Thursday, 17 November 2011

Part 2: “You’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you’ve got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at the very least think noisy and colourfully, or you’re not alive.” Mel Brooks

So Part 2. It was time to leave Accra and make our way up to Tamale in the Northern Region where we are spending a month studying fieldwork techniques and practices and where we do a mini placement. I just found out that my three day placement will be in the Upper West and my group and I will be analyzing and critiquing the Ghana School Feeding Programme. In Ghana, there is an initiative to increase school enrolment, especially in primary schools and as a result the government is supposed to provide one hot, nutritious meal to every student. There are problems with the implementation of the programme, however, so my group and I will spend three days in a rural community doing fieldwork to examine the effectiveness of the programme. I am so excited! I can’t wait to see how to apply development theory to practice and see if I could do this sort of work as a career once I am done school. Enough of that, I will fill you in on how it goes and take lots of pictures!


So the trip from Accra to Tamale was one of the most exciting trips that I have ever been on but also very tiring. We did so many things. We left on Sunday and got there on Friday. After leaving Accra the first stop was Kumasi about halfway between Accra and Tamale. This was the furthest north that I had been yet and I had heard such good things about going up North. I was told that it was completely different from Accra and I couldn’t wait to see another part of Ghana, despite the warnings about the heat. Kumasi is a large city, nowhere near as big as Accra but still quite large and busy. We got there late at night so we just checked in and went to bed. The next morning we had an NGO fair (a collection of prospective NGO’s come to tell us about their NGO) and then we visited an artisan village to see how they make a traditional cloth called Kente. They use traditional, wooden machines but they are so quick. I tried and it was really hard. I was good though so I have been considering a career change. We also went into the village where we were dressed in traditional Kente cloth.  We left that artisan village and visited a place where they make wooden stamps and dye to stamp designs onto the Kente cloth. Some of us chose our own stamps and stamped a piece of cloth. Each stamp has a different meaning. Both artisan villages were really cool. It was just nice to see that they still used their traditional methods and hadn’t made an effort to modernize. It just goes to show that you don’t always have to modernize and should instead keep with traditions, especially if it works. Not all change is good.


Weaving Kente






Dressed in Traditional Kente Cloth



Wooden Stamps




Afterwards we went into the market to get our Halloween costumes! It was Halloween and although it isn’t celebrated here, we couldn’t ignore it. So we all decided to have a small Halloween party in the guesthouse that we were staying at. There were some really great costumes, especially considering the short amount of time that we had to get one together. I was a rasta. Plus, there was candy involved.


Val and I



















The next morning we just had free time to explore Kumasi on our own so a few of us decided to venture the market by ourselves. I should explain that when we went the day before we had gone with a Ghanaian classmate, Nana. Also, this market is the largest open market in West Africa. It really was big. So we decided to brave it and explore. It was a lot of fun. The variety of things that you see in a market here is astounding. It ranges from shoes, clothes, fabric, nails, food, spices, traditional medicines, animal skins and smelly fish among so many more. Anything you need, you can find it in the market. The market can be dangerous though. You really have to be aware of what is around you. The alleys are really narrow, there are so many stalls and people everywhere. Also, people here carry things on their heads so when walking you have to keep your eyes up to make sure that you don’t bump into anyone, especially someone carrying something on their head. It gets a little tricky though because not only do you have to keep your head up but you have to keep your eyes on the ground to make sure that you don’t fall in a hole, trip on a rock or lose your balance on the uneven path. The market is one the of the most interesting places that I have been to in Ghana and they are everywhere. This one was especially interesting because it was so large and filled with so many cool things. Even the people in the market make it fun. They love it when you attempt to hold a conversation with them in their local language and you can tell that they really appreciate it. We managed to get in and out of the market without getting lost once. It was amazing. The only time we did get lost was when we left the market and had to find the restaurant to have a cold drink.






















The next day we left Kumasi and made our way to Bolgatanga. This was the hardest part of the trip I would say because we were stuck on the bus for over eight hours. I swear my bum was imprinted on that bus. Luckily we managed to break up the trip with a stop at the Kintampo Waterfalls. Some people opted to swim, I should have. My bathing suit was at the bottom of my pack though and I wasn’t about to dig for it. Next time. It was really beautiful. Local people often go for a swim to cool down during the hot dry season. After about an hour at the waterfalls we made our way to Bolga.



