Q & A Part 1

Hey everyone! Here's part one of the questions you sent me to answer! Enjoy!

Have you made alot of friends?
I have to a certain extent. I do have plenty of friends at school, but rarely see them otherwise. But I dont mind because I enjoy being at home with my host brothers. My younger host brothers- Junior and Kwasi- have become my best friends and Ive become quite attached to them. Ive also become good friends with Wes, another American AFS student in Sunyani. Ive enjoyed his company and being able to "vent" to him. But I have made numerous allies as I like to call them. The egg sandwich man, the haircutter, the internet cafe guys, the bicycle repairman, some of the regular Baakoniaba taxi drivers(they dont rip me off), the "Nice Lady Provisional Store" as i like to call it(I go there for all my needs becuase the family is nice and dont rip me off) and then just the people that I see on a daily basis.

Do the locals fish and hunt animals?
Well I do know they fish alot on the coast which they will either dry or sell to cold stores. And I have seen some ammunition stores, so I do think they hunt in more of the bush areas. But they do have problems with bush burnings, because of people wanting grass cutter and other local animals.

Do the students at school participate in sports?
Yes, they do. Mainly futbol, which is obvious. Also track and field, volleyball, and handball. But they mainly compete within the school. The school is split into six houses which they compete against each other every trimester. I dont participate becuase I get laughed at and yelled at enough just walking through town, let alone playing on a team. And when I first arrived in Ghana I played futbol a few times with a large group of people, but the NEVER passed me the ball! I just figured they didnt want me touching their holy ball. But of course after we would finish playing, they would tell me Im not good at playing futbol, even tough I never even touched the ball. Logical thought proccess, right?

Has your diet changed and have you lost and wieght?
My diet has changed drastically. I still eat fufu 4-5 times a week, which ive learned just to get down. Meals have turned into something I have to do because I have to live, not because I enjoy it. This is what my meals look like on a normal school day: Breakfast is either ampesi or porage, Lunch is kenkee, and Dinner is fufu. And it rarely varies from that. Im used to being able to look forward to dinner, but here i semi dred eating fufu with the same soup everyday. And its not that I hate it or anything, its the fact that we eat it so often! Think of a meal you dont like in the first place and then think of eating it 5 times a week. But I keep telling myself that Im here to experience the Ghanaian culture, and if that means eating fufu everyday, then so be it! And weight, I have lost some. I just dont eat as much and Im more active.

Do you miss home?
Does Willy Wonka like chocolate bars?! YES! I miss home so much! Im constantly thinking about what my family is doing and wishing I could be eating a bag of Cheetos. haha. But I try not to let it get to me. I think about home, then go back to what i was doing. And I NEVER realized how much I loved America until I got here. I miss the American society where, for the most part, everyone is accepted(not to say that peole arent accepted here, but its a bit....different). And the diversity. How readily accessable things are. School, food, sports,transportation,weather, carpet,A.C.,everything! But I especially miss my family and my family structure. And I hate getting laughed at for doing nothing. I walk down the street and get laughed at and called obroni. And getting stared at sucks to. But I kind of think that its just a one-minded society. And no one really looks into what I have to go through everyday. Its a loose loose situation for me. Because, if I just keep quite and mind my business people think in a snob for not stopping and talking to them,if I stop and talk to them in Twi they laugh at me for even trying to speak their language, and if I speak to them in English they tell me "You've been here 5 1/2 months and you dont know Twi?!!?!" and tell me that Im not trying hard enough. But again they dont look into my shoes. I find it difficult to learn the language because I get discouraged from all the people laughing at me when I use it, in school we're only allowed to "SPEAK ENGLISH", and at home I find it more important that my younger host brothers know english than it is for me to know Twi. So in all situations, laughter at the obroni is involved. And when it happens numerous times aday for 5 1/2 months, it becomes a bit overwhelming and my spirits get a bit trampled on. And then of course I go home and eat fufu. Thats when I start feeling bad for myself and start missing home. But not all Ghanains do that, but the only ones ill ever remember are the ones that make fun of me. But, for now, ill just try and enjoy my time in Ghana.

More Photos of Ghana

For some reason they were making....dirt?

An oncoming storm with the moon in the upper righthand corner.

The seat where I find myself reading,writing or just laughing another day off.

Taking the trash out with the next door neighbor...ADOM and my younger brother Junior

Fufu....thats all I can say

My weekend cleaning with Kwasi

I love this picture......another beautiful Ghanaian sunset with a church in the foreground. Churches work with what they have!

Yen ko bobo!

Kwasi, Junior and I went to our first Glo Ghana Premier League football match on Sunday. It was Sunyani Chelsea versus Tema Youth at Corrolation Park. It was a blast. It seemed like it showed more of the true "Spirit" of football. No quater million dollar scoreboards, corporate sponsors or halftime shows(Yeah I said it Fluhart!). Just 22 football players playing to win. But not having corporate sponsors doesn't mean no action. Though it ended 0-0 it was alot of fun seeing a really good match. And I wouldn't doubt that some of these players are the next big stars of the English Premier League. Michael Essien started out with Liberty Professionals and now hes a starting (well hes injured now) midfielder for Chelsea.

Corrolation Park is a nice park. It holds probably between 5-10 thousand (im not to good at estimating) and only costs 20,000 cedis (2$) to enter. I had bought a bunch of stuff for the three of us, and probably spent about 6 or 7 cedis on food and drinks.Its alot of money for here but when I compare it to paying 6$ for a coke at a Nashville Predators or Vanderbilt football game i found it to be quit the deal. haha.

It was a great atmosphere (other than the few arguments and a fight in the stands. But hey, that always seems to happen at games). The section we sat in reminded me of Cell Block 303 at a Preds game. I enjoyed the chanting and constant drumming, though I could only understand bits and pieces of what they were saying due to my improving Twi. But nonetheless, I had a great time goofing off and hanging out with Junior and Kwasi!

