Well...it's been quite a long time since I've sat in front of a computer..it almost feels weird. Not too, too much has happened in the past month, as school has been out for Christmas (called "Bringa" in Degarre which I think is weird cause you'd think they wouldn't take "Christ" out of it).
In early December every U.S. volunteer in Ghana was summoned to one place during the elections. Big brother (if I mention the exact organization I'm working under I have to add all this stuff about how these are not the opinions of that org. etc...it's not worth it) was unsure if Ghana was going to be a peaceful place during their presidential election so they decided to keep us all together....good thing the terrorists didn't know about it :)....in case there was any unrest. There wasnt. On the bright side though, I got to sit through an entire weeks worth of boring sessions. It wasnt all bad though. It was pretty cool to get to meet ALL the other volunteers throughout the country, and we had a pretty bad-ass dance party n talent show.
For x-mas, I had a couple friends over to my village. It was fun, basically just the same as most nights, everyone hanging out drinking and eating...but everyone was in unusually high spirits (which says a lot cause they're generally extremely happy people). I, however, was not prepared in the least for the usual customs at Christmas here. I had no idea until the day of that on X-mas everyone just walked around from house to house and the people at the house are sapposed to have some food prepared and ready to give to the visitors. So, here I was scrambling to make something after about 50 people mentioned to me that they'd be "stopping by". In the end, I just made a compilation of the crap in my house (PB & J's (which here we call groundnut paste and jam sandwiches), popcorn, and bean stew). They all think I'm totally weird anyways, so why not perpetuate the stereotype? It was a good time.
New Years, I went to a different friends house. She lives in a pretty small village, but there were a bunch of us there so we didnt really need too much external entertainment. We basically just went to a spot and had some beers then went back to her house to watch movies on someones laptop. Sounds like America, right? It was the first movie I'd seen in about 5 months...so so exciting.
But yeah, overall the holidays away from home were pretty good. Oh, did I mention it is still like 90 degrees here everyday, and it hasnt rained in about 3 months!
Ok, I think that's about all I have to add right now...drop me a message and let me know how everything is going in A-town. Miss you all tons!! Love, Di
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This is me at the Amsterdam airport after far too many hours without sleep! I didn't realize quite how scary I look in the picture until I posted it...but I think it's funny.
This was one of the first meals I ate with my homestay family. I soon figured out that it was not customary for Ghanaians to eat together like this (they were just doing it as a sort of introduction to the family) and I ended up eating most of the meals over the next 10 weeks alone, which I was totally ok with. It also is not customary to talk while eating in Ghana (due to the abundant amount of spices used in the food, they are afraid they will choke if they try and talk while eating) so eating alone is virtually the same experience anyways.
Here is a pic of me and the girls at a spot. Check out the gigantic beers they serve here (for only 1 Ghana Cedi too!).
I took this picture while riding in a car on the way to Bote Waterfalls. At first I was like "shoot I think I accidently got those people that we were passing in the photo", but once I saw it I thought it was a really cool pic.
This is Kukurantumi, the town where I had training. It is right before the daily rain...
A kiss for you!
6 comments:
Hey doll!!
Sorry I have commented lately, I did try to call you like a hundred times though throughout the holidays I guess you still didn't have service. So glad to hear you had a great xmas and new year I thought about you lots of the holidays! It cracks me up that even the people in Ghana think your weird lol...so nothing new here I start back school this Thursday only 7 classes left I’m super excited!!! Well I’m going to try and call you again today hope your new semester goes great.
Love ya lots!!
Brit
Hey Diana,
I'm glad to see you are doing well. We miss you up here. I love reading your blogs. Def very interesting. Take care of yourself.
Love ya,
Alison
Heeeyyyy!
I keep forgetting you have a blog, so every time I remember it's kinda like christmas :P
Things at GT are CRAZY with nearly everyone I know getting ready to graduate - it's getting to the point where they're the only people I really know here at all, everyone else is so young! The grad students in my classes are all my age, too, so I'm starting to feel REALLY old and ready to get out :)
I just got a *new* (erm, also 10yr old) car to replace the Taurus, which I wrecked, so I'm practicing driving my 5-speed Accord before taking it on an inaugural trip to Charleston this weekend!
Buying a car was pretty exciting, as the shortcomings of MARTA are all too evident when the trains come off schedule and result in arriving just as the bus leaves, spending another 45 minutes in the FREEZING cold waiting for the next! I wouldn't blame you one bit if you don't miss the schizo weather here at all.
I did have a chance to read a couple novels but didn't find the Raw Shark Texts you had talked about, though I'm not finished looking. One of my relatives gave me a bookstore gift card for Xmas, so I've got really nothing better to spend it on... plus I was intrigued by your reviews.
It's hard to believe how fast time is flying, and you'll have been there a whole year in no time at all! Glad to know you're enjoying it!
You are so beautiful that...
SOY TU FAN!!
Hola Diana. I enjoy reading your blog. I wish I was in Ghana to give you a hug and a kiss.
"soy tu fan" is Spanish for "I am your fan".
Namasté
Vinicio
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