Droppin' some knowledge

Okay, so about my last blog post. I wrote all of that post at home and then uploaded it to a flash drive for easy transfer at an internet café. The thing is, easy transfer doesn’t really exist since the internet at the cafes is so incredibly slow. I planned on spell checking and editing there and by the time the post uploaded my 30 minutes of internet time was over (womp womp).

Things haven’t really slowed down yet but I get to stay in one place for 10 weeks! I am living with my host family and continuing training. I could go on and on about the host family and the experience so far but I will save that for another post (& I’ll hopefully post some pics of the most adorable 8 month old baby I’ve ever seen). I wanted to switch it up & instead of talking about all the random stuff I am doing, I wanted to take this time to unload some Ghana knowledge on you. Well, all the knowledge I know so far, which is pretty small. Why not, though.

Okay. First is language. I’ve mentioned Twi, which is the most popular and widely spread spoken language in Ghana. Every region seems to have their own language, but most will be able to converse or understand some Twi. I’m currently learning it and it’s not going too bad; not a terribly difficult language besides the new sounds. Oh and the English. So I was really excited that they spoke English and that all teaching must be in English. That was silly. It is not American English, it is Ghanaian English. I have to speak slow, use simpler words, and enunciate every word carefully. They understand and speak British accent English better so all the volunteers have been trying to use one without sounding totally ridiculous. When I did my practicum and taught a Ghanaian math class I swear every one of you would laugh if you heard my jacked up British accent. It did work though; the students understood most of what I said.

Second, the food. Ghanaians love food. Their food is a serious matter. If you are fat or chubby, it is a positive thing because they assume that you are rich and can eat lots of food. This idea is amplified for guests. If you are a guest of the country you will be fed very very well. I have not stopped eating since I got here! And you all thought I’d lose weight. The popular dish in Ghana is fufu; google it for a picture. They pound cassava and plantain together into a mashed potato type form – just a higher consistency. It’s kind of like a sticky ball of starch. The way they pound it is pretty crazy too; they have a large stick acting as a pistol and a large wooden bowl type thing to be the mortar. One person pounds using the stick and the other sits and “drives” the fufu. Then they put it in a bowl and pour some type of soup over it. Ground nut soup is what I had, and it was pretty good but heavy. They use a lot of oil in their soups. The ground nut, which is peanut, had some similar tastes to peanut sauce you get with Chinese food. The soup usually has some meat like fish or chicken (fresh meat is awesome BTW). They also eat the fish bones and probably the other bones – it acts as their calcium. I can’t do it, I don’t even want to try. Then, to eat fufu, you must use your hands and break off a small portion of the big ball of starch and dip it into the soup and suck it into your mouth and not chew. I guess I should have mentioned earlier that they prefer to use their hands to eat. I have tried my best but there is a technique and sucking skills, haha. It’s not the most sanitary, but I’ve been just going for it. Aside from fufu, most other foods follow a similar recipe – a ball of some type of starch in soup, or boiled starch dipped into what they call stew (but I consider more of a paste), starch chips, etc. Starch is their best friend here: banana, plantains, yam, cassava, kenke, sweet potato and more. The food is also piping hot, which is good because it kills any bad germs but hard to stick your fingers in. I learned also that Ghanaians also don’t use measuring cups. They just add what they need and taste test to make sure. It’s kind of awesome, but ruined my lesson on teaching fractions based on measuring cups. Anyway, like I said earlier, everything is fresh; fresh tuna, fresh eggs, fresh mango (YUM), fresh guava, tomatoes, oranges and more. In fact, some yummy fruit grows in my host family’s back yard. Finally, Ghanaians don’t like to talk or socialize while eating. Each person usually eats alone and doesn’t say anything while they do. I’ve eaten alone for most of my meals so far and I’m not sure I will ever get used to it, haha. It just feels very awkward staring at the wall while sucking down hot fufu. But again, they are serious about their food.

