March 26, 2007
My Ghana trip in numbers:
- 90 days
- 166 journal pages written
- 73 works of art created!
- 35 blogs posted
- 55 letters/ postcards mailed
- 12 books read
- 124 kids taught
- 10 different places I slept
- 0 real showers
- 1,389,245 times called 'obruni' (estimated)
The Best & Worst:
Favorite foods- plantains, pineapple, ground nut soup with rice balls
Favorite sounds- the wind going through the palms sounding like crackling flames, the sound
of Muslims being called to prayer
Best lost habits- nail biting, complaining, being in control
Best gained habits- conserving water & power, using a handkerchief
Best mode of transportation: motorbike
Worst mode of transportation: tro-tro (cramped mini-buses)
Most amusing transport moment: when the tro-tro window next to me literally just flew off
Most amusing lodging moment: sleeping on this guy's floor in Larabanga when I found
the only hotel was full
Song I'll miss: "The Bank of Ghana is changing the currency" propaganda song…it's catchy!
Song I won't miss: Bryan Adams "Everything I Do, I Do It For You"…which is played
everywhere for some strange reason
"Important" things in the beginning: power, dairy, running water
"Important" things by the end: independence, having choices, being understood/
communication, humor, privacy
Physical pluses: Your skin looks GREAT, the lack of processed foods
Physical minuses: issues from diet limitations a vegetarian, evil bug bites
Little things I'll miss: African healthy body image, kitschy foreign soaps, drinking water out of
bags, animals roaming around, lack of cigarette smoke
Little things I won't miss: horrible customer service, open sewage, yams, the dirt I'd scrape out
from under my nails daily, public urination
My top 5 moments
- Seeing elephants playing in the water at Mole National Park
- Enjoying a birthday celebration at Operation Hand in Hand in Nkoranza, dancing with the kids!
- Hanging out on the beach in Cape Coast: moonlight, drumming, and singing
- Staying up too late with new friends at Ryan's Irish Pub
- Bubble-blowing competions with Patrick in Adeiso
How I'd describe Ghanaian people…
*And yes, these are all judgmental generalizations based on my observations*
...fun loving, laid back, traditional, shortsighted, blunt, unreliable, hyper religious, generous, very social, family/ community oriented, hard-knock-life attitude, love football, love dramas, love Guinness, don't value time, everyone looks younger than they really are, not free thinkers (they imitate or copy), repressed women, superstitious, hospitable, love music & dancing, snappy dressers, and they love foreigners.
And finally...here are my Mr Duck photos!
Mr. Duck is indeed a lucky duck. His next stop? Back to being perched on the edge of my bathtub. (My bathtub in NEW YORK!)
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