Ramblings 14 Sept 2008

October 6, 2008 at 9:55 am (Adjusting, Ghana, Peace Corps, Volunteer)
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Ramblings

I can’t believe I haven’t written anything in over a week. The only business I have is self-made. I been reading. This time a story of the Mau Mau period in Kenya set just days before the Uhuru. Uhuru is when Kenya gained independance. The story goes between the present and the Emergeny when Kenya was fighting for independence. It is called “A Grain of Wheat” by Ngugi  Wa Thiong’o. It was first published in 1967, four years after Kenyan independence.

Now I am reading “The Fate of Africa; A History of Fifty Years of Independence” by Martin Meredith. This book was published in 2005 and received good reviews all around. I bought it for an overview of contemporary African history.  I am reading this book knowing that Meredith, an Englishman, has a certain bias towards a continent his countrymen colonized.  With that in mind I am enjoying learning about a continent I had very little knowledge of before. There are echos of the two books of fiction I have read in the parts about Senegal and Kenya. Meredith prefers to focus on the post colonial actrocities instead of those perpetuated by the colonizers that lead up to the movement for African independence.

I have also been taking photographs. For Jeanette I tried to take some photos of little yellow butterfiles. I have been learning the landscape and how to photograph dark faces. Fill flash! The flowers are out but they are so very small. My macro setting on my Canon rebel does a pretty good job of letting me get close enough. Yesterday I learned women around the world share common traits. I was on the savanah, taking photos of a favorite spot. A women walked along the path with a load of wood on her head. I greeted her and we communicated using my baby buili. Then I pantomimed taking her photos and asked if was all right. AIYA! she said  shaking her head and hand violently. Then she indicated her clothing and said “Kan Nala!” Like many American women she said “I am not dressed up enough for you to take my photo!” Literally she said  “not pretty.” I respected her wishes and hope to one day have enough buili to tell her that I wanted her as she was.

This morning I took photos of the boys dormitory construction project. On man spoke english very well and asked me where I was from and about America. I am not sure that I can educate even the people in this small village that America is not a place where everyone is rich and happy. I did try to explain yes they would get big money for construction work in America but they would also pay big money for everything they needed in America.  They were working very hard. They were using pick axes to dig trenches for the foundation of the new boys dormitory. I hope they were working early in the morning to aviod the heat of the day.

Goats. I can’t explain how happy the goats make me especially the newborns. They…. its…. they BOUNCE! They do and no just forwards but sideways and backwards. They are very spooky and I never mean to spook them but if I do the will jump inches into the air and bounce ff in whatever direction is away from me, regardless of the direction they were headed. And when I try to imitate their bleets and cries they come then look at me so strangley.

A cat has adopted me. She is a small grey tabby. So very affetionate. In the morning when I open my door she comes and cries until I come out. I do feed her some leftovers but she really likes me to sit on the cement and pat her. I have not heard her purr yet. I wonder if she can because when she is rubbing against me or I am patting her she seems very happy.

I am enjoying the last few days before school starts. Students will arrive tommorow. They will clean for a few days to a week then classes will start. Yes I am nervous.

Internet access is sketchy in town, mostly due to transportation issues. The day I had some time to spend checking out the internet cafe my bus came and I felt I had to get on. The buses are unpredictable so I take one when one is there. Lucky for me the internet cafe is right at the bus stop so I can go in and know when a bus is there. Using the internet cafe in town is one of my goals for the next week.

Today Ghanian cuisine met Mexican-Amercan.  At lunch I had Kenkey and salsa. The salsa had tomato paste as the base but I did have lime, onion, garlic and one small tomato, It was pretty tasty. If I add sugar to the tomato paste it’s a good base for sauces and salsa.  Then this evening I made garlic texas toast, refried beans and at most of the rest of the salsa. That was pretty good too.

