15 Fun(ny) Facts About Ghana

(From an Obruni's Perspective)

1. It never gets old to scream "Obruni" over and over again- sometimes for five or more minutes. This applies to both children and adults.

2. Depending on the time of day, you will be greeted by these fun friends in the latrine:
Night- Cockroaches. And not the Jersey cockroaches, these are at least 4 ins. in length
Midday- Flies- you'll hear them buzzing from 10 ft. away
Dawn/Dusk- Lizards

3. It is not unusual to see a child as young as 3 carrying another child on their backs, while hauling a 20 lb. load of firewood on their heads.

4. Obama is a superhero to all Ghanaians. One fellow PCV was asked what Obama will do if he 'runs into' Osama Bin Laden while visiting Ghana... apparently they know something we don't!

5. Celine Dion is also a superhero from America. (I didn't bother with the Canada thing.)

6. Clothing is optional and breastfeeding is a public event. One day I saw a woman feeding twins- one on each breast! I proceeded to buy soap from her.

7. If a taxi is meant to hold 4 people, the driver won't leave until there are at least seven sweaty passengers crammed in. This applies to all transport in Ghana.

8. On a hot day (which is everyday) the windows in all vehicles are rolled up. Who needs to breathe?

9. There is a gang of roosters that has decided that I should not be allowed to sleep, and enjoy hanging out under my bedroom window. Also, roosters cock-a-doodle-doo at ALL hours, not just daybreak.

10. People spray paint their animals to tell which ones belong to them. It is not unusual to see pink chickens or blue goats wandering around town.

11. All food must be made into a sticky, tasteless mush before Ghanaians will eat it. Hours will be spent in this two person labor of pounding plantains, cassava, yams, corn, wheat, rice...EVERYTHING. And since there are no utensils it must be served boiling hot to burn your obrunis fingers and raise their already elevated body temperatures. This includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

12. There is no social etiquette to cell phones. Everyone has one and will answer in all situations, even church.

13. It's not unusual to be riding in a tro-tro that has a "Jesus Saves" sticker on the back window and a marijuana sticker on the front while listening to Akon blaring.

14. Although English is the national language and most Ghanaians can speak it, it is expected that all obrunis be fluent in whichever one of the 70+ languages your town speaks.

15. You have not lived until you've taken a cold bucket bath under a palm-fringed African sky and watched the stars twinkle.

just a quickie

ok so the big news is that i have a cell phone now!! yay! i wrote the number under contact info. so please please call/text me. ghana is 4 hours ahead, so keep that in mind.

also, if you want to send me things, stuff like cheese!!!! would be amazing. and em, don't even joke about the mcmills... i am slobbering on the keboard! so yea, some velveeta and shells would be amAzing! o how i miss cheese. and pictures!!!! please send me new pics of your fabulous luxurious lives in america. ok, my times up but i miss ya. peace.love.

you can send packages to the address listed. when i move to kwesimintin i'll give you that address but that won't be until august 13th. i am right on the beach, in the western region, so yea, it's gonna be awesome. you should definitely come visit. tonight is the first night of Ohum festival and ends the ban on music and general rambunctiousness so we are all going to gather in the middle of maase and shout. it should be fun. the chief is back from accra for the celebration and i got to meet him today. very cool.

o yea, internet cafes suck.

today is really hotttttt, and i cant wait because im going to koforidua tomorrow to buy a fan. YAY!!! and yay for electricity. i am lucky with my homestay. last night i was hangin out with the family outside. although i couldn't understand much of what was being said, it was fun.

my fante learning is going well, we had four hours of language class today. since it's similar to twi, i am getting well known in maase for being able to understand the first 45 seconds of a conversation by myself.

o yea, i will have a phone either by tomorrow or thursday, so this is how it will work. if i can figure it out. ill either text you or call you and ask you to call me back so youll have my number. its much cheaper to call ghana from the us than it is to call the us from ghana. it is free for me to receive texts and calls. i probably wont have very good service though so it might be easier to text.

ps- the bananas are wayyyy better here. :)

