Yeah waterfalls :)

(can't get stuff to rotate here, sorry)

So I made it to the internet today :)  We hiked to Boti Falls...pretty unimpressive, but then the hike to Umbrella Rock was excellent. :) 

Love you !
J

Training Update, pics

June 26, 2010

Not much has been going on except TRAINING. 8 – 3pm language training with one hour lunch, then business training from 3-5, Monday through Thursday and Saturdays. Friday we go to the HUB site for shots and meetings with people. People eat early here, so I’m usually shoveling down massive amounts of carbs (cassava, plantains, yams, rice, noodles, corn mash stuff) by 5:30 or 6. World Cup is on at 6:30, bathe at 8:30, sleep by 9pm. I usually wake up around 5 am, due to some unknown reason, lay under my mosquito net and listen to the goats, roosters, sound of women sweeping, and all the other morning sounds.


And Sundays include a smattering of things. Tomorrow (Sunday) we all get to go to Boti Falls and NO CLASS!!! I’m stoked. First waterfalls of Africa and a 2 hour hike. I’m going to try to stop in Koforidua on the way back so I can hit the internet.

So tonight the U.S. lost to Ghana in the World Cup. I watched the game with my family. After Ghana’s first goal, my mother said, “ Jeanna, mommy will cheer with you!” since the men of the family were bouncing around and pinching my cheeks and screaming for Ghana, and I was of course the only person cheering for the U.S. After we lost, my dad pointed out that it was a good thing I had already eaten my dinner, because if not, I would not get to eat tonight since my team lost…so is the tradition here. My mom pointed out that she made sure she had my dinner ready early tonight….thanks ma!! I will get pics of the fam in the next couple weeks; my sister, Kristi, will be coming back from Germany tomorrow night…she is 17 and left for Germany the day I got here, so I haven’t met her yet. On a side note, I got a simple dress made, but I need to have the waist taken in a little, and then I’ll post pics. I paid $2.50 for the fabric and $4 for the tailoring.

So, next Sunday (July 4th) we bus to another town where we will meet our counterparts (the person who will be our go-to person at our permanent sights) and have a seminar with them for 3 days. Then we and our counterparts tro to our permanent sites where we will spend 4 nights getting to know our villages and projects. After that we all individually go to Ho for a 2 week hands on business training. So, I will not be back with my homestay family for 3 weeks. Then I think we have about 2 weeks with homestay, then we get sworn in as volunteers and our 2 years start; crazy, huh?

Ingtifafa kple lolo
…which means “peace and love” in Ewe…except spelled differently with special Ewe letters

j

Random pics

Vanessa (PCV), Nivole and I in the jankity taxi from Nkwanta to Kwe Village

Pic taken of Nkwanta from the jankity taxi.  I LOVE THIS PIC!!!

Beautiful sky on our walk through the cassava farm in Nkwanta.

Pumping water at the bore hole

Carrying our baby buckets of water.

The pros

Our refugee camp (aka training place) in Accra

Pretty piecie, piecie cloth :)

A Few Things Learned

June 24, 2010 A few things learned so far in Ghana:


I smell completely different over here. You know when you stick your finger in your belly button and it has that belly button smell? Yeah, even that’s different over here…I checked today. I (and all the other obrunis) smell sour. I guess cause we sweat a lot and maybe all the different food, aka carbs…I think we might be fermenting.

You spend at least 30 minutes of every day talking about poop with no less than 4 different people. It’s very important.

You chew carefully for bones even when you are eating a dish that contains no meat, because fish bones end up in the weirdest places.

You don’t even expect to get a cold drink anymore.

You don’t get excited to eat, you just do it because you have to.

There is no such thing as being politically correct in Ghana. You is what you is.

Mutterings June 19, 2010

business trainees on way to school..6 plus the driver :) yes, those are knees you see in the back

Kente cloth weaver

So today we started the Ewe training…yeah, it’s a challenge.

Tonight my dad and brother Robert stared the drilling: will you stay in Ghana after your service? Do you like it here? How old are you? Will you marry an African man while you are here? My response is the usual, “I don’t know if I will marry anyone.” This is not well received. But my favorite reaction was, “So you do not want to give birth?” To my great surprise I was able to keep a straight face and make it through the firing squad. FYI, mom and dad (American mom and dad, that is), I told my brother Robert (who I am pretty sure is the intended African husband) that he can come and stay with you. He wants to come to America. Please cook him mashed potato salad and BBQ.

Tomorrow I am going to church with my family…church is three hours long. I am going to be saved.

