I am online today for the SECOND time this week which is pretty cool so I'm writing a little. I just took a classic taxi ride to the market: first of all, the taxi drivers stop and do errands for themselves without telling you. Second, the windshield always looks as if it was just in a gang shootout. And third, the infamous windows. So you know the manual handles on old car roll up windows? In this taxi there was only one handle for all four doors so the driver passed it around for each of us to attach to our doors and use it like a wrench to roll down our windows. and then they make you pay. oh Ghana.
We ate lunch at the University Cape Coast campus today and it was the best restaurant yet(out of the three that are safe to eat at in cape coast). Our orders took less than 2 hours AND the sauce wasn't spicy enough to burn straight through clothing. The highlight was at the end of the meal when I saw a door that said "washroom". The door led to the outside. Do the math.
My little sister, Kiki, is nuts. She runs into my bedroom at 630am every morning and yells, "You need to bath!" I mumble, "I bathed last night" Then she says "LIAR!"
she recently discovered the song "Umbrella" and sings it all day while dancing to my ipod. She also enjoys sitting on my lap while I try to do my homework while she draws pictures all over it.
Food is going well now because I am sticking to rice. When I have a stomach ache, my host mothers consoles me and says "I'll make you fried fish!"
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Komenda
KOMENDA!
We spent the past week (and my Bday) in Komenda, a small village 40 minutes from Cape Coast. It was kind of a ridiculous week.
MY FAMILY
I stayed with a new family with two of my friends. The family comprised of a mother, a father, and about 20 other people who may or may not have actually lived in the house (family situations are very unclear here). There was a baby named Angel who is the CUTEST baby in the world. Unfortunately she was terrified of cameras and burst into tears when she saw one so I dont have a picture of her. Then there was another very cute baby but unfortunately he was terrified of white people and burst into tears when he saw me. Our house had a strong light on the porch and so every evening kids from the neighborhood gathered at our house to do their homework. After homework, we broke out some music and we had dance parties. My brothers really liked PSquare (a Nigerian rap artist), Destiny's Child, and The Beatles. One of my brothers, Ebo, recently learned the word 'fantabulous' and enjoyed integrating it into his fante.
My family owned multiple animals including chickens, roosters and Peace, the pig. Peace is 7 years old and is HUGE. Wednesday afternoon, four people lifted Peace by his hind legs and dragged him downtown to get preggers. My sister, Madua, said Peace will have 20 babies!
THE VILLAGERS
Since we were the only white people in town, we were the subjects of fascination for the school children. When they saw us they would start yelling and running to jump on us. I've never been more afraid of children. Once they attacked us, they began with the typical english questions that they learned in school:
"HI-OBRUNYI(white person)-HOW-ARE-YOU?
before you can answer they make sure to tell you how you are:
"I-AM-FINE-THANK-YOU"
I worked a lot on my fantse greetings but the villagers had a tendency to laugh whenever I spoke fantse...
Other villagers inculded donkeys and sheep which I think outnumbered the people.
MARRAIGE
I got my first marraige proposal! A 45 year old man said, 'good afternoon, what is your name? I am looking for someone to marry my son'
he then asked me if I go to church and when I replied no he said 'oh...nevermind.'
sighhhhh guess I'll just have to wait. he didnt offer me enough donkeys anyways. this girl is worth atleast 12.
THE TOWN:
The town was small and harbored a health clinic for the region, a couple schools, and a teacher training college. But being in the middle of nowhere/Ghana apparently has its advantages because Komenda has a cave that was used during WWII as a hiding place for Queen Elizabeth!
The town itself is on the ocean which was great except for the town's HUGE sanitation problem. Since there is no running water, citizens often do not have toilets in their homes. Public restrooms are disgusting and cost a small fee for each use. Therefore, most people either go in the gutters, on the streets, or (a favorite) on the beach. Thankfully our home had a non-flushing toilet and a section for bucket showers. In addition, there is a cultural trend to throw trash on the ground/burn it. This not only creates large amounts of air pollution, but also masses of trash around town. I had to climb what we called "Mt. Trashmore" to get to my teacher's house every day. There was a trashcan right next to our house but no one used it and so I spent a large portion of my week doing research on how the town handles trash and I might look into studying sanitation for my independent research project.
There wasn't much to do in the town after we finished our research. It's amazing the games you can come up with in extreme states of boredom. I'll teach everyone 'hocheckin' when I get home.
