Wo ho te sen?
I have literally 20 minutes and 17 seconds left to write a quick blog, so forgive the hastiness. Things have been good here on the equator, except it is so hot now, all the time I have no motivation to do anything but read books in my dorm room. I have finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (twice), Long Walk to Freedom (Nelson Mandela's Autobiography--amazing) and Drop City by T.C. Boyle. (I don't recommend) and have now started The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which is supposed to be amazing, and so far, is.
I know. I am so lame. I am in freaking Africa and I am reading American novels. In my defense I did also read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, about the beginnings of colonization in present-day Nigeria. (also amazing) and, it is SO HOT. We are talking 100 degrees (at least) with 100% humidity. It gets unbearably hot by 8:30, and doesn't quit until at least 7pm, and even then, its too hot to sleep, and we can't leave doors and windows open because of the mosquitoes. Needless to say, I smell great all the time.
This weekend I am escaping campus to go to Kokobrite (cocoa-breetay) Beach with Elena, Megan, and our friend Heather. It should be a lot of fun, and will give me a chance to even out the incredible wife-beater tan I have acquired.
Today has started out okay (its currently 9am) I went running with Megan, (something that needs to happen all the time seeing as my Ghanaian diet is starting to consist of white bread and rice) then got breakfast with Elena, which was good except the fly that committed suicide in my coffee--killing my soul a little with it--and am now going to drop some fabric off at my new favorite Seamstress's' place to get two pairs of shorts and a new dress. (I need something to wear in all this heat, jeez) Later I have a presentation for my independent study project...we'll see how it goes.
I'll write about my weekend soon. I love you.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Take Two
Wo ho te sen? (this is Twi for "how are you?" it literally means "how is your body?" the response is: Me ho ye. Or, "my body is fine" I can honestly say that this is one of very few phrases I can mutter with correct accent and one I can reply to with confidence. Anyway...my body is fine, and I hope yours is too.)
I have SO many stories! Most are general ridiculousness that would probably only happen to me. For instance: that time it was literally like 100 degrees (Fahrenheit, only like...35 degrees Celsius?) and I was in the hottest classroom in the world (where 3 of my 5 classes are...) and like 17 Ghanaian students all squeeze into MY row, even though there was really only room for about 8 of them, and I was wearing a 100% linen shirt, so I was IMMEDIATELY the really gross white girl with a total sweat band around my shirt and down my back. Gross. And also hilarious in about 10-12 months.
There are also the things like the fact that I might have a toe fungus (they take about a year to go away...too bad its flip flop season ALL THE TIME here,) How my Africa Under Colonial Rule professor hasn't shown up in 2 weeks, however has gone far enough to A.) give enormous reading assignments, and B.) Call the TA in the class after we have been waiting for him for nearly an hour, and tell us that he is on his way and is stuck in traffic, and no one is allowed to leave. This class is 2 hours long, so after an hour and 45 minutes, I decided I needed to leave. I mean seriously. There is also the time when I went into Accra to pick up the package my parents sent me (4 boxes of tampons!!!) and this ridiculous thugged-out Ghanaian guy who apparently thought that a white girl from Sweet Home Oregon would be impressed with his thuginess, (even though neither she nor he probably know anything about WHY "thugs" wear really baggy pants and "bling-bling") and decided to play this third grade game of tag with her (meaning he got up from the counter he was leaning against and tapped her on the shoulder as fast as he could, and then went back to leaning against his counter, maybe hoping she wouldn't see?) But she saw and was completely unimpressed with both the thuginess AND the game of tag she once played with boys on the playground at Oak Heights Elementary School. Sadly, this girl, ME, did not come to Ghana to act like she is 11. Crazy. I know.
