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Published: July 28th 2008
7/27/08
I’ll start off this entry with a description of my American meal in Koforidua last week. I decided that if I was going to have some American style food that I better go all the way. I ordered a beef burger with cheese, a side of potato chips (french fries in American English), and an ice cold Coca-Cola. To polish off the day I grabbed a fan ice in the tro back to Old Tafo for dessert. The fries cost just as much as the cheeseburger, but it was worth ever pesewa. I spent half of my weekly allowance on that one meal, and I’ll definitely do it again before I head to my site. If I were in America I’d say that the cheeseburger was decent at best, but considering my current situation I have to say that the cheeseburger was a little slice of heaven. Anything that reminds me of the comforts of home is warmly welcomed. I love it over hear and I like a lot of the food, but I definitely miss a lot of the food and conveniences of America.
The big news of the week is that another trainee went home. The trainee decided to leave because he wasn’t happy and was having a difficult time with a lot of things. I was extremely shocked when I heard that he was gone because he was in my language group and I saw him every day. I knew he was having a tough time with the food and that being a teacher wasn’t his ideal job, but I thought I would hear something about it or at least get to say goodbye before he left. All three of the people that have gone home have left without any warning and without saying goodbye. I’m sure it would be really hard to tell everyone that you want to go home, but it makes it seem like people are just disappearing out of the blue. One day they’re here, and the next they’re gone. Another reason that I was shocked by this trainee’s departure is that he was one of the married couples, and his wife is staying in Ghana. I’m sure that she will do fine by herself, and she is very determined to stay for the whole two years. I wonder who will be next, and when?
Tuesday was the end of the period of silence for the Ohum Festival. I have learned much more about the festival this past week. The festival signifies the start of the new year. During the opening ceremony the staff that was presented to the chief was pulled out of the center of a palm tree. The group of men that pulls it out has three chances to pull it out or else the festival must be postponed and sacrifices must be made to appease the ancestors and gods. Luckily this year the staff was pulled out within the three tries. From what I have heard, it is very rare that the staff is not pulled out within the three chances. B.J. was a sword bearer in the opening ceremony and the swords and palm staff are presented to the chief on a bed of skins. I’m sure there is more significance to everything, but that’s all I got about the opening ceremony. There was a bunch of drumming at the palace to break the period of silence. Children filled the streets banging pots, jugs, buckets, and anything else that made noise. I arrived at the chief’s palace just in time to be invited to dance in front of a large group of people, including the chief and elders. Most of the trainees in Old Tafo got some time in the limelight. People come from all over Ghana to come home for the Ohum Festival. It is a time to resolve quarrels, forgive debts, and return home. I went around with my host brother and his friends to a few spots. They polished of a bottle of cocoa liqueur between 5 of them. I tried some and it reminded me a lot of Kahula, but it’s no the type of alcohol I’d drink straight. I also tried palm wine for the first time. I’m not a big wine drinker, but I could drink palm wine all day. It is very sweet and tastes like a dessert wine. There wasn’t a lot going on so I called it a night fairly early.
On Wednesday all the school children bring the chief firewood. All of the Peace Corps Trainees also brought the chief a piece of firewood each. Students from schools in all the participating towns brought firewood to the palace. From what I heard, everyone is supposed to offer the chief a present of something, but now just the children present firewood. We were scheduled to bring firewood to the palace at 8am, so naturally we waited around until non to actually present the firewood. I’m getting really used to GMT (Ghana Maybe Time), and my patience is reaching astronomical heights.
The most important day of the Ohum Festival was on Friday. The Chief along with the elders cross a river and visit a shrine to sacrifice a goat I believe. My host family wanted to take me to see the shrine, but we had a medical session at the Peace Corps Training Site in Kukurantumi. I was fairly upset that we were not able to witness this event. Apparently, there was supposed to be a path cut in the forest, which wasn’t and the water in the river was high so we would have had to wade through mud to our chest to see the shrine. I’m bummed I didn’t get to see it, but that’s alright.
I went out with my host brother most nights to go to the spots. There were tons of people out in Old Tafo every night. Most of the spots had really loud music playing and people dancing. Until the last night, I didn’t see one girl dancing at any of the spots. The dance floors were filled with men. I told my host brother that the only reason men dance in America is because there are girls dancing. I stayed up the latest I have since I left America. When I’d head home around midnight there were always people still out and my host brother told me that the spots would be open until 4am. I still had to get up at 6am so I didn’t want to push it. On Saturday night a bunch of trainees from other towns came to Old Tafo to experience the Ohum Festival. Needless to say, the night was entertaining and I’ll leave it at that. A few of us waited to watch the Miss Ohum Pageant. It was scheduled to start around 8pm so naturally is started at 1:30am. Little did any of us know that Miss Ohum is actually a dance contest. The music was ridiculously loud. My ears are still ringing. After a couple elimination rounds, the DJ just played a bunch of music and people is the small crowd danced. There was a 1 Ghana Cedi cover to get in and it was obvious that they were just dragging the contest out to make as much money as possible. Since BJ lives at the palace I got in without paying. Apparently the contest used to traditional Ghanaian dancing with full outfits, but now its just hip hop for the most part. Three of us made it until 3am before calling it quits. We never did see Miss Ohum 2008 crowned. If I would have I known that Miss Ohum was a dance contest I never would have waited around to watch it.
I had some interesting conversations with a number of Ghanaians this week. A number of different Ghanaians had the same misconceptions about America that I had never heard before. In case any of you weren’t aware, “in America when you turn 17 the government gives you a car, house, and job.” So if any of you haven’t gotten those yet you should probably call your congressman. “America is not free like Ghana because you can’t live in America without a green card and it is too hard to get green cards.” “All white people call black people monkeys, why?” “When Barack Obama becomes president he will let black people moved to America.” Not to mention, “Obama should be president of America because he is more intelligent,” not because the color of his skin of course. It is frustrating trying to disprove all the outlandish misconceptions about America and white people, but they are necessary conversations to have. Then there are intelligent people like my host brother who I can actually have a meaningful conversation with. Granted, there are still a lot of things all Ghanaians don’t understand about America, like the idea of taking a loan for a house and taking 30 years to pay it off. I got some great mail from home this week with great pictures. Pictures are one thing I can’t get enough of. Getting to see what everyone is doing at home is great, and don’t worry, I will send my memory card home as soon as I get the spare one in the mail so all my pictures can be uploaded to the internet. On top of pictures, I can always use a good book to read. There is a lot of down time and I’m reading more than I ever have. I’d prefer fun, adventurous, and easy reads, although some good classics are always welcome. Some of my easy reads were the first Harry Potter and I’m in the middle of the Golden Compass. My tough read was a Tale of Two Cities. Basically any good book that is hard to put down would be a perfect care package item. I miss everyone, and I’m really excited to go on my site visit this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. I send all my love. Later.
7/28/08
There isn’t much to add today since I wrote yesterday. On Friday I go to visit my sight for a week. The PCV that I’m replacing will still be there I think so hopefully he’ll be able to tell me everything I need to know about my site. Hopefully he’ll leave me a bunch of stuff so I can use my moving in allowance to buy a fridge. I’m starting to get really excited as the weeks of training wind down. Pretty soon I’ll actually be a Peace Corps Volunteer and have a place to call home for the next two years. I’ll let you know how site visit went as soon as I get back. Lots of love. Bye.
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Aimee
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Hey, Andrew!
My parents passed along the address for your blog. It's fun reading about your adventures! I bet Nate could give you some drumming tips! Stay well! :)