New photos on Facebook right here. Hope all is well and good with you.
peace,
-Toby
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Vacation extraviganza
That spelling of extraviganza doesn't look quite right, but oh well. I had a great vacation travels with some pcv friends here in ghana, and now i have no money. Being a tourist is Expensive!
First, Anthony, Kyle, Brian, Matt, and Tristen came up to Bolga to visit me. I went in and met them in the bus station and took them to a nice chop bar where we ate TZ and groundnut aleefu stew. It's one of my favorites and the guys from the south (all but Tristen) had never taken TZ before. It's common in northern Ghana, but you don't really see it anywhere in the south. They liked it and you will too, because aleefu is excellent. See previous post for more about Ghanaian food.
We hung out in Bolga for the day, I showed them around, but there's not really that much to see. We sat and had a beer with Shauna, JJ, and Kirsten, my omnibus neighbors. Kyle and I increased our awesome factor by a billion (see pictures). We took a walk throught the market and then headed back to my house in Sirigu. It was fun to have visitors, and I showed them around my house and school, then we went into the village and ate some snacks and took pito at Bismarks house. They were impressed with how dry and dead everything up here is, because in southern ghana it is still all green and foresty and in the Upper East it is still brown and dusty. They also enjoyed not getting mobbed and hassled by the locals. In general, the people in the north are very laid back and relaxed. They are still curious about white people, but they don't grab us or yell at us or bother us excessively. I was proud of my village and my community and my friends were impressed with my language skills when I talked with my Sirigu people in Frafra.
The next day, we got up early and saw the sights. Transport can be a challenge up here, but we got pretty lucky. We took a tro to Paga and visited the Crocodile Pond. It was still a big mudhole with crocodiles in it, and they still wanted to charge us too much, but i bargained with them and it was ok. We sat on a crocodile and then fed it a live chicken. Pretty cool. Crocodiles are pretty cool. Also in Paga, we visited an old slave camp where slaves were brought before being sold south to other slave markets and eventually to the coast. Our guide was named Aaron and he was excellent. Sometimes tourist places in Ghana are frustrating and not worth it, but the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga is definately a winner. We walked around the camp and learned about the way it ran and saw some rocks and stuff. Highly recommended.
We took a taxi back to Bolga. The six of us (and we aren't small guys) crammed into a normal sized sedan taxi. Along the way we negotiated with the driver to take us to a town near Bolga called Tongo to see another tourist attraction. The driver was not sure about that, so we stopped in Navrongo, he talked with is brother and we switched taxis and negotiated with the brother. We made a deal for him to take us to Tongo, wait, and then take us back to Bolga. He even stopped along the way so we could get some lunch, what a guy, the drivers name was Walkalone. Cool name.
Tongo is a little village in some foothills south of Bolga. We took a tour of some interesting rock formations and caves where the locals hid during the British invasion of the region. We also met the chief wandered through his very enormous compound house. The guide had a lot to say, but we were tired and I spend most of my time making faces at little kids. Lastly, we visited a the Tenzug shrine. We climbed up a hill after our guide got permission from the head priest. The shrine is sacred and treated like an oracle; you ask it a question or tell it a problem and then sacrifice some fowls and your problem/question will be solved/answered! In order to approach the shrine, however, we had to take off our shoes, roll up our trowsers and take off all hats and shirts. It used to be a naked only shrine, they say, but now it's just a topless shrine. The actual shrine itself was a sort of cave with an old guy sitting in it and he had all sorts of animal bones and horns and a big pile of feathers from the animal sacrifices. Our guide wanted us to ask a question, so I asked the shrine to help our schools develope and for our students to be successful. They seemed to like that, and we donated some money to buy two guinea fowls to be sacrificed to the shrine for us. We didn't see the sacrifices, they said they would do it later, there weren't any guinea fowls around. Our guide told us that the sacrificed animals are usually eaten afterwards, unless the shrine says otherwise. The shrine was also to visit us in our dreams, he said, but I haven't been visited yet.
After a long day of touristing, we returned to my house and relaxed, drank and played guitar by candlelight. The next day, we visited SWOPA, the ceramics place next door to my school. After that, we traveled back into Bolga and then to Tamale, and stayed at the TSO. Beth joined us 6 guys there, she is very patient and tolerant. We played Risk and I won. Anthony and Kyle won, too.
