Africa - Final Leg of an Amazing Adventure

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 at 5:39am

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for your patience in hearing about my Timbuktu experience. This will probly be my last update from Ghana though I may try and do one after I’m back to fill in on this last week. I leave one week from today and my heart is heavy at the thought though it is also excited to see so many of you that I have missed so much these past several months. This has been the most incredible, moving, inspiring and life-changing 5 months. I can’t even begin to process all that I have been through and how I have changed. Let me try and catch you up on what I’ve been up to since my last update.

After getting back from Mali I was so happy to be back in Ghana and back to more familiar things. We had exams to study for and that took up a lot of my time. My first one was on May 5th and was for my slave trade and colonialism class. We wrote it in the large lecture theater there. They don’t let you bring anything into the exam other than your id, which we never even got after all, pens and maybe water and a handkerchief/sweat rag. They frisked us at the door which I thought to be absolutely absurd and mildly amusing. It wasn’t intensive or anything. I went in and sat down at a desk and waited for it to start. After a few minutes someone came up and moved me to another seat. I didn’t know why but whatever. Then as I sat in my new desk I saw that my id number had been written on it in chalk. Ahh!! I see. They assign seats it seems. I just figured the writing on the desk was normal as they scribble all over the desks and chairs or benches here and carve things in them. I didn’t take any notice of the writing on mine before they moved me. The exam was slotted for 2 hrs as they all are it seems. I finished after half an hour and that included rechecking my work. I have no idea when everyone else finished but I got up, turned in my paper, and left. I can’t for the life of me figure out how they fill the entire time slot for these exams and what they might possibly be writing to fill that time. It baffles me as it never takes me very long. Course, the fact that English is my first language might have something to do with it. Still, the test packets usually come with about 10-12 sheets of lined paper for you to write on and then the exam questions on a separate sheet and the closest I came to filling that packet was one I wrote that filled up about 8 pages. Sometimes people ask for more sheets. Hmm. Who knows?? I certainly don’t. Being the first one to leave the exam is always a little bit concerning, especially since I’m white. There’s no being inconspicuous here in any context or situation. Just doesn’t happen. Oh well.

I was glad to be done with one out of the five though I have no idea how I did on it or what kind of grade I will get. I still don’t understand their grading system or find it to be a good one. In fact, it is most maddening and frustrating, but I’m done and there’s nothing to be done about any of it now. I won’t know my grades till whenever CIE decides to send the transcripts which I have little faith they will do in a timely manner. The earliest would probly be in the fall but again, I have no idea when I’ll know. It kinda sucks not getting to see our final papers or get them back. Bah!!

Next exam was the 6th. It was originally scheduled for the 27th but I asked to take it early as I’d be traveling and Coleen was taking it early too so they let me. I was so happy about that since it meant I’d be able to leave campus after my last exams and have time to travel some more before leaving. This exam consisted of 5 questions out of which you had to choose 3 and write a full length essay. They gave us 8-9 possible questions to study before the exam and out of those they picked 5 that we had then choose 3 to write. Ughh!! I don’t like that way of doing exams. But I wrote my 3 essays in an hour and a half. My hand hurt so bad after writing so much in that amount of time. This one was for my Ghanaian culture class. I really enjoyed that class and think the professor is really good. I learned a lot about their culture. So much more to learn though.

So 2 exams done. Three more to go but didn’t have to write them until the 16th, 17th, and 19th. I much prefer having all my exams in 1 week and not spread out over the whole month. I understand they do that partly because of a lack of space for giving the exams as some of the classes are really large and are split into groups for lectures but have to all take the exam at the same time. Still.

The rainy season started. There were some days where it would downpour for maybe half hour to an hour and then it’d be finished but it was still pretty hot. I look forward to the rains as it usually cools down some. Course the mud and swarms of bugs are an unpleasant but unavoidable effect. You gotta take the good with the bad.

