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cecinghana's LiveJournal:
| Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 | | 1:47 pm |
| | Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 | | 9:04 pm |
Finals are done, as well as my independent study 20 page paper. I had finals in flute, Twi, Art History of Ghana, History of Ghana, and The Black Diaspora. My finals went well for all as far as I can tell. Now that the semester is over, I realize that I had it under better control than I had thought through out the process. With academics done and two weeks left in Ghana, here’s my plan: enjoy a few more days on campus, going into the city and visiting friends, then next week leave for one last trip. Either the Western part of Ghana or back to Togo and possibly through to Benin. (Togo is Ghana’s eastern neighbor and is a very skinny country. Benin is the next country over.) I spent today wandering through the artists’ market and then navigated my way through the huge market place and bargained myself a deal for new luggage. That sounds basic, but if you could see the zoo of buzzing people swarming the market to an order and harmony completely foreign to your own- you’d appreciate what an accomplishment that is. It doesn’t overwhelm me anymore, it’s fun. I feel like I’m finally starting to feel a bit at home here. And I’m leaving in two weeks. | | Saturday, November 26th, 2005 | | 9:16 pm |
What's new in Ghana?
I haven’t updated in awhile because I feel like my life has been getting boring here, but then I realized it’s probably just that I’m used to it now so it didn’t seem like I had anything to report, but I've gotten enough requests, so here we go. -A number of people have asked me about food, in a gist: It’s not considered a real meal unless you have a mound of starch and a piece of meat. The starch can be rice (plain, tomato& seasonings, mashed up with beans, or fried), banku (corn and yam), fufu (tastes like raw dough), or kenke (slightly fermented mashed corn). Meat is either fried chicken (never grilled), or some beef/goat in a light “stew”, which is more like a thick broth. Most of it tastes pretty good and I do enjoy it when I can manage to get some variety. But it’s very salty and palm oil is a main ingredient for most dishes. When I’m trying to give myself a break from all the rice, fried chicken and starch balls (which is more often than not), I eat bread, eggs, milk, juice, fruit and plantain chips. -Academics The semester is ending and finals are here. I already had a final for flute, Twi (local language), and Art History of Ghana. I have two left and an independent study paper to finish. So I’m in student mode now and doing lots of work. -New Adventures I spent a weekend at a beach resort that was made up of mud one-room circular buildings, nicely painted and I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell it was mud if I hadn’t been here for so long. Straw roofs, hammocks, water storage tanks in the ground, tasty food. It was really nice. It looked like a beach-front paradise and was so relaxing. I slept in comfortably with a fan keeping my room cool, eating tasty Ghanaian and European dishes, and spending afternoons on the beach, and early evenings in the hammocks. So so nice. Maybe I can go back before I leave. The city-center of the capital has the national arts center. They collaborated with the University of Ghana (where I am) to put on a fantastic dance and drumming performance, made up of two acts. The first was about the various aspects of life- market women, drinking, rowing, fishing, preaching, friendship, and lust- the love pursuit scenes were done rather slyly so that no one could call it indecent but everyone understood what was being communicated. The women danced around with baskets and the men surrounded them with fishing rods. So, yah, clear and clear. The second act was about the slave trade and slavery- very powerful. When I first came here I was exposed to a number of Ghanaian academics who placed guilt on chiefs and elite Africans who sold other Africans, but this performance was an opportunity to see how the role of the Europeans in the trade is understood by Ghanaians. The dance set up the European characters as demonstrating fierce brutality in one scene and then acting very “civilized” in the next with their ballroom dancing and polite parties. It’s hard for me to find a way to express things that mean so much here in a way that could relate to people not here, so I think the best I can do really is just to say it impacted me and the way I judge the way I’m treated here (like some odd foreign creature). | | Thursday, October 20th, 2005 | | 4:47 pm |
Adjustment Stage and Baboons ate my Mc Vities in Northern Ghana