AIM
We met a couple people in Komenda who were part of an NGO. They were originally there to teach Komendans about computers, but their mission changed dramatically when they realized that computers were the least of their problems. AIM invited me to an HIV/AIDS education lecture by a visiting educator for kids ages 9-15 on Saturday. The talk was very interesting because it was blatanly abstinence-only education. The educator explained that if someone had to choose whether or not to have sex, the right choice was to abstain because if one did have sex they would get AIDS and never succeed in life. I enjoy being obnoxious, so I raised my hand and asked 'what if this person decides to have sex and uses a condom, is that a good choice?' He replied that one in a million condoms are defective and you should never take that risk.
I spoke with the NGO leaders afterward and they had big issues with his presentation so I felt better.
MY BIRTHDAY!
My friend Alanna also had her birthday in Komenda, so to celebrate, our group went to a local (cleaner) beach 'resort' on Thursday night and camped out. The evening was really fun and we bought some Star (Ghana's beer) and danced to cheesy african music coming from the bar and swam in the ocean. Also, our program director made us banana cake and it was awesome. I have lots of pictures dont' worry.
This one time, I realized that I am not as rustic as I thought I was. Sleeping on the beach is NO easy feat due to the following factors:
It was uncomfortable
it was cold
there were goats.
sand was actually rock at one point. this is a fact no one tells you until its too late.
the mosquitonet/tents we brought were too close to the beach and half our group got hit by a huge wave around 4am.
Since I was up all night, I noticed two sketchy men walking around the area with flashlights. I assured my friend Ariel that they were just patrolling and she said, "....yeah, I bet they're just here to protect the white people...."
that was a joke in case you didnt get it. if you had gotten it, you would have laughed.
To add insult of injury, they made us pay in the morning for camping out. Oh Ghana.
I'm stilling having a wonderful time and I want to thank everyone for their Birthday wishes be it through facebook or e-mail or cards. It's really hard to stay on the internet long enough to reply to everyone, but I am getting the messages so thank you!
We spent the past week (and my Bday) in Komenda, a small village 40 minutes from Cape Coast. It was kind of a ridiculous week.
MY FAMILY
I stayed with a new family with two of my friends. The family comprised of a mother, a father, and about 20 other people who may or may not have actually lived in the house (family situations are very unclear here). There was a baby named Angel who is the CUTEST baby in the world. Unfortunately she was terrified of cameras and burst into tears when she saw one so I dont have a picture of her. Then there was another very cute baby but unfortunately he was terrified of white people and burst into tears when he saw me. Our house had a strong light on the porch and so every evening kids from the neighborhood gathered at our house to do their homework. After homework, we broke out some music and we had dance parties. My brothers really liked PSquare (a Nigerian rap artist), Destiny's Child, and The Beatles. One of my brothers, Ebo, recently learned the word 'fantabulous' and enjoyed integrating it into his fante.
My family owned multiple animals including chickens, roosters and Peace, the pig. Peace is 7 years old and is HUGE. Wednesday afternoon, four people lifted Peace by his hind legs and dragged him downtown to get preggers. My sister, Madua, said Peace will have 20 babies!
THE VILLAGERS
Since we were the only white people in town, we were the subjects of fascination for the school children. When they saw us they would start yelling and running to jump on us. I've never been more afraid of children. Once they attacked us, they began with the typical english questions that they learned in school:
"HI-OBRUNYI(white person)-HOW-ARE-YOU?
before you can answer they make sure to tell you how you are:
"I-AM-FINE-THANK-YOU"
I worked a lot on my fantse greetings but the villagers had a tendency to laugh whenever I spoke fantse...
Other villagers inculded donkeys and sheep which I think outnumbered the people.
MARRAIGE
I got my first marraige proposal! A 45 year old man said, 'good afternoon, what is your name? I am looking for someone to marry my son'
he then asked me if I go to church and when I replied no he said 'oh...nevermind.'
sighhhhh guess I'll just have to wait. he didnt offer me enough donkeys anyways. this girl is worth atleast 12.
THE TOWN:
The town was small and harbored a health clinic for the region, a couple schools, and a teacher training college. But being in the middle of nowhere/Ghana apparently has its advantages because Komenda has a cave that was used during WWII as a hiding place for Queen Elizabeth!
The town itself is on the ocean which was great except for the town's HUGE sanitation problem. Since there is no running water, citizens often do not have toilets in their homes. Public restrooms are disgusting and cost a small fee for each use. Therefore, most people either go in the gutters, on the streets, or (a favorite) on the beach. Thankfully our home had a non-flushing toilet and a section for bucket showers. In addition, there is a cultural trend to throw trash on the ground/burn it. This not only creates large amounts of air pollution, but also masses of trash around town. I had to climb what we called "Mt. Trashmore" to get to my teacher's house every day. There was a trashcan right next to our house but no one used it and so I spent a large portion of my week doing research on how the town handles trash and I might look into studying sanitation for my independent research project.