I had a week before my next exam so I enjoyed relaxing and not studying as much as I could have. On wed. of that week I went to Kumasi with Patrick for some shopping and such. He hadn’t been yet so we went and had a good trip. I mainly wanted to go to the cultural center for some things and he wanted to look there to as well as trying to find some bookshops. We found some of the shops but they didn’t have much and what they did have was not what he was looking for. Kumasi is so busy in the downtown area. Trying to walk anywhere you are surrounded by hordes of people all wanting you to buy something from them that you neither want nor need and sometimes don’t even know what it is or why we’d want it. We snaked our way through the crowds, being forceful when we had to and eventually made it to the CNC. Whew!! I dislike being in thick crowds like that. Makes me feel somewhat unsafe though I’ve never had any problem of feeling threatened or in any real danger at any time during my stay. You just never know what could happen and its best to keep moving, always acting like you know exactly where you are going, trying not to gawk at it all.

Sometimes you just want to try and take it all in but once you stop to do that then you will be surrounded by vendors, beggars, children and any variety of people and products you would rather not be surrounded with. I just want to look!!! Back off!! Sheesh!! Such pushy people. Mempasa!!! Plus the sun is scorching hot adding to the discomfort of such a situation and also to the umm . . . aromas shall we say? I don’t know how but you seem to learn how to not breathe in deeply. The gutters that line all the streets here are used for garbage, human and animal waste, dirty water and who knows what else and boy do they give off a potent stench especially on a hot day. It is a common thing to see men peeing in the gutters right there in the middle of town. Children do it a lot, too, and I’ve seen some women squat and relieve themselves but not so much. They are a little more discreet. The signs that you see that say ‘Don’t urinate here’ are practical and necessary and yet they still amuse me. Can’t say I’ve seen that sort of thing at home anywhere or in any of my other travels to my recollection.

We made it to the Centre for National Culture. Ahhhh!! Such a relief. There are not many people there and after those thick crowds this was so nice. It’s a walled complex with several buildings that have a variety of shops in. There are several with artwork like paintings and such and then you have some that have the trinkets and woodcrafts and such. We wandered through and found some things. I was looking for some paintings and enjoyed looking at all the different styles. I love the artwork!! It’s so colorful and vibrant. Just beautiful!! One of the shops has artwork done by some people who have handicaps. I ended up getting a couple paintings there. The artist was there and he was in a wheelchair painting with his mouth. His paintings are so beautiful and I’m happy to pay for things that I know are going to good causes. Next to that shop was another one where I found my big painting I’d been looking for. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted but I knew I wanted a large one for me and hoped I’d know it when I saw it. And I did. It is stunning and so beautiful!! I couldn’t pass it up. It was 55Ghc which is really good considering you could pay hundreds of dollars for such a piece at home. It was actually a demo one that was framed on the wall but since they didn’t have a duplicate they took it off the wall and off the wooden frame it was nailed to and gave it to me. I was so happy to have found it!!

We ate at a restaurant there before heading back to CC. Food was good and when it rained and cooled down I wished I’d have brought a sweater or something. I got quite cool which is always a nice change here. It didn’t rain for long but felt so nice to sit there with good food, good company and a light rain. We ended up on a trotro for the ride back, much to our irritation and resignation. Sitting on a trotro for 3-4 hrs can be rather miserable experience and this was no exception. The ride seemed to take forever but we made it back safely and that’s always a relief. You wouldn’t believe the amount of road accidents they have here. Its really bad and many result in deaths. Patrick and Abby were in a car accident here and they were riding with a professor. Their car got rear-ended after they stopped suddenly for a huge pothole. No one was seriously hurt but that’ll scare you pretty good.

On May 14, Saturday, Patrick, David and I went to tour Cape Coast Castle. We hadn’t been yet and it was something we wanted to do before we left. I’m glad we got to see it. These places have such a powerful history. Just to be clear these castles aren’t ones for princesses and knights in shining armor. They were used by colonial masters for slaves. There is nothing fairy tale about that. Frankly, I am more interested in these castles than any castles in England that actually have royalty living in them. Those bear little interest for me though they are beautiful.