Third, the noise. Ghana is not a quiet place. Most families have chickens wondering around their property, in addition to goats, cats, and dogs. Most of the goats I’ve seen are just strays wondering around and eating grass and wood. Every morning I have woken up to a rooster cock a doodle doo-ing. I thought this would be cool since I can’t say I’ve ever heard a real live rooster, I’ve always heard the fake noise they have on baby toys. It is actually not cool at all, I would like to strangle the roosters because they not only start at 4 AM but do not stop until around 8AM. Then, just randomly throughout the day they cock a doodle doo to each other. I could smack all of them, haha. Most people get up pretty early and start talking too. The other day I had some caffeine withdrawal, and you can only imagine what that is like combined with random noises. Ugh I was super bitchy that day. The cars are also noisy. Honking isn’t reserved for when the driver is angry, honking is for all purposes: to announce you are passing, to get people out of your way, to go around another driver, or to let another car know of your existence. It makes sense since there are no sidewalks, though. But it is especially bad for us abrunees (the name for foreigners), because they think we are going to lunge out into the road for no particular reason. Thus they honk twice as much. They also like to play the radio extremely loud at odd hours of the day, most of it is just talking and the other times they play some Jesus type music.

Fourth, the atmosphere & environment. There is lush greenery most everywhere. If the grass is not cut, then it grows some 8 feet on its own, it’s pretty intense! It is all so rural and not everything is paved like America. It makes for more dirty feet, but feels way more real. When I walk to school in the morning, I take what would be considered a random hiking path. The other volunteer didn’t appreciate jumping over a creek to get to school but it was fun to me. It seems you never know what you are going to get in Ghana and I enjoy the whole adventure in finding out. The pace in Ghana is slower, too. No one seems to be in a rush to do anything. I could not tell you how many people I’ve seen sleeping on their benches at the market, at their post on the side of the street or how many half built buildings I see. There don’t seem to be many type A Ghanaians which I say is super. It’s pretty funny to watch when a volunteer wants to know the plans for tomorrow and a Ghanaian trainer brushes him/her off and tells her to relax.

Oh, the names. So, at first, I was a little frustrated by the fact that most Ghanaians can go by like 3 or 4 names. I can barely remember one name let alone 2 or 3. But it is not that bad because one of the names people go by is the day of the week they were born. It is this tradition to name your baby after the day you gave birth to him/her, which I find a little odd considering you have all of 7 choices. I didn’t even know the day of the week I was born on so I just made up Monday since it seemed accurate, haha. I checked it when on a phone and it turns out I guess right. So to explain the last blog post title, Monday born for a girl is Adwoa (phonetically: adjwoa) and apparently I was not pronouncing it correctly and I was calling myself an antelope. That damn intonation will get you every time with these Ghanaian languages. They have fewer words than we do in English, but one word can mean many things depending on how you pronounce it and the context. It’s nice that its simpler, but frustrating when you know what you want to say and cannot pronounce it right. People just look at you funny when you do. Anyway, I should also mention that your family calls you a different name than the school and a different name than your friends and so on. So each group in your life gets to call you whatever you/they wish, really. A lot of people like to dub you a name too; some teachers gave me some extra name after adwoa that meant that I was a hard worker at the school I did my student teaching at. I wasn’t really sure how they knew that since I had met the teachers for all of 5 minutes at that point so I didn’t care to remember it. But I really like the freedom to go by anything you want. Or what’s even better is telling people I’m Monday born and some 3 women in the close vicinity say “oh me too!” Ah, gets me every time:)

Okay, that’s all I got for now! Right now training is keeping me on a super tight schedule so I have very little free time to blog/journal/read/relax. I’m doing my best, but I will be much better at updating and such when I get to site. OH also, I have a phone! Its international and I can call US for pretty cheap. So you might be hearing from me if you’re lucky;) Just don’t get freaked out by a long weird looking number.

I keep calling myself Antelope Michelle.