Besides the ridiculous, which, let's face it follows me everywhere, things have been pretty tame around here. School has really started, and besides the pretty large amount of reading I have to do for both my Colonial Rule class and my Black Diaspora class, things are very mellow. I did decide to drop my African Literature class as it was both 3 hours long and also the most boring class I have ever taken in my life. I have replaced it with Gender Issues in Religion and Society. Which might turn out to be the most interesting class EVER. Why? You might ask. Well, this class is made up of about 50 people. About 15 are oboruni (white--spelled correctly this time) women, and the other 35 or so are Ghanaian men and women. (Apparently oboruni men know better?) Anyway, the oboruni women and Ghanaian men represent too very opposite sides of the gender spectrum. For example: at one point during the discussion, the scenario was raised that if a Ghanaian family had one boy and one girl, but only enough money to educate one, who would they logically choose? (Obviously they would choose the boy, as men are seen as the providers and women marry and leave the family, so it is the boy who will provide for the larger family unit, etc, etc.) These ideas were voiced in various ways, and then one man raised his hand to say "Well, it would be a waste of time to educate the female." WHAT!!! I could barely believe my ears! To be fair, in the context, and after the other before-mentioned ideas were expressed, this is a somewhat valid statement, however, WHO JUST SAYS THAT???? The answer: Apparently a lot of people. As was soon proven. when "power" was described as a man being able to provide for his family, financially stable women were described as being "disrespectful" to their husbands, and when someone (a guy) made the statement that every woman he knew with children had thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant. I think I am about to learn A LOT about gender culture in Ghana. I am so excited!
Today has been pretty decent thus-far. I took my friend (and by took, I mean accompanied her in a taxi--which she paid for) to the hospital to get her ankle looked at (she tore a ligament during a football game last week) then we went to lunch, talked a lot about ourselves--I learned Becky's mom died when she was 13, and about her religion, Baha'i. I told her about all my plans for the future (which are a forever fluid group of ideas that change intensity and priority almost daily) and later today I am going shopping for food and dishes to accompany my new HOT PLATE! This thing is going to change EVERYTHING! (I hope it will at least help me eat vegetables without getting sick--that would be a pretty big accomplishment.) In other news, I decided not to go forward with Cross Country, but I might be playing women's RUGBY soon. I'll keep you posted. I love you.
I have SO many stories! Most are general ridiculousness that would probably only happen to me. For instance: that time it was literally like 100 degrees (Fahrenheit, only like...35 degrees Celsius?) and I was in the hottest classroom in the world (where 3 of my 5 classes are...) and like 17 Ghanaian students all squeeze into MY row, even though there was really only room for about 8 of them, and I was wearing a 100% linen shirt, so I was IMMEDIATELY the really gross white girl with a total sweat band around my shirt and down my back. Gross. And also hilarious in about 10-12 months.
There are also the things like the fact that I might have a toe fungus (they take about a year to go away...too bad its flip flop season ALL THE TIME here,) How my Africa Under Colonial Rule professor hasn't shown up in 2 weeks, however has gone far enough to A.) give enormous reading assignments, and B.) Call the TA in the class after we have been waiting for him for nearly an hour, and tell us that he is on his way and is stuck in traffic, and no one is allowed to leave. This class is 2 hours long, so after an hour and 45 minutes, I decided I needed to leave. I mean seriously. There is also the time when I went into Accra to pick up the package my parents sent me (4 boxes of tampons!!!) and this ridiculous thugged-out Ghanaian guy who apparently thought that a white girl from Sweet Home Oregon would be impressed with his thuginess, (even though neither she nor he probably know anything about WHY "thugs" wear really baggy pants and "bling-bling") and decided to play this third grade game of tag with her (meaning he got up from the counter he was leaning against and tapped her on the shoulder as fast as he could, and then went back to leaning against his counter, maybe hoping she wouldn't see?) But she saw and was completely unimpressed with both the thuginess AND the game of tag she once played with boys on the playground at Oak Heights Elementary School. Sadly, this girl, ME, did not come to Ghana to act like she is 11. Crazy. I know.
