I've spent a full month living it up. I've eaten well. I've seen loved ones. I've stayed clean! I've even gotten to engage several people in deep, meaningful conversations. The last 4 days of this month weren't quite as nice since I was recovering from what may or may not have been malaria (nurse said yes, blood test said no) but the time alone allowed me a chance to get back in my Ghana mindset.
Having lived in Ghana for roughly nine months, I feel as though I've got a pretty good hang on what it's like to live in the bush of Bormase. However, in that time I've never learned how to go BACK to the bush of Bormase after time spent with first world comforts. At first I was nervous that I would go back and not be 100% healthy so I stayed an extra day for safety sake. Next, I wondered if I would anybody would be as excited about new project ideas as I am. Would people resent the fact that I was gone for so long? Would I have a diverse ecosystem enclosed in my locked bedroom? So many things that I'd put out of my head for the past month were rushing back to me.
Three hours in the tro from Accra to Bormase did not bother me. My legs were crammed into the seat in front of me but apparently I haven't lost the ability to ignore mild physical discomfort for hours on end. Upon arrival at home in Bormase, I was greeted with a hug from Dorothy and leaping muddy paw prints from Kua. My room smells like mildew but any bugs either fled immediately or were eaten during the first visit from Fogg (the cat). An exciting note is that my Moringa field is flourishing. Some trees are as tall as I am. I can't help but smile every time I visit the field that was overgrown with weeds not 4 months ago.
A dinner of fried plantains and beans (red red)offered a nice welcome back to Ghanaian cuisine and smile filled greetings from many make me feel at home.
I didn't quite remember the number of empty hours that are possible in the busy. Yesterday was my first full day in Bormase. Still recovering from travels and illness, I cleaned a bit but mostly read. American snacks and a new book from my Aunt Jan Jan helped me get back into a nice reading routine. Tomorrow, I will meet with some bead makers and discuss how to move forward with sales and what to do with profits.
It's nice to be back but it's odd to have forgotten what it's like to have no elecricity, no running water and no stores. I'll be used to it again in no time but I'm truly amazed at how quickly I got used to the first world in so many ways.
Love to all
Ira
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
The fun never stops.
36 hours after landing in Accra, I was off again on a journey north. 9 hours last Friday brought me to Tamale for a chance meeting with Cheri, Cheri's mom and several other PCVs. Early the next morning, with a full car, the journey continued with another 9 hours via Bolgatonga and Ouagadougu on the way to northern Burkina Faso and a town called Ouahigouya via Tampuy.
Talk about blind leading the blind!! Once over the border, we were in Francophone West Africa in a car full of non-French speakers and no clue where we were going. Giddy about the opportunity, we were all chuckling as directions were translated from French to Morey (sp?) (a dialect shared between Northern Ghana and much of Burkina Faso) to Ghanaian English. Roughly every 3 blocks, we would pull over, one of our Ghanaian leaders would struggle with French greetings before asking for Tampion followed by Wageyuga. Most onlookers responded with blank stares or a stream of French but when we finally got directions, they were translated as "Go small and turn left at the disting." Hmmmm. How small and which disting?
Eventually we made it to the Burkina Faso Sub-Regional Moringa Conference where we met volunteers, counterparts and APCDs from Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Niger. We were the only group with no French speakers so the three day conference (not to mention food orders etc.) were aided by translators.
As a group we discussed everything from Moringa history to respective counties experience to a cooking demonstration implemented by the Niger group. Many new friends and a great mass of data later and we were on our way back south with the goal of producing a comprehensive West African Moringa Guide by September.
I woke up several times during the last night in Burkina with a decently high fever. I assumed it was due to so much travel and slept it off on 9 hour ride to Tamale. I was greeted by Cheri in Tamale and had a fever and the chills. Some hours later, I felt great and had no fever. This morning, the fever was back up to nearly 102 and I slept/shivered my way 9 more hours to Accra with a raging headache(private cars cut the trip by a day at least. I just had blood drawn and was given Coartem to treat what might be Malaria. I guess Bormase will have to wait a few more days.
I can't wait to see the village, my dog and my trees but I'll have to wait for lab results until tomorrow afternoon and will likely return to site on Sunday.
What I have feels better than the flu and worse than a cold. I have the rare opportunity to bundle up in Ghana!! I will keep you all updated.
Love to all
Ira
Talk about blind leading the blind!! Once over the border, we were in Francophone West Africa in a car full of non-French speakers and no clue where we were going. Giddy about the opportunity, we were all chuckling as directions were translated from French to Morey (sp?) (a dialect shared between Northern Ghana and much of Burkina Faso) to Ghanaian English. Roughly every 3 blocks, we would pull over, one of our Ghanaian leaders would struggle with French greetings before asking for Tampion followed by Wageyuga. Most onlookers responded with blank stares or a stream of French but when we finally got directions, they were translated as "Go small and turn left at the disting." Hmmmm. How small and which disting?
