Another blog post so soon!
Things are still going well in Adoteiman, we'll now be leaving here on the weekend so we get to spend a few more days with our family.
Linds and I took the day off yesterday and had an amazing day that I must share. We thought we would go into the mountains to visit Aburi (pronounced Eh-bree). This is a small town at the top of the escarpment and among other things, had a botanical gardens and a bike shop.
So we decided to take a bike "tour". It was a 3-hour tour with a local guide. But they didn't warn us that it would be 60% mountain biking!! Harry, you would have died of joy!
It was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done and I highly recommend anyone in Ghana to check it out, as long as you are prepared for a pretty great work out. It started out biking through Aburi and seeing some of the town, which was very beautiful. Then, you take a turn and suddenly you are biking through the jungle down a single, rocky path! It was pretty surreal, we were biking on a little path in this valley and when we looked up on either side of us all we could see were cliffs covered in rain forest. We went over streams, up and down huge, muddy, rocky hills, and around farmers fields of maize and cassava. Our guide stopped at many trees and bushes to explain how cassava is grown, or what a cocoa pod looks like (I had no idea they grew on trees!). We met farmers on their way to their fields with machetes and women coming home from the stream with a bucket full of crabs. We biked by the town where Bob Marley's wife, Rita, lives when she comes to Ghana. She has built a health centre and school and brought light there so she was named the Queen Mother. We walked by a little rasta shop where apparently, Bob Marley's personal body guard lives and works.
By the end of the three hours, we were totally covered in mud and dripping with sweat, although of course guide exactly the same as when we stared, even though that was his first tour in three months. When we got back to the shop they gave us fresh pineapple, and of course the taste is so much better than home!
It was truly a lovely day and gave Linds and me a little boost in morale.
Then last night, we tried to bake our family some banana bread. We had to go on a sort of wild goose chase to find baking soda, so we felt a lot of pressure to make this bread worth the trouble. But, it turns out many Ghanaians aren't big on the baking, and their oven only had a broiler!! If you can believe it, we ended up microwaving it, and it tasted ok, so I guess all was not lost. But we might not try to bake anything again for a while.
That is all of the update from my end. We are sort of feeling uncertain about our next location, since as of now we don't have any place confirmed, so if we aren't sure, I guess we'll head back to Accra after this weekend. If all goes well, though, we'll be in Central Region on Monday!
Amy
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Visiting Adoteiman
Lindsey and I have begun our travels! We are traveling around the southern part of Ghana, visiting different communication centers. These centres aim to increase access to communication to local communities, and Lindsey and I will visit different centres to learn about what services they are offering.
And so we find ourselves in Adoteiman. Don’t try to look it up on any map.
This is a very interesting town. It is about 30 minutes or an hour outside of Accra, and is a mixture of very rural mud-hut village and wealthy business people commuter town. It is growing very quickly, and once they finish paving the road that runs through the town, I think it will expand even faster. Two years ago they got "light" and "pipes" (power and water) and there is already an internet café here. We have been here for four days and we have been living with a family. They are GREAT! They are so friendly and welcoming, and they will not stop feeding us. They keep saying "I want you to be fat". And we certainly will be. We’ve learned to prepare so many delicious Ghanaian meals! Often, we’ll make stew with fresh tomatoes, onions, sometimes garden egg or cocoa yam leaves, and of course pepe, which is the natural spice here. Add some fried fish and either boiled yam, cocoa yam or banku and you’ve got lunch and dinner. We are always so "satisfied", as they say, and I know I’ll need to do a lot of exercise when we get back.
They are a lot of fun and keep us very entertained. The youngest two, Nanayaw at 9 and Afia at 12, are so witty and intelligent. Nana kept us up late one night drilling us on our Twi, trying to teach us the different between Toum Toum (up inflection), which is ‘black’, and Toum Toum (down inflection) which is ‘mosquito’. We still have a lot of work to do. Mame is our age, and she teaches us how to cook anything and everything. We’ve had so many great conversations with her and we’ll miss her a lot when we leave. Last night, the whole family sat down to eat Aponchi Cra-cra (goat stew) and watch the football match, Ghana vs Lybia. Everyone was all decked out in Ghana gear, including Linds and me, who now have our own Ghana flag scarves. It was equally as fun to watch the game as it was to watch the family react to Ghana scoring three times! We won, of course, so everyone was quite happy.
