Things are going pretty awesome right now. I have lots of stuff that I want to do and none of it is really on a deadline, that’s really nice. I’m starting to chip away at my assignment. I’ve settled into some nice routines as well.
A few days ago I was walking back from my “gym” and a really nice SUV pulls up next to me. It was a man that works at the Switzerland Embassy with his wife from New Zealand and their kid who would be from India I think if you took the average. Basically they say, “You’re white, please help us.” They were looking for a kente store, what a coincidence. The store is off the beaten track, so in my Grand Valley mesh shorts and JCC Jets t-shirt I take this well off couple to the weaving centre and then the store. If I’m not working out I’m in business casual dress to at least look like a businessman, but they didn’t seem to mind. After they bought a considerable amount of kente they gave me a ride back to my house and gave me a bottle of South African wine because they really liked my tour, I think I like the Swiss. That research that I’ve been doing actually pays off. In the last 3 weeks I’ve found or had visitors that have moved 38 kente products. Doesn’t sound like much, and it’s not, but in the last 3 weeks we’ve moved 40 products. Mr. Agba likes having me around.
My dad said I shouldn’t just rely on me walking up and down the streets to get people to the store and I guess he’s probably right. So Monday I made a map of Kpetoe. It’s odd when Ghana doesn’t really do street names, “dumpster” made the map. Bless couldn’t believe that I made Kpetoe on Paint and calls me “the computer wizard.” All that time when I was little drawing baseball stadiums on Paint wasn’t worthless at least. I’m going to make brochures with it in them and put them in a few places that NGO people hang out at in Ho and in the Peace Corps offices in Tamale, Kumasi, and Accra. Small small steps.
I love my neighborhood. The adults are great but the kids are awesome. Michael and I play catch every afternoon now. It gets so hot that people just go under a tree and sit so we’re prime entertainment. Well for being 10 Michael is great at football and pretty good at playing catch. One shouldn’t confuse the 2 however. One time after fetching a baseball that got passed him he threw it up in the air and tried to head it to me like a football, ouch. Bless wanted me to explain all the rules and strategies of baseball to him. I tried to tell him that it’s a little more complicated than football but he insisted. I was like fine don’t trust me and started off with the infield fly rule and then some of the DH before he stopped me.
Only in Africa can an election on Dec 7th not have a result yet, they say final runoff results Friday. Atta Mills of the NDC is winning by .13% with just 1 of 230 contingencies unaccounted for. He will probably win and since like 82% of the people in my region voted for him things were pretty crazy here the last 2 nights. I decided to be crazy myself one night and try some canned beef in my red sauce. There should be laws against selling that crap. If mom wasn’t the primary reader of my blog I would have more beef with that beef.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Away in a Bungalow
Sometimes I think I should keep my big mouth shut. But if I did than I wouldn’t be able to laugh at myself as much. On Christmas Eve I told my friend that I missed her like I missed ham and cheese sandwiches. 15 minutes later I looked outside at what I thought was a bonfire, I was wrong. It was like a 5 foot pig covered in brush getting cooked. Before that on Monday, I wrote on Lisa’s wall about how we had food poisoning together exactly a year ago. 2 hours later I was going back and forth between my bed and the bathroom. Serves me right, especially with what I eat here.
Mr. Agba called that night and wanted me to meet him so I reluctantly went and met him. This followed:
Daniel! How is life, what will you take?
Hey Admiral, I am sick small small. I will take nothing.
No no, you will take.
Ok, I will take Fanta.
Fanta? Are you a woman? (to me) Psst, 2 Stones(to spot owner)
Stone is a heavy lager and bottles here are more than 2 back home, usually that’s a good thing.
Christmas started with a 3 hour mass and until the call from the family that was the only noteworthy event. Christmas is not a real big deal where I am but at least it exists. Most of my close friends here got stationed in the Muslim northern regions, aka no Jesus’ bday land, so I’m lucky. Lots of them don’t have power. Actually I’m probably the most spoiled PCV ever. I sometimes have a laptop, Ipod, cell phone, shortwave, electricity, and pipe borne water. Part of that has to do with the PC’s ability to adjust. Gone are the days of 2 letters and a phone call a year. There is no use in acting like technology is not here especially for a business volunteer, a lot of my job is to teach them how to use it properly. The most spoiling item I receive is my support from back home. Basically Christmas wasn’t all that bad because I know I have a lot to miss if that makes any sense. Sometimes it’s better to miss people than to be stuck with them all day, just kidding guys.
On Sunday they have the runoff for their election, it should be very interesting, and I’m praying peaceful. Being in a border town means lots of extra soldiers to make sure people don’t walk across. Here they vote by thumbprint and the ink is supposed to stay on for over a day. That means any African could walk up and vote if they’re in country pretty much. As much as I miss home, I’m just getting started here and don’t want to leave. I mean I’ve been doing research here and it’s like no research I’ve ever done. It’s fun to piece together broken language interviews, American reports, mistranslated articles, and questionable internet sources. Makes ya wonder where our credible sources do come from.
This morning I made my first big kente sale to a girl from
Monday, December 22, 2008
Welcome to Kpetoe
Computer Lesson number 1 to Ghanaians will be don't give your password to family members, they may post old photos of you. Thanks guys.
This is a holiday season that I’ll never forget. My time at site so far has been pretty legit. I’ve had 3 visitors already so the villagers think I’m the most popular American ever. Adam and Renee both at least they said they really enjoyed my 20 minute each way guided walk into
I also joined the local football team, a very Dan thing to do I’m told by another volunteer. I think they let me on the team because I’m white, they’re real good. They’re called Junior Arsenal but they’re all university aged kids which means 20+ years of football under their belts. Despite Cody, Darren, and Malcolm’s mentoring for 4 years of indoor soccer my footwork isn’t exactly with theirs yet. If we play on a full size field I do pretty well actually cause I can run and there’s room but when we practice everyday it’s on a basketball court sized field. The goals are cement blocks stood up on their ends. The second practice I figured out that you had to hit the block for it to be a goal rather than putting the ball between the block and a post a foot away, stupid language barrier, I thought I scored like 3 times the first practice. If you ever wonder why Ghanaian football teams are so good at offense and stink on defense it’s because this is how they play a lot and if you leave 1 man back, he can just stand in front of the block.
Renee and I found the best fufu we’ve both ever had in
My neighbors a chicken coup away are my favorite Ghanaian family here. Michael is 10 and the smartest Ghanaian kid I’ve met, so he’s not Kwoko but he’s still pretty cool. Bless is 17 and he’s always with me pretty much, he’s a good kid. Fidelis is 22 and a captain of the Junior Arsenal team. Bless and Fidelis go to school down in Keta so they’re just home until mid January. They also found me a “bench press and weights” to use while mine get built. I’m gonna try to put some weight back on, I’ve dropped 20ish since I got here, all that running and football and no Arnie’s food to steal. 177 is not a good weight for me.
As for actual work, boo, I’ve met the paramount chief who is really cool. Our huge kente meeting got canceled due to a neighboring chief’s death. Basically everything is being put off until the election is over which is nice because it gives me time to settle in and learn as much about kente as I can. The first 3 months we’re just supposed to be integrating but I doubt they’ll let me do just that. This election stuff does suck because I haven’t gotten mail in 2 weeks and I know I have at least a package or 2 waiting for me in
Birthday’s and holidays away from home are just not fun but besides that I really am enjoying this stuff. Merry Christmas from
PS. I think I just set up a PO Box in Ho. This will be for letters only, packages should still go to the Accra address. I love the packages but they are very expensive to send so letters are probably best. My new address is:
Dan Vainner
Hp 345
Ghana, West Africa
I find it hard to believe it's that simple so I'll let you know if it works.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
B-Day Tradition
For any of you who have ever been to the Vainner house near a birthday you know of the tradition on the kitchen door. Think of this as the kitchen door for Danny this year. For those of you who have not seen the birthday tradition here's what happens. Each year Mom puts up a handful of pictures from growing up on a birthday banner. It's a great time to look back and see how everyone has grown, so Danny boy here is your kitchen door for this year. Don't mind the quality, we dont' use our scanner anymore so it's in the attic and of course now I could have used one, instead I had to take pics of the pics.
Playing a "guitar"
First day of school
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY BOY
No Danny is not posting about himself for his bday, the sis who posts pics for him is. So Danny I hope you get a chance to read this before your B-day if not it will make you laugh when you do. Here's bday memory from way back...with Danny's bday being so close to Christmas the one year Mom and Dad got some Sanata ice cream treats to go along with the cake and ice cream. By accident a plate with a few of them got left out after the party and over night, the next morning we were all shocked to find that they weren't melted or anything they were in perfect form and still looked like Santa. The pic above isn't of the exact product I can't remember those details but it's a similar product, makes you wonder what they're made out of. Seems like they could almost make it to Africa... Love ya and Miss you Danny boy! Happy Birthday on the 19th!
