SPF 100+

Sometimes I meet my NGO to tour a med school at 7:30 a.m. An hour later, we walk all the way back to where I started to tour the school of agriculture, which is right by my house. I was expecting to tour an anatomy lab, but instead I looked at pigs for an hour. When we finally got to the medical school after walking for another 30 minutes, the dean was not aware that we were visiting. Hmmmm....oh the organization. Love it. To top it off, I still got a sunburn through two applications of 100+ sunblock. The African sun definitely does not agree with my skin. It's impossible to keep even waterproof sunscreen on since it's so hot. My host family always says that I look really nice when I get some color, but I keep telling them that red is not the color I want to be lol. I also have a rash on my arm from running into a cactus yesterday...maybe it's just Africa in general that is not good for my skin :).

"Who Wants to Be Rich?"

This is the name of a popular game show in Ghana; it's pretty much the same as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the States but with 80s music and hair. I was watching it with my host family the other night (after the football game, of course!) and was thinking that most of the people here are better off not being rich. People here just don't have much, but I think people here are happier, as a whole, than people in the U.S. I met a 71 year-old American woman at the clinic this morning who has been living here for 11 years-- she retired to Cape Coast. I told her that I could understand wanting to move here since it's a beautiful area and she laughed. She said even though it was a dirty and unhygienic city, she loved the people. I can definitely understand this after spending a few weeks here! Cape Coast is like a city that feels like a small town, because the people are so friendly. I can't go anywhere without seeing students I've taught in the schools now (Madame Sarah! How are you doing???... ha I think it's really funny that they call me Madame). When we're with Lawrence, the Ghanaian ProWorld staff member, he stops to talk to someone he knows at least every 5 minutes. They are just so social! I love it! However, Ghana could definitely benefit from more resources to improve hygiene and some hygiene education. Today on my way to town, the taxi driver just stopped on the side of the road to pee. Not something that would happen in the states lol, but when there aren't any public bathrooms, you've gotta do what you've gotta do I guess. And, even though I think the goats and chickens and pigs that just hang out in the streets are funny, there is a reason that, in developed countries, animals are confined to farms. By the way, I have now learned how to say animal names in Fante now... my host sister is quizzing me tonight! I never stop working here... if I'm not at schools or in the clinic, I'm learning Fante or football or making lesson plans! :) But it's good to be busy!

Coconut Grove

We had a girls weekend at a resort near Elmina called Coconut Grove this weekend. It was pretty amazing. The rooms have warm, running water. The shower was amazing. And our room was right by the beach. I slept so well all weekend with the sound of the ocean (minus the sound of the morning announcements over loudspeaker by my host family's house!). There is also a pool, which is pretty great since the tide is too high to swim much in the ocean. This is by far the cleanest beach I've seen since I've been to Ghana, though. I am also a fan of the free breakfast with coffee :). There was a huge group here from an accounting firm in Nigeria. They were all pretty nice, although I didn't socialize much since I kinda wanted to relax this weekend. Yesterday morning we got up and rode horses on the beach. So fun! I will say, saddles in Africa are not quite like saddles in the U.S....I am pretty sore today haha. But it was worth it! The horse trainer said that he had been working with horses for 15 years. The horse I rode was apparently the fastest runner but the slowest walker, so the trainer kept having to make him trot to keep up with the rest. Ha. At breakfast yesterday morning I also met a really interesting couple from the U.S. The husband is originally from Ghana but teaches at Penn State. He and his wife travel to Africa regularly (their son, an architect, is even building them a house here). The woman writes about African food and is doing research about the nutritional value of traditional dishes. I am really excited to look at her website...I've noticed at the clinic that hypertension is a huge problem here, but it's tough to counsel people on what to eat since I don't know much about the local food. They also opened a university in Nigeria last summer and are spending the last few weeks of the summer teaching there. Anyway, the weekend was really fun, especially since we got to watch the World Cup game on a big screen last night. This is such a great place.. I will definitely remember it if I ever get a chance to come back to Ghana!

