Home stretch of PC training

     Since returning back to homestay (back at Maase in the Eastern Region) things are as if I never left. In the beginning I felt a little out of place and estranged, but that quickly melted away. My family is still super nice and it will be harder saying the final goodbye than I originally thought. Like most things, I get attached before I know its happened. I’ve taught the children living at my homestay house to say “I’m awesome!” when I ask them how they are doing. It’s pretty funny.

     Language training has been a roller coaster of a ride. Once we got back from tech training language class was pretty stressful. After not hardcore studying Dagbani for a month it was not an easy transition back into it. However language class has finally begun to mellow out and all that is left is our dreaded Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) this coming Monday. All 25 of us have to have a 30 minute taped conversation in our target language. Wish me luck…
      Knowing that we would be wearing dresses to our swearing in ceremony (the day we turn from Peace Corps Trainees to Peace Corps Volunteers) I went to get a dress made for myself. People here have some serious skill in making dresses. It’s all handmade and somehow they turn 4 yards of cloth into these really cool dresses. A yard of boutique fabric costs about 5 cedis (about 3 dollars and 30 cents). To make the patterns on boutique fabric somebody will carve a pattern out of wood and then fill it with wax. The wax is then melted just slightly and dabbed on the fabric to create the repeating pattern which is dyed different colors. You will bring to a seamstress the fabric you bought and tell her what you want made. She’ll take your measurements and then about a week later you’ll have your own personalized dress. The labor costs about 10 or 15 cedis. Pretty crazy right?

     We’ve been having daily dancing lessons. These people come and bring these native drums and bang out a beat for us. Then some people will demonstrate the traditional dance to the beat and we all follow in suit. It’s a really fun time and it’s quite interesting to be learning these dances. When we all swear in we will be doing 2 dances that we learned. My mother went to get a dress tailored for me so that we could all match for the ceremony.  Had I known she was going to do this I wouldn’t have gone out to buy my own dress, but I guess I’ll just have two now.

      So yes, I've been dancing, getting dresses made, and all sorts of other jazz. I can't believe it either.

 The children at my house cut the grass with a machete, you didn't think they had lawnmowers did you?

 Food practical day! Making delicious food with Ghanian ingredients.

 Proof that I'm not telling lies and am actually dancing. Ran is my partner behind me.

Tech training part 3

     Ok, so some of you guys might be wondering why it is I’m touching a crocodile in my previous post. I will explain soon.

      I will continue my story post Shea Butter.

      We were all taught how to use this plant called Vetiver to help with erosion problems in Ghana. During the rainy season the rain comes down fast and hard. There is an incredible amount of runoff and naturally soil is carried away.

-side story-

     In a previous post I mentioned how when I’m out running I always have to be careful because cars will frequently be driving on the wrong side of the road. This I due to two reason. 1. Many of the cars here are way overloaded and therefore cannot travel fast (the other day I was in a taxi, built for 5 people, with 9 people in it). This causes any and all cars to pass on the opposite side of the road. It seems like it’s an unspoken law that all drivers shall pass a slower car regardless of whether they have to or not. 2. The roads have huge potholes, trenches, crevasses, and ditches caused by low maintenance and erosion. All the drivers will avoid the holes by driving on the nicer side of the road, regardless what side it is. The drivers might even just decide that the road is too bad and drive next to the road on the dirt and grass, though he can’t do this for long since the grass here is over 6 feet tall.

-back to Vetiver-

     This plant can have roots over 6 feet long! It looks like really spiky grass and it grows in clumps. In order to plant this we needed to be able to find the contour line of an area. To do this we had an awesome practical where we built an A frame and learned how to use it.

     The same day as the Vetiver practical a bunch of us suited up in Bee suits and learned how to harvest honey combs. We left after dinner and were taken to a bee hive. This was a self-constructed rectangular box with top bars on it. We got to learn how to harvest the honey combs and to see what an actual hive looked like. I have to say, it gets a little disconcerting hearing all these bees buzzing all over you… I definitely began to worry about my clothing and whether I actually had it on right. I must have though because I didn’t get stung! Only one person did actually and that was when we had made it all the way back to where we were staying at, gotten out of our, and were all leaving to our rooms.