BEF
Monday, December 15, 2008
Time to get to Work, well after some Play
I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to go through training with for over 10 weeks. I wish I could get to know some of them better but it was time for us to actually get to work. For the elections we were all in “hotels” for the last few days together. Rather than spread out over 3 cities we were split up into 3 hotels forming a triangle with each leg about a 30 minute walk. I give the distance because it’s a sign of affection if in the middle of the night you get woken up to “Everybody Dance Now” and dancing. Adam has speakers for his Ipod and the first night in hotels Maria and him went into Andy’s room and blasted it complete with dancing. Andy bolted out of bed and joined in. He was like “Who’s next?” And thus the tradition started. They soon pounded on Mikey and me’s door and when Mikey opened it they stormed in. Maria was grooving on my bed and I had no idea what was happening. Once I got my senses I joined in. That night we woke up all 13 volunteers in our hotel.
The next night, the night before Swearing In, we got back from the spot at like 11, the latest I’d been up in Ghana and chilled a bit. Then we were like, let’s dance party EVERYONE. 11 of us started the 30 minute trek to Oshakotee Lounge at 11:40. One of our married couples thought we were robbers breaking in and were like “oh no!” but then quickly joined in our dancing. I’ll never forget Vince’s look after we turned on the lights and blared the music. Of all the people we Dance Partied there only Sam joined the crew for the trek to Grace Adu Hotel. Grace Adu was where all the rest of volunteer couples were staying, married or not. This made for perfect Dance Partying.
The first 4 rooms we hit were couples and they were absolutely hilarious. Even if they were mad at us for pounding on their doors, they instantly lost all anger when they heard that song and saw the quality of dancing. The 4th couple wouldn’t answer the pounding so I said, “Election Results!” They opened the door with one of them ready to evacuate! My favorite of the night that’s blogable had to be Alan and Marian, our over 60 couple. Marian answered the door and joined in the dancing while Allan lay in bed with his hands behind his head just smirking. Then we still had the 30 minute walk home through downtown Kukurantumi at 2 am singing to Journey and Hanson. I’ll never forget that night, we Dance Partied about 30 people.
The next day we had a very entertaining and HOT swearing in ceremony. We all got dressed up in our newest Ghanaian clothing and were joined by our trainers, current PCV’s, the country director of PC, the Ambassador, the regional elected leader, our host families, and basically everyone else we’ve met in the last 10 weeks. It was great to see everyone 1 last time. We tore up our dance and I thought the whole ceremony was pretty cool. During our oath I was like, wow this is pretty sweet. I was pretty proud of becoming an official PCV. The meal after I had to say goodbye to my host family and all the other host families I’d gotten to know. Mikey and my internship lady even got us 2 yards of cloth each. Nana gave me a big kiss on the cheek when we were announced; I think that means I have to visit when I’m allowed to travel in 3 months. It was touching to see just how many people we’d already interacted with.
That night we all went out and had a blast. It wasn’t until the next morning when people started to take off to their assignments that we realized this is the last time we’ll all be together until COS (close of service) which will be in November 2010. When we’d said goodbye to our friends and family back home we instantly met these people. We were basically thrown into a room and told to become friends cause for the next 2 years they’re all you got. Well it worked, we all have some pretty amazing friends and we just never put going to our sites together with leaving each other. That morning was a happy sad.
We got each other through training and were ready to go make small small differences but still. I walked back to our hotel after I was ready to leave to say bye to Adam, my next door neighbor for the last 10 weeks, and even though we’re the 2 big tough guys in our PC group it still wasn’t easy. I could get back to Jackson in less time than it would take me to get to Mikey’s or Adam’s site.
The rest of the byes weren’t any more fun. I’m proud to say I didn’t ball like I did when I hugged mom bye but that doesn’t mean we weren’t close to. The people going to Volta were the last group to leave so at least we got to see everyone off.
The 8 of us decided to take a 2 day break and go to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary before going to our sites. It was a great little 1 night vacation and feeding the monkeys by hand was really sweet as was the way they just interacted with the village. Cynthia held her banana a little too high and the monkey had to jump to get it and scared the crap out of her, it was great. From there we said our goodbyes quickly as thankfully our tro’s showed up as soon as we got to the junction. Quick is the way to do byes if you have to.
Now I’m at Kpetoe and fully moved into my bungalow. I expected it to be sad but honestly the second I got out of my tro I got pumped, I really do love my site. I went “grocery shopping” at a few stands and even made a pasta sauce with room for improvement. Mr. Agba and I have a big meeting next Saturday with all the Kente weavers and players in the Volta region so that’s exciting. By the end of the week I should be fully settled in and will start my Kente lessons and start Mr. Agba’s computer lessons, yesterday I sent him his first text message ever. I’m already pretty known throughout my side of the village because I’m white. My full name is For Daniel Yao, meaning Brother Daniel Thursday Born, but I usually go by For Daniel.
I’m working on getting a PO Box in Kpetoe or Ho so that I can get mail weekly rather than just whenever I’m in Accra or my APCD or PCMO stops by. That means if I haven’t gotten a letter that you sent I probably won’t for a little bit. I’ll call Beth and have her post the new address as soon as I get it. You guys rock.
“I’m giving each of you one of these Gumbi’s, he’s like the Patron Saint of flexibility and God knows that’s what a Peace Corps Volunteer needs the most.”-Our Country Director at Swearing In as he holds up a 3 inch toy Gumbi.
The next night, the night before Swearing In, we got back from the spot at like 11, the latest I’d been up in Ghana and chilled a bit. Then we were like, let’s dance party EVERYONE. 11 of us started the 30 minute trek to Oshakotee Lounge at 11:40. One of our married couples thought we were robbers breaking in and were like “oh no!” but then quickly joined in our dancing. I’ll never forget Vince’s look after we turned on the lights and blared the music. Of all the people we Dance Partied there only Sam joined the crew for the trek to Grace Adu Hotel. Grace Adu was where all the rest of volunteer couples were staying, married or not. This made for perfect Dance Partying.
The first 4 rooms we hit were couples and they were absolutely hilarious. Even if they were mad at us for pounding on their doors, they instantly lost all anger when they heard that song and saw the quality of dancing. The 4th couple wouldn’t answer the pounding so I said, “Election Results!” They opened the door with one of them ready to evacuate! My favorite of the night that’s blogable had to be Alan and Marian, our over 60 couple. Marian answered the door and joined in the dancing while Allan lay in bed with his hands behind his head just smirking. Then we still had the 30 minute walk home through downtown Kukurantumi at 2 am singing to Journey and Hanson. I’ll never forget that night, we Dance Partied about 30 people.
The next day we had a very entertaining and HOT swearing in ceremony. We all got dressed up in our newest Ghanaian clothing and were joined by our trainers, current PCV’s, the country director of PC, the Ambassador, the regional elected leader, our host families, and basically everyone else we’ve met in the last 10 weeks. It was great to see everyone 1 last time. We tore up our dance and I thought the whole ceremony was pretty cool. During our oath I was like, wow this is pretty sweet. I was pretty proud of becoming an official PCV. The meal after I had to say goodbye to my host family and all the other host families I’d gotten to know. Mikey and my internship lady even got us 2 yards of cloth each. Nana gave me a big kiss on the cheek when we were announced; I think that means I have to visit when I’m allowed to travel in 3 months. It was touching to see just how many people we’d already interacted with.
That night we all went out and had a blast. It wasn’t until the next morning when people started to take off to their assignments that we realized this is the last time we’ll all be together until COS (close of service) which will be in November 2010. When we’d said goodbye to our friends and family back home we instantly met these people. We were basically thrown into a room and told to become friends cause for the next 2 years they’re all you got. Well it worked, we all have some pretty amazing friends and we just never put going to our sites together with leaving each other. That morning was a happy sad.
We got each other through training and were ready to go make small small differences but still. I walked back to our hotel after I was ready to leave to say bye to Adam, my next door neighbor for the last 10 weeks, and even though we’re the 2 big tough guys in our PC group it still wasn’t easy. I could get back to Jackson in less time than it would take me to get to Mikey’s or Adam’s site.
The rest of the byes weren’t any more fun. I’m proud to say I didn’t ball like I did when I hugged mom bye but that doesn’t mean we weren’t close to. The people going to Volta were the last group to leave so at least we got to see everyone off.
The 8 of us decided to take a 2 day break and go to Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary before going to our sites. It was a great little 1 night vacation and feeding the monkeys by hand was really sweet as was the way they just interacted with the village. Cynthia held her banana a little too high and the monkey had to jump to get it and scared the crap out of her, it was great. From there we said our goodbyes quickly as thankfully our tro’s showed up as soon as we got to the junction. Quick is the way to do byes if you have to.
Now I’m at Kpetoe and fully moved into my bungalow. I expected it to be sad but honestly the second I got out of my tro I got pumped, I really do love my site. I went “grocery shopping” at a few stands and even made a pasta sauce with room for improvement. Mr. Agba and I have a big meeting next Saturday with all the Kente weavers and players in the Volta region so that’s exciting. By the end of the week I should be fully settled in and will start my Kente lessons and start Mr. Agba’s computer lessons, yesterday I sent him his first text message ever. I’m already pretty known throughout my side of the village because I’m white. My full name is For Daniel Yao, meaning Brother Daniel Thursday Born, but I usually go by For Daniel.