I eat vegetarian quite often. There is canned tuna and I get a can aweek. it’s expensive 1 ghana cedi and 40 pesewas. Consider I can buy three whole fish for 1 Ghana Cedi and make three meals to the one I make out of the tuna. The tuna is in oil and is not albacore white that’s for sure! But with mayo and salt on some tea bread or sugar bread it feels almost like home!

I have tried another canned fish. Didn’t like it much. You could eat the bones but it just felt weird to me to eat them.

Another reason I eat vegetarian often is that the first time I bought beef they were slaughtering the cow right there in front of me. It was pretty grusome.  But really this cow had a much better life than almost any cow in America, They are truly free range. Usually the children are the herders. They bring the cow to pasture. Sometimes that pasture is right next to the computer lab at my school. The cows graze and then the kids check on them and bring them home.  But none the less I have a hard time thinking of going back to get more of “the beef” as they say here.

Goats on the other hand are tied to a stake in the pasture. They are more likely to wander off and to get lost but they have a long rope and really are not confined. Some goats roam around the house as well. The new borns are not tied at all because they stay right with the mother or near the goat house.

Chicken is another story all together. you buy it whole and either slaughter it and feather it yourself or have the butcher do it. He will also butcher it. Then you can keep it in your fridge or freezer but I don’t have a fridge or freezer yet. The cold store is supposed to have chicken pieces but i have yet to go there when they do. Chickens and guinnie fowl are also truly free range. They wander around the yard, the corn, the peanuts and any other fields they want. They return to the correct coup because the owners do feed them some grain to get them to come back.

I am very close to the food I eat. Barbara Kinsolver and her family should have come here for there year of eating locally.

-vc

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Sweating 03 September 08

October 3, 2008 at 9:52 am (Adjusting, Ghana, Peace Corps, Volunteer)
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Sweating

The day started out pretty cool so I decided to go to the borehole and get some water. I knew it would only be one bucket. To get to the  borehole I walk on a path through the savanah. Now during the rainy season the grass is tall and flows nicely in the breeze. But the walk back is not so fun. Carrying a bucket full of water is not easy. It was hard for me to do when  the borehole was right outside my door in Suhyen but now when it’s ¼ of a mile away it really tires me out.

What I was really hoping was that there would be some of my card playing teens there and they would help. Last time they did. But alas I had to carry it back myself. This involves many stops, preferably in some shade and frequent switching of hands. When I got to the Kampusi’s yard Mr. said “You are carrying water! It’s too heavy for you.”

“Yes” I replied. “I am getting just one bucket and hope the kids will come by today to help me.”

“Let us know when you are running out and I can get the workmen to bring the donkey cart.” said Mr. Kampusi.

“OK” I said “It’s really too hard for me.”

When I got to my water barrell I was sweating up a storm for the first time today.

After breakfast I had my next great idea. I decided to clean my bathing room. It’s a long narrow room with one window at the end and a door at the other. There is not too much cross ventilation. Before I even finished the three foot wide wall sweat was just dripping off me. It was running down my face. I could feel my shirt soaked to my back and rivulets of sweat were running down the back of my thighs. At this point I thought “Why am I doing this?’ but realized that I was going to have to do it sometime and I was already in the middle of it. The reward – a bucket bath in a clean bathing room.  So I finished the job all the while chanting my mantra “I am in Africa I will sweat.”

About noon I got my bucket bath in a clean bathing room. Felt good.

Doris, and Evelyn came over a bit later and we played Dash. Dizzy of course came in too. While we were playing Amusah came with the donkey cart and a huge container of water in the back. He filled three barrels and a bucket for me. I was already imagining a very extravagent bucket bath later in the evening. Maybe a whole half a bucket or more!

Abigail came for cards as well and then Jennifer followed. We played a long time. They were talking buili and I understood enough to know they were saying I had something in my dok (room)  I finally asked them to translate one word into English and the word was toffee! Here in Ghana all candy is toffee. Last week I had given Martha and another girl toffees and a pencil for helping me get water. Martha had told them I had toffees. I offered to get some toffee for us all. I had actually been thinking of it as another reward for my cleaning. We each had two Worthers.  I explained how they are special for special occasions.