Okay! I am here! Well I have actually been here for about 12 days. I haven’t had any opportunity to access the internet till now so I’ve been trying to get all that has been going on down in writing so I don’t forget. This blog is just going to be a compilation of mini blogs I wrote after each couple of days…so bear with me!

June 3 – 5th
I am in Ghana and having a fantastic time! The plane ride was 11 hours, but I didn’t think it was too bad actually. I slept a decent amount since we were to arrive in Accra (Ghana’s capital) the morning of the 4th & had to be ready for a day full of activity. We also had that deal where the movies play on the back of the head rest in front of you, so I watched It’s Complicated and some episodes of Nurse Jackie & United States of Tara. The movie was good, but really tugged on the I-am-not-going-to-be-in-America-for-a-while heart strings. I mean it’s just Meryl Streep drinking vino, hanging out with her girls, making yummy desserts, wearing super cute clothing (& family for that matter) and having the most adorable house. The whole naked Alec Baldwin & the fact she is some 30 years my senior somehow didn’t deter me from feeling that way; which I find a little funny. So that led me to watch the ShowTime/HBO series because I knew I could count on some dark and heavy issues to make me feel better about my departure, haha. Honestly, I never thought I would be as sad as I have been about leaving. I mean, it only comes in spouts, but I guess I thought I could be a mutant and feel totally fine about leaving everything that I know! Crazy, right? But I have come to the conclusion that you have to be a mutant to not feel the fear & uncertainty that comes with serving in the Peace Corps. Overall, I have found the fact that this experience is not easily sharable to be one of the harder things. Which I now understand why I even made a blog, to share at least a smidgen of the journey I am on!
The arrival wasn’t bad. We got in early, around 8 AM, and were bused from the airport to the Accra headquarters in style. By in style I mean police escort! We then did some welcome stuff and were bused out to where I am now. I am currently at pre-PCT, pre-Pre-Service Training, haha. We are staying at a university and thus are living the dorm life. We have running water, electricity (from 6-11pm) and meals taken care of! Seriously, we are being so pampered here. This is like the secret hide out for the big group of Americans that know very little about how to act, what to expect, and what goes on in Ghana. The trainers, which are all Ghanaians, have told us we have the luxury to mess up and make mistakes and not have serious consequences *SIGH OF RELIEF*. They are really babying us into this and I really could not be happier about it! It mostly feels like a summer camp at this point. We learn some language, fill out paperwork, eat, and hang out and play games in the evening. We actually went to the Market today to try out our “survival Twi” and it was great! I am by no means an outgoing person usually, but I was so ready to make mistakes and talk Twi to the local woman and children selling fruit, spices, fishies, and bunches of other stuff. I tried to ask what something was called in Twi, (phonetically: Woh Yeh Dio?) since like nothing looks familiar, and the woman laughed! But she spoke with me in Twi and even taught me how to say “my name is...” It was fun; now I literally look at every Ghanaian and want to speak to them and get to know them! It’s ridiculous. I’ve never really had to use a language to get by and the whole challenge really excites me. That and Ghanaians thus far have been so friendly. For example, we were at the airport and one of the other trainees did not have her baggage claim sticker and she started freaking out when they checked it as we left. The man checking sensed her concern and said “Relax, you are in the friendliest country in Africa.” This is something they are very proud of too. The trainers so far have told us that as long as you greet someone, the door is open and almost everyone here will help you and speak with you. Which means no snobs, apparently? I sure hope so.

Welp, that’s all I have for now!

