Finally it is the weekend! I am looking forward to going to Krobo-Odumasi, which is about an hour or so away from where I am staying, with the other four students and our two leaders on Saturday and Sunday. While we are there we are going to have a bead-making workshop, meet the chief and some elders, and hike up a mini mountain--basically a tiny vacation!
After some more serious posts, I thought it would be a good time to share a little more detail about Ghanaian living from the perspective of an obroni. However, I admit I don't know where to begin. Ghana is, well, different, but at the same time it is becoming my different. This connection with and appreciation for Ghana is what I wanted when I came here. But I think I also wanted more: the unattainable goal of really, fully living in Ghana. I now realize that it is a goal I don't want to entirely achieve, because to completely immerse myself in Ghana would be to deny that I am, under the thin veneer of Twi, transportation competency, and familiar faces in my neighborhood near Accra, an American. Essentially, to reach my goal of being in every way in Ghana would be just as unfortunate a use of the opportunity that brought me here as leaving my mind at home even as my body resided in Ghana. I want to be in Ghana, but I need to be me.
All that is to say that I don't know how to share my experience/my life at present with you because I fear that I will sensationalize it. How can I portray to you that everything I want to share has to be understood in a context that I can't transplant? How can I share honestly but still do justice to this contradictory but wonderful country?
Let me share some details because my time at the internet cafe is winding down, and promise to explain my fear of sensationalism in a little more depth at a future point.
Most mornings I awake around 6:00 or a little before to take a bucket bath, dress, and eat breakfast (sometimes cornflakes, other times a fried egg sandwich) before leaving for work. Often I get a ride with my host brother, Junior, but on days when he leaves early I take a tro-tro, which is a privately owned van-bus vehicle that operates informally but reliably, carrying about 23 passengers at a time to various junctions around the city. For this I pay 35 pesewas (about 25 cents) for a direct trip, or more commonly 50 pesewas if I have to go first to the market and then catch another tro-tro to the University of Ghana where I am working.
For lunch I generally wander around campus and buy from various vendors a lunch of a baby pineapple (20 pesewas), a small papaya (20 pesewas), and some sort of muffin or meat pie (bewteen 20 pesewas and 1 Cedi, which is equivalent to about 65 cents). I have also had a whole coconut, opened by machete, for 50 pesewas, and found it a wonderful lunch. I test out my Twi to greet and interact with the vendors, some of whom now greet me with the title "m'adamfo," my friend.
After a tro-tro ride or two home, I eat dinner and then spend the evening with my host family, talking, playing games, journaling, or just sitting around as families tend to do. I retire ("Merebeko da!"/"I am about to go to sleep!") around 9:00 after bathing and personal devotions and prepare to repeat the process in the morning.
That's all for now... Details, analysis, and expounded thoughts to come. Love from Ghana!
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing a day in Ghana with us. While I know my understanding of the place is minimal, I feel a brand new connectedness. I find myself scouring the newspaper and internet for news of this place which was hardly on my radar screen before your decision to make it a part of your education and personal journey. You remain in my prayers. Bev
Jessica, I said the same thing to you on the phone the other day, similar to what Bev noted here. However, most of what I find in the news these days relates to parades and Oktoberfest. :)
ReplyDeleteI bet those couple bucket baths a day feel great. I know it is not your own bed in your own room, but it sounds like the regular hours of sleep are a gift after a very busy high school career with many lost sleep hours related to studies and soccer games and various other activities. Enjoy. We think of you and pray for you daily. Love you lots, the Mom
the ripples you are creating in Ghana are not only impacting your life and the people of Ghana, but also affecting my life-and I suspect many others who are following your blog. I don't think of it as sensationalism but rather a favorable repercussion of your experiences and life.
ReplyDeleteI read this somewhere this week and thought of you:
"To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim"--mark nepo
Jessica - your posts have bene wonderful! Thank you for sharing and drawing us into this experience with you. I pray for you often and trust God will continue to provide for all of your needs! We do miss you, but I'm so glad you are exactly where you are - in the center of God's will for you at this time.
ReplyDeleteLove, Andrea, Tim and Carson too!
I was thinking...I am working on a staff newsletter in pdf form and if I go to "view" I can click on "read outloud" and then if I click on certain sections the computer will read it outloud. I wondered if that could in some way be helpful but then again your students would need help with clicking the right spot. Well, it could help my dad because he could see where to click...just a thought as I go about my morning. thinking of you :)
ReplyDeleteJessica, we also have gone to a different culture: Virginia! Its been a great time going to places of our early settlers: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and the home of Thomas Jefferson: Montecello. There is still a very special culture in the south. The mountains are beautiful and our friends have been very gracious to us. Three of your cousins are enjoying country living here. We all love you and are reminded of you as we read your blog. Love, JNH
ReplyDeleteMy Grandmother had her 80th birthday and had me swear I would tell "that graceful smart american" that she wishes you all the best in Ghana. I bought some nice letter paper and will soon fill it with some words forming sentences of meaning and humor to send to you.
ReplyDeleteHenning
Jessica, being there fully while still being yourself is a challenge. But part of growing is picking things up, trying them on and deciding whether they are going to become a part of you. I don't think it's possible for you to come home as the same person. You can breathe in and ingest a little Ghana and still not be denying your real self.
ReplyDeleteThe work you're doing is valuable; it's just harder to see that because you are not interacting directly with the people you are helping.
Keep writing and keep breathing it all in so you can come back and share it with us. I am keeping you in my prayers. Carol