The next day we learned how to make the beehive box and how to make the rabbit hutches. Can’t say I particularly enjoyed this session because the Ghanaian really just kind of took over the project.

The last thing we really learned about during this off site Tech training was dry season farming. We saw irrigation ditches, saw how farmers organized their beds, the different techniques for watering the plants, and were even given the choice to help plant some onion plants.

Thanksgiving day!

     This was the day that we traveled to Paga and saw the crocodiles. At this palace crocodiles are considered sacred and if you are caught killing one it is considered homicide and as Ran’s frafra teacher told him, “If you kill a crocodile your life is forfeit.” We all hung around these Crocs and the trainers fed them live chickens for us. That was pretty cool I must admit. Before we left Paga we got to drive right up to the border of Ghana and Burkino Faso, so now we can all officially say that we’ve driven through the complete length of Ghana!

     After the crocodile fun we all left back to the Spiritual Renewal Center (the name of the place we were staying at, cool name right?) for lunch. After lunch a few very cool people volunteered to stay back to cook Thanksgiving dinner while the rest of us had the choice to go learn how to brew Pito, a local beer, or to just relax. Tempting as it was to just “ptfo” I decided to go and learn how to brew Pito. It is a super intensive process! It takes several days of fermenting and boiling and soaking before you get the final product. Every person who brews Pito is a woman, apparently it is taboo for the men to do it. The lady we visited told us that she had only sons so therefore she had no help making her Pito.

It was a really interesting experience watching the whole process. Like any good tour we got to sample the final product. We drank the Pito out of these bowls which were carved from the fruit of a tree. The Pito tasted like a sour apple cider and wasn’t too bad. We all thanked out brewer and left to go back to the SRC.

     Thanksgiving dinner was awesome! The turkey cost 90 cedis (about 60 dollars), alive. So Linda and Danny took the job and killed and dressed our turkey. I can’t remember everyone's jobs but I do know what we all ate: Turkey, biscuits, mash potatoes, apple cobbler, fruit salad, vegetable salad, guiney fowl, wine, sun tea, sweat potato casserole, and some gravy.  Ridiculous. The (three) guiney fowls were donated by a really cool family that joined us for dinner. They were from the states too and were here in Ghana working with a local village.

     It was incredible how well dinner turned out (the great chefs made enough for 34 people) considering how difficult it is to find half of those ingredients. Since Thanksgiving cooking is not my specialty I was part of the cleanup crew.

     With the conclusion of Thanksgiving dinner we all went back to our rooms to get ready to leave and go back to Kukurantumi. This marked the end of offsite tech training.

-our lodgings-

     A little description of where we stayed out during our tech training.

The first place we stayed at was a place called Premier Palace, a pretty decent hotel. It had AC so no complaints haha.

     Then after we were broken up into Shea and Cashew groups we Shea people stayed at the nice swiss ladies hotel/hostel/house. This was a really cute compound and reminded me of a normal home.

     Then we were all reunited once again at the SRC. The SRC was definitely a nice and relaxing place. This was one of the few places I’ve seen with hills. The running here was really nice and it reminded me of running around in a rural country setting. There was a really deep well here that had dried up so there were all these bats living in it and we could gather around the opening right at dusk and see them fly out. There were these baobab trees in the SRC which were huge!  

 

Linda, Suzanne, and Terry working on the A frame

 The cool trees out front of the SRC. Trying to meditate by them was fun, but I'm still ultimately and completely unable to clear my head. Haha.

 Bee hive harvesting. Rich, our tech trainer, is in the middle.

 Rabbit Hutch/Bee hive construction. Notice how the Ghanians use the saw.

 Gobble Gobble.

 Rich in traditional garments. We're learning about dry season farming.

 Pito Brewing facility

 Burkino Faso is just yonder.