June 6-7th
Not much has really changed just yet! I am still staying at the university and still learning about the culture and local language(s). Yesterday, the 7th, we were invited to the U.S. Ambassador’s house for a small gathering in our honor. It was a little surreal, he owns a very very nice house and we were served some great hors d’oeuvres. I savored the quesadilla, guacamole and spring rolls since I will not be enjoying them for a loooong time. We heard speeches from the Ambassador and our Country Director and got some dancing and drinks in too I was grateful for the reception, and look forward to when we all got invited to spend Thanksgiving dinner there! (HOLLAA)
Today, the 8th, was pretty interesting. Half of the crew was sent off on Vision Quest. It consists of visiting a current PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) on your own and staying with them for a couple of days. It makes you learn how to use the local transportation and navigate Ghana solo. The education trainees such as myself did not have to do one because we need to start training early. Apparently if we went we would loose a week of practicum which would be bad, especially since there is only one education volunteer with real teaching experience. So instead we did Accra Quest today. We were grouped into 2s or 3s and sent off on a mission to find a certain place in the capital and learn about it. My group went to the Keneshie market and assigned to gather info on how much transportation costs in the area. This was our first experience on a trow (spelled phonetically) which was interesting. A trow is this 10ish passenger vehicle that serves as short distance transportation in Ghana. Everyone is crowded into this little van thingy with no AC. You tell the director where you are going and he assesses a fare which you can argue. Then, as people get off at their various stops, the director kinda hangs out of the bus to call for more passengers. So these things are rarely empty and if they are they just sit and wait for more people. We took one trow to a “hub” and then had to find another one to our final destination. All the while, there is massive traffic jams, people are walking around the street trying to sell you clean water, snacks, Ghanaian flags, American flags (with Obama’s face on it) and any other random food. It was a pretty cool experience, one that will take some getting used to though. When we arrived at the market I was already tired and gross from the trow ride, but the market was INSANE. There were so many people everywhere trying to sell fruit, fish, clothing, jewelry, bath stuff and more. There was a three story building filled with vendors and a lot more on the street outside the building. I’m pretty sure its one of the biggest markets in Accra, and maybe even Ghana….and I can’t imagine it can get much bigger! It was work trying to navigate and check out all that was being sold there. We tried out our Twi with the vendors, which again they laughed, but we always laugh with them. Its not a mean laugh, it’s a more jovial kind of laugh, as in it is nice you are attempting the language. I don’t really feel heckled much at all…mostly tons of smiles!


June 10th, 2010
Reporting from Kukaruntume! We moved here yesterday and will spend the next three months training here. The ride from Accra was gorgeous and I’m actually relieved to be out of the city. It’s less dusty and the scenery is greener! Today was our first full day of training, and it was pretty rigorous. We spent from 8 AM to 6 PM learning all the stuff we need to know for when we get to our site…how to teach, language, safety, and apparently everything else they could think of. It won’t slow down at all as far as I know, at least not until we are sworn in and set off to do our thing in Ghana!
I think I am still half in shock that I am here in Africa, lol. Everything has been taken care of for us and we’ve been pretty busy since the moment we arrived. I haven’t had a second to just sit and take it all in. On the other hand I’ve definitely adapted a lot already. I can bucket bathe like you wouldn’t believe, I really really enjoy the food so far, and don’t care that my drinking water comes in a baggy! I haven’t gotten sick at all yet which is fantastic considering I was expecting the worst. I barely ever ate spicy food back in the states and here its pretty much the norm. Oh and I am not even jonsin for the internet or phone! At one point during day 2 I had a small panic attack because I realized how disconnected I was. It took me 5 mins to get over and I’ve found that it is ridiculously relaxing without it all. The time that all us trainees would normally spend texting or facebooking, we are instead playing card games and hanging out with each other. At first it was funny, because once the basic “where you from?” & “what is your story?” questions were asked we would just kind of sit there in silence because we ran out of ways to continue the dialogue. I’m pretty sure that is the moment where we would normally take out our iphones or blackberries to text or check some tweets. Instead we would sit and stare at random stuff, haha. But now we’ve all gotten to know each other and are fast friends lol.
Oh and I have yet to comment on the weather. We came just in time for rainy season so it is cooler than usual. It is definitely hot though; I sweat pretty much always! It is always at least a little muggy too so randomly you get that little moisture that just sits on your skin. As far as I can tell, the idea is to just stay in the shade and not leave it unless you have to. We do all our classes outside, so that heat plus sitting through people lecturing for hours gives a perfect setting to randomly nod off. I haven’t gotten burned yet either, but I do have a decent tan going!

