Wow, the time has really flown by since we arrived in Ghana. Me and mother both have pretty bad chest colds, but aside from that are doing great and feeling well. The reception here has been amazing. We have completed our work with LHL (Living Helping Learning) and are now in Kumasi where we will be working with the director of the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
The bugs here are huge. there are ants on the farm here that are bigger than a paper clip, with these huge black mandibles. thankfully, they don't climb stuff and so none have tried to get up my pant leg. they're still pretty creepy though.
The people here are amazing, and everywhere we go it seems we are welcomed warmly. I'm getting used to the humidity here, but the air is thick and it bothers the throat and eyes so that sometimes i wake up in the night and it feels like my eyes and the skin on my face are burning from some chemical. Apparently it's the toxins leeching out through my sweat and irritating the sensitive skin on my face.
We have met some friends here, and everyone we meet wants to exchange e-mail with us. the cell phones here are amazing. they're dirt cheap and you can buy minutes from little stands on the side of the road that you can find just about anywhere. for less than $10 we were able to buy enough minutes to talk to Canada for almost an hour! The food is good too. lots of spices, and very flavourful. we are still getting a feel for the local culture and customs and every now and then we make a mistake and people give us looks. it's embarresing when it happens, but we're getting used to it and it's the only way to learn.
Everything here takes forever. yesterday we took a bus from accra to kumasi, we left the house in Accra at 8:00 AM, boarded the bus to Kumasi at 10:00, the bus left Accra at 12:00 (they had to wait for it fill up) and arrived in Kumasi at 6:00 PM. 10 hours on a bus going down bumpy dirt roads. ugh. but even that, we are getting used to. nothing happens quickly here, and in our western haste to "get down to business" we often make the cultural mistake of asking people business questions before we have been properly introduced. the proper way to do things here is to shake hands (from right to left) introduce yourselves, then sit down. inquire about each others' health (an important topic) the host will then offer your something t0o drink. next the visitor (usually us) will state the purpose of our visit, then the host will explain what they are doing there. this goes on. then when that is done there is usually a few minutes of silence (which i find incredibly awkward) and then and ONLY then will business be discussed. it has forced us to slow down, but it still grates on the nerves. a few days ago we spent 5 hours on a bus and 45 minutes of introductions and formalities to conduct a 5 minute interview with a woman running a private school outside of Accra. this is normal here.
Anyways, i'm running out of time on the computer, so i'm going to post this now and hopefully add to it tomorrow. lots of love.
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2 comments:
So Joel, have you stepped into the world of having one to one conversations with the people you meet - if so, tell us about what they have to say. And if not, well give it a go. love dad.
Haha. i love how you started your blog talking about the huge bugs! i think Ghana must be an awesome place. i mean i think we could all do better with a slower pace no?
as for your frustrations with formalities, i think it's so neat that finding out the health of someone is so cool. so often we never ask or state those simple kind words. but i do know you. and i know how you are usually the leader of a conversation. so i can assume that is frustrating. safe travels joel.
Jenny
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