Lynsey and I






Bolga is a really small, cute rural town close to the Ghana-Burkina Border. It is famous for its baskets. The day after we arrived we had another NGO fair in the morning. In the afternoon, we went to Pikworo Slave Camp and then another Crocodile Sanctuary. Both are ecotourism projects where the money from the tours goes towards developing the community.  We went to the slave camp first where we had a guided tour of the area where slaves were held before they were taken to either the slave market in Salaga or to Cape Coast or Elmina Castles to be transported across the ocean in the slave trade. The camp is built around large, natural rocks. Each rock represented a different part of the camp. There was a rock where the slaves ate, a rock that they used to make music in order to keep spirits high, a watchtower rock, cemetery that was had rocks to represent graves and punishment rock where a person was chained and whipped until they repented or died. It is really sad that this slave camp was placed in such a beautiful area. There was an interesting moment when some local members of the community played some music how their ancestors had. They used small rocks and hit the big rock while a young boy danced a traditional dance. It was really, really cool.



Andi, Amy and I

Elise and I


Next, we went to Paga, right on the Burkina border to visit a crocodile sanctuary. These crocodiles are sacred and we were told that sometimes people swim in the water with them. Not sure how accurate this statement is but the tour guide remained adamant that this was true. Apparently the crocodiles also cross the road into the village and walk around, especially when they lay their eggs. Anyways, although I had done something like this earlier while in Accra, these crocodiles were huge. Much bigger than the small one that I sat on last time. They also brought out the largest crocodile that they had. I wasn’t even scared this time but I think that is because of last time. I was still cautious though. Crocodiles up front are really large animals. The top of their back is really hard as you would expect it to be but surprisingly their tails are really soft. The guide also fed the crocodile the chicken that he had held out in order to get the crocodile out of the water. I looked away at that part. What surprised me was that the cattle ate on the grass near the water pond and drank out of the water pond and when I asked if they had lost any cattle to the crocodiles the guide said that they left the cattle alone. Again, not sure about this.









The next day we had the morning in Bolga before we made our way to Tamale. So we decided to try and find the famous Bolga Basket Market. After about 30 minutes we still hadn’t found it despite asking numerous people from directions so we just went to some basket stalls that we had passed by earlier. The one store was massive. It had three rooms filled to the brim with baskets. There must have easily been a few hundred baskets. I would find one, look around and change my mind and continued to do this for a while. I eventually had to find one and then leave otherwise I would have been there for hours! They had more things other than baskets-they had rugs, fans, hats (sunhats and baseball caps). It really was incredible. I bought a sun hat and a basket. I mean I couldn’t go to Bolga and not buy a basket!

My hat and the basket rooms


Basket room 1 of 3



My Basket


That afternoon we made our way to Tamale and took a tour of Tamale, stopping by the Tamale Football Stadium. It was a stadium built by a Chinese Company (instead of a Ghanaian one?) for the African Cup of Nations in 2008. It is a beautiful stadium but it is currently going to waste because Tamale’s football team didn’t qualify for the local league this year. You can’t even rent the field to play on it! What a waste! When we pulled into the Stadium I asked our tour guide, Camil if there were any ladies football teams. He said that he hadn`t seen any so I asked if there were any men`s teams that would let me play on their team. This is the reply that I received: ``There might be a few that would let you slow them down…`` That was not a good moment for me.  It hasn`t been the first though. It is really hard to be a girl here who wants to play sports. It is a patriarchal society where men definitely dominate and it is just a cultural difference. It still hurts though. It doesn`t mean that there isn`t hope though. The other day Amy (who also likes sports) was biking home from school and started talking to a girl in high school. Amy asked her what she wanted to do after school and she said that she wanted to play sports! It made both of our days! It is good to know that there are girls who want to play sports because for a while I was convinced that they didn`t especially because I haven’t seen any play.


The next morning we did our own version of the Amazing Race-Tamale Edition. In order for us to get a better look at Tamale, our non-academic coordinator came up with some tasks for us to do. We were split into teams. I was with Brigitte, Lynsey and Sheila. The groups that had a Ghanaian student, like us, had to complete three tasks instead of two. We had to take a picture of the teaching hospital sign, go to the cultural center to see the price of a batik dye workshop and find out the rental price of bicycles. We managed, of course, to come first! As a reward, we got a free lunch! It was a lot of fun!


