today Ghana plays the United States in football (or soccer to you Americans ;) )....everyone all day has been asking me who i am going to cheer for! it's crazy that i'm from America and the country i'll be spending the next 2 years in is playing my homeland tonight! i always want the US to do well, but Ghana is the last African country left in the World Cup. So either way, it's a win-win for me :)
so i've been updating here and there --- so i'll talk more about the people, culture and food. oh, and transportation. how could i forget.
like i've said before, the people are extremely nice and welcoming. my homestay family is awesome, and they always treat me well. people are always trying to teach me Twi (the language down here where i am now) but i'm trying to learn Dagaree at the same time. it's so fun though, to see how excited they get when i can greet them "maache" in the morning and respond!
the culture is completely different than home. people are so hard working here and never stop working....when do they sleep! i get up when the sun rises (yes, like 5 am) and go to sleep a couple hours after it gets dark (around 8/8:30 pm). the kids work more than any children i've even seen before. kids take care of their siblings when they are only 9 years old sometimes....the fathers go to farm, the mothers cook and clean all day, and if the kids go to school they go then come home and help around the house. it's fine though, everyone is happy and always smiling.
the food is basically ALL starch. lots of fufu (which i don't really care for), banku, riceballs (best things ever!) and pasta. carbs, carbs, carbs. but the spices are great and my mother and sisters are great cooks and make great soups. groundnut (which is peanut) soup and palm nut soups are great...and i'm getting used to eating with my RIGHT hand.
transportation, i could write a whole blog about that itself. the roads aren't the best, and taxis and trotros (big vans) come and go when they are full. there aren't set times for them to go...it's just when they are full, you go. or you wait. sometimes for hours at a time! i'll definitely be tested on my patience while i'm in Ghana for these 2+ years. it's good though, people just go with the flow and get where they need to be sooner or later.
so just another short update -- we're going to some waterfalls tomorrow as a PCT group -- then another week of training/language.....then off to counterpart workshop and then up to the north (to Upper West) to see my site in KULKPONG! :)
GO USA!
and blackstars ;)
i miss you all. call/text me sometime people! :)
peace, love and hugs.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
ghana.
hi everyone. i've been in ghana for a little over two weeks now, and it's still going great. i have been pretty healthy -- with the occasional headache and fever...but otherwise i'm adjusting well.
we have started PST (pre-service training) and we found out our permanent sites this past thursday. i'm in the upper west region, in a village called Kulkpong. the language is dagaree, so i've just started learning that today. it's intense, but i'm really excited. i'm the only person learning this language (in my training class) so it's all one-on-one with my instructor so that will be nice. but it also means i'm going up there and i'll be pretty isolated! (i know you're nervous aunt beth, but it's okay...there are other current volunteers up there!)
other than that, the world cup is awesome. ghana is so into this...and they played my other favorite Australia today -- but came up with a draw so it's perfect for all :)
i will admit i miss waking up to sportscenter every day!
oh....and speaking of tv and electricity, i will not have electricity for TWO years!!!
i also have a cell phone (ghana is becoming quite developed)
so call me
just dial
011233277597484
(011 is to dial international, 233 is ghana's country code i believe, and the rest is my number)
that's my number for now -- but i might switch providers once i go up north -- so i'll update if that happens.
alsoooo
send me mail and letters :)
Kimberly Smith, PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 5796
Accra North
Ghana
we have started PST (pre-service training) and we found out our permanent sites this past thursday. i'm in the upper west region, in a village called Kulkpong. the language is dagaree, so i've just started learning that today. it's intense, but i'm really excited. i'm the only person learning this language (in my training class) so it's all one-on-one with my instructor so that will be nice. but it also means i'm going up there and i'll be pretty isolated! (i know you're nervous aunt beth, but it's okay...there are other current volunteers up there!)
other than that, the world cup is awesome. ghana is so into this...and they played my other favorite Australia today -- but came up with a draw so it's perfect for all :)
i will admit i miss waking up to sportscenter every day!
oh....and speaking of tv and electricity, i will not have electricity for TWO years!!!
i also have a cell phone (ghana is becoming quite developed)
so call me
just dial
011233277597484
(011 is to dial international, 233 is ghana's country code i believe, and the rest is my number)
that's my number for now -- but i might switch providers once i go up north -- so i'll update if that happens.
alsoooo
send me mail and letters :)
Kimberly Smith, PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 5796
Accra North
Ghana
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
AKWAABA!!