I’m working on getting a PO Box in Kpetoe or Ho so that I can get mail weekly rather than just whenever I’m in Accra or my APCD or PCMO stops by. That means if I haven’t gotten a letter that you sent I probably won’t for a little bit. I’ll call Beth and have her post the new address as soon as I get it. You guys rock.
“I’m giving each of you one of these Gumbi’s, he’s like the Patron Saint of flexibility and God knows that’s what a Peace Corps Volunteer needs the most.”-Our Country Director at Swearing In as he holds up a 3 inch toy Gumbi.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Election Results and Swearing In
Electoral Commission sources quote 49.13 percent of total valid votes cast for Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party, while Prof John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress had 47.92 percent.
A total of 8,648,978 valid votes were recorded while a whopping 204,971 ballots representing 2.370 percent were rejected.
A run-off had been projected on Tuesday between Nana Addo and Prof Mills in the presidential race. Either man failed to obtain the required 50 percent of total votes plus one additional vote.
The Commission announced a date for the run-off of December 28.
(stolen from email from mom titled "should have voted for the chicken")
The election Sunday wasn't all that exciting around here. The results didn't come out until yesterday and the result was that they're going to have a run off on December 28th between the NPP and the NDC. There has been plenty of excitement in other areas of the country, including 15 to 20 deaths related to the election (insert mom freaking out). Don't worry mom, PC had us on lockdown. The real excitement will be during the runoff. The Country Director came and today and told us the great news...we'll be on "standfast" level during the surrounding days of the runoff. Those days are, no joke, Dec 24th to Jan 2nd. Standfast means that we are not allowed to leave our village, have to maintain contact, and have a bag ready to evac. All our Christmas and New Years plans went directly down the drain. Doesn't really feel like Christmas anyways, that doesn't mean I don't still LOVE Christmas though.
We moved out of homestays a few days ago so that means no Kwoko but I have some great pictures from our last day together. I get to see Momma Aggie and Nana tomorrow at our swearing in however. Our swearing in will be complete with American Ambassador, Ghanaian Politicians, language demonstrations and dancing by us! That's right, 2nd row 2nd dancer right here. Cynthia is right in front of me and she's pretty short and I can get my leg kick after the spin over her head sometimes. I hope the Ambassadors' impressed.
After tomorrow I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer, no more of the PCT stuff, it's PCV now. I'm happy training is over but will miss my buddies. I'm proud to say that we've more than doubled our euchre players throughout training. They all were trained by me so they talk smack, think the UP is like the Mecca of Euchre, and all want to table talk like Lisa and I used to. I won't tell them how to though however. Lisa, the PCT sitting next to me just saw her name and got really confused.
I've been in a great mood lately but it's hard not to be. We're about ready to start what we came here to do! Highlight of the week was definitely package from Katie Phelan. I didn't know Cinnamon Toast Crunch could be mailed internationally and the PCT's loved the Candy Canes.
Who's deal is it?
It's me's
Wow, we speak way too much Ghanaian English
A total of 8,648,978 valid votes were recorded while a whopping 204,971 ballots representing 2.370 percent were rejected.
A run-off had been projected on Tuesday between Nana Addo and Prof Mills in the presidential race. Either man failed to obtain the required 50 percent of total votes plus one additional vote.
The Commission announced a date for the run-off of December 28.
(stolen from email from mom titled "should have voted for the chicken")
The election Sunday wasn't all that exciting around here. The results didn't come out until yesterday and the result was that they're going to have a run off on December 28th between the NPP and the NDC. There has been plenty of excitement in other areas of the country, including 15 to 20 deaths related to the election (insert mom freaking out). Don't worry mom, PC had us on lockdown. The real excitement will be during the runoff. The Country Director came and today and told us the great news...we'll be on "standfast" level during the surrounding days of the runoff. Those days are, no joke, Dec 24th to Jan 2nd. Standfast means that we are not allowed to leave our village, have to maintain contact, and have a bag ready to evac. All our Christmas and New Years plans went directly down the drain. Doesn't really feel like Christmas anyways, that doesn't mean I don't still LOVE Christmas though.
We moved out of homestays a few days ago so that means no Kwoko but I have some great pictures from our last day together. I get to see Momma Aggie and Nana tomorrow at our swearing in however. Our swearing in will be complete with American Ambassador, Ghanaian Politicians, language demonstrations and dancing by us! That's right, 2nd row 2nd dancer right here. Cynthia is right in front of me and she's pretty short and I can get my leg kick after the spin over her head sometimes. I hope the Ambassadors' impressed.
After tomorrow I'm officially a Peace Corps Volunteer, no more of the PCT stuff, it's PCV now. I'm happy training is over but will miss my buddies. I'm proud to say that we've more than doubled our euchre players throughout training. They all were trained by me so they talk smack, think the UP is like the Mecca of Euchre, and all want to table talk like Lisa and I used to. I won't tell them how to though however. Lisa, the PCT sitting next to me just saw her name and got really confused.
I've been in a great mood lately but it's hard not to be. We're about ready to start what we came here to do! Highlight of the week was definitely package from Katie Phelan. I didn't know Cinnamon Toast Crunch could be mailed internationally and the PCT's loved the Candy Canes.
Who's deal is it?
It's me's
Wow, we speak way too much Ghanaian English
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Done with training in under a week! Everyone passed their language test on their first try and 40 of our original 42 will swear in Friday, that’s unheard of. This group has a lot of character and a bunch of great people.
On Wednesday the Small Enterprise Development (SED) trainees put on our cross sector. Cross sector is when one group teaches the other 2 things that they specialize in. Environment and Water/Sanitation put on great cross sectors but traditionally SED’s put people to sleep. While it wasn’t thrilling by any account, Marcus, Allen and I presented a pretty solid idiots guide to bookkeeping that people at least said they really liked. There were 3 other stations that went very well too I hear. Marcus is our finance major, I’m our accountant, and Allan is just a bad ass.
Allan and his wife Marian both did PC way back in the day in separate countries. Years later they met while volunteering overseas in another country. Now they have a son who just finished PC in Eastern Europe and they’re giving another 2 years. They’re definitely role models for all of us and just great to have around.
Yesterday was the big final trainee vs. trainer football match. It rained the hardest I’ve ever seen in Africa just before we played, that made it so much fun. Of our top 3 players (and only soccer players), Steve was the only one who played. Omar had to go back to the States and Cameron has a growth of some sort that they had to remove from his back, so he referred. We pieced together a team but didn’t expect to do that well. The whole team played absolutely amazing. Everyone overachieved. We were never down by more than 2 and with 10 minutes left we were tied up at 3. We gave it all we had but we ended up losing 5-3 in a really fun game. I pulled off a hat trick with my first goal off a slide kick at the goal post as the ball was going out and the next 2 off pure luck. I want to set up a PC Togo vs. PC Ghana football match. We’d have a stacked team.
One of the amazing things that remains constant between the US and Ghana is the importance of sports. Almost all Ghanaians will tell you who scored each goal for Ghana when they beat the US in the 2006 World Cup. I love how much they love sports. I don’t get why people in the US basically stop playing sports after high school just because they’re not amazing at it. Sports are fun and a great way to get that competitiveness out of the system. I’m planning on joining the Kpetoe’s city team if I can make it.
There is energy like crazy for the elections tomorrow. Being here during this has been one of the most interesting things I’ve ever been part of. If one party doesn’t get 51% then it goes to a runoff and with 3 major parties and 5 minor ones odds that’s what will happen. That could happen anytime within 2 weeks. Mom wants me to get people to vote for the CPP because their mascot is a chicken, sorry mom.
On Wednesday the Small Enterprise Development (SED) trainees put on our cross sector. Cross sector is when one group teaches the other 2 things that they specialize in. Environment and Water/Sanitation put on great cross sectors but traditionally SED’s put people to sleep. While it wasn’t thrilling by any account, Marcus, Allen and I presented a pretty solid idiots guide to bookkeeping that people at least said they really liked. There were 3 other stations that went very well too I hear. Marcus is our finance major, I’m our accountant, and Allan is just a bad ass.
Allan and his wife Marian both did PC way back in the day in separate countries. Years later they met while volunteering overseas in another country. Now they have a son who just finished PC in Eastern Europe and they’re giving another 2 years. They’re definitely role models for all of us and just great to have around.
Yesterday was the big final trainee vs. trainer football match. It rained the hardest I’ve ever seen in Africa just before we played, that made it so much fun. Of our top 3 players (and only soccer players), Steve was the only one who played. Omar had to go back to the States and Cameron has a growth of some sort that they had to remove from his back, so he referred. We pieced together a team but didn’t expect to do that well. The whole team played absolutely amazing. Everyone overachieved. We were never down by more than 2 and with 10 minutes left we were tied up at 3. We gave it all we had but we ended up losing 5-3 in a really fun game. I pulled off a hat trick with my first goal off a slide kick at the goal post as the ball was going out and the next 2 off pure luck. I want to set up a PC Togo vs. PC Ghana football match. We’d have a stacked team.
One of the amazing things that remains constant between the US and Ghana is the importance of sports. Almost all Ghanaians will tell you who scored each goal for Ghana when they beat the US in the 2006 World Cup. I love how much they love sports. I don’t get why people in the US basically stop playing sports after high school just because they’re not amazing at it. Sports are fun and a great way to get that competitiveness out of the system. I’m planning on joining the Kpetoe’s city team if I can make it.
