Quick blog entry because I just wrote a long one and it got erased
when the power went out! Now the Internet café is on a generator, but
I’m not trusting it to work for too long! So, here goes.
BENIN! A wonderful, wonderful trip. Not so much because of the slave
trade related stops we made, which were, although really interesting
and probably ultimately enlightening, sort of stressful and awkward in
the moment. More detail about that later. The cool part was seeing
this other West African country; it really taught me, I think, not to
make generalizations about things I’ve seen in Ghana as just being
parts of “West Africa” as a whole – Benin was actually surprisingly
different from Ghana.
A lot of things, of course, were the same. People dressed in the same
type of cloth, selling the same types of products, everybody
communicating in African languages that, like Fante, I couldn’t really
understand! But there were also definitely differences. According to
our academic director, Uncle E, French colonization philosophies were
really different from those of the British. The French always made it
possible for Africans in their colonies to work their way up to high
positions in the government, through education, while the British
never allowed their “African subjects” the same kind of mobility.
This, ironically, meant that Benin has lost a lot more aspects of
their indigenous cultures than British colonies like Ghana. But, it
also means that countries like Benin have received and continue to
receive a lot more aid than Ghana for developing their country now.
Uncle E told us that everything that Accra has now was planned and
built by Ghanaians, while a lot of the infrastructure that we saw in
the city where we stayed in Benin, Cotonou, was contributed by the
French government. That would explain the shady, tree-lined avenues
and little French bakeries on every corner!
In the streets, there were more motorcycles than I’ve ever seen
before, and men and women (women often with babies in their laps)
speeding all around the city on them. My friend Leigh and I, after a
productive morning shopping for fabrics in the market, sucked it up
and split a motorcycle taxi back to our hostel – it was terrifying and
exhilarating! I really like motorcycles! Later that night, on the
most adventure-filled evening I’ve had since I arrived in Ghana, I got
a ride on a motorcycle from a translator friend, and almost had a
heart attack when the motorcycle crashed into a huge pothole in the
middle of the street! We were fine, though, thanks to the expert
chauffer.
Other aspects of the Benin trip: One day, we visited Ganvie, a village of about 20,000 people who live entirely on the water. They moved onto the water during the slave raids, because it became common knowledge that slave raiders had a spiritual aversion to water and avoided it at all costs. Even now, centuries after the end of the slave trade, Ganvie people have decided to stay on the water. A few years back, the Beninese government decided to turn Ganvie into a tourist attraction. This meant that all of a sudden foreign tourists began pouring into the village and taking pictures of the people as they paddled around in canoes. Probably because Ganvie residents never asked to become a tourist attraction, and initially moved onto the water in ORDER to avoid unwanted interactions with foreigners, they are to this day very hostile toward foreigners. We weren't briefed on any of these "details" before we ourselves took a motorboat into Ganvie, and the subsequent visit, in which we motored through the alleyways between houses on stilts, making waves for all the canoeing men and women, was really, really uncomfortable for everyone. Children hissed at anyone who took out their camera, and the only place we actually stopped in the village was this touristy hotel on stilts, where people wanted to sell us local artwork.
During the debriefing session afterwards, we all talked a lot about how uncomfortable we had felt, and about the feeling we had had the entire time that our presence was really unwanted, and that we probably shouldn't have gone there at all. We were surprised at SIT, who we felt like has usually planned such culturally sensitive excursions for us, always in agreement with the people who we go to visit...this time, it just felt like we were really not showing respect for the people whose home community we were barging through.
Umm...I have four minutes left, so I guess I have to send this now. More details next time I can make it to the Internet. Love you everyone!!!! I miss you and will be home SOON!
Love,
Sara
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Northern Trip!
Hi everyone!! I’m in Cape Coast again, after our 11-day trip to Northern Ghana! This is just a brief 4-day lull, before we head out again on Monday, this time for Benin! But that will be a shorter trip, coming back next Saturday. The trip to the North was pretty neat; we saw a lot of different places. First we went to Kumasi, just for a night before heading out at 4 am for Wa, a small city in the Northwest part of Ghana. We stayed at a hostel there for several nights, and spent each day venturing out to small villages relatively close to the city. By relatively close I mean about a three and a half hour ride each way, on bumpy dirt roads, in the case of the first village we visited! That was Gwollu, a village which has become well-known, at least within Ghana, for building a huge wall that surrounded the entire village, in order to keep slave raiders out. The wall has mostly fallen down at this point, but a portion of it is preserved for public viewing. The coolest part of our visit there was that, because the SIT students visit Gwollu every semester, the chief and elders there are familiar with our program, and they were waiting for us when we got there. First, we greeted all of them and they offered us what they called welcome water, which was actually not water but a fermented millet drink, served in calabashes, that is apparently always used in greeting visitors. It was pretty sour and not the tastiest drink ever, but we forced it down! Then the chief and elders spoke with us, and we were given the opportunity to ask them any questions we wanted to, about Gwollu, the slave trade, etc. We talked to them for about an hour, and then were taken around the community to see, among other things, the pond where crocodiles slither about underneath the water lilies, and the grave of the man who proposed and went about constructing the famous wall.
Pretty soon we were told that it was about time to go, but some of us had landed on the idea of undertaking the short walk from Gwollu, which is a border town, to Burkina Faso! Our program coordinator laughingly consented, and walked with us down the hot dirt path until the telephone poles switched from wood to metal—and that signals the border into Burkina Faso! We took pictures on the Burkina Faso side, said hi to a few boys riding bikes down the path between the two countries, and headed back. Maybe it doesn’t mean much, but it was still an exhilarating feeling having been to another country! One interesting thing to note, that is much supported by the Africa class I took at Macalester a few semesters ago, is just how meaningless African country borders really are. Ethnic groups continue across country borders; lots of friends and relatives of Gwollu residents live across the border in Burkina Faso, and they all speak the same language, dress the same way, and trade amongst each other all the time. Gwollu residents who don’t speak English, though, would be hard pressed to communicate with other ethnic groups living in other parts of Ghana.
