Ghana Update Week 2: A Foggy Day

I apologize for my lengthy silence over the past two weeks. I left VoH on Sunday, January 27 to head for Accra where I have been teaching a class this week. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to post my weekly update before I left and my free time this week has either lacked electricity service or proximity to an internet connection. So you are blessed with the opportunity to read two weeks worth of updates in one sitting. I know, I know… don’t thank me all at once…

Accra is quite possibly the most interesting large city I have ever visited. I know that I am experiencing only the north-most part and therefore may have a limited perspective, but that is all I have to go on, so I will share it with you: During the day there is a haze over the city. It is as though a heavy mist is resting on the rooftops. But this is the dry season; it is not mist, it is dust. It is called harmattan. I assume that the haze hangs over the city in the night hours as well. I cannot see it then, but I can still feel it when I breathe. Even after 15 minutes there is a thin layer of dust on my untouched computer keys, as though I have not touched them in months. When we sit down to meals, the dishes and silver are all turned face down. Apparently dust from the Sahara Desert is blown to the ocean and as Ghana lies directly in that path, we are covered in dust. While I trust that this is probably fairly accurate considering the size of the Sahara, the wind, and my sources, I have to confess that I find that the dirt roads and land-clearing fires impact my lungs more than the low-hanging dust.

Although this is a large city, not all of the roads are paved and many of those that are use the term rather liberally… I am not entirely sure that any road on which you must play dodge the pot-holes should really be considered paved; not when half of it has eroded away. For me, the fires are the worst. Farmers are clearing the land, preparing their fields for planting soon and the most efficient way seems to be by fire. Yesterday while I was teaching, it smelled like someone was smoking a cigar outside my classroom windows. And that’s the worst kind of irritation. Your lungs don’t like the oxygen they are receiving and try to rebel against breathing. Which is never helpful when you are attempting to facilitate a discussion. Needless to say, I advise all my asthmatic friends to not visit this part of the world between the months of December and February... check out the satillite image I found...

The class I am teaching this week is going fairly well. I have twelve students, all men between the ages of 30 and 65 – well, that’s just an educated guess. I admit that it is somewhat intimidating to be instructing individuals who may very well have grandchildren my age – to say nothing of the fact that I am the only one of my sex in the room. And I find it amusing that I am teaching about study habits and sound research writing when most of this is advice I ignored when I was in school... In addition to teaching them how to write papers and take notes, I find that we have a few basics that still needed to be covered as many of them have been out of school for quite some time. On Monday we went to the library and discussed various sources and their unique purposes – commentaries, subject dictionaries, journals, etc. If there had been a way to search the catalog of the library, we would have covered that but we were not that lucky. On Wednesday we learned how to turn on the computer, move the mouse, and open a Word document. I tried to keep it simple so no one was overwhelmed with too much information.

My hosts are wonderful! The president of Heritage Christian College and his family are housing me this week while I teach an introductory course in study stills and paper writing. As it turns out, we know many of the same people. This really shouldn’t surprise us as we travel in some of the same circles. It was wonderful to speak of mutual friends with such affection – just reinforces the idea that no matter where we are in the world we can always be in the company of “the family”.

It has been good for me to have some time to myself this week. I worked almost up until the day I left the states and then I jumped right into work when I arrived at VoH. So it has been nice to recharge a bit. In addition to some great allow time, I have also been able to experience ‘normal’ Ghana food. At the orphanage, Latisha tones down her spices as her years of experience with Americans has taught her that we can’t handle them. My hosts here in Accra are excellent cooks and I had the foresight to warn them about my sensitive taste buds, but I think we may have different definitions of ‘spicy’. I ate spaghetti the other night which required the accompaniment of a quarter liter of water with each bite. No, really. No exaggeration needed. Let’s just say that I would not be very surprised to learn that Ghanaians do not have sinus issues.

Rice is a staple here in Ghana and they have many verities. What surprises me is that one seems to find it necessary to give special names to the rice dishes based on the manner of preparation: fried rice, yellow long grain rice, spicy red rice. It’s all just rice. I am convinced that they do actually have specific names just in Fante or Twi or some other local language. I know it’s silly, but “these are the kinds of things I’d like to get to the bottom of” (name that movie… I am counting on you Jay).

And of course what would a Ghana update be a brief discussion on football – another Ghanaian staple. Ghana defeated Morocco Monday with a score of 3 to zip, securing them a top spot in Group A for the CAN quarter finals. They will play Nigeria on Sunday and the entire nation is praying for a win. In church on Sunday before I left, someone prayed for the success of the Black Stars and his request accompanied by a rather loud chorus of “Amen” from nearly everyone in the room. Welcome to football country.

To end I thought I might share with you some sights from Accra:

Please don’t tell me this guy just shuts his eyes and cuts

It’s very typical to see people carrying everything on their head but this just seemed a bit ridiculous… I really wish I had gotten a picture of the two guys carrying the rolling suitcases on their heads…

Is that a tractor holding up traffic on a major road? Wait, that’s no different than Tucson…