There is energy like crazy for the elections tomorrow. Being here during this has been one of the most interesting things I’ve ever been part of. If one party doesn’t get 51% then it goes to a runoff and with 3 major parties and 5 minor ones odds that’s what will happen. That could happen anytime within 2 weeks. Mom wants me to get people to vote for the CPP because their mascot is a chicken, sorry mom.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Elections
Ghana’s been great lately. Our language class is actually doing really well; I think we all will pass the test on Friday. My host family is amazing. Emma and I sing the 12 Days of Christmas just about everyday and Kwoko is incredible at playing catch with his glove on backwards basically. We did family pictures with my camera Sunday before mass and they’re keepers I think. I’m really going to miss this family, they’re no Vainners but they’re great people.
The election is Sunday so that’s all any Ghanaian talks about. I really hope there’s no violence. My host family is very NPP but my counterparts are very NDC so I get to hear it all. My counterparts call me almost everyday to see how I slept and if my day is going alright. Ghanaians will call with absolutely no purpose just to check in on you. If they see anything that reminds them of you they call you. They can’t wait until I get back at site.
Getting anywhere in Ghana is always fun. In Ghana I’d say 90% of cars are either taxis or tro-tros. Tros are like 12 passenger vans that they jam anywhere up to 24 people into. It seems like total chaos and very intimidating at first, but there is a method to the madness. If you have your wallet that’s all it takes to go anywhere in the country. You just say the city you want to end up at eventually and they’ll get you to the right tro to get to the next tro and so on, or the mates in the tro are constantly yelling their destination. Any time the tro slows down plenty of street vendors will come by with stuff from water to bread to posters to flags, you can do your grocery shopping without leaving the tro. Tros are boiling hot when they’re at a stop but while moving the windows or lack of walls provides for ample air circulation. Many times you are joined by goats and chickens on your journey.
The bigger the vehicle the faster it goes here. They also cram more people into a mode of transportation than we would ever dream of. I’m still trying to figure out the traffic laws and I think they are too. I have seen 3 traffic lights and they all get me mad. That means you have to sit there and roast while it’s red. The best part about all taxis and tros is easily their names. Every small business in Ghana is named something religious. “Clap for Jesus Barber Shop”, “Love Your Enemies Provisions Store”, “Amen Tro”, “I’m Sorry Taxi Cab”, “God is Good Tailoring”, and “By God’s Grace Cell Phone Shop.” It’s hard to stop smiling sometimes. My personal favorite is a locally famous mispelled store name, "Crap for Jesus."
The election is Sunday so that’s all any Ghanaian talks about. I really hope there’s no violence. My host family is very NPP but my counterparts are very NDC so I get to hear it all. My counterparts call me almost everyday to see how I slept and if my day is going alright. Ghanaians will call with absolutely no purpose just to check in on you. If they see anything that reminds them of you they call you. They can’t wait until I get back at site.
Getting anywhere in Ghana is always fun. In Ghana I’d say 90% of cars are either taxis or tro-tros. Tros are like 12 passenger vans that they jam anywhere up to 24 people into. It seems like total chaos and very intimidating at first, but there is a method to the madness. If you have your wallet that’s all it takes to go anywhere in the country. You just say the city you want to end up at eventually and they’ll get you to the right tro to get to the next tro and so on, or the mates in the tro are constantly yelling their destination. Any time the tro slows down plenty of street vendors will come by with stuff from water to bread to posters to flags, you can do your grocery shopping without leaving the tro. Tros are boiling hot when they’re at a stop but while moving the windows or lack of walls provides for ample air circulation. Many times you are joined by goats and chickens on your journey.
The bigger the vehicle the faster it goes here. They also cram more people into a mode of transportation than we would ever dream of. I’m still trying to figure out the traffic laws and I think they are too. I have seen 3 traffic lights and they all get me mad. That means you have to sit there and roast while it’s red. The best part about all taxis and tros is easily their names. Every small business in Ghana is named something religious. “Clap for Jesus Barber Shop”, “Love Your Enemies Provisions Store”, “Amen Tro”, “I’m Sorry Taxi Cab”, “God is Good Tailoring”, and “By God’s Grace Cell Phone Shop.” It’s hard to stop smiling sometimes. My personal favorite is a locally famous mispelled store name, "Crap for Jesus."
Monday, December 1, 2008
Mac and Cheese
My first american meal here, compliment of Mom. I only used 1/3 of the cheese, had to save it. 
Host Family
Host Family
Host parents
Oscar and I at the counterpart workshop. 
Home for 2 years 
Welcome to Kpetoe
Goats on my loom, i'm getting one and naming it Tiny Tuttle Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thanksgiving in Ghana
Holidays away from home suck, no way around it, but at least we had the other volunteers, or so we thought. PC decided to have 24 of them leave at 6 am on Thanksgiving to go to Accra to open their bank accounts. My bank, Barclay’s, didn’t need me to be there in person so I stayed behind with the few remaining PCT’s. We had planned on having Thanksgiving meal at like 1. They didn’t get back until 6 pm. So many people had gone that left getting the turkey to the pride of Jenison Adam Falk (visiting from Cape Coast!), Maria, and me. When I say getting the turkey I mean going to a turkey farmer, picking out a bird, killing it, feathering it, cutting it up, and baking it.
Maria actually ended up being the one to cut its throat but Adam and I did our share of the dirty work. It was honestly pretty cool to go through the entire process of preparing a turkey and then eating it in the same day. Despite having only like 17 people preparing food we still managed to piece together a delicious meal of turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with Halloween peeps on top, apple pies, plantain chips and salsa. After dinner, Adam showed Ghana dance moves they’ve never seen before.
It was great to have someone from home here but just plain weird. He’s been here 4 months and we’ve been here 2 but he’s leaving in a few weeks, we’re leaving in a few years. He’s sad that he’s leaving so soon and we try not to think about how far away that day is. It made for some great conversations. I’m jealous that he’ll be home for Christmas....and the next one. Maria and I were dead silent when he played I’ll be Home for Christmas on his harmonica in my room. He’s jealous of how immersed we get into the culture. We really didn’t do too much, just talked a lot, but I’m extremely happy he stayed with us.
Things are much easier at training when I have the other PCT’s and get mail once a week. You never know how much mail means until you get it I guess. I mean emails and such are great but I’d even put mail over phone calls. The Sports Illustrated that Aunt Ann sent me has a long waiting list for it (I didn’t tell them about the M&Ms) and thanks to Aunt Sue many PCT’s now know that Lumen Christi killed Onsted. They’ll win it all next year. Some of them also got to see how ridiculous I looked in middle school thanks to Annie’s picture of Mrs. Loveland’s 8th grade homeroom class. Pa, Grandma, and Sister sent me a letter that almost had me in tears, in a good way.
There’s a sense of nervousness with the PCT’s. We all know in 2 weeks it’s time to be on our own and do what we came here to do. We have our huge language final on Friday and then from there training’s basically done, the final soccer match is Saturday, I’m starting my taper.
One of my counterpart’s name is Mr. Agba and I pronounce it like Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and always say, “IT’S A TRAP!” to him, I don’t think he gets it.
Maria actually ended up being the one to cut its throat but Adam and I did our share of the dirty work. It was honestly pretty cool to go through the entire process of preparing a turkey and then eating it in the same day. Despite having only like 17 people preparing food we still managed to piece together a delicious meal of turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with Halloween peeps on top, apple pies, plantain chips and salsa. After dinner, Adam showed Ghana dance moves they’ve never seen before.
It was great to have someone from home here but just plain weird. He’s been here 4 months and we’ve been here 2 but he’s leaving in a few weeks, we’re leaving in a few years. He’s sad that he’s leaving so soon and we try not to think about how far away that day is. It made for some great conversations. I’m jealous that he’ll be home for Christmas....and the next one. Maria and I were dead silent when he played I’ll be Home for Christmas on his harmonica in my room. He’s jealous of how immersed we get into the culture. We really didn’t do too much, just talked a lot, but I’m extremely happy he stayed with us.
Things are much easier at training when I have the other PCT’s and get mail once a week. You never know how much mail means until you get it I guess. I mean emails and such are great but I’d even put mail over phone calls. The Sports Illustrated that Aunt Ann sent me has a long waiting list for it (I didn’t tell them about the M&Ms) and thanks to Aunt Sue many PCT’s now know that Lumen Christi killed Onsted. They’ll win it all next year. Some of them also got to see how ridiculous I looked in middle school thanks to Annie’s picture of Mrs. Loveland’s 8th grade homeroom class. Pa, Grandma, and Sister sent me a letter that almost had me in tears, in a good way.
There’s a sense of nervousness with the PCT’s. We all know in 2 weeks it’s time to be on our own and do what we came here to do. We have our huge language final on Friday and then from there training’s basically done, the final soccer match is Saturday, I’m starting my taper.
One of my counterpart’s name is Mr. Agba and I pronounce it like Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and always say, “IT’S A TRAP!” to him, I don’t think he gets it.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Good Times
Christmas lights on the bungalow! The kids love the lights at night.