We left the next day for Mole National Park. The bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 12:30, and it didn't actually leave until 4:00. The ride was pretty rough at the end, and we didn't get to the park until 9:00PM or so. We stayed at the fancy Mole Hotel, but the pool was closed for the night so we had to take showers instead. The next morning, we got up early and went on a guided nature hike. We were very luck to see lots of elephants right away! there were some right up by the staff quarters and we took lots of pictures. Elephants are very big, they are like dinosaurs. We hiked down into the valley and saw elephants bathing and playing and some young small ones too. We also some antelope-like hooved mammals, cob deer and bush buck, a 4 ft. monitar lizard, lots of worthogs, and crocodiles and birds. We had breakfast, swam in the pool, and had lunch and swam in the pool. Kyle and I got delicious fufu for lunch and there were baboons all around that wanted to be our friends. They were very used to people and tried to come and take our food. One baboon wanted Brian's mango, so Brian gave it too him. That made the baboon happy and Brian was happy too.
We went with another group of 'mer'cans to Larabanga to see the famous Mosque there. I'm sure the mosque is great, but when we got there, the local guides were really annoying and aggressive, so Brian, Matt, and I decided to go to a spot instead (spot=bar). Some of the others paid and saw the mosque, but Tony said it was underwhelming, and they didn't get to enter because they weren't muslim. We gave Larabanga an unenthusiastic thumbs down.
Back at Mole, we swam in the pool, relaxed, swam in the pool, watched Baboons, and Beth did laundry. We ate supper at the staff quarters because it was cheaper and they had Ghanaian food. We played Texas hold 'em and I won. I gave my winnings to Tristen because he won the night before and I owed him money. Kyle did not win. Our only option to get back to Tamale was the Mass Metro bus that left Mole at 4:00am, so that's what we did. We got back to Tamale early and had a relaxing afternoon. We played risk and Kyle won. I did not win.
Now I'm broke and ready to go back to site and relax for a month or three. I'm better versed in Ghana tourist attractions, so if you come and visit me, I know where the good ones are and I can show you. I hope everyone over yonder is doing well and keeping busy. I will post many new photos on facebook soon so you can see all the stuff I just wrote about.
Love,
-Toby
First, Anthony, Kyle, Brian, Matt, and Tristen came up to Bolga to visit me. I went in and met them in the bus station and took them to a nice chop bar where we ate TZ and groundnut aleefu stew. It's one of my favorites and the guys from the south (all but Tristen) had never taken TZ before. It's common in northern Ghana, but you don't really see it anywhere in the south. They liked it and you will too, because aleefu is excellent. See previous post for more about Ghanaian food.
We hung out in Bolga for the day, I showed them around, but there's not really that much to see. We sat and had a beer with Shauna, JJ, and Kirsten, my omnibus neighbors. Kyle and I increased our awesome factor by a billion (see pictures). We took a walk throught the market and then headed back to my house in Sirigu. It was fun to have visitors, and I showed them around my house and school, then we went into the village and ate some snacks and took pito at Bismarks house. They were impressed with how dry and dead everything up here is, because in southern ghana it is still all green and foresty and in the Upper East it is still brown and dusty. They also enjoyed not getting mobbed and hassled by the locals. In general, the people in the north are very laid back and relaxed. They are still curious about white people, but they don't grab us or yell at us or bother us excessively. I was proud of my village and my community and my friends were impressed with my language skills when I talked with my Sirigu people in Frafra.
The next day, we got up early and saw the sights. Transport can be a challenge up here, but we got pretty lucky. We took a tro to Paga and visited the Crocodile Pond. It was still a big mudhole with crocodiles in it, and they still wanted to charge us too much, but i bargained with them and it was ok. We sat on a crocodile and then fed it a live chicken. Pretty cool. Crocodiles are pretty cool. Also in Paga, we visited an old slave camp where slaves were brought before being sold south to other slave markets and eventually to the coast. Our guide was named Aaron and he was excellent. Sometimes tourist places in Ghana are frustrating and not worth it, but the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga is definately a winner. We walked around the camp and learned about the way it ran and saw some rocks and stuff. Highly recommended.
