So here is what I did today:
6:00am: Wake up to the sound of sheep and roosters
6:30am: Eat breakfast (some sort of porridge..reminds me of Malt-O-Meal...remember that fiasco, family??)
7:00am: Laundry - approximately 2 skirts, 6 shirts, 6 pairs of underwear, a towel, and a washcloth take about one hour. And I need to figure out a way to do laundry without making my knuckles bleed.
8:30am: Market - buy rice (with ants in it), tomatoes, garlic, onions, charcoal, and eggs so that we can cook a meal with our language class.
11:45am: Lunch - our egg/tomato stew turned out well!
Afternoon: Plan lessons to teach small children about hygiene i.e. where and how to poop, how to wash hands, etc.
Tonight I have maybe more rice and a cold beer to look forward to. What I would do for a glass of red wine and some CHEESE!
Also, I forgot to mention my proudest moment in Ghana thus far. The other morning I was on my way to bath and approached a small child. He was TERRIFIED of me. He screamed "obruni" (white man) and cried and literally ran way from me!! I laughed. After being chased and tormented by screaming children for the past month, I was thrilled to get some payback. It's the little things here in in Ghana.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Opposite Day
So I feel like most days here I am doing the opposite of what comes naturally to me. For example, this week we took a field trip to visit LATRINES. I'm not kidding. We spent an entire morning touring a community looking at their latrine variety. Some were broken. And I mean very broken, like the floor was caving in and you could see poop coming up from the ground. And there were maggots and all sorts of gross things. I can't believe I have agreed to do this for TWO YEARS!! Sometimes I think I am crazy!
Also, today we went on a HIKE. Yes, I was hiking. And some of it was actually kind of hard. There were some steep rocky inclines and declines and I thought I was going to break my ankle quite a few times. But I made it! And I guess the view was worth it...my family would be SO proud if they had seen me!
So that's just a quick update about what I've been doing in Ghana this week -- looking at poop, talking about poop, learning how to keep poop away from your mouth...oh and hiking. I think I'm already a changed woman.
Also, today we went on a HIKE. Yes, I was hiking. And some of it was actually kind of hard. There were some steep rocky inclines and declines and I thought I was going to break my ankle quite a few times. But I made it! And I guess the view was worth it...my family would be SO proud if they had seen me!
So that's just a quick update about what I've been doing in Ghana this week -- looking at poop, talking about poop, learning how to keep poop away from your mouth...oh and hiking. I think I'm already a changed woman.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
How to Become a Real PCV
I made it another week! Things are settling down now, I am thrilled. We have moved in with homestays, found out our site placements, got cell phones, and are operating on a regular SCHEDULE (my favorite)!!
I am living in Old Tafo, a community near Kukurantumi, our main training site. My homestay family situation is odd. I'm not entirely sure who I live with and who my family is. I know the mother, father, and about 3-4 siblings, but they do not all live in the same compound with me. They are all nice though and most speak English. That's a plus. I also have my own latrine (BIG plus) with a lock on it. It doesn't smell too bad at all, but sometimes it is scary when the flies tickle your butt. Not pleasant. I like my room a lot, I have made it cozy, but the sound of rats scuttling in my ceiling every night is disconcerting. The rats, along with loud choir music/tongue speaking and bleating goats can make sleeping difficult at times. But interesting, nonetheless.
The eating situation is a bit strange. I eat alone, like a child who is being punished. I actually like it though. I am nearly at the end of my tolerance for yam, plantain, fufu, and various meat stews, so I don't mind that my family doesn't witness how difficult it is getting for me to eat. My mother or sisters bring food to my room while I am away at class and then take the dishes away after I have left again. A little mysterious.
For the next two years, I will be living in Lungbung (or Lungbuna, I think it has various spellings). It is in the Northern Region, about 35 km northwest of Tamale, which is a pretty big city. I am happy with my placement. I get to work with NGOs including the Carter Center and UNICEF on things like guinea worm and just general health and sanitation. I am close to other volunteers too (the closest one is only 10 km) and 4 of us live along the same road to get to Tamale. My accommodations actually sound nice: a bungalow associated with the junior high school, including 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, private bath, private bucket flush toilet (!!), and courtyard. Unfortunately my Ghanaian mansion is not equipped with electricity. So I will be going to bed around 7pm every night.
I also have a cell phone now! I have no idea if it's a bad idea to put cell phone numbers on blogs, but I feel like it might be, so if you want to call (or text!) ask my family or Whitney, they should know.
I am still doing well. I have yet to get deathly ill. Amusing events happen on a daily basis and it's hard for me to remember them all. Last night I was with other volunteers on the way home from a spot (Ghanaian bar) in a taxi. We are driving down the road and the driver pulls over to purchase something from a man. I notice that it is a very large rat. Like a Gobi-sized rat. Maybe slightly larger. And the rat is STILL ALIVE. The driver purchases the rat to take it home, kill it, and prepare it for a meal. He keeps it in his lap and under the front seat of the car the rest of the way to Old Tafo. I was sitting directly behind him and TERRIFIED it was going to crawl on me. Luckily, it didn't.