Kwoko, my little brother, can make any day a good day. Notice the headphones aren't plugged in but he loves gadgets.Monday, November 24, 2008
I think I ran to Togo
SorryI haven't been online or gotten mail in over a week so I'm way behindon everything. I have to start off by saying that my little brother atmy homestay who I play catch with every night is a lefty. I realized this about 2 weeks into our nightly routine when he missed a ball, tracked it down with his glove off and and chucked it back to me withhis left hand. His siblings said, "Of course Kwoko is a left." Here Iam making a kid who is a little slow to start play catch oppositehanded. When I told my real dad that he wanted to send a lefty glovebut by the time it got here I'd be at site for good.
Last Monday wetook off to the Bunso Cocoa College, not as great as it sounds, for our Counterpart Workshop. These were probably the 2 boringest days of mylife, but I did get to hang out with one of my counterparts, Oscar. He and I have the biggest height difference of any PCT/counterpart but we were both born on a Thursday (meaning we are called Yao) so we are brothers apparently. He is a great Kente weaver but his father, Mr. Agbais the best weaver in Volta and arguably the world. Mr.Agba will be the first to tell you that so he reminds me of coach sometimes, great, jk. He has been to expos in Paris, NY, and Denmark. Overall he's a really great guy and takes care of me though. We left for Kpetoe together and I was estatic to get to site and see my bungalow.
The trip across Ghana flew by, when I got there Mr. Agba was waiting to meet me. We chopped and talked for a while before they took me to my bungalow. It's nothing flashy, that's for sure, and it's rather small but I'm slowly starting to make it a home. When I got there it smelled, still does some and there are definitely like 12 bats living in the ceiling. On the upside the volunteer before me left me just about every type of household item I'll need (after I wash them). I do have an usually flushing toilet and a cold shower, but whowould want a hot one here?
Kpetoe itself is an awesome town I think. It's much larger than I expected but it's spread out. The town just has a beat to it, it's fun just to walk around. Mr Agba tells methat I where I run in the morning the left side of the road is Togo and the right is Ghana, I don't think that's true but still cool. MrAbga already has a loom ready for me to learn how to do Kente which is sweet. When he and I travel around we walk like 5 mins, get a Coke, greet people and repeat inserting a Gennius for Coke sometimes. That's what I'll be doing for the first 3 monthes suppositly. One day we wentway out to his farm, it's really relaxing out there, I drank and ate 3 coconuts directly off the tree, sometimes life is great here!
Othertimes it's flat out the loneliest I've ever and hopefully will ever be. When these times come out of nowhere I'm starting to have coping methods. 1st of which is get out of your room. Sitting there will get you nowhere. Saturday I had to get out so I decided to go to the Catholic church and say hey to the priest and tell him I'd be living here starting Dec 13th. When I got there there were some cars and tents set up. An usher came up to me and said "you are welcome" andtook me to be seated. I got sat in the first row of the "invitedguests" section. Turns out I walked into the 75th anniversary celebration, a 5 hour event hosted by the Bishop of Ho with easily like 2,000 people. It was very fun though a tad long, I think I'll like the Catholic church here alot, it's kinda like home.
There is much to do in Kpetoe and at the same time I feel hopeless about my primary project. I already think I have land to build a basketball court. If I can get rims and balls I think I can get poles, pavement, and paint. Coaching that would beawesome. There is also a 12 piece brass band that came out and playedfor me while Mr Agba was getting his hair cut. I've seen them playing at 2 community events already. They have 12 instruments but 55 kids in the class. The man who teaches them was taught by a lady from Nebraska! I'd like to get them another set of 12 eventually. Both of these are good projects because they will take time and I have plenty of that usually.
My primary project is just plain intimadating. These guys are good at what they do. They want a museum for their kente, which would be a great thing. My job is to look for ways to fund this project apparently. Between that and some work with exporting I'm pretty worried, these aren't the problems I had in accounting class.
SundayI wasn't doing too well but my friend Julie came and visited and thenafter that I sat outside and did laundry. People started coming up. After I finished I started writing down their names so I can learn them. If the kids knew my name they got a piece of candy, I'm gonna buy friends here but it's already working. I'm just gonna need more candy.
Sundays always end well with a call from home, too bad no Lumen team but ours can beat Oakridge. I go back to training on Wednesdayand will celebrate Thanksgiving with the trainees, Adam Falk will bejoining us from Cape Coast University so I'm excited to see a fellowLaker.
Currently I'm in Ho. This is my 2nd attempt at posting this blog. We just came from a SUPERMARKET! I kid you not, you would laugh at it but we were going nuts! Think like a party store with random stuff. Looks like I won't have to have everything sent from home. I only made one purchase though, CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. I might not be able to eat tomorrow but dang it my bungalow will have lights.
"It's no longer the White House, it's the Black House." A man in Kpetoe about the US elections, they love it.
Last Monday wetook off to the Bunso Cocoa College, not as great as it sounds, for our Counterpart Workshop. These were probably the 2 boringest days of mylife, but I did get to hang out with one of my counterparts, Oscar. He and I have the biggest height difference of any PCT/counterpart but we were both born on a Thursday (meaning we are called Yao) so we are brothers apparently. He is a great Kente weaver but his father, Mr. Agbais the best weaver in Volta and arguably the world. Mr.Agba will be the first to tell you that so he reminds me of coach sometimes, great, jk. He has been to expos in Paris, NY, and Denmark. Overall he's a really great guy and takes care of me though. We left for Kpetoe together and I was estatic to get to site and see my bungalow.
The trip across Ghana flew by, when I got there Mr. Agba was waiting to meet me. We chopped and talked for a while before they took me to my bungalow. It's nothing flashy, that's for sure, and it's rather small but I'm slowly starting to make it a home. When I got there it smelled, still does some and there are definitely like 12 bats living in the ceiling. On the upside the volunteer before me left me just about every type of household item I'll need (after I wash them). I do have an usually flushing toilet and a cold shower, but whowould want a hot one here?
Kpetoe itself is an awesome town I think. It's much larger than I expected but it's spread out. The town just has a beat to it, it's fun just to walk around. Mr Agba tells methat I where I run in the morning the left side of the road is Togo and the right is Ghana, I don't think that's true but still cool. MrAbga already has a loom ready for me to learn how to do Kente which is sweet. When he and I travel around we walk like 5 mins, get a Coke, greet people and repeat inserting a Gennius for Coke sometimes. That's what I'll be doing for the first 3 monthes suppositly. One day we wentway out to his farm, it's really relaxing out there, I drank and ate 3 coconuts directly off the tree, sometimes life is great here!
Othertimes it's flat out the loneliest I've ever and hopefully will ever be. When these times come out of nowhere I'm starting to have coping methods. 1st of which is get out of your room. Sitting there will get you nowhere. Saturday I had to get out so I decided to go to the Catholic church and say hey to the priest and tell him I'd be living here starting Dec 13th. When I got there there were some cars and tents set up. An usher came up to me and said "you are welcome" andtook me to be seated. I got sat in the first row of the "invitedguests" section. Turns out I walked into the 75th anniversary celebration, a 5 hour event hosted by the Bishop of Ho with easily like 2,000 people. It was very fun though a tad long, I think I'll like the Catholic church here alot, it's kinda like home.
There is much to do in Kpetoe and at the same time I feel hopeless about my primary project. I already think I have land to build a basketball court. If I can get rims and balls I think I can get poles, pavement, and paint. Coaching that would beawesome. There is also a 12 piece brass band that came out and playedfor me while Mr Agba was getting his hair cut. I've seen them playing at 2 community events already. They have 12 instruments but 55 kids in the class. The man who teaches them was taught by a lady from Nebraska! I'd like to get them another set of 12 eventually. Both of these are good projects because they will take time and I have plenty of that usually.
My primary project is just plain intimadating. These guys are good at what they do. They want a museum for their kente, which would be a great thing. My job is to look for ways to fund this project apparently. Between that and some work with exporting I'm pretty worried, these aren't the problems I had in accounting class.
SundayI wasn't doing too well but my friend Julie came and visited and thenafter that I sat outside and did laundry. People started coming up. After I finished I started writing down their names so I can learn them. If the kids knew my name they got a piece of candy, I'm gonna buy friends here but it's already working. I'm just gonna need more candy.
Sundays always end well with a call from home, too bad no Lumen team but ours can beat Oakridge. I go back to training on Wednesdayand will celebrate Thanksgiving with the trainees, Adam Falk will bejoining us from Cape Coast University so I'm excited to see a fellowLaker.
Currently I'm in Ho. This is my 2nd attempt at posting this blog. We just came from a SUPERMARKET! I kid you not, you would laugh at it but we were going nuts! Think like a party store with random stuff. Looks like I won't have to have everything sent from home. I only made one purchase though, CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. I might not be able to eat tomorrow but dang it my bungalow will have lights.
"It's no longer the White House, it's the Black House." A man in Kpetoe about the US elections, they love it.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Teaching AIDS to Primary Level 6 children in Africa was easily one of the most eye opening experiences of my life. We went in there with great information and a pretty solid lesson plan. After about 2 minutes we had to throw it all out the window. We had to take it down to the extreme basics. It was rough at first but by the end we were really starting to get through to them. The few concepts they had heard about AIDS were so random and out there that half of our time was spent denying rumors. I can see that this is one area that I can definitely work on while I'm here.