I passed the half way mark a couple weeks ago. Only two months left. One the second day of being in Ghana, I remember feeling like I had been here for weeks and now that it’s been months, it feels like just a couple weeks. I feel like I’ve finally reached a point where I’ve found the balance of what cultural norms and habits I’m adopting while I’m here and which ones of my own I need to maintain for myself. I imagine that’s an adjustment to go through anytime I live abroad for more than a few weeks, but I didn’t really expect to go through that search or even know I was looking for it until I found it. There are a number of mannerisms, gestures, and intonations I’ve picked up on since being here. Today’s example is water. If I ask for water with my American accent, saying “wader” being lazy with my t’s and pronouncing my r’s, it just goes unregistered. But ask for “wa-ta” pronounce the “t” and drop the “r”- it’s so clear what we’re all talking about. Also values of how to dress and interact with people of a different age or social role are things I tried to adopt right away because it’s rather offensive not to. Like no mid-drifts, nothing above the knee, and I use “sir” “thank you” and bowing quite a bit. They don’t bow in Ghana, but certain social situations bring it out in me and no one seems to mind. The only things I’ve really felt I couldn’t adopt were the gender roles and the lack personal space that some men feel they can have with me. It’s common to have some one try to take me by the arm and tell me where to go. It’s often done with the intention of being helpful because it’s usually assumed that a white person is lost if they’re wandering around. So I guess they’re trying to be helpful. If a woman does it, I don’t make a fuss, but if it’s a man, I promptly pick their hand off of me and return it to them. Some get offended, but I’ve watched to see what the Ghanaian women do and they don’t seem to allow the men to touch them either, so regardless, I need to have my space respected to feel comfortable and uninvaided. So I’m keeping that practice. But I do feel confident to go about my life in Ghana. I know how to get around town, make due with limited library resources for research projects, and I know what to expect for interacting with Ghanaians. I’ve also got a handle on traveling, which is quite the accomplishment in a place where transportation is rather unpredictable. I guess my favorite adjustment is how to interact with locals. There are a lot of differences and the similarities are sometimes hard to find under the accents and miscommunications, but I’ve learned how to get a laugh and to laugh myself at the ridiculous things I hear everyday. My newest reaction to “oburoni” (white person) is “sup?” or “yah? Can I help you?” I’ll probably have a new one for next week. Fun stories from the weekend: -baboons ate my McVities I went up north to a national park this weekend and baboons got into our motel room. I was traveling with one friend, Shaina. They got into our crackers, bit into her toothpaste, and licked her make-up compact. They tore into my band-aids. We found them returning from lunch. So we got a hotel employee to scare them away for us. We counted 8 baboons run out of our room plus the several congregated outside our door. It was ridiculous. -I sat on a crocodile We went as north as possible, walking distance from the border with Burkina Faso, and there’s a crocodile pond there. We bought a live chicken, had some men call them out to us, and we took turns taking pictures on the crocodile’s back while it ate it’s chicken. The pictures and video are hilarious. I’ll try to post them. Ok, must go. Hope you’re well. | | Monday, September 26th, 2005 | | 12:18 pm |
| | Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 | | 8:04 pm |
Tonight was dedicated to putting together an online photo-album for you all to enjoy because I've been promising one since I got here. But I handed my pen drive to the man staffing the internet cafe and who has the capacity to get my pics loaded onto the computer. He deleted an entire folder of pictures as an honest mistake. I'm not angry, but I now don't trust him to touch any of my stuff. So no album until I find a competent internet cafe staffman. Sorry. It was going to be good picutes too. Too bad. | | Monday, September 19th, 2005 | | 3:58 pm |
Crazy Weekends
I've been traveling for the past two weekends and catching up in between, so here are some snipettes of my adventures: -Last weekend was spent in the Volta Region, north, at the Wli waterfalls at the tallest mountain in Ghana. It was incredibly beautiful and there will be pictures. -This weekend was spent in Togo, the country directly east of Ghana. -Last weekend was incredibly wonderful and beautiful and the best I can do is probably just get some pictures up, so I'll work on that. One story I do have is from on the way back to Legon, where my campus is. There are security check points along the roads that you have to stop for. I was in a package tro-tro (van/bus thing) and a security guard asked for my passport, which I did not have because I was not traveling between countries and ghana law does not require me to have it on me at all times. So he pulled me off the tro-tro and did not check anyone elses. I was traveling with my friend Adisa, a UC Irvine African-American student, and two of our Ghanaian friends. I was the only white person on the tro-tro. We were the only two americans. But he checked mine and no one elses. I got off expecting him to lecture me about laws and requirements for immigrants, but instead he yelled at me for his experience in Germany and scolded my Ghanaian host for "parading around this white woman" and shaming his ethnic group and country by showing me around Ghana. When he was done expressing what he wanted to express, he let me go without seeing the documents he said he would need in order to not detain me. I understand he was doing it because of his own experiences with racism abroad. It was strange because he said he was talking about me individually not having my papers, but then he was clearly talking about race, international relations, and things much bigger than I could address on an individual level. The