Well, here I am Monday night, a week after I left to fly to Ghana, and this week has been so amazing. It's intimidating trying to put it all in words and fit it all into one blog post. I will try my best to do this week justice in words. I am sitting here at the internet cafe in the city of Hohoe. It costs me 1 Ghana Cedi to spend an hour online, but the internet is about as fast as dial up.
So, I left off talking about the health clinic I was spending some time. The next few days spent in Accra with the Amartey's were excellent. They treated me so nicely the entire week. I was able to go to one of the largest markets in Ghana with Mrs. Amartey. That was quite the experience. I stuck out like a sore thumb there. Left and right, I had people shouting "Obruni! Obruni" left and right, which in English, means "White person! White Person!". Everywhere I walked, I had 4 or 5 different little kids trailing right behind me with large bowls or baskets full of goods on top of their heads trying to sell. Everytime I turned around to smile or say hi to them, they would giggle and get all shy. It was so cute. I can't believe the weight that people can balance on their heads here. At the market, I saw 15 and 16 year old girls carrying around 100lb. hunks of raw cow meat on their heads no problem. The hunks were like a whole cow leg or a whole cow head. It was crazy to see. I also saw interesting foods for sale such as dried bushrat, which is a delicacy here. It looks kind of like a large beaver. I also saw live giant snails for sale and tons and tons of dried fish and shrimp. One of the days, Dr. Amartey arranged for an old family friend to take me out for the day to the Accra arts center, which is like an art market where people sell their sculptures, paintings, and hand-made jewelry. The man that took me out was named Mani. He was so great to get to know. A very interesting guy. He is Ghanaian but lived in London for 5 years, so he has a british/african accent. He took me out to lunch also and we got to talk for a few hours. Before I knew it, it was Saturday morning and it was time to be dropped off at the airport to be picked up by my program director with a few other volunteers.
The ride to Hohoe was about a 4 hour drive on really rough roads that have potholes that are so big that people get stuck in them. Needless to say, it was a VERY bumpy ride. I couldn't believe some of the places we were passing on the way also. It was so different from Accra with big buildings and paved roads. The cities we were passing were literally houses made of mud and grass roofs. There were tons of goats running everywhere. The mud is a dark red here. It looked like everything I had ever seen of Africa in National Geographics and movies. It was quite a shock! We arrived at the home base and thankfully have running water and electricity there. I am in a room with 2 bunk beds, 2 other girls are sleeping in there with me for now. They are really nice. One is from Michigan and the other from Minnesota. They are about my age. There are around 20 of us in the house. Most of us in our 20's, but there is one lady who is 83! In only the 2 days I have been here, I have gotten to know all of them really well. Everyone is so friendly.
We have had great opportunities here. Yesterday, we had a lesson on Ewe, the language spoken here. Today, I started my volunteer placement. It was a lot like what I expected it to be. The school I work at literally has no school supplies. The walls are made of cement, but the roofs are really leaky, and the classrooms only have 3 walls each so it is open to the outside. Me and another girl from England were placed in a room with 25 little kids between ages 3-5 with no other teacher, and were just expected to teach them! It was really difficult. They barely speak English, so we had a hard time communicating with them. We taught them Head shoulders, knees and toes today and helped them count to 10 over and over again on their fingers. It's so hot and humid here that I was sweating the whole time. Despite all of the hardships, I am enjoying myself there. I think things will get better once the children get to know us better and realize we are in charge. They are so loving and just love for us to hold them and hold their hand. Later today, we went to the market. I bought some really pretty fabrics that can be made into dresses, skirts, purses, pretty much anything we want by a local seamstress, and for only like $5 us dollars!! After the market, we had a cultural lesson at the home base. Local African drummers came and performed for us .They had us up and dancing with them by the end. It was really cool!!
It's so funny, people here absolutely love Obama. There are anything from flags to bumper stickers to giant billboards to toothbrushes with his face on it everywhere. There is a bar here about a 5 minute walk from the home base called Obama's bar. His face is plastered across the side. We went there lastnight and I ordered a coke. It's nice. It's just a place to sit and chill in the grass at a table under the palm trees.
Well, I don't have a lot of more time. We need to walk back to the home base now. It's really dark out and about a 10 minute walk there. I am enjoying myself and learning so much about Ghanaian people. They are so friendly and welcoming. I have never met friendlier people. I will post again when I can, and try to get pictures up!
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