Here is a story that nicely sums up the Peace Corps experience and the bonding that we all go though: it is commonly known that you become a "real" Peace Corps Volunteer once you have shit your pants. One of our group joined the club recently and was telling the story to a group of other trainees. He actually shit himself in his bed while he was sleeping and was asked what he did with the dirty underwear. He replied, "I just threw them in the closet." In perfect unison, the trainees all said, "You have a closet?!?!" Not, "ew gross, you are a grown man and pooped yourself" or "ew gross, you thew poopy pants into the closet." Amazing. And this is why I love Peace Corps right now.
I am living in Old Tafo, a community near Kukurantumi, our main training site. My homestay family situation is odd. I'm not entirely sure who I live with and who my family is. I know the mother, father, and about 3-4 siblings, but they do not all live in the same compound with me. They are all nice though and most speak English. That's a plus. I also have my own latrine (BIG plus) with a lock on it. It doesn't smell too bad at all, but sometimes it is scary when the flies tickle your butt. Not pleasant. I like my room a lot, I have made it cozy, but the sound of rats scuttling in my ceiling every night is disconcerting. The rats, along with loud choir music/tongue speaking and bleating goats can make sleeping difficult at times. But interesting, nonetheless.
The eating situation is a bit strange. I eat alone, like a child who is being punished. I actually like it though. I am nearly at the end of my tolerance for yam, plantain, fufu, and various meat stews, so I don't mind that my family doesn't witness how difficult it is getting for me to eat. My mother or sisters bring food to my room while I am away at class and then take the dishes away after I have left again. A little mysterious.
For the next two years, I will be living in Lungbung (or Lungbuna, I think it has various spellings). It is in the Northern Region, about 35 km northwest of Tamale, which is a pretty big city. I am happy with my placement. I get to work with NGOs including the Carter Center and UNICEF on things like guinea worm and just general health and sanitation. I am close to other volunteers too (the closest one is only 10 km) and 4 of us live along the same road to get to Tamale. My accommodations actually sound nice: a bungalow associated with the junior high school, including 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, private bath, private bucket flush toilet (!!), and courtyard. Unfortunately my Ghanaian mansion is not equipped with electricity. So I will be going to bed around 7pm every night.
I also have a cell phone now! I have no idea if it's a bad idea to put cell phone numbers on blogs, but I feel like it might be, so if you want to call (or text!) ask my family or Whitney, they should know.
I am still doing well. I have yet to get deathly ill. Amusing events happen on a daily basis and it's hard for me to remember them all. Last night I was with other volunteers on the way home from a spot (Ghanaian bar) in a taxi. We are driving down the road and the driver pulls over to purchase something from a man. I notice that it is a very large rat. Like a Gobi-sized rat. Maybe slightly larger. And the rat is STILL ALIVE. The driver purchases the rat to take it home, kill it, and prepare it for a meal. He keeps it in his lap and under the front seat of the car the rest of the way to Old Tafo. I was sitting directly behind him and TERRIFIED it was going to crawl on me. Luckily, it didn't.
Here is a story that nicely sums up the Peace Corps experience and the bonding that we all go though: it is commonly known that you become a "real" Peace Corps Volunteer once you have shit your pants. One of our group joined the club recently and was telling the story to a group of other trainees. He actually shit himself in his bed while he was sleeping and was asked what he did with the dirty underwear. He replied, "I just threw them in the closet." In perfect unison, the trainees all said, "You have a closet?!?!" Not, "ew gross, you are a grown man and pooped yourself" or "ew gross, you thew poopy pants into the closet." Amazing. And this is why I love Peace Corps right now.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Master Jesus Spare Parts
Well we made it! All the way to Ghana. I have been in country about a week and a half now, after a weekend of "staging" in Philadelphia. Peace Corps likes to use lots of funny names and acronyms all the time. Like staging. It has been a whirlwind so far, lots of learning and traveling, so I will try to mention the highlights.
For those of you curious about technical details, there are 42 of us in the program. We are known as the "omnibus" group, which means that there are Environment, Small Enterprise Development, and Health/Water Sanitation volunteers all together. I am in Health/Water (known as WatSan) and my group has 16 people in it. A group of teachers came earlier this summer and they just swore in recently.
So we arrive, hang out on a sort of "campus" I guess you would call it, called Valley View. At Valley View they gave us all sorts of fun stuff like an enormous medical kit complete with every sort of medicine imaginable. We also get lots of shots. We all just form a line and go up to the nurse, tell them our name, sit down and get the shot with everyone watching. I'm sure it's uncomfortable for those who are squeamish about shots. Valley View was kind of boring. We did get to have dinner at the ambassador's house, which was nice. I drank the last red wine I will have for a long, long time.
Overall, I am liking Ghana. Here were some of my initial observations:
1. The sun seems very high in the sky even early in the morning. It feels mid-afternoon, but it is only 10am.
2. Store owners like to name their shops after Jesus. For example, Trust in God Cosmetics Shop, Master Jesus Spare Parts (my personal favorite), and God is Good Eggs for Sale.
