Too tall Obruni!!

It's only been a few days since my last post but there's already more to add. While I like being tall, it would be nice to be a few inches shorter for the next 27 months. Tro-tro's are not equipped for people of my size. Tro's are the main source of transportation so depending on the day, I might spend 2-5 hours or more in a tro. 4 people usually squeeze into a 3 person seat and when confined in such a way, my knees are crammed into the hard seat in front of me. On market days (this varies depending on your town) a tro might carry 15 people with enough groceries to feed their respective family for the next week. Yesterday, my legs were pulled to my chest so as not to crush the groceries beneath my seat. Luckily, I don't have to focus on the discomfort in my legs for long because each bump in the road gives me a nice bump to either the side or top of my head (depends on the seat). Honestly, I'm not too uncomfortable but it does bug me that I have to duck in order to see the beatiful scenery out the window.

On another note, Obruni is the non-pejorative (I think) way to saw "white man," in Twi. Everywhere I go, men, women and children alike will wave and say Obruni. A basic conversation will go as follows.

Ghanaian: Hello Obruni
Me: Hello, how are you?
Ghanaian: I am fine. Thank you. You are welcome.
Me: Thank you

No joke. I'll have this exact conversation at least ten times a day. I've notices that more tenured volunteers hyper-annunciate their english words. I've started to do the same. I never noticed how much we jumble our words together when speaking.

16 minutes left to summarize the past 4 days. Our training group woke up at 5am on Saturday so we could all be ready to leave at 6am for our respective "Vision Quest," sites. My site was only about 2 hours away so the 8 trainees in my tro spent most of the day sitting in Koforidua (Eastern Region) walking through the market, trying new street foods and getting to know our Vision Quest leaders. Walking through the market was a TRIP!!! It is very mazelike with narrow pathways and dead end paths leading in every direction. I walked through while looking for bits of cloth and I was walking amongst dozens of children (all yelling "Obruni" or "big man"). Some tables held fruits and veggies while others held HUGE snails. These thinks are nasty!! The shell is the size of my fist and the snails are crawling around the tables while waiting to be bought. Very different from Safeway I must say.



That night, 6 of us took an hour long tro ride to a PCV's house in Abompe for the night. A woman was celebrating her birthday while a number of volunteers were enjoying their "one year in Ghana," celebration. It was a nice opportunity to get stories from volunteers while providing new music and american stories in return. This house was 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and had an unbelievable view. We've been assured that it's the nicest house in Peace Corps Ghana.


The next day, we went back to Koforidua, wandered for a bit before going another hour to Elizabeth's site in Nkurankan. We mostly sat around and chatted for the day. This was our first opportunity to relax since leaving the states and we all took full advantage. Aside from a brief market trip, we all laid around for the day.

Yesterday, I finally made it to my Vision Quest leader's site. She lives with a family right in the bush. There is no electricity or running water and we enjoyed our second day of buck bathing. Literally fill a bucket with water, dump a cup of water over your head, lather up, rinse and you're done. It feels AMAZING after walking around in the heat. Stephanie (my VQ host) lives with a family. Got to see the family make soap, make glass beads, cook fufu and more. I got to help cut grass for the grasscutters and helped take care of the 14 month old twins (they crawled around at will so I'd pick one up if he was crying). I loved this site and would love to go back.



I'm running out of time. We're back in Koforidua, we leave today for Kumasi and from there we go to Techiman for the remainder of our 10 week training.

Love you all,

Ira

We

I live in Ghana!!

After 3 shots and maybe 36 hours of travel, we made it to Accra. Though traveling was incredibly taxing, it was well worth it. We all had a chance to bond and chat while waiting in traffic going to JFK, during our 7 hour flight to Frankfurt, our 4 hour layover, our 7 hour flight to Lagos and the final hour long leg to Accra. Nothing helps you get to know a group of people better than rushing through airports with 80 pounds of luggage, no clue where to go and no sense of what will greet you at the end of the line. I sort of freaked myself out with my own sense of calm. I wasn't really fazed during the travel but was more helping people keep from freaking out or forgetting their stuff.

My favorite part BY FAR was when we finally cleared the Med. Sea and could see the outline of the African coast from 38,000 feet. UNBELIEVABLE!!

