Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Elections! Emotions!

Ghana is holding it's presidential elections this Friday, December 7th. I am so excited to be able to witness this! No violence is expected but it is likely that there will be a few isolated cases of violence. Apparently things are starting to get a little heated in Kumasi, which is Ghana's second biggest city. As of yet there hasn't really been anything in Accra though. The US embassy sent out an email saying that Americans should stay away from the polling stations and political rallies as a precaution. I am very excited to see it and am hoping for peaceful elections. If no candidate reaches 50% of the vote plus one more vote, then there will be a second election three weeks later, on the 28th. I was talking to a professor here and she was telling me that she really hopes it won't go to a second round because if it does then the campaigning starts all over again, with full force. She said those three weeks end up being very tense times. Even though I will not be in Ghana for the second round, if it were to be held, I also hope it is decided by this weekend. There are a lot of cars and busses coming around with loudspeakers and the different parties' flags and slogans. It's really interesting to see the campaigning! Join me in praying for peaceful elections.


On another note, I am less than two weeks away from leaving Ghana and I am starting to get really sad about it. I will really miss it here. Not only will I miss all the wonderful Ghanaian friends I've made but also the other international students. We've had two people from our ISEP family leave already. It's really starting to get sad. :( Now, I am also really excited to go home and see friends and family. I will be loving the food and the cooler weather I'm sure but right now it's a mess of emotions that I really wasn't anticipating. This experience teaches me something new every day!

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