There wasn't much to do in the town after we finished our research. It's amazing the games you can come up with in extreme states of boredom. I'll teach everyone 'hocheckin' when I get home.
AIM
We met a couple people in Komenda who were part of an NGO. They were originally there to teach Komendans about computers, but their mission changed dramatically when they realized that computers were the least of their problems. AIM invited me to an HIV/AIDS education lecture by a visiting educator for kids ages 9-15 on Saturday. The talk was very interesting because it was blatanly abstinence-only education. The educator explained that if someone had to choose whether or not to have sex, the right choice was to abstain because if one did have sex they would get AIDS and never succeed in life. I enjoy being obnoxious, so I raised my hand and asked 'what if this person decides to have sex and uses a condom, is that a good choice?' He replied that one in a million condoms are defective and you should never take that risk.
I spoke with the NGO leaders afterward and they had big issues with his presentation so I felt better.
MY BIRTHDAY!
My friend Alanna also had her birthday in Komenda, so to celebrate, our group went to a local (cleaner) beach 'resort' on Thursday night and camped out. The evening was really fun and we bought some Star (Ghana's beer) and danced to cheesy african music coming from the bar and swam in the ocean. Also, our program director made us banana cake and it was awesome. I have lots of pictures dont' worry.
This one time, I realized that I am not as rustic as I thought I was. Sleeping on the beach is NO easy feat due to the following factors:
It was uncomfortable
it was cold
there were goats.
sand was actually rock at one point. this is a fact no one tells you until its too late.
the mosquitonet/tents we brought were too close to the beach and half our group got hit by a huge wave around 4am.
Since I was up all night, I noticed two sketchy men walking around the area with flashlights. I assured my friend Ariel that they were just patrolling and she said, "....yeah, I bet they're just here to protect the white people...."
that was a joke in case you didnt get it. if you had gotten it, you would have laughed.
To add insult of injury, they made us pay in the morning for camping out. Oh Ghana.
I'm stilling having a wonderful time and I want to thank everyone for their Birthday wishes be it through facebook or e-mail or cards. It's really hard to stay on the internet long enough to reply to everyone, but I am getting the messages so thank you!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Quick post!
Time for a very quick post because I have a 6 o'clock curfew.
THE SAGA OF MY HAIR
so short hair was nice for a while, but back to long hair. I just got it braided with my friends, so yes, i have a weave. and no, i didn't bring my old hair to be put back on.
LIZARDS
There is a lizard living in one of my bedroom walls. He visits sometimes and is very nice.
OUR WATCHMAN
I mentioned our watchman in my last post. Since he is so old and senile, he reintroduces himself to me every night when I turn on my bedroom light. We chat for a while between the window curtain. I tell him my name again and then he speaks for a while in Fantse and I say 'yeaaaah' 'gooood' 'ooooohh i seee'. I think we will be good friends.
THE ROOSTER
There are lots of roosters and chickens roaming around Ghana. However, I think the one that lives outside my house is blind because he does not understand the concept of morning and he crows at 1pm, 7pm, and 3am. Sometimes I want to make him into Rooster soup, but I'm afraid to tell my host mother because I may have already eaten rooster and not known it.
SIIIICK
I had enteritis all last week which was not fun. It's a bacterial infection of the stomach/intestines. So i had my first Ghana hospital experience. It was actually pretty good, I just had to wait a while. I am on lots of antibacterial drugs now in addition to my malaria medication so I am super super clean on the inside.
VILLAGE STAY
This sunday we are going to live in a new village for a week! I'm not sure exactly what this entails but I hope it involves huts. I will be living with a new family and learning about their economy.
aka I wont be able to blog next week but I'll tell you all about it when i get back.
ok, gotta go! thanks for your comments guys!
THE SAGA OF MY HAIR
so short hair was nice for a while, but back to long hair. I just got it braided with my friends, so yes, i have a weave. and no, i didn't bring my old hair to be put back on.
LIZARDS
There is a lizard living in one of my bedroom walls. He visits sometimes and is very nice.
OUR WATCHMAN
I mentioned our watchman in my last post. Since he is so old and senile, he reintroduces himself to me every night when I turn on my bedroom light. We chat for a while between the window curtain. I tell him my name again and then he speaks for a while in Fantse and I say 'yeaaaah' 'gooood' 'ooooohh i seee'. I think we will be good friends.
THE ROOSTER
There are lots of roosters and chickens roaming around Ghana. However, I think the one that lives outside my house is blind because he does not understand the concept of morning and he crows at 1pm, 7pm, and 3am. Sometimes I want to make him into Rooster soup, but I'm afraid to tell my host mother because I may have already eaten rooster and not known it.
