Live from Ghana it’s Saturday Night!

Well it’s not nighttime yet but it is Saturday and I am supposed to be studying my Twi verbs but I wanted to write on my blog instead. Procrastination? What? I miss SNL.

The days seem to go by slow but then before you know it the week is already over. I can’t believe we have been in Ghana for almost one month now. It seems like forever ago we were in Philadelphia but it also feels like yesterday.

Well what has happened since last time…a bunch of us went to Koforidua, a town about 1 hour away from here, to go to Vodaphone, an internet café. When we got to Vodaphone, it was overrun by us oburonis (white people). We won’t be able to go back for another week because this Sunday we are going to Boti Falls. Usually Sundays are our “free” days, but this week we have a little excursion planned. I’m really looking forward to going. Everyone keeps telling us how beautiful it is there. My host family wants me to take a lot of pictures so I can show them when I get back. Boti Falls is about one hour away from here, just past Koforidua. We have to hike a little ways to actually get to the waterfall but apparently it’s a really beautiful area. We were told to wear our closed toe shoes so we can prevent snake bites, so I’m really hoping I don’t see a snake anywhere near me. That would really put a damper on the day.

Speaking of snakes…the other day I was walking to Twi class and I saw this chicken running away with something in its mouth. Taj, one of the Twi teachers told us it was a snake that he had just killed but the chicken picked it up and ran away. Apparently it was a Green Mamba and those little suckers are poisonous. I’m glad I was not there to see it alive. I hope that is the last time I see a snake in Africa, but I don’t think that will be the case. My brothers keep assuring me that they will kill any snakes they see, so they better be telling me the truth.

It has been raining a lot recently. We are heading into the rainy season, but it is not supposed to start raining a lot until April or May, I think, so this weather has been a little abnormal. Usually it gets really hot around noon and then around 3pm it starts getting dark and grey and the rains come. It comes down pretty hard for a couple hours and finally stops late in the evening. I don’t mind it because it’s not cold rain like Oregon, it’s pretty warm, but my family disagrees! There is always a lightening storm a little ways away, which is really pretty. My family always laughs at me because I’ll go stand in the middle of the courtyard when it’s raining and they are all sitting under the roof. They keep saying how cold they are and keep putting on pants and long sleeves, yet I still feel warm! It’s probably around 65 degrees maybe 68 so really not that cold for us, so it’s always fun to laugh with my family about that. We actually lost power for about 4 days so no one had electricity, so I was going to sleep pretty early on those nights. There isn’t much to do when it’s pitch black out and you don’t understand what anyone is saying, let alone see anyone. However, the electricity has come back and all is good.

This past Tuesday my host mother bought me some fabric at the local market. It is dark green with some golden-orange and cream in it. There is a pattern on it that looks kind of like a coffee beans but it is really pretty. I call it my coffee bean dress. There is a seamstress that lives right next to our compound so my sister and I went over and I picked out a dress design. Its just below my knees, empire waist, and sleeveless. I really like it a lot so I’m getting another one made! The seamstress added some satin to match the colors of the fabric. The other dress I am having made is going to be two different shades of red (it’s a batik) and there is a turtle like design on it. I really love the fabric so I am very excited about this dress. It’s pretty cheap to get things made here…my dress cost me 7 Ghana Cedis, so about 5 or 6 dollars (dad check my math). Either way, it’s not a bad price for a nice dress. They can make anything here so I need to get some JCrew catalogues and figure out what I want made!

On Wednesday we went to the Distric Assembly in a town called Kibi. The 24 of us were divided into group of 3 and fate brought my Accra Quest group back together! So Adam, Leahy, and I all had to meet with the Water and Sanitation Team. I’m glad we got to meet with them because it was very relevant to what we will be doing with Peace Corps. They talked about the different programs they work with and the kinds of projects they do. They do a lot of work with boreholes and latrines and they talked about the Ghana WASH program, which is a project centered on building latrines. We were even told that this team has requested a PCV, so one of us from the Twi group will be staying in this area, so it will be interesting to find out who that is.

I don’t remember if I already spoke about this, but there are 10 regions in Ghana – Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Central, Greater Accra, and Volta. We will be going to all of them except Ashanti and each region generally has a different language. I will be going to Brong-Ahafo, Western, Eastern, Central, Greater Accra, or possibly Northern Volta. We all find out around March 20.

On Thursday, America Day, we were in Kukurantumi for our seminar day but around 4 we went to the bead market in Koforidua. It as a market that sold only beads – earrings, bracelets, waist beads, rings, everything you can imagine that can be made from beads. Here in Ghana, they have this type of accessory called waist beads. Every girl wears them, even newborn babies. It is a long piece of string with beads and you tie them around your waist. One of our trainers was explaining to us that one of the ideas behind them is that they are supposed to give girls their curves. The beads aren’t tied tight around your waist like a corset would be. They are loose and just sit around your waist and then as you grow you can loosen them. They come in all colors and sizes. I bought two different ones…a dark blue one and then a multicolored blue one. Each one was 50 pesewas, so 1 cedi total. My sister said she would help me put them on when I want to. So all girls wear them, for their whole life I believe. Apparently there is a meaning to how many you wear. One of my sisters, Millicent, has 4, which she told me meant that love is important to her or something like that. My mother wears 5, maybe because she has 5 children…? And I think my other sister, Grace, has 3 or 4. However, no one is supposed to see your waist beads. They always stay hidden under your clothes. Only your “special someone” is allowed to see your beads. It’s a very interesting aspect of their culture. I would have never known about waist beads if it hadn’t been for our trainers telling us about them, because you’ll never see anyone’s waist beads.

Yesterday afternoon my older brother, Mark, took me to my family’s farm. It’s about 10 minutes away and as we were walking there, it started pouring down rain so our clothes got soaked but it was nice. It was refreshing after melting in the sun all day. He showed me the plantains, bananas, cocoa beans, and cassava that they were growing. I think today he is going back to help weed. On my way back I banged my shin into a little tree stump so I have nice little bruise forming. Thank goodness for our Peace Corps Medical Kit – I finally got to use my antiseptic wash for something. It’s really not that bad, I just wanted to use it.

My 19-year-old brother came back from school on Wednesday so I finally got to meet him. His name is Yow, and his English name is Shadrock (at least that’s what they keep saying to me). He goes to a boarding school in a town close to here and I think their school is on break right now, which is why he is back. He is always dancing in the courtyard so he is entertaining to watch. Everyone can dance so well. One of my first days here, Mark was telling me he wasn’t a good dancer and then I saw him doing the moonwalk! Ghanaians have an extra something in their bodies…they make it look so easy all the time! They keep asking if I can dance and I keep saying no…they are determined to make me dance but I don’t think I would want them to have to see that.

Another fun little story…I can cross off “eating snail” from my bucket list. The night before last my mother prepared some Fufu and used snail as one of the meats. I don’t mean like little garden snails. These are huge snails. About 2 or 3 inches wide maybe. They just crack the shell and cook them like that. My sister cut me off a little piece and after much debate I finally ate it. It was like chewing really hard rubber. I don’t think I’ll be eating snail again needless to say. It smelled pretty funky too. It’s all part of the cultural exchange I suppose!