Christmas and New Year's in Ghana

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1/2/10

I guess I should start off with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Or as we say in Twi, Afehyia Pa! Before I get into what Christmas and New Year’s Eve was like, let me talk about the end of term at school. First off, we still don’t have a headmaster at the school, but we’re use to it by now. At the end of term staff meeting, we met the District Director of Education for first time, and he is technically the acting headmaster, but he is never at the school so it’s more of a title than anything. Since I was only able to teach the Form 1 students for 4 weeks, I only gave them a short class test at the end of the term. There isn’t even a register of all the students in Form 1 yet, so I don’t even have a list of students to record their grades with. During the end of term exams invigilated several other teachers’ exams and I had a good time catching cheaters. It’s hard to feel bad for students when you take their test from them because you caught them using a cheat sheet. At the end of term staff meeting we had an unprecedented surprise buffet, with quite an impressive spread. With the way things have gone this term; I almost hope we don’t get a new headmaster.

Since I came home for Christmas last year, this year is my only Christmas in Ghana and I wanted it to be authentic, so I spent Christmas in my village. On Christmas Eve I went to Church at 7pm. There was a Christmas Program before Mass started, which included singing, dancing, scripture, and a drama. It was all in Twi, so I’m not really sure what was going on the whole time. By the time Mass got over it was 11pm and WAY past my bed time. Keeping to my Christmas traditions though, I put on my Christmas pajamas and reading the “Night Before Christmas” before going to bed. Apart from family of course, the only thing that was really missing from Christmas Eve was TBS’s 24 hours of “A Christmas Story.”

Christmas Day started by going straight back to Church. Thankfully, we only had Mass so it took just an hour and a half. The rest of my Christmas was very low key. I went to a teacher’s house for lunch and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. Walking around Akrokerri, I would have never guessed it was Christmas. All the stores were open and people were going about their daily activities. I talked with a few Ghanaians and asked about some of the traditions we have in America, like Santa Claus. Most children in Ghana know who Santa Claus is, but they don’t believe in him the same way as children do in America. It is very common for children in Ghana not to receive any presents from Santa on Christmas morning. The highlight of my Christmas was talking to friends and family on the phone. I bought extra credit for my phone as a Christmas present to myself and called as many people as I could. I apologize if you didn’t get a call from me on Christmas. For those of you that I did talk to, know that I had a wonderful Christmas because I was able to hear all of your voices. Spending Christmas in my village in Ghana was a good experience, and it reminded me just how much I love Christmas and how Christmas will always mean family to me.

New Year’s Eve was spent in a similar way to Christmas Eve. It turns out, everyone in Ghana goes to Church on New Year’s Eve to start the New Year with a “clean slate.” Once again, I went to Church around 7pm for the start of the New Year’s Eve Program. As you can guess, there was a lot of singing and dancing. There was also a bit of preaching and praying, but it was all in Twi so as usual I didn’t really know what was going on. Then there was a Q&A where members of the congregation asked the Priest anything. The questions ranged from “why does God allow suffering the world?” to “Is it a sin to kill someone that is trying to steal your property?” Then we had Mass and we finished 10 minutes before midnight. To my surprise though, no one waited around for the clock to strike 12. When Mass was over, everyone just started going home. For being at Church for 5 hours, the New Year was pretty anticlimactic. There was no countdown, nothing. I was prepared however, and had a couple ice cold beers waiting for me when I got home so I could ring in 2010 with class. On New Year’s Day I got up and went right back to Church because it’s a holy day of obligation. With all the time I spent in Church I prayed for all of your souls so I hope you had fun on New Year’s Eve because I had you covered. I’ve been to Church more in the week and a half than any other time in my life, and I was an altar boy so I think that’s saying something.

I think that’s all the important stuff. I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to celebrating them with you next year. Take Care.

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Comments

[Keith Snyder]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Drew, I enjoy your blog and the insight into another culture. Jody and I are at Anthony Fioretti's wedding in Sun Valley this weekend. A lot of your soccer pals are here. Quite a contrast to your holidays. We are proud of you and look forward to more blogs and your eventual return to this home.

[Sara]

neat
I randomly came across your blog while searching for the spelling of Afehyia Pa. The woman that lives with my grandma is from Ghana and is teaching me a few phrases. One day I hope to visit her in Ghana when she goes home! It's neat to read about someone's experiences there, especially since you participate in everything includint church. It must be so interesting to see catholicism from a Ghanian perspective.

[Nick]

It is a good posting. I like it. It's pretty much impressive. webroyalty