We also met up with some Susu, or private savings groups, through the District Assembly. Everyone thinks that NGO's are an a amazing thing, and 3 of 4 are, but they do have their downsides. All the collectors wanted to know was how much money we were going to give them. When we asked what their biggest problem was they answered finding the right NGO's to get money from. They have become so reliant on these programs. PC does not come with financial aid, we're here to teach them sustainable skills so that someday they won't need all these NGO's. My job over the next 2 years will be to teach my counterparts enough basic business skills that I myself will become obsolete by the end of my service.
Things have been really great lately even though we did lose the first person out of our group. He was a good bud of mine and it's weird to think that it could be me home already. I'm really lucky to have a great host family here and above all great friends and family back home (today's mail was awesome). My 8 year old brother here, Kwoko, is like instant joy when I need it. He may be a little slow, I won't lie. We have a handshake and we've been playing catch lately every night, complete with Momma Aggie cheering, "YAAA Kwoko and Dan!" When the guys come over to play rummy we give him the 2 jokers and he's in heaven. He's pretty much a celebrity with the volunteers since both Adam and I love the kid.
This week I got to accomplish a few firsts. I watched my first pirated movie. In the large cities they sell these movies that are like 42 random movies in one and they're only 3 cedi. We watched Prince Caspian and it's really funny when people on the tape get up at the theatre to use the bathroom. I also had a conversation in 4 languages in a day, english, german, twi, and eve. I felt like my head was going to explode.
Next week should also be exciting as I get to open my Barclay's bank account, brittish bank=cool right? Thursday I also leave to go to my site for the first time. I will be staying there for a week and then coming back to complete training. Throw in the December election that I tried to hide from mom and it's a pretty exciting time for us. I think of you guys back home a lot and really randomly honestly. My fellow volunteers are pretty jealous of some of the stuff I get in the mail, you guys rock.
"What if my Tuesday is full?"-Julie in Language class, the Eve word for Tuesday is Blada, our instructor didn't get it.
We also met up with some Susu, or private savings groups, through the District Assembly. Everyone thinks that NGO's are an a amazing thing, and 3 of 4 are, but they do have their downsides. All the collectors wanted to know was how much money we were going to give them. When we asked what their biggest problem was they answered finding the right NGO's to get money from. They have become so reliant on these programs. PC does not come with financial aid, we're here to teach them sustainable skills so that someday they won't need all these NGO's. My job over the next 2 years will be to teach my counterparts enough basic business skills that I myself will become obsolete by the end of my service.
Things have been really great lately even though we did lose the first person out of our group. He was a good bud of mine and it's weird to think that it could be me home already. I'm really lucky to have a great host family here and above all great friends and family back home (today's mail was awesome). My 8 year old brother here, Kwoko, is like instant joy when I need it. He may be a little slow, I won't lie. We have a handshake and we've been playing catch lately every night, complete with Momma Aggie cheering, "YAAA Kwoko and Dan!" When the guys come over to play rummy we give him the 2 jokers and he's in heaven. He's pretty much a celebrity with the volunteers since both Adam and I love the kid.
This week I got to accomplish a few firsts. I watched my first pirated movie. In the large cities they sell these movies that are like 42 random movies in one and they're only 3 cedi. We watched Prince Caspian and it's really funny when people on the tape get up at the theatre to use the bathroom. I also had a conversation in 4 languages in a day, english, german, twi, and eve. I felt like my head was going to explode.
Next week should also be exciting as I get to open my Barclay's bank account, brittish bank=cool right? Thursday I also leave to go to my site for the first time. I will be staying there for a week and then coming back to complete training. Throw in the December election that I tried to hide from mom and it's a pretty exciting time for us. I think of you guys back home a lot and really randomly honestly. My fellow volunteers are pretty jealous of some of the stuff I get in the mail, you guys rock.
"What if my Tuesday is full?"-Julie in Language class, the Eve word for Tuesday is Blada, our instructor didn't get it.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I totally forgot about the fruit here in the last blog! We get fruit as desserts, you do that to anyone in the states and they'd be like what the..? Here we're like heck ya. Pineapple, mango, oranges, tangerines, and apples are all pretty readily available and are pretty much amazing.
Fan Ice is milk and sugar pretty much frozen in a bag. You bite off a corner and suck it out. It comes in vanilla (tastes like frozen frosting), chocolate (those malteds you eat with a wood spoon), and strawberry yogurt (frozen Gogurt). Mikey, in a HUGE Texas accent, has been known to freak out when someone walks by with it. "HEEEY DAN, get Ya'll over here, they's got FANN ICE!" All water that I drink here also comes out of 1/2 liter bags. There is a big problem with this as the country is starting to be covered in trash, I will start using my purifier once I get running water.
The soccer match was a blast. The goals are logs in the ground with one across them usually. The field is mostly dirt. A big crowd came to watch cause there's not much else to do after church on Sunday. The trainers were short on players so I started on their team. The trainers had a 4 to 1 lead at half, one of the goals I scored but was booed by the rest of the volunteers. By half more trainers were there so I switched teams. We still lost but put up a good fight 7 to 3, when I scored in the second half for the trainees the cheers were super loud. This was just a warmup to the final on Dec 3rd. They're bringing in players from Accra but I think we still got a chance.
Tomorrow I get to teach my first AIDs lesson to an actual class. I'm not that nervous about it because I partnered up with a guy Adam, who is basically Kyle Lemoine when he's 26. They're both so similar it's scary. Kyle and I never really had trouble presenting so I'm confident him and I will not either, simple logic right?
They haven't given us our weekly allowance yet from last week so right now I'm poorer than poor. It's kinda fun. We usually get 2 cedis, like 2 dollars, a day and that's a stretch. Anyways things are going very well right now. I love hearing from everyone, please keep that up!
Fan Ice is milk and sugar pretty much frozen in a bag. You bite off a corner and suck it out. It comes in vanilla (tastes like frozen frosting), chocolate (those malteds you eat with a wood spoon), and strawberry yogurt (frozen Gogurt). Mikey, in a HUGE Texas accent, has been known to freak out when someone walks by with it. "HEEEY DAN, get Ya'll over here, they's got FANN ICE!" All water that I drink here also comes out of 1/2 liter bags. There is a big problem with this as the country is starting to be covered in trash, I will start using my purifier once I get running water.
The soccer match was a blast. The goals are logs in the ground with one across them usually. The field is mostly dirt. A big crowd came to watch cause there's not much else to do after church on Sunday. The trainers were short on players so I started on their team. The trainers had a 4 to 1 lead at half, one of the goals I scored but was booed by the rest of the volunteers. By half more trainers were there so I switched teams. We still lost but put up a good fight 7 to 3, when I scored in the second half for the trainees the cheers were super loud. This was just a warmup to the final on Dec 3rd. They're bringing in players from Accra but I think we still got a chance.
Tomorrow I get to teach my first AIDs lesson to an actual class. I'm not that nervous about it because I partnered up with a guy Adam, who is basically Kyle Lemoine when he's 26. They're both so similar it's scary. Kyle and I never really had trouble presenting so I'm confident him and I will not either, simple logic right?
They haven't given us our weekly allowance yet from last week so right now I'm poorer than poor. It's kinda fun. We usually get 2 cedis, like 2 dollars, a day and that's a stretch. Anyways things are going very well right now. I love hearing from everyone, please keep that up!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
1/2 through Training
Training is half over and the next half should go by quicker due to some more exciting topics. This morning, after getting text messages from my friends in the states at 4 am (made me laugh), I finally got to do some laundry, I hadn't done any in over a week. Laundry starts by my fetching 5 buckets of water from the well. I put them in big sink dealies, throw in some detergent that's like powerful as heck, and start scrubbing. After about 2 hours of this my hands get torn up worse than from rowing. What idiot brings white socks to Ghana?...that would be me.
I thought there were a few extra kids around the house this morning but did some pushups and bucket bathed it up like a regular day. When I got out there were like 25 girls running around waving clothes and screaming/singing. Turns out my host Aunt was getting married and was using the room next to me to get ready. All of my host relatives were in from all over. That meant my 1 year old niece and 4 year old nephew that had never seen a white person before. The time I spent with them today was really something else. I hope everyone gets the chance to have that much fun with kids.
Traditions coincide with ours and clash with ours at the same time. Some things I really have to train myself not to do. First off, you really can't use your left hand for anything. The left is for cleaning your body. If you shake someone's hand with your left then it's like saying you're poopy roughly. The same goes for waving, which can be hard when someone is on your left. When paying for anything always give and take with your right, which can be uber awkward doing a one handed switch. Also never touch food with your left hand. If you touch it with your left no one else will eat it and they'll think you're crazy for doing so. It sucks for the left handed volunteers.
Another thing with food is whatever you do, don't smell it. That means you think they poisoned it. It's so natural to sniff your food, try to not do it. Whatever I don't eat, my little siblings get to eat. Food here is not very varied. My diet consists of:
breakfast (amazing)
2 fresh eggs with tomato on sweet bread
oatmeal
orange
or rice pourage sometimes.