weekend was wonderful even still. -Togo had its tough parts and its beautiful parts. The beach is the first thing you see when you cross the border and french influence is immediately apparent. There are moto-taxis, motorcycle taxis, driving around everywhere, and all the bread is in baggette form. And smoking is not taboo. -I almost got jumped by a monkey for my orange. One of the nights we were in Togo, we stayed at a beach resort that was really pretty. We picked up some oranges to enjoin on the beach and half way through my orange,a monkey came up near our table. THen it got closer. Jumped a bit closer, a bit closer, and eventually onto the chair next to me, staring at my orange and making a face. I wasn't about to be malded by a monkey, so I tossed it to side, where the monkey jumped, grabbed it, and ran of. So crazy. Wow. -Ok, time's out, I'll have to add more later. Hope you all are well. | | Sunday, September 4th, 2005 | | 6:56 pm |
The next day I saw some sacrifices. I had been in Cape Coast a couple weeks ago to see the slave castles (where the Africans were held captive until slave ships arrived) and at the time I didn't realize that the castles were stilled used for modern purposes. Some of the sacred rituals were done inside the slave castles. I don't know that I really have words for what it feels like to walk through the castle and then return watching it used like a temple. So, anyway, a room in the slave castle was used for the first sacrifice of the day- two chickens and a goat. If the goat dies on its back, then the Gods have accepted it. If not, they have to keep sacrificing until it's accepted. But I guess the Gods were easily pleased that day. After that ritual was done, a bull that had obvious been tortured for days, was dragged into the streets tied up and pulled along. After a long circular travel through the town that was supposed to weaken the animal so that it would accept death when the time came, it was sacrificed. Many of the locals wanted me to take a first row seat but I declined for a few reasons. It wasn't my ceremony, I'm a foreigner and this is not sacred to me, so I really didn't feel that privilege was appropriate. Also, I didn't have the appreciation necessary to justify watching so closely. Having foreign guests partcipate in local customs seems to be an honor here, so I often feel conflicted with the privilege I have here. I don't deserve or want to be at the front of everything that's important to a group of people, but I also don't want to offend the people I'm visiting by declining the offer. I try to take it case by case, but it's usually really ambiguous. Well, besides the religious aspects of the festival, there were also political ones. During a festival, there is permission to swap your social role. So people have an opportunity to make their complaints to the chief and the chiefs parade through the city partying with the people. Political parties also advertise themselves a bit. Other than all the cultural, religious, and political significance, a festival is basically a huge party. And as with any city-wide party, people get way crazy. Before the festival was in full gear, some of the group walked through the city and we had the regular children coming up with us wanting to hold our hands or touch our hair and the "Obruni, How are you?" from many people. I was used to that. But as the festival went on, it just got so much crazier. A lot of the men felt entitled to grab any of the women from our group. It's strange trying to communicate to some one that they are not entitled to be in my space- completely novel concept to a number of these men. By communication I don't mean that I sat these men down for a meaningful discussion. Every time I saw some one coming at me or a friend, my defense went up and I bent so many men's arms backwards this weekend- it was ridiculous. I gained a reputation within the UC group as being the one you want around when you're getting mugged. I took a martial arts defense class at Berkeley a year ago and I didn't realize that I still remembered so much of it. It wasn't my instinct reaction until about Friday evening, but I learned quickly. It made me realize how important is it that I bothered to take that half unit class and I'd really like to pick it back up again when I get back. It's nice being able to feel some amount of control in a situation like that. So, if anyone wants to learn how to return an unwanted grabbing hand to a larger man, let me know and we can join a class together in the Spring. Regardless, I did have a good deal of fun. Having male friends helps with just about any situation in Ghana- keeping strangers out of your space, having an official not give you a hard time, bargaining, or anything you want to accomplish. The men in the UC group are very willing and wanting to be helpful, even though there are so few of them, so we went outin large groups and had a good time, with two songs on repeat in every club: "Obia Nobia" which translates into "I'm nobody and you're nobody, so no one is above anyone else", and "Fly Away" which I have probably heard at least twice a day everyday since I've been in Ghana. It's a love song that no one seems to get tired of. Anyway, it was fun dancing and it served as a bit of a release from all the things we'd experienced in the day. A random story from the weekend: A few of us from the group re-applied our sunscreen during a parade and we suddenly got all this attention. The Ghanaians