The girls then did an interesting thing with the wrappers. They rubbed the gold part on their lips and it came off on their lips. They looked exotic.  They each have tribal markings on their faces. It’s usually one small scar on the cheek somewhere. Those scars and the gold on their lips made them look like they came out of some African story 100 years ago.

Finally I ended the meeting of the Sandema Girls Card Club. I decided to make some garlic texas toast. I melt Blue Belt margarine and oil in my frying pan then heap on the garlic. Today I used 4 cloves. When the clove begin to soften and crisp up then I put in slices of bread. Today I have tea bread and it’s about the size of a loaf of French bread so I put in 4 slices of that. Cooking inside in Africa really really stinks.  For the third time today I was sweating. No not as bad as the cleaning episode but more than I wanted to. But the reward for this was crispy garlicky bread with soft and crispy garlic chunks. Yum Yum.

I will get a coal pot to cook outside with. I cannot haul my gas tank and my burner outside. The gas tank weight twice as much as a bucket full of water with out the gas in it! The coal pot is small and portable and good for making one pot meals.

Now I am in my bedroom with the ceiling fan on and catching up on blog entries. No more sweating for me today.

-vc

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Adjusting 30 Aug 08

September 26, 2008 at 3:41 am (Adjusting, Peace Corps, Volunteer)
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Adjusting 30 August 2008

If I write in this journal of my experiences in Ghana that I am or was depressed please family and friends don’t freak out. Rachel, another PCV, said sure there are days that I want to curl up on the bed and never move but I had those days in America too.  This is a huge change and things have been changing for the past three months well even more for me since I left my job in May. So there will be days I need to adjust my attitude.

So I will write and you will not freak out….yesterday evening and this morning I was depressed. I wondered if I could really make the move to this very foreign, very poor, very third world country. I was focusing on the things that are hard or that are very different from what I am use to. When I was laying in bed this morning the problems seemed so large.

At 7:00 am I decided to get up and then I remembered I have my own gas cooker now! I have tea, powdered milk and sugar! I can make a cup of tea. A lilttle bit of independence and something familiar were enough to get me going in the right direction. Then I turned on the radio and found a station playing Rachmoninoff (no way is that spelled correctly). This piece was used as the theme in one of my all time favorite movies – Somewhere in Time. As I ate my tomato and cucumber salad for breakfast and listened my mood picked up.

The morning was overcast and relatively cool.I went outside to buy some bread and eggs from Madame PP (Perpetua) and met my little friend Dizzy.  We went for a walk. The rainy season is the time for the flowers to come out. And Dizzy was the one to show me where they were. So off we went into the open grassland to find flowers. We also found an ant colony. I saw a cameleon that looked exactly like the dirt road goat droppings and all! They are amazing. I am not sure I really believed in them until I saw them here.

I returned Dizzy home for her tea. When I went back to my apartment I thought what shall I do now? How many times have I said I wish I had days to take photographs. That I would never be bored if I was taking photos. So I got my camera out took my longer lens and went in search of the flowers Dizzy and I had found before. After her tea Dizzy found me and she lead me to the school office building. We went to the top floor and oh what a beautiful view. The savanah is grassland but it is not only grass there are trees as well.

In our explorations we met Abigail and a couple of other children. We returned to my house. Abigail had her ICT test and some of her textbook with her. I shoed the children out and Abigail and I talked a little while.

Then Jennifer, Evelyn and Doris came over and we all played Dash. Dash is a Ghanian card game much like UNO but you use a regular deck of cards. These girls play to win but they also help each other. There is much looking over to other peoples cards and admonishments to play that card or calls to change the suit to this one. Funny enough sometimes the suit is changed to the one called out. Or reminders that you can do this or that. But after three hours of visiting and cards I called an end to the Sandema Girls Card Club and said I had work to do. I wanted to look through the photos I had taken that morning.