SIIIICK
I had enteritis all last week which was not fun. It's a bacterial infection of the stomach/intestines. So i had my first Ghana hospital experience. It was actually pretty good, I just had to wait a while. I am on lots of antibacterial drugs now in addition to my malaria medication so I am super super clean on the inside.
VILLAGE STAY
This sunday we are going to live in a new village for a week! I'm not sure exactly what this entails but I hope it involves huts. I will be living with a new family and learning about their economy.
aka I wont be able to blog next week but I'll tell you all about it when i get back.
ok, gotta go! thanks for your comments guys!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I'm Here!
It is fabulous here! We arrived a week and a half ago to Kakota Airport which is not a grass landing in contrast to popular belief. It is about half the size of the Albany airport. I will title the following paragraphs so you can skip over what you dont feel like reading because this will probably be a long entry. Quite a lot has happened!
HOSTELS:
We spend the first 4 or 5 days staying in hostels with 4 people to a room. I really like our group, everyone is very chill and we all get along so far. The bathroom in our hostel was the best part of our stay. Allow me to describe:
1) lizards seemed to enjoy our bathroom
2) yay for bucket showers! there was actually a shower head but it didnt work
3)the toilet leaked and so the floor was perpetually covered in water
4)the shower didn't exactly...'drain'
5)and finally, there are no doorknobs on the inside or bathroom doors, and so getting in to the bathroom is easy, but getting out requires knocking. I have found this to be true of my current home as well. It's interesting when there's no one who can hear you knocking.
CAPE COAST:
Cape Coast is great. There are people everywhere carrying things on their heads and babies on their backs. The most impressive feat I've seen so far is a woman carrying about 120 eggs on her head in crates, but i also see suitcases and televisions regularly defying gravity. The market is swarming with cars, workers, and fruit stands. Everything is used and rundown. Gutters line the streets with sewage and the smells are less than pleasant. It's very dusty and the city seems permanently hazy and very hot. But, the slave castle is eerily beautiful and right on the coast. We went to the beach which looks as if it is out of a movie with hundreds of palm trees!
We also went to a national park rainforest where we crossed a 40 meter high rope canopy bridge aboves the trees. It was beeeaautiful!
AFRICA CUP!!:
Right now there is a HUGE football (soccer) tournament in Africa which is comparable to the superbowl. It is being held this year in Ghana's capital: Accra and Ghana made it to the quarter finals which are tonight! People get SOOOOO excited for the Africa cup. Everyone wears Ghana flags around town and we had a field trip cancelled because of tonight's game. Ghana's team is called the Black Stars because of their flag and so people yell it on the street. A recent news headline was:
"2008 Games Causes Shortages of Alcoholic Beverages in Accra"
MY HOME:
My host mother is named Victoria. She is a fashion designer and her shop is right next to her home. She lives with two apprentices named Elizabeth and Rose. Also, Elizabeth's daughter, Kiki, lives with us. She is 5 years old (adorable) and enjoys calling me 'obrunyi' or 'white girl' (There is also a song that accompagnies this comment that children sing to me on the street). Kiki enjoys 'doing my hair' which involves knotting it and wrapping it with a ribbon. I live in a very nice home and have my own room. The running water is on and off and the toilets flush when they are in the mood. The stoves are lit with matches and I am hoping to learn some cooking. Yesterday I was taught how to do bucket laundry which is harder than it looks! The first few nights in my new home I heard a man talking all night outside of my window. I asked and was told that we have watchman named Edouwin who comes at night and stays outside. When we watch tv he watches through the window and talks to me, but he doesn't speak much english. He is very old and not all there in the head so its funny that he is 'protecting' our house.
I was born on a Saturday and so my Fantse name is Amma. Sometimes my host mother calls me that. It will take me a while to get used to the food here. Things are very spicy and a food staple is "kenkey" which is fermented cooked corn. People who like kenkey often like the taste of very sour milk if that gives you an idea. Fish and rice are also staples. The pineapple is AMAZING. It is totally different from what we're used to. It is white and it tastes like candy. Also, you can even eat the core because it is so ripe.
SCHOOL:
I walk about 20-25 minutes to school everyday along the chicken's and goats on the streets. I am hoping to make a photojournal of my walk to school to put online for you. I am beginning to learn Fantse which is difficult because we are going so fast but I am getting it.
CUSTOMS:
In Ghana, like in India, it is very rude to use the left hand. Being left handed I have found this quite difficult as I usually eat and gesture with my left hand. When I was doing my homework my little 'sister' told me that I was not allowed to write that way and that my mother would be angry.