We took a taxi back to Bolga. The six of us (and we aren't small guys) crammed into a normal sized sedan taxi. Along the way we negotiated with the driver to take us to a town near Bolga called Tongo to see another tourist attraction. The driver was not sure about that, so we stopped in Navrongo, he talked with is brother and we switched taxis and negotiated with the brother. We made a deal for him to take us to Tongo, wait, and then take us back to Bolga. He even stopped along the way so we could get some lunch, what a guy, the drivers name was Walkalone. Cool name.
Tongo is a little village in some foothills south of Bolga. We took a tour of some interesting rock formations and caves where the locals hid during the British invasion of the region. We also met the chief wandered through his very enormous compound house. The guide had a lot to say, but we were tired and I spend most of my time making faces at little kids. Lastly, we visited a the Tenzug shrine. We climbed up a hill after our guide got permission from the head priest. The shrine is sacred and treated like an oracle; you ask it a question or tell it a problem and then sacrifice some fowls and your problem/question will be solved/answered! In order to approach the shrine, however, we had to take off our shoes, roll up our trowsers and take off all hats and shirts. It used to be a naked only shrine, they say, but now it's just a topless shrine. The actual shrine itself was a sort of cave with an old guy sitting in it and he had all sorts of animal bones and horns and a big pile of feathers from the animal sacrifices. Our guide wanted us to ask a question, so I asked the shrine to help our schools develope and for our students to be successful. They seemed to like that, and we donated some money to buy two guinea fowls to be sacrificed to the shrine for us. We didn't see the sacrifices, they said they would do it later, there weren't any guinea fowls around. Our guide told us that the sacrificed animals are usually eaten afterwards, unless the shrine says otherwise. The shrine was also to visit us in our dreams, he said, but I haven't been visited yet.
After a long day of touristing, we returned to my house and relaxed, drank and played guitar by candlelight. The next day, we visited SWOPA, the ceramics place next door to my school. After that, we traveled back into Bolga and then to Tamale, and stayed at the TSO. Beth joined us 6 guys there, she is very patient and tolerant. We played Risk and I won. Anthony and Kyle won, too.
We left the next day for Mole National Park. The bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 12:30, and it didn't actually leave until 4:00. The ride was pretty rough at the end, and we didn't get to the park until 9:00PM or so. We stayed at the fancy Mole Hotel, but the pool was closed for the night so we had to take showers instead. The next morning, we got up early and went on a guided nature hike. We were very luck to see lots of elephants right away! there were some right up by the staff quarters and we took lots of pictures. Elephants are very big, they are like dinosaurs. We hiked down into the valley and saw elephants bathing and playing and some young small ones too. We also some antelope-like hooved mammals, cob deer and bush buck, a 4 ft. monitar lizard, lots of worthogs, and crocodiles and birds. We had breakfast, swam in the pool, and had lunch and swam in the pool. Kyle and I got delicious fufu for lunch and there were baboons all around that wanted to be our friends. They were very used to people and tried to come and take our food. One baboon wanted Brian's mango, so Brian gave it too him. That made the baboon happy and Brian was happy too.
We went with another group of 'mer'cans to Larabanga to see the famous Mosque there. I'm sure the mosque is great, but when we got there, the local guides were really annoying and aggressive, so Brian, Matt, and I decided to go to a spot instead (spot=bar). Some of the others paid and saw the mosque, but Tony said it was underwhelming, and they didn't get to enter because they weren't muslim. We gave Larabanga an unenthusiastic thumbs down.
Back at Mole, we swam in the pool, relaxed, swam in the pool, watched Baboons, and Beth did laundry. We ate supper at the staff quarters because it was cheaper and they had Ghanaian food. We played Texas hold 'em and I won. I gave my winnings to Tristen because he won the night before and I owed him money. Kyle did not win. Our only option to get back to Tamale was the Mass Metro bus that left Mole at 4:00am, so that's what we did. We got back to Tamale early and had a relaxing afternoon. We played risk and Kyle won. I did not win.
Now I'm broke and ready to go back to site and relax for a month or three. I'm better versed in Ghana tourist attractions, so if you come and visit me, I know where the good ones are and I can show you. I hope everyone over yonder is doing well and keeping busy. I will post many new photos on facebook soon so you can see all the stuff I just wrote about.
