Well hello,
I have survived practicum and found out I am going to be
placed in a Twi speaking region. Intensive language lessons start next week. I
told my family tonight the news about my language placement and they said okay
from now on no English…. I know barely any Twi so here it goes.
So this was my last week of live-teaching-practice. It went
pretty well, Peace Corps trainers sat in and evaluated us. The majority of
feedback I got was very positive so I am feeling confident about teaching.
Today we found out what language we are studying. I got Twi so that means I
will be in Central, Eastern, or Ashanti region. Some people got Volta, upper
west, upper east, or northern. Only about 9 days until I know where I will be.
Getting Twi means that I will most likely have electricity, be close to Accra
or Kumasi, and have fruits/veggies available. I am a bit sad I am not going
somewhere more extreme but who knows my village could be extremely rural even
though it is in the Twi region. This
also means I could be very near the ocean J
I am trying to think of some interesting stories, I spend
hours making sweet videos to show everyone but they take 5+ years to upload so
I think I may have to oust the video blog idea…. But maybe after training I
will have 5 year periods that I can sit and have my video uploaded.
I can fetch water and carry it home on my head now. It is
not as hard as it looks….plus I use both hands….walk slowly….and spill… so it
is not that impressive. I can’t wait until I speak Twi. I can tell all the
women and children are talking and laughing about me, which I don’t mind most
speak some English so we can piece together conversations. I like fetching
water with the girls, it is a great work out and the kids are always laughing
and playing….. watching the 40 pound 9 year old carry a bucket 5 times the size
of mine though it a bit mindblowing. It really seems like people have kids here
so they can have a small boy or small girl to fetch water, sweep, pound fu fu….
The kids work hard here. I do all my own chores here at first my mom would
always stop me and say “leave, small boy will come”… but I really can’t handle
watching a malnourished 10 year old do work for me. Plus my mom and sisters
always say “Kwasebiya you done well”…I think the last volunteer that lived here
was really lazy….plus they like laughing at me because I do everything wrong. I
guess laughing is better than awkward silence.
Everything is always a bit awkward here. I am getting a bit
more comfortable everyday though. Our training group gets along well and we
found a place to watch the Eurocup so watching the games in a nearby town with
a juicebox full of wine is a great get away. I am getting my first dress made…
I have decided I am only buying super awesome fabrics that nobody else has (the
fabric here is all unique but a lot of prints here are similar). It is a fun
way to kill time exploring the market… we had seen girls walking around with
dresses that say high life and we found some material in the market but it was
super expensive for a champagne of beers dress haha. everyone always wants to
talk to the Obroni too… and when I speak Twi to them they go crazy. Many people
ask you to marry them or take them back to America with you.
Responses for when people yell Obroni! Obroni! (It really
never gets old for them) :
Obibiya! – Black Person
Obibita tun tun!—very dark black person
(at first I was appalled by this and decided there was no
way I would say that, but Ghanaians get a kick out of it and it usually ends in
laughter and respect from them)
yen fre me Obroni! Me dindi….. – don’t call me Obroni my name is….
Obroni wO hE?!!--- Foreigner!? Where??!
Shops around where I teach and the people I buy my
apples/phone minutes/ground nuts/fabric from all know my name and so it is fun
greeting everyone I have met and conversed with for a bit…. But it sucks because
if you don’t greet someone who knows you it is very disrespectful…. I have
trouble remembering everyone’s name and if I have met them/ If I am related to
them and how. Also it is awkward with guys, I don’t want to be rude because
greeting is a huge part of Ghanaian culture but I also don’t want to deal with
indecent proposals (they can be funny though). I went for a long walk the other
day in between two towns I normally catch a car through and atleast 2,000 times
I heard Obroni wo ko hE!!!?? Or something like that which means and also sounds
just like Obroni where you going??!! Sometimes I am game for stopping at every
chop stop and women carrying bananas to town and using my minimal Twi to
explain where I am going, where I came from, how a am doing, what my name is,
and that I will go and come and meet them in the morning (typical Ghanain
greeting I experience). Sometimes I just want to walk more than 15 feet without
stopping.
One of my favorite ladys is the beans and gari (ground fried
cassava) lady who has a shack on the outer edge of Kukurontumi and sells the
salted/nasty/dried fish, beans and gari, and hard boiled eggs. I eat an egg and
fruit for lunch most days and she gives me my egg for 30 p (cheapest egg in
town) every time I see her she gets excited even if I am not in need of an egg
we have always have the same long pointless conversion but her smile makes me
happy and she loves trying to talk with me in Twi. Her kid is also adorable. I
cant fathom how she makes a living off of her near empty stand of fish heads
and eggs..the fact that she stands there all day everyday waiting for someone
to spend 10 cents blows my mind. I think she is also only in her 20s too.
Well we made our way to Koforidua for high speed internet. I
found some sweet fabric to get a few more dresses made before I leave for my
site visit to drop stuff off. I also found curry powder, ginger, and lime. I am
going to attempt to make a Thai style cabbage salad tonight. I am so excited to
have something that is not full of oil, extremely overcooked, and made with
canned tomato paste and dried fish!
Well Hello!
ReplyDeleteJason!!!
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