The next day, we went to Sankana, a village close to Wa where community members showed us the caves that people hid in when slave raiders came near. We also saw the mountain where villagers kept watch from (sounding the alarm with talking drums and horns when they saw a dust cloud on the road, indicating a nearing raiding team on horseback). Then we got to talk to the chief and community elders under the shade
of a huge tree, and ask them whatever questions we wanted to. It was pretty cool; we took a picture with them afterwards. They invited us back in April, when they have a festival that reenacts the slaveraids, and half of the villagers pretend to be "raiders" while the other half go hide in the caves. I think it would be amazing to see it, although I would hope they wouldn't automatically label us "raiders" and expect us to join in the fun and pretend to round up slaves! I don't know if I could handle that! It would be really
interesting to see, though, even though the distance to get here will probably make it impossible to go back.
Then we went to Mole National Park for a night! This was an amazing stay for several reasons. First, that afternoon we went on a hike around the grounds and saw tons of bushbuck, a few warthogs, kod deer, and elephant and hyena footprints!!!! Second, that night the OTHER SIT group from Accra arrived!!!!! We hadn’t known we would overlap. It was just wonderful to see Susanna and catch up about our last two months, commiserate about a few program frustrations, etc! We walked around for a long time during this crazy thunder storm, had a hilarious run-in with this British man who was by far the rudest person I have ever met in my entire life, etc! It was a fun night. And the next day, we headed off for Tamale! Tamale is a really bizarre, which I’m sure I would understand better if I’d spent longer there. But my initial impression was an about 90% Muslim city, with all these veiled women jetting around the city at breakneck speed on motorcyles!
Our last few days were spent in Kumasi, having some art lectures and traveling to an amazing carving village outside the city. And now we’re back in Cape Coast! I’ve been having fun spending time with Georgina and Auntie Hettie again, and yesterday I had a nice afternoon walking around the entire city of Cape Coast with my neighbor/cousin Kojo! I saw a lot of parts of the city that I hadn’t seen before. I have a cold and I think I’ll try to take it easy the next few days, but one thing I’m definitely doing is going to a street carnival with my friend Fred tomorrow night! That should be interesting. And then, we’re in Benin until next Saturday, at which point we begin our ISPs!!! More details on that later. I’ve done about as much Internet as I can for today!
It’s amazing that we’ve now done over half of our time in Ghana. We’ve been here for two months today, and we only have seven weeks left. My major goals for the rest of my time here are to hang out with as many Ghanaians as possible, spend lots of time with my host family, and do an awesome ISP! Oh, and keep improving my Fante – I speak it a lot with Georgina, but on my Northern trip it was of no use at all, so I’m working to get it up to speed again (not that it has ever been very good)!
I hope everyone is doing wonderful! Write!
Love,
Sara
Pretty soon we were told that it was about time to go, but some of us had landed on the idea of undertaking the short walk from Gwollu, which is a border town, to Burkina Faso! Our program coordinator laughingly consented, and walked with us down the hot dirt path until the telephone poles switched from wood to metal—and that signals the border into Burkina Faso! We took pictures on the Burkina Faso side, said hi to a few boys riding bikes down the path between the two countries, and headed back. Maybe it doesn’t mean much, but it was still an exhilarating feeling having been to another country! One interesting thing to note, that is much supported by the Africa class I took at Macalester a few semesters ago, is just how meaningless African country borders really are. Ethnic groups continue across country borders; lots of friends and relatives of Gwollu residents live across the border in Burkina Faso, and they all speak the same language, dress the same way, and trade amongst each other all the time. Gwollu residents who don’t speak English, though, would be hard pressed to communicate with other ethnic groups living in other parts of Ghana.
The next day, we went to Sankana, a village close to Wa where community members showed us the caves that people hid in when slave raiders came near. We also saw the mountain where villagers kept watch from (sounding the alarm with talking drums and horns when they saw a dust cloud on the road, indicating a nearing raiding team on horseback). Then we got to talk to the chief and community elders under the shade
of a huge tree, and ask them whatever questions we wanted to. It was pretty cool; we took a picture with them afterwards. They invited us back in April, when they have a festival that reenacts the slaveraids, and half of the villagers pretend to be "raiders" while the other half go hide in the caves. I think it would be amazing to see it, although I would hope they wouldn't automatically label us "raiders" and expect us to join in the fun and pretend to round up slaves! I don't know if I could handle that! It would be really
interesting to see, though, even though the distance to get here will probably make it impossible to go back.
Then we went to Mole National Park for a night! This was an amazing stay for several reasons. First, that afternoon we went on a hike around the grounds and saw tons of bushbuck, a few warthogs, kod deer, and elephant and hyena footprints!!!! Second, that night the OTHER SIT group from Accra arrived!!!!! We hadn’t known we would overlap. It was just wonderful to see Susanna and catch up about our last two months, commiserate about a few program frustrations, etc! We walked around for a long time during this crazy thunder storm, had a hilarious run-in with this British man who was by far the rudest person I have ever met in my entire life, etc! It was a fun night. And the next day, we headed off for Tamale! Tamale is a really bizarre, which I’m sure I would understand better if I’d spent longer there. But my initial impression was an about 90% Muslim city, with all these veiled women jetting around the city at breakneck speed on motorcyles!
Our last few days were spent in Kumasi, having some art lectures and traveling to an amazing carving village outside the city. And now we’re back in Cape Coast! I’ve been having fun spending time with Georgina and Auntie Hettie again, and yesterday I had a nice afternoon walking around the entire city of Cape Coast with my neighbor/cousin Kojo! I saw a lot of parts of the city that I hadn’t seen before. I have a cold and I think I’ll try to take it easy the next few days, but one thing I’m definitely doing is going to a street carnival with my friend Fred tomorrow night! That should be interesting. And then, we’re in Benin until next Saturday, at which point we begin our ISPs!!! More details on that later. I’ve done about as much Internet as I can for today!
