Friday, August 27, 2010

A Home??

August 12 marked the transition from trainee to volunteer. Thats right folks, I am now a volunteer. No longer haunting the southern half of Ghana as an "obroni," I now stalk the streets in Northern Ghana as a Salimiiga (spelling?). It means the same thing but it is harder for small children to say and endlessly repeat over and over again.

After a small time in temporary housing, my permanent house is now vacant and I get to begin the moving in process. I hope to get everything unpacked within the week and begin the process of trying to figure out how to get a couch and then move said couch to my place. I am, however, really excited about the pillow and full size bed that I have inherited.

The only true down side to my new place is the varied and close proximity of loud speakers for the call to prayer. Lately the call to prayer at 2am has bled into the call to prayer at 4am. Pre-recorded sermons play throughout the morning. But gosh darn it....if I can tune out a train and college kids in Flagstaff I can tune this out or at least incorporate it into my dreams and have some crazy Dagbani/Muslim influenced dreams.

My local supervisor is pretty cool. My local counterpart is out of town until the 9th. I a in idle until then. I plan to master the market and make friends with some of the vendors. My mission is to find the lady that sells the best tomatoes, yams, oranges, and onion. They may be all different vendors, but I will find them.

It rained the other day and I was able to fill my newly acquired rain barrel. Its yellow, and probably at one point held palm oil, but it locks and its mine! Dry season will be tough, but I am taking advantage of the rain while I can. The rain also cools down the world significantly, the locals say they are freezing, I say I am in heaven...an 80 degree heaven!

Better Late Than Never

2 Months in Ghana

Today is August 1 and marks two months with Peace Corps Ghana. Training is almost over and the anticipation, excitement, and anxiety is still building. So far I have traveled to the other end of Ghana and back, twice. I enjoy both ends...but find myself liking the north more, which is luck since my permanent site will be up north. It is less humid up north, and instead of a jungle feel you get more of a lion king savannah feel. Though I have been told that when the rainy season ends all the green grasses and beauty of the north will turn into a swirling dust bowl. I will be happy to have a ceiling fan during those months. Did I mention that I will have electricity at mt site. Well, okay, sometimes (Ghana electricity is not all that reliable).

So far to date I have learned and forgotten most of my Twi. Learned a bit of Dagbani, and hopefully retained enough of it to pass my language test so I can swear n as a volunteer. I have gone by several names, to some I am Catherine, to those in Anyinasin I am Odua Ataa, and to those in Karaga I am Tiyumtaba. Tiyumtaba will be the name I am supposed to recognize and respond to for the next 2 years.

During technical training I taught children the importance of washing hands, helped dig a simple pit latrine, watched dutifully as others dug and poured cement for a Mozambique latrine, taught farmers about malaria and the importance of actually using a mosquito night, and experienced my first time being 103 temp ill in Ghana. Turns out you can get prescription medication in Ghana without a prescription and for about the equivalent of 15 cents US. The Peace Corps medical officer had me take a malaria test before prescribing meds to me, luckily I was just sick sick and not malaria sick.

I am still freaking about going to my site and staying for two years. That whole “what if I fail” thing still jumping into my head every now and then. My supervisor wants me to start a million clubs, take over a million projects, and on top of what seems plausible he also wants me to accomplish miracles. (one of which is establishing a library which two generations of volunteers have been unable to get the community excited about or even to support).

I hope to be able to much more of Ghana as well. So far I have seen two different waterfalls (Bodi and Kintampo). (don't know if I spelled either of those correctly). The waterfalls are beautiful here, especially in the lush green surroundings of Ghana. (still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath me when dry season hits with its full and mighty force). We also went north to Paga and sat on a live crocodile. The locals in the area believe each crocodile is connected with a person's soul and when the person dies so does the croc (and vice versa). The crocodiles are trained to hear a chicken be held by and to stay completely still until they are given the chicken. Knowing that chicken will be theirs if they do not screw up – 13 plus volunteers were able to sit, pose, and find a new sense of bravery in regards to being in close proximity to crocodiles.

Now all that is left is to practice my language. Continue to say my mantra every night “I am safe under my net, under my net I am safe” (in addition to mosquitoes the spiders here are mach speed fast and huge!). Write letters to the peeps back home, if you do not get one please do not have your feelings hurt...I am a volunteer, have no money, and buying let alone mailing cards is expensive =P

Here is hoping that all goes well in the next couple of weeks. After swearing in I am back in the Northern Region of Ghana. Just remember to contemplate the possibility that you should visit me or send me snacks in the mail (mail snacks are delicious). I will try to post more pictures on facebook...for those of you without facebook I highly recommend you get an account or a friend with an account because my pictures are awesome!)
Missing you all. When the volunteers move out of my new home and I get to move in in early September I will post pictures so you all can see my SWEET accommodations. And when you turn on your water tap think of me hauling water or bribing some local child to do it for me (I hear children are good for manual labor).


August 8, 2010
LPI (the language test) went okay. They have not told me to go home so I am assuming, despite forgetting a lot of my vocabulary during the test, that I passed. Training is winding down. We are finding that we have more free time on our hands and are taking advantage of this fact by going to market and spending our prized walk around money. I might just get addicted to Ghanaian cloth. Others have fallen deeper down the rabbit hole and are addicted to buying the cloth and getting clothes made, but I have yet to further my habit to that point (mostly because I spent all my cedi on cloth). When I get to Karaga in a weeks time there is no doubt that I will find some unsuspecting seamstress to turn my small cache into a glorious and brightly colored wardrobe. Right now my favorite is a “pieces pieces” which is scraps of cloth a seamstress has sewn together to make 2 yards of fabric...I use it as a blanket. Undoubtedly when I return to the states my closest and dearest will get “pieces pieces” as gifts. You will look at it like I am a mad woman, but it is my fond memory and it is the thought that counts.

A whole new batch of Peace Corps Ghana Trainees swear in on the 12th. God hep us. I a looking forward to getting to my site and taking full advantage of our three month “get to know your community” grace period. Not really supposed to start any projects during this time...just supposed to familiarize and attempt to integrate. I hope to practice my Dagbani, revel in the fact that I can finally unpack my bags, meet the neighbors, and tell a million children not to call me selimiiga (spelling?), which roughly translates to “white lady.” My homestay sister in Anyinasin is still talking about me telling off a kid (young teens) who knew my real name, but insisted on calling me or muttering “obroni” every time I walked past. Obroni also translates into white person/foreigner. “Yen fre mae obroni!” or Don't call me obroni was all I said to this kid, but the quick snap and toilet paper in hand made my homestay sister burst out laughing and resulted in the telling of the event to all the neighbors. The teen went home soon afterward, but victory was mine as he now uses my given name or my Twi name when I am in earshot.

Today volunteers/trainees will play against the trainers in a soccer match. As I am uncoordinated and seem to be content with finding every hole or rock that can trip me up, I will be watching intently and cheering my fellow trainees on. I make an excellent cheerleader...besides someone has to take pictures to record the moment for posterity.

I am still working on writing cards to folks back home. Some are written and others are in progress. Someday I will pass by a post office and mail them out...I am thinking when I go through Tamale again on my way to my site. Miss you all. You really should come and visit. Bucket baths are not that bad.