I arrived safely to Accra, Ghana this past Friday morning. The 10 hour plane ride wasn't too bad -- I slept a lot and watched movies! It was raining when we arrived in Ghana and our training staff told us it was a blessing from the Gods to be welcomed with rain =)
There are 72 total trainees in our PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), including myself. We have mostly been together or split up into two groups, one education/teachers and the other, which I'm included in, the omnibus group. There are around 10 health/water-sanitation people...and when we head to training we are all living within the same village so we will be spending lots of QT together! It'll be great though because every person here is amazing and brings something special to our training group!
Today started the 'vision quest', which is a time where we take off from the big group/summer camp setting and head into Africa alone. Well, we originally thought we would be alone, although there is a group of 18 of us. We all went from Accra to Kumasi and then finally (after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop and having to borrow a cell phone to call our PCO) made it to Tamale for the night. We are currently at the Peace Corps Sub-Office and it was very nice. I head out tomorrow morning at 7:50 a.m. (SLEEPING IN! yesss) and meet the current PCV (Volunteer) in town and then I'm going to her site for a couple nights. I'm so excited to finally be out in Ghana, experiencing this amazing culture and meeting the most friendly people I'm ever encountered. For example, today we were on our 6 hour bus ride and this guy behind us offered to walk us 15 minutes to the taxi hub, completely out of his way. It was such a nice gesture and he just did it because he wanted to, not expecting any sort of gratuity.
Randoms I just remembered:
-- it's HOT here. I'm sitting in this computer lab, sweating trying to type this.
-- i just ate goat meat!
-- i took a few bucket baths and washed my clothes in the same bucket!
-- we meet the US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, last night at a cocktail party at the embassy
love you all :) thanks again for all the well wishes! it's going to keep me going when the times get tough!
I'll try to post pictures soon
ma jo. (goodnight, in twi)
There are 72 total trainees in our PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), including myself. We have mostly been together or split up into two groups, one education/teachers and the other, which I'm included in, the omnibus group. There are around 10 health/water-sanitation people...and when we head to training we are all living within the same village so we will be spending lots of QT together! It'll be great though because every person here is amazing and brings something special to our training group!
Today started the 'vision quest', which is a time where we take off from the big group/summer camp setting and head into Africa alone. Well, we originally thought we would be alone, although there is a group of 18 of us. We all went from Accra to Kumasi and then finally (after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop and having to borrow a cell phone to call our PCO) made it to Tamale for the night. We are currently at the Peace Corps Sub-Office and it was very nice. I head out tomorrow morning at 7:50 a.m. (SLEEPING IN! yesss) and meet the current PCV (Volunteer) in town and then I'm going to her site for a couple nights. I'm so excited to finally be out in Ghana, experiencing this amazing culture and meeting the most friendly people I'm ever encountered. For example, today we were on our 6 hour bus ride and this guy behind us offered to walk us 15 minutes to the taxi hub, completely out of his way. It was such a nice gesture and he just did it because he wanted to, not expecting any sort of gratuity.
Randoms I just remembered:
-- it's HOT here. I'm sitting in this computer lab, sweating trying to type this.
-- i just ate goat meat!
-- i took a few bucket baths and washed my clothes in the same bucket!
-- we meet the US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, last night at a cocktail party at the embassy
love you all :) thanks again for all the well wishes! it's going to keep me going when the times get tough!
I'll try to post pictures soon
ma jo. (goodnight, in twi)
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