Ghan and back again.: T.I.A

The educational tour is over, and so is the major part of this program. In the last two weeks we visited nine cities in three regions with three different languages, met several chiefs, walked the canopy of a jungle, swam and saw the sun set and rise over the Gulf of Guinea, seen sand glow (because of florescent plankton), celebrated at an outdooring ceremony of Dipo-the ritual that trains and ushers young Krobo girls into womanhood (a beautiful experience), climbed under waterfalls, helped make gorgeous cloth with master kente weavers in a remote village of the Volta region, witnessed animal sacrifice, created pottery with nothing but our bare hands and some stones, stood a few feet away from wild elephants, broke old bottles and turned them into beautiful beads, and so much more. It was an incredible experience and now here we are back in Accra where it all started.

It's surreal to be back. The last time we were here we were in total culture shock, complaining about things like lack of water to flush the toilet- a few weeks later we didn't even have a toilet! The last three months have been an experience beyond words, and in two days we will all separate across the country for a month on our own to do our projects. There has been lots of incredible experiences, but also lots of hilarious insanity, ups and downs of Ghana,sometimes you just have to just go with it, have a laugh and say T.I.A (This is Africa).

On our last day marking the end of the educational tour, we were told we were going on an outing no SIT group ever has before, visiting the small town of Jasikan, Volta Region, to join an excursion being planned by another professor from the University of Ghana-Legon. It was a 4 hour drive from where we were staying in Odumase, and no one was really eager to spend 8 hours in the tro tro for a three-hour activity, but we went with it. No briefing, no nohting, no one really knew what was going on (since it wasn't planned by our staff). We got on the road at 6am and little did we know it was going to be the craziest day in Ghana so far.

I cannot give it justice in words but some of the highlights include our tro tro getting into an accident (no one was hurt), taking over an inspirational pep assembly to 1,300 high schoolers (with zero advanced notice or briefing as to what was going on), including a one-on-one dance off in front of the crowd, meeting, dancing and teaching English to a drumming group from a remote mountain village that has almost no connection to the outside world, meeting a random Chinese woman walking the campus of the Jasikar College of Education (?), getting sucked into a brawl of 40 college students over a bowl of palm wine, and leaving a 70 year old professor and his wife stranded in the forest in the middle of the thunderstorm (and realizing it 45 minutes later during our ride back in a flooding tro tro). When we managed to get back to our hotel all we could do is laugh, look at each other and say T.I.A.

So in honor of this crazy day, I decided to give you all a laugh and share some a few of our many funny T.I.A moments of the last few weeks:

"Is that a Confederate flag hanging in front of that shop??" (Ghanaians have an obsession with flags and logos, they're everywhere even if have no idea what they mean. Obviously).

Often times, particularly in bigger cities, there is no toilet facilities or bush area, so people have cement floors with a wall around that you squat and go, to be cleaned later. At breakfast, the morning after an outing to a bar, we wondered why Rachel had left the evening early:
Rachel: "I went to the bathroom and it was only a floor, and I ended up stepping on poop"
Grace: (from accross the room): "That was my poop!!"

Part of a sermon at the Methodist church in Kumasi. It was entirely in Twi until he stopped, looked at me, the only foreigner in the pews and said:
Pastor: "The word of God is like SPERM!!! It gives life!! "
(Ghana is a pro-natalist nation. If there is something you will always hear about is babies and pregnancies. Or lots of praying against barrenness, ie: the devil. Although that particular statement made me want to respond: does it also generally die within 48 hours? )

Me: "I just got a marriage proposal from an 100- year-old herbalist on the same day a woman tried to get me to marry her 4-year-old and take him to America"
Nathan (back in Chicago): "People live to be 100 in Africa??"

Me: "Excuse me, do you know where I can find an internet cafe near here?"
Woman: "Oh yes, just go straight down and on your right you'll see one, next to Clap for Jesus Motors"

Upon meeting the King of the Krobos at his palace, a very intimidating and solemn experience as you can imagine. During introductions:
King: "You're from Massachussets? I was so angry when the Jets beat the Patriots!"

"Did that 80-year-old woman just grab my breasts?"
(Normal public behavior between women, particularly older women to younger women)

Chief of Sogakofe, Volta Region: "How are you all handling the heat? I guess we better get used to it since most of us are going to hell."

"Is that a telletubby on the windshield of that tro tro named 'Everything by God'?"

Papa Attah: "Tomorrow you'll take the 5 hour trip to Mole. The Abortion Road. Good luck. Enjoy your life!"
(After the bumpiest 5 hours of my life, I realized exactly what he meant)

During a 'bush stop' (ie: stopping to pee or poop in the bush during one of our many many many tro tro rides):
Sara: "Oh it smells great over here. I think I'm pooping by mint."

Watching the animal sacrifice as they're beheading chickens and suffocating baby goats:
Jake: "Is it weird that I'm really just hungry now for some KFC?"

At the market, me: "There is a woman selling me sanitary napkins, next to the guy selling goat meat, while another guy hasssles me to buy padlocks"

Erica (who hasn't shaved in three months): "The children have started a game to come up to me and pull my armpit hair and laugh away screaming Obruni Erica! Obruni Erica! Maybe it's time I shave."

Stranger on the street: "I need you to leave me something, your iPod, your camera or phone so I can remember you."

I wish I could capture so many more of these moments, but they come and go and you just have to go with it. This is Africa, and I love it.

Thanks for all the prayers and support. I'm going to be pretty busy once the project time starts, but I will try to more pictures up before I leave Accra.

My favorite picture of Ghana so far. It's during a funeral in the village of Poano. I think it really captures this whole Ghana experience. My dancing always causes a big stir (Ghanaians aren't use to a lot of hip movement, and they just don't' expect an obruni to dance well), but this particular time caused an announcement over the speakers that was the talk of the village for a week. Both of the ladies in the picture also became part of my research that was young people and herbal medicine., on the left is the traditional birth attendant of Poano, who works quite a bit with pregnant teens. And on the left the assembly woman of Poano, who is an herbalist as well.