Easter, Bobble, and Trash.

So whats happening in Ghana?

Ho Ho Ho Easter: So since PC administration does a pretty good job of “ruining” all the holidays that we’ve had in Ghana, we were finally happy that this holiday was PC ruining free! (I say “ruining” because the circumstances for them ruining our holidays couldn’t be helped, like they needed to help people set up bank accounts on thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years we had standfast for our security in case there were any riots due to the election results.) So about 20 of us got together in the city of Ho, where my dear friend Ping is working. She is working with Village Exchange Ghana (look them up online!) and they have this beautiful house for volunteers that come to help, but since all of the volunteers were gone, we had the house to ourselves! The Easter dinner that was prepared was AMAZING! (and I’m not just saying that because all I have to eat at my site is the food I prepare, which is coming along, and Ghanaian food, but I don’t think I’ve eaten that good since… America?!) Although we slaved away in the kitchen for most of the day, it was so worth all the blood, sweat and tears because the spread consisted of baked chicken breasts (yes, they have this in ghana, expensive, but available), garlic mashed potatoes (with real potatoes, it was good but I think I need aunty jos recipe), salad, deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry jam! Not to mention the yummy brownies we had for dessert. There was even skyy vodka. (: HEAVEN.


Bobble: So the tragedy that was Junji disappearing some how ended with me getting a kitten. /: So I’ve been having a mouse problem in my room for a while now, I bought a rat trap but somehow it disappeared (I think one of the boys took it) and I haven’t gotten around to buying another one. It hasn’t been so bad, but lately, the mouse has been waking me up in the middle of the night by making my dishes fall to the ground. It has also been eating my bread and bananas. (and for some reason I can’t seem to think its okay to eat bread/bananas that have been shared with a mouse… maybe I haven’t lived in Africa long enough. Bugs okay, mice somehow not okay yet.) So I decided to invest in something better than a mouse trap, a cat! I’m not a huge cat person at all, but this kitten is cute… so I think I can become a cat person. As long as I don’t end up like one of those cat spinster ladies, please don’t let me become one of those. Anyways, the name I gave this cat is Bobble. Well because I don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy. (I’m like the worse person at naming things... one time I told chimmy what I would name my daughter if I had one and he told me that if I gave her that name she would hate me and be single for the rest of her life; I mean in middle school I seriously thought the name abcde was totally acceptable for my future daughter. Ha. But then again, you probably did too.) Jess who gave it to me (who also doesn’t know much about cats) think it’s a girl, but when I did some investigating I questioned her by saying “isn’t that a penis?” Either way, it has a huge head, like a bobble head. But it’s a pretty kitten somehow. Not sure if I’m really sold on this whole cat thing, but at least I won’t feel so bad when I leave the cat alone for a couple of days. (Don’t worry, I’m still secretly hoping deep down inside that junji will just appear back at the house one day.)
Sidenote: Cats make strange purring sounds, makes me nervous.
PS. If anyone can give me tips on cats, that would be lovely. I tried to make a litter box, but cat poop smells so bad!! How do I get rid of that smell? It also likes to rub against my leg/foot… can I create something so that it will use that instead of me? Please help.

Wastebins and Signboards: So Ntonso has been fortunate enough to get wastebins and signboards from NCRC through the European Union. The wastebins are 23 in total, and will be spread across the community… which will hopefully help with the abundance of litter on the street. Been going to the schools to educate the kiddies about the new waste baskets. Which reminds me how crazy sad that kids don’t know what tourist attraction is in their own town. So at the beginning when we are introducing ourselves, the assemblyman asked the children, so what textile is Ntonso known for? And then kids say, kente, pottery, wood carving, kente, everything but adinkra! Finally after like 5 minutes of guessing someone finally comes up with adinkra. I find that a bit sad because nearly everyone in the community is doing something dealing with adinkra and the streets are filled with shops selling cloth with adinkra on them. I guess I should give them a little leeway since kente is done in the community as well, but still kind of crazy. Anyways, there will be six signboards that will be placed in the city and roads that will help attract tourist to our community. We’ve been meeting with the artist, so I’m really excited to see how these signboards turn out… will be even more excited when I’m in a tro passing the signboards. (: There is going to be a meeting this week with the district assembly and director of Ghana tourist board, so this should be good! Especially since I’m hearing rumors that FM24 is pulling out of their contract. I just hope that they pay Mavis for the three months that they haven’t paid her for.

That’s about all. Exciting life huh. Okay, hope all is well and wonderful at wherever you maybe!

Twi Word of The Day: Dayie! (good night)

Adinkra Symbol of The Day:



Shoutout: Creator of bacon bits… it really is like magic fairy dust to any bad meal you prepare! (not that I prepare any bad meals anymore… but if I did, shazam! Bad meal no more!)

ps. internet won't let me upload pictures, so you'll have to wait. want to return home before it gets too dark... since someone stole my flashlight phone today. ): yep, that means that my super awesome number of 0241333333 now belongs to some retarded ghanaian that steals! UGH!