Acadia's AFS Blog

"Obruni, obruni, obruni!" (oh-brun-ee), I hear it everywhere, when I walk down the street, drive past in a car, walk out of my host family's door, ect. In Twi (chwi) this means white person. Most of the times children yell it, sing it, scream it at you, but I've been called by adults as "tsssss, Obruni!". Feeling like a celebrity is far from what makes me love Ghana though. In my short week and a half spent here I'm already learning bits of Twi, went swimming in the ocean, played volleyball with Ghanians, become addicted to Alvaro (a pear-tasting soda), have my own rusty bicyle to ride around town and to school (The Dormaa Senior High, starts next week), have had two dresses made for church (huge bright prints!), and have started swallowing fufu instead of chewing. These things would seem simple to me, if I looked at them before my departure, but acclimating to west Africa was harder and more incredible than I ever could have imagined. Things I know so far: Ghanian movies are the most dramatic, loud, low-budget movies I have ever seen. They have the craziest titles too, for example "Three Ladies, One Monkey". People really like it when you speak Twi. (Also, only speaking one language feels terrible the minute you go abroad.) When you eat with your hand, always the right hand, you eat with ALL of your hand. All five fingers. American candy goes over really well here. Soccer (football) is even bigger here then they say it is. "Winter" in Ghana is the hottest summer in Montana. Most houses have running water only on the outside, if at all. Ceiling fans are very much appreciated. Ghanians can fix anything five times faster than anyone I've ever seen. In America it takes five days to send a broken DVD player in and get it back, fixed. Here, give the guy fifteen minutes. Cheap, cheap, cheap. But everythings so beautiful, or handy here that money, as an exchange student, still goes quickly. Washing your clothes by hand requires a good technique if you want to do it right. Fruit is delicious here. Everythings fresh, including the bread, it's so yummy. You can buy almost anything sitting in a tro-tro (taxi-bus), car, or bus at a stop. From toothpaste to soccer balls. From cell phone credit to egg rolls. From Fanice (ice cream) to water bags. Fanice (chocolate maybe, not sure). Fanyogo (strawberry, my favorite). Fanmilk (vanilla). Ghanian ice cream that I'll miss so much ten months from now. Saying you want to be a dancer, most likely the response you'll get will be something like 'huhhhh?" My host family is incredible. My host dad is very nice, open-minded, and is a hard worker (and that means a lot when you're talking about African-style work). My host mother speaks mostly Twi, small amounts of English and I love, love to make her laugh. My host sister, a volunteer from Germany, leaving in October has been really, really helpful. African-style work: My friend Jonas from AFS- Belgium, also living in Dormaa, his host dad works on a poulty farm. From what i hear of their 'schedule' you can find maybe, some sitting down, some eating, walking around, poke at the chickens, sit back down. Dormaa-Ahenkro: Kalispell sized, or Laplace sized. Big in area, but about two or three main roads. It's main business is poultry farming. It's covered in shops, like almost every town or village. Smattered with MTN, Vodaphone, or Tigo phone credit signs. Alomst every house is painted bright red for Vodaphone, brights yellow for MTN or blue for Tigo. Cell phones are hug in Ghana. Everyone has one, normally a large complicated one. The idea that because there's no running water I'd be showering less in not true at all. Showers are taken, twice, three times a day. Kabba and slit, a traditional dress, very hard to put on. Scorpions live in my backyard. Hearing voices from home, like my dad's "Hey kiddo!" makes me cry. Everytime. And i'm not even sad. It's strange what being across the ocean can do to you. Celine Dion and Chuck Norris are heroes here. We have two kittens, they had no names, so I named them Milo (hot chocolate mix they have here), and Fufu (her belly's white, I learned good fufu is whiter). Fast internet is impossible unless you're in Accra. The American dollar exchanges to about 1.4 Ghanian cedi. The money here is really pretty. Postal stamps are really pretty too. Thank you Justin, we'll be old-fashioned and beatiful with our letters. Ghanian names are sometimes impossible to pronounce, unless they're really American, i.e. Jessica, Brittney. Most people are against homosexuality, but men holding hands is very normal. I've learned that Ghana is a growing country. I wish everyone the best at all of my homes and I have more to say, but I'd never be able to type it all. I miss a lot of things. I miss my family, my boyfriend, my friends, showers, nonstop sugar, but all of these things as nice or important as they are this experience is incredible. I wouldn't change it for the world, I only wish i could share it more easily and more frequently. Medase (thank you, i'm not sure on the spelling though) to everyone who helped me get here, is helping me experience and who's encouraging me.