Love,
-Toby
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Toby Update
I've been busy last couple of weeks. Here's the short version:
I traveled to Accra for the National VAC meeting. (Volunteer Advisory Committee) We met with Accra Staff and discussed lots of different issues from our regions. The meeting was pretty efficient and we got some things accomplished. People complained that the meeting went for 3 hours, but I don't know what they're talking about. I'm totally into 3 hour meetings if something actually happens at them. Co-op skillz! In Accra I ate pizza and a cheezeburger and really good indian food and drank and generally spent too much money. That's just how Accra is, it doesn't really seem like part of the Ghana that I know.
After Accra, I went to visit Kyle at his site because he lives close to the beach. We spent a few days swimming and being lazy at Adda Foah. Hung out with some Canadian nurses and Brits on gap year. Most other internationals I meet here are volunteering in some way or other. Often they have to pay to come to Ghana to volunteer, and usually it's for a few months at most. They are usually very impressed at what we do, it's a little more intense than their deal. We call them voluntourists. I don't look down on them though, they're nice to talk to.
I traveled back north, stopped in Kumasi and smoked a hookah with some of the new omnibus crew, then got home. The last few days of the school term were uneventful except for some entertainment we had organized for the students. Football game, and then Jams! (school dance) I danced the night away with my students, only occasionally awkward. Now school is out and I'm on holiday, which is nice.
I traveled to Tamale for Easter, had mexican food and spoke spanish to the two latina pcvs that are here. That is cool, because I don't get to use the ol' espanol much. Ana is actually from Quito, Ecuador where I studied abroad, which is cool. She uses the Quito f when she speaks! We spent lots of time watching "I'm on a boat" and listening to Miley Cyrus, it was awesome. On easter sunday, we went swimming in a pool with actual chorine! And then played ultimate frisbee. It was great.
Next week some of my teacher friends are coming up to visit me and then we are going to Mole National Park to see an elephant. We may see two. It will be lots of fun fun fun.
Obviously I'm having a good time. dancing, spanish, chorine, frisbee, elephants, what more could I ask for?
Love,
-Toby
PS. A few new pictures on facebook too.
After Accra, I went to visit Kyle at his site because he lives close to the beach. We spent a few days swimming and being lazy at Adda Foah. Hung out with some Canadian nurses and Brits on gap year. Most other internationals I meet here are volunteering in some way or other. Often they have to pay to come to Ghana to volunteer, and usually it's for a few months at most. They are usually very impressed at what we do, it's a little more intense than their deal. We call them voluntourists. I don't look down on them though, they're nice to talk to.
I traveled back north, stopped in Kumasi and smoked a hookah with some of the new omnibus crew, then got home. The last few days of the school term were uneventful except for some entertainment we had organized for the students. Football game, and then Jams! (school dance) I danced the night away with my students, only occasionally awkward. Now school is out and I'm on holiday, which is nice.
I traveled to Tamale for Easter, had mexican food and spoke spanish to the two latina pcvs that are here. That is cool, because I don't get to use the ol' espanol much. Ana is actually from Quito, Ecuador where I studied abroad, which is cool. She uses the Quito f when she speaks! We spent lots of time watching "I'm on a boat" and listening to Miley Cyrus, it was awesome. On easter sunday, we went swimming in a pool with actual chorine! And then played ultimate frisbee. It was great.
Next week some of my teacher friends are coming up to visit me and then we are going to Mole National Park to see an elephant. We may see two. It will be lots of fun fun fun.
Obviously I'm having a good time. dancing, spanish, chorine, frisbee, elephants, what more could I ask for?
Love,
-Toby
PS. A few new pictures on facebook too.
Support the STARS Conference
Each year, PCVs in Ghana plan and organize and leadership conference called STARS for Senior High students. Each volunteer brings one boy and one girl student to the week long conference so that they can attend workshops and lectures from successful Ghanaians, learn important skills and topics, and meet other motivated students from across the country. I am hoping to bring students from my school to this years conference in June. Although I am not working on the planning for the event, many other hardworking PCVs are. We get a variety of sponsorships from different organizations in Ghana, but the more funds we have available, the bigger and better the conference can be. Please help if you can by donating something small to help us help ours stars in Ghana. Below is a letter with more information from Kim, the Coordinator for the conference.
