After spending a week in Tamale I finally arrived in Buipe last Tuesday. I spent a few nights in staff accommodation prior to finding a permanent place to live. I am now living with a pastor and his family. There are four kids in my host family aged 4, 10, 12, and 17. I am sharing a room (which is also the living room) with the two girls (aged 10 and 17). It is definitely cozy living quarters! I will try and post some pictures of my home and family soon.
Unfortunately I have yet to have a good sleep at my host families home as my neighbours have been having a wedding. This wedding has been a three day (nearly 24 hours a day) event and has put any Canadian wedding that I have seen to shame in terms of music volume - you should see the size of speakers that got busted out for this event - dancing, food, and colourful clothing. I am been lulled to sleep by crazy loud base, and Saturday was extra special when Aqua's Barbie Girl was blasting at 2 am. Last night the wedding dance party migrated to be right in front of my current home. I spent about 30 seconds dancing before a huge crowd of children gathered and stopped to stare at me, the obroni (white person) dancing. Cell phones were pulled out to photo-document the white girl dancing - a truly hilarious and awkward experience for me.
I also had the experience of going to church yesterday. This was much less positive for me than the dance party. I was lectured on the proper role of women in a family in a strange little event called "Sunday School". This was incredibly tough to sit through especially because the man leading this discussion kept directing the lecture at me and was making sure that I was understanding the submissive, obedient role that he was insisting I am to fill. Church was definitely challenging for me. I think that religion and gender roles (that seem to be based in religion) are both things that I will struggle with while I am here.
Post church I went on a mission to locate FanMilk. This is an amazing Ghanaian ice cream creation which upon consumption makes everything in the world (ie. post church stress syndrome) seem okay. On that note, if anyone out there wants to start importing FanMilk to Canada you will have one loyal customer starting in September.
I find FanIce to be fairly similar to McDonald's vanilla ice cream... standard vanilla goodness :)
ReplyDeleteThere is hope in Canada when you return.
FanMilk I mean.
ReplyDeleteMake that two loyal customers. I was a sucker for the chocolate. The only ice in a world of melted things.
ReplyDelete-Tess