Again I took advantage of the new freedom of the gas cooker and made egg salad.  When the eggs were boiling I went to the front of the house to Madame Pps store and bought a coke for forty pesowas. Next to the store I saw her husband, Kampusi, digging a big round circle in the ground. I said what are you doing? He was making the foundation for a summer hut. I asked permission to take photos of the process and he agreed, So I ran to the house to get my camrera and took some photos. I asked what next and he said concrete for the foundation. I asked if he would send Dizzy when they were ready with the concrete and he agreed.

I went back and fixed my lunch. For some reason I felt the need to butter the bread for the open faced sandwiches. I never buttered my bread in the USA. I made four open faced egg salad sandwiches, two had a slice of tomato on top and two were pure egg salad joy! Dizzy came and I shared one egg salad sandwich with her. Then her dad called in to my house and said that they were going to make the concrete. So I spent the rest of the afternoon watching them work on the summer hut. I cannot wait for the summer hut to be finished!

So yes I was depressed and yes this is a sometimes a hard thing I am doing but like Rachel said even in America I had blue days. Today I reminded myself that getting out, doing something I love and hanging with people are all good ways to help make my adjustment to Ghana easier.

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Return to Suhyen 07 Aug 08

August 22, 2008 at 8:28 am (Adjusting, Peace Corps, Volunteer)
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It is raining so hard right now I can barely think well enough to create blog entries. The rain is so wild it thrills me to listen to it.

 

I am back home in Suhyen.  My welcome made me feel sad  because I will be leaving here soon but what a welcome. Of course, as I came into town the news spread that I was back. The kids were all at my house with hugs and greetings. When my sister Esther saw me she gave me a huge hug. And Sissy came over and hugged me and started talking Twi so fast I couldn’t make out one word! Luckily Mary was there and she translated that Sissy was saying at night when she hadn’t seen me all day she was sad. Shy Irene came home from Kofo and brought me chicken and rice. I gave her a hug. And Portia was home for a visit as well so we are all here now.  Even Bright, the 13 year old boy, gave me a hug.

 

At least the training site is here and I can visit my family and friends here when I come to for other training. And maybe next year I can be a trainer and stay in Suhyen for the weeks that I train. But I will miss these people who have made me so much a part of their lives.

 

Yesterday when I left Sandema Dixie said that I could go and she would share me. Children here are much freer than children in America. Dixie knows the whole school compound and she was my tour guide while I was there. Parents do not worry about kidnapping or their child getting lost. I think because all adults take responsibility for raising the kids of the community. If an adult sees a child do something wrong they correct them and the parents thank them for it. People asked Dixie where we were going and when we would be back. They just look out for each other. I remember being a kid in Madison and going around the town much more than I would have let my kids roam 20 years later. Dixie and the kids in Ghana remind me of that.  And the older kids also pay attention to the youngsters.

 

There is a great deal here in Ghana. In the USA it would cost at least 8.50 to ride a thrill ride with dips and fast curves and bellly flipping drops and fast stops. The ride in the US would last at best 20 minutes for that price. Well in Ghana for 8.50 GH Cedis you can have a thrill ride like that for 8+ hours!  I was sitting in the very back seat of a large public bus. I felt like a flapjack being flipped up off a griddle. The  people sitting next to me did not have much english. I did not have any of their language because they spoke neither Twi or Buili. Yet when we hit one huge pothole that sent us at least 6 inches into the air we looked at each other and started to laugh out loud.