Besides the ridiculous, which, let's face it follows me everywhere, things have been pretty tame around here. School has really started, and besides the pretty large amount of reading I have to do for both my Colonial Rule class and my Black Diaspora class, things are very mellow. I did decide to drop my African Literature class as it was both 3 hours long and also the most boring class I have ever taken in my life. I have replaced it with Gender Issues in Religion and Society. Which might turn out to be the most interesting class EVER. Why? You might ask. Well, this class is made up of about 50 people. About 15 are oboruni (white--spelled correctly this time) women, and the other 35 or so are Ghanaian men and women. (Apparently oboruni men know better?) Anyway, the oboruni women and Ghanaian men represent too very opposite sides of the gender spectrum. For example: at one point during the discussion, the scenario was raised that if a Ghanaian family had one boy and one girl, but only enough money to educate one, who would they logically choose? (Obviously they would choose the boy, as men are seen as the providers and women marry and leave the family, so it is the boy who will provide for the larger family unit, etc, etc.) These ideas were voiced in various ways, and then one man raised his hand to say "Well, it would be a waste of time to educate the female." WHAT!!! I could barely believe my ears! To be fair, in the context, and after the other before-mentioned ideas were expressed, this is a somewhat valid statement, however, WHO JUST SAYS THAT???? The answer: Apparently a lot of people. As was soon proven. when "power" was described as a man being able to provide for his family, financially stable women were described as being "disrespectful" to their husbands, and when someone (a guy) made the statement that every woman he knew with children had thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant. I think I am about to learn A LOT about gender culture in Ghana. I am so excited!
Today has been pretty decent thus-far. I took my friend (and by took, I mean accompanied her in a taxi--which she paid for) to the hospital to get her ankle looked at (she tore a ligament during a football game last week) then we went to lunch, talked a lot about ourselves--I learned Becky's mom died when she was 13, and about her religion, Baha'i. I told her about all my plans for the future (which are a forever fluid group of ideas that change intensity and priority almost daily) and later today I am going shopping for food and dishes to accompany my new HOT PLATE! This thing is going to change EVERYTHING! (I hope it will at least help me eat vegetables without getting sick--that would be a pretty big accomplishment.) In other news, I decided not to go forward with Cross Country, but I might be playing women's RUGBY soon. I'll keep you posted. I love you.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Clean Laundry and Football
Hello again,
So...I have calmed down considerably since the last blog/rant. My schedule has finally been figured out! I am now taking Twi, Economic History of West Africa 1700-1860, The Black Diaspora, Colonial Rule and African Response, and Masterpieces of African Literature. Along with my independent research project (which has changed for the fourth time) examining the creation of women's NGOs in Ghana in the period of 1982-1992(ish...) when Ghana was under a pretty dictatorial government. Who was saying what women's roles were under this military regime? Etc.
In other good news, I gave in to temptation and paid to have 2 loads of laundry washed and dried in machines for me. I think that it was 6 cedis well spent. Especially considering that one of my purses has started to mold...Also, my towel is now both soft and clean, when, up until now it has either been soft and damp (and subsequently kind of smelly) or clean and sand-papery. I can tell you that after a 3.5 minute ice cold shower, neither of these options are that appealing. Oh well.
I have been in Ghana for 6 weeks! I am starting to realize how quickly the year will go by. Now that I have reading assignments, research to do, and football games to attend, I know that this first semester will be gone very quickly. Its both good and bad. In some ways I am so ready to go home. I want to dry my clothes, and take warm showers, and know that the toilets will flush, and not get stared at everywhere I go. But also, there are so many amazing things here. The break down of infrastructure makes everyone work so much harder. This is not a bad thing. People relate to one another in ways that would never happen in America. There is a level of comfortable that I can't describe other than say that people are so open here. About everything. The number of times I have had conversations about bowel movements is huge. Because you have to! Everyone is so willing to help out, and go further, and try harder, because that is just what you do. I hope I will remember those things when I leave.
I bought an orange yesterday using Twi! What an accomplishment! The woman just laughed at me the whole time, but she understood me, and it was amazing! (it was a very good orange too) Also, I watched the live broadcast of the U-17 world cup. The match between Ghana and Spain played on Wednesday morning, in Akuafo Hall, one of the dorms here. It was SO FUN! It was mainly Ghanaian men there, and then me and about 7 other white students, but everyone was screaming and singing and yelling at every call! Ghana lost 2 to 1 in the second overtime, which was heartbreaking but I am now VERY excited to attend some of the Africa Cup games, which will be held in January in Ghana. And, Ghana is the best football team in Africa, so its gonna be CRAZY! I can't wait.