It’s amazing that we’ve now done over half of our time in Ghana. We’ve been here for two months today, and we only have seven weeks left. My major goals for the rest of my time here are to hang out with as many Ghanaians as possible, spend lots of time with my host family, and do an awesome ISP! Oh, and keep improving my Fante – I speak it a lot with Georgina, but on my Northern trip it was of no use at all, so I’m working to get it up to speed again (not that it has ever been very good)!
I hope everyone is doing wonderful! Write!
Love,
Sara
Saturday, March 7, 2009
March!!
Hey everyone!
It's been another nice few weeks in Ghana!! We've mainly been in Cape Coast, but we took a four day trip to Accra at the beginning of this trip. We stayed in a nice hostel (with an overhead fan!!!! luxurious!!!) and visited some historical sites, like the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and the house of W.E.B. Du Bois. We also went to the national museum of Ghana (not that exciting). And, there was also time for just walking around Accra and getting the feel of it. The best way to distinguish it from Cape Coast, it seems, is the incredible amount of traffic. Entire miles of freeway would just be entirely jammed up every morning, and it didn't seem to be due to any particular accident, but just because there are too many cars and too few lanes or streets for them to be on. just that made me glad to come back to Cape Coast after a few days! The cities do have lots of similarities, though. There's still a somewhat country feel to Accra, even though it has many city qualities - street vendors walking up and down between lanes of traffic, aggressive hawkers of artesanal goods, big buildings, a MALL. But there's still lots of green in between all the buildings; I'm not sure if after a decade or two, the green will have disappeared, or whether the city is just naturally pretty spread out and will stay way, leaving green spaces in between.
One amazing experience I had in Accra! We went to the mall one day (everyone was excited for American food), and my friend Kelsey and I were just walking along inside the mall when we saw crowds and crowds of people gathered outside the Panasonic store. Occasionally there was a shout or cheer from the crowd. We couldn't figure out what was going on, except that the crowd was getting bigger and bigger by the second. Finally, we went up to figure it out, and saw that inside the store, against one wall, they were broadcasting live the Ghana-Senegal soccer game, that I guess is part of an All african tournament that's been going on? We made our way into the crowd just as the game ended, tied, and the teams entered a shoot-off. They were tied for the first few shots, and then, Senegal shot and the Ghanaian goalie blocked the shot. The crowd went WILD!!! One woman practically jumped on top of me hugging me! People were shouting and skipping through the halls. Pretty quickly they got calmed down for Ghana's last shot - and it went in, signifying the end of the game, and a victory for Ghana. I have never heard so much noise inside a mall before. Everyone was jumping, dancing, and screaming...and by everyone, I mean the security guards, the cleaning ladies, businessmen and women who'd stopped to watch the end of the game, little children, the Panasonic store attendants....everyone!!! It was such a cool thing to experience.
Now we're back in Cape Coast, and have another week here before we leave for our trip to Northern Ghana, which everyone is VERY excited for. We're done with our Fante classes, and so now we're mostly having classes related to Ghanaian history and culture. Did I mention an incredible African dance workshop we had about a week ago? A few friends and I are really interested in taking more dance (and possibly drum) workshops in the time we have left in Cape Coast...we'll see if it's possible. I think it would be REALLY fun. I'm still planning to play with the jazz band I mentioned before, although I have yet to actually practice with them; we were going to meet up yesterday and then a series of miscommunications made that impossible...but we're planning to rehearse for the first time on Monday, and supposedly have our first show next Friday??? I'm dubious, but we'll see what happens.
I had a nice moment yesterday while walking home from town with Georgina. We were taking one of many shortcuts, down a dusty narrow path, among banana trees, that would end up at the highway that we would follow for a while in order to get home. I was just watching all the other people who were going along the path just like us - people in suits, dressed up, or in everyday clothes - and I was thinking about how in Ghana, just like in Ecuador, it seems like even people who are very well-off aren't "above" doing things like coming home from their fancy office and walking through dirt and mud, catching buses, lighting candles to deal with the constant power outages, etc. I like how it puts everyone a little more on the same level, even though obviously here there are huge varieties in economic classes, just like anywhere else. I guess I just like the willingness of people to revert back to a simpler lifestyle when necessity arises. I was thinking about all this, and just realized that I really do like Ghana, and I've grown to feel very comfortable here. I feel like I now know what to expect when I interact with people, and I understand better the ways in which they interact with me. I know my way around town (fairly well), and I love my host family...I'm hoping to land on an ISP topic that will let me live with them for the last month I'm here! I definitely feel like culture shock has come and gone, and I feel very stable. So that was nice! Then Georgina and I started singing, and as we walked by, people would look up and smile at us; I don't know if it's normal for people to sing on the street here, but nobody seemed to mind. We sang all the way home, and then my host mom taught me to make groundnut (peanut) soup. Delicious!!!!!
That's my update. I'll probably write again after our trip to the North. Love you everyone, hope you're doing well!
Love,
Sara
It's been another nice few weeks in Ghana!! We've mainly been in Cape Coast, but we took a four day trip to Accra at the beginning of this trip. We stayed in a nice hostel (with an overhead fan!!!! luxurious!!!) and visited some historical sites, like the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and the house of W.E.B. Du Bois. We also went to the national museum of Ghana (not that exciting). And, there was also time for just walking around Accra and getting the feel of it. The best way to distinguish it from Cape Coast, it seems, is the incredible amount of traffic. Entire miles of freeway would just be entirely jammed up every morning, and it didn't seem to be due to any particular accident, but just because there are too many cars and too few lanes or streets for them to be on. just that made me glad to come back to Cape Coast after a few days! The cities do have lots of similarities, though. There's still a somewhat country feel to Accra, even though it has many city qualities - street vendors walking up and down between lanes of traffic, aggressive hawkers of artesanal goods, big buildings, a MALL. But there's still lots of green in between all the buildings; I'm not sure if after a decade or two, the green will have disappeared, or whether the city is just naturally pretty spread out and will stay way, leaving green spaces in between.