Shortly after we started our tour it started raining and the wind kicked up. We were in the male slave dungeon when it started so we waited a little while hoping the rain would pass but it didn’t so we had to walk out in the rain so another group could go through that area. The rain must have lasted for an hour or so with the wind. I found it to be beautiful. It’s not like it got that cold really. David got cold but that’s cuz he’s used to the heat here and doesn‘t like the rain and cold, which is a constant source of amusement to me. We finished the tour and it was still pouring rain. Patrick and I decided to try and get some photos despite the rain cuz you never know when it will stop. So we went out on the wall where we hadn’t gone previously and took more photos. It was kinda fun out there in the storm but thankfully it stopped after another 20 minutes or so. We were soaked but having fun. We were able to finish exploring the castle without more rain and our clothes were dried by the time we got back to campus.

I had my next 3 exams on the 16th, 17th, and 19th. With the finishing of each exam I felt that much more relieved and excited to be almost done with the school part of being here. Taking classes here has been probly the biggest challenge of this trip. It’s not the content of the classes that has been the challenging part but trying to figure out what is expected from us in a system that is entirely foreign in its expectations and style of teaching. I still  have no idea if I’ve passed my classes or not. I’ve never gotten so many low grades in my life and that is a humbling, frustrating and confusing thing as I feel certain if I had taken the same classes at home and done the same work my grades would be much higher and more like what I am used to getting. But I suppose that is part of the experience after all. I’m happy to be done with that anyway and I feel like when I go back to school in the fall for hopefully my last year, it will all seem so much easier and manageable after this experience.

Finally, I was finished with my exams!!! Hooray!!! What a relief that was! Ahhh . ..  Now to relax and enjoy the rest of my time without that whole pesky school thing. LOL!! On Sat., May 21, our friend and classmate Richard took us to a cocoa farm that was about 2 hrs away. We thought we were going to his farm but since his was much farther away, we went to one at Atobiase where he has an aunt and uncle who have a farm there. The farm we went to see was near this small town and was a fairly small farm.

The cocoa trees are smallish with the fruit growing off the trunk. The fruit consists of a tough shell, not as tough as coconut but tougher than a watermelon if I had to try and categorize it, with seeds the size of maybe a quarter that are covered in a slimy sort of flesh and are sweet to suck on though very slimy and the seeds are attached to a spine thing in the middle. The cocoa comes from the seeds which are dried in the sun on large drying mats. The seeds are dried and then sent somewhere where they are ground up, producing the cocoa powder used to make chocolate, which is then exported. Most of the cocoa farmed in Ghana is exported. One bag of cocoa beans about the size of a gunny sack (sp?) can sell for 1500Ghc I think Richard said which is about $1000 US. There are several fruits that grow on one tree and are low on the tree and fairly easy to pick. One tree can produce for 3-5 years before it stops producing and they will cut it down and replant. Not sure what else I asked him about all of it but it was really interesting. There are children who work in the farms but at least in this area it seems the kids are part of the family that the farm belongs to and as much as I dislike even that kind of work for children, these aren’t children who are enslaved and forced to work on these farms like in other places or perhaps on other farms.

While we were touring the farm, we were being trailed by lots of kids who would laugh and talk to us, at least the bold ones would. The adults would try to shoo them away but they gave up that after awhile and we had quite a train of people, children and adults behind us as we walked back to the village. We took some photos with the children who kept wanting ‘just one more’ and ‘just one more’ and ‘just one more’ photo. I’m not sure they really knew what that meant, haha!! It was fun playing with them for a bit before we had to go. We tried getting a trotro back to CC with all 4 of us but it wasn’t working so Jess and Abby took the first one that they could force their way into as people here don’t know how to queue and just force their way to the front of whatever line there might be. I dislike that as I’m not one to jump in front of other people. I’m more than happy to let others go first but in doing so you might end up waiting a long time before you run out of people to let cut in front of you so you have to try and be un-American somehow and just force your way in. That’s hard for me to do but I can do it.

So Jess and Abby boarded one first and Richard and I waited for another. It took a while but we finally got one and crammed in with more passengers than these are designed to carry already. At that point, I didn’t care and was glad to be headed back to CC, regardless of how many people I was squished up against. It was cool getting to see a farm and learn about how it all works.