3. The people are amazingly friendly. We ask for directions and they will personally escort you to your destination. And in some cases they even paid for peoples fares.
4. Animals are EVERYWHERE. Which makes me very happy. I am obsessed with goats. Although I have a hard time telling goats and sheep apart sometimes. And sometimes even dogs.
So after Valley View we went on "vision quest" (another weird Peace Corps term - I think it conjures images of native americans tripping on peyote in a cave somewhere). This is when we travel to another part of Ghana to stay with a current volunteer to give us an idea of what we will actually be doing (since all of this is mostly unclear. Even now it is still unclear). I traveled to Wechiau, which is in the Upper West region. It is apparently the most neglected and underdeveloped region in Ghana. We took a 14 hour bus ride to Wa, the regional capital, before heading out to Wechiau.
I have to take a moment to discuss the bus ride. We used STA buses, which is apparently the nicest, most comfortable way one can travel in Ghana. They were nice. The best part was the movies. There was a TV in the front which showed what I think were Nigerian films. They usually involved who I initially thought were small boys, approximately 8-10 years old. However, when the boys began picking up prostitutes and drinking liquor, I became confused. Supposedly these were not boys, but midgets! Ghanaians apparently LOVE midgets and find them hilarious. So in all the movies and programs they showed, small-looking males were the main role. Very odd, but I found this hilarious. At one rest stop the bus driver pulled me off with him, encouraging me to drink apateshi (a homemade liquor) and eat snake meat. I opted for a Pepsi.
My vision quest was fine. I liked my village. We rode on a pick-up truck with picnic benches in the back to get there. They are known as "bone rattlers." I am eager to get to my own site, which won't happen for another two months. On Monday we find out where we will be placed. Very exciting! Now we are back in Kukurantumi where we are training. We learn language and skills that are more relevant to our specific sector. I will be living with a homestay family in a village called Old Tafo. This afternoon we are having a "cultural fair." Who knows what Peace Corps has prepared for us this time. I will keep you posted.
For those of you curious about technical details, there are 42 of us in the program. We are known as the "omnibus" group, which means that there are Environment, Small Enterprise Development, and Health/Water Sanitation volunteers all together. I am in Health/Water (known as WatSan) and my group has 16 people in it. A group of teachers came earlier this summer and they just swore in recently.
So we arrive, hang out on a sort of "campus" I guess you would call it, called Valley View. At Valley View they gave us all sorts of fun stuff like an enormous medical kit complete with every sort of medicine imaginable. We also get lots of shots. We all just form a line and go up to the nurse, tell them our name, sit down and get the shot with everyone watching. I'm sure it's uncomfortable for those who are squeamish about shots. Valley View was kind of boring. We did get to have dinner at the ambassador's house, which was nice. I drank the last red wine I will have for a long, long time.
Overall, I am liking Ghana. Here were some of my initial observations:
1. The sun seems very high in the sky even early in the morning. It feels mid-afternoon, but it is only 10am.
2. Store owners like to name their shops after Jesus. For example, Trust in God Cosmetics Shop, Master Jesus Spare Parts (my personal favorite), and God is Good Eggs for Sale.
3. The people are amazingly friendly. We ask for directions and they will personally escort you to your destination. And in some cases they even paid for peoples fares.
4. Animals are EVERYWHERE. Which makes me very happy. I am obsessed with goats. Although I have a hard time telling goats and sheep apart sometimes. And sometimes even dogs.
So after Valley View we went on "vision quest" (another weird Peace Corps term - I think it conjures images of native americans tripping on peyote in a cave somewhere). This is when we travel to another part of Ghana to stay with a current volunteer to give us an idea of what we will actually be doing (since all of this is mostly unclear. Even now it is still unclear). I traveled to Wechiau, which is in the Upper West region. It is apparently the most neglected and underdeveloped region in Ghana. We took a 14 hour bus ride to Wa, the regional capital, before heading out to Wechiau.
I have to take a moment to discuss the bus ride. We used STA buses, which is apparently the nicest, most comfortable way one can travel in Ghana. They were nice. The best part was the movies. There was a TV in the front which showed what I think were Nigerian films. They usually involved who I initially thought were small boys, approximately 8-10 years old. However, when the boys began picking up prostitutes and drinking liquor, I became confused. Supposedly these were not boys, but midgets! Ghanaians apparently LOVE midgets and find them hilarious. So in all the movies and programs they showed, small-looking males were the main role. Very odd, but I found this hilarious. At one rest stop the bus driver pulled me off with him, encouraging me to drink apateshi (a homemade liquor) and eat snake meat. I opted for a Pepsi.
My vision quest was fine. I liked my village. We rode on a pick-up truck with picnic benches in the back to get there. They are known as "bone rattlers." I am eager to get to my own site, which won't happen for another two months. On Monday we find out where we will be placed. Very exciting! Now we are back in Kukurantumi where we are training. We learn language and skills that are more relevant to our specific sector. I will be living with a homestay family in a village called Old Tafo. This afternoon we are having a "cultural fair." Who knows what Peace Corps has prepared for us this time. I will keep you posted.
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