One amazing experience I had in Accra! We went to the mall one day (everyone was excited for American food), and my friend Kelsey and I were just walking along inside the mall when we saw crowds and crowds of people gathered outside the Panasonic store. Occasionally there was a shout or cheer from the crowd. We couldn't figure out what was going on, except that the crowd was getting bigger and bigger by the second. Finally, we went up to figure it out, and saw that inside the store, against one wall, they were broadcasting live the Ghana-Senegal soccer game, that I guess is part of an All african tournament that's been going on? We made our way into the crowd just as the game ended, tied, and the teams entered a shoot-off. They were tied for the first few shots, and then, Senegal shot and the Ghanaian goalie blocked the shot. The crowd went WILD!!! One woman practically jumped on top of me hugging me! People were shouting and skipping through the halls. Pretty quickly they got calmed down for Ghana's last shot - and it went in, signifying the end of the game, and a victory for Ghana. I have never heard so much noise inside a mall before. Everyone was jumping, dancing, and screaming...and by everyone, I mean the security guards, the cleaning ladies, businessmen and women who'd stopped to watch the end of the game, little children, the Panasonic store attendants....everyone!!! It was such a cool thing to experience.
Now we're back in Cape Coast, and have another week here before we leave for our trip to Northern Ghana, which everyone is VERY excited for. We're done with our Fante classes, and so now we're mostly having classes related to Ghanaian history and culture. Did I mention an incredible African dance workshop we had about a week ago? A few friends and I are really interested in taking more dance (and possibly drum) workshops in the time we have left in Cape Coast...we'll see if it's possible. I think it would be REALLY fun. I'm still planning to play with the jazz band I mentioned before, although I have yet to actually practice with them; we were going to meet up yesterday and then a series of miscommunications made that impossible...but we're planning to rehearse for the first time on Monday, and supposedly have our first show next Friday??? I'm dubious, but we'll see what happens.
I had a nice moment yesterday while walking home from town with Georgina. We were taking one of many shortcuts, down a dusty narrow path, among banana trees, that would end up at the highway that we would follow for a while in order to get home. I was just watching all the other people who were going along the path just like us - people in suits, dressed up, or in everyday clothes - and I was thinking about how in Ghana, just like in Ecuador, it seems like even people who are very well-off aren't "above" doing things like coming home from their fancy office and walking through dirt and mud, catching buses, lighting candles to deal with the constant power outages, etc. I like how it puts everyone a little more on the same level, even though obviously here there are huge varieties in economic classes, just like anywhere else. I guess I just like the willingness of people to revert back to a simpler lifestyle when necessity arises. I was thinking about all this, and just realized that I really do like Ghana, and I've grown to feel very comfortable here. I feel like I now know what to expect when I interact with people, and I understand better the ways in which they interact with me. I know my way around town (fairly well), and I love my host family...I'm hoping to land on an ISP topic that will let me live with them for the last month I'm here! I definitely feel like culture shock has come and gone, and I feel very stable. So that was nice! Then Georgina and I started singing, and as we walked by, people would look up and smile at us; I don't know if it's normal for people to sing on the street here, but nobody seemed to mind. We sang all the way home, and then my host mom taught me to make groundnut (peanut) soup. Delicious!!!!!
That's my update. I'll probably write again after our trip to the North. Love you everyone, hope you're doing well!
Love,
Sara
Monday, February 23, 2009
Komenda
I'm back in Cape Coast after an incredible week in the fishing village of KOMENDA!!! I was half excited, half dreading this last week...I just didn't know what to expect, and had felt like I was just settling into my life in Cape Coast when we had to pick up and leave again. But, it was actually my best week so far. We arrived at homestay families in the village (my friend Leigh and I shared a room at the same house), and our family lived about a one minute walk from the ocean!! We could see it from our bedroom window! It wasn't the picturesque setting you might imagine, because in Komenda, the beach is used as a public restroom...people just squat on the beach and go about their business. I wasn't prepared for this when I wandered down there on one of our first days, journal in hand, hoping to write a poem. There were at least four men using the bathroom within my view. But anyway! I didn't mean to start my blog entry talking about THAT! Basically, the town was very small, with about two paved roads and the rest just sandy. We lived within easy walking distance of our program director (he lives there permanently and travels to Cape Coast every day usually). My assignment was to look into something related to health, both in Komenda and a tiny village called Kyiase, over the course of the week. I promptly decided to research fetish priests and their methods of healing people; I hadn't realized it, but these priests are everywhere, and many people rely on them as the most effective way of getting cured of diseases. Generally, there is one or more priest located near any particular god, which can be a tree, a body of water, or some other landmark. The priest that I spent the most time talking to lived in Kyiase (Chee-ah-see) and worked through the gods in that village, namely a huge tree and a small pond. He accepts payment in the form of bottles of Schnapps, and can cure people with anything from malaria to worms to life problems, like constantly losing your job, and things like that. A big problem, he says, are witches and wizards who decide to put curses on other people. That's one way you can get HIV, is if a witch or wizard decides to curse you. Some, he says, can even turn into mosquitoes, bite you, and give you HIV. All this was just fascinating to me, especially after reading Paul Farmer's book last year, about AIDS in Haiti, which talks a lot about the importance of sorcery in the social scene created by the existence of AIDS there. I'm thinking about possible ISP ideas (for my project at the end of the semester), and something related is seeming potentially amazing to look into. Most of my days were spent walking around with one of the Fante translators that were allotted to us, Daniel, who would help me find priests to talk to and then would help me translate the questions I had for them.