As I mentioned in my last update, I was planning on spending the last few days in Ghana traveling with David. Just a little about him for anyone who might be curious. He is a student at UCC studying something akin to sports medicine and just finished his first year at UCC with 3 more to go. Before coming to UCC he taught English for 5 years in Denu which is in the Volta region and where I am currently. He has a certificate for teaching. He is also a national table tennis/ping pong player and is really good. He placed 3 at some university games in April, I think, and also got a bronze medal recently in a West Africa games competition in Nigeria. He has an opportunity to travel and play abroad in August which will be a great opportunity for him and I pray it goes well. He’s a Christian and one of the best people I’ve ever met. He has 1 younger sister, a younger brother and an older brother. There is much more I could say about him but those are some of the basics.

Tuesday evening, we went to Oasis, a local hotspot that is often frequented by obrunis, and has some western food that is pretty good. Abby, Jess, Patrick, David, Elvis, and Richard came and we had a good time hanging out and eating good food. I was the first one to actually be leaving CC even though I’ll be the last one to leave Ghana. I’m glad we got to hang out as a group one more time before I left. That night after we got back, Abby and I hung out all night. We stayed up talking, listening to music and just having fun. We went up on the roof and threw some Frisbees off and took some photos. I had decided to stay up all night cuz by the time I was finished packing and stuff it was 1:30am and I was planning on getting up at 4:30am so we could leave campus to catch a ride to Accra. I’m so glad Abby and I got to hang out this one last time before I left. I have been so blessed to have her as a roommate and friend. I couldn’t have picked a better roommate had I been given the choice. She is such a fun, unique, hilarious and beautiful person who I have become good friends with. I have missed her so much after leaving. I wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye. So far, I’d done ok saying goodbye to people and not crying like I wanted to. I cried when Selorm left as she has become a dear friend and my closest African female friend. Finally 5:30am came and we took my bags out front where we had a taxi driver who was going to take us the short distance down the road to the bus station. David and I loaded mostly my bags into the trunk and then I had to say goodbye to Abby. I had been forcing the tears away up until this point but couldn’t stop them now. And of course, if I start crying, I can’t talk for the emotion in my throat that prevents me from not only looking like a faulty sprinkler system with a red face but also being mute. Not my most favorite state to be in but one I find myself in from time to time. I gave her a hug with both of us crying. Sheesh!! Women and their tears!! LOL!! I intensely dislike goodbyes even though there is a strong possibility that I’ll be seeing people again. Its not about that. Its about missing people and knowing its going to be awhile before you see them again, if you are blessed to do so. I can’t tell if these moments are getting easier or harder for me the more often I have to do them. I think the older I get and the more open I am with my emotions the harder they get. Anyways, enough about that. Haha.

Wed, nearly a week ago, David and I left UCC, after a few days of saying goodbye to dear friends and traveled to Denu, his hometown which is near the Togo border in the south. He has family here and people who are more family than some of his biological family. I was excited to meet some of the people who have been such a big part of his life and to see where he has lived. It’s a decent sized town built on sand. Not sure how it works as I’m no construction worker or anything but the town is in the sand. I haven’t been to the beach yet but everywhere you walk is in sand. It seems odd to be walking through town and to be walking on sand. Dirt is one thing, but the sand feels foreign somehow.

He has a small 2 room apt that he rents and stays when he is here. Its inside a walled compound and the building has numerous other apts in it. It is run by a 99 yr old woman who has a pet monkey in a cage cuz it bites. This old woman does any of the work on the place unless it is a big job and then she will hire someone. Can you imagine?? I can’t. Wow!! There is a well in the courtyard area where you can draw water for whatever you need it for. There is a building in that courtyard with several small rooms that people use for kitchens. The kitchens are often not in the houses or apts here. Of course, you can cook or whatever in your room but it’s likely to be inconvenient due to the smoke from the stove and messy too. Not sure of other reasons for having it separate but I imagine you can come up with some. There is a ‘toilet’ around the back but still in the compound which consists of a walled in area where you take care of your business and then use water to wash it out a small hole. Hmm… I’m constantly thankful for toilets, especially ones that flush regularly.

