Movin' 'n' Groovin' in Accra: Week 1

Hello friends and family! It's been a little over a week since my last post, and WOW! a ton has happened. Allow me to break it all down for you, day by day.

Monday the 3rd: My group dispersed into our individual homestays located all over Accra. My family is located in an area called Saint Johns. The house itself is quite big and sits just off of the freeway. Mama Vida, my host mother, has been hosting students from all over the world for years. It's hard to say which children are hers, but everyone is considered a brother/sister in Ghana. There's Calvin (18), Miriam (23), Daniel (23), Ivonne and Andrew(older, not sure of their exact age). They definitely biologically belong to Mama Vida. Then, there's Maxim (a man from Chad studying English, probably in his 20s or 30s), Kevin (a boy from the Ivory Coast studying English, age 5), Kwesi and Kweoku ("the help", both about 13). Having servants is extremely common in Ghana and these boys are treated very well. Typically, and in the case of these two, helping out a household is exchanged for schooling and a safe place to stay. Initial thoughts: Everyone is friendly, but not as interactive as I'd like.  They are all very busy.  On the bright side, I value my alone time a lot.

Tuesday the 4th: First day of school at the University of Ghana in Legon! I awake at 5:30AM each morning to get ready and eat breakfast before it's out the door to the tro-tro station. A note on breakfast, I had some popo (papaya) and immediately puked it up...the same fruit I had at the hotel that made me sick, go figure. No mo' popo fo' this Obroni (endearing term used by Ghanaians for white people, they love it when you counter with "Obibini!"-the endearing term for black people). Daniel went with me the first day to show me the ropes. It's about a three minute walk across a bridge over the freeway to the tro-tro station. Once I'm there, I get on the tro-tro heading for Legon. People consistantly extend their help in guiding me to the correct tro-tro, but I've come to pinpoint which tro-tros are mine. It's always the same drivers and mates (the money collector) in the same tro-tros everyday, morning and night. The drive is about 45 minutes and costs me 70 pesewas (bout 40 cents). When I get out at Legon, I walk about a mile to the University. The area is under construction, otherwise it wouldn't be so long. With the construction comes immense amounts of ruddy, orange dust swept around by the wind. Praise my allergy meds and sweat rags! By the time I reach the SIT office, it's about 7:30AM. Class starts at 8 and Yemi always takes the first hour or so to us, the students. We discuss what we are noticing, ask questions about how to handle various situations at home and on the streets, and tell funny stories. This time is vital and very therapeutic. Then, it's time for lecture. Each lecture is taught by a professor or local expert, the best of the best!

Our first lecture was on the geography of Ghana.

Fun facts:

-Ghana is located at the "center of the Earth", where 0 degrees longitude meets 0 degrees latitude...the people take great pride in this

-the temperature hasn't ever dropped below 50 degrees Farenheit...ever

-between 2000 and 2010, the population growth rate was 2.4%...WAY higher than the United States

-67% of Ghanaians are farmers (of food and crop stock)...about 3% of Americans are farmers

-you are six times poorer if you are born a woman, one reason for this is that land can only be owned by men

After the lecture, we break for lunch. Tuesdays are special because the pizza place across the street offers two pizzas for the price of one. American food! Six of us enjoyed a slice of home, a little za if you will, before fleeing to our respective homes.

When I return home, I'm greeted with a massive, starchy dinner. My dinners have included rice, banku, spaghetti, peanut soup, chicken, jolof rice, red sauce (blended tomatoes with onions, peppers, and pickles...so tasty!) All portions are 4 to 6 times bigger than you'd expect and Mama Vida likes to remind me that I "need to eat all"...it's often a struggle.

Wednesday the 5th: Many of the stories told at the beginning of the day are more frequently featuring interactions with men. Ghanaian men are relentless! Yemi says they all have an attitude of "quitters never win". Yaw, another SIT staffer, wants us to keep a tally of the number of marriage proposals we receive...thus far I've gotten one proposal and a couple "I love you's". We're told to just tell the men that we're already married, it always does the trick.

We have more Twi lessons in the morning, and then it's time for lunch. Ah, the bush canteen. Each day we go there for lunch. It's a great place to practice our Twi and enjoy more starch. The bush canteen is part market, part eatery. I've bought things like pens, notebooks, toilet paper (an essential item to have as not all bathrooms are stocked...even at home), tissues, jack and jills (imported vanilla wafers), and laundry soap. Food wise, besides the classic rice and red sauce, we can buy pineapple (better than Redlands pineapple, and that's saying something...it's white, not yellow here), bananas (they are SO small here), and oranges (actually green, and eaten in a most peculiar manner) among other things. The oranges are prepared by cutting off the outter layer while leaving the white part, and making a slit at the top. To eat it, you open the slit and essentially makeout with the fruit to get all the juice out...I've taken to tearing the white part with my teeth to obtain the solid part of the orange as well.