One amazing thing happened on Friday. The fetish priest in Kyiase had told us to go on that day with a bottle of Schnapps, and he would perform a small ritual to demonstrate how he helps sick people who go to him. We went, and watched while he set an egg (which we had just bought at a store for him) in the center of the concrete floor, prayed to the specific gods I mentioned for about two minutes, asking them to cook the egg. There was no fire or heat in sight, and it was literally two minutes later (I timed it) when he handed Daniel the egg and told him to throw it on the floor. He threw it on the floor, and lo and behold, it was hard boiled. I have absolutely no explanation for this. Daniel and I basically looked at each other and started laughing -- there was no other way to respond. We both remain astounded by what happened. One thing I thought was very interesting was that the priest told us that day that part of his prayer ritual involves asking the Supreme God to help the lesser gods (the tree and the water) in cooking the egg for us. I asked him naively who the Supreme God was, and he answered, shocked that I didn't know, Jesus Christ!!! I had no idea that traditional religions and Christianity had blended to this extent.
By the way, apparently the egg ritual helps him determine whether the sick person who has come to him is able to be cured or not; an uncooked egg indicates that a witch or wizard has stolen your soul, and he'll have to try to get it back from them; if he can't, you're doomed to die. So it is really very fortunate that the egg did cook!!!!
So, that was my week. The living conditions at our homestay family weren't as comfortable as in Cape Coast; there was no running water and the power was out for over twenty-four hours during the week. There was also a rat in our room that would jump on our beds during the night and once nibbled through an unopened bag of water (here they drink water from bags, not bottles) that I'd left on top of my Fante notebook...my notebook is still drying out! But it was a good experience, definitely. I was grateful to come back to the relative luxury of my house in Cape Coast! (And I'm sure that if I spent a week living in even simpler conditions at some point, Komenda would also feel luxurious.) So, it was a really good week. Now we're back in Cape Coast and doing our last week of Fante classes. I'm hoping to hang out this week with a few friends I've made here...Matthew and Champion, two soccer players I made friends with a few weeks ago, Kwame, this really nice guy I met at a club last weekend, and Fred, our tour guide during one of the first few days at Kakum National Park...the guy I might play the piano for in his jazz band! Haha. We'll see how much of this ends up happening!
I'm feeling very content, excited about spending lots of time this week with my host family, and then going to big, noisy Accra next week! Hope everyone's well!!! Thank you for reading!
Love,
Sara
One amazing thing happened on Friday. The fetish priest in Kyiase had told us to go on that day with a bottle of Schnapps, and he would perform a small ritual to demonstrate how he helps sick people who go to him. We went, and watched while he set an egg (which we had just bought at a store for him) in the center of the concrete floor, prayed to the specific gods I mentioned for about two minutes, asking them to cook the egg. There was no fire or heat in sight, and it was literally two minutes later (I timed it) when he handed Daniel the egg and told him to throw it on the floor. He threw it on the floor, and lo and behold, it was hard boiled. I have absolutely no explanation for this. Daniel and I basically looked at each other and started laughing -- there was no other way to respond. We both remain astounded by what happened. One thing I thought was very interesting was that the priest told us that day that part of his prayer ritual involves asking the Supreme God to help the lesser gods (the tree and the water) in cooking the egg for us. I asked him naively who the Supreme God was, and he answered, shocked that I didn't know, Jesus Christ!!! I had no idea that traditional religions and Christianity had blended to this extent.
By the way, apparently the egg ritual helps him determine whether the sick person who has come to him is able to be cured or not; an uncooked egg indicates that a witch or wizard has stolen your soul, and he'll have to try to get it back from them; if he can't, you're doomed to die. So it is really very fortunate that the egg did cook!!!!
So, that was my week. The living conditions at our homestay family weren't as comfortable as in Cape Coast; there was no running water and the power was out for over twenty-four hours during the week. There was also a rat in our room that would jump on our beds during the night and once nibbled through an unopened bag of water (here they drink water from bags, not bottles) that I'd left on top of my Fante notebook...my notebook is still drying out! But it was a good experience, definitely. I was grateful to come back to the relative luxury of my house in Cape Coast! (And I'm sure that if I spent a week living in even simpler conditions at some point, Komenda would also feel luxurious.) So, it was a really good week. Now we're back in Cape Coast and doing our last week of Fante classes. I'm hoping to hang out this week with a few friends I've made here...Matthew and Champion, two soccer players I made friends with a few weeks ago, Kwame, this really nice guy I met at a club last weekend, and Fred, our tour guide during one of the first few days at Kakum National Park...the guy I might play the piano for in his jazz band! Haha. We'll see how much of this ends up happening!
I'm feeling very content, excited about spending lots of time this week with my host family, and then going to big, noisy Accra next week! Hope everyone's well!!! Thank you for reading!
Love,
Sara
Monday, February 9, 2009
One week later....
Hi everybody!!! Wow, it's amazing that only one week has passed since I first wrote. Everything has fallen into place so much now; I actually have a HOUSE now, a bed which is MY bed, I know my route to school, the routes to my friends' houses...I have swum in the ocean!!!!!!!!!! It certainly hasn't been all fun and games, though; the culture shock has been harder than it was when I went to Ecuador. I think there are definitely a few things that have contributed to that. One is that I came to Ghana with expectations of it being somewhat like my Ecuador experience - which it may still be, but not in the way I expected. I guess for me, the appeal in coming to Ghana was becoming temporarily part of a West African society, making lots of Ghanaian friends, "becoming Ghanaian" for a while...the whole AFS deal!!!! The theme "History and Cultures of the African Diaspora" was something I barely even thought about before leaving!!! And then I got here, and all of a sudden, realized that we have CLASSES every day, with our study abroad group, and that often times, we have classes in both the morning AND the afternoon...that we will be traveling around for almost half of the entire time we're living here, and that we really won't be given many ready-made opportunities to form a big Ghanaian friends circle. All of that is OK - it's just something that I hadn't really given much thought to before I came. So here I was, the first week, looking around and wondering why I didn't have lots of Ghanaian friends yet, and of course I didn't...I'm in classes most of every day!!!!!! So, I was struggling with that, and some other things...like being so CLEARLY a foreigner every time I step outside, something I really never experienced in Ecuador. I could, at least by the end of my exchange year there, manage to fool people into believing I was Ecuadorian, and my appearance didn't give me away nearly as quickly as it does here. So, that's new - being constantly on display, no matter where I go. Either way, though, being on display is something I can get used to, and I am getting used to it. It's just harder than I realized it would be.