My family has asked me to cook them dinner next Sunday since I will have the whole day off. (I had school all day today, Saturday, that is 8 to 5…seriously?? And I have 2 hours of school tomorrow. I have not had time to do any laundry (by hand and wait for the sun to dry it), go to the market or anything…training=not fun). I am planning on making garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe fried chicken??? Or I could do a pasta…I dunno. Whatever I make is not going to have a tomato sauce…as that is what I eat everyday. Olive oil is expensive over here; it’s all palm oil…lots of it...it is also red…red is coming out my ears!! And everywhere else, too.


That is pretty much all for now.


Fie (goodnight in Ewe; pronounced fea, long e, long a),

j

Homestay and Sight Announcement!

June 16, 2010
On the 16th we moved in with our homestay families. My host mom is Grace; she is 52 and has 6 children ranging from 17 – 30. My father is a Methodist preacher named George. I have so far met 2 of my brothers: Robert who is probably 26ish and Opie, who is probably a lil older (they live at the compound). My parents are really nice; mom keeps telling me to eat more and the boys want to make sure that the family is making me feel welcome. My dad wants me to stay in Masse (their village) and do my service…so I am very lucky. I have my own room and bathroom, electricity, running water, a real toilet and a ceiling fan! I am super fancy. There is also a small girl (house helper who works for food and shelter) named Presla. She is starting to talk to me more, which is nice. I stay up and watch soccer with them or play Ghana board games with my brothers…all the board games here are very strategic and I’m pretty sure that they think I am absolutely feeble minded…which these days (thank you malaria meds) isn’t that far from the truth.

Homestay house

So yesterday I got my assignment….drum roll…I will be in the Volta region in Likpe Todome. It is Northeast of HoHoe by 10 miles; you’ll be able to find HoHoe on a map. I am right up against Togo. The village of Likpe Todome is about 2000 people; I will be learning a different language than the one I have studied so far; my new language is Ewe. My assignment is sustainable eco-tourism. We have 6 ancestral/spiritual caves above our village; they were opened to tourism/hikes back in the 80’s; we also have a beautiful waterfall (so I am told, obviously I haven’t been there yet). I am within miles of the Wli Falls which is claimed to be the highest single drop waterfall in West Africa…I have seen pics of this one and it is very pretty. I will also be working with women’s groups; helping them with their small businesses. I will be able to start secondary projects as I see fit. There was a volunteer here, but her service ended in August 2009 and I will be going to my site August 2010.

From what I have been told, I will stay in a guesthouse that is used for tourism (I read somewhere that it was built in the colonial days; once I get to internet I will be googling my a$$ off ); I will have a private apartment there with electricity and piped water…we shall see. It also says my home has a beautiful view of the mountains…So you guys have NO reason not to come and see me. There are several other volunteers who are within a couple hours of me; and lucky me, we all enjoy each other’s company. HoHoe is the main city close to me and I have spent 2 nights there when I was on my Vision Quest last week…so right on! (Also where the orphanage we visited is located..here's some pics from that).

Irene and Chauncey...they loved "forehead, eyewinker..."

That’s about all that’s going on. I enjoy interacting with the people in my homestay village, it helps me with my Twi; my family usually speaks to me in English. The kids constantly yell, “Obruni, Obruni” from blocks away; I usually just smile, point, and yell "abimini" (african child) back at them. I feel like Santa Claus. Everyday I bring joy to people just by showing up and being a foreigner. I don’t even have to do anything and I’m hilarious…and when I try to speak Twi, they really get a kick out of that. So far, this is fun, but I am sure that at some point it will get aggravating. I am currently in search of fabric to have a dress and a shirt made.

room at homestay

Business Goup

j

Poem: Rainstorm

Rainstorm

June 7, 2010

Africa, Africa, open your mouth,
Heavens smile your praises down.

The majestic offering has been made,
The sweat and blood have been shed.

The spirits have come with grace in their eyes,
Satisfied with the sacrifices made.

The blessing begins to pour forth,
Violently beautiful; powerful and rich.

The blood of the land begins to flow,
Over the brittle bones of life.
Celestial kings demand their due,
Pounding their staffs with deafening blows.
Trees wave their starving arms,
Dancing for the gift from the heavens.

The sky is on fire, flashing its power,
Children of the land cry in fear.

Men and women dance as the trees,
Thankful for the life that is bestowed upon them.
The fields drink the nectar with a deathly thirst,
Months of wanting have left them hungry.
The animals sigh their relief,
As they too receive this breath of life.

