So lot's to update on and I'm sure I'm going to miss stuff but I shall try. This is the first time I have gotten on the internet in two months. I feel like I'm in middle school again. First and foremost, I'm in Ghana. Woohoo! Everyday the realization that I'm living on a different continent populated by a different culture that speaks a wholly unfamiliar language slowly sinks in. I have had many 'Welcome to Africa' moments. From that cold shower on the first morning, to playing frisbee with my host aunt while she had a baby tied to her back with a piece of cloth, to lying in a three foot pile of corn in the middle of my mud brick compound gazing up at the stars, all have served to illustrate that Kansas is indeed very, very far away.
I know many people (especially my brother) have been wondering what I have been eating. First off, I should say that in Ghanaian culture it is thought that one is is a bad host if their guest has to ask for more food. Thus, despite my mother's concerns I have been eating lot's and lot's of food. Many volunteers have been told to "Eat all! It will make you strong!". At first my host family would express dismay when I couldn't finish the 5 pounds of rice they gave me, but after I assured them that I was satisfied, they relented. Overall, the food has been pretty good. Their staple crops are yams, cassava, corn (maize), rice, beans, peanuts (groundnuts), plantains, bananas, oranges, chicken, and guinea fowl. Not to mention fish. They put them in everything. From little fried fish that I ate whole (bones and all) to canned fish (bones and all). Ghanaians eat everything from the skin to the bones. I had crab one day and was instructed to eat every part of the legs including the shell. Crab is not supposed to be that crunchy. Anyways, one of the main food preparation techniques consists of pounding the food using a long wooden mallet of sorts. Maize is pounded into banku, and yam or cassava or both becomes fufu. They both have a doughy consistency and when eating them you dip a bit of the dough into a soup and swallow it whole. It takes a little while to get used to. Everything is pretty spicy because they like to put spicy peppers into everything. Like I said, overall I have enjoyed it.
Most of the past two months have been spent listening to various lectures about medical, cultural and agricultural information. Some of the technical training has been more hands on and we visited various farms and animal rearing places to see how they did it. We learned about beekeeping, rabbit rearing, maize, cashew, and shea farming. Needless to say I think I will have enough to do for the next two years. My community is very excited to have me working with them so I hope I will be able to help them out.
I spent three days at my site and was able to get a better picture of what I will actually be doing in Ghana. My village is called Toronyilli and it is about an hour south of Tomale. There are about 300 people in it but I will be working with the surrounding villages as well. The only way to get to my village from the paved main road is an 8 mile trip down a dirt road. Since the Peace Corps won't let me ride motorbikes it looks like the only option is to ride a bicycle. I guess I'm going to be in better shape by the end of this. The village itself looks like a classic African village. There are small compounds where each family lives with 8 or 9 round houses with red mud walls and thatched roofs. The surrounding land is full of tall grasses, termite mounds, a few trees, and local farms. There is even a local herd of cattle that moved from area to area. Additionally, there are goats, guinea fowls and chickens that run wild around the village. I will be living in a compound with my counterpart and his family in a cement room with a zinc roof. My counterpart acts as a local guide and helped introduce me to all the important people I will need to work with. Not to mention he knows a lot more Dagbani then I do. He introduced me to the chief, the elders, the local farmers and the district assembly man. He is young and full of energy and has really high expectations for me. I hope I can deliver on them. My village has no running water or electricity, but the solar charger I brought with me should come in handy. Plus, Tomale is a big city so I should be able to get everything I need (including the internet) there. Overall, I'm really excited about everything and can't wait to finish training and settle in to my village. They greeted me with open arms and a welcoming ceremony where they danced for me and made formal introductions. They seem excited about having me in their village. When my chief asked me what I was hoping to get out of my time here I responded that I wanted "Teach the village what I know, and learn from them what they know". The foundation has been set for what should be a fruitful and important experience for not just me, but the village as well.
