Blog!

I've been putting this off because a) my internet time has been limited and b) I've been doing so much journaling and reflecting that I kind of needed a break! But I've been in Nkawkaw since Monday, and it's not Friday so time is running out! I plan to do three blog entries while I'm here...this first one is just a quick update; to be followed by 2 more in depth ones tonight, and tomorrow.

So, on Monday we travelled to Nkawkaw for our first retreat, after spending our first 10 days in the villages. My village is called Wisi Wisi and it's very small. It's fairly close to Nkawkaw, and also close to a larger village called Penkase where my family attends church.

My host father is named Emmanual Anso, and goes by Anass. He speaks english, is a cocoa farmer and is also very religious (Catholic). I also have a host mother, Diane who speaks very little english (it's still better than my Twi). She stays at home most of the time taking care of the kids, cooking and running the family store which is part of our compound. I also have nine sibling; though one I've only met a couple of times (the first time for his wedding - great story, but it has to wait for another post!). He's a teacher in Kumasi, which is about 2-3 hour trotro ride from Nkawkaw. I also forget his name. Then there's Eric, who's 23 and attends boarding school. He's been home though on his midterm break, and speaks english so we've hung out a bit. Next is Lydia, 21, who also attends boarding school and has also been home. She speaks english too, but is much shyer than Eric. We've talked a couple of times mostly at the cocoa farm where she comes to help out. Then Barbara, 14, and really sweet. I think she may have been somehow assigned to look after me since she helps me out a lot...maybe she's just nice though. She lives at home and attends school in Nkawkaw. Then Godfrey - age unknown who either doesn't speak English or is too shy to speak to me (very likely, and understandable). Then the twins, Theodora and I think the other is Deborah -they're seven and strike me as kinda mischievous...but hard to say, since they don't seem to know much English. Then my 3 year old host brother Sendra (or something like that) who mostly runs around in his underpants eating food from plastic bags or crying because a) he has to bath, which he seems to really hate or b) the twins are bugging him. Then little Gabrielle - just over a month. He mostly just lies about crying or giggling. Sometimes I my host mother randomly hands him to me and laughs then walks away...which is...fine. He did pee on me once though - seems to be of little concern to people so whatevs.

So! That's the fam! They live in a compound with the main house (living room and 2 bedrooms), an outhouse attached to the bath enclosure (no running water), a kitchen hut (small and smoky), an extra hut which maybe storage or a guest house, the shop out front and a lot of cocoa! I have my own room, off the patio which is nice and quite a luxury considering the house only has 2 other bedrooms, and one bed in the living room. The family seems well of relative to the village, and my host father has pretty much confirmed that he's considered middle class. The kids all go to school, and are decently well dressed and we get fed really well - in fact, amazingly well. It's all an adjustment - especially the work on the cocoa farm - a description of which will follow in my next installment.

I still have to say though, that the transition of going from the mission house, and from being pretty much constantly with the group to being dropped off in the middle of a Ghanaian family was quite a  shock to the system. Despite the amazingness of my host family, (who greeted me by picking me a basket of oranges from one of the compound trees), my first few days were marked by anxiety, loneliness and homesickness. It was tough to have to learn everything from scratch - things like using the bathroom and getting bath water; but also things like family dynamics and good manners. Not knowing the language has also been extremely isolating. I found myself surrounded by this large family, talking, laughing, eating, playing and I was unable to really participate. A particularly difficult moment was realizing that I wasn't to eat with the family - in fact, they don't eat together, but at separate tables depending on age and gender. It made me really homesick for my own family, and for our kitchen table and just that feeling of belonging and relaxing. I had a couple of days of deep panic in which I pretty much concluded that people as shy as myself should never leave the comfort of their own home. But I calmed down a bit, got some support from the group during our weekly meeting, and have been settling in a bit. It's definitely a challenging situation, but it gets easier every day. As I've said my host family is amazing, and they take amazing care of me so I'm extremely grateful for that. As I get my own needs and feelings under control, I know I'll be able to focus even more in immersing myself in Ghanaian life and to learn more and more about my family, my village and this new and exciting country!