Change and Moving

It's been a while. A long While. I'm writing this post from Nairobi, Kenya, but that's not where i live. Currently, I'm living in Ghana. Needless to say, this was big change from Maryland. In fact, I'm devoting this post to some of the changes I've experienced in moving from Maryland to Ghana. 1. You can buy anything on the streets Whether your craving some plantain chips, need a diagram of the human anatomy or your bathroom pipes have recently broken, the streets of Ghana are the place to go. Vendors sell everything from educational materials to exercise equipment. Just a side note here, Ghana is highly conscious and active when it comes to promoting a healthy lifestyle. At least 3 days a week, i am awoken to the sounds of bells ringing and chanting as a group of runner, all dressed in white, runs down my street. To be honest, it's a tad bit creepy. Particularly when you're running next to you and they're chanting in unison in an incomprehensible language. 2. AP to IB - Different School Systems When I first moved here i hated the IB system because I thought it was too easy compared to AP, however as time has passed and assignment have backed up, have come to appreciate the "beauty: , shall we say, of the IB. As opposed to AP's spoon feeding a lot of complex material in an easy to understand way that requires relatively little stress, the IB teaches relatively less concepts which are simpler to understand, however there seems to be a catch. The information is not given to you to memorize and use on a test. Sure, the teachers will explain in class, but really it's up to you to understand it because tests rely less on memorizing random facts and more on being able to work out problems you haven't encountered. One thing i really like about the IB is that it focuses on speaking skills, which are useful for future careers and to just sound eloquent in general. Personally, I am an awful speaker. If the choice was between standing in between a mama bear and her cub or public speaking, i would choice the bear...always.Logically I decided to involve myself in as many speaking roles as I could at the school (i.e MUN, GISS). It was painful, but I have improved. I am now capable of uttering a whopping 5 sentences in an audible voice without stuttering! 3.Creative Entertainment- I lived near several cities including DC, so naturally it was hard to run out of things to do. Despite this, my friend and I managed to spend a considerable amount of time wandering the aisles of Safeway during the wee hours of the night.These escapades were commonly accompanied by ice cream or a doughnut, but that's not what made them fun. Honestly, these escapades go to show that its not the place that matters, but rather the people. I still don't understand how my friend and I managed to find such entertainment in the labels and displays. When i first arrived in Accra, i felt that there was nothing to do, but the truth is that there's very little of the same things I was used to doing. Rather than going to Safeway at 2 A.M i can go to the fruit market before 5 P.M. There's no parks in Accra, so what!? I can go into the embassy and play on the jungle gym. At least until I start getting weird looks from the parents. It would be inaccurate to judge the amount of fun that can be had in Accra by comparing it to my prior ideals of fun in Maryland. ( )( ) Nonetheless, the point is that moving and change can be difficult to adjust to. Especially if you do so by trying to conform your new surroundings to your old ones. Eventually, you learn to let go( you stop stalking old acquaintances to see what going on, you DON'T add their new friends on facebook) and you begin to move fowardss.