Okay I miss you allllll and I hope that Thanksgiving was awesome for you guys.

Tech training part 2

     So I was broken into the Shea group. We all leave Techiman and head off for Tumu, in the Upper West region. The rode to Tumu is in shambles! This rode turns into a dirt road filled with potholes and huge trenches. It’s like we’ve been off roading and by the time we make it to the hostel/hotel (about 9 hours later or so) there are definitely people with car sickness. Our counterparts are waiting for us (which is a surprise to me) when we arrive. I was definitely not in a talking mood when I got there.

     We stay at these really nice old Swiss ladies establishment. They feed us banana pancakes one morning which were AMAZING for all the Americans and a huge dud for the Ghanaians. It was actually pretty universal that anything we found delicious (the pumpkin pie, the mouth watering papaya jam…) the Ghanaians didn’t like too much and vice versa. Different pallets I suppose.

     Anyway we have a day of lectures and then the next day we travel to a nearby village to learn about Shea butter. There a current PCV who lives there and coincidentally he had the host parents as I do now! Interesting coincidence. So at this village we get to learn how to make Shea butter, starting from the fruit on a tree and ending with a ball of butter. I can now officially say I know how to make something from start to finish! It is a huge project and definitely very labor intensive. This is the gist of the process: Gather the fruit, de-pulp it, dry the seeds, crack the coat of the seed  and collect the nut, grind the seeds up, roast them, pound the seeds into oblivion, grind the pounded seeds, put the now paste into a basin and slowly add water, stir the buhjesus out of it, collect the white foamy oil that forms, and then put it over fire for a very long time.

     We all got to try our hands at the different steps and I could definitely appreciate the hard work that goes into it all.
     We learned how to do grafting of trees also! In specific we practiced on the Shea Tree. Grafting is where you take off a small limb of an existing mature tree and then transplant it onto a younger sapling type tree of the same species. If the young tree accepts the new limb the time for it to mature and fruit will be drastically cut. It was really cool.

Shoot! I'm outa time at the internet cafe. Too much FB, I'm sorry! Guess there will have to be a part 3.

 

Some of the surrounding landscape at the Monastery. I did Yoga with Josh one night (the person in the picture)  and it was awesome!

 Greater good greater good greater good...

 Team work on the Shea butter making.

Of course I touched the croc!

Oh THANKS to everybody who has sent me a letter! I know for a fact I've only written 2 of you back and that's because I haven't been able to get to a post office. Please know that I'll definitely get to all of your wonderful letters. :)

Training for the past 2 weeks- part 1

     So much to update about! I really cannot keep up.
     Right after the Moringa leaves day we all had a day off and relaxed. The day after we got a bunch of shots (not fun) and then went out to Techiman. At Techiman we were all broken up into different groups and assigned different businesses to talk to. We had to ask them all about their businesses and then we all met back up as one large group to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing these businesses. It was an interesting assignment and I learned how to analyze information a little differently.
     The day after this we had a small field trip to a Monastery. This isn't the monks in orange robes I had imagined, but really just like a church (Christian? Catholic?) set in a really cool geographically oriented place. All around the church were these huge rocks that formed this semi circle and the church was nestled in the middle. We were all given a few hours to go and wander the rocks and look at the vegetation growing there. There were starfruit, orange, papaya, and many other trees there. Right before we left the Monastery we a few people bought cashew type wines/schnapps. We were all later to find out what great laxatives they act as.
     We then all packed up and left to learn about organic agriculture. I learned all about making organic composts (both liquid and solid). Learned how to make a natural insect repellent using only leaves from on a tree found in Ghana. I'll definitely be composting when I get back in the states.
     The same day we went out to a field and did a forest stand inventory. This lacked any real particular direction and we were told to go and count cashew trees in this non-square piece of land. This was not an easy task but the promise of Twix bars for the team closest to the true value kept us all motivated. In the end the heat conquered and drove us back to give them our best guest. Sadly my team didn't win. Disappointment man, I miss chocolate.
     The day after we learned about Rabbit rearing. This included all the steps involved with raising them and then the theory of how to kill them. We actually were going to see how it was done, but since we got there too late they had already finished the preparations... for lunch. So we got to eat rabbit meat and it is definitely a little strange seeing a little paw in your meal. Rabbit taste like chicken except it has an exceptionally "gamey" aftertaste. It's okay though we all decided only the "not cute" bunnies were sacrificed for the greater good. Totes.
     After this day the 25 of us were broken into 2 groups: the Shea Butter group and the Cashew group. I was in the Shea Butter group. I'll have to continue my details of training on my next post.