OK, so I wanted to add more to that last post because i was cut short. So Takoradi is on the beach, right near Cape Coast-which is the most touristy beach in Ghana. it will be very nice, so you guys should want to visit me! i will be living in a two room compound but i will be living with my counterpart. i have a fridge, and stove. my homestay family is soo nice to me. they treat me like a queen, and it's very embarrassing. i am currently living in a town called maase, in the eastern region. i will be here with my homestay family for 2 months. i am learning fante, and a lot of small business, microfinance classes. then, on aug 13, i swear in and move to takoradi for good! i am living well in maase, i have my own room, a TV!!!!!!!!, and get fed more than any 17 people could ever hope to eat! each day is a new world of learning, embarassment, and transition. i already feel more comfortable in ghana, and i'm sure by the time i get to my site i'll feel at home.

funny story- in ghana it is the worst thing that if you have a guest and they do not eat their full and have to ask for seconds. it means you are a terrible host and people will talk about you. so for this reason the families we stay with feed us enough food for 7 people at least, and we eat alone in our rooms. so i asked for a piece of fruit one morning, maybe a banana. well the next day i was brought a vat of porridge, a loaf of bread, and about 4 bunches of bananas. of course we never finish our food and give it back to the family. but seriously, i was too full to even eat the banana at that point. just another cultural faux pas among many in a day.

hoping to venture into koforidua tomorrow with my homestay sister to buy a cell phone.

Julz- got the package. Ur amazing!!!! and you totally made my week

Mom- you can copy the address at the top of the page. but i think it's www.lifesatrip-chickiebug08.blogspot.com

Please send me updates about everyone from home. I miss you all.

love,
chris

Great expectations

I am writing to you from Old Tafo at an incredibly slooow internet cafe. I am now in the homestay part of training. I met them yesterday after I found out my site assignment. For the next two years, I will be living in Kwesimintim, a suburb of Takoradi. I will be doing microfinance with an NGO..... just got proposed to by 4 guys in the internet cafe.... ok, so yea. So Takoradi is on the beach, in the western region. The language spoken there is Fante, so that is what i am learning. I will have running water, 24 hour electricity, and a flush toilet! i am really lucky. I was pretty upset when i found out becuase i reallly didnt want to be in a city. buttt, well give it a go. i have to leave now my host mothers waiting for me. love you and miss you!!!

Soo, this is Africa! I am sitting in an internet cafe in ho, in the Volta region. I am on my vision quest starting today until sunday. Ho is the regional capital of Volta, and it's slightly advanced. The landscape is like a tropical rain forest, lots of palms, lots of reggae, and lots of sweat. i rode here from accra on a tro-tro for 4 hours. A tro-tro is like an old minivan, like an astro or something realy ugly, that they converted and just squeeze as many ppl they can into. and then they drive worse than any nyc cabbie could ever dream of. but its the only way to get anywhere here. I bought fried plaintain chips from the market girls and a sweat rag. o yea, a vision quest is when we each go to a current volunteers site for 5 days and see what it's like. its the last bit of pre-training before training. last night we went to the US ambassador's house for a reception and i got to meet him. there was a band and i learned how to dance to 'highlife'. It's old-school ghanaian music with a lot of bassanova influence. im diggin the music here. i heard blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol blaring from a tro and i had to giggle. ;) anywhoo, i should be getting a phone soon (within 3 weeks) and then i will be able to text and you guys can call me. sweet! we find out our site placements next thursday. this is where we will be for the next 2 years. we've only lost one volunteer so far, our group seems to be pretty solid. i miss you all and hope ppl are actually reading this cuz it's much easier than writing a few emails. internet is slooooow. please send me letters, pictures, packages, anything! much love.

And away we go....

It's the night before I leave and I don't know how to feel. I'm anxious and uber-excited, but at the same time it's bittersweet and absolutely crushing to say goodbye to my friends and family. And it's not like, "bye, see ya in a month." It's "bye, see ya in two years." How does one say goodbye for two years? I still haven't quite figured it out... Anyways, I finished all my packing today, hope my luggage is within the weight restrictions. (still kinda up in the air about that.. i guess i'll see when i get to the airport) I think i remembered to do everything but i probably didn't. Tomorrow at noon I have to meet all 67 of my fellow Ghana volunteers in Philly and say bye to the rents for good. Then from there on out it's gonna be a whirlwind of new feelings, new sceneries, and new cultures! I can't wait!

I probably won't be able to post again for two weeks at least, but I'll try to let everyone know how it's going. If you don't hear from me, assume I'm doing well and livin life.

peace.