The good news is that this weekend I DID make some friends. I was walking past this pick up soccer game in my neighborhood, thinking how great it would be if I had someone I could play soccer with, when suddenly I realized that I should just go up and play!!!! They were very welcoming and quickly put me on a team, and I even scored a goal! The same guys took me and a friend to see their club soccer game yesterday, which was pretty amazing...not the game itself, but the atmosphere! More little boys and girls than I've ever seen in my life, all kicking each other and toppling over each other on the sidelines, chasing each other around, throwing orange peels at each other...and then child vendors amonst them, balancing huge trays of oranges on their heads, selling chips, bananas, etc. Our team lost, but that was okay! The soccer quality wasn't amazing, but it was still a pretty cool experience. They told me that whenever I'm bored, I should just call them up...they all live right in my neighborhood. One of them is obsessed with country music, and told me his favorite singer is Dolly Parton, and his dream is to visit Nashville one day!!!!!!! I thought that was hilarious. Sure enough, when I went to sleep two nights ago, I heard country music wafting in through the window, so his house must be one of the ones right near mine, haha.
I really like the girls on my program, too; everyone's really considerate and we work well as a team. I've had some really good conversations with some of them that have helped me feel better about the cultural and other adjustments I've been going through! Also, my host family!!!! They're pretty cool! There's my host mom, Auntie Hettie. She's a dressmaker and spends all her time sewing in the house, and is always SO friendly when I come home every day, asks me all about my day, always wants to make sure everything's all right with me. And Georgina, her adopted 12 year old daughter, who is the most proficient homemaker I've ever met!!!! She washes all the clothes by hand (she taught me how on Saturday, and I can do it to suit MY standards, but not her's!!!), and cooks dinner almost every night...dinner being rice or pasta with fish or meat or chicken in a semi-spicy red sauce (they make it less spicy because, as Auntie Hettie says, all that pepper would at this point kill my stomach!) There's also a lot of fried plantains around. In the morning we eat bread with pineapple jam and drink hot tea (it's really hot, but still, everyone drinks hot tea). We usually eat lunch at the restaurant right near our classroom. A few days ago, I tried fufu, which has a texture similar to bread dough, and is a mix of cassava and plantains. You eat it in groundnut (peanut) soup, with a piece of chicken stuck in there as well.
I have NOT gotten sick, and may be at this point the only one who's still healthy!!! We'll see how long this lasts. I've been being careful to only eat homecooked meals and meals at the restaurant, so I guess if it hasn't gotten me sick so far, maybe it won't in the future? Next week we're going to be staying in Komenda, a small fishing village, so we'll see what the food's like there. By the way, next week while we're there I probably won't have internet access, so just know that's what's up if you write something urgent and I don't respond!!!!
Okay! Was that a sufficient blog entry? I've talked about what's been most present in my mind! I'm sure there's a lot more to tell, but hopefully I'll be able to update sometime soon. I hope everyone else is doing GREAT on their study abroads!!!!!!!! I miss you all.
Love,
Sara
The good news is that this weekend I DID make some friends. I was walking past this pick up soccer game in my neighborhood, thinking how great it would be if I had someone I could play soccer with, when suddenly I realized that I should just go up and play!!!! They were very welcoming and quickly put me on a team, and I even scored a goal! The same guys took me and a friend to see their club soccer game yesterday, which was pretty amazing...not the game itself, but the atmosphere! More little boys and girls than I've ever seen in my life, all kicking each other and toppling over each other on the sidelines, chasing each other around, throwing orange peels at each other...and then child vendors amonst them, balancing huge trays of oranges on their heads, selling chips, bananas, etc. Our team lost, but that was okay! The soccer quality wasn't amazing, but it was still a pretty cool experience. They told me that whenever I'm bored, I should just call them up...they all live right in my neighborhood. One of them is obsessed with country music, and told me his favorite singer is Dolly Parton, and his dream is to visit Nashville one day!!!!!!! I thought that was hilarious. Sure enough, when I went to sleep two nights ago, I heard country music wafting in through the window, so his house must be one of the ones right near mine, haha.
I really like the girls on my program, too; everyone's really considerate and we work well as a team. I've had some really good conversations with some of them that have helped me feel better about the cultural and other adjustments I've been going through! Also, my host family!!!! They're pretty cool! There's my host mom, Auntie Hettie. She's a dressmaker and spends all her time sewing in the house, and is always SO friendly when I come home every day, asks me all about my day, always wants to make sure everything's all right with me. And Georgina, her adopted 12 year old daughter, who is the most proficient homemaker I've ever met!!!! She washes all the clothes by hand (she taught me how on Saturday, and I can do it to suit MY standards, but not her's!!!), and cooks dinner almost every night...dinner being rice or pasta with fish or meat or chicken in a semi-spicy red sauce (they make it less spicy because, as Auntie Hettie says, all that pepper would at this point kill my stomach!) There's also a lot of fried plantains around. In the morning we eat bread with pineapple jam and drink hot tea (it's really hot, but still, everyone drinks hot tea). We usually eat lunch at the restaurant right near our classroom. A few days ago, I tried fufu, which has a texture similar to bread dough, and is a mix of cassava and plantains. You eat it in groundnut (peanut) soup, with a piece of chicken stuck in there as well.