On this afternoon we had two lecturers come in. One, an anthropologist who talked about funerals in Ghana. My kinda guy! The other, an education professor delivering the history of education to us.

Funeral lecture fun facts:

-Ghanaians have funerals for everything: animals, plants, trees, people-everything has a spirit

-Dying is merely considered a changing of address, from the living world to the ancestoral world...that is, if you lived properly (not everyone makes it to the ancestoral world)

-living properly=responsible for your family and society, attained marriage, and cared for your children (so that when you die, they will care for you)

-it's a long journey to the ancestoral world! based on status, specific rituals need to be carried out

-the family of the deceased is responsible for forming funeral committees, these include: financial, food, protocol, information/advertising (death is spendy and well publicized in Ghana)

-those spirits who are denied access to the ancestoral world become samantwEtwEn (the "E" is actually a letter we don't have in the English alphabet, it's written like a backwards 3)

-in some traditions, when a chief dies his wife/wives are expected to follow him into death

Education lecture fun facts:

-First of all, the professor had all of us stand up and spell our names with our hips to get our blood flowin' after hearing about death for an hour and a half...she was fun

-education is free for young kids...however uniforms, books, and transportation are not free

-little value in educating women. why? they are often married at young age and/or expected to carry out domestic household chores (reforms are altering this for the better)

-Annual New Year School (65 years old!) this is a school that picks a topical, national/international issue and focusses on only that for the year (examples include: environment, government, gas/oil/energy industry)

-this made me jealous...only ONE standardized test given by the school, not the government after junior high school

Thursday the 6th: I was definitely 15 minutes late on this day...the tro-tro line was crazy long, had to stand there for an hour before taking my ride. In the morn we did more Twi. I learned how to explain my purpose in Ghana: Me be soonya Ghanafuo ahmahmere (I've come to learn Ghanaian culture)-our lessons are given orally as Twi is rarely written (all books written in Twi wouldn't fill up one small bookcase), so I can guarentee that is not how you spell ANY of those words...I'm also missing all the tonal markings. Twi is tough stuff yo!

In the afternoon we had a lecture on gender issues, fun facts:

-all women are mothers and sisters, all men are fathers and brothers...biology doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things ("We all belong to one family")

-the moment a woman's child starts having their own children, that woman stops having sex...called social menopause (men can continue having sex and often marry more women to do so)

-17% of women use contraceptives...that's low

-AIDS [American Idea to Discourage Sex]...some see it as completely mythical

-anti-HIV/contraceptive advocation is everywhere! [ABC: Abstain, Be Faithful, Condom]

-better living standards have led to a younger puberty age, which then leeds to younger and younger girls becoming prego

Back at my homestay, Kevin, the 5 year old, has really taken to me and my American goods...below is a photo of him. He asked me to go back to the Ivory Coast with him, "just for ten days pleeeeeeeeeeasssse". His parents were on their way to retrieve him from his six week stay in Ghana...he's a very brave little boy. I gave him one of my frisbees and he really lit up. In return, he gave me three packs of Jack and Jills...made my day.

 

I should also mention a bit about my room and evening routine. So, there's a bar that's a stones throw from my window (which MUST remain open for a breeze) and man almighty do they ever play loud music. After my bucket shower (which I've mastered, thank you very much) and homework, I snuggle into my mosquito net and sleep sheet for some shut eye...this occurs at about 9:30PM, give or take. But that damn music is blaring the same upbeat dance songs every night until well after midnight, so what do I do? Toss on the best Christmas gift ever received, my noise-cancelling headphones (THANK YOU DAD!) and play some soothing music from home...my ultimate comfort.

Friday the 7th: No Twi lesson today! I needed a break. Instead we had a lecture in the morning about highlife music. It was given by Prof. John Collins, who is totally the man! Worthy of a google search, people. In the afternoon, the group split into two. My group went to experience batik making. Here's a photo:

Kwame is in the yellow.

When I got home, I was finally able to reach my REAL mom! Absolutely uplifting to hear her voice. Though, I can assure you, I am not homesick. I am so happy to be here in Ghana, it's still a dream come true. I also bear in mind that there is an end to this program, so I need to seize each moment while I can! Who knows if I'll ever be able to return?
Stay tuned for more on drumming and dancing, a Black Stars Football game, church, and a funeral!