Spending time with the owner of the centre, Mr Paintsil, has been quite inspiring. He has lived in Adoteiman for ten years now and is very passionate about helping the community. He runs a bakery and has just opened this communication centre (last week!). He says he doesn’t really want to make a profit, but only sustain the centre so that the community has better access to communication services. Right now, people have to take a bus into town to send a letter, photocopy a document or make a telephone call. As the centre continues to grow, he hopes people will save time and money because they won’t have to travel as far to access these services. He has a lot of ideas about how to support community members and works very had to do so.
All in all, our stay has not been as sugar coated as we sometimes describe. It has been filled with many ups and downs. People are very welcoming and friendly here, and we certainly feel part of the family. But speaking to community members about the advantages and difficulties about living in a more rural community, and also about dealing with a Ghana that is changing and developing very quickly is tough. Some people ask us to bring them to Canada with us, and believe that Canada is the perfect country. We are learning a lot here and I will not forget the people we’ve met.
We will be leaving here on Thursday and moving to another town. We’ll miss the beautiful view here, though; as I look out the window I can see the gorgeous "mountains", which are a little taller than the Niagara escarpment and covered in rainforest. I can't describe how lovely is it! You look out and can see palm trees and red dirt roads, mango trees everywhere and trees with red or yellow flowers, lizards everywhere, beautiful bright red birds, etc. I wish you the best for the month of June and hope things are well at home!
Love Amy
PS Unfortunately we can't post pictures while we are on the road, so maybe they'll be a few more from Linds and me in June!
And so we find ourselves in Adoteiman. Don’t try to look it up on any map.
This is a very interesting town. It is about 30 minutes or an hour outside of Accra, and is a mixture of very rural mud-hut village and wealthy business people commuter town. It is growing very quickly, and once they finish paving the road that runs through the town, I think it will expand even faster. Two years ago they got "light" and "pipes" (power and water) and there is already an internet café here. We have been here for four days and we have been living with a family. They are GREAT! They are so friendly and welcoming, and they will not stop feeding us. They keep saying "I want you to be fat". And we certainly will be. We’ve learned to prepare so many delicious Ghanaian meals! Often, we’ll make stew with fresh tomatoes, onions, sometimes garden egg or cocoa yam leaves, and of course pepe, which is the natural spice here. Add some fried fish and either boiled yam, cocoa yam or banku and you’ve got lunch and dinner. We are always so "satisfied", as they say, and I know I’ll need to do a lot of exercise when we get back.
They are a lot of fun and keep us very entertained. The youngest two, Nanayaw at 9 and Afia at 12, are so witty and intelligent. Nana kept us up late one night drilling us on our Twi, trying to teach us the different between Toum Toum (up inflection), which is ‘black’, and Toum Toum (down inflection) which is ‘mosquito’. We still have a lot of work to do. Mame is our age, and she teaches us how to cook anything and everything. We’ve had so many great conversations with her and we’ll miss her a lot when we leave. Last night, the whole family sat down to eat Aponchi Cra-cra (goat stew) and watch the football match, Ghana vs Lybia. Everyone was all decked out in Ghana gear, including Linds and me, who now have our own Ghana flag scarves. It was equally as fun to watch the game as it was to watch the family react to Ghana scoring three times! We won, of course, so everyone was quite happy.
Spending time with the owner of the centre, Mr Paintsil, has been quite inspiring. He has lived in Adoteiman for ten years now and is very passionate about helping the community. He runs a bakery and has just opened this communication centre (last week!). He says he doesn’t really want to make a profit, but only sustain the centre so that the community has better access to communication services. Right now, people have to take a bus into town to send a letter, photocopy a document or make a telephone call. As the centre continues to grow, he hopes people will save time and money because they won’t have to travel as far to access these services. He has a lot of ideas about how to support community members and works very had to do so.