Then we had a dinner at a restaurant called Desert Rose where we met our coordinator for the North, Prof. Coleman. This was also where I tried Guinea Fowl for the first time. It is kind of weird. Not really that much of a fan. It is really tough. The next day we were split into groups and moved into our houses for the next month. I was put in a group with Brigitte, Amy, Jess, Valerie, Becca, Elise and a recent newcomer, Lynsey. It has been a week and it has been amazing. They are furnished houses but this is the first time that I have ever been out on my own in a house without some sort of adult. I was a little nervous before moving in, especially because I didn`t know who I would be living with but it has really been incredible.  I live with wonderful people and it has been nice to get to know them all better. It has also been nice to cook for ourselves (not that I am much of a cook!). I have cooked breakfast a few times for everyone and managed to not kill anyone with Veggie Chilli and a Tomato and Egg Stew that Mama Hetty had showed me to make before I left Accra. Cooking for ourselves also means that we have to buy food so we go to the market everyday which can be a little annoying but we get fresh food everyday.

Tamale is very different from Accra. It is much more conservative but this is due to the large Muslim population. People also speak Dagbani here which makes it very difficult for us especially if someone doesn’t speak English very well or at all. Although most people do you still come across the occasional person that doesn’t. I don’t want it to sound like that is their fault because it isn’t. I am here in their country so I should make an attempt to speak in their native tongue. We haven’t learnt any Dagbani though but we should hopefully be doing some classes soon. We are only here for three more weeks but it will make life much easier for me and everyone around me. The other thing about Tamale is that it is motorbike and bicycle central. Almost everyone here drives motorbikes or they ride a bicycle. Tamale isn’t very big at all so it makes it easier to commute those ways. They still drive as crazy as they do in Accra, if not crazier. Tamale has bike lanes which are used by people biking which is great. The weird thing about the motorbikes is that a lot of women ride motorbikes. This isn’t weird in itself but the kind of scary thing is that women will have their babies strapped to their backs or if they are a few years old sitting in front of them-without a helmet. Not that anyone wears a helmet here anyway. I’ve been here for a week and I have probably seen a total of 20 helmets. Other times, there are animals on the motorbikes. I have seen two people on a motorbike numerous times, one driving with a live goat who has his legs tied behind him and another person holding the goat on the bike. If you don’t see that, sometimes you will see trotro’s that have goats on the roof. On the drive to Bolga, I saw a live goat tied to the top of a truck that was driving full speed down the highway. I thought I was hallucinating until I got to Tamale where this is a regular occurrence. Once I saw a truck that had about 20 goats on the roof and there were so many that one of the goats back legs was off the roof and on the front of the car. It was really scary and kind of sad but it’s just the way things are done here. I’m not here to judge.



Ram on motorcycle



Goats on top of the trotro





Speaking of scary, I mentioned the bike lanes. Well I decided to get a bike along with some of my roommates for the month and we bike to school and around town sometimes. It is quite a good workout, especially on the way to school because there is a small but long hill that really, really makes you hurt. The bikes are also older and have no gears so sometimes it can be tough. The scary thing is that when you are biking in the bike lane, or just biking in general you really have to be aware. I have almost been hit a few times by bicycles, motorbikes and cars. It can be really frustrating and scary. Nonetheless, I do love my bike. It is nice to do some exercise and to actually see Tamale. I find that when I bike although I have to be aware of traffic, I can still take the time to look around and soak it all in.  It can get a little sweaty though. Right now, Ghana is entering the dry season so that means that there will be no rain until next June/July. In Tamale the heat isn’t humid but it is hot. It was 36 degrees at midnight the other night. It gets over 40 degrees easily during the day and sometimes at night if it is really hot, it can be hard to sleep. Sometimes the fans aren’t enough. You just have to be really careful and make sure that you drink a lot of water otherwise it can be a bad experience.





So that is Tamale so far. I know I always say that I will try and write more frequently but this time I will make a valiant effort. If I have nothing to write about, I will post a few photographs. If nothing else, hopefully it will stop my mum harassing me for some more blog posts. Hope this one was okay mum! Sorry it was so long but you wanted details!

Joc

P.S. Becca-if you are reading this, hi!


