Fun and Work

May 29, 2012

So last week I went up to Techiman to meet Nikki and go to the monastery.  It’s a small monastery with maybe 7 or 8 monks and the building is set back in a heavy tree-lined and rocky spot.  It was really pretty.  The monks make jams, chutneys, and wine/schnapps from the fruit trees they grow.  We spent the day climbing on the rocks and just talking.  It was really nice; I never get to spend time with Nikki because we live so far apart.  The next day we went to Techiman’s big Friday market; it’s coined as being the largest market in West Africa.  Nivole came up and met us and Nikki’s counterpart took us to the market.  We ran around looking at stuff and then he took us to the juju part.  There were stalls of dead animals, live animals, wooden juju dolls, brass figurines, powders, and viles of liquid all used in the practice of juju.  My favorites were the dried chameleons.  I don’t know why, but I thought they were super cool.  The women said they were used to make people strong again.

After the market we said that we wanted to get henna.  The Muslim women have henna painted on their feet and left hand usually for weddings and other special occasions.  So the guy took us to a compound of his Muslim friends and then she called a woman to come and paint us.  We spent about 3 hours sitting under a tree while a young woman drew henna on our feet and hands…they turned out great!!!!  We drew quite a crowd and had a good time laughing with all the ladies that came by.  Then after they were done with us they used the henna to draw the women’s eyebrows…another reason so many showed up.  After we left, we went a got a couple beers before heading back to Nikki’s village for the night.  It was a great day!!!

Next came STARS; over 70 high school kids from all over Ghana.  We spent the week at KNUST a University in Kumasi.  This is a leadership conference and the schedule included:  leadership skills, team building activities, HIV/Sex education, specialization areas (science, computers, writing, photography, art, environment), many speakers came in, and they also had a volunteer outreach day where the kids did volunteer projects in the community.  Overall it was a long and successful conference.  I didn’t take kids; I was there as a photographer, snack maker, and general helper.  My favorite part was once again the sex talks.  We separated boys and girls and we PCV’s answered questions the kids had.  We also had nurses on hand for questions.  Several of us female PCV’s were pulled from the girl group since some of the boy groups had questions that the male PCV’s couldn’t really answer.  Some of my questions from the boys:  “I have heard that it has been scientifically proven that if menstrual blood enters the penis it is toxic.”   “I have heard that a part of the woman gets erect like a penis.”  My group learned a lot about the importance of the clitoris…which they had no idea of what it was called.  This lead to discussion of female genital mutilation, which occurs in many parts of Africa.  “Do women like sex?”  “What if a girl cries during sex?”  “Why do girls get so sad, mad, mean when they are pregnant?”  We talked about what menstruation really is, oral sex, condom use, how to be a good lover instead of just demanding sex.  Also, please keep in mind that high school students in Ghana are in dorms (like American universities) and the ages of kids range from 18-25.  After spending a week here and seeing these “kids”… guys with muscles that we only see in magazines and girls with boobs and asses that just don’t stop (it was open showering and no one covers up…I saw more boobs and hoo-ha’s in one week than I have in my whole life!) I see why they sleep around so much…everybody is sexy as hell!  So I mainly preached safe sex every time!  I told them about the one thing that always made me really believe in using condoms:  When you have unprotected sex with someone, you are not just having sex with them, but with every partner they had unprotected sex with, and every partner each of those people had unprotected sex with…so by having unprotected sex with one person, you may actually be “sharing fluids” with 30 or more people..GROSS.  It’s like sticking your hand in a public latrine…

So after STARS we decided not to go to the Upper West.  Super tired from the busy week and I needed to get to Accra for a doctor appointment.  I spent 3 days in Accra babysitting/dogsitting for an ex-pat with Chris.  AC, hot shower, washer/dryer, real bed, couch, TV, pool!  It was nice!  We bought food and made homemade pizzas and Mediterranean pasta.  Saturday we went down to this big market where they resale clothes donated from all over the world.  I found 2 tunics and 2 pashminas for 10 cedis and bought a pair of refurbed purple Birkenstocks for 30 cedis.  It was a fantastic day!!!

Yesterday I got back to the village and am now working on my reports for Peace Corps and starting to go through all my stuff.  I have a burn pile, pack pile, and give away pile.  Less than 2 months!!!!!

j