The canopy walk was by far my favorite part of this trip thus far. The view was absolutely gorgeous.
It’s been difficult to write the past few days. One, because I’ve been so tired. And two, because every time I do finally feel energized enough to write, the power’s gone out.
We had power outages, or “lights out” as they’re called here, twice in the past two days. The worst one was last night. It started around 7 p.m. and lasted for 12 hours, coming back on right as we had to wake up the next morning. It was definitely an experience trying to sleep without the fans, but I kept telling myself that it was like camping, and that I had to just deal with it.
This trip is really teaching me the difference between a need and a necessity. We got by without AC, and power, and wifi and even running water. These things are nice and I definitely wouldn’t want to live without them in the U.S., but going without these kind of luxuries is an every day thing for people who live here. They don’t miss it because they never have it, and in a way, I think they might be lucky that way. It makes them complain a lot less, and a lot more grateful for what they do have.
The surprising thing to me was that it’s not just the power that goes out here, the water will also stop after the power’s been out for so long. A few people were able to shower before it was lost, but the rest had to do without. I ended up washing my hair this morning with satchet bags of water, which we predominately have for brushing our teeth.
Despite the last of what I used to think were necessities, the last couple of days have been pretty great. On Saturday, we toured the Cape Coast castle and the area where the slaves would have their last bath.
It was an eye-opening history lesson being able to see everything first-hand, because before Saturday I had only read about it in books. Plus, American history classes tend to gloss over everything that doesn’t happen directly in the states; it wasn’t until I took on the AICE curriculum in high school that I was introduced to a change in perspective.
Sunday was more sight-seeing, but this time we went to a stingless bee center and Kakum National Park to do a canopy walk.
The bees were intimidating to me, even if they don’t sting — I don’t handle bugs very well. But it was interesting hearing about all of the things that the research the center does helps the community, and they also teach farmers how having stingless bees on their farms can increase the crop growth through pollination.
The canopy walk was breathtaking for me. I have this ridiculous addiction to heights, and seeing the natural beauty of Ghana was an incredible experience. I was hoping to see elephants while we were there, but there were only a couple hundred of them in the park according to our guide, so our chances seemed slim. The trip’s not over though, so there’s still hope!
Last night before the power went out, we did a reflection exercise about our first week. We discussed what we were struggling with, what we hoped to accomplish in the next week and what our favorite part of the trip was.
I knew I was struggling with the culture shock, but it’s starting to ease. I knew my favorite part of the trip was the canopy walk, I had been looking forward to that more than anything. What I had to think about more deeply was what I wanted to accomplish.
I want to help CRAN get their website up-to-date with the campaigns. I hope that we can get their Facebook page up to 100 likes by the end of the week. I hope we can get a video created so they have some multimedia presence on their website, so it’s not all just copy at the students. Some visual appeal would be nice.
But I think more than anything this week, I just want to focus on finding commonalities between myself and the people in the community. I learned in peer mentoring last semester that it’s easier to find the differences in other people and ourselves than the similarities, and I really want to be able to find both, so the divide between us doesn’t seem so great.
In preparation for our trip, we learned a little bit about Ghanian culture and the languages spoken in the area that we’ll be working.
In Ghana, the national language is English, so the majority of the people we’ll run into will be speaking the same language as us. There are some tribal languages that are spoken though, and tonight we learned some of the basic phrasing for the tribal language Fante.
Welcome = Akwaaba
Thank you = Medaase
Foreigner = Obruni
Yes = Oho
No = Dabi
Sorry = Kose
Please = M’Pacho
My name is = Wofre me
Todd told us that children who see us out in the community will yell to us, calling us Obruni’s and asking where we’re from. I can’t imagine kids just approaching strangers like that, but it’ll be interesting to see for myself. He also advised us not to ignore them, because then that will just mean the kid who originally asked will keep asking and get their friends to join in too! Thankfully I’m excited to meet the community members and share my culture with them as well.
We also learned what our names are in the Fante language, and it’s based off of what day of the week we were born on, as well as our gender. So tonight I was able to learn how to say my name and what it is: Wofre me Ekua!
Source: Fante-Akan Day Names by Kofi Garbrah
We also learned some cultural do’s and don’t’s for while we’re in Ghana. We’ll get a more comprehensive cultural lesson while we’re in Cape Coast, but tonight we learned the basics that will get us by while we’re traveling around.
- Don’t use your left hand. Handing something to someone with your left hand is considered an insult.
- Crossing your legs is considered disrespectful.
- Never walk past someone without saying hello or good morning.
- Raising your thumb and pressing it down is considered the same as giving the middle finger in the U.S.
The culture differences were interesting to consider as we all talked about them together. I’m nervous that I’ll slip up on the first two especially. I’m right-handed so it’s less likely that I’ll use my left hand for something, but I’m worried about the crossing my legs thing, because I especially do that when eating at a dinner table or just sitting on the couch. HopefullyI’ll remember and assimilate into the culture better than I’m thinking.
“Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we’re quoting.”
This morning I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I woke up, so I started surfing Tumblr for quotes.
Maybe it’s because I’m a journalist and a writer, but I love hearing what people have to say, especially the stuff worth quoting. I could go hours just sitting on the internet searching for words of wisdom and writing them down to remember later on. I have made collages for the walls in my room that are covered in quotes.
I wear a compass pendant every day, and when people notice it, they don’t realize that on the back of it says “There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.” I love jewelry like this, they’re just simple reminders that I can keep going, and to me, that matters more than any gold locket or diamond necklace ever could.
What interests me most about quotes is that even though many times they’re pulled out of context, and they may not mean to one person what they meant to the person saying them, they can still resonate with people enough to have an impact. Words are one of the most powerful weapons that we have, and I’m drawn to them constantly. I could sit around all day just looking for quotes, in fact, I have done it before.
My best friend and I spent an entire day last summer making matching quote collages that we keep in our rooms to remind ourselves that we’re there for each other, even though we were two hours apart. We’re probably doing it again, even though I’m already running out of wall space.
I’ve learned so much about myself just from hearing other people’s words. I’ll hear something that I can identify with, and it helps me understand more about myself and what it is I want out of the world. And it’s healthy for me to do that, I think.
“I am a paradox.
I want to be happy,
but I think of things that make me sad.
I’m lazy, yet I’m ambitious.
I don’t like myself, but I also love who I am.
I say I don’t care, but I really do.
I crave attention,
but reject it when it comes my way.
I’m a conflicted contradiction.
I just can’t figure myself out,
there’s no way anyone else has.”
Quotes are often a driving force for my writing too. I’ll start with something someone else said, and I’ll bounce off of it for inspiration. It’s the easiest way for me to start my journaling when I’m stuck, and it’ll always be my go-to solution when I have writer’s block. I’m inspired by other people and the words they say. It’s easier to write about people when you have something to work with.
It’s been pointed out to me that when I try to isolate myself and keep my interactions with others to a minimum, my life becomes “less interesting,” and will prevent me from keeping my writing going. While the interesting may be exhausting, and there are some nights that I just want to plop down on the couch and remain undisturbed, I know that’s not me. My favorite part of my day is coming home, sitting on my balcony and writing about everything going through my head, and in order to do that, I need the inspiration.
As long as there’s people and words out in the world, I will always have something to write about.
“When reading, we don’t fall in love with the characters’ appearance. We fall in love with their words, their thoughts, and their hearts. We fall in love with their souls.”
Driven By Daydreams 