I have NOT gotten sick, and may be at this point the only one who's still healthy!!! We'll see how long this lasts. I've been being careful to only eat homecooked meals and meals at the restaurant, so I guess if it hasn't gotten me sick so far, maybe it won't in the future? Next week we're going to be staying in Komenda, a small fishing village, so we'll see what the food's like there. By the way, next week while we're there I probably won't have internet access, so just know that's what's up if you write something urgent and I don't respond!!!!
Okay! Was that a sufficient blog entry? I've talked about what's been most present in my mind! I'm sure there's a lot more to tell, but hopefully I'll be able to update sometime soon. I hope everyone else is doing GREAT on their study abroads!!!!!!!! I miss you all.
Love,
Sara
Sunday, February 1, 2009
GHANA!!!
Hey everybody,
I am in GHANA!!!! I am sitting in an INternet cafe, the fans are whirring above me, Ghanaians all around are eagerly typing / intermittently letting out whoops and groans in response to the soccer game being projected on the TV in the corner; through the window there are lovely ocean breezes, you can see houses layered onto the hill and birds flying around; it is HOT here, but most of the time, in a really good way, a really I'm-in-tropical-Africa!!! way. Everywhere are thick viney green plants and red dirt roads (not like the song) and people wearing long, elegant robes, carrying baskets of things on their head. It is still hard to believe that I'm here, in Africa, a whole different continent, but all these details I've just mentioned are making it easier and easier to actually take in!!!
The last few days have been orientation related, and on Tuesday we go to our host families. My host family consists of a single mom who's a dressmaker (!!!!!!!) and has one daughter who no longer lives with her, and another little girl who's adopted. There are apparently girls my age around the house all day long because they're apprentices for her, learning how to make dresses themselves. She's very Christian and attends church regularly. And according to the homestay coordinator who told me about her, she's a wonderful woman who's very pleasant to get along with. I am so excited to meet her, and the family!
So we got to Cape Coast early yesterday, and today we did a canopy walk on a set of swinging bridges, one of only 3 in the world of its size and height!!! It seemed a little treacherous, but we made it!!! And got some amazing views of an African tropical rainforest. AND, at the end of the morning our tour guide asked me if I'd be willing to play the piano for his jazz band some nights in Cape Coast!!!! hahahaha, I mean, who knows, but I like feeling like I might have made a friend! And of course it reaffirmed what everyone has told me about Ghanaians being the friendliest people ever.
Pretty soon we'll start learning Fante! I already know a few words, that a nice Ghanaian man on the plane taught me. Medasse is thank you, akwaaba is welcome, madanfo is friend. Those seem like good words to start off the semester! Okay, well, I'll sign off for now because there are people waiting to use the computers. One of them just came up and tried to wheedle me into giving him the computer, but then the owner of the INternet cafe came and shooed him away. But still, I should go. I'll hopefully be back someday soon!!! Good luck to EVERYONE on study abroads and not!!!! Love you all!
Sara
I am in GHANA!!!! I am sitting in an INternet cafe, the fans are whirring above me, Ghanaians all around are eagerly typing / intermittently letting out whoops and groans in response to the soccer game being projected on the TV in the corner; through the window there are lovely ocean breezes, you can see houses layered onto the hill and birds flying around; it is HOT here, but most of the time, in a really good way, a really I'm-in-tropical-Africa!!! way. Everywhere are thick viney green plants and red dirt roads (not like the song) and people wearing long, elegant robes, carrying baskets of things on their head. It is still hard to believe that I'm here, in Africa, a whole different continent, but all these details I've just mentioned are making it easier and easier to actually take in!!!
The last few days have been orientation related, and on Tuesday we go to our host families. My host family consists of a single mom who's a dressmaker (!!!!!!!) and has one daughter who no longer lives with her, and another little girl who's adopted. There are apparently girls my age around the house all day long because they're apprentices for her, learning how to make dresses themselves. She's very Christian and attends church regularly. And according to the homestay coordinator who told me about her, she's a wonderful woman who's very pleasant to get along with. I am so excited to meet her, and the family!
So we got to Cape Coast early yesterday, and today we did a canopy walk on a set of swinging bridges, one of only 3 in the world of its size and height!!! It seemed a little treacherous, but we made it!!! And got some amazing views of an African tropical rainforest. AND, at the end of the morning our tour guide asked me if I'd be willing to play the piano for his jazz band some nights in Cape Coast!!!! hahahaha, I mean, who knows, but I like feeling like I might have made a friend! And of course it reaffirmed what everyone has told me about Ghanaians being the friendliest people ever.
Pretty soon we'll start learning Fante! I already know a few words, that a nice Ghanaian man on the plane taught me. Medasse is thank you, akwaaba is welcome, madanfo is friend. Those seem like good words to start off the semester! Okay, well, I'll sign off for now because there are people waiting to use the computers. One of them just came up and tried to wheedle me into giving him the computer, but then the owner of the INternet cafe came and shooed him away. But still, I should go. I'll hopefully be back someday soon!!! Good luck to EVERYONE on study abroads and not!!!! Love you all!
Sara
Sunday, November 9, 2008
OBAMA!!!!!
Hi everyone,
Well, the obvious first thing to mention are the elections.... I am SO excited!!!! What a wonderful night that was! Gabriel went with me to an American bar called the Bungalow, where there were TONS of American teenagers and adults sprawled in sofas and on the floor in front of the disotec's 5 or 6 huge TVs. When CNN finally projected Obama as the winner, the owner of the bar (an American) passed around free drinks for all! We watched McCain's speech, Obama's, and then finally went out and caught a taxi home. Everyone in Ecuador is thrilled about the victory, although some, particularly aunts and uncles in my host family, who have a very leftist past, feel that from their point of view, a more "liberal" American president is not going to do the trick (in terms of Latin American relations). They see Obama as much better than McCain, but still a very free-market-loving capitalist who isn't going to help economics much in Ecuador. But, we'll see.
