Easter, no lights, and coming home

Five more weeks to go - the countdown is on! My excitement about returning home is growing each day, and each day I think of another reason why I am happy to come home. While I do have mixed feelings about leaving Ghana, I am sure that I am looking forward to returning to Seattle.

Thanks to all who have donated money to the education funds of Mahadev, Oppong, Jamila, and Babangida. So far, I have collected over two hundred dollars, and I am still awaiting donations from five more people. If you are still interested in donating, please send me an email and I’ll send you my brother’s address in Seattle. He can deposit the money into my account and I can access it from here. I will accept donations until April 15 (tax day, right)? I am really excited to present them each with the money and I look forward to their responses.

Things have been busy in Cape Coast. Katy and I have finished our volunteer work at Wesley Girls’ School and now plan to relax and enjoy our final weeks in Ghana. Last week I traveled to the Volta Region…in southeast Ghana. It was a fun trip - I got to see Akosombo Dam, which fences in Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world. It was an interesting experience…I toured the dam with a group of high school students from Benin. Funny, I came all the way to Africa and still got to go on a field trip. I found the teacher in me trying to surface, as I almost shushed the students at different times. I avoided actually doing it, but I know I gave “the look” a few times. The dam was interesting - the tour lasted about an hour, and we were only allowed to take photos for two minutes at the end of the tour, for security reasons.

After a night in Akosombo, I headed to Ho, the capital of the Volta Region. It was a nice city - very clean by Ghana’s standards. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, but I spent some time walking around the town. I enjoyed my stay at the hotel…I had my first hot shower in seven months!!!

From Ho I went to Accra and spent a night there. I am fairly certain that the hotel was haunted. The lights kept going out…even though all around the hotel all the lights were on. Then, on Saturday, I came back to Cape Coast, just in time to celebrate Easter.

Easter in Ghana is a different phenomenon than I have ever experienced in the States. On Sunday, everyone in Ghana went to church (and I went to the internet). All day long there was loud music blasting at the house next door, in celebration of a Muslim wedding. But, the real celebration came the day after Easter, or “Easter Monday.” That is when the entire city of Cape Coast heads to the beach. We had a group of about 12 people, packed up a chartered tro-tro, and went to Moree Beach. Atu, Francis, and Aminu prepared food (rice and stew) and packed it in coolers, and off we went. At the beach, everyone was dressed up like they were going out for a night on the town (we were not). Everyone brought their own coolers full of rice and food…and there were typical beach activities: swimming, volleyball, eating ice cream. It felt strangely American. There was one lady who had a scary-looking doll with her and carried it around. I managed to snap a couple of photos…couldn’t quite figure out what her deal was…but it was amusing. We stayed for about five hours, and then joined the chaos in trying to get out. It felt like a Mariners’ game. Our tro-tro driver (who had agreed to a pre-set fee), demanded more money when he picked us up at the beach. Completely annoying, but seemingly typical here. We made it home safely and were disappointed to confirm the fact that the Easter Bunny is unaware of Ghana.

Things at the house are busy, too. Remember the night of the “Female Fight in Fante” over the issue of me cleaning the toilet? Well, things blew over quickly after that because later that same night the landwoman’s sister’s husband died suddenly of a heart attack. (They live in the house, too…as well as many of their family members). Everyone at the house has been in planning mode…for the funeral. It’s coming on April 4th, and will be held at the house. I asked why the funeral is held so long after the death and was told that the family has to prepare for everything and many times they are not financially able to have a funeral right away. I asked where the man’s body is…and was told, “in the refrigerator.” I see. So, the preparations are being made, including the house being painted. The other day two of the neighbor ladies knocked on our door and showed us the fabric for the funeral dresses we are to wear and asked how many yards we’d like. The seamstress showed up the next day to measure us and is now sewing our dresses. I guess everyone in the house wears the same fabric. (Side note: the mean lady who told me to clean the toilet was laughing when the seamstress was measuring me on the front porch - in front of everyone…she was calling me "obolo", but not in a nice way. Karma kicked in and when she was cutting yams about five minutes later she cut her finger. I tried to stifle my chuckles). As morbid as it sounds, I am excited about the funeral…funerals are a big deal here in Ghana and I am looking forward to seeing another part of the culture.

Ahhh…and the light issue. I thought I had gotten away from power problems when I left Ejura. Last week, the house changed it’s method of billing for electricity use. They went from paying at the end of the month to using a pre-paid card with units on it. Well, the units keep running out and three times in the past week, the lights have gone out for many hours. Luckily, I was gone for the first two times. But, last night, at 11, everything shut down again. No lights, no fan. Hot. Hot. Hot. And they did not come on again until seven this evening. Apparently, the cards are running out too quickly. So, the idea presented today was that the power will be off from 8 am until 6 pm. Boo. I do not like this idea at all. However, it is no fun to sleep without the fan. So, there is a meeting tomorrow night to discuss the problem. I’ll keep you posted.

In other news, my shoulders sweat. It’s a very bizarre thing. My armpits won’t even be sweaty and my shirt will be soaked through in the shoulders. How do you say that? Instead of “pitting out” my shirts…I’m “shouldering out” my shirts? Jeez.

I was talking to my mom last night and we were discussing my return to America. I plan to stay at my parents’ house for a few days when I first get back. She was telling me that I should let her know if I need anything special - for example, a quiet environment. I laughed a little bit and told her I’d do a little research on reverse culture shock, and let her know what I might need (really I’d just like a steak, a salad, and a piece of chocolate cake). Anyway, I was telling Katy about our discussion…and she said, “Quiet environment? You should ask your mom to baaa like a sheep every five minutes or so.” Then we got on a roll…make chicken noises, make sure there is chicken poop and goat poop and sheep poop on the porch each morning, have twenty children fighting/laughing/playing outside my door, tro tro horns, pots and pans banging, no air conditioning, a stinky, stinky bathroom complete with cockroaches and large spiders. What do you think, Mom? Can you arrange for that? =) I'll feel right at home!

Hope you are all well. I suppose this is one of my last few entries. I'd love to hear from you all...I'm in need of some updates before I head home!

Take care!

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