Well, my time here is winding down, 9 weeks and 3 days to be exact, but who’s counting. Certainly not me.
So although I don’t know this for sure, I’m almost positive that the couple of days before I leave my town will be like hell. People wanting this, demanding I give them that, wait… you really want my old musty socks? Ones trash is truly another’s treasure; I of all people should understand this… I love goodwill after all.
I guess the whole thing that I’m put off by is the fact that these people will demand things from me rather than me decided that I would like to give it to them. After two years I shouldn’t be surprised. Why shouldn’t I give them these things, why shouldn’t they demand them of me. I am after all, one of them, family.
To some degree. Sure I still get cheated at the market, I still don’t quite understand why after a year you still love to stare at me as if I’m some foreign species, I can’t eat fufu like it’s a bacon wrapped wiener (oh man, I can’t wait for those!) but these people have cared for me, fed me, and treated me not like a stranger, but as a sister.
This reminds me of a time that I was out of money and on the football field with a whole bunch of kids. I really wanted a pocky (frozen ice pop). I saw some kid playing with 10 pesewa, flipping it up and catching it. For a long time I argued in my head about asking this kid for his money. Finally my craving for pocky made the part of me that wanted to ask him punch the lights out of the part that didn’t. I called the boy over and asked him for his 10 pesewa. The boy didn’t even hesitate with his money; he just gave it to me. Like the boy, I didn’t hesitate and I took it, and went straight to buy pocky. I gave the boy back his change of 5 pesewa to which he also bought a pocky. While I was enjoying this pocky all by myself, the boy who gave me his money was also sharing his pocky with 5 other small boys that came around. I wish I had the generosity to share my pocky, but I’m not as sharing and generous. (Not to mention all the germs that those small boys carry around; after a 7 months of being giardia free I’m not about to start again.) And to make sure you leave this entry not seeing me as a totally horrible person, I found the boy the next day thanked him for his generosity and paid him back with interest.
Anyways, that concept of extended family and sharing everything that you have has been somewhat difficult for me. ( after all, I’m the only girl and the youngest of three) And I’m not just talking about grandparents, and uncles and aunts; I’m talking my second cousin, cousin’s wife, brother’s daughter needs to go to school. So since I’m in a better position to help, I help. To the extent where I could be seen as this girls father. But no, I’m just somewhere related. Yet, family. Thus, I must help take care of the family.
So while I may not have been able to accomplish what I had thought I would, I did gain one big family here in Ghana… and for that I am forever grateful, and will try my best to do all that I can, no matter how far away I may be, to forever help my new family.
And with that said, I can’t wait to see my family. The one that lives on a little rock in the middle of the pacific.
support fair trade! these women in the upper east, weave these beautiful baskets! they are now sold at whole foods!
not going to lie... i think donkeys are my new favorite animals.
sirigu, upper east.
known for traditional pottery, architecture, and wall designs. super awesome.
these kids tried to sell me their bird for 10 cedis. and that bird cage was so awesome that i almost bought it. always hustlin.
pito. the beverage of choice in the northern regions of ghana.
pretty nasty if you asked me.