Once off the flight, we were greeted by current volunteers and taken by bus and tro-tro (a type of mini-bus)to our training site. We had a police escort so the bus was flying through traffic while avoiding cars, potholes and pedestrians while laying on the horn more often than not. The rest of our first night consisted of sorting our accommodations, eating dinner and finally laying down in a bed.

Our first full day was spend in the Accra Peace Corps office. The day started with a proper welcome from two old muscular Ghanaian men in robes (no clue of the proper name) who spoke some Ghanaian language (I can't quite differentiate one from the other 75 yet). From there, we got more shots, toured the facility, had a brief language lesson and got some medical info regarding what to expect and how to deal with it. That night, we were welcomed by the Ghanaian Ambassador at her home. What an amazing experience! Roughly 24 hours after rushing through New York City as a group of strangers, we stood in front of a room full of big wigs while being welcomed as the new group of American diplomats. Wild indeed!!

Day two was mostly classroom related but provided our first soccer in Africa and our first serious rainstorm; both of which I loved. Yesterday, we went out "Accra Quest," where we took tro-tro's (each ride included mini-language lessons, many smiles and a LOT of sweating on the Ghanaians and fellow trainees I was crammed amongst) into Accra where we had a few tasks to complete on our own. English is spoken almost everywhere but the various accents are hard to understand so working on currency conversions (the new "Ghana Cedi," was introduced 3 months ago and is 1:1 with the dollars. It replaced the Cedi which had a 9800:1 conversion rate. Either is accepted and you never know which one is being quoted) was incredibly difficult. Traveling with two fellow volunteers, I saw the beach, worked my way around town, ate Fufu and groundnut soup (mashed goo of cassava and rice, made into a ball and served in piping hot peanut soup) and accomplished other tasks along the way. I was completely comfortable aside from when we ventured to a "locals" beach (used as a trash can/bathroom). We met a nice man named Latif who provided non-stop lessons on Ghanaian history. While speaking with Latif, we saw several groups of men pass by. Each group would stare as the passed. I couldn't help but think of what I'd have to do if any men accosted the two pretty American women I was with but I assume it'd end up with my ass getting kicked while defending them. I feel a bit embarrassed for feeling this way as the stares were more due to novelty than malice but that's how it made me feel so I thought I'd share.

Today, I'm off on my "vision quest," where I'll spend 5 days with a current volunteer before moving along to Techiman for 8 more weeks of training.

Internet time is running out but so far I'm loving it!! I love and miss you guys!!

Things to look forward to: The "I shit my pants in Ghana club." Our trainers (half way done with the 2 year service) explained how they kept track of who shat their pants while in Ghana. One trainer, Brad, joined 3 months ago and was one for the last 4 our of their 48 person group. So far, only Blake (6'3" 230 lb. Georgia boy with a THICK accent) is the only one to admit joining the club after only 26 hours in country. Sorry Blake!! I must say that hearing the description of his entry into the club was one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Ghana manana!!

We'll be up and at 'em at 5 am eastern tomorrow morning. I'm still on West Coast time so It'll feel like I'm waking up at 2am. The past two days have been a bit like a corporate conference only the topic has been interesting. We've had ice breakers and group break out sessions and notebooks to update. We've talked about SMART goals, excitement and anxiety. Mostly, it's been an opportunity to meet 47 other (30 female and 17 male) Peace Corps Trainees. We're all scheduled to volunteer in Ghana through late 2009 and it's been awesome to share stories.

The best part has been that we can enjoy elaborate conversations without taking breaks to answer questions about Ghana. I didn't mind answering the questions but it's quite a relief to chat with people who have had the same experience.

We went to get Pat's Cheese Steaks today for lunch and had a huge New York Strip for dinner. While it's been nice indulging for the last month, it might make for an extra rude awakening when we're eating Ghanaian cuisine for the first time.

As far as our itinerary is concerned, I'm up at 5am to be down in the lobby by 5:45. I've been selected as one of the group leaders so I'm in charge of ensuring that all luggage is loaded on the bus, that all bellman are properly tipped etc. I'm also in charge of distributing the passports of 7 other prospective volunteers. Our instructors said to be extra careful with our government passports since they'll draw as much as 30 grand on the black market. The way I look at it, if I freak out at the last minute, I've got almost a quarter mill in my back pocket. Nice huh?