All in all, our stay has not been as sugar coated as we sometimes describe. It has been filled with many ups and downs. People are very welcoming and friendly here, and we certainly feel part of the family. But speaking to community members about the advantages and difficulties about living in a more rural community, and also about dealing with a Ghana that is changing and developing very quickly is tough. Some people ask us to bring them to Canada with us, and believe that Canada is the perfect country. We are learning a lot here and I will not forget the people we’ve met.
We will be leaving here on Thursday and moving to another town. We’ll miss the beautiful view here, though; as I look out the window I can see the gorgeous "mountains", which are a little taller than the Niagara escarpment and covered in rainforest. I can't describe how lovely is it! You look out and can see palm trees and red dirt roads, mango trees everywhere and trees with red or yellow flowers, lizards everywhere, beautiful bright red birds, etc. I wish you the best for the month of June and hope things are well at home!
Love Amy
PS Unfortunately we can't post pictures while we are on the road, so maybe they'll be a few more from Linds and me in June!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
After a somewhat lengthy hiatus, I'm back for another post. The girls have kept things well up to date with how things are going, the huge range of sights and sounds, the great people we've met, and the many things we've been learning. One thing, however, that we haven't done too much of is take very many photographs. As a friend in Kingston described to us before leaving, it is difficult to photograph places and people before you can truly appreciate their meaning. Hence, our first few weeks were filled with very few photographs as we learned the landscape of Accra. However, we've taken a few up to this point, and I'd love to share them with you.
This is a shot from our trip to the beach last weekend with Eddie and Kofi Daniel. What I find so striking about it is the beauty of the ocean and the waves paired with the startling amount of garbage and trash. As those of you who know me as the environmentalist, this has been something I've thought a lot about since being here. There is a lot of litter on the streets, and minimal effort in reducing material. Additionally, it does not appear there is any municipal recycling system in Accra. It has made me think about how challenging it must b
e for the government to place priorities on expensive waste management strategies, when there is still a struggle in economic growth and improving people's quality of life.
I hope these two photos can give you a sense of where Lindsay and I were at in Kade the week before last. The first shot is of a phenomenal sunset just outside of the guesthouse where we were staying. The geography is very lush and green. It reminds me a lot of my time on the west coast, with some interesting new tropical sub Saharan plants. The second is of the guest house where we stayed in Kade.
This weekend was very nice in Accra. Lindsay and I made it to the heart of Makola Market where we both picked up another piece of clothing to wear to the office. It is phenomenal how professional everyone dresses, and how consistently well pressed and clean their clothing always is. We're trying to get in the habit of ironing clothes more often, but we still appear as the somewhat dirty and run down Obrunis.
I think Lindsay's given a pretty good update below, so I don't want to repeat too much. The tro-tros have been great, and I'm really glad we have started to take them. I can't emphasize enough just how friendly everybody is, and how welcome we are made to feel. We will definitely update before heading out of Accra. (Potentially later this week).
Thanks for all the updates, and be sure to keep them coming. I hope everyone had a great time at convocation--wish I could have been there! Enjoy the rest of your travels, work, and relaxation, and talk soon!
"heeeeey PigFarmPigFarmPigFarm!!"
It’s another Sunday evening at Busy Internet – time for another post!
Josh and I had a relatively relaxed weekend here in Accra. It’s our third weekend here; our first without our QPID pals. We had a packed day yesterday, hitting up the supermarket for some staples (and I bought myself a treat – cheese!), the market for some fresh fruit, and the National Museum. We tried a new Chop Bar for a dinner of Watchi (sp?), which is rice and beans with egg or meat - one of my favourites. We chilled at an outdoor patio called Strawberry on our way home through Adabraka, the region in which our guest house is located. Today has been characterized by sleeping, reading, and laundry.
We spent this week entirely at the KITE office. We have been helping to consolidate the data from our recent survey-making in a village, as well as preparing the report which will follow. I have been really happy to have the chance to spend some more time in the office, in order to get to know some of the staff a little better. They’re incredible! At this point, plans are still up in the air, but we will most likely be heading back out “into the field” by Tuesday or Wednesday, to conduct the same survey in a neighbouring village. One thing I’m getting used to is not bothering to try to plan more than a day ahead – I kind of like it.