Thursday, 10 November 2011

Part 1: “There is beauty in the world”-Macy Gray

So once again, I am behind my blog. I apologize but it’s hard to find time when you are having the time of your life. I know that this is only part 1 but it means that you have part 2 to look forward too! (which should be up in the next few days) These past few weeks have been amazing and hard. So I guess there is a lot to fill you in on so the best place to start would be Busua. Busua is a small fishing village of about 2000 people. It is also home to the only surf shop in Ghana. As such, a few of us decided to visit for a weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon after school and got a trotro bus to Cape Coast to spend the night and then make our way to Busua the next morning. It took us 5 hours to get to Cape Coast and we stayed the night at Oasis Hostel. We woke up the next morning and while we ate breakfast we watched the fisherman bring in their catch. It was really cool, very old school. They chant in order to keep everyone together and motivated.


The next morning we took a trotro to Takoradi and then to Busua. It took us about 3 hours to get to Busua from Cape Coast and only about 6 Cedis. It is really cheap to travel around in this country which is so good for all of us broke-ass students. After arriving in Busua we found a place to stay and hit the beach. We all went for a swim in the ocean and then had some dinner before heading to bed early, getting lots of sleep for surfing the next day. We got up the next morning and a few of us headed to the surf shop to catch some waves. Apparently my one lesson before this meant that I was qualified enough to teach some of my friends to surf. So we all got into the water with the boards and I attempted to teach them to surf. All in all, I feel that everyone had fun and did a great job. After a little bit of teaching others, it was time for me to surf myself. It took a few waves for me to remember how to surf but once I did, it went pretty well. I’m not saying I stood up every time, I still spent more time falling off the board into the water than standing up but it was a much more successful experience than my first time surfing earlier in the summer. It was so fun to spend the day in the water with some friends and I got a nice burn on my bum from lying on the board waiting for the waves. Let’s just say it was a painful week.








Surfers

Giving Andi a Push











That night we went to the surf shop and had one of the nicest meals I have had since I have been in Ghana and then went to bed early so we could get up and swim before we left the next morning. I got up the next morning and had a swim before breakfast and then packed and walked up the beach before getting a cab right to Takoradi. Once we got to Takoradi we took an STC bus (Greyhound Bus) for only 8 Cedis all the way from Takoradi to Accra! Seriously, so cheap! We were all really excited because it meant that we wouldn’t have to sit in a cramped trotro for at least 5 hours. It was a great bus ride home. Busua is an amazingly beautiful place. It looks like something out of a movie. It is a small beach, really quiet and when you look out at the ocean from the hammock on the beach there is a tiny island with some palm trees. If anyone goes to Ghana, that is a place you should visit before you leave. It really is a little piece of paradise. Even if you don’t’ know how to surf, there is a beautiful beach that is awesome to lie on and an ocean to swim in!


Panoramic View of Busua



After Busua, it was schoolwork, schoolwork and more schoolwork. The only problem with this program is that we have to do a full year’s worth of school work in 2 months. It results in a lot of stress. We had to do 6 papers in 2 weeks. Below is a picture of Lynsey with the readings that we had for the 2 months we were there and the combination of everyone’s readings in Sheena’s office (and not everyone had put their readings there!) Not a lot of them were actually read. After all the papers were done it was time to study for exams. 2 exams in 3 days. The time constraints on this program definitely result in a lot of unnecessary stress. Let’s just say that I am glad that part of the year is over!





















