One of the things that I will always think of when remembering Ghana are the distinctive smells and sounds that were completely new to my American senses.

Many of the Ghanaian sounds were new to me just because Ohio has zoning restrictions on keeping farm animals whereas Ghana most definitely does not. Even in the capital, the sound of roosters filled the morning air. While walking virtually anywhere, there were goats that gave sickly "baas."

While in the market in Denu, (which was Ewe) we heard the phrase "yaavoo" being said around us. "Yaavoo" is Ewe for (I believe) "rich" although other meanings such as "white" and "white dog" were also given. Nevertheless, the shopkeepers were then alerted to the economic opportunity that we presented, which brought about the another noise that we became familiar with "ssssssssssssss." This is sort of like "psssst" only more attention getting and much more overused. Anyone who had anything to sell was trying to get our attention using this noise. It worked for the first few days too.

The Asantehene’s palace was filled with peacocks, and I had never heard their odd noise, and after a day in the palace I hope not to again.

The smells of the regions we were at were also very different from America’s. Unfortunately, most were due to the lack of sanitation and clean air standards. Kumasi had awful smog. My lungs became irritated and filled with mucus to an extent (no big deal). The dust also mixes in with the smog and gets the buildings dirty. Body odor was not as bad as I expected it to be…perhaps it is because we all smelled, so the contrast was not as great from us to others as it would have been if we were as clean as were are at home. The scent of burning vegetation and garbage was widespread. Perhaps the garbage smell was worst near the Riveria hotel in Accra, where the nearby dump was putting out enough smoke to make the entire area in front of the hotel to look like it was having bad fog…it was unavoidable. I breathed through my mouth and could actually taste the garbage. The gutters are very open so smells easily get out. The famous "Do not urinate here" wall scribblings are needed- there is much urinating going on outside. Men simple turn away from the road and go. Consequently, by the end of the trip, many of us could discern the difference between stale and fresh urine. One does get used to the smells after a short while. Many smells are uniquely Ghanaian and those that are not surely will remind me of it.

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