Dear one and all,
Greetings once again from Ghana! The STARS Conference project has now been APPROVED for funding. The next part is up to you! As you all know (some of you from first-hand experience!) STARS is an awesome annual conference for secondary school kids. We each bring our best and brightest for a week-long youth leadership camp. It is an amazing experience that I believe is changing lives for the better. Some of these kids have never travelled outside their home region before. We give them a chance to come together for a week of activities with their peers, interacting with Ghanaian guest speakers who have succeeded in their lives.
If you want to see more info about last year's conference, you can check out the website or blog:
http://starsconference.blogspot.com/ or www.starsconference.com (which might be having technical trouble right now...bear with me!).
Of course, this doesn't all happen magically--it takes time, money, and plenty of "sweat equity" as we run around Ghana securing donations from Ghana corporate sponsors, planning the agenda, lining up guest speakers, etc. This year, we also decided to apply for Peace Corps Partership Program (PCPP) number so that our loved ones in the states can donate money to the project tax free. If you make a donation, I personally guarantee that 100% of your funds will go to this worthwhile project. Click on this link to donate!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=641-261 (If the link doesn't work, go to www.peacecorps.gov, then click on "Donate Now", then "Donate to Volunteer Projects", then search for Ghana, then you'll see my project (K. Weaver / S. Safavi).
I've heard the website is manually updated so if it's down, PLEASE PLEASE keep trying. We have to have the project "filled" by the end of April. Even $5 will help us a lot. In case you are wondering what your donation will be used to buy, here are some ideas:
$5 will provide 3 good meals, a snack, and housing for a student for one day of the conference. $10 will allow us to give an "HIV Peer Educator Kit" to the students so they can take what they've learned back to their schools--and thus reach hundreds of students.
$20 will allow us to pay for transportation for a student from a remote village school to and from the conference site.
Anything at all you are willing to donate would be much appreciated by me, the other volunteers working on the project, and of course, the kids who get to have this amazing experience. If you have any questions, send me an email!
Warmly, Kim
Anything you can do to help us out would be great. Thanks in advance to you all.
Love,
-Toby
Dear one and all,
Greetings once again from Ghana! The STARS Conference project has now been APPROVED for funding. The next part is up to you! As you all know (some of you from first-hand experience!) STARS is an awesome annual conference for secondary school kids. We each bring our best and brightest for a week-long youth leadership camp. It is an amazing experience that I believe is changing lives for the better. Some of these kids have never travelled outside their home region before. We give them a chance to come together for a week of activities with their peers, interacting with Ghanaian guest speakers who have succeeded in their lives.
If you want to see more info about last year's conference, you can check out the website or blog:
http://starsconference.blogspot.com/ or www.starsconference.com (which might be having technical trouble right now...bear with me!).
Of course, this doesn't all happen magically--it takes time, money, and plenty of "sweat equity" as we run around Ghana securing donations from Ghana corporate sponsors, planning the agenda, lining up guest speakers, etc. This year, we also decided to apply for Peace Corps Partership Program (PCPP) number so that our loved ones in the states can donate money to the project tax free. If you make a donation, I personally guarantee that 100% of your funds will go to this worthwhile project. Click on this link to donate!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=641-261 (If the link doesn't work, go to www.peacecorps.gov, then click on "Donate Now", then "Donate to Volunteer Projects", then search for Ghana, then you'll see my project (K. Weaver / S. Safavi).
I've heard the website is manually updated so if it's down, PLEASE PLEASE keep trying. We have to have the project "filled" by the end of April. Even $5 will help us a lot. In case you are wondering what your donation will be used to buy, here are some ideas:
$5 will provide 3 good meals, a snack, and housing for a student for one day of the conference. $10 will allow us to give an "HIV Peer Educator Kit" to the students so they can take what they've learned back to their schools--and thus reach hundreds of students.
$20 will allow us to pay for transportation for a student from a remote village school to and from the conference site.
Anything at all you are willing to donate would be much appreciated by me, the other volunteers working on the project, and of course, the kids who get to have this amazing experience. If you have any questions, send me an email!
Warmly, Kim
Anything you can do to help us out would be great. Thanks in advance to you all.
Love,
-Toby
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