Successes of the past week include
1. Kicking my stomach bug with the help of the “Cipro-man”
2. Successfully riding the tro-tros to and from work for the first time – despite the scary stories, it was fairly painless. We only got lost once – we wandered around the Achimota station for a good 15 minutes, everyone we talked to pointing us in a different direction, and getting significantly covered in red mud. In the end, we found the right tro-tro, and were only 15 minutes late for work. We have decided the “Pig Farm” route is the best one. The ride has quickly become my favourite part of the day – the best part is the “mate” constantly yelling where we’re going out the window to potential passengers.
3. GOING FOR OUR FIRST RUN! For anyone who knows me even a little, you’ll know how happy it must have made me. We found a route we could trust which takes us down to the beach, along the Oceanside, and back up to the YMCA. Beautiful!
Since they may not have access to internet, I’ll fire a quick update on Lindsey and Amy, for those of you wondering about them. They’ve made it safely to their first project location. They are staying with a friend/family of the owner of the rural business centre. We hear that the family has been wonderful, and that they have been learning to cook all kinds of Ghanaian dishes. During the day, they are training the owner of the Rural Business Centre, and his employee, with some computer skills. Like us, their plans for moving to their next project location are uncertain, but will likely be at some point this week.
I’m looking forward to digging in deeper to our project in the following week, and perhaps another trip north. There’s so much to learn and think about. As always, I send all my love and best wishes home. Thanks to those who have been keeping up with the blog and sending emails – it means tons!
Josh and I had a relatively relaxed weekend here in Accra. It’s our third weekend here; our first without our QPID pals. We had a packed day yesterday, hitting up the supermarket for some staples (and I bought myself a treat – cheese!), the market for some fresh fruit, and the National Museum. We tried a new Chop Bar for a dinner of Watchi (sp?), which is rice and beans with egg or meat - one of my favourites. We chilled at an outdoor patio called Strawberry on our way home through Adabraka, the region in which our guest house is located. Today has been characterized by sleeping, reading, and laundry.
We spent this week entirely at the KITE office. We have been helping to consolidate the data from our recent survey-making in a village, as well as preparing the report which will follow. I have been really happy to have the chance to spend some more time in the office, in order to get to know some of the staff a little better. They’re incredible! At this point, plans are still up in the air, but we will most likely be heading back out “into the field” by Tuesday or Wednesday, to conduct the same survey in a neighbouring village. One thing I’m getting used to is not bothering to try to plan more than a day ahead – I kind of like it.
Successes of the past week include
1. Kicking my stomach bug with the help of the “Cipro-man”
2. Successfully riding the tro-tros to and from work for the first time – despite the scary stories, it was fairly painless. We only got lost once – we wandered around the Achimota station for a good 15 minutes, everyone we talked to pointing us in a different direction, and getting significantly covered in red mud. In the end, we found the right tro-tro, and were only 15 minutes late for work. We have decided the “Pig Farm” route is the best one. The ride has quickly become my favourite part of the day – the best part is the “mate” constantly yelling where we’re going out the window to potential passengers.
3. GOING FOR OUR FIRST RUN! For anyone who knows me even a little, you’ll know how happy it must have made me. We found a route we could trust which takes us down to the beach, along the Oceanside, and back up to the YMCA. Beautiful!
Since they may not have access to internet, I’ll fire a quick update on Lindsey and Amy, for those of you wondering about them. They’ve made it safely to their first project location. They are staying with a friend/family of the owner of the rural business centre. We hear that the family has been wonderful, and that they have been learning to cook all kinds of Ghanaian dishes. During the day, they are training the owner of the Rural Business Centre, and his employee, with some computer skills. Like us, their plans for moving to their next project location are uncertain, but will likely be at some point this week.
I’m looking forward to digging in deeper to our project in the following week, and perhaps another trip north. There’s so much to learn and think about. As always, I send all my love and best wishes home. Thanks to those who have been keeping up with the blog and sending emails – it means tons!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Back in Accra
Note: This blog was written on Sunday, just didn't get around to posting it until today...
