Just over four years ago I left Ghana with an invitation to return. Since then I have been working towards that aim, while also caring for myself, spending time with my loved ones, learning many new things, and doing what I can to enjoy my life!
But at last, I am here again. Akwaaba-oo!
Where am I and what am I doing, you may ask?
After two weeks in Accra, I am now in Logba Alakpeti, which is located in the mountains in the Volta Region. While Accra was too hot and dusty for my poor unacclimated self, Alakpeti is marvelously comfortable with lush greenery. It is not too hot, not too cold, and the humidity is just lovely. The family I am staying with are wonderful and I have a nice room with everything I need (bed, table, chair, and a fan). I'm very happy to be here!
I am here to continue a research project I started four years ago documenting plant names in Ikpána, this time for my PhD, as requested by the Unansanango (Paramount Ruler) of the Logba Traditional Area. The language, people and area are all called Logba by most people, but the autonymous terms are Ikpána for the language and Akpanawò for the people.
Since it is difficult to keep track of what I have told to whom, I will use my blog to try to update as many people as possible with occasional stories from my time here. Please feel free to make requests for anything you would like me to write about in more detail!
As a disclaimer, these stories are only my own observations and opinions and are not meant to reflect anything deeper or more insightful than that. I have only been to Ghana once before and am still a "baby to the system," as my friend Kofi puts it.
For this post, I will start with a few of the challenges I've faced and then move on to some of the exciting and fun things I have experienced in order to end on a positive note. I am grateful for both the challenges and the opportunities that have arisen during my time here so far.
Accra was difficult for me, as I generally don't find myself feeling very comfortable in cities. It was hotter than I remembered (harmattan winds!), which made it hard for me to sleep well at night, and I was usually covered in a thick coating of red dust from the minute I stepped out of my door. My long hair has been a new experience for me, because I had very short hair (and no hair!) when I was here last time, and washing long hair in a cold bucket bath is a skill I had not yet acquired (any tips are welcome).
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| My room in Accra and my badly set-up mosquito net! I miss the pop-up one I used to have, but thanks, Allanah, for giving me this one. |
I had forgotten just how exhausting it is to be the only obruni (foreigner) in a market place, being shouted at, grabbed at, and stared at non-stop. I have learned that I much prefer being called to with "Sistah!" than "Obruni!" My Twi has declined rapidly in the four years I've been away and I felt very out of place, needing to rely almost entirely on the goodwill of other people to get around. Thankfully, the goodwill of people has turned out to be very strong!
From the moment I made it out of customs in the airport I have been in good hands as my Ghanaian friends have come to support me. Dear Joyce (and your family!), Clement, Nana Ama, Kofi, Ishmael, Ishmael's mum, Loretta, Rita, Mabel, Auntie Abigail and all the others, your kindness and generosity have meant so so much to me, so thank you!
As my supervisor reminded me, trusting in and even depending on others is something to embrace, rather than to fear. And as my dear friend, Angel, also reminded me, "These are rare moments in our lives and we would do well to cherish every moment however hot or uncomfortable." They are right, and it is with a good heart and an open mind that I come here.
On to some of the fun things!
My neighbors near Ritz Junction in Accra quickly became very dear friends of mine. In exchange for me teaching them to make pizza, they have been teaching me Twi (mostly be teasing me in it) and also how to prepare Ghanaian dishes.
Thanks to their family, I have now accomplished one of my life goals: I have learned to prepare kenkey!
Also, banku. Both are cooked doughs - kenkey (specifically, Ga kenkey) is made from fermented corn dough, balled up and wrapped in corn husks and banku is made from cassava dough mixed with fermented corn dough. Both are delicious! Banku must be swallowed, not chewed, and there seems to be some debate about whether kenkey is chewed or swallowed, but I think there was general agreement that it can be chewed. I have not tried pounding fufu yet as my neighbors think that it will make my hands rough and won't let me. I will try again...And Aunt Sylvia, I am working on getting you a video of some experts demonstrating how to pound fufu with great skill!
I am really enjoying fresh coconuts, sweet juicy mangoes, pineapple, and even some new fruits I haven't been able to look up yet because the internet is a bit slow. I drink Ghanaian cocoa every day (on its own). I'm only a bit pink from the sun after several long days being out in it for too long (thanks, coconut oil!) and am in good health, so I'm very grateful!
Sitting in the shade of a neem tree (azadirachta indica) with a gentle breeze, and sometimes the company of a friend, is a lovely way to study, it turns out. And I've been making new friends at the department of botany and the herbarium at the university, including a PhD student studying mycology (he says the university is hoping to create a microbiology department so he can go there rather than be studying fungi while lumped in with botany). There are some very kind people there who study ethnobotany and are documenting the usages of plants throughout Ghana (but have not yet worked in the Volta Region) and an expert in plant identification has agreed to come with me for part of my research to assist me with voucher specimen collection and identification of plants while I do my language documentation work. Hurray for collaboration in practice!
(Yes, Plants Animals Words 2013 friends, I am wearing my green hat with pride!)
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| drumming with new friends in Accra (photo by Cat Hockings) |
Mottos and advertising
As many of you know, shops and vehicles in Ghana often have a motto or a name reflecting something which the owner would like to share with the world.
A taxi on the way home from seeing Unansanango proclaimed:
Be fluent!
A passport photo business had a large sign by the road advertising themselves as "Gye Nyame ('accept God' though usually translated as 'except God') Passport Photos" with four photos of Obama smiling happily for his passport picture.
Today on my journey in a trotro (Ghana's convenient and affordable, privately-operated public transportation) to the Volta Region I passed by a shop which was named:
He is alive
fresh goat and cow meat
Okay my friends, that is a small update from me. I am doing well, learning a lot, and experiencing many new things. I hope that all of you are enjoying life and I'm always happy to hear from you!
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