Finally 20

“Whenever you have your birthday in Ghana, people ‘pond’ you. They pour water and flour on you to make sure you appreciate the pain your mother went through for child birth.” This seems a bit harsh. Another one of my friends here said that he was ‘ponded’ when he was a freshman and that they basically threw water at his back so that it was like a whipping. That doesn’t seem like a happy birthday to me! Luckily, they don’t really do this to girls, and my Ghanaian friends don’t seem like the type to do this. But today is my BIRTHDAY! I’m really excited to celebrate tonight with my new amazing friends here. We’re not sure what we’re doing yet, but I know it will be one to remember.

Things here are starting to fall into line. I finally understand the tro-tro system a bit better, and I’m meeting more people. I like walking around alone because then I always meet more people. When we travel in groups we probably seem intimidating or isolated. When we’re alone I would imagine we seem more approachable.

We went to a beach called Kokrobite Beach this last weekend. We spent the night in houses basically on the beach for only about 8 USD. The people there were so nice. There were two guys I met who are from Burkina Faso and they were there with a Frenchman. They both played the kora and they taught me how to play a song on it (although I’ve already forgotten it). It is such a beautiful instrument. When I was playing it, the sound and the look of the strings really reminded me of a harp. Now I really want to buy one here!

On Saturday we went to the Aburi Botanical Gardens. We had to drive into a mountainous region and it was gorgeous. Unfortunately our bus broke down on the way there and also on the way back. However, we were still able to go to the gardens and also to a bead market. We got to see how they make the beads here and then buy some of them.

So this morning for my breakfast, one of my Ghanaian friends, A.B. (real name is Abraham), made me basically an English breakfast. It was egg, beans, and corned beef. I ate part of it because I didn’t want to waste it, but honestly I felt like I was going to have a heart attack! The British influence here is very apparent. Ghana gained their independence from them in 1957, but the British culture still lingers. The Ghanaians may not think so, but we Americans can definitely notice a slight British accent in the Ghanaian English. And their word choice for things is very British. For instance, they call bars, drinking pubs, pants are trousers, and lines are queues. I bet when I go to London later on, I’ll find even more parallels.

The other day I switched around my classes so now instead of taking African Traditional Religion and Identities and Conflicts in Africa, I’m taking a class on Pidgin and Creole Languages. We’ll study countries including Haiti, Jamaica, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. I really can’t wait! Maybe I’ll learn how to speak Ghanaian Pidgin.

I’ve found their main indigenous language Twi (pronounced somewhat like chrwee) to be quite difficult. First off, the pronunciation is difficult to get down. There are just the slightest differences in pronunciations that will completely change the meaning of the word. There are also two symbols that are not found in the alphabet we’re used to. One of them is causing problems for me because it looks like an E written in the way where it looks like a backwards 3. I’ll do this on my regular e’s a lot, so I have to be careful when writing in Twi because it could change the word or make it completely wrong. And we’ve learned that what is written isn’t even really how you say it. They really just mush it all together. And there are vowels which you nasalize sometimes. It will be a challenge pick up, but hopefully by the end of my first semester I’ll have it down pretty good.

Well, I tried uploading some pictures but it wouldn't go through because the internet is so slow, so I will try again later. Now I must go off to celebrate my birthday! I am no longer a teenager…

Nante yie! (Goodbye/Safe Journey)

PS- Here in Ghana, many of the people have several names. Most have a name that is in accordance to the day on which they were born. For instance, a man named Kwame was born on a Saturday, and a man named Kofi was born on a Friday. My Ghanaian name would be Afia because I am female and was born on a Friday. Here are the names so you can figure out your own name!

Day- Male Name- Female Name

Monday- Kwadwo - Adwoa

Tuesday - Kwabena- Abena

Wednesday- Kwaku- Akua

Thursday - Yaw- Yaa

Friday - Kofi- Afia

Saturday - Kwame- Ama

Sunday - Kwasi -Akosua