-Non Tech stuff-
      Morning runs (as they will most certainly be if you don't want to overheat and die) have been a challenge. First I have to find the motivation to fend off cars which frequently travel in the opposite lanes. Second I have to find the motivation to deal with the children who who run behind me shouting "white person white person" (in their native language of course). Third I gotta deal with the constant staring of every individual. Fourth I have to greet every person otherwise get branded as a really rude person. Greeting every person gets really hard when I'm tire so I'm normally rude. Lastly (or the last one I'll talk about) is the lack of people to run with (the children chasing me don't count).
     It's not all bad though. Runners high is the same in Africa. The (very) orange sunrises. The savannah setting and interesting vegetation to look at. The times when I do have somebody to run with are very nice.

I'll add pictures later!
Oh also hilariously the movie Fight Club has so much more meaning after I now know how to make soap.

Day 39

     After site visit 9 of us met at TSO (a sub-office of the Peace Corps) and left to help current PCV’s for a 2 day HIV/AIDS event. It was SO much fun meeting other PCV’s and getting to hang out with everybody else. I really needed a little recharge time after site visit.

     The first day we went to a primary school (Kindergarten-6) and split up into different groups for different lectures. I worked with the hilarious Texan Barbara with the kindergarteners. We tried to explain to them that they should not play with razor blades, open cans, or syringe. With a huge language barrier it was difficult to get the point across, even using pictures. Barbara and I did a short skit though that hopefully helped get the point across! Universal fact though, “Head shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes” is a huge hit for all children.  

     It was definitely an eye opener seeing the huge student to teacher ratio. I can’t even articulate how it was to see how life could be so different being born here. It’s such a strange pseudo feeling... knowing that these people’s lives go on whether I’m there or not. Sometimes I feel like I’m looking through a window. Maybe because I feel like a stranger, but hopefully I’ll gain enough confidence to say that this is my home and be able to get into the midst of everything emotionally.

     The second day we threw a fair type event. Relay races (wheelbarrow race, three legged race, and potato sack hop race), water balloon toss, limbo, cornhole, and “the bread game.” The bread game is a game where we tie bread on a string and dangle it from a tree limb. Then it’s a race to see what child can eat the bread the fastest without using their hands. Cornhole was awesomely improvised out of sticks and cardboard.  Then we had a super fun dance party where every kid broke it down, Ghanaian style!  Don’t be worried when all the children surround you and then just stare at you, the only non-African trying to dance.

      It was so awesome eating American style food (spaghetti, stir fry, and potato soup) again. We ended with awesome brownies with Hersey’s chocolate syrup for Dawns birthday. Delish! Huge shout out for the awesome PCV for allowing us to use her home and getting us accommodations for the 2 days (3 nights) we were there.

     With the conclusion of the HIV/AIDS event we all got on a trotro (with the help of our PCV’s) and headed out for Techiman for the beginning of technical training. This was a hilarious travel story. The tro we took from Tamale to Techiman (about a 6/7 hour ride)had a huge hole in the roof of the car. Not uncommon and none of us thought anything of it, until it started raining. The windows were leaking along with the ceiling. In retrospect it was really funny. The scattering of people to the far reaches of the tro (holding about 40 or 50 people inside) will always be a fond memory.  Luckily about 5 people got off the tro before the rain happened otherwise there would have been no movement anywhere. All cars are always packed to ridiculous portions here in Ghana. The first tro we took for the day was filled beyond capacity. The driver told this mother to put her two children in her lap because they were small. They were like normal 5^th grader sized kids. Then the PCV we had sat with her legs aimed at the crotch of the ticket boy who had to sit spread eagle facing all of us. (Note: The two tro's were different sizes)

     Once reaching Techiman we got reunited with everybody and that was super fun. Had a few beers and heard tons of fun stories. Lots of latrine stories haha.