After exams, it was time to leave Accra. This was a really sad and hard thing to do only because I felt like I was a real part of my host family. They had treated us with such kindness and care, always made sure that we had everything that we needed and made us feel really welcome. We were members of the family by the time we had left. Mama Hetty is an amazing woman who does so much for her family. She gets up at 4 am in order to make food to sell on the market to make money so that her children and grandson can go to school. She has such an amazing laugh that makes you laugh as well. She would always laugh at me because I would always eat so much dinner and then lie on the couch or the floor while watching a Spanish soap opera. She always thought that I was really lazy because I would sleep in until 9 or 10 on the weekends! Ghanaians do not know the definition of sleeping in. Sometimes at 5 am someone would start sweeping outside our window. Luckily for me though, I learnt to drown out the noises. The first week, my alarm clock consisted of roosters, sweeping, banging, rap music and people praying at a nearby church. Eventually you learn to drown them out. Thankfully! Also, the other members of my family were so amazing. Kwasi, my house brother would always take us out to see the neighbourhood, to the bar or just talk with us to see how our experience and day was. He also helped us study for our Twi exam and his help was needed! Lizzie, a lady who helped Mama Hette was also amazing, always trying to teach us Twi too. Every afternoon when we came home we would have a small conversation in Twi where she would try and teach us some new phrases/words, or repeat the phrases/words that she had taught us the day before. Nana Kwama was the cutest kid that I have ever seen. Although his crying would get a little on my nerves, he was such a cute 4 year old. He would always run and give us a hug whenever he saw us and would have the biggest smile on his face when he saw us walking home down the road from school. He would run up and hug us and then we would swing him home, something he really loved. I played football with him and some of his friends. On the nights that he didn’t have homework he would come up to me and ask me to write either letters, numbers or to draw animals for him to colour in. It was hard to say goodbye to him but he didn’t quite understand that we wouldn’t be seeing him for a long time so it made it a little easier. He thought that we were saying goodbye to him because he was going to school, not because we wouldn’t see him for a long time. I’m definitely extremely grateful that I had such an amazing family and experience with them. Other people in my program didn’t have very good experiences with their families or they felt like they were just a tenant in their house. I felt like a member of the family. It was really hard to say goodbye but I will make sure that I stop by a few more times before I leave Ghana. It was a great 2 months in Accra but I am really excited to see what Tamale has in store for me.





My house brother, Kwasi out on his birthday




Until Part 2,


Joc

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

monkey business with a thanksgiving dinner....


So I’m really sorry for not writing a new blog for a while. I’m going to blame it on the ridiculous amount of homework that we have to do although I know it’s no excuse. I apologize! The past two weeks have been really hectic, filled with assignment after assignment. This past weekend was a blessing though, literally. I’m going to take a second to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my Canadian friends. It was definitely a weekend to be thankful for everything in my life. I am so thankful for my family and friends, old and new, wherever you are from and live, I don’t know where I would be without you all in my life. So now that that has been said, what new adventures have I been getting myself into?

Well, no crocodiles were involved these past two weeks. I have been adopting some more Ghanaian trends including a new accent and a new hairstyle. This weekend was as eventful as ever, filled with a Mountain Paradise, a Monkey Sanctuary and Thanksgiving Dinner.

So first off, I guess I should start with Mama Hetty’s Birthday. It was Mama Hetty’s birthday last week and so my roommate and I decided to give her a little something from where we come from. So we went to Shoprite, a grocery store in the mall and bought a chocolate swiss roll, an éclair and some candles. We had also made her a card-something we were both pretty proud of. Nadine drew, I coloured (in the lines of course!) When we got home from school the next day, we put the candles on the roll and the éclair and took them out to her, singing Happy Birthday. She was so happy! I think it was also the first time she had had candles and cake though because when I held it in front of her to blow out, she took it from me and put it on the table with the candle still burning. We had to explain to her that you have to close your eyes, make a wish and blow them out. She really, really enjoyed it. Even her 4 year old grandson, Nana Kwame, got involved and helped her blow them out. For the rest of the day he went around the house saying it was his birthday even though it isn’t until July.  Mama Hette opened the card we made, kissed it and then hugged us. It was just nice to show her one of our traditions as she has been showing us so many of hers. It really was wonderful and we even got some cake!


In Ghana, the women here really put a lot of effort into the way they look, especially their hair. So I couldn’t come to Ghana and not get some braids. I opted for braiding my own hair with some fake hair but stayed away from the weave. Anything that involves a needle and my hair just doesn’t sound like a fun time. I went with two of my classmates, Andi and Dorothy to a real African house behind a church to get our hair done. When we got there we chose the hair colour that we wanted our braids to be and they started working. We had one person working on our hair at a time and to my surprise, it was pain free! The only pain was from sitting on the wooden stool for such a long time. What we thought was going to take two hours ended up taking 6. My hair alone took 4 ½ hours. That was definitely the worst part. They did put 2 wigs of fake hair into my hair though. Below is the final product.


Before....


During...
After!


And this is what it looked like when I took it out! Afro much?