Football

In Ghana, football is serious business. At 4 a.m., you can already find games on the dirt fields by my house. Don't bother asking people what their favorite sport is, because the answer will always be football. Everyone plays, and everyone watches. Last week when Ghana played Germany, I think all of Cape Coast was holding its breath to see if Ghana would advance. After every goal that Ghana scores, there is a group (maybe pack is a better word...) who run from where I live to the market that's over a mile away blowing vuvuzelas and yelling. It's intense. My host mother and sister always sit and watch the opening of the games but then leave the room while Ghana is playing since they get so nervous. Emmanuel  just coaches the team through the TV. He also quizzes me on player names and team strategies after every game (even the ones Ghana doesn't play). I don't watch much soccer in the states, but apparently I will be an expert by the time I get home. In the first rounds he also made me calculate the chances of each team advancing...we had to talk about all of the hypotheticals. So funny. He says that he will bye me a Coke for every game that Ghana wins. I was heckled all last week about the U.S./Ghana game. I have heard at least a hundred times that Ghana beat the U.S. in the last world cup. A taxi driver told me last week that I shouldn't support either team... "if Ghana loses, you can be a lot sad, but if U.S. loses, you can be a little sad. You have to be patriotic." My host family taught me to say I am a Ghanaian in Fante last week..I decided that since I'm Ghanaian for the summer, I have to support Ghana, and, I'll have to admit, I was really excited that they won last night. The other volunteers and I are at the beach for the weekend, so we got to watch it on a projector at the resort. Everyone was going crazy... it was a really exciting game! Emmanuel also told me that he was going to shave my head if U.S. beat Ghana, so I think things worked in my favor :).

My Summer Family

My host family is Ghana is so great! We have settled into a daily routine. I wake up between 5 and 6 a.m. every morning and come out to find my host sister ironing clothes. We say good morning (in Fante, now, of course), she and asks if I slept well. Then they warm up my water for a shower and I eat breakfast. Yesterday I got avacado (they call them pears) and toast...so yummy! We leave the house around 7. Elizabeth, my host mother, always says, "Sarah! You are looking beautiful today!" Then we walk down the hill to the taxi station, which sometimes takes awhile since we talk to all of the neighbors on the way (the neighbors all call me Efuwa since that is my name in Fante...it means Friday born). When I return home in the evenings, Elizabeth always says, "You are welcome!" and we talk about our days. She is a kindergarten teacher and has 60 in her class this session... I don't know how she does it! She is retiring next December because she will be 60, but she says she will miss her kids. Then she tells me to go watch soccer with Emmanuel. Last night the third African team was eliminated, so now they are even more nervous about the Ghana game tonight! My host sister, Pat, usually gets home around 8 since she teaches and then works at a shop. She and Emmanuel teach me Fante every night... I'm starting to remember some of it haha. The pronunciation is so hard! Ghanaians don't normally sit together and eat at the table, but they usually bring me my dinner to eat while I was soccer. Elizabeth goes to bed around 8 since she gets up at 3:30 every morning. Then Pat usually goes to bed to work on her lesson plans or read, and Emmanuel always stays up late to watch TV. They are going to teach me how to cook some Ghanaian dishes this weekend when I get back from Coconut Grove. Elizabeth is also having the seamstress come over to take my measurements. Mom, if you're reading this, don't forget that she wants your measurements, too, to have something made for you :). I am having to get used to checking in with someone every time I leave the house, but I'm usually so tired at the end of the day that I don't want to stay out late anyway. Last night Pat was worried that I had walked home in the dark, but I assured her that I had a taxi drop me off at the door. The driver didn't even know the area of town that I lived in (even though he said he did when we waved him down), so I had to direct him all the way to the house... my host fam was really impressed haha. I think I'm good at directions here because everyone goes by landmarks. If the streets are named, no one knows the name of the roads; and people definitely don't use directions (NSEW) here!

I love that there is such an emphasis on family here. Some of that may be from necessity. Most of the people I talk to have never traveled out of Cape Coast. In some of the rural villages, even 30 minutes away, some of the people have never come to the shore or seen the ocean. Children either live with their parents or with their spouses. Pat and Emmanuel are both in their late twenties and live at home, and their sisters and brothers are all married. Most people can't believe that I live by myself away from home. I thought that people just didn't travel because they don't have the resources (which is the case some of the time), but even some of the wealthier people I've met in the community don't travel because they don't have a desire too. Although I guess if I lived right by the coast I might not want to leave either :).