Speaking of crazy. The weekend in Cape Coast was really fun. Elena's birthday was Friday, and so we all drank a lot (I held back as to take care of the birthday girl--who desperately needed it) and then went dancing on the beach. Because I am the best roommate ever, I shoved about a liter of water down Elena's throat, along with a loaf of bread, and she did not vomit and did not have a hangover the next morning. (Thank you, Andrea) The lack of hangover was a good thing because we ended up spending all day Saturday dancing in the streets of Cape Coast in the middle of this huge parade celebrating Cape Coast's New Year. It was wet and cold and so much fun. Other than the fact that some drunk Ghanaian teen poured Guinness in my hair...
On Sunday, we went to Kukum National Park to do the canopy walk. We walked through the top of a rain forest. I have some pretty incredible pictures. I will definitely show you. In 9 months when I come back. Wow...I love you.
So...I have calmed down considerably since the last blog/rant. My schedule has finally been figured out! I am now taking Twi, Economic History of West Africa 1700-1860, The Black Diaspora, Colonial Rule and African Response, and Masterpieces of African Literature. Along with my independent research project (which has changed for the fourth time) examining the creation of women's NGOs in Ghana in the period of 1982-1992(ish...) when Ghana was under a pretty dictatorial government. Who was saying what women's roles were under this military regime? Etc.
In other good news, I gave in to temptation and paid to have 2 loads of laundry washed and dried in machines for me. I think that it was 6 cedis well spent. Especially considering that one of my purses has started to mold...Also, my towel is now both soft and clean, when, up until now it has either been soft and damp (and subsequently kind of smelly) or clean and sand-papery. I can tell you that after a 3.5 minute ice cold shower, neither of these options are that appealing. Oh well.
I have been in Ghana for 6 weeks! I am starting to realize how quickly the year will go by. Now that I have reading assignments, research to do, and football games to attend, I know that this first semester will be gone very quickly. Its both good and bad. In some ways I am so ready to go home. I want to dry my clothes, and take warm showers, and know that the toilets will flush, and not get stared at everywhere I go. But also, there are so many amazing things here. The break down of infrastructure makes everyone work so much harder. This is not a bad thing. People relate to one another in ways that would never happen in America. There is a level of comfortable that I can't describe other than say that people are so open here. About everything. The number of times I have had conversations about bowel movements is huge. Because you have to! Everyone is so willing to help out, and go further, and try harder, because that is just what you do. I hope I will remember those things when I leave.
I bought an orange yesterday using Twi! What an accomplishment! The woman just laughed at me the whole time, but she understood me, and it was amazing! (it was a very good orange too) Also, I watched the live broadcast of the U-17 world cup. The match between Ghana and Spain played on Wednesday morning, in Akuafo Hall, one of the dorms here. It was SO FUN! It was mainly Ghanaian men there, and then me and about 7 other white students, but everyone was screaming and singing and yelling at every call! Ghana lost 2 to 1 in the second overtime, which was heartbreaking but I am now VERY excited to attend some of the Africa Cup games, which will be held in January in Ghana. And, Ghana is the best football team in Africa, so its gonna be CRAZY! I can't wait.
Speaking of crazy. The weekend in Cape Coast was really fun. Elena's birthday was Friday, and so we all drank a lot (I held back as to take care of the birthday girl--who desperately needed it) and then went dancing on the beach. Because I am the best roommate ever, I shoved about a liter of water down Elena's throat, along with a loaf of bread, and she did not vomit and did not have a hangover the next morning. (Thank you, Andrea) The lack of hangover was a good thing because we ended up spending all day Saturday dancing in the streets of Cape Coast in the middle of this huge parade celebrating Cape Coast's New Year. It was wet and cold and so much fun. Other than the fact that some drunk Ghanaian teen poured Guinness in my hair...
On Sunday, we went to Kukum National Park to do the canopy walk. We walked through the top of a rain forest. I have some pretty incredible pictures. I will definitely show you. In 9 months when I come back. Wow...I love you.
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