 

About 2:00 pm the bus started to feel like a sauna. It had rained and even with the windows open it was very hot. The Ghanian in front of me was wearing a camo athletic shirt with some  ventilation holes in it. I could see he had on a tank under it. Well as it’s getting saunalike he removes the camo shirt. I think to myself, at last a Ghanaian is getting hot. He leans down to put his shirt away in his back pack. Oh no he hasn’t put it away and he’s putting it back on. No it’s not the camo athletic shirt it a camo fleece hoodie. He is actually  putting on a fleece hoodie in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of a hot crowded bus with no air conditioning. I could not believe it!  Later about 5:00 I look down the bus and see at least 6 Ghanians wearing hoodies.

 

Many Ghanaians rode the bus standing up. We all had a seat. I think one reason was because of all the bumps and jostling that goes on when you sit. I also noticed that they like to comment to other drivers or to encourage the driver to do this or that. Again because there are so many different languages I did not understand much of the words but the sentiments are common the world round!  As I listened to one group discussion when the driver stopped to help another bus driver with a problem I remembered the statement in one book I read “Ghanaian are loud and boisterous. They enjoyed a heated debate!” it’s true!

 

 

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Moving again!

April 26, 2008 at 7:52 am (Adjusting, American Culture, My Stuff, Peace Corps, consumption, invitee, preparation, shedding)

Today I am sorting through my belongings yet again in preparation for another move. I have had a hard time facing this one and have found something else more important the past three weekends. I move next weekend so it’s time to bring my stuff to the Salvation Army.

For me clothes and shoes are the hardest things to let go of. As I sort through my remaining clothes so many memories come back. I remember when Beth and I bought our twin Flip Flops at the Yankee Trader on one of our Belfast weekends. The breezy July day on the coast where Liz got married comes to mind when I look at that white top. Helen helped me shop for that outfit. These red sandals are so comfortable maybe i’ll bring them even if the leather does disintegrate in the tropics. Oh I wore those boots when Eric and I went to Cape Ann on that rainy fall day. My L.L. Bean coat! Jeanette has a blue one just like it! I tell myself the memories will still be there.

Clothes and shoes say so much about your personality and what you do. So in another way as I shed my old job and my American lifestyle it feels right to shed my old clothes and shoes. As the person I will become emerges my clothes and shoes will reflect that change.

So vc quit stalling, get off the computer and take some more steps to your new life! -vc

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inner strength

April 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm (Adjusting, Peace Corps, work)

This week I gave notice at MPOW. It is a very joyous occasion for me. I can hardly wait to leave the job. As I wrap up my time here I have been thinking about the good and the bad. Thinking about how the job has shaped me for this next big step in my life.

Technology

I learned a lot of technology at this job. Computer repair and maintenence, software installation, database design, Web 2.0, teaching and how to keep up with all the changes in tech.  I learned that I can teach myself just about anything related to technology.

Teaching

My co-workers have taught me so much about teaching. They have been guinea pigs for all sorts of lesson plans and methods of teaching. They have gained weight cause I believe candy is a great motivator. They have taught me so much as they explored the software I was teaching them.

But the skill that I will take away with me that I will value the most is a new kind of inner strength.  A terribly unfair and humiliating thing happened to me about 5 years ago at MPOW that effected job duties. Since it effected my daily job duties it was in my face every day I went to work. And I was going through other big changes in my personal life at the same time. So I was miserable for a couple of years. I dwelt on and the bad things and complained and fought just about every aspect of my new job and my loss of valued other duties. I was a very unhappy person.

I don’t know why or when or how but something changed in me. I was doing the same jobs I disliked and I had some of the same problems but I decided to be happy. Maybe I read an article or heard story on NPR but I just decided to turn around my focus and concentrate on the good things in my life. I decided to count my blessings. My blessings were plentiful.  Jeanette, Helen and all my other wonderful co-workers who supported me and laughed and cried with me. The chance to work with an amazing set of dedicated women. The creativity I could use doing the webapage. My family. I had many chances to travel. I found joy in doing new things or reviving old hobbies.  At first I would sing Accentuate the Positive when I was feeling negative, sometimes a little tongue in cheek, but it turned into a mantra.  And dispite the fact that things did not change in my job duties I was happy.