So basically it is beyond words so far, and all I can really do is live in every single moment! Man I love Ghanaians! Well for the most part, when they are not calling me abrunee.

Philly Phillaay

Hey! It has officially started! I am in PA for my staging event. PEEAAAACE CORPSSSS YEEEAH!!! I checked in the hotel today and tomorrow my day is filled with shots and a mini orientation. On the 3rd we take a bus to JFK and I depart for Ghana! Can you believe it?! Its actually here! It is pretty crazy. I thought I would be more sad and upset but I'm not. I think that being around other volunteers and talking to them makes me feel good and super excited about the journey we are about to embark on. It was just nice to talk it out with people who know how I feel and who are going through the same thing. But, it was definitely hard to say goodbye to everyone, especially my family. After I said my last goodbye, I sat at the airport waiting for my flight with this like vacant expression and thought WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? I started writing in my journal, got some of the bad thoughts out and I felt a lot better and more confident about my decision to serve. I'd say that was my freak out moment, and I'm sure there is more to come! I mean I am still in America, who knows what I'm gonna think when I am in Ghana and roughin' it.

I just also want to say thanks to all my beautiful family and friends that made my last couple weeks in Columbus awesome. I feel loved and the support from everyone makes this that much better. So thanks;)

Also. I just realized that my life is in a large duffel. MY LIFE RESIDES IN A 50 LB DUFFEL. Well and another small duffel....and 2 carry-ons. But still.

Next post: GHANA.

June is a creepin'

April flew by! I really really hope May moves a little slower so I can get all my packing done and see everyone.

I haven't actually thought too much about packing. I decided to put off stressing about it till May - a month should be enough time, right? I found the group of people that I will be flying over and training with in a Facebook group which has been a total lifesaver! Everyone posts their questions about what to pack and there are about 2 or 3 current volunteers in the group that do their best to answer our questions. That and there is a Peace Corps Ghana wiki page! Thank goodness for the internet :) So I've been using all of those to get some ideas about what to bring & what to leave behind. But some of these kids started packing in April! I mean....wow, I kinda feel like a slacker. I talked to another invitee headed to Botswana at a an Ohio State University ceremony thing and she was leaving in 3 days and hadn't finished packing. That makes me feel a little better too...she apparently didn't start packing until a week before or something like that.

As far as freak outs go, I'm doing pretty good! I had a big-ish one at the end of March. At the end of each month I seem to get more anxious because it serves as an obvious reminder that the departure date is coming fast! After that freak out I was really relaxed for all of April; total Zen Michelle. I had a minor one the other night because, again, I realized its the end of April. I made some 10 to-do lists and tried to plan out the bazillion things I want to fit in before I leave. Then I realized that stuffing all those things into a month isn't worth the stress & that I was just trying to control something since I couldn't control how fast time seems to pass...or how I have no idea what the next 2 years of my life are going to be like. I'm 100% sure that I am going to miss the people I love and the small luxuries I live with everyday I don't notice. So now I'm as relaxed about everything as anyone can be; a little bit of stress about packing and uncertainty but no spazing-out, big emotional break downs (yet haha).

After packing gets rolling, I'm going to do some hard core Ghana research. I plan on making a power point or some kind of slide show for my going away party that gives good facts about Ghana. That way a.) I won't procrastinate about what I should be doing anyway and b.) so I won't have to answer as many questions at my party.

less than 5 weeks!

To Do List

On top of preparing myself for my departure, I plan on doing all things Columbus/American that I can stuff into 2 months. Here's my list so far...feel free to add any ideas:)

• Spending time with friends and family (obvi)
  
• Music festival/concerts (Already plan on going to Coachella)
• Running! (I've heard from previous volunteers that other cultures don't put as much emphasis on working out and exorcise and will typically look at you funny)
• DRIVING...I just thought about how odd it will be to come back after not driving for ~2 years. I once was unable to drive for a month and getting back into it was kind of awkward.
• Anything technological. I am not sure what I will have access to, so I'm doing my best to wain myself off of internet surfing yet really enjoying it at the same time. Same thing with nice TVs, dvds, blu rays, etc.
• Cedar Point
• Starbucks
• Consumerism in general. It doesn't make sense to buy a lot of crap I don't need, but I figure I can soak it in by hitting up the local mall
• Drinking a little bit too much alcohol aaaand good beer aaand going to Happy Hour. I don't really plan on drinking during my service & its discouraged because it only makes you more of a target for crime and unwanted attention.
  