Tro-tros, Taxis, & (Ghana) Time

Public transportation here is an experience, to say the least. The taxi drivers have a special bond with each other. At the taxi stations, they take turns using signs for the tops of their cars that say where they are going. They also don't mind driving on the side of the road to cut each other off. It's really no big deal if they just give a warning honk. So, if you get a taxi at the station, you have to wait until it fills up before it will leave. If you get a shared taxi on the road, the driver will drive really slowly and honk at people until he finds enough people to fill it up. If you get a drop taxi, you have to negotiate the price, because, if you are white, they will rip you off (unless you're me and keep a list of how much it should cost to go everywhere in town...ha). The taxis are also colorfully decorated. Many of them include stickers on the back about God. My favorite so far if "For Give Me." I'm not really sure if they meant "forgive me" or if they want people to give them something. Probably the second. I've also seen a lot of taxis with golf balls stuck to the window in these suction cupped golf ball holders. Hmmmm. And don't expect to be able to open the door from the inside, because most of the door handles are broken. Perhaps the most surprising thing to me about the taxis is that a lot of them don't know how to drive a stick shift, but they do it for a living! It's an especially bumpy ride when a driver who can't use a stick shift well decides to take a "short cut" through some of the unpaved roads. Sometimes when I tell the driver where to stop he tells me that it's not where I want to go. Example: "Could you stop at the Yes F.M. junction please?" "No, you want to go to Old Site." Sometimes the drivers are frustrating, but I've also had some of my best conversations with taxi drivers (who are, incidentally, all men...I've never seen a woman taxi driver). As interesting as the taxis are, though, the tro-tros are even crazier. They are basically big vans that the drivers and their assistants cram as full of people as possible. However, if a taxi or tro-tro has to pass a police checkpoint, they will make someone get out and then walk or ride in another vehicle across the border so as not to be fined. It's kind of a surprise to see a police checkpoint for the first time. It's basically just guys in camo standing in the middle of the street with massive guns. Anyway, the last tro-tro I rode in had a hole in the floor (probably from all of the off roading). The guy who takes the money was just hanging out the side of the van...he didn't bother to slide the door closed for a few blocks. It's really amazing how fast they can go, too. The redeeming factor: it only costs like twenty cents for a twenty minute trip. So economical!

Ghanaians are not the most timely people I have ever met. Take this morning. I went to a school to teach. I had no idea what I was teaching, because the headmaster and all of the science teachers were out when I went to meet with them last week...twice. Then, I waited an hour to teach a class about respiratory disease before I had another 3 hour break. Nice. The thing is, none of the administrators know the class schedules. Before I left for the day, I made one of them take me to every class and write down the times that I would be teaching...we'll see if that works out. Anyway, since Ghanaians are not exactly punctual, I hear a lot about getting caught in traffic. Since public transportation is so crazy, they all think it's a great excuse. Except that it's never taken me more than 30 minutes to get anywhere in town. Lesson learned: I now keep a book with me at all times so I have something to do while I wait!

Babies and Beaches

Babies and beaches are my two favorite things about this country. The children here are beautiful. Every morning when I walk down the hill to the taxi station I get at least three hugs. Today a girl name Cynthia asked me if we could be friends. Um... of course! I love that the women carry their babies tied to their backs with batik cloth. We went last Saturday to a village to build cement blocks for a school, and there was a woman with a baby on her back in the tro-tro-- he was snoring! So cute! I have no idea how the kids can sleep through all of the noise, but they do. I routinely see babies sleeping while their moms clean or cook. After we were finished working on the school, we had to sit and wait for someone to come pick us up. This group of kids sat on the bench by me. At first they were really shy. This little girl would inch closer to me and eventually worked up the courage to touch my arm. She was trying to rub off my freckles cause she didn't know what they were! Ha it was so cute! After our mini project, we went to Abanze Beach Resort. It was like $40 U.S. dollars to spend a night somewhere on the beach with hot running water, a tv, and three great meals (lobster pasta and fresh squeezed juice...amazing!). It was a really nice break from the noise of the city...and I no one in the house woke up at 3 a.m. to turn the radio on, so I actually slept in until 7.