Site Visit, Danger Time, and Other Oddities: Part 2

Where did I leave off? My trip to Kpandai ended as well as it could, and I began the journey back to Suhyen. I caught the (one and only) 4:30 am bus and made my way to Tamale. I had a great time in Tamale, where I overnighted. The PC has a sub-office there (also one in Kumasi), including a nice house where PCVs can sleep and cook. The SOs are great places to sleep when you are traveling, or just to take a break from site (the PC actually gives us 2 mental health days a month to go there or visit someone, something I'm learning will be necessary). Anyway, about 10 of us slept there, which made for a nice end to the trip. Tamale is a large city, so we were able to find many obruni stores. We were even able to find squash! It was very tasty. We had lots of fun drinking wine and cooking in an American-style kitchen (as you can see from the pictures, kitchens in Ghana are quite different). Oh how I've missed spices!

We woke up the next morning to catch our bus to Kumasi. Pretty uneventful. The Kumasi bus station, Kejetia Station, is quite the zoo. It is also the site of the Central Market, which I think is the largest open market in Ghana. As soon as we were dropped, there were at least 5 different Ghanaian men fighting for our attention to their tros, grabbing our arms. We get dragged by a driver who is willing to drive us to our respective villages (the volunteers are staying in 3 villages near each other- Suhyen, Kukurantumi, and Old Tafo). We negotiate the price per person, and the driver says he is ready to go. This is quite rare- when catching a tro at a station you almost always have to wait a significant amount of time before it fills. The driver said he would take us without filling even though we stressed that we were not hiring him to take us as a private car. He said it was ok and that we should just leave. So leave we did. It was nice to have a little extra room, not pushed up against a screaming child or sweaty creepy man asking you to take him to America. We drop everyone off in their villages, collect their money, and head to Suhyen. At the last stop the 3 of us remaining get out and hand the driver our money. He looks at it and proceeds to literally throw it at us. He begins to yell that we owe him more money than that. After we had already negotiated a price and drove 4 hours he decides we owe him more money. This grown man proceeds to have what amounted to a large temper tantrum. He yells and yells at us, in both English and Twi. I am pretty irritated at this point, and for some reason decide to engage and tell him (well, more like yell...) that he is lying, that we had settled the price before we got into his car. He screams that we paid for a private car and that we owe him an extra 25 Ghana Cedis! That is A LOT of money. Way more than any of us have. It seems that he thinks he can take advantage of these naive obruni. At this point things are pretty loud, so many neighbors come out of their homes to watch the debacle. Some people try to help settle, but this man is clearly not listening to anyone. I actually started to get scared that we were going to get hurt, and that we couldn't just leave, so we ended up having to call our PC Homestay Coordinator to help us settle the situation. Sam (The Man, aka Black Santa Claus) comes and saves the day. Him and the erratic driver engage in a long and heated "discussion." It was interesting to see how, even in the midst of a serious argument, respectful terms were being used between the two men. I think the driver was insulting us Americans in Twi, but he addressed Sam in only the most respectful way. In the end, they resolved the disagreement. I'm not sure entirely what happened, but I think the PC paid off the driver. Apparently hissy fits are still effective when you are an adult. Lame.

When I finally reached my house, I was trampled by children screaming my name. It felt so wonderful to be home! I had no idea how much I feel at home here now. I was overwhelmed with affection. To be honest, I would be happy to stay here with my family in Suhyen for the next 2 years. I was at such ease when I arrived and saw everyone. I am going to miss them so much when I leave. I really feel like I have a family here.

The few days since returning to Kpandai have more or less been a haze of stressful training events. Things get pretty hot during a cooking session (communication issues and lack of cultural sensitivity on behalf of the Ghanaian trainers, in my opinion), but I suppose at this point it's not worth writing about.