Besides the elections, things have been going along normally. One cool thing about two weeks ago was that my creative writing class had this extravagant, elegant poetry reading. We all dressed up (white shirt, black pants), and each wore a different colored scarf, and ordered bouquets of flowers, hor d'eurevers (which i have NO idea how to spell!!!) and waiters to serve them, after the recital was over. AND a musical interlude! Lots of friends came, as well as Paty (my host mom), so that was really nice. And I had fun reading some of the stuff I've written for this class, even though I know that if we'd have the kind of workshopping experience I've had in the US, everything i've written would have turned out five times better. But, oh well. Now we're in the story section of the class, and I've been having fun writing stories in Spanish. One of them I've gotten a little carried away on and it's now like 9 pages long!!!!
Gabriel's sister has had some depression problems lately, so I've been trying to balance being there to help the family and also continuing to have my own life, and not letting my own well-being depend too much on how things are going at Gabriel's house. But this weekend was really nice - Gabriel's mom and sister went to Esmeraldas to visit his dad, and we got to hang out a lot with our friends, go to this beautiful town outside of Quito called Sangolqui, eat lots of ice cream, and just generally have fun. NEXT weekend, we're planning to go to GUARANDA, a beautiful little city about 4 hours south of Quito, where I spent a week with a host family while I was on exchange here. I don't have ANY way of getting in touch with the family, but I remember where their house is, and am hoping they'll end up being there so I can stop in for a little while and say hi. If not, it'll still be nice to show Gabriel ( and maybe his friend Ricardo, who might even take his CAR...which would be excellent) what Guaranda's like. About a 25 minute drive from the city is a tiny town called Salinas, which has become a major producer of cheeses, meats, sweets, etc, etc. It has fun tours where you get to see all the community-operated machines. I'll let you know how that goes!
Something else cool....guess who's coming to Quito on November 21??? JUANES!!!!!!!!!!!! I've basically been waiting my whole life to FINALLY get to see him live, and so now I just have to figure out who's going to go with me!!! Because the very next day there is a concert of Ska-P, an awesome Spanish band that everyone wants to go see. But I am determined to see Juanes.
I'll put in this entry the only two recent pictures I can find on Gabriel's computer, which were taken last weekend at a get-together with his dad's side of the family. We're in the woods near his grandma's house, with his cousins and aunts and uncles. Anyway, that's about it for now - I'll try to update again soon!!!!
Love,
Sara
Well, the obvious first thing to mention are the elections.... I am SO excited!!!! What a wonderful night that was! Gabriel went with me to an American bar called the Bungalow, where there were TONS of American teenagers and adults sprawled in sofas and on the floor in front of the disotec's 5 or 6 huge TVs. When CNN finally projected Obama as the winner, the owner of the bar (an American) passed around free drinks for all! We watched McCain's speech, Obama's, and then finally went out and caught a taxi home. Everyone in Ecuador is thrilled about the victory, although some, particularly aunts and uncles in my host family, who have a very leftist past, feel that from their point of view, a more "liberal" American president is not going to do the trick (in terms of Latin American relations). They see Obama as much better than McCain, but still a very free-market-loving capitalist who isn't going to help economics much in Ecuador. But, we'll see.
Besides the elections, things have been going along normally. One cool thing about two weeks ago was that my creative writing class had this extravagant, elegant poetry reading. We all dressed up (white shirt, black pants), and each wore a different colored scarf, and ordered bouquets of flowers, hor d'eurevers (which i have NO idea how to spell!!!) and waiters to serve them, after the recital was over. AND a musical interlude! Lots of friends came, as well as Paty (my host mom), so that was really nice. And I had fun reading some of the stuff I've written for this class, even though I know that if we'd have the kind of workshopping experience I've had in the US, everything i've written would have turned out five times better. But, oh well. Now we're in the story section of the class, and I've been having fun writing stories in Spanish. One of them I've gotten a little carried away on and it's now like 9 pages long!!!!
Gabriel's sister has had some depression problems lately, so I've been trying to balance being there to help the family and also continuing to have my own life, and not letting my own well-being depend too much on how things are going at Gabriel's house. But this weekend was really nice - Gabriel's mom and sister went to Esmeraldas to visit his dad, and we got to hang out a lot with our friends, go to this beautiful town outside of Quito called Sangolqui, eat lots of ice cream, and just generally have fun. NEXT weekend, we're planning to go to GUARANDA, a beautiful little city about 4 hours south of Quito, where I spent a week with a host family while I was on exchange here. I don't have ANY way of getting in touch with the family, but I remember where their house is, and am hoping they'll end up being there so I can stop in for a little while and say hi. If not, it'll still be nice to show Gabriel ( and maybe his friend Ricardo, who might even take his CAR...which would be excellent) what Guaranda's like. About a 25 minute drive from the city is a tiny town called Salinas, which has become a major producer of cheeses, meats, sweets, etc, etc. It has fun tours where you get to see all the community-operated machines. I'll let you know how that goes!
Something else cool....guess who's coming to Quito on November 21??? JUANES!!!!!!!!!!!! I've basically been waiting my whole life to FINALLY get to see him live, and so now I just have to figure out who's going to go with me!!! Because the very next day there is a concert of Ska-P, an awesome Spanish band that everyone wants to go see. But I am determined to see Juanes.
I'll put in this entry the only two recent pictures I can find on Gabriel's computer, which were taken last weekend at a get-together with his dad's side of the family. We're in the woods near his grandma's house, with his cousins and aunts and uncles. Anyway, that's about it for now - I'll try to update again soon!!!!
Love,
Sara
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