Mama Hetty, Nana Kwame


Nana Kwame





The Accent. So after being here for 7 weeks, it comes to no surprise that I have picked up a Ghanaian accent. Someone noticed it about 2 weeks ago and let’s just say, it’s not pretty. It really is awful. It only comes out when I talk to Ghanaians but I’m sure by the time I get back to Canada I’m going to have it. People are going to have to teach me how to speak again because not only do I change how I say words but I also change the way that I speak. It really is awful. I hate it. Even my roommate and classmates make fun of me. The funny thing is that I noticed that our non-academic coordinator, Sheena spoke like I do in the first few days of orientation and continues to do so now. I remember thinking, Sheena, what’s wrong with you? Speak English. I really didn’t like it. Guess I spoke too soon.


The Road of Death

Mountain Paradise Lodge. It literally was a mountain paradise. We had the choice to go on a field trip to the Volta Region to a lodge in the mountains to have a period of reflection, seeing as we have been here for about 7 weeks. I thought it was a great idea and couldn’t wait. Plus, we were going to see the monkeys after! So we left the school at 7:45 (originally supposed to be 7-African time? ) and made our way 3 hours to the Volta Region. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, some girls wanted to walk up so we dropped them off and continued our way up. Sheena arranges these trips for us had called ahead to check the condition of the road to make sure that it would be safe enough for the bus to go up and she was assured that it was. As we had reached the point where we were about to start climbing the hill though, we ran into some construction. They were redoing the road and when I say that, I mean literally redoing the whole road. The part of the road we were about to climb in the bus was taken up by a bulldozer who was laying fresh dirt as the road. We were seriously considering getting out and walking but decided against it. In front of us was a 45 degree angle incline going straight before turning left and the winding road began. On the right of that was a much more gentle incline that was a little more windy that connected to the main road. We all thought that we would clearly be taking that road instead of the straight one. Ghana still continues to surprise us however, as our bus driver just took a run at the 45 degree incline. Of course the bus stopped about halfway and then the wheels stopped and the bus began to slide towards the right. A bus full of mostly girls in this situation makes for an interesting time.  Val and I were holding hands, freaking out along with the majority of the bus. One of the Ghanaians, Nana Kojo, had gotten up out of his seat at the back of the bus and was at the door ready to jump on out. We backed up and took the road to the right and it was much easier.



 
Val and I

Ice Breaker and some laughs at the top


















Susan, Dorothy, Sheila, Elise, Lynsey, Nana,


Monkey Sanctuary. After the mountain reflection, we headed down the road to see the monkey sanctuary which was really the main reason why I had come. I wasn`t really there for the reflection but I have to say, I am really glad that we did it. So the monkey sanctuary is an eco-tourism project in which all the money generated goes towards the community. There are 4 mona monkey families that live in the forest and people can go and see them in their natural habitat. On the way to the sanctuary we stopped for some bananas to feed them. I was so excited. We made our way to the family that we were going to visit and were given two bananas each. I would guess that there were about 10-15 monkeys in the family and they were all adorable. Next step was to put the bananas in our hands and hold them out. The monkeys then proceeded to jump onto our arms and eat the bananas out of our hands. It was incredible. To see their hands and feet that close was incredible. They were so gentle too. They all peeled the bananas with their hands and then either ate the bananas just like that or ripped pieces off and put it into their hands. We were covering half of the bananas with our hands so they wouldn`t take them out and run away and one monkey lifted my thumb up so that he could get deeper into the banana. It was so gentle. Like I said before, it really was incredible. 






