Monday, October 17, 2011

An update from training

Training has been a journey in itself. 

Home Sweet Homestay
Home stay announcements. A bit nerve raking, these are the families that we will be living with for the next 3ish months. Technically it broken up a bit, we have 2 weeks at home then we are traveling for almost all of November. December we are back with home stay parents for our final weeks of training and swearing in.  I have been with my home family for about 4 days now at the beginning I didnt know what to do with myself. Meals were prepared for me and I was told to eat by myself near my room or in the common area where the TV was put on for me to watch a Spanish soap opera translated to English. A nice sentiment but really? So to clarify in Ghana eating is not a social activity. In America you are the loser if you are sitting alone eating a meal, it was a weird transition at first. I have gotten used to it a bit and now I try to take my time because I cant slow down due to conversing. I have to pace myself. Another thing I have to adjust to with my home-stay family is that they are a young family the wife is only 29 and the father 35 with two small children an 8 month old baby girl and a 5 year old little boy. There is another little girl that will turn 9 soon that helps take care of the baby. I think she is the daughter of the fathers brother but its hard to tell because it seems like everybody is related somehow, mostly because everybody is called Aunt/Uncle or Brother/Sister. Making somebody else home your home is a really tough thing to do especially when you don't speak their language, know practically nothing about their culture and are only 7 years younger then my supposed to be mother. The young family has their hands full most the time and doesn't really hang out too much so its hard to find a good time to make conversation. I have tried asking to help prepare food and clean up but Im just told to sit.  I have weaseled my way in the past couple nights  The little girl has been using me to practice English. We went through her entire notebook last night and today practiced with some banannagrams! The kids are pretty entertained by everything I do. Some of the little ones like to touch, pinch and poke my skin just because its something they have never seen.

No Meat?
Being a vegetarian in Ghana has not been hard at all. Everyday my host mom makes me eggs for breakfast and at least one other meal. I think its because she dosent know what to make for me. I have yet to try Fufu or Bankoe the staples that most Ghanians have quite often. Im am looking forward to trying them and see if I actually like it but I have a feeling its a little bit of an acquired taste. The things I an missing out on are the mystery pieces of meat in many of the soups and the endless amount of fried, dried, smoked, or boiled Tiliapia. Although I am not eating it I am already sick of the smell from the markets. Fish, like clams, stains the air with a smell that lingers for years. I might be exaggerating a bit but really its bad. Learning to like every form of starch is a must for living in Ghana. Rice, yam (white like a potato), plantain, noodles (spaghetti = macaroni) are the base of every meal which is topped with large amounts of oil. The food is pretty spicy as well. So on top of it being a constant 90 degrees out side they expect me to eat hot spicy rice. Sweating is an activity from 7:30 am after bucket bath number one until 7:30 in the evening when its time for bucket bath number 2.

Movin up in life!
I received my site placement! I will be living in the Northern Region of Ghana a bit north of Tamale for 24 months of my Peace Corps service. My job description gives a tiny bit of information for me to go on until I meet my counter part, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION!  There are multiple parts to the description including starting a tree nursery and wood lot for the community of 1000 people speaking Dugbani. I am very excited about the placement even though the two years will be spent without running water or electricity. Not to worry the nearest town is only 2 miles away where im sure I can charge up and get all the thing I need.

Good Morning, Maachai, Dugbani
Being thrown into twi was hard enough but now I am expected to remember all the twi as well as learn all Dugbani!  Oh what have I gotten myself into?!  I have to be proficiant at a intermediate level by the beginning of december and while not being able to practice with my family. There are 5 of us that are learning this language so at least I have others to practice with. I hope it goes well becuase without the language the projects and all they could be is going to be thrown out the window.

3 comments:

  1. Kyndra, you are so brave! What an interesting experience. It sounds hot! How are you liking the food that your host mom has made so far, besides the spiciness? Where do you sleep? I laughed reading what you said about the little kids coming up and poking you. Don't worry, I am sure you will have lots of time to practice the languages! Miss you!!

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  2. You rock! This sounds 10 times crazier than anything I did! I think you will surprise yourself by how fast you pick up the languages. When you are forced to learn, hear and use a new language it comes a lot faster. I look forward to hearing more about you time in Ghana. What else do you have to do for training?

    Best of luck

    FrY

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  3. Wonderful update love! So, about that soap opera??? It is interesting that you can't help out - Maybe it's done in respect as a visitor? It is curious that dinner is not a social event, given the sense of community that you experience outside the home... learning the cultural norms is part of the experience. On learning the language, I agree with Nick, you'll be surprised at how quickly you pick it up once you're immersed in it.

    A few curious questions. What are the buildings made of? Are they colorful? What about trees and plants/flowers? Clothing/fabric? and does your homestay family have any pets? Lots of questions, maybe I need to get back to planning my visit to Ghana!

    Love you! Mom

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