     Then today we learned and saw how to process the Moringa tree leaves into soap, cream, or powder. Moringa trees are the miracle trees of Ghana. They’re packed with all kinds of nutrients and healing properties. It was really cool learning all about the plant. 

 

At the school with Barbara to my right and two really cool PCV's

 

 Me pretending I can dance

 

The hole in the roof of our tro.

Day 35

     Just got to TSO for the first time. It’s pretty cool, everybody who stays here is super chill. I finished my site visit and it went… okay. Talking to everybody at TSO made me feel better about my visit.

     So my site is without electricity, which is what I expected. What I didn’t expect was the furnace that my house would turn into at night. The window next to my bed doesn’t have a screen on it so if I want to keep the mosquitos out I need to keep the window blind closed. During the middle of the night I found myself covered in sweat. My mattress was soaked. I open the window next to my bed for a hope of some wind to pass through my room. I wake up in the morning and find that there are 15+ mosquitos buzzing around my room. I go on a killing spree. The thought of going without a fan for 2 years is a bit daunting… but I guess I will manage.

     So shopping list! Screen for my window, 1 table, 1 chamber pot, and mirror. The cockroaches that are my latrine… not helping my phobia of bathrooms. Still haven’t worked up the courage to go in at night. Seems like a ridiculous phobia to have here in Africa. Perhaps by the end of my stay I’ll have one phobia under control.

     When I first showed up at my village they had a festival for me. Traditional dance galore! I got to say, I’ve never had a festival dedicated solely for me. It was surreal to be honest.  So this is what it feels to be famous…

      It’s the simple life. Me walking around drawing a site map made every child in town flip out. The dagbani the kids teach me all have a similar theme. It goes something like… “My mother, I’m going to ____, give my money.”  

     The moon here is ridiculous. Pretty.

     Rode my bike to the district capital and got really dehydrated (roughly 10 miles or so away). Wish my CP would have taken me seriously when I said "I need to have water." Headache for the day. Also I feel a bit unhappy about having to pay for my CP a few times for taxi rides and juices. Also the children kind of torment me at night trying to get me to come out. Only real complaints.

Sorry about how this entry jumps around. It was done in several sittings.

Festival for Diana!

 Fowl that was sacrificed for me for the religious holiday that just past.

Day 29

     Today was such an interesting day! I learned all about Ghanian culture regarding relationship and stigmas about HIV here. We had one of the most heartbreaking but informative guest speaker today talk about her experiences living with HIV. This amazing woman had endured so much from the stigmas associated with HIV in Africa. By the end of her talk she had me blinking back tears, constantly. Lesson learned- everybody is a PERSON. Nobody should ever be discriminated against. Every person can make a difference and we need to be encouraging this! It's in this way we can change the world.

     We learned that in a Ghanian society family is the most important thing. Due to this fact, if there is a domestic violence issue it really isn't the best idea for the woman to go straight to the police. If she did she would be bypassing all of the family hierarchy which would cause all of its own problems. Domestic violence is not a black and white issue here and is a very complicated issue.

     We had cultural night and Center for National Culture came and did an amazing traditional dance for us. It was really cool to watch the traditional dance, which required a lot of finesse and strength. There was so much meaning behind the dance! We also had traditional food which I eventually gave up on. My stomach just wasn't wanting me to eat the meat that seemed to be fighting me back in my mouth.
     Tomorrow we leave for our sites! It's the last night of this luxury that is this hotel and honestly it's time we go. Too much of a good thing! Goodbye internet.
     I wish you all the best :)

The drummers for traditional night