Wow. There is quite a big to catch you up on.
But first we must start with where I left you off.
Thursday night the headmaster of the school came and picked me up to take me to the nearby larger village for a drink. He came, knocked on the door and out we went to his motorcycle. Which is a bit scary since I'd never been on one before. But it was more scary since there were no helmets or protective clothing. It was even more scary since he had no headlight but instead had to hold a torch as he drove. And it was even scarier since we were driving super fast down winding dirt tracks through the breaking jungle. Basically it was a near death experience despite the lucky fact that nothing went wrong and he was a good driver. So we went out for a drink, had a beer (well, i had a beer and he had a soft drink). Then he took me home again. It was a bit weird going and drinking with him but it was an experience.
When i got home the co-ordinators for volunteers for the village were in my house. They were in the village to interview new project directors the next day. They'd made me dinner which was pretty nice. We sat down and watched 2 hours of a ghanaian tv show called 'adam's apples'. It's pretty much 'sex and the city' in Africa.
Friday i got up early. Chatted with my folks and then caught multiple tro tros back to kumasi. I finished listening to shai held on theology and then moved on to sexual ethics with ethan tucker. Then some john butler trio. Great trip. Except that my bus broke down and we had to go back to the bus station to catch another one. I feel like every time i travel on a Friday things go wrong. I seriously should have learnt from the besht.
I got home dumped my stuff and went straight out again to the markets at ejisu. By this stage i'd slept 4 hours the night before, had been travelling for 4 hours. It was hot, i hadn't eaten. I was tired and grumpy. I was at the market to buy vegetables to make stew and rice for shabbat dinner for the whole house and i had limited time. But then i arrived at the market and i couldn't find the vegetables. In particular i couldn't find kontomre, the only green and leafy vegetable in the whole country. I was searching and asking people and then kept pointing me in the opposite direction. I was so incredibly frustrated. I had a bit of a cry and a 'fuck you ghana, why the fuck don't you have any fucking vegetables you fucking incompetent third world country.' but then i went and got myself a malt beer. Sat down. Enjoyed it. Had some sugar in my system (since i hadn't eaten anything except a few biscuits in the morning) and was less dehydrated. I then carried on, persisted and found those freaking vegetables. Went home. Picked up my dress from the dress maker. It's pretty awesome. Made stew and rice. Had a shower. Lit shabbat candles. Did kab shab. Invited all the housemates to the kitchen. Did kiddush and hamotzi. And then we all drank beer/soft drink and ate my rice and stew. The Africans were a bit sceptical since there was no meat in it. They enjoyed it. But then after dinner went out and bought themselves some meat. Adorable.
Shabbat i got up davenned, did kiddush. Read my Ghanaian book. Finished my book. Moved back on to 'gullivers travels'. Talked a lot. Ate some biscuits. Ate some chocolate. Chilled with the girls. Chilled with the boys. Tried to nap. Failed. Shabbat went out and we decided that we were going out to town. So we tried to shower only to discover that there is no water in the house. Oh well. So we put on deodorant and perfume. Did out hair. Put on make up. I borrowed clothes since i obviously didn't bring going out clothes the Ghana. So i borrowed a skirt from a Nigerian girl called tywo.
Once we were all ready we went out to a bar in town and started drinking. Obviously Susan (the Australian) and I went off and got ourselves plenty to drink since Africans and Asians aren't known for their drinking abilities. This proved itself to be true since Susan and i out drank all the girls and boys and yet they were much more tipsy than we were.
From the bar we went to a club in a hotel and started dancing. It took me a while to get the hang of dancing to African music and dancing in the african way (which is super close and a bit sexy) but i eventually got the hang of it. I danced mainly with robert. I don't really like him since he's a bit of a selfish misogynist but he isn't bad looking, he dresses well, he was a good dancer, he has a girlfriend and he knows i have a boyfriend. So no hanky panky. Also, as long as i was dancing with him it meant i didn't have to fend off other random guys in the club who would just love to grind up against a white girl despite my lack of dancing abilities and my white girl bum.
Having said that - by the end of the night i'd say i was dancing just as well as the African girls and infinitely better than the Asian ones. But that could just be the alcohol talking.
We got home super late didn't shower or anything. Not that we could since there was no water. So we just crashed.
10am i got up, Susan and i got dressed and went off to lake Bosomtwi. It took about an hour and a few taxis and tro tro's but with a smart ways we managed to get a cheaper rides than were initially offered to us. We got to the lake and the village office wanted us to pay again 9since we'd already paid entry to the area) so we quickly bailed from their office and started on our hike. So we hike around the lake for 5 hours. Occasionally stopping at the villages on the way. Sitting. Watched the water. Playing with the kids. It was great fun. On our way back to the main village to get a tro tro back to kumasi we said a large hotel with a large carpark. So being super cheapskates we went to the car park and waited for the Ghanaians to start chatting with u. As they invariably do since we're 2 young white girls. Eventually they asked where we lived and then how we were going to get back to kumasi. And then they offered us a lift home. So in we hopped with this family for our ride home. But on the way we had to make a visit to their grandmother in a small village. She was awesome. Like in her 70s and we we rocked up she jumped out of her seat to offer us a place to stay. Then mid visit she went off and harvested some plantain and cassava to give to us to take home. Basically full of life and imagery and constantly laughing. She was kickass.
Then we got home. We were totally exhausted. So we showered. Made ourselves some beans and rice. There was a house meeting. Because now in the house there are 2 Nigerian boys. 3 Ghanaian boys. 2 Nigerian girls. 2 Australian girls. 5 Chinese (4 girls 1 boy) and a Venezuelan. So the house is packed. And pretty grotty. So we had to set some new rules. After that we watched some gossip girl season 2 and crashed.
As for today i'm due to return to the yes project and do corporate stuff. But i'm trying to avoid it too much. So i'm blogging. Then i'm doing laundry. (by laundry i mean hand wash in cold water in a bucket outside). Then i'm going to town. i'm gonna buy some indian fabric, some woven kente cloth and then eat at the vegetarian restaurant.
Sounds like a great day to me.
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