But I would venture to guess that you didn't wait all this time for my page to load so that you could read about my feet. So I'll move on. (Oh and just a quick note, my updates might not be quick as frequent in the future, I'm just enjoying wireless internet at my homestay house right now, but when I move out, they'll probably be a little less consistent). Did I ever describe what my homestay was like? I kind of don't think so, so I'll do that very briefly. I'm living in East Legon which is on the outskirts of Accra, the capital city. I want to call it a suburb, but that's just going to put the entirely wrong picture in your head. Most of the houses are walled or gated in (which explains our 10PM curfew...), and there are little market stands set up at every intersection and at various points on the road. The road itself is a very wide, dirt road littered with potholes (my host dad credits the poor road maintenance to the party currently in power, saying that they don't believe this region votes for them and therefore they're ignored). The house itself is bright orange and looks like a store front in the front because it's the future home of our host mother's salon. There is a little courtyard inside the gate and, well I'll post pictures sometime. We have two host parents, and they have a son who is 15 and a daughter who is 19 and currently at university in Canada.
Anyways, for fear of repeating myself, I think I'll move on... The Ghanaian people I've met have been incredibly friendly and welcoming (even when they're ripping you off in the market, which is all the time). As you would expect, the guys here are very eager to be friends, but it was pleasantly surprising to see that the women were equally as excited to say hello and meet us. I thought that was great, because I think we all know that women are the real leaders and if the women don't accept you, then you don't stand a chance. That said, there is probably a higher proportion of guys hailing us down saying "tss tss obruni!" (obruni means white person in twi, and they find it hilarious if you say "obibini" back to them, which means black person). Although the "tss tss" call doesn't have the same negative connotation that it would at home, because they do that to other Ghanaians, male and female. It's really just to get your attention, and you can hear it from surprisingly far away too. Anyways, there's my sampling of Ghana for the day. A rather scattered and rambling entry, but I hope you found something entertaining or worthwhile in it. Well, that's all folks!
Oh, but before I close entirely, I just thought of one more interesting cultural tid-bit to share! When we went to the beach last weekend (kokrobite beach, outside of accra), a lot of the girls (including myself) got waistbeads. Waistbeads are worn by almost all girls and women in Ghana and their main purpose is to gauge whether you are gaining weight (I don't think I'll even need the beads for that, after all these plantains, it's kind of a given!), and they are only supposed to be seen by yourself and your boyfriend or husband, which fits with their conservative dress style. A few people have explained to us a phenomenon around the waistbeads called "I-am-aware" girls. The girls get that name when their waistbeads are showing because maybe they're wearing low rise pants or a cropped shirt and someone goes up to them and scolds them, saying "your waistbeads are showing!" and the girls just reply "I am aware." (Don't worry, I'm not one of those girls). So that was an interesting cultural thing to learn about.
And finally, while I'm talking about gaining weight, I should mention that we have the first member of our group feeling terribly ill. She's lost about 10 pounds in 12 days (which is the opposite of gaining weight, but weight related nonetheless) and has missed the past two days of classes. Her roommate is guessing that maybe she has a worm (ew), but we don't know. She went to the hospital today, so I'm sure they're sorting it all out. As for me, I'm still feeling healthy as a clam. I know, the saying is happy as a clam, but I couldn't think of something particularly healthy. It was either clam, doorknob or whistle. (Dumb as a doorknob, right? and clean as a whistle? Well now I'm afraid that non of those are right, haha, but I think you know what I mean). No malaria for me yet. Thanks to my anti-malarials and my canopy, which serves a second, lesser known purpose of making me feel like a princess! And now I am done. I seem to be rambling. Maybe it's a good thing I won't have reliable access to the internet soon. Goodnight and good luck!
Posted by lib at September 18, 2008 08:00 PM