When in Ghana...

If this blog post ever reaches anyone but myself in my apartment it might just be a miracle. In an effort to “improve” internet service and provide customers with “fast” and “wireless” internet, GILLBT has changed internet providers. Don’t worry everyone, this wonderful service is only an increase from 3 to 5GHC per day. This roughly works out to be 100USD per month in internet charges, if used every day of the month, but not to worry, I’ve been informed that this is “not too expensive.” What? This would be almost ok if the internet actually worked, but since this wonderful change to a “better” service, the internet has not worked. Conveniently, this has also happened on a weekend, which is the time I rely on home internet most to sneak in work, since Ama is with me. While I am a fan of wireless internet, if there isn’t anyone around who has a clue as to what to do when it goes down, it is useless. It seems that whenever there is a power outage, there is an issue with the wireless---major problem since the power goes out almost daily here!

That’s probably enough ranting for now...

Our first week sans Grandma was a success, and although I had my doubts when she left, I think we might just make it the 7 more weeks until Pam arrives. Ama had many fits of “I can’t find my Gampa,” but soon recovered. One thing that I have noticed since Mom left is that there is no longer an excuse when you are “invited.”
Ghana is a VERY religious place, and it is not uncommon for people to be preach over loud speakers in market places, or use religious references in day to day conversations with strangers. It is basically assumed that everyone is a full blown believer, preferably of the Christian faith. People often are confused/concerned when they learn that I have not been to church on a particular Sunday. When Mom was here, I was able to attribute that to travelling or some other reasonable excuse.
In addition to living in the land of open Christianity, I am staying at a missionary guesthouse called GILLBT-Ghana Institute of Linguistics and Bible Translation. No, there is no wine allowed on the premises-quite possibly the only drawback to the place. Although you don’t have to be a missionary to stay here, the place attracts many missionaries, which is not hard since many of the foreigners here are doing some sort of mission work. This includes the very nice Canadian couple across the hall, who have invited me to their church several times. It came to the point where it felt almost rude to decline, since it was obvious to all that I had nothing better to do, so I decided to join them today.

For all those that know me, you are probably saying “Karen went to church?” But when in Ghana...It was actually quite interesting. It was called the Elim International church, and consisted mostly of ex-pats. I can see how this would be a good venue to connect with people that you might have common interests with. It was very young in comparison to any church I’ve been to at home (my church experience is not so exhaustive that this means anything!), and the service was way more up-beat. I believed it was founded by a Japanese man , but I might be wrong on that one. It is a multi-denominational church with lots of singing and dancing. There was a band which Ama was quite interested, and it was an overall un-painful experience.

Man there are a lot of people doing mission work here. Some are totally wacko and clueless, but most seem to be providing pretty good services and seem pretty respectful. I've met some really nice and interesting people.

After church and an afternoon nap, I went outside to observe Peace and Moses (yes those are their actual names) pounding FuFu. I took several pictures (below) and Ama tried some. After the first mouthful she exclaimed “I like it! I want more FuFu!” I’m not sure what happened to my baby, but this little girl is now talking in full sentences.

I should have taken it upon myself to hide once the fufu was prepared, but I was still outside when Moses came down with his steaming hot bowl of soup (I can’t remember the actual name, and can’t look it up because I have no internet access) of ground nut/palm nut soup, complete with a giant ball of fufu at the bottom. It closely resembled the horrifying soup that was we encountered a few weeks ago, and Moses exclaimed “You are invited!” What is one to do? It would be rude not to join.
You are invited meant that we would eat the soup together, with our hands, out of the same bold, off the ground near the gate of the guesthouse. I am glad that I have seen this eaten before, and was aware of the hand-washing procedures. Thankfully, this soup, although not the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted, was much more palatable than my last encounter with soup/fufu. I have decided though that I will never grow to love fufu. It is very dough-like, and sits in your stomach like a log. It is pretty neat to watch it being prepared though, and I can appreciate the hard work that goes into it.






After my gourmet and very romantic Valentines dinner (I had completely forgotten about Valentines day) I decided to take Ama out for ice cream, and me out for a glass of wine. We went to the very fancy Captain Hooks (recommended to anyone who wants to splurge in Accra) and indulged in far too expensive wine and ice cream. We arrived shortly before opening, and the very friendly hostess allowed us to go in early, avoiding the Valentine’s day rush. Ama was a fantastic date, and we enjoyed ourselves very much!

This week we should be visiting Lucy, our new “Grandma.” I was put in touch with this very friendly woman through my professor, who had previously taught Lucy’s daughter Abena. I met Abena in Calgary in November, and she was so nice as to give me her mother’s contact information. “Grandma” came to meet me at the guesthouse, and embraced me in a surprisingly strong hug at least 3 times. She insisted that we visit her at her home, and I am not about to argue! It is amazing to be so wholeheartedly welcomed by a perfect stranger. It makes me think that North Americans have a lot to learn about human relationships, but that’s another story for another day!