the last few weeks have been quite challenging in terms of technology and achieving a means of communication beyond smoke signals. i am doing quite well - however - ghana telecom has been experiencing some sort of overhaul, thus i have had no internet access or cell phone. i am writing from a 5 star hotel lobby on the hottest day of my life.
imagine me: b.o., perspiration, with a dash of irritability. hard to believe, i know.
this week i was forced to switch from onetouch network to MTN - which is unfortunately less reliable, but the lesser of two evils. i can now be reached at +233 0240876867. i am sorry for any worries this may have caused. the circumstances were beyond my control and i lost track of time in the heat + midterms. it won't happen again.
i have been swamped with midterms. they completely snuck up on me. the pace of life here is such that you time flies, but it feels like you're just moseying along. i'm losing my city girl habits and traded them in for penguin paced strolls and GST (ghanaian standard time).
i have managed to travel a bit in the last few weeks. before the tech fall out, i posted pictures on facebook of a trip i took to anamabo beach. it is possibly the most beautiful place i have been in my whole life: (oh roni and your use of absolutes! but this is serious!) white sandy beaches, pristine waters, wonderful company, and delicious eats! i can't really ask for anything more. amanda and i befriended a gentleman by the name of abbas. he is a great friend, totally sweet, works in computers, and has a car. (!) it's much easier to take day trips by personal car than by tro-tro, so we're being spoiled by him. thanks to this guy, we're hooked and can't wait to go again!i attended my first funeral in ghana. my dear friend osei's sister passed away while giving birthlast month. both she and the baby were lost. in ghana, funerals are quite different than what i'm used to. i had read a little about what to expect, but it certainly did not prepare me for the experience.
amanda was my date and we were the lone oborunis. we took a tro-tro to mallem junction in the heat and traffic. the journey lasted about an hour. when we arrived we were overwhelmed with introductions to osei's entire gigantic muslim family -- including his amazing mother Rahima. i am completely smitten with her and pretty much all of his aunties and cousins. wonderful, wonderful women.
so, attire is really REALLY important at funerals. traditionally everyone wears black, red, and/or brown -- however for the death of an older person, people generally wear white. monica (the sister) was 33 so everyone wore black and/or red. the cloths are gorgeous and it's quite something to see a sea of people dressed in traditional African wear of the same color. it meant a lot to his family that i was wearing appropriate traditional clothing.
at the ceremony the husband's family and wife's family ate seperately, but near eachother. we shared banku, tilapia and stew under a tree. while eating, we practiced our twi and i'm actually getting better each day. language is such a HUGE part of culture here and from what i gather, it's a huge gesture to make efforts with the language. i am loving it, even though it's really intimidating at times.
when we finished eating and greeting, the families joined to celebrate monica's life and discuss logistics. we entered the common space from the right and greeted at least a hundred family members in formation around to the left. we then sat under a shelter for almost 7 hours listening to high life and talking. it was exhausting. who knew sitting in the heat could be so draining!?! the children came to visit us oborunis and made adorable attempts to speak english with us. we surprised them with our twi and taught them the hokey pokey! beyond cute.
dancing is big at funerals. the families dance to certain songs and honor different kin of the deceased. we danced with osei's family which was intense. people were wailing. and i mean wailing. there was even a hired mourner who was there to wail and mourn for everyone. it was especially hard to see Rahima cry. we danced around in a huddle holding each other. it was beautiful and sad.
i befriended two women named ama and yaa (thursday born - like me!) and they called us to dance (saa) with them. the four of us danced for the 100 + at the funeral and really tore it up. we utilized all the moves we picked up in dance class and surprised everyone there with our traditional dance moves. amanda and i hear it a lot that we are the first oboruni's that can dance "like black girls" and amanda consistently replies with "that's cause' we mexiCANS!" everyone thanked us over for our performance and said it meant so much to them that we honored monica in such a way. osei said it was the perfect thing we could have done for his sister.
after an entire weekend at the funeral and i am even more behind in my work. my graduate seminar is the best thing that has ever happened to me, but also a tremendous amount of work. this is serious. like more intense than my senior seminar. i have my term paper due this friday o the tune of 20 pages about constructions of gender and sexuality in african societies. i'm kicking it's @$$, but it's no joke. i will post a reading list from this course and i promise it will blow your mind. it's incredible. akosua adomako ampofo (my prof) is a lot like anjali (my fave prof from ucsc) so i'm in heaven.
i have so much more to write about but i'm out of time.
coming soon: challenges of group projects, country music phenomena, internship plans, and life after university in ghana.
ja bless.