All four of us have just spent the most gorgeous day wandering around central Accra, enjoying fresh coconuts, and finally poking our feet in the ocean! Due to some unfortunate difficulties with our projects, Josh and I returned early to Accra. The upside is that we get three bonus days with Lindsey and Amy before they embark on the eCARE project. It’s been so nice to see them again!
Josh and my recent project trip was full of eye-opening experiences. For the first time, we saw Ghanaian hinterland; the most gorgeous tropical jungle roads alternated with bustling towns, each with their own set of provisions shops, chop bars, street vendors, and animals! Along the road was a constant stream of people traveling to work in the field, or carrying huge loads of water, wood, produce, or anything you can imagine, on their heads!
The experience of helping to conduct surveys was such a view into the rural Ghanaian life. Josh and I were each paired with one of the KITE staff, and we conducted questionnaires with the households, businesses, and elders of the community. I have some mixed feelings and insights about the experience, and can’t wait to discuss it more in depth with some of you later!
As we were in the same village for three and a half days, I was able to get to know some people. Best of all, I got to play with the children, and they showed me how to get mangoes down from the tree.
We will work in the office this week, summarizing and analyzing our results, and writing a report.
Love to all of you!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Ive got a lovely bunch of coconuts...
Well I guess its about time I threw my two cents up here and wrote something for the blog. Amy and I were alone for the week in Accra and we really had a great week. We have made friends with a few Ghanaian boys who are staying at the YMCA with us, and they've really shown us a good time. We went to a local 'chop bar' which is really not much more than a table with large quantities of food and some benches to sit on. We had some traditonal Banku there and it was delicious! Actually one of my favourite meals so far (althogh with both of us being left handed Amy and I need to be extra cautious eating traditional meals with our hands because eating with your left hand is considered quite rude).
Ive also become a lot more comfortable navigating thorughout the city, including batering with the taxi drivers to get to work in the morning (the cabs here have no fares). Everyone also finds it quite amusing when you try to speak Twi to them. We will buy something and say medasee (phonetically spelt, but it means thank you) and people will nod, then have a delayed reaction and laugh because obrunis (white people) dont speak Twi! Im picking it up slowly (many things sound EXACTLY the same), but I'm getting better at some of the key phrases thanks to our friends at the YMCA. The typcial day is definitely shifted here to start much earlier and wind up earlier since it is pitch dark by about 6:30 every night. Although, sleeping late has proven to be rather impossible with the roosters on the YMCA campus crowing every 2 minutes beginning at about 6 am everyday.
As far as our project goes it seems to be boiling down for the summer like this: Amy and I will be travelling around 4 regions in Ghana; Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, and Volta. We will be spending a week each at about 9 RBC centers and most likely stay with the entrepreneur who owns the RBC. During our time at the center, our job is to conduct a field survey we have developed on how the busniess is doing, what they offer etc., as well as provide any support service they may need (like computer training, maintaining the solar component etc.) And, Im sure we will meet some great people and see some interesting communities along the way. We will also have to become quite savvy at navigating Ghana's sometimes quite confusing roads, especially since the first town we are supposed to visit isnt even on the map!
To fill you in on some other things we've been up to, Amy and I had a chance to visit the National Museum of Ghana on saturday morning. It was the first real touristy thing we have done and it was actually quite interesting. It was a simple museum and vey hot inside, but I leanred a lot about culutral traditions in the various regions, and they had a pretty powerful exhibit on the slave trade. Lindsay and Josh returned to Accra in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day lazing around in the warm breeze at the YMCA.
Today, our new friends took us on a walking tour around some areas of Accra we have not been yet. We stopped at some monuments including Independence Square, and went to the beach! It is the first time I have been to the ocean and it was so nice. The cool breeze made you feel like you were in a totally different climate than the humid city, it was so relaxing i probably could have sat there for hours. It was sunday, so the city was generally quite quiet, although we probably interrupted about 7 games of football as we walked down the beach.
Along our walk we took a break and got some coconuts from a street vendor. They are so delcious! The coconut water is nice and refreshing, and when you are done, the vendor cuts the coconut open with a huge knife and you scoop out the fruit from inside. so yummy!
