For the past 3 nights, there has been a crusade in town and
we can hear the singing from our bedroom which is a 20min walk away from where
they were holding it. Last night we decided to go and check it out and see what
it was all about. It was insane; it was in a huge field, there were countless
people, and a huge stage with an awesome sound system setup. No wonder the
sound reached our guest house!
We saw Cynthia there, a couple of the kids who live down the
road, and one of the girls we met the first day we went to church here in
Asamankese. It’s kinda nice to see familiar faces wherever you go. The doctors
from the crusade are staying with us tonight.
Last night, I got about 2 hours of sleep thanks to these
lovely braids that don’t even look lovely. They really hurt to lie on, and
unfortunately since they are on my head, there is no getting around that one. Oh
well, I will stick it out.
I decided to wear my African skirt today; why not with all
my braids? Apparently the lady who sewed it, did it wrong and Auntie Jo was set
on trying to fix it on me. Unfortunately she chose to do it outside in the compound
and I was most certainly not wearing shorts underneath in this heat. I almost
forgot to warn her as she started to undress me right then and there.
African Skirt and Braids |
I wore this same skirt last Sunday to her church, and
apparently some ladies in the church mentioned that it was done wrong. They
told her that they should show me how to dress properly. She told them to shutup.
Petra and I laughed at that one because she is such a sweet old lady. She
responded to us laughing at her with, “What? If you don’t tell them to shutup
and mind their own business, they will keep prying. They always pry.” Haha,
oooh Auntie Jo, how we love you. That was the day we went to the front of their
church to be introduced too. I’m not the least bit embarrassed.
Kujo, the supervisor for the school, wanted us to come and
visit him at his home and meet his family today. So, this morning, Belinda showed
us where it was and we took a taxi. We noticed that Belinda had called the taxi
(this isn’t normal here) and when we asked about it, she said that it was her
friend who was driving and charged less for the drop. (I will explain
transportation in just a moment). Anyways, we got to Kujo’s and met his wife
and his mother, but he wasn’t there yet. We were told to come back in the
afternoon, and that his wife would be making us lunch. I was a little worried
about that one.
We walked home and I got a ton of compliments on my braids
from everyone on the street. They all asked me if it was my natural hair and
said that I looked BEAUTIFUL. At least someone likes it right? The girl that we
always buy FanMilk from really liked it too.
Me, Kujo's wife, Kujo's mother, Kujo, Petra |
So. Transportation. I will explain so that it makes more
sense when I talk about this.
-There is the trotro. It costs 50 pesawas to take in
Asamankese. You just hiss at the driver and they will stop and you get on, and
get off whenever and wherever you want. It is a fixed price. (And when I say
hiss, yes, I mean hiss. It was really hard to get used to because it sounds
super rude, but that’s actually how people get each other’s attention around
here! They won’t respond if you are yelling at them, because they are actually
listening for the hiss. I am completely used to it now though, and you just
turn and look for where the hiss came from and know that they want your
attention. It is VERY rude to ignore it. So ya, when you want a car or a
trotro, you just hiss at them, and they will stop. The drivers are listening
for it from their cars.)
-There is a passenger taxi. They just drive up one road, and
cost 50 pesawas and you just get off where you need to on the road that they
are driving. You can’t take it to specific places off the main roads.
-There is a drop taxi. You can take that anywhere and tell
them to drop you off in a specific place, but that costs 2 cedis. You just get a
drop. (That’s what they call it here).
So now that THAT makes more sense, in order to get to Kujo’s
house, you need a drop. Belinda gave us Isaac’s number (the taxi driver) and he
said that we can call him and he will bring us wherever we want for just 50
pesawas. Sweeett!
So while we were there this morning, a lady came up and
wanted to meet us. She asked our names, and when I told her mine she struggled
over the ‘r’ and ‘l’ and then said she would go drink tea and try again. Ha.
Everyone has such a hard time with it.
When we were walking home, we told Belinda that we wanted
scarves for our heads; especially to get these braids out of my face. She said
she knew of a place and I thought she meant she would take us to some shop.
Nope. We followed her through this old back alley to a complex and into someone’s
house. I guess the lady sells bandanas and scarves in a bucket on her head usually,
so now we know where to go if we want more! Belinda helped us tie them on our
heads properly too. It feels so good to get my hair out of my face.
We went back to Kujo’s house for lunch and his wife served
us Jalof rice. That is basically really spicy rice with vegetables in it. Not
such a fan, and my mouth was on FIRE, but we were pretty much out of water. So
I did something bad. I drank the bagged water that they sell here. I read in
our Ghana book that it is okay, but I was advised against it from someone else.
Oh well, my mouth was about to die from the spices. So I downed the whole
thing.
I am still fine now...
These are some of the children from Kujo's compound |
There are a ton of children that live in Kujo’s complex. His
kids are all grown up, but he and his wife had ‘adopted’ some of the kids from
around there as their own if the parenting situation wasn’t the greatest. They
were adorable.
One little girl, Safua, just stole my heart. Her mother died
at the end of last year, so she and her little brother Kujo were left with
their dad, but they pretty much spend all their time with Kujo and his wife.
Such a sweet little girl.
Safua and I |
We taught the kids lots of English songs; Old MacDonald had
a Farm, Ring around the Rosie, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And they taught us
a few new ones of their own.
Kujo taught us a board game; it was called “Luto.” It is the
exact same as the game “Sorry” back home if any of you have ever played that.
Thunderstorm <3 |
The sky started getting really dark as we left Kujo’s house,
and as soon as we got home we had a beautiful, African thunderstorm.
Oh Carolyn! You have given me heart palpitations this morning re: drinking the bagged water! I do hope you are okay. Lovely that y'all went to Kujo's...I could just taste the spicy jollof as I read! His wife Doris is lovely - she made the dresses for the group that came in May 2011...did you get the skirt fixed? Loved the point by point of your 5 hour ordeal...why do they make it so painful? They think your hair is so slippery that if they don't tighten it, it will all slip off! Trust me, you could get it done in Accra and feel like someone was giving you the most awesome massage on the planet. Of course its more expensive but hey...
ReplyDeleteBTW, you do look okay so no worries. Just don't keep it in for more than two weeks okay? And if you need to take painkillers...do so!
Picture with Safua is absolutely gorgeous.You have to turn it into a poster. Melissa's are so popular on campus, she did a sort of gallery so I can definitely see your pics in that way...beautiful! So who's Abena and who's Yaa? (Petra spelled it Ja...is that dutch or something?)
Haha, we feel fine after drinking the water. We won't do it again.
DeleteRe: Doris: she said she would make us some dresses as well if we bring fabric to her, and she will fix the skirt later I think as wel
Re: Hair: I won't keep it in too long, I don't think I will be able to stand it for more than 2 weeks anyways haha
Re: Safua: she is beautiful. such a sweet girl!
I am Abena (Tuesday) and Petra is Yaa (Thursday)...and I don't think it's a Dutch thing, I think she just spelt it wrong haha
Carolyn: Totally enjoying reading your blog - it's a wonderful description of the experience and makes me feel like I'm there! You paint a wonderful picture of a place I've never been...it feels very authentic.
ReplyDeleteAnd "ja" is a dutch thing. I've pretty well taken it out of my vocab...but it sneaks in on as a default every once in a while. :)