Some quick details I don’t want to detail, or find the energy to write extensively about.
1) It’s HOT. Well, duh, you say. But I just thought I’d start with that. It is humid in the south, with lots of beautiful jungle-covered mountains (though not even Appalachian size mountains) in the south and drier, flatter land to the north.
2) I clean myself twice a day (or thereabouts depending on the weather) by virtue of a bucket bath. Very few places in Ghana have running water, and so, water is collected from wells or from rain catchment and contained in great big blue barrels. Ghanaians wash by filling a bucket with water, taking it to the “bath area”, and washing, soaping, and rinsing. It’s funny; it’s not as big an adjustment as you’d think. Plus, who the hell wants a hot shower here anyway?
3) This bucket is what I also do my clothes washing in. Sit down with the bucket and some laundry soap, rub it on your clothes and go to town. There is a special technique that makes the bucket all foamy and the clothes whiter than when they went it, but as I’ve not had a lifetime of handwashing clothes, I am sorely lacking in my abilities.
4) Goats are everywhere. Mostly pigmy sized goats, of all different colors, and coat texture as well. They roam freely, though everyone seems to know who they belong to.
5) I eat lots and lots of starch—rice, pasta, yams, etc. The most common sauce is tomato based with peppered seasoning. The best Ghanaian dish I’ve had so far (well, besides Patience’s fried guinea fowl) is ground nut soup. Groundnuts are peanuts and a major cash crop here. They are ground into soup and cooked with lots of palm oil and whatever else with beef or other meat added, and poured over a sticky rice ball. Yum
6) For all 72 of us trainees, in a week, our standards of comfort and luxury have changed dramatically, and when encountered are met with excitement and surprise. “Wow, my host family has a flush toilet.” “We have tap water.” “Our host volunteers have a refrigerator and a ceiling fan.” “That store has A/C?!” “I’ll deal with latrines and bucket baths, but I really want power!”
7) All beer is served in half liter bottles and there are about 4 different kinds, and Coke and other sodas are served in old style glass and made with real sugar.
8) I’m getting tired of everyone complaining about the lax schedule and all the sitting around time. Get off it! You’re not in America, in on African time now!
9) I can already feel myself switching over to Ghanaian English.
10) We can all sing pretty well the lyrics to the Coca-Cola World Cup commercial.
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