The rest (usually pretty rough)
Red Red is my favorite, it's beans and plantain.
fried yam or plantain and cabbage
rice
fufu-think raw bread dough dipped in peanut sauce that you shouldn't chew
banku-sour fufu
pasta once in a great while
Meat:
fish is available but so disgusting I won't even touch it
goat, ginnie hen, chicken, "beef", grass cutter, lamb, snail (it was gross)
Saving Graces:
Fan Ice
plantain chips, I can make them!
Today is the first big staff vs trainees soccer match then hopefully bball again tonight or tomorrow. I just love it here sometimes. Tripp used Skype to call me for like 15 cents a minute, might want to look into that, and we talked just like we would back in the states. Nice to see some stuff stays the same no matter where you are.
Cody sent me some pictures and people thought the picture of all the srs in their varsity jackets was from space camp.
I thought there were a few extra kids around the house this morning but did some pushups and bucket bathed it up like a regular day. When I got out there were like 25 girls running around waving clothes and screaming/singing. Turns out my host Aunt was getting married and was using the room next to me to get ready. All of my host relatives were in from all over. That meant my 1 year old niece and 4 year old nephew that had never seen a white person before. The time I spent with them today was really something else. I hope everyone gets the chance to have that much fun with kids.
Traditions coincide with ours and clash with ours at the same time. Some things I really have to train myself not to do. First off, you really can't use your left hand for anything. The left is for cleaning your body. If you shake someone's hand with your left then it's like saying you're poopy roughly. The same goes for waving, which can be hard when someone is on your left. When paying for anything always give and take with your right, which can be uber awkward doing a one handed switch. Also never touch food with your left hand. If you touch it with your left no one else will eat it and they'll think you're crazy for doing so. It sucks for the left handed volunteers.
Another thing with food is whatever you do, don't smell it. That means you think they poisoned it. It's so natural to sniff your food, try to not do it. Whatever I don't eat, my little siblings get to eat. Food here is not very varied. My diet consists of:
breakfast (amazing)
2 fresh eggs with tomato on sweet bread
oatmeal
orange
or rice pourage sometimes.
The rest (usually pretty rough)
Red Red is my favorite, it's beans and plantain.
fried yam or plantain and cabbage
rice
fufu-think raw bread dough dipped in peanut sauce that you shouldn't chew
banku-sour fufu
pasta once in a great while
Meat:
fish is available but so disgusting I won't even touch it
goat, ginnie hen, chicken, "beef", grass cutter, lamb, snail (it was gross)
Saving Graces:
Fan Ice
plantain chips, I can make them!
Today is the first big staff vs trainees soccer match then hopefully bball again tonight or tomorrow. I just love it here sometimes. Tripp used Skype to call me for like 15 cents a minute, might want to look into that, and we talked just like we would back in the states. Nice to see some stuff stays the same no matter where you are.
Cody sent me some pictures and people thought the picture of all the srs in their varsity jackets was from space camp.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
My friend Ana from Equador at Boti Falls
A kente weaving structure.
KENTE! I get to learn how to do this hopefully! More importantly though, I get to promote this.
Some Kente products. Notice the bags, those were a previous volunteers idea and they sell like woah. Let me know any new ideas for Kente.
Mud huts with mountains in the background in the Volta Region.
Some of the group on top of a huge bolder during the hike at Boti Falls a while back.
The viewing rock.
Boti Falls, the first waterfall I swam in, there's another one just off to the left of the picture.
My buddy Adam from Vermont and me poising under the 2nd waterfall we've visited. This pose is for Scotty. Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Halloween, Elections and Travel
The group is still going strong. No one has ETed (early termination) yet which is basically unheard of. On average you're supposed to loose 30% of your group during training.. We still might loose some, we're only halfway done, but I hope not.
The idea of Halloween doesn't even come close to existing here in Ghana, so what do a bunch of Americans do? We introduce them to our culture, it's the PC way. We had probably the tackiest costumes ever, due to lack of possessions, but the point was still made. Sam and I were Indians, get it, Native Americans?
The next morning we broke into our 3 sectors and took off for field studies. The 13 SED volunteers and 3 trainers piled into our "tour tro" and took off for the Volta Region. That's the region that my site is located at. It's absolutely gorgeous. We went to businesses and tourists sites for 5 days straight. From sites that attract about a person a day to full fledge fruit factories we saw it all. I however don't do well when I'm traveling without a point and had a low day. Sunday I didn't get to go to church, coincidence?, but we did climb a mountain and swam in another waterfall. The hike was a blast and water instantly drops the maturity level of anyone in Africa. When we got back we had a horrible lunch and an even worse dinner though. Food can be directly related to my mood here. That night I wanted to go home. Mom called and I was like "It's HORRIBLE." My phone had horrible or no service and I hadn't been online in a week so I was basically out of touch with everyone. Thankfully I packed the letters I got from Chrissy and the Arnies crew, those helped.
The next day however I woke up, had some fresh eggs and was in a great mood. From there the trip just got better. We saw a few District assemblies and sat in on a lotta really cool stuff. The best part for me was when we went to a Kente village. It was insane, just so awesome! I got so excited I was like jumping for joy. This wasn't my village, it was Steve's, but my village is actually better known for Kente. Here is where I finalized my nickname, "Tuttle". In the movie Volunteers about the PC, John Candy plays a character named Tom Tuttle from Topeka that is so excited about the PC and is beyond prepared. I love it here and I came in having been in West Africa before, able to speak Twi a little, and read up on the history. I also made 2 remarks during "how to start a business" session along the lines of "avoid alliteration at all costs" followed 2 minutes later by "proper placement of prominent products." Thus Tom Tuttle from Topeka works. I called mom that night to let her know I wasn't hating life.
We stayed a night at a very rustic but very beautiful resort on top of a mountain. That night a retired Dutch anthropologist decided to sit next to me while I was reading. He seemed very nice but he hated Americans and Bush. I didn't get defensive but just sat there and listened to him talk. It was pretty interesting actually.
Then we went to the city Ho, which is 15 miles from my site and will be my local large market. I had heard it was everyone's favorite city in Ghana but so far all cities seemed the same. Ho is different, actually kept clean, spread out, and has a store in it that usually has cheese! There's also a spot called the White House where NGO's from all over come and chill. We met a group from Sweden. That night when we were just about at each others throats we showed up to our hotel and it had a pool. We freaked out and played in in for hours. Other guests took pictures of all the crazy white kids.
Today we toured the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, complete with golf course, high school, and police. Cocoa is serious here, 2nd largest producer in the world but best quality. Then I finally got to come back to my host family. I missed them and the comforts of having your own room.
Most important thing now, the election. I can't describe how awesome it was to be in Africa when the first African American president was elected. With the time difference, and we don't do daylights savings so we're now 5 hours ahead, it was cool to wake up and watch it live at 4 AMish. The people here are so excited about it. I won't get into politics but it was an experience I'll never forget.
I think of you guys a lot and due to medications dream about some of you really randomly (Blake and I made our major league debuts with the Texas Rangers against the Tigers a few nights ago. We were carrying bats like oars to the wrong dugout and Jimmy Leland was like, Umm Danny, that's ours. Blake doesn't play baseball.)
The idea of Halloween doesn't even come close to existing here in Ghana, so what do a bunch of Americans do? We introduce them to our culture, it's the PC way. We had probably the tackiest costumes ever, due to lack of possessions, but the point was still made. Sam and I were Indians, get it, Native Americans?
The next morning we broke into our 3 sectors and took off for field studies. The 13 SED volunteers and 3 trainers piled into our "tour tro" and took off for the Volta Region. That's the region that my site is located at. It's absolutely gorgeous. We went to businesses and tourists sites for 5 days straight. From sites that attract about a person a day to full fledge fruit factories we saw it all. I however don't do well when I'm traveling without a point and had a low day. Sunday I didn't get to go to church, coincidence?, but we did climb a mountain and swam in another waterfall. The hike was a blast and water instantly drops the maturity level of anyone in Africa. When we got back we had a horrible lunch and an even worse dinner though. Food can be directly related to my mood here. That night I wanted to go home. Mom called and I was like "It's HORRIBLE." My phone had horrible or no service and I hadn't been online in a week so I was basically out of touch with everyone. Thankfully I packed the letters I got from Chrissy and the Arnies crew, those helped.
The next day however I woke up, had some fresh eggs and was in a great mood. From there the trip just got better. We saw a few District assemblies and sat in on a lotta really cool stuff. The best part for me was when we went to a Kente village. It was insane, just so awesome! I got so excited I was like jumping for joy. This wasn't my village, it was Steve's, but my village is actually better known for Kente. Here is where I finalized my nickname, "Tuttle". In the movie Volunteers about the PC, John Candy plays a character named Tom Tuttle from Topeka that is so excited about the PC and is beyond prepared. I love it here and I came in having been in West Africa before, able to speak Twi a little, and read up on the history. I also made 2 remarks during "how to start a business" session along the lines of "avoid alliteration at all costs" followed 2 minutes later by "proper placement of prominent products." Thus Tom Tuttle from Topeka works. I called mom that night to let her know I wasn't hating life.