KEEP UPDATED WITH HOW I LOOK:
I cut my hair! That's not true. My friend cut it. After two days here I decided it was too difficult to wash my long hair in the bucket showers and i've been meaning to donate it to Locks of Love so my friend cut 10 inches right off. I hope customs doesn't ask about the ponytail in my suitcase when I go home...
I miss you all!!!! Internet is on and off here so I will write again as soon as i can!
Love,
Danielle
HOSTELS:
We spend the first 4 or 5 days staying in hostels with 4 people to a room. I really like our group, everyone is very chill and we all get along so far. The bathroom in our hostel was the best part of our stay. Allow me to describe:
1) lizards seemed to enjoy our bathroom
2) yay for bucket showers! there was actually a shower head but it didnt work
3)the toilet leaked and so the floor was perpetually covered in water
4)the shower didn't exactly...'drain'
5)and finally, there are no doorknobs on the inside or bathroom doors, and so getting in to the bathroom is easy, but getting out requires knocking. I have found this to be true of my current home as well. It's interesting when there's no one who can hear you knocking.
CAPE COAST:
Cape Coast is great. There are people everywhere carrying things on their heads and babies on their backs. The most impressive feat I've seen so far is a woman carrying about 120 eggs on her head in crates, but i also see suitcases and televisions regularly defying gravity. The market is swarming with cars, workers, and fruit stands. Everything is used and rundown. Gutters line the streets with sewage and the smells are less than pleasant. It's very dusty and the city seems permanently hazy and very hot. But, the slave castle is eerily beautiful and right on the coast. We went to the beach which looks as if it is out of a movie with hundreds of palm trees!
We also went to a national park rainforest where we crossed a 40 meter high rope canopy bridge aboves the trees. It was beeeaautiful!
AFRICA CUP!!:
Right now there is a HUGE football (soccer) tournament in Africa which is comparable to the superbowl. It is being held this year in Ghana's capital: Accra and Ghana made it to the quarter finals which are tonight! People get SOOOOO excited for the Africa cup. Everyone wears Ghana flags around town and we had a field trip cancelled because of tonight's game. Ghana's team is called the Black Stars because of their flag and so people yell it on the street. A recent news headline was:
"2008 Games Causes Shortages of Alcoholic Beverages in Accra"
MY HOME:
My host mother is named Victoria. She is a fashion designer and her shop is right next to her home. She lives with two apprentices named Elizabeth and Rose. Also, Elizabeth's daughter, Kiki, lives with us. She is 5 years old (adorable) and enjoys calling me 'obrunyi' or 'white girl' (There is also a song that accompagnies this comment that children sing to me on the street). Kiki enjoys 'doing my hair' which involves knotting it and wrapping it with a ribbon. I live in a very nice home and have my own room. The running water is on and off and the toilets flush when they are in the mood. The stoves are lit with matches and I am hoping to learn some cooking. Yesterday I was taught how to do bucket laundry which is harder than it looks! The first few nights in my new home I heard a man talking all night outside of my window. I asked and was told that we have watchman named Edouwin who comes at night and stays outside. When we watch tv he watches through the window and talks to me, but he doesn't speak much english. He is very old and not all there in the head so its funny that he is 'protecting' our house.
I was born on a Saturday and so my Fantse name is Amma. Sometimes my host mother calls me that. It will take me a while to get used to the food here. Things are very spicy and a food staple is "kenkey" which is fermented cooked corn. People who like kenkey often like the taste of very sour milk if that gives you an idea. Fish and rice are also staples. The pineapple is AMAZING. It is totally different from what we're used to. It is white and it tastes like candy. Also, you can even eat the core because it is so ripe.
SCHOOL:
I walk about 20-25 minutes to school everyday along the chicken's and goats on the streets. I am hoping to make a photojournal of my walk to school to put online for you. I am beginning to learn Fantse which is difficult because we are going so fast but I am getting it.
CUSTOMS:
In Ghana, like in India, it is very rude to use the left hand. Being left handed I have found this quite difficult as I usually eat and gesture with my left hand. When I was doing my homework my little 'sister' told me that I was not allowed to write that way and that my mother would be angry.
KEEP UPDATED WITH HOW I LOOK:
I cut my hair! That's not true. My friend cut it. After two days here I decided it was too difficult to wash my long hair in the bucket showers and i've been meaning to donate it to Locks of Love so my friend cut 10 inches right off. I hope customs doesn't ask about the ponytail in my suitcase when I go home...
I miss you all!!!! Internet is on and off here so I will write again as soon as i can!
Love,
Danielle
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