Having moved into the international student hostel (ISH) I wake up to sounds of the "night market" across the street as well as taxi cabs or shuttles beeping in the distance. The market is a smaller version of most markets here, only there is less fresh produce and there isn't stands with dried out mystery meat or rodents (AKA grass-cutters). The night market is where I buy my dorm room necessities and my daily meals.
The food here is spicy and I love it. So far my favorite meal is called "Red Red." It consists of beans, palm oil, chili sauce, rice, salad and plantains (all for less than $1). I am having a hard time "trying" to eat the meat here, largely because I can hardly decifer what it is and I couldn't even handle the taste of meat in the States. My friend Michael told me that "Joseph" is a term for cat meat and it's (quote) "so, so, so good as long as you don't have a pet cat." He also said "Alpatro" is goat meat (anything from the liver, knee joint and skin, and probably more...). They put alpatro in many of their stews. Just the sound of these two meats alone freaks me out. Not to mention some of my friends ate an unknown meat the other day which turned out to be an animal's tongue! I feel like I should be eating these "delicacies" in order to experience the culture completely, yet at the same time I don't want my digestive system to whack out on me (because it's totally not already...). However, tonight I will try fufu (a raw maze and cassava dough) that you dip into a palm nut stew. Oh and while I am on the subject of food, the Ghanaians LOVE their palm oil (One meal I ate gave me orange fingernails from the heaping amounts of oil!).
Aside from the spicy stews and mystery meats, the country offers so much spunk and gratitude. Most Ghanaians share a common devotion to God, whom they celebrate His existence through dancing, singing and speaking in tongues. This morning I was awakened by a text message from a new friend that said (word for word), "Gudmorning. Hope u r good by His grace. Just to tell u I care and wish u a blessed day with unmerited favour of God." While this was a sweet gesture, I thought to myself that I just met this guy and already he's sending me the Lord's blessings! It's interesting to see how sacred religion is in a developing country (whereas the US has moved in the opposite direction). One Ghanaian couldn't believe that not everyone in America was religious, let alone goes to church, since "we" are the people that brought the Lord to them. I find myself wanting to argue with them or tell them to stop forcing Jesus Christ onto my beliefs, but there's no use. Ghanaians love God and most of them love Jeses. There's no way to avoid it, but just to accept it (I just wish they were more accepting of other practices).
My roommate, Edna, is Catholic. She listened to me (and stare blankly) as I rambled on about my collective beliefs and practices. Yet, she is one of the few that has accepted the fact that I believe that I can have direct contact with the Gods, instead of a messenger. But enough of that! Edna has not moved into our room yet, but she comes by to visit me during the transition. She's Ghanaian. Grew up in Kumasi, went to boarding school in Cape Coast and now she's completing her fourth year in economics. I think Edna will be great to live with because she'll teach me more about the culture (maybe even more Twi) and she'll introduce me to more Ghanaians. Edna's already promised to teach me some traditional recipes and she'll help me bargain at different markets in Accra. I look forward to learning more about and from her.
So far, I have met a good handful of people, but I am steadily making new friends as I wonder about during the day by myself. Clearly, I am more approachable when I am not in a "possy of obrunis," so I have been venturing around solo, to increase my local interactions. While registering for classes, I have met other peers in my classes. I have even had a few interactions now where guys come up to my face and speak their native tongue. I slightly panic, then laugh, then try and say something back, but the only thing that comes out is, "I don't know what you are saying!" Then they laugh at me. I hope to learn more of the local languages here, between Twi, Ga, Fante and Pidgin, I never know where to begin or what language to use as a come back! So I have made a few personal goals I'd like to accomplish while being here (learning Twi is one of them) and I have "faith" that I'll achieve them throughout my duration here.
OH! As far as pictures go... They are such a pain to upload, so I might have to go to a hotel with high speed internet to attach them. But please be patient, they will come!