Now all is still; cool and right,
The design of life fulfilled once more.
JR

Vision Quest

Hello,
4 days ago we left the comfort of our initial training sight (which I dubbed the refugee camp, due to all of our clothes spread all over the place) and went in pairs of two to spend 4 days with a current volunteer.  Nivole and I took trotros to the Nkwanta in the Volta region (East side) to visit Vanessa, a current business volunteer. We had 2 tros to catch and total ride time of about 8.5 hours. Tros are small buses that fit 15 people...they are fun :) Whilest waiting for your tro to fill up (takes around 1 hour to find 15 people to go to the place you are trying to go) men and women walk around with stuff on their heads to sell; aka mobile Walmart. Items are: boiled eggs, toothpaste, neck ties, juice, sachet of water, dried fish, kitchen towels, bread, noodle pies, flashlights, etc.  Oh, and my fav, roasted ground nuts, aka peanuts!

We arrived in Nkwanta in pouring rain and met Vanessa. We then had to catch a taxi to her village of Kue; about 1200 people.  This is a hour taxi ride down a dirt road where you dodge goats...it's amazing that they usually don't get hit...i was scared for the goats (they are sooo cute!!). Our taxi was the most jankity thing I have ever seen that still runs...Nivole was scared to death and lovingly called it the "Death Trap." And yes we had to bucket water from the trunk and hot wire it; we made it; these are the things that make this fun.  Also, we got called Obruni (foreigner/aka white person) for the first time at the taxi stand in Nkwanta...funny thing is, is Nivole is black; they cannot understand how she can not speak Twi or Ewe or any other tribal language.  It's hilarious; and Nivole handles it very well.  And before I forget another great racial hilarity:  One of our trainers told us "they will try to take advantage of you because you are colored."  I have never been colored before, I guess it is about time!  A good saying, "Where you is, is what you are!"

Vanessa's village sits at the base of the mountains that separate Ghana and Togo.  It's a gorgeous region!  Her village is full of mud brick huts with either thatch or tin roofs.  There is no electricity or running water; toilet is hole in the ground.  She has a pet kitty named, Kwami; he is cute!  We met the chief, went to the school, hiked up a mt/hill, and hiked to the river.  Huge rainstorm under the tin roof was deafening!  She bought us our first 2 yards (2 yards of fabric that you can wrap as a skirt/dress/towel/sheet) and made us grilled CHEESE sandwiches with Velveeta she had received from home...who is the best PCV in the world...Vanessa is!!! :)
We then tro'd to HoHoi to meet up with some other volunteers. Scott is working at a deaf school and has worked with the kids to produce lil change purses out of the water sachets that litter the ground. This is  a great project and the kids are making money so he can show them how to run a business; start a bank account, etc. They are also learning kente and making bottle cap earrings to sell.  There are a lot of details I'm leaving out b/c of time; main point...inspriring.  We then went to an orphanage where Opie (another volunteer) put a girl he found in his village. Her name is Lee. Lee's parents died and her grandparents thought she was a witch, so quit feeding her and taking care of her. Opie found her, fed her, got her medical stuff done so she could go to a nice orphanage.  He has been going and visiting her for over a year!  The kids were awesome!!!!  We had so much fun. I played "down by the banks, where the bullfrogs jump....." and all kinds of good stuff. I also taught a couple of the girls "forehead, eyewinker, nose dropper, moutheater..." (only my family will understand that) and they loved it!!  They also told me that you can clean silver jewelry (they liked my necklace with all the charms on it) with tomatoes...so try that.

Soo...now we are traveling to our new training site. I am at a super fancy, nice internet place in Korifudua; so don't think you'll get a long post like this usually.  All of these pics are from Vanessa's village. I will possibly add more to facebook.  I can't find my cord to upload the pics from the orphanage....i will in few weeks hopefully.

peace and love,
j

Holla from Ghana

Hi!

Ghana is great, hot!  We are going to the ambassador's tonight; tomorrow we each venture off to stay w/ a volunteer. Had my first thunderstorm in Africa last night...epic!!!!  Just a short note to say I'm here and not to expect anything for a while.  Not easy to get to a computer for the next couple weeks.

Love ya!!
j

Staging, then shipping out.

Hi. We had training in Philly today. I got to meet the other 71 volunteers in my group; everyone seems like a lot of fun!  Also, note; Flyers are playin the Hawks tonight in Philly...just sayin....GO HAWKS!
We only got one shot today: yellow fever, the rest will come once we get to Ghana. We get bussed to JFK tomorrow and ship out in the evening. 

I'm really glad all the goodbyes are over. It was really hard in the airport saying goodbye to the family. You know me; I don't like to cry in front of people. I've decided that's a bad thing because I spent all day in the airports trying not to lose it for no apparent reason. But anyway...now it's been all hello's and that's such a better feeling!

Well I'll update you guys once I get access in Ghana.

See you on the other side :)  
j