We stayed a night at a very rustic but very beautiful resort on top of a mountain. That night a retired Dutch anthropologist decided to sit next to me while I was reading. He seemed very nice but he hated Americans and Bush. I didn't get defensive but just sat there and listened to him talk. It was pretty interesting actually.
Then we went to the city Ho, which is 15 miles from my site and will be my local large market. I had heard it was everyone's favorite city in Ghana but so far all cities seemed the same. Ho is different, actually kept clean, spread out, and has a store in it that usually has cheese! There's also a spot called the White House where NGO's from all over come and chill. We met a group from Sweden. That night when we were just about at each others throats we showed up to our hotel and it had a pool. We freaked out and played in in for hours. Other guests took pictures of all the crazy white kids.
Today we toured the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, complete with golf course, high school, and police. Cocoa is serious here, 2nd largest producer in the world but best quality. Then I finally got to come back to my host family. I missed them and the comforts of having your own room.
Most important thing now, the election. I can't describe how awesome it was to be in Africa when the first African American president was elected. With the time difference, and we don't do daylights savings so we're now 5 hours ahead, it was cool to wake up and watch it live at 4 AMish. The people here are so excited about it. I won't get into politics but it was an experience I'll never forget.
I think of you guys a lot and due to medications dream about some of you really randomly (Blake and I made our major league debuts with the Texas Rangers against the Tigers a few nights ago. We were carrying bats like oars to the wrong dugout and Jimmy Leland was like, Umm Danny, that's ours. Blake doesn't play baseball.)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Boti
We had been pretty intense with classes so they decided to give us a field trip. It may have had to do with one of the 2 main presidential candidates coming to our town that day too. As PC we're not allowed to partake in anything to do with the election but we still get to learn about it, it's pretty exciting.
The field trip however was absolutely amazing. We went to Boti Falls. There are 2 huge waterfalls over 30 meters each, into the same pond. Omar and I were the first to jump in despite the signs. About 30 of us ended up going in and it was like kindergarten recess again. We were all just so excited about being completely covered in water and almost cold! It was easily one of the most refreshing and exhilarating things I've ever done, a few of us went into the falls as much as you could. After the swim we went on a 2 hour hike up and down semi mountains through a cave, and up to the top of an umbrella rock, what a view. West Africa has such thick vegetation and it's so green.
That night we got back and the city was still going nuts for the presidential candidate so we decided to have Team Ubroni, white person, take the only basketball court in town. I wish I had taken video tape of them playing. They have seen way too many and1 videos and not enough layup practice. We volunteers didn't lose any of the 10 games we played despite their cheating with scores, 4 steps before every shot or pass and fouls. I showed them what damage Polish Thunder can do down low.
This week they forgot our mail in Accra, that's a low blow so instead I've trekked to the internet cafe a few times. I don't want to spoil myself as I'll probably only be able to go to Ho, the major city near my site, once a week tops to get online. I'm ready for training to be over and become an official PCV, no more of this PCT stuff. Talking to current volunteers it sounds like I really got lucky in my site placement.
Some highlights have been:
*My entire family watching me sew up the rip I got in my pants dancing to Journey at a spot (a guy that can sew isn't as odd to them here but still amusing).
*Whenever the closest volunteer to me, Adam, walks by they call him Daniel. They yell out Obruni usually and I know just enough twi to correct them and say, " My name is not white person, it is Daniel, how would you like it if I called you black person?"
*Adam, Mike, and I went on a 45 minute quest to find FanIce late at night downtown. FanIce is a gift directly from god. It's basicaly frozen frosting that you suck out of a plastic bag.
*my malaria dreams: it's like reality TV every night. I never realize I'm in Africa when I wake up until I trip on my mosquito net.
I miss you guys back home a lot but am really excited about what I'm doing for the next 2+ years. People say that the PC is a lot like being pregnant, at first it's exciting but the first 9 months stink. Then after that it's pure joy.
"You visit East Africa for the scenery and West Africa for the people."
The field trip however was absolutely amazing. We went to Boti Falls. There are 2 huge waterfalls over 30 meters each, into the same pond. Omar and I were the first to jump in despite the signs. About 30 of us ended up going in and it was like kindergarten recess again. We were all just so excited about being completely covered in water and almost cold! It was easily one of the most refreshing and exhilarating things I've ever done, a few of us went into the falls as much as you could. After the swim we went on a 2 hour hike up and down semi mountains through a cave, and up to the top of an umbrella rock, what a view. West Africa has such thick vegetation and it's so green.
That night we got back and the city was still going nuts for the presidential candidate so we decided to have Team Ubroni, white person, take the only basketball court in town. I wish I had taken video tape of them playing. They have seen way too many and1 videos and not enough layup practice. We volunteers didn't lose any of the 10 games we played despite their cheating with scores, 4 steps before every shot or pass and fouls. I showed them what damage Polish Thunder can do down low.
This week they forgot our mail in Accra, that's a low blow so instead I've trekked to the internet cafe a few times. I don't want to spoil myself as I'll probably only be able to go to Ho, the major city near my site, once a week tops to get online. I'm ready for training to be over and become an official PCV, no more of this PCT stuff. Talking to current volunteers it sounds like I really got lucky in my site placement.
Some highlights have been:
*My entire family watching me sew up the rip I got in my pants dancing to Journey at a spot (a guy that can sew isn't as odd to them here but still amusing).
*Whenever the closest volunteer to me, Adam, walks by they call him Daniel. They yell out Obruni usually and I know just enough twi to correct them and say, " My name is not white person, it is Daniel, how would you like it if I called you black person?"
*Adam, Mike, and I went on a 45 minute quest to find FanIce late at night downtown. FanIce is a gift directly from god. It's basicaly frozen frosting that you suck out of a plastic bag.
*my malaria dreams: it's like reality TV every night. I never realize I'm in Africa when I wake up until I trip on my mosquito net.
I miss you guys back home a lot but am really excited about what I'm doing for the next 2+ years. People say that the PC is a lot like being pregnant, at first it's exciting but the first 9 months stink. Then after that it's pure joy.
"You visit East Africa for the scenery and West Africa for the people."
Thursday, October 23, 2008
About a week ago it was pretty rough but now thing's are much better.
The Red Sox losing has really been the only negative thing. I got my ball and gloves out a few nights ago and played catch with Kwocie. For never having played he was pretty good. It felt like back in the day when Dad and I would play catch out in the front yard. I'm making progress in Eve even though instead of saying "I have 3 siblings" I said "I have 3 girlfriends."
I didn't know I was the only accountant here until we went over bookkeeping. It looks like despite sleeping through most my college classes, I still got the just of the topics. The cool thing here is that it's the basics that need improving meaning the stuff I've learned is applicable whereas in the US a lot of it is automatically done.
The days go by quickly, we've already been gone almost a month. I take it one week at a time. Church every Sunday is nice to relax. I do find it hilarious that they even take a second collection here for "a mission." Where the heck do they send their money?
'That's quality you just can't get at home.' Marcus one night when the egg sandwich lady took the oil she put in the pan and put it back in the container for next use, adding flavor.
The Red Sox losing has really been the only negative thing. I got my ball and gloves out a few nights ago and played catch with Kwocie. For never having played he was pretty good. It felt like back in the day when Dad and I would play catch out in the front yard. I'm making progress in Eve even though instead of saying "I have 3 siblings" I said "I have 3 girlfriends."
I didn't know I was the only accountant here until we went over bookkeeping. It looks like despite sleeping through most my college classes, I still got the just of the topics. The cool thing here is that it's the basics that need improving meaning the stuff I've learned is applicable whereas in the US a lot of it is automatically done.
The days go by quickly, we've already been gone almost a month. I take it one week at a time. Church every Sunday is nice to relax. I do find it hilarious that they even take a second collection here for "a mission." Where the heck do they send their money?
'That's quality you just can't get at home.' Marcus one night when the egg sandwich lady took the oil she put in the pan and put it back in the container for next use, adding flavor.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The REAL Ambassador
~Per Dannny for anyone looking to send things~
Some early requests that I forgot to add:
An Eve lesson
My room, complete with The Storm poster and GVSU rowing posters on the other side.
My sister Emma (14) laughing at me like usual
My brother KwOko (8) flexing for you.
Momma Aggie and Me
REAL Ambassador and me, the other kid woulda been sweet though
Some early requests that I forgot to add:
- flavored drink mixes
- instant mac n cheese
- hand sanitizerhard
- copies of pictures
- cookies (boxed)
- books (expensive to ship though)
- computer games (Rollar coaster Tycoon)
- foot powder
- liquid soap and shampoo but may be able to rustle some up here.
Trial malaria blood test, I was shaking so bad when I had to prick myself. Lots of shots lately too.
Internet Cafe, 45 minutes walk from home and takes about an hour to do a blog post. Yahoo sometimes just doesn't work.
An Eve lesson
My room, complete with The Storm poster and GVSU rowing posters on the other side.
My sister Emma (14) laughing at me like usual
My brother KwOko (8) flexing for you.
Momma Aggie and Me
REAL Ambassador and me, the other kid woulda been sweet though
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