Thanksgiving Dinner. So keeping with Canadian tradition, Sheena and the school had organized our very own thanksgiving dinner on Monday night. Everyone had been looking forward to it all weekend and anyone who knows me, knows how much I love food so I couldn`t wait. Of course, it would never be as good as my mum`s roast potatoes or my dad`s turkey but this couldn`t calm my excitement! We showed up to the lodge at school right on time, 5:30 with hungry bellies as many of us hadn`t eaten very much all day so that we could eat lots at dinner. Of course, dinner wasn`t actually served until 7:30/8. We really shouldn’t expect anything less at this point as nothing is ever done or ready on time in this country. When will we learn?  Our dinner was interesting. It was great to spend it with the group of people that I did but the food was nowhere near as good as back home. We had salad (with no dressing), a turkey (with gizzard as the stuffing instead of real stuffing-this was the real disappointment for me), mashed potato (delicious!-forgot how much I missed potatoes), cranberry juice and some weird gravy. We were all a little disappointed that’s for sure, but the night was not without its excitement. Turns out, we had paid for two turkeys and were only getting one. Sheena was really furious at this point, especially as we had waited at least 2 hours for the food. Nevertheless, they brought out dessert. This made the night all worth it. They had made apple crumble and were serving us ice cream. After a few helpings of that and some extra mashed potato I was full along with everyone else. To our amazement, they brought out more food. They brought out sliced bread (which was frozen), another salad (with dressing this time) and some fried chicken. It really was a laughable situation. We were then told that we had to eat it all because it had been paid for. Of course, they were not about to stuff it down our throats but we felt obligated to eat some more. So we did. Well, I did something a little different. There was quite a lot of squares of apple crumble left and they were just going to be thrown out so I grabbed a few napkins and wrapped some in napkins. Brought some home for Mama Hetty and her sister and had some today at school as a snack. The night had not gone as planned but nothing ever does here. We all still had a good night, great company and still managed to laugh about it.


Thanksgiving Dinner
 

Apple Crumble anyone?





On the theme of thanksgiving….

A Few Things I Never Thought I Would Miss:

-Getting into a car knowing that you would get out at the end of your journey.
In Ghana, every time you get into a car or trotro, you are never really sure if you will live to get out at your destination. I mean this sincerely. They have traffic rules here but they are more like “guidelines.” Also, if you are lucky enough to get into a cab with seatbelts, chances are they won’t work. Let’s just say, a lot of praying occurs.

-Clean Air
On the same note, I miss sticking my head out of the car window and breathing in fresh air.
Every time you do that here, you choke on the smog and smoke that comes from the cars. Ghana has taken using cars until they break down to a whole new level. Black smoke comes out of every other car from broken mufflers. The worst is when the window handles are broken and the windows are down so you have no choice but to silently suffer.

Plumbing
Running water. People, if you have this. Don’t take it for granted. I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I came here and have to bucket shower and have no running water. Let’s just say it makes life interesting. The toilets at school never work either. It can get a little gross!


-The Library
I don’t like the Trent Library by any means. It is small, hot, there are no outlets to charge your computer and it is always busy. But being here, I miss it. I take back every negative thing I have ever said about that library. Here, there is a library on campus but you aren’t allowed to take your bags. So, we have all turned the conference hall into our own workplace which works fine, except that they lock it up at 5 pm. Trent Library, I miss you.

-Time
Alright, so I knew that when I came to Ghana everyone would be on African time. I just forgot what that actually means. Everyone knows that I am almost always late for everything, no matter how much time I plan to give myself to get there early. So, naturally, I thought that I would fit right in! Funny thing is, I had to come all the way to Ghana to be early for everything! I am at least 30 mins early for class every morning and that is just the beginning. It is a little frustrating here sometimes though when you plan to be early or plan to be ready for something and it is pushed back because someone is late. For our field trips, we always leave at least 30 mins later than originally planned.

-Potatoes
I never realized how much I love potatoes until Ghana. There are no potatoes here. They eat cassava and yam instead which is still good but it doesn’t compare at all. Nothing can beat a baked potato with melted butter, alphagetti and grated cheese. Oh, and pringles too!

Now, while I miss these things a lot, Ghana isn’t Canada. I never came here expecting for my life to be the same. On the contrary, it is nothing like my life back home but that doesn’t mean that there are not great things here. There are. They are just different. This experience has shown me what I do take for granted and miss. It’s a learning experience that comes with no potatoes, no running water, no library and scary taxi rides. You know what though? I wouldn’t have any of those things if it would mean that my experience here would be different.

Things I Did Expect to Miss and Still Do: Have to give another shout out to the most important people in my life; my family and friends. I don’t know where I would be without you guys. Thanks for helping me think I could get here and for helping me to believe in myself enough to be doing as well as I am.

Until next time, which hopefully won't be as long as it was this time,

Jozi

I guess Jozi deserves an explanation. Ghanaians have a really hard time pronouncing my name. I’m not sure why but they do. So I had to come up with something else because Mama Hetty couldn’t say my name. Now, when I introduce myself to Ghanaians, I go by Jozi. Even my classmates have picked it up. Whatever works!