around us were very curious about what strange thing we were covering ourselves with. I started trying to explain the concept of a sunburn, when I was cut off by a man who advised me that it is better to just try to get used to the African sun because I'm going to be here for awhile. Then I tried to explain the difference between skin types and capacity to absorb the sun. The women listening were satisfied when I mentioned skin cancer and that the sun can make us very sick. One even decided she wanted to try some. But this man was still curious after I said his skin could handle the sun in a way mine couldn't, so he held his arm up to mine and said "which one is better?" I hadn't expected the sunscreen explanation to get this far, so I just said "yours is stronger for dealing with the sun." That discussion would have never happened in such a way in the states. It was strange and amusing. This morning topped it all off with a canopy walk through a rainforest, which I won’t even attempt to explain with words, but instead will soon send out a second round of serious pictures because this was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since I’ve been in Ghana. So look out for those. This week is going to be a serious week of paper writing, networking for my independent study, and catching up on my homework. I wish I could be here just for fun, but oh well. Structure is a good thing. Please comment with personal updates- it would make me very happy :) | | Monday, August 22nd, 2005 | | 6:13 am |
Wow, getting on the net is not a predictable thing here. Sure, it'll sign on and say the signal is full, but that doesn't mean you can acutally open any pages. Ah, anyway, these past couple weeks have been amazing. Two weekends ago, I had a family homestay. There was a lady around my age who's a student at the university and I stayed with her family, which consistented of a mother and two younger brothers. They were extremely hospitable and welcoming. On the first night, I learned a little about housekeeping done Ghanaian style, a bit of cooking, and had delicious food. The second was spent at my host's work place, a national radio station, where I met several interesting people, some extremely friendly and others not so much. My host's local friends made it their job to keep me entertained, so they took me around and promise to have plans for me when I come back. It was in an area call Tema, about an hour from Legon, where the univesity is. Last week was intense. The CA students went to a museum presentation on the slave trade on Tuesday and visited the slave castels on Wednesday. In case you don't know what the castels are, that's where Africans were held captive for 1-3 months or more before the slaveships came in. I can't even begin to describe all that came up within our group and within me during that time because that would be pages, and I don't even know that it would make sense to some one who hasn't been here. But I have pictures and am willing to talk about it if you want. The weekend came as a relief. A number of people went off on trips of their own, which I will probably also do soon, but I stuck around this weekend and had a great time. I went to feast (Baha'i gathering) in Accra (the capital) on Friday evening, which was quite the adventure, but I was warmly welcomed and looked after. I found out a lot about the community here and am very excited about all the things the huge amount of Baha'is do here in Ghana. Some people in my CA group were asking me about my faith, and then apparently they were so interested by it that they started talking about it with pretty much everyone else in the group when they were on their own and now a bunch of people want to go with me to my next Baha'i outing or want to discuss it with me. That's exciting and I'm glad, but I've just never received so much active curiosity about it before. Good stuff. Sunday, the group went on a cruise in Lake Volta, which is famous for being the largest man-made lake in either the world or Africa (I can't get a straight answer- let me know if you know). It was relaxing, with the sun out for most of it, but some clouds to help keep it nice, a good band, and tasty food. I got a bit burnt, for the first time since I've been here, but it's not too bad. We got off on an island for a little while, which threw me off a bit because it doesn't seem that there would be enough people on the island for anyone to live there and not enough work, or food, or housing. Yet, people were there and children held our hands for money. Maybe they come onto the island everyday for the tourists? I really don't know how it works, but it was a very strange feeling to walk around on this should-be desserted island. Classes are susposed to start this week, for real this time. I just went to my first one and it didn't happen, so we'll see. Maybe there will be a strike and I can go travel a bit. Anyway, I really like the classes I'm signed up for but I'm currently registered for 26 units, and 21 is the max, so I'll have to pick and choose. I'm just excited to have access to classes that aren't offered at any of the american universities- like, Art History of Ghana, Colonialism and the African Response, Gov and Politics in Ghana since Independence. I'll figure it out some how. I've had a request for comments on the people by the lovely Martine, so here we go: Ghanaians are very friendly and life here is different in terms of time and obligations, so people are very