All in all Accra has been a cool place to see and become familiar with in the last couple of weeks, but i'm quite excited to get our project rolling and see some other parts of the country!
Hope all is well at home for everyone, please keep me updated!
Lindsey
Ive also become a lot more comfortable navigating thorughout the city, including batering with the taxi drivers to get to work in the morning (the cabs here have no fares). Everyone also finds it quite amusing when you try to speak Twi to them. We will buy something and say medasee (phonetically spelt, but it means thank you) and people will nod, then have a delayed reaction and laugh because obrunis (white people) dont speak Twi! Im picking it up slowly (many things sound EXACTLY the same), but I'm getting better at some of the key phrases thanks to our friends at the YMCA. The typcial day is definitely shifted here to start much earlier and wind up earlier since it is pitch dark by about 6:30 every night. Although, sleeping late has proven to be rather impossible with the roosters on the YMCA campus crowing every 2 minutes beginning at about 6 am everyday.
As far as our project goes it seems to be boiling down for the summer like this: Amy and I will be travelling around 4 regions in Ghana; Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, and Volta. We will be spending a week each at about 9 RBC centers and most likely stay with the entrepreneur who owns the RBC. During our time at the center, our job is to conduct a field survey we have developed on how the busniess is doing, what they offer etc., as well as provide any support service they may need (like computer training, maintaining the solar component etc.) And, Im sure we will meet some great people and see some interesting communities along the way. We will also have to become quite savvy at navigating Ghana's sometimes quite confusing roads, especially since the first town we are supposed to visit isnt even on the map!
To fill you in on some other things we've been up to, Amy and I had a chance to visit the National Museum of Ghana on saturday morning. It was the first real touristy thing we have done and it was actually quite interesting. It was a simple museum and vey hot inside, but I leanred a lot about culutral traditions in the various regions, and they had a pretty powerful exhibit on the slave trade. Lindsay and Josh returned to Accra in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day lazing around in the warm breeze at the YMCA.
Today, our new friends took us on a walking tour around some areas of Accra we have not been yet. We stopped at some monuments including Independence Square, and went to the beach! It is the first time I have been to the ocean and it was so nice. The cool breeze made you feel like you were in a totally different climate than the humid city, it was so relaxing i probably could have sat there for hours. It was sunday, so the city was generally quite quiet, although we probably interrupted about 7 games of football as we walked down the beach.
Along our walk we took a break and got some coconuts from a street vendor. They are so delcious! The coconut water is nice and refreshing, and when you are done, the vendor cuts the coconut open with a huge knife and you scoop out the fruit from inside. so yummy!
All in all Accra has been a cool place to see and become familiar with in the last couple of weeks, but i'm quite excited to get our project rolling and see some other parts of the country!
Hope all is well at home for everyone, please keep me updated!
Lindsey
I love Westlife
Ma jo (good evening). It is time again for my weekly blog. I know from many emails that you would like more frequent posts; alas, we are doing the best we can and that is likely going to be once a week. But, I PROMISE to put up pictures on Tuesday or Wednesday while I'm at work, as I can borrow a computer there and upload them.
We are settling in quite nicely here. Lindsey F and I have been in Accra now for 13 days and it feels like home. We'll be leaving to start our project on Wednesday, and I'm a little sad! We are used to the transport, ordering food, and best of all we have had plans with our friends every night this week!
Kofi Daniel, Eddie and Isaac are three guys that go to technical college on the campus of the YMCA and live at the hostel there. Most days, Linds and I come home after work, 5:30 or 6ish and hang out in front of our little building. Shortly after, the guys come out and they teach us Twi, chat and go for dinner. Then we stay up late (like 9pm) talking and then they force us to go to bed ("You must go to work tomorrow, you must sleep!!!"). They are some of the kindest people I've met, and have made it their goal for us to feel welcome in their country. We ask them all about what they do at school, how and where they grew up, their families, their friends, and much about Ghanaian food and culture. They also ask us about Canada sometimes and we try to describe what snow looks like to them, or that for breakfast, we normally eat bread and peanut butter ("Only cold food?? Not even tea??"). A different guy from the hostel is bent on going to the Yukon. I have no idea why and have tried to explain to him what the Yukon is but he has made up his mind and I don't want to dissuade him I guess. One of them said that "I know Canada is cold, but I think I would be fine because I am from the Eastern Region". The Eastern Region of Ghana. Where temperatures get down to 25 and there is less humidity. But there is no way to explain the feeling of cold to someone who has never felt that. They are so patient and kind to us, and even though they laugh at us a lot (like the time Linds and I tried to eat rotten mangos because they seemed fine to us) we are sure that they are laughing with us, not at us.