On Tuesday evening I somehow managed to cook American food for my family (and everyone else in our house). It was great fun! With the limited cooking supplies, I decided to make French toast. I found cinnamon and nutmeg at an obruni market in Koforidua. I think it was actually the first time any of them had tasted either of those spices. Syrup is nowhere to be found here, and I wasn't quite sure how to make it. Instead, we cooked apple slices with margarine (no butter here), sugar, and cinnamon to put on top. Very tasty! My family seemed to like it a lot. It was fun just to cook together and share a little American culture. They say that we eat very sweet food, and I tell them that in America we like our sugar, that's why we are much fatter than them (and because most Americans don't do severe manual labor on a daily basis). My host mother told me that she would like me to cook that for her again when she visits me in Kpandai. I think that's a good thing!

Over the past week us volunteers have been preoccupied with studying for the Oral Proficiency Exam. I took the exam this morning. It was stressful, but I think it went well. It consisted of a 20 minute conversation with a native Twi speaker. Who knew I could keep up? It is a test with an international standard for grading- all PCVs in the world take it, and must pass with the level of "intermediate-mid." In fact, if we don't pass we get sent home! The PC is pretty strict about learning language. I think that's a good policy. It is so important to understand the local language, because that is the only way you can become integrated into a community. When I go somewhere and use my Twi I always get an excited response. For the community to see you that are making an effort to communicate with them means a lot, more than we can really understand. Only the educated speak English, and that can be few and far between depending on which part of the country you are in. There are many languages spoken in Ghana, I can't even count them all (in our group alone, people are learning Twi, Ewe, Dagbani, Dagaare, Fante, Gonja, Grune, Kasem, Dangme, or Buili). There have been efforts in the past to standardize Twi as the national language, but there were strong oppositions from other tribes that did not want to give up their native tongue. Culture is so deeply rooted in language here, and your language identifies your tribe. Tribal association is very important. It is a bit difficult to understand as an American, but I am trying. In a lot of ways it seems that Ghana would be better off with a single national language, but it is much more complicated than that. As an unfortunate side effect, I think many of the smaller tribes and those speaking Northern languages are taken out of the decision-making process for the country because of their lack of understanding. It seems that those that speak English and Twi are the ones in a position of power. Divide and conquer, right?

An interesting thing that I have noticed here is how often men (and women) hold hands on the street (though heterosexual couples hardly ever do). It is quite normal to see men showing each other affection. This is not because homosexuality is accepted. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It is very taboo for someone to be homosexual. It is actually against the law. One may be beaten badly or even killed for being gay. If one is gay it is not talked about at all. As a result, these affections are common because no one would think that it meant you were gay. Interesting, as it is quite the opposite in America. You would never see two platonic men holding hands while walking down the street. On one hand it is endearing to see the fondness friends have for each other, but on the other hand it is a sad reminder of how oppressed homosexuals are. Conservative religion, especially Christianity, is so deeply entrenched in the society here. Sometimes it seems that people don't even understand what they are saying, rather they are repeating what some fanatical missionary told them. It is dangerous to come here and tell people things, whether about God or anything else. There seems to be a prevailing lack of critical thinking. Phrases are always repeated without any thought given. I'll save that rant for another day.

Anyway, homestay is wrapping up this week. I'm sad to leave my family here. They have been so wonderful towards me. I am already excited to come back and visit them. I am especially excited to introduce my own family to them! While in Koforidua today I'm heading to the bead market to find some nice parting gifts. Not much is going on for the rest of the week. We will have another Trainers vs. Trainee Football Match (American kicked Ghana's butt last time, haha). On Sunday there will also be the Water Sachet Olympics. Should be a good time. On Tuesday we have our official Swearing-In Ceremony, where we make the transition from Trainee to Volunteer (you can now address my mail as PCV). It sounds like there will be a lot of fanfare. We will somehow perform our traditional dance, get dressed in the traditional clothing, and give a performance in Twi. Rumors are swirling that it will be nationally televised! Yikes. After the ceremony, we head off to site. I'm hoping to make a few stops along the way, play tourist for a few days. Then life is going to change. I think the next few months are going to be tough. I'm very excited, and very nervous. No longer will we have our Ghanaian trainers around, no longer will we have our American buddies around. I guess life is just beginning!

I hope you all are well. I miss you so much. It's wonderful to get your mail. Thanks to everyone who has sent a letter! I was especially thrilled to get a letter from Tiff in the mail! I will respond soon! Cheers.