willing to drop what they are doing to help you out even if it takes them 30min or an hour out of their way. But, then if you go into a bank or any offical building, the people might be quick to get frustrated and are colder in their service. This is probably because there is a set protocall that is taken very serious in business settings and the American visitors, or any foreign visitors really, don't know what's appropriate, so we tend to stress people out and they aren't as kind. But that's really not to be unexpected, because when was the last time your bank teller offered to walk you down the block to where you need to be? In informal settings, the hospitality is very helpful and until I get a better sense of what i'm doing, I depend on it. At the same time, some of the men are too friendly. I wouldn't even call it friendly. I'd call it an aggressive demand for courtship. In the US, if I'm a bit stand-offish, the point is usually made. But here, that's considered playing hard to get, so a straight "No, I don't want to speak to you" is required. I'm trying to be polite, but my patience only goes so far for it. The Ghanaian men don't do it to Ghanaian women, they only show this kind of attention to the white female visitors, which makes it an even more complex issue. I assume they must know it's not accpetable if they won't do it to their own people. Ah, anyway- it's a very small portion of the population and certainly does not take up a big portion of my day. Another dynamic- Americans are known as being loud and rude, so I asked around to see what I could do to be a bit different. One thing I've learned is the power of saying "Hello" when I walk by some one. I mostly do this with women and it makes a world of difference. They may be glaring at me or just not even acknowledging my presence, but if I say "good day" or "hello", then a huge friendly smile pops on their face probably about 2/3 of the time, and it often even leads to a conversation. I've been a few friends this way. It's kinda fun to just throw people off like that and I'm glad to have had the chance to speak to people who are honest enough to tell me what I can do differently. Specifically, I'm close with the UC group of course because we just finished orientation together, the Ghanaian student aids who dropped two weeks of their life to spend every bit of orientation with us and helping us, my host and her family, a man who gave me flute lessons, and I'm starting to get to know some Baha'is. I've met a few of my hallmates and will be getting closer with them as time goes on. Honestly, people to people interactions don't feel that different for me. Some will list off every little difference they can find because that's really how they feel, but being here, I'm just amazed with how many similiarities. There are kind people, there are people who appear to be kind and you shouldn't trust, and there are people who it takes time to build that trust with- true here as it is there. OK, I didn't realize how long this had gotten while I typing between loading pages. Anyhoo, things are very very good and I'm doing well among all of this. Hope you're all happy. | | Thursday, August 11th, 2005 | | 7:16 pm |
Where to begin? Well, I'm in Legon, Ghana, a very short ride to the capital of this immensely beautiful country. I'm in a very urban environment, but everywhere is greenery, species of trees I've never seen and the fruits are different colors here. It's interesting that a place with no smog checks or recycling can be so green and enveloped by nature. When I first saw the city lights coming into Accra (capital), I knew that this was not going to be what I was expecting. There is a serious night life here that makes downtown glow like any other city. And while there are these very familiar looking buildings, there are also so many things I could not have imagined- like the market place. Such a swarm of people buzzing around, bumping into each other, but rather friendly, with what seems like chaos but is actually quite orderly and functional. I've been shopping in a place so loud, packed, and rushed- it was a lot of fun. I stand out here. A lot. The locals in Accra are familiar with white visitors, but that doesn't mean I'm not the only one within sight. "Obruni" is their word for us, and it's kinda become my name. In the market, a woman had a big smile on as she saw us and called us over with "Obruni! Come here!" Literally, it means "white person", but in practice it just means foreigners. In the states, that would be an offensive thing, but here it's different. It's kinda hard to explain what about race is different here, but I'm going to think and observe more before I try to come up with a description or explanation. Orientation has been intense. There are several Ghanaian students who have given up every moment of their lives for the past week and a half to orient us to this place. They really are the reason I know enough of the basics to even enjoy being here. We'll been on tours of the city, to a historical conference, received lectures on culture, history, safety, safety, and more safety. I could give you the speech myself by now. Registration is ending and classes start soon. I'll let you know which ones I'm reading when it's solidified. Well, last weekend was spent in Kumasi (another major city in Ghana- the "cultural capital"), and this weekend with be spent with a family. I hope you're all well. |
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