3:45PM, on a Thursday

11.17.09
Despite all my best efforts, I managed to eat or drink something disagreeable yesterday that had me in a wretched state of digestive sickness for a good 10+ hours last night. Once my host family discovered my condition, they were as supportive and helpful as my own parents would have been – asking to take me to the hospital or at least bring me some medicine, making up an oral rehydration solution for me, bringing me tea and toast, etc. In addition, Lawrence called to check on me, as did Sally, Steve and Victoria (who also came to see me before she went on her way to Symi). It’s doubly awful to be sick when you are away from home, but it was very touching to have so many people concerned about me. I consider the showing of support indicative of the value they place on family and community here. On a happier note, Fred’s aunt (who I visited in the hospital) has recovered limited mobility on her right side and has been released from the hospital. She continues to improve.

Here are some more notes about differences in Ghanaian culture and living, since I have been told my observations on these are interesting to read.

Home Décor: I don’t know if this is common to most Ghanaian families, but mine has a penchant for fake flowers. I counted 20 bouquets in the living room alone, a space no more than 10’ by 12’. I have also seen a number of shops devoted entirely to the sale of fake flowers, which leads me to suspect its widespread popularity. As far as furniture goes, much of it looks old and worn (particularly living room sets) but is perfectly serviceable. Spring mattresses don’t seem to exist, just foam. Most interiors look very dated and mismatched to me, mixing the fashions of each decade from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Crime: The most prevalent form of crime in this area seems to be theft. Steve told me that the building next to Symi was broken into last night via the roof, and a large number of computers, along with 4000 cedis in a safe, were lifted by the thieves. Lawrence told us they are much more likely to be killed upon capture rather than subjected to judicial processes, the reason being that most thieves in Ghana are armed and ready to kill anyone who stands in the way of their heists. Thus, immediate annihilation is considered an appropriate consequence for such (assumed) would-be killers. As a side note, I have never felt unsafe here in any way, nor have I ever heard as much as a street-fight.

Language and Greetings: I have had 3 Fante lessons now and am coming along pretty well. Some of the constructions are terribly lengthy though. For example, the month of May in Fante is Esusɔwaketseaba (pronounced ay-soo-saw-wah-keht-say-ah-bah), and the number 38,000 is mpemeduesaebiasa (m-pay-may-doo-ay-sah-ay-bee-ah-sah). Subject-verb agreement is also very difficult. There are 4 different ways to say “I” – me, mi, mu, and mo, depending on the last vowel in the verb you are trying to conjugate. And of course, there are arbitrary exceptions to the rules (what language is complete without that?).

People here try to stop me on the street any way they can from yelling “White lady!” (never meant to be offensive, simply a statement of fact) to touching my arm to following me down the street until I answer or they give up. Often it is someone trying to sell me something (all white people are generally viewed as “rich” and targeted in the markets), sometimes it is a man trying to get a date or phone number, and on occasion it is someone who is simply interested in where I come from and what I am doing here. I am told it is just the friendly nature of Africans to approach strangers, even if there is a good chance they will never meet again. I am probably considered rude for not responding, but I can only stop my progress so many times… Sometimes when I do talk to someone, they will continue to speak Fante to me no matter how many times and ways I try to indicate my ignorance of the language. They LOVE when you speak a little Fante to them though, even if all you can say is thank you.

Noise and Smells: I have to admit, these are two of my least favorite things about Ghana so far. I wake up at about 8AM every day to the sound of drumming, which lasts for 20-30 minutes. I think it comes from a neighboring church (the church density here outshines even Wheaton). Throughout the day and often into the night, I hear the sounds of roosters and sheep, buzzsaws and hammers, incessant car horns, crying babies, playing children, people calling to one another down the street, and of course, intermittent drumming. Also, the more evangelical/revivalist preachers enjoy taking to the streets with elaborate speaker systems and hooking themselves up to a microphone to “spread the word” at ear-shattering decibels for literally hours on end, starting as early as 5AM and continuing as late as 10PM. Occasionally a car similarly decked out with enormous speakers will inch down the street at about 2MPH, blaring African music that I assume has something to do with Jesus, as most music here does. Needless to say, they do not have noise ordinances in Cape Coast. Yet no one seems bothered by the constant ruckus, which I think is just another part of what they consider to be community.

As for the smells, the open sewers always provide a faint aroma of human waste that the nose adjusts to surprisingly quickly, but I still experience bouts of nausea when I pass a particularly pungent area. The odors of livestock are not so prominent in town but are more noticeable around Symi, where a host of goats, sheep, chickens, roosters, cats and dogs roam freely. The car fumes are terribly noxious whether you are inside or outside of them. But the worst has to be the burning – mostly trash, sometimes just the grass. I see little fires by the roadside all the time, with no one appearing to be in attendance (although I have been assured this is not the case). A couple times now, though, I have endured absolutely enormous fires belching smoke over the town, covering everything in a suffocating haze. Unfortunately, my house lacks air conditioning, and open windows (that are engineered to never fully close) are the only means of ventilation, so my room is often briefly perfumed with the smell of trash ablaze.

Lastly, here are a few more photos I have taken, top to bottom. I have made them a little bigger this time:
Kitchen
Dried (?) Fish
Kitchen
Hallway
Bathroom (tub out of sight to the left)
Eating Area
Living Room
Living Room
Home Décor
Patio
Entrance to Property
Cattle on Main Street
Cattle on Main Street