Eventually we made it to the Burkina Faso Sub-Regional Moringa Conference where we met volunteers, counterparts and APCDs from Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin and Niger. We were the only group with no French speakers so the three day conference (not to mention food orders etc.) were aided by translators.
As a group we discussed everything from Moringa history to respective counties experience to a cooking demonstration implemented by the Niger group. Many new friends and a great mass of data later and we were on our way back south with the goal of producing a comprehensive West African Moringa Guide by September.
I woke up several times during the last night in Burkina with a decently high fever. I assumed it was due to so much travel and slept it off on 9 hour ride to Tamale. I was greeted by Cheri in Tamale and had a fever and the chills. Some hours later, I felt great and had no fever. This morning, the fever was back up to nearly 102 and I slept/shivered my way 9 more hours to Accra with a raging headache(private cars cut the trip by a day at least. I just had blood drawn and was given Coartem to treat what might be Malaria. I guess Bormase will have to wait a few more days.
I can't wait to see the village, my dog and my trees but I'll have to wait for lab results until tomorrow afternoon and will likely return to site on Sunday.
What I have feels better than the flu and worse than a cold. I have the rare opportunity to bundle up in Ghana!! I will keep you all updated.
Love to all
Ira
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A beer and a bratwurst
Two weeks in Portugal included museums, live music, sailing, swimming, surfing, relaxing, bonding with my mom and of course EATING!! What better way to end such a great vacation than a layover in Frankfurt from 11:15pm until 11:15am. I slept in spurts on wooden benches and across lines of chairs but didn't manage more than 4 hours of sleep. Plenty of wandering and a little reading filled the time. With no more than an hour left in Frankfurt, I sat down for a beer and a bratwurst (the official weigh in comes tomorrow morning). I asked the gentleman next to me if he knew the price of a beer and we got to chatting.
He asked where I was headed and I told him that I was returning to Peace Corps service in Ghana. He admitted that he was going about as far from Peace Corps service as one can imagine. He was heading to Baghdad as a consultant. We talked about the status of the war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other issues. He told me about the satellite intelligence regarding WMD's and how his friends could see trucks leaving Iraq towards Syria as US trucks approached. He talked about how the fighting in Afghanistan remains more intense than the fighting in Iraq due to the terrain. Since US forces can't use tanks and armored vehicles in the mountainous terrain, more Al Qaeda choose to fight there, where they can actually get at the Americans.
The burly Army soldier was very open and honest about his experience and his views on the situation. He is headed to Baghdad for 3 more months as a consultant but told me how he kept dreaming of just calling and saying he wouldn't go.
Though this topic is neither related to Ghana nor Portugal, I thought it was touching enough to share. After 12 hours of mindless wandering, I came upon another wandering American in the same physical place but in a polar opposite position in his life.
Safely in Ghana,
Love to all
Ira
He asked where I was headed and I told him that I was returning to Peace Corps service in Ghana. He admitted that he was going about as far from Peace Corps service as one can imagine. He was heading to Baghdad as a consultant. We talked about the status of the war(s) in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other issues. He told me about the satellite intelligence regarding WMD's and how his friends could see trucks leaving Iraq towards Syria as US trucks approached. He talked about how the fighting in Afghanistan remains more intense than the fighting in Iraq due to the terrain. Since US forces can't use tanks and armored vehicles in the mountainous terrain, more Al Qaeda choose to fight there, where they can actually get at the Americans.
The burly Army soldier was very open and honest about his experience and his views on the situation. He is headed to Baghdad for 3 more months as a consultant but told me how he kept dreaming of just calling and saying he wouldn't go.
Though this topic is neither related to Ghana nor Portugal, I thought it was touching enough to share. After 12 hours of mindless wandering, I came upon another wandering American in the same physical place but in a polar opposite position in his life.
Safely in Ghana,
Love to all
Ira
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
In French
This entry zonùt reqlly be in French but I q, zriting it on q French keyboqrd: Sure I could tqke the ti,e to leqrn the nez keyboqrd but this zqy you cqn prqctice decoding ,y nez lqnguqge: I leqve Portugql to,orroz qnd zill qrrive in Ghqnq the follozing dqy in the eqrly evening: ?y ,o, left this ,orning: Rqther thqn continue typing on this keyboqrd; I zill qdd so,e pictures fro, the trip you cqn hqve q decent ideq: I zill zrite q proper updqte zhen I q, bqck in Ghqnq:
Love to qll
Love to qll
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