From the hotel, we go for 2 hours of immunizations followed by a bus trip to JFK airport. We depart JFK at 4:35pm and fly from New York to Frankfurt to Lagos (Nigeria) to Ghana. We'll be in Ghana at 5:30pm on Tuesday and will officially start our life in Africa.

It may be a few weeks before I'm able to blog again but I wanted to get some notes in while they're fresh. If you have any specific questions, please let me know. I'd be happy to address certain things about the training or what we have planned for the next two years.

To those of you who are reading this but didn't get a goodbye call/e-mail. Sorry, I love you and keep in touch.

See you next decade!!

Today is the day!

I've said goodbye to each of my parents and will be leaving home in a few hours. Philly will allow a couple of days to tie up loose ends if necessary but for the most part, I'm ready to go.

Oddly enough, I don't feel especially anxious. I have brief moments of freaking out but I've kept busy enough to keep from pre-worrying. I've always been pretty good at staying in the moment; one can only do so much about what's going to happen in the future so why worry about it? I can't always keep from freaking out but this time, I think I'm doing a good job.

We'll see how a 6 hour solo flight will treat the brain though.

Getting close!!

My last day of work served as a serious wake up call. I was no longer doing the daily 8 to 5 thing and I could focus more on the countdown to departure. My last day of work was on August 17. I spent August 18 and 19th in Sonoma, laying in the sun with friends, playing sports and shutting my brain off. I was back in San Francisco for maybe 3 hours before I flew to Vermont for another small vacation. 8 days in Vermont allowed for some quality family time and a number of small wake up calls regarding the Peace Corps.

Though most of my time was spent hanging out with my cousins and spending some quality time before leaving for 2 years, I also got to experience solitude, humidity, mosquitos, manual labor under the sun and a night with no electricity. Unfortunately, I was completely conscious of these changes and I'm sure they'll prove to be nothing compared to Ghana. Killing a few hours each day by myself without internet or cell phone reception was easy enough. I had a few good books but still had to think to myself that most of my next two years will be virtually solo. 80 degrees with nearly 100% humidity was a big change from SF and made me sweat when i did anything but will be NOTHING compared to 110 and 110% humidity. Are you kidding me? I still can't imagine this. I went to Bikram yoga one evening and during a 90 minute class in 110 degree heat, I felt like I might faint several times. It felt great but not as nice as walking outside after class into the cool night air. Ghana won't have that door, I won't be able to walk out of the heat EVER!!! Mosquito's were no big deal. I worked to help my uncle build a post and beam deck on his house. We'd work until nearly sundown and sit on the deck for a while after working. Each morning, I'd wake up with at least half a dozen new bites on my knees and toes. I forgot how annoying it can be to get a mosquito bite in a knuckle. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry that these mosquitos might be carrying malaria. I'll have to step up the protection soon enough. On the malaria note, I had a chance to read an article about malaria and it's way gnarlier than I had realized. Thought it's relatively managable with medicine, over 50% of Ghanaians get Malaria during their lifetime. Perhaps I've mentioned that Northern Ghana is the Malaria capital of the world. Nice huh?!?!?

My last night in Brookfield included a serious deluge. While at dinner with my Great Aunt Jan and my mom, the clouds opened and ripped the town apart. Several trees were knocked down and the power went out for over 24 hours. I've experienced a number of blackouts in my time (including 2 weeks after Hurricane Wilma in Ft. Lauderdale) and wasn't worried. However, reading by candlelight and simply getting from point A to point B at night is a serious pain in the ass. Depending on where I'm stationed in Ghana, this might be every night. Good thing I've stocked up on LED headlamps. I can't help but let my imagination run to situations like walking around in the pitch black and tripping over a nice, fat, 15 foot python (the most commonly seen snake according to my tourist guy book).

That's it for now. I got back from Vermont on the 28th and came up to Seattle on the 30th. I'll be here until Sept. 3rd and from there until the 14th (actual flight to Philly) it's all prep and countdown time.

Until next time.