They took us out to dinner one night to a "chop bar" (small stall on the side of the road) and we had banku and stew, which is a spicy, thick stew with fish in it. The banku is mashed corn, sort of the consistency of mashed potatoes but more thick, and has a sort of sourdoughy taste. You break a piece off with your hand (only your right hand, using the left is rude) and dip it in the stew. I think it was the best meal we've had so far. They had to show us how to eat everything, and even how to wash our hands. We feel sort of like toddlers but they don't think twice about it and insist on us trying all types of Ghanaian food. On Wednesday, my shoe broke around 10pm and Eddie forced me to let him take it to the shoe doctor. It was fixed and at my door at 7:30am the next morning. The best is when we come home late from work and we flash them or they flash us. Flashing is when you call someone's cellphone and then hang up right away. It lets us know they are outside and we sit with them chatting.
We told them that we hadn't taken too many pictures yet of Ghana because we didn't always feel that it was appropriate. They promised to take us downtown to show us around, and to let us know when and when not to take pictures. So today around 11, the four obronis (obroni=white person) and Eddie and Daniel took us all around downtown, to Independence Square, along the beach and through Jamestown which is the area which has all of the old colonial buildings. It was such a great day and so great to have them with us to show us around. The beach was so nice! It was so nice to wade in the water, feeling the sea breeze.
The people here have certainly left an impression on me in this short visit. In general, they are so proud of their peaceful country and so happy to talk about it with us. When we speak our broken Twi to the lady from which we buy bread in the mornings, she laughs and laughs at us. Twi is very difficult for me, though. For example, the word for "see you later" is "echerie" and the word for "spoon" is "echrie". At least I think they might be something like that. Anyways, half the time when we think we are saying goodbye to people we are really "Spoon!". Also the words for banana and for a very common name here are similar, which makes thinks awkward when you are meeting someone for the first time. "Hello banana, nice to meet you". Anyways, we try our best and learn more each day, and hopefully we'll be better by August.
Another thing that amazes is how hard they work here. If you ask someone what they do for fun you get a blank stare. Ask what they do on the weekends and they'll reply "the washing, and then go to church, and rest". Accra is a VERY expensive city to live in, and restaurants and bars are expensive here. If we ask people where we should go for dinner, many don't know where to recommend. That's why the chop bars are key. If you can find a good one, you can eat delicious food for a good price.
Of course my experiences are only based on a small number of interactions with people that live in Accra, and I would never want to generalize about the entire population, but these have been my experiences with many of the people I have met.
This has been a long post and I haven't even explained any of our project details and plans for the rest of the summer! Much has happened at work as well, and we are getting ready to leave Accra for the rest of the summer!! Maybe I'll explain more next time.
Again, thanks for all of the emails and keep them coming!! Your news is NOT boring to me, contrary to popular belief!
Echerie,
Amy
PS The blog title refers to the ONLY music that we hear anytime we get into someone's car. Who knew.
We are settling in quite nicely here. Lindsey F and I have been in Accra now for 13 days and it feels like home. We'll be leaving to start our project on Wednesday, and I'm a little sad! We are used to the transport, ordering food, and best of all we have had plans with our friends every night this week!