One of David’s fathers, Tom, has a hotel here where I have been staying. Upon asking about the cost of the room which is pretty fancy and has a tv, closet, mini-fridge, fan, a/c, large bed and bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower all with running water, he said not to worry about it as he sees me as a daughter-in-law! Wow!! I was so touched by that. This is a room that would be 45Ghc regularly which is fairly cheap by US standards but really nice here and he is letting me stay here free of charge, with breakfast included!! Wow!! I am constantly surprised and truly blessed by the generosity and hospitality of people here.

Over the past week we have gone to visit people who have been a huge part of David’s life, some of them blood relatives, many of them close friends who are like family. He hadn’t told some of them, namely his Aunty, that he was bringing a white ‘friend’ with him. They knew he had a friend he was bringing but not that I was white. He likes to surprise people it would seem as my presence is surprising to some though it seems to be a good thing which they are happy about and enjoy teasing David about. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m sure, it seems that many people here have a great deal of reverence and awe toward white people and it feels like some somehow feel we are better than them and are people worthy of their looking up to, if that makes sense. I sure don’t feel special or deserving of this attitude or behavior and it embarrasses me more than it makes me feel good. I mean, I’m glad that people are not threatening or antagonistic but to be made to feel as if I’m better than them because of my skin color is an entirely uncomfortable position to be in. Hard to explain if you’ve never experienced such a thing. Nonetheless, the people I have met have been so welcoming and friendly and seem genuinely happy for David and I. “You’ve done well,” is a common phrase said to David and also to me. LOL!! It happens.

We had hoped to cross the border to Togo for a few hours since it is less than 20 minutes from here but upon getting there it would have cost too much just to try and cross and then come back so we decided to save that for the next time I’m here. It would have been a cool bonus but it was no biggie not getting to go. It poured rain Sunday night and in the morning and the roads were a red muddy mess that was difficult to traverse without getting covered in the red mud here. I think I did pretty good, though. I didn’t slip and fall and my legs were pretty mud-free by the end of the day. It stopped raining halfway through the day and some started to dry but it takes a while.

We will be going to Accra tomorrow morning, Wed., where we will be until I leave Friday evening. We hope to go to Aburi Botanical Gardens and Boti Falls a couple hrs north of Accra on Thursday as one last little trip before I leave. I’ll meet David’s mother and siblings in Accra possibly Wed. Then, barring any complications, I’ll be leaving Fri night and get home sometime Sat afternoon. To any of you hoping to see me right away, I ask for your patience as I attempt to readjust to being in Spokane. I would love to see you and I hope to but I need to do that when I’m ready. I hope you understand. I can’t pretend leaving here and mainly leaving David won’t be the hardest thing I’ve had to do or that I won’t be a mess when I get home. The hope and the plan to see him again in about a year will be my light at then end of the tunnel. Still, its going to be a hard thing to do. But, don’t worry, I plan on seeing you as soon as I can. I’ve got school stuff to do when I get back though I don’t have any idea what it might entail and then I plan on going to Yakima the following week for a week or more. I don’t know how any of this will work out but these are tentative plans. I should have my phone back on Sat morning once I get to DC, hopefully. I’ll be needing to find a job so if anyone knows of places that are hiring, I haven’t been able to do much looking here and I’d appreciate any input.

I can’t believe I’ll be home in 4 days, Lord willing!! What an adventure this has been!! Thank you so much for coming with me on this journey. Your prayers, thoughts, messages, packages and calls have been unforgettable and deeply appreciated. I’ll keep you posted on my future travels if you like but for now, I’m signing off. I hope to send a final update once I’m home but I have no idea if I actually will or when it might be. It’s going to take some time to process things and I make no promises of passing on those thoughts but I hope I get to it. If you have questions, comments, jokes, your own travel stories to share or anything, I’m always happy to hear them. If I haven’t responded to all your emails and messages, I hope you can forgive me and give me the chance perhaps when I’m back on that side of the ocean. Thanks again for your love and support.

All my love and gratitude,
Cat - Kakra - Kate - Elorm . . .