I think this is the most important thing I took away from this job because it will help me to overcome my external circumstances in Africa. I know I can find the inner strength to be happy in what ever circumstances I find myself in.

-vc

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No internet

March 31, 2008 at 9:17 am (Adjusting, American Culture, Communication, Computers, Technology)

Oh boy. 1 1/2 days (and counting) without internet at my house and I am feeling out of touch,  and disconnected! How am I going to survive in Africa….. It’s amazing how many times I turn to the net for contact with family and friends or to get directions or to get a phone number  or to write this blog or to buy something! wow no net access or limited net access may very well be one of my biggest adjustments!

-vc

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Peaberry’s Cafe Simsbury

March 11, 2008 at 11:20 am (Adjusting, American Culture, food, friends)
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Peaberry’s is my cheers. I am going to miss going in there so much. My daughter is the manager. I love visiting with Leanne and Tracy and meeting the new staff. Today Leanne was celebrating March. “Don’t you just love March?” she asks when I come in. My reply is “I love March because April, May and June follow!” “Exactly” she replies “March is full of hope. And my birthday is in March!”

A woman next to me says “It’s his birthday today” pointing to the only guy behind the counter. “Leanne quietly says “Happy Birthday Evan” But I love birthdays and celebrating even a strangers birthday brings me joy so I begin to sing “Happy Birthday…” the woman beside me who said it was Evan’s birthday joins in “dear Evan …” then together on the big finish “Haaaaapppyyyy Biiiiirrrrthdaaaaaaaaaay tooooooo yoooooooooo”  Liz turns from the milk station and says “Even, meet my Mother!”

When Liz got me my chai she said “wow mom you even got a customer to join in with you!” I had to confess “It was HIS mother!”

Then I was reading the paper and it’s the day after the big prostitute scandal with the governor of NY, Gov. Eliot Spitzer.  The Courant has that awful picture of his wife standing beside him. I assume almost every paper did today. The guy next to me commented on how sleazy and self-serving  it was of him to have her there. So then the counter staff, the people at the counter were all discussing it. 

Visiting to Peaberry’s always brightens my day and I will miss it very much!

-vc

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Shedding again!

March 7, 2008 at 7:45 pm (Adjusting, Peace Corps, Selling, XO laptop, consumption, invitee, preparation)

Oh boy I am selling my stuff again in preparation for the big move to Ghana.  Today I contacted B&H Photo with a list of all my photo equipment to see what kind of trade in they will give me. I really do not need three cameras. I don’t need 15 different filters in two sizes. I don’t need a big tripod. I never use it and a  little  one will travel so much better. I now have three camera bags. I don’t need three camera bags! So I am waiting for there estimate so I can send the stuff to them.

I sold my XO today. The new owner is very happy. I am glad. It just wasn’t going to do what I wanted it to do.

I sold my desktop today as well.  The buyer will wait until next week to pick it up.

I am trying to sell my enlarger and other misc.  darkroom equipment.

I am trying to sell a TV and a VCR.

That’s about it!

Getting down to 80lbs of junk is hard work!

-vc

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Situation #2

March 3, 2008 at 11:05 pm (Adjusting, Africa, Peace Corps)

DRAWINGS

As a Volunteer urban planner you review and sign off on staff draftsmen’s drawings before sending them to higher management. There is a new draftsman who is incompetent but is a cousin of the division head. Tomorrow you will be reviewing his first drawings. This afternoon your supervisor said you can expect these drawings to be unacceptable, but asked you to approve them anyway to avoid trouble with the boss or to unnecessarily embarrass the cousin. How should you respond?

My thoughts:

This is a stumper for me. My friends know I don’t play politics well if I think something is going wrong and is vital to the mission of the organization.  I would love suggestions on this on. I would probably start by asking questions in the field.

so world any thoughts?

-vc

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