Kofi Daniel, Eddie and Isaac are three guys that go to technical college on the campus of the YMCA and live at the hostel there. Most days, Linds and I come home after work, 5:30 or 6ish and hang out in front of our little building. Shortly after, the guys come out and they teach us Twi, chat and go for dinner. Then we stay up late (like 9pm) talking and then they force us to go to bed ("You must go to work tomorrow, you must sleep!!!"). They are some of the kindest people I've met, and have made it their goal for us to feel welcome in their country. We ask them all about what they do at school, how and where they grew up, their families, their friends, and much about Ghanaian food and culture. They also ask us about Canada sometimes and we try to describe what snow looks like to them, or that for breakfast, we normally eat bread and peanut butter ("Only cold food?? Not even tea??"). A different guy from the hostel is bent on going to the Yukon. I have no idea why and have tried to explain to him what the Yukon is but he has made up his mind and I don't want to dissuade him I guess. One of them said that "I know Canada is cold, but I think I would be fine because I am from the Eastern Region". The Eastern Region of Ghana. Where temperatures get down to 25 and there is less humidity. But there is no way to explain the feeling of cold to someone who has never felt that. They are so patient and kind to us, and even though they laugh at us a lot (like the time Linds and I tried to eat rotten mangos because they seemed fine to us) we are sure that they are laughing with us, not at us.
They took us out to dinner one night to a "chop bar" (small stall on the side of the road) and we had banku and stew, which is a spicy, thick stew with fish in it. The banku is mashed corn, sort of the consistency of mashed potatoes but more thick, and has a sort of sourdoughy taste. You break a piece off with your hand (only your right hand, using the left is rude) and dip it in the stew. I think it was the best meal we've had so far. They had to show us how to eat everything, and even how to wash our hands. We feel sort of like toddlers but they don't think twice about it and insist on us trying all types of Ghanaian food. On Wednesday, my shoe broke around 10pm and Eddie forced me to let him take it to the shoe doctor. It was fixed and at my door at 7:30am the next morning. The best is when we come home late from work and we flash them or they flash us. Flashing is when you call someone's cellphone and then hang up right away. It lets us know they are outside and we sit with them chatting.
We told them that we hadn't taken too many pictures yet of Ghana because we didn't always feel that it was appropriate. They promised to take us downtown to show us around, and to let us know when and when not to take pictures. So today around 11, the four obronis (obroni=white person) and Eddie and Daniel took us all around downtown, to Independence Square, along the beach and through Jamestown which is the area which has all of the old colonial buildings. It was such a great day and so great to have them with us to show us around. The beach was so nice! It was so nice to wade in the water, feeling the sea breeze.
I guess it's hard to describe these guys well enough in this short blog post. They are are hilarious, constantly making fun of each other, making jokes, telling stories. Now we understand their accents even get their jokes sometimes! I guess the best thing for us is to see how similar they are to a bunch of guys from home. They claim that their rooms are the "national headquarters" of mosquitoes, and call LField and Lwig "Lindsey squared". I think we'll miss them when we leave.
The people here have certainly left an impression on me in this short visit. In general, they are so proud of their peaceful country and so happy to talk about it with us. When we speak our broken Twi to the lady from which we buy bread in the mornings, she laughs and laughs at us. Twi is very difficult for me, though. For example, the word for "see you later" is "echerie" and the word for "spoon" is "echrie". At least I think they might be something like that. Anyways, half the time when we think we are saying goodbye to people we are really "Spoon!". Also the words for banana and for a very common name here are similar, which makes thinks awkward when you are meeting someone for the first time. "Hello banana, nice to meet you". Anyways, we try our best and learn more each day, and hopefully we'll be better by August.
Another thing that amazes is how hard they work here. If you ask someone what they do for fun you get a blank stare. Ask what they do on the weekends and they'll reply "the washing, and then go to church, and rest". Accra is a VERY expensive city to live in, and restaurants and bars are expensive here. If we ask people where we should go for dinner, many don't know where to recommend. That's why the chop bars are key. If you can find a good one, you can eat delicious food for a good price.
Of course my experiences are only based on a small number of interactions with people that live in Accra, and I would never want to generalize about the entire population, but these have been my experiences with many of the people I have met.
This has been a long post and I haven't even explained any of our project details and plans for the rest of the summer! Much has happened at work as well, and we are getting ready to leave Accra for the rest of the summer!! Maybe I'll explain more next time.
Again, thanks for all of the emails and keep them coming!! Your news is NOT boring to me, contrary to popular belief!
Echerie,
Amy
PS The blog title refers to the ONLY music that we hear anytime we get into someone's car. Who knew.
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