Today was a pretty fun day. We had our first language class in the native Twi. It shouldn't be very hard to learn at all. Then we had some speakers about Ghana's geographies and social qualities by some very smart and interesting men. After that we went to the market in Accra. It was one of the most wild things I have ever seen. I guess it was pretty much everything I would expect from a third world market and more. We were the only white people in site, so we got a lot of attention. I only got proposed to once and called an obruni (the Ghanaian equivalent of gringo) a hundred times. However, this in not a derogative term, merely just a name to try to get my attention. I impressed some of them with my new found Twi language skills and they found it very exciting. The sights and smells will be in my mind for many years to come.
Yesterday was also a very good day as we just relaxed under an umbrellas at the beach for a long time. The water was so warm and the waves were pretty nice. I rented a long board for less that $3 an hour and tried to catch some. Since it had been so long from the last time I surfed I wasn't looking so hot. But by the end I was getting some good rides and having fun. It was strange to be in the water by myself surfing as nobody here really surfs all that much. But I am going to do it again soon when the next opportunity prevails. At the beach we were also paid much attention too and I ended up buying some nice things (everyone else bought stuff also). It is hard to say no.
Alright for now, tomorrow is more Twi lessons and a different market. Also it will be the first day we have to go out and find our own food. That sounds simple, but here it is different. One must be cautious of everything they put in their mouth at least until we are more accustomed to this lifestyle.
Talk to you all later, Nate
ps if you were wondering.... my classes should start next week, if everything goes as planned
January 21, 2004
hello to everyone!!
its only been a week, and I feel like I�ve learned more in this week than any other. we have done so much in this orientation period, I feel quite exhausted at the end of the day; just taking everything in, and thinking about it all.
Today, we left the city, and went about an hour north to amazing botanical gardens. The drive up was beautiful, climbing through twisty road up a mountainous region, overlooking Accra, and the ocean. Lush, rainforest area and beautiful views. Driving through some villages, it was very heart-aching. The people are smiling, and happy, despite their poor poor living conditions and "houses". Its the stuff you see on t.v., but doesn�t seem real. well, this was real, and the people are real.
All the kids in school have uniforms to wear, and when they get done with school they are selling fruit, vegetable, water, eggs, plantains, or whatever. They like to have their picture taken and will pose for us, they are so cute, and beautiful. Sometimes we will see them talking amongst them selves and daring each other to come up and touch us, on our arm or face. It is so funny! The botanical area was great, as we were eating lunch on a porch, a rainstorm came through, and it was the first time here in Ghana that we did not feel hot, and sweaty. It was gorgeous, refreshing and made the day perfect.
Our Ghanaian friend, Yow, that was wearing a sweater and jeans the other day because it was 80 degrees outside, and he thought it was a "cool day, so today I dress warm". well, that day I was sweating 5 lbs off a minute wearing a tank top, and skirt. So, today, during the rains, the temp dropped down to about 70 degrees probably and was perfect, but Yow, wearing his sleeveless shirt and jeans was "very very cold". I hope my body will acclimate itself somewhere between that and how it is now!
We begin everyday with our Twi language lesson, with our Kofi, our teacher. He is very animated, hilarious and fun, always saying "praise the lord, hallelujah!!" whenever we say anything correct! Kofi, is the name for men born on Fridays, so we have met many people named Kofi as you can imagine. They always ask what day of the week we were born on, and we had to get out a old calendar to find out our Ghanaian name! quite interesting! So, we are picking up the language quickly ,and it helps a lot when bargaining for items (which is the only way to do it). I can have a short conversation, of about 5 sentences now! It is a rather easy language to learn, and makes me realize how many silly rules the English language have!!
I don't think we start classes til next week, or the week after, everyone is very chill here, and that also means a lot of patience when doing anything. Many things take a long time to do here: lines, food, phones don't really work that well at all, tro-tros (sort of bus/van/taxi things), traffic etc. But its nothing to stress over, you just wait. I still feel confused, and not confident in my abilities to get on the correct tro-tro, and how one knows which way it is headed, and were it will stop. they yell it out the window, but its still hard for me to understand.
The public transport , tro-tro, is quite crazy, tons of people cram on this van type thing. And anyone can be a tro-tro, they just drive up with one, and pick lots of people up, take you were you are going, and you pay about 5 cents or so. Everyone is a new adventure. Our day at the beach the other day was great, relaxing, warm water and waves. Nathan rented a surfboard, the only one available, and was quite a happy man! He had women and men coming up to him, asking him if they could ride on it with him! so funny, I got some photos of it. Also, they boys would hold his hands to jump the waves with him in the ocean. We've gone out to eat at some cool places, and some other markets that are not as crazy packed as the first huge one we went to. Most interesting batik fabric though ,and foods.
Now that we are buying our own meals, as orientation is done, we are confused as to if there is anything available besides chicken and rice on campus. We did get some juicy fresh mangoes. but we are discovering more Ghanaian foods daily. very delicious, but take some courage, as we do not recognize the names!
Ghana is so fabulous so far, not in its luxury, but in its simplicity.
much love, Kathleen