Thursday, October 16, 2008

10-12-2008 Sunyani,Ghana

Last weekend my host father was installed as the Arch Deacon of Kenyasi's Anglican Church. My brother Adu had borrowed a truck from one of his NPP buddies. It was Adu, Kwadwo, Junior,Kwasi, Wess, and me in a 5 seat truck. It wasnt stuffed though, no until two other big Ghanaian ladies got in, then it got crowded! Adu was driving with Kwasi on Kwadwo's lap. and Wess Me the two 230+ lbs ladies and Junior on my lap. If we were to have crashed, we wouldnt have gone anywhere! haha. we pretty much sprung out when we parked. it was about an hour drive. The installation started an hour late(thats Africa for you). And lasted 3 hours. It didnt seem that long though. The ceremony was different. It was all in Twi, so i had know idea what they were talking about. Afterwards we ate and just chilled out. I met Junior and Kwasi's parents though! They were very very nice. My host parents kind of unofficially adopted them. Theyve been living with my host parents for the past 3 years. They havent seem them in over a year so they were very excited to see them! I bought some cookies for Kwasi and Junior to give there other younger siblings. It seemed like they miss their village. Luckily on the way home, Kwadwo and one of the ladies didnt ride home with us, so i got to roll shotgun with Junior on my lap. haha. Adu was freakin flying down those hills though. He hit almost 160 km/hr which is somewhere around 90mph. I looked to the back seat and Kwasi was holding onto Wess for dear life! It was so funny!

The teachers at school are freakin lazy. i hate to say it,but unfortunetaly its true. Everytime i walk by the teachers lounge, they really are lounging.Not only are they lounging, theyre watching tv!At least once a day, a teacher doesnt show up to class. One day we only had one teacher come! And the teachers have to have the class captain come and get them! Its pretty ridiculous. And TASTECH is one of the best schools in Sunyani! It sounds bad, but my general outlook on school is kind of negative. I mean theyre teaching us about computers on blackboards. But i really shouldnt say that, because theyre using all their resources to the best of their abilities! I try and stay as positive as i can, but it can only go a certain extent! Most of the students are cool though. Except this one guy that gets on all three exchange students nerves. And the food is very good, and very cheap. You can get a good amount of food, and a couple bags of water for under 1 Gh Cedi.

Speaking of money, Ghana redenominated its currency in Summer 0f '07. But alot of times they still use the old currency. ie.- 500 old cedi is 5 new peswas, 180000 old is 18 new Gh Cedi, or 10000 is 10 new Gh Cedi. Its kind of confusing for an obroni because you have to do the conversion on a dime in your head.

Well, i sent in my absentee ballot for the US Presidential election. It wasnt what i expected it to look like. I thought maybe it might have the candidates pictures and maybe a bio(i guess i have high expectations. lol.) but it was just a yellow piece of paper with the candidates names. But i was(and still am) excited because my first time voting will be in Ghana. I voted for the candidate that i thought would lead America for the better not only for the present, but for the future. I want my kids to be able to prosper and not have to worry about economic problems and what not. I also voted for this candidate because he seems to be looking out for people my age. The four issues i tried to concentrate on were: the war in iraq, the economy, the environment, and homeland security, and i agreed with all the opinions of the candidate i voted for.

Some people here think white people are superhumans and are made of money, especially the kids. Theyll touch me like i feel different or something, and ask me for money, which i dont give them because if one white person gives them money theyll think every white person will give them money. Which sounds bad, but like im not made of money. And its not like theyre giving me some sad face and asking for money, this is how they literally say it: "Obroni, give me money!". Its like jeez, at least act like your going to be thankful for it! And it doesnt help that my name is Rich! lol.

I hope your doing well. Take care!

-Rich





P.S. I just realized this, I kind of seem to talk bad about Ghana in my blog. But I want you to know that Ghana is such a beautiful place. Both its people, its culture and environment! Im just trying to point out some of the differences between my home country and my host country. I feel as though Ghana has made me more mature already, and its only been a month and a half! I just thought I'd tell you this before you think that I hate Ghana, because it is an awesome country!

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