Hello! I have received many emails asking the same things (by the way, if you want to get on the mass email list for more frequent updates contact my gmail account), so i thought maybe i should just take you through a day in the life of me, a ghanaian peace corps trainee, to cover most of these q's. enjoy.
Ok, so every day at 5:30 am I wake up under my mosquito net to the sounds of screaming roosters, bleating goats and women sweeping. so much for needing an alarm clock! Alright, I get up, visit the bathroom, aka a hole in the ground, and then my mother serves me breakfast. this is usually a huge bowl of bland porridge, bananas and an egg sandwich. ive deemed it the ghanaian grand slam...denny's may have competition, its delicious. (At this point the sun takes its toll on me and i start sweating). After breakfast I usually sit outside and struggle through an awkward conversation with my host family. thank god for the world cup right now, without soccer, i dont know what we would really talk about. =P. At 8:00, I go to language training. Like i said last time, i am learning some near-extinct indigenous language that is only spoken in about 4 communities in ghana. it is currently very frustrating because i am the only one that doesnt have an official PC language trainer. they found some random guy on the street to teach me the language who doesnt know the first thing about teaching language. boo. my host family speaks the common language, twi, so i am learning that more and more every day, it would be really nice if i could just speak twi at my site... ok, so lunchtime rolls around and i go back to my host family to find more food waiting for me. this is usually an entire chopped up pineapple, or a mango, or fried yams and beans. the fruit here is incredible, ive never tasted anything like it! after lunch i walk to the road and wait to hitch a ride into town for more training sessions. along the way, i am greeted by every ghanaian that i pass by. and every time i have to explain that my name is NOT obruni (twi for white man) and that "my mission" here is to teach with the peace corps. then i get the occasional toothless old man who shouts the same thing at me in really fast twi over and over again as if eventually i will understand if he continues to repeat himself! its always amusing in hindsight, but frustrating and awkward at the time. I also normally walk by the token little wide eyed ghanaian kid who stops and stares as i walk past. i always ask how they are to which i get a smile and a shy "eye" (twi for "fine"). its adorable. ok, so after afternoon training i take a beat up taxi back to my host community. these rides are definitely the most stressful part of my day. ghana has seemingly no traffic laws or speed limits so its just a completely reckless free-for-all on the streets. (willow, take note!). back at my house, mama has, of course, food prepared for me again. this is usually fufu with either peanut or palm nut stew. fufu is the most traditional dish which is made from boiled plantains and cassava and then pounded into a pasty ball with literally a gigantic mortar and pestle. i am certain that those who make the fufu expend more energy making it than they do by consuming it! fufu (along with most ghanaian food) is eaten with your hands, actually only your right hand since the left is considered dirty and therefore never used for much of anything. the food in general is really good! so, after dinner the sun sets and i finally stop sweating. i then retreat to my room to prepare lesson plans for practicum and study my indigenous language. at this point i may or may not take a bucket bat, depending on how smelly i am. =P. ok, after a few more awkward exchanges with my host family, i crawl back into my mosquito net and exhausted, I fall fast asleep to my malarial drug induced psychoactive dreams. then morning comes and it all starts over again. aren't you all jealous of my life?!? you should be. its pretty awesome.
ok, on a slightly more political note, ghana officially has 0.06 doctors per 10,000 people. thats some 50 times less physicians than the united states... also there is currently a shortage of around 22,000 teachers here, the majority in math and science. so (ahem, melissa, jarosz, pete kao, etc) if you are at all interested in foreign service, particularly in the peace corps or in africa, your service is well needed!
alright, tis all for now. ghana is great, (the weather is NOT) wish you were here, miss you!
-matthew kwabena amoako (my ghanaian name) -
Ok, so every day at 5:30 am I wake up under my mosquito net to the sounds of screaming roosters, bleating goats and women sweeping. so much for needing an alarm clock! Alright, I get up, visit the bathroom, aka a hole in the ground, and then my mother serves me breakfast. this is usually a huge bowl of bland porridge, bananas and an egg sandwich. ive deemed it the ghanaian grand slam...denny's may have competition, its delicious. (At this point the sun takes its toll on me and i start sweating). After breakfast I usually sit outside and struggle through an awkward conversation with my host family. thank god for the world cup right now, without soccer, i dont know what we would really talk about. =P. At 8:00, I go to language training. Like i said last time, i am learning some near-extinct indigenous language that is only spoken in about 4 communities in ghana. it is currently very frustrating because i am the only one that doesnt have an official PC language trainer. they found some random guy on the street to teach me the language who doesnt know the first thing about teaching language. boo. my host family speaks the common language, twi, so i am learning that more and more every day, it would be really nice if i could just speak twi at my site... ok, so lunchtime rolls around and i go back to my host family to find more food waiting for me. this is usually an entire chopped up pineapple, or a mango, or fried yams and beans. the fruit here is incredible, ive never tasted anything like it! after lunch i walk to the road and wait to hitch a ride into town for more training sessions. along the way, i am greeted by every ghanaian that i pass by. and every time i have to explain that my name is NOT obruni (twi for white man) and that "my mission" here is to teach with the peace corps. then i get the occasional toothless old man who shouts the same thing at me in really fast twi over and over again as if eventually i will understand if he continues to repeat himself! its always amusing in hindsight, but frustrating and awkward at the time. I also normally walk by the token little wide eyed ghanaian kid who stops and stares as i walk past. i always ask how they are to which i get a smile and a shy "eye" (twi for "fine"). its adorable. ok, so after afternoon training i take a beat up taxi back to my host community. these rides are definitely the most stressful part of my day. ghana has seemingly no traffic laws or speed limits so its just a completely reckless free-for-all on the streets. (willow, take note!). back at my house, mama has, of course, food prepared for me again. this is usually fufu with either peanut or palm nut stew. fufu is the most traditional dish which is made from boiled plantains and cassava and then pounded into a pasty ball with literally a gigantic mortar and pestle. i am certain that those who make the fufu expend more energy making it than they do by consuming it! fufu (along with most ghanaian food) is eaten with your hands, actually only your right hand since the left is considered dirty and therefore never used for much of anything. the food in general is really good! so, after dinner the sun sets and i finally stop sweating. i then retreat to my room to prepare lesson plans for practicum and study my indigenous language. at this point i may or may not take a bucket bat, depending on how smelly i am. =P. ok, after a few more awkward exchanges with my host family, i crawl back into my mosquito net and exhausted, I fall fast asleep to my malarial drug induced psychoactive dreams. then morning comes and it all starts over again. aren't you all jealous of my life?!? you should be. its pretty awesome.
ok, on a slightly more political note, ghana officially has 0.06 doctors per 10,000 people. thats some 50 times less physicians than the united states... also there is currently a shortage of around 22,000 teachers here, the majority in math and science. so (ahem, melissa, jarosz, pete kao, etc) if you are at all interested in foreign service, particularly in the peace corps or in africa, your service is well needed!
alright, tis all for now. ghana is great, (the weather is NOT) wish you were here, miss you!
-matthew kwabena amoako (my ghanaian name) -
posted by Matt at 4:03 AM
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