Photos

Here are some photos from PST so far.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2410397&l=94d79&id=8603855

Some interesting cultural differences that I've noticed:

Greetings. You greet everyone as you pass them, to be polite. You say "good afternoon, how are you? i am fine, and how are you? i am fine also." You do it all the time, and you always greet elders and peers. If you don't greet, or someone doesn't greet you, it could be taken as a sign of disrespect. Consequently, it takes a long time to get anywhere walking if you have to stop to talk to so many people.

Left hand. The left hand is asociated with uncleanliness and disrespect, so you never wave it at someone, or offer or accept something with your left hand. If you need to exchange something, you do it right hand only. This takes some practice when buying things or paying the mate of a tro. If you are eating with people, which you normally don't do, you should only reach into a communal bowl with your right hand, and you should only eat with your right hand. I practise this, I try to usually carry my stuff in my left hand, so it is unavailable to unintentionally insult someone. Most people wouldn't be insulted if you left-hand-waved at them, they would just think you were a foreigner and didn't know better.

Everyone asks me where I am going. Ghanaians are very friendly, and they all want to talk to me. They are very curious about me and have many misconceptions about the US. We are all rich, and are all there to give them money. They want to know where I'm going, partyly because they are curious, and also because they want to help me get there. There is a saying that if you can talk, you can never be lost. The people almost all speak some english, some speak well. Some want to teach me twi, the local language. If I say something in english, they correct me with the twi, and won't leave me alone until I repeat the phrase and act like I understand. Even though I am learning Gurune, they want to teach me twi.

There are children everywhere. I heard the statistic that half of the population is 15 and under, and I believe it. There are schools everywhere, and kids in uniforms are so common running up and down the streets, across the fields. I walk past two primary schools and a Junior secondary school (JSS) when I go places, and they almost always shout at me and call to me. I have trained many of them to calle me Bra Kwame (Bra=brother Kwame=Saturday-born) instead of Obruni, but sometimes they call me by the name of one of the other Americans in town. I have a group of kids that I hang out with often who live by my house. One little boy is named Doctor, he's about 6 years old. Another girl is named Kevin, she's about 7. The little girls love to dance, and we have dance parties sometimes. I played Hey Ya for them and showed them how to "shake it like a polaroid picture." They are good dancers, and sometimes their dances are very adult, almost inappropriate, but it's mostly just funny.

My host family has 5 kids. Mavis is 23, but she attends the university in Accra, so I don't see her much (Accra is 2-2.5 hrs away). Michael is 18 and in his final year of SS. He is about 6'6" and very nice. He plays Ultimate frisbee with us and can catch anything. Lydia is 15, she's also in SS. Princilla is 9 and Nancy is 7. The girls often bring me my meals and play with me. They show me around and explain things to me when adults say things I don't understand. They all speak english well, but nancy is shy. I help them with their homework sometimes, and we even drew with colored pencils one time. My host father is the Headmaster of a small primary school in town where the younger girls go to school. My mother sells meats out of part of her family house. They are taking good care of me.

Mail is pretty reliable here. I can send a letter for pretty cheap too. If you want me to write you, let me know. Write me a letter at the PC address (below).

That's all for now. I've been in this internet cafe for way too long, and I'm getting hungry.

love,
Toby