Alrightie, we left our homestay’s last weekend for counterpart (or contact person?) workshop which was in a fairly large town where we got to stay in a fancy hotel with toilets, air conditioning, and HOT running water. But not going to lie, since we were there for 4 days, I would have gladly given up one of those things for the ability to leave the hotel property since we were confined the duration of our stay. Granted, we were occupied most of the time and there was no true need to leave. However, my busy-bodied self went a little crazy and ended up running sprints a couple of the mornings along the 200-meter driveway until I was too bored to continue. All in all, it was completely and totally 100% worth it though because I met my counterpart who is extremely kind-hearted and was excited to welcome me as well as found out my permanent site (which I can not disclose due to security reasons). What I can say is that it’s close to half way between two of the major cities in Ghana, Tamale and Kumasi, which is pretty rad.
My site is a village about 30 minutes away from a rather significant market town where I will be able to access everything I could possibly need (other than an exercise/yoga mat which I absolutely regret not packing). The main market days are Tuesday-Friday but the majority of people set up shop every day since it is their main source of income. As an American farmers market connoisseur, I appreciate the market towns surplus of fresh tomatoes, yam, banana, pineapple, mango, avocado (or as Ghanaians say “pear”), squash, carrot and more. Between my wrecked digestive tract the first few days and the realization that meat and fish are often left outside with no refrigeration most of the day and covered in insects as well as exposed to everyone’s germs all day, I have decided to again pursue a vegetarian diet again (sorry mom and dad). I am more than open to changing this at a later point should I find a person whom I trust entirely to purchase it from, but until then, meat is a no go. Lucky for me, there is always a plethora of beans, legumes, and eggs, which don’t go bad, are less expensive, and I prefer the taste anyway.
I arrived to my site on Friday evening after a full day of travel and anticipation. And lets just say, it has definitely surpassed any sort of expectations I had. I went into this whole thing pretty expectation-less, so I guess that’s not hard to surpass but still, I feel spoiled in my current accommodation. I have a pretty sweet set up- a full sized bed, two windows for a fantastic cross-breeze, a table and chairs, ceiling fan, and a girlie color scheme courtesy of my headmistress (principal). My room is one of 4 in a compound that is still getting finished being built. As of right now, only my room is finished since the landlord rushed to get it done prior to my arrival and the rest of the compound is still under construction. In the middle of all the rooms, there is a central courtyard perfect for laundry, cooking/eating, playing games, and studying all within the privacy of your own home! A set up that is truly ideal and has me wishing that the U.S. had this sort of arrangement.
Since arrival I have attended a full day’s worth of school, which was mostly dancing, preparing fufu, and playing futbol (I’m a bit confused as to if this was a special celebration or a typical Friday). I have also formally met all of the chiefs in my village at their palaces, met all the important members of the Catholic Church to which my school is connected, located the clinic, visited all three schools, and of course have spent countless hours with the kiddos of my community playing games, introducing myself, and learning Twi! To expand on some cultural tidbits, the Ghanaians are some of the friendliest and most caring people you will ever meet. You are expected to greet everyone you see, that is, unless you are on your way to go #2. In which case you straight up ignore the person because you have something unpleasant inside of you that needs to be excreted prior to starting conversation. Most greetings are not just “good morning”/ “good morning”. They generally lead to a follow up question such as “how are you?” and the answer to this question is always “I am fine”. Even if you are the opposite of fine. Most of the time it still doesn’t end here. Remember how I said the Ghanaians are caring? Exactly. They also care where you are going, where you are coming from. Most of my conversations involve me saying “I’m going home” and then them asking precisely where I live, what I was just doing or what I just bought at market, or what I am doing next. This has probably been one of the biggest aspects of culture shock so far since in the states you would not dare ask a complete stranger where they are coming from or to take whatever they just purchased out of their bag to show you as proof. I love it sometimes, especially since it forces me to think and speak in the local language more, and other times I am low key thinking “what’s a girl gotta do to just walk and buy some toilet paper without having to tell 5+ people that she ran out again.
On the same topic, I attended the Roman Catholic Church this morning to immerse and meet more members of my community. The priest legitimately RAN out of the church as soon as I walked in to fetch his English Bible so that he could do the readings in both Twi and English so that I could understand. He also gave me a formal introduction to the community at the end of the service, telling them that God has blessed them with a new community member for the next two years. As I was walking out, everyone was eager to introduce themselves to me personally. It was really heartwarming and made me extremely excited for what is to come!
I also met a bunch of my future JHS students on Friday, and since then, they have been showing up to my room every hour or so to say hi and ask to help me with Twi. I gladly let them into the compound the first few times and let them teach me more vocabulary than I have the capacity to remember right now, but I have already had to set rules about when they can and cannot come hang out. I love their willingness to help and enthusiasm, don’t get me wrong. But one can only be so extroverted and spend so much time with junior high school kids in any given day. An aspiring doctor by the name of “Nelly” has been my saving grace as far as the language goes. As an avid reader, her English is far superior than many others in the community and she is able to translate most things with ease. She also has a loud and clear voice which is monumental in terms of me learning the pronunciation of Twi vocabulary.
Quote of the week: (translated from Twi)
Lady on the street: “Where are you going?”
Me: “Banana”
Lady: No where are you going?”
Me: “Banana…oh, wait. Plantain!”
Lady: “Nooooo. Where. Are. You. Going?”
Me: *silence*
Kelltothebell's Adventures as a PCV 