with him and hearing his stories. papa has a cat named moose, which i assumed was a twi word, but found out that he let a canadian student who was staying with him name the cat. papa has a preschool on his compound and spends most of his days sitting out side watching the kids play, listening to the radio and slapping him self dry with his hanky. papa has been hosting students from america and canada for over 25 years and he says that since his wife died, the only things that make him happy are the children and the whites. papa, however, refuses to host american girls; he will take canadian girls and american boys but he finds all the american girls to be troublesome. papa went to the hospital yesterday with malria but today he is thankfully feeling better.

tomorrow i leave for kumasi! i'll be staying there for a month and working with the ceramic technician at KNUST, naab. naab has set up a schedule for me and i can't wait to start working with him.

happy early easter!
dane