More Columbus-y:

• visit COSI, aka Center of Science and Industry
• visit the Columbus Zoo
• Jeni's Ice cream
• OSU - the shoe, new union, oval, RPAC...if I can get in
• Good local restaurants: Betty's, North Star...

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing.

I received my invitation kit to serve on March 6th, 2010 (YAY!). I applied to serve sometime in January 2009. I graduated from The Ohio State University in August 2009. Basically, I put my life on hold from August 2009 to June 2010 to pursue my dream of becoming a Peace Corps volunteer. Thank goodness it was worth it! I had plenty of doubts & worries about my future during this past year, so to finally have a destination and invitation is beyond fantastical :)

So, to bring everyone up to speed, I figured I'd explain my application process experience.

I had been warned of the process being tough; every email, letter or phone call I got from any Peace Corps office reminded me to exercise patience and flexibility. I think one night I even had a nightmare where those two words were in bold, capital letters standing in front of me in a dark room, staring at me...ominously (as if they could stare any other way). Aaaaanyway, I applied during my senior year at OSU after I threw in the towel with job searching. Not to say that was the reason I applied; I spent around 2 months fighting the impending doom that was the economy and had no luck. It actually ended up being exactly what I needed to kick my fear of applying for the Peace Corps. Volunteering was something I've always wanted to do, but getting a job and settling down after college is the expected and largely traveled route. It was scary to do something different and not totally understood by friends and family. But with every interview and career fair I felt even stronger about what I knew was right for me. So I looked into applying and did it! I was interviewed about a month later, and it was a couple weeks after that that I got a phone call from the Chicago office. I had a nice chat with the handler of my file and he graciously nominated me to serve as a math or science teacher in Africa! I was informed then of my potential departure date: March 2010. I was very stoked that I was moving on in the process yet I didn't let myself get too wrapped up in it; I had 12ish months to find something to do and a nomination isn't a guarantee.

For those of you who don't know what the difference between nomination and invitation: I like to think of being nominated as qualifying for the Olympics and getting invited as the gold medal. Being nominated means they found a job/place that would best utilize the skills you bring to the table. It then puts you into a pool of applicants across the country that also fit well with the program you are nominated for. An invitation is the actual "job" offer for you to serve.

From there it was all a waiting game: I graduated, bid goodbye to my college friends, and picked up some random jobs to stay busy. I worked as a high school soccer coach, Cheryl's cookies employee, and currently as a sales person at running shoe store. I continued to volunteer & tutor so that I could build up my resume too. I made sure to check in with Peace Corps every month to see if I could get any more info on the status of my application and to let them know I was still very interested. Then, my program was pushed back from March to June. I was a pro at waiting, what was three more months?

I wish I could say that I fully enjoyed all the relaxing and the lack of responsibility that comes with not having a real job. Me not being invited to serve was a fear that always loomed in the back of my mind. Oh, I just imagined how devastating that would be; to waste an entire year of my life! That and it was hard seeing all my friends grow up and move on when I was staying stagnant. I was back at my parents house and working jobs that I didn't need even need a college degree for. I worked my butt off to get my chemical engineering degree and to waste it, even for a small amount of time, was all sorts of pride swallowing. I definitely experienced my fair share of ups and downs through it all, but emotional and/or mental breakdowns are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life! I'm pretty sure its supposed to be friends, which makes more sense, but I'm not worried about it ;) But again, it worked out which is really nice. I'm going to Ghana!!