Sunday the 11th

So to catch you up on my life since Friday it went like this.

I showered and set up the house and went out to buy provisions (ie: dinner/beer/water) with 30 mins to go till Shabbat. I seriously underestimated how long this would take. Let's just say it ended with me running full speed (well, as fast as I can go) through the plantain forest nearby in a mad dash for Shabbat. But i got home in time, lit candles and sang kabbalat Shabbat in the courtyard as the sun was setting. Was beautiful. After that I invited my housemates to dinner. I'd bought beer for kiddush and drinking, chicken and rice for them and beans and cassava with plantain for me. I did kiddush and hamotzi and we started to eat. They were asking lot's of questions about Jews and Israel. I ended up taking out the books that I'd brought ie: a tanach, siddur as well as pirkei avot and a haggdah that I'm donating to the Jewish community.

Around this time 4 Europeans arrived. They were staying in our house over the weekend. From Germany, Holland, France and Finland. They arrived and immediately left to go drinking.

All the boys were at home and we hung out on the veranda as we usually do.

I was woken up super early (7am) Shabbat morning to go and watch the boys play soccer. So as they set off I got dressed and davened, did kiddush and then joined to watch them. There I made friends with the kids watching and the garage workers from nearby. One was from the Ivory Coast. After the game was finished (at about 9am) I went back to the house to settle in for a great shabbat. I read the parsha and my novel. I napped. I'd brought a good weekend that I read as well. I chatted with the boys. I met one called Snappy who is studying to be an industrial chemist. But in between his bachelors and his masters he plans on going for a year to live in one of the refugee camps in the west with refugees from the Ivory Coast. He's also setting up a program for students from the Ivory Coast to come to Ghana to help the French department and in exchange they will be taught English by the English department of KNUST university. Genius guy.

I finally met my program director and we agreed to meet again on Monday when I can actually write and be useful.

After shabbat I went with a boy called Sammy to visit his family house and pick up some plantain for him from his backyard. That was a real insight into Ghana. The house was small but it had everything a normal house would have; TV. Computer etc. Probably not a washing machine though. Poopy. Anyways while we were waiting the news was on TV. It was adorable. I mean obviously there are problems in Ghana but this news program wasn't giving them any airtime. It informed me that today there had been a march in the city by men opposing violence against women. There was also a school fun day with a raffle and a tug-o-war. Also that analysts predict that tourism in Ghana could increase to making up 10% of the GDP from the current 3%. No wars. No famine. No political outrage.

We then went to a courtyard to watch the Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona. What an experience. The only white girl surrounded by a hundred screaming Ghanaian football fans. Great fun.

Today (Sunday) I went with 2 of the Europeans to the Kings palace. We were shown a short documentary about the Ashanti King and the tribe's history. Then we were shown around the old palace that the British built in 1924. The king moved out of there in the early 90s I think. Anyways the old palace is pretty much the size of my house in Melbourne. Nothing too impressive. But what happened after the tour of the palace was super impressive.

Today was the Ashanti New Years festival. So all the chiefs under the Ashanti king came together at the King's grounds. The King was there and so were the government ministers for Ghana. It was like being on a movie set for a period drama. Each chief entered the field with trumpets and drummers and a giant procession with people carrying giant gilt chairs for them and huge umbrellas. One of the Chiefs was a Muslim and he had the best entrance of all. There were 3 horsemen who entered the area first. They had great Arabic style kaftans and hats on. Then a procession of children and servants carrying giant gold cauldrons of nuts and dates and sweets. Then he brought many large white goats. There were flag wavers and umbrella carriers. All with huge Arabic dress in rich and vibrant colours. All the chiefs and their clans settled under umbrellas and marquees. Then one by one they arose to the sound of drums and trumpets and walked in a procession to greet the government ministers on one stage on the field and then to greet to king on the opposite stage. Before greeting the king they sent their servants with their guests and everybody had to remove their shoes in his presence. Each clan had their own style of dress and unique fabric. Each chief was decked out in many gold amulets, swords, rings, bangles and crowns. Dignitaries where there to greet to the king as was the Miss Universe Ghanaian representative.

Basically - balls-awesome.

I also made friends with the journalists there, they let me chill with them in their media only area in the shade and they taught me some of the local language Twi. I found my own way back to the city centre and caught a trou trou home.

At home I met a boy called Robert. He has a degree in biology but in between his bachelors and his masters he's doing a year of national service in the Tamale region. He wants to do his masters in development studies with a focus on waste management. Basically he wants all Africans to have access to sanitation and clean water. I had rice with spicy sauce for dinner and tomorrow I'm going to the university campus again to start my internship. Woot. But seriously - very excited.