Quick Update

ISP? I'm still in Accra - but since I cannot seem to make up my mind about where I'm going to do my ISP research, I'm going to Klikor (the area in the Volta Region we just left) tomorrow for an afternoon to discover if I can pull off my project there. What is my project, you might ask? Who knows! But I have to do it on something that counts as "Upper Division Linguistics" in order to graduate, so hopefully it will be related to that.

Right now the idea is: Resistance to Factors of Language Loss in Ghana, which means I would be looking at the various domains of language usage (media, education, politics, home, markets, traditional ceremonies and celebrations, etc.) and seeing how they resist or are pressured by other languages, mostly English, but also possibly Akan. If I do this project in Klikor, I will be working with Ewe speakers, primarily (I know about five phrases of Ewe, hah). Any suggestions are welcome, but please give them soon - I'm submitting my proposal on Friday.

Krobo I forgot to mention that I've been given two new names since coming to Ghana. One is my day-name, Yaa, which simply means I'm a girl born on Thursday, but I also have been given a Krobo name: Lako (non-linguist pronunciation guide: lah-koh. Linguist version: la-ko), which means strong woman who stands by her word and does not do wrong things. All of this was given to me as a name by the queen mothers of Krobo Odumase based on me saying that I have one older brother. There were two other girls who also have only one older brother and they were given completely different names. I like it, and sometimes introduce myself as Lako. "Lydia" is ridiculously easy for people here, though.

Signs There is a sign right by our apartment building complex which reads as follows (not the line breaks):

NO PARKING ON
THE STREET OFFENDERS
WILL PAY A SPOT
FINE OF GHc10

We get a kick out of walking past it, wondering what the street offenders are up to today.

Papa Attah Quotes

• "I am a fufutarian. You eat vegetables and are a vegetarian, but I eat only fufu."
  
  
• On learning Twi: "If you want peace you must prepare for war." (what?)
  
  
• "You are full-grown mosquitoes!"
  
  
• "You can paddle your own canoe" (these last two are often used together)

Shop Names
The shops in Ghana have ridiculous names sometimes. Here are a few that we've noticed.

• "I'm Dependable On God Chop Bar" (a chop bar is a place to get food)
  
  
• "Talk About Jesus Beauty Saloon" (saloon?)

out of internet