1-8-2009 Sunyani, Ghana

Atta Mills

Nana Akufo-Addo doing the NPP dance, the "Kangaroo dance". Which originated for Michael Essien.

Hey everyone! I hope all is well! Im sorry that its taken me awhile to update my blog. I find it hard to think of topics to write about. So if you have any suggestions or questions feel free to email me and ill try and include them in my next blog! I would also like to thank: Mom,Dad, Aunt Linda, Uncle Mick, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Sandy and Beth for sending me Christmas gifts and packages!

A Ghanaian Christmas is a bit different from an American Christmas. Its pretty much strictly religious, which is how it should be spent. The few weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty much like any other week in Ghana, other than the Christmas music which i thought was a bit out of place. "Dashing through the snow" just doesnt work in a place where you wake up drenched with sweat on Christmas day. It kind of felt like ( in Wes' words) Christmas was taking a year off. On Christmas day me and Kwasi killed the two roosters i bought at the wednsday market the day before. Kwadwo cooked those into a tomato ( or Ntosi) stew over a bowl of rice, then into Adu's infamously delicious "Light Soup" over a bowl of fufu. I have to say eating waws the best part of christmas other than the few gifts i had to give out. I got into saying "Afriyeah paa" to everyone i saw and i enjoyed the "did the obroni really just say that?" looks. Afriyeah paa means Happy Holidays and in responce you say "Afinko Metwieh"(the spelling is wrong but you get the drift.) which means "Another year has passed and im still happy". I loved saying that coming from a country where you cant say Merry Christmas without getting sued. I was pretty homesick though. I missed my family alot, but that all part of the experience. I also havent had a Mt. Juliet Christmas since 2006 ( Though I loved our Hawaiian Christmas in 2007! Mele Kalikimaka J,Tracy and Kristen!), so that made me want to be at home even more! But other than the little annoyance i had for awhile, Christmas was great! Also the fact that i didnt have to go to school was awesome!

The Ghanaian Presidential election took place on December 7,2008. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate was Nana Addo-Donkwa Afuko-Addo, The National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate was J.E. Atta Mills and the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) was lead by Paa Kwesi Nduom plus all the other little dinker parties (that played a big role this year) that get like .123556168736523 of all the votes. When i first got here it seemed like the NPP was going to blow everyone out of the water. The Current President Kofour is NPP and has done(at least it seems like it) some great things for Ghana( I believe Ghana is one of Americas biggest African allies). So not only did i think they would win because of that but also because the last time the NDC was in office, J.J. Rawlings was president for 20 years and i think he did it by military force. So I figured the NPP (Who my older host brother works for) would win. The polls came in on Dec. 10 and the NDC had 47% and the NPP with 49%, but you have to win by 50% + 1. So there was a runoff, which incredibly the NDC won by 1/2 a point. I think that if some of the NPP voter wouldnt have messed up there ballot the NPP would have won. haha. My host dad had told me that everytime the NDC was in office a Democrat has been in office for America. So i figured John Mccain and Nana Akufo-Addo would win for Ghana. But i was completely wrong: Democrats are in office for both countries. haha. My host dad also told me that because alot of people are illiterate, some people just vote for the person with the most charisma. Some other funny things about Ghanaian politics are that every party has its own theme song and its own dance, which everyone would do! If i asked a NDC person who they wanted to win if they lost, they would say CPP, and that would be the same answer for a NPP advocate. So the CPP was the middle man. But what Ghana should be very happy about is that this election was the first peacefull non-violent African election in along time! So i am very happy for Ghana and i think they deserve alot of credit for that!

Thanks for reading and dont hesitate to email (Richpon09@gmail.com) me if you have any questions or suggestions!

-Rich

Sunyani,Ghana 12-7-2008/ A Photo commentary of my life in Ghana.

Two snails(its just nature. haha) in relation to my foot.

Jessica, Innocent(the most uninnocent person youll ever meet, even though hes my coolest classmate) and another form 3 student in the Friday uniform.

The gutters in my house. The spicket you see at the right is from the sink in the kitchen. Everything other than the toilet water comes out of this.

Kwasi and I

A Sachet of water with 30 bags of 500 ml. Another AFS student , Wesley, his family in Baakoniaba owns a water filtering process called Life and Living, even though this is Ebenezer water.

Me and Kwasi killing a delicious chicken

The Main Taxi Hub in Sunyani.

Me and Kwasi pounding fufu.

My School:

Maache Everyone!

Ive been doing well lately, and am very excited to be almost done with my first trimester of school!Im really surprised at how quickly this year has been moving along! Im just trying to take everything one day at a time, and its been working so far!

Someone had emailed me and asked what Sunyani is really like. I thought that would be a cool topic to cover, so here it is:

Sunyani is about 300 Kilometers nw of Accra and has a population of about 100,000 people. The natural surroundings are very beautiful after you look past the trash, as i said before! Its very lush and green! There is alot of dirt though, but i expected that. The main source of income is probably agriculture. I think at one point in Ghanas independence it was the largest exporter of coco beans. And there is also a huge American gold company called Newmont in the Brong-Ahafo region. There is also an abundance of casava,plantain, and yam. There are countless( when i say countless i mean it) provisional stores. They sell everyday items, from coca cola to hair products and sandals to razor blades. Within probably a square mile of my house, there are about 10-15 of these stands. Which is pretty convenient. There are also a couple of hotels, a hospitol, a Ghanaian Premier league football stadium, banks, and numerous "take out" food stands. The coolest part of Sunyani is the Cocoa House. Its an apartment complex and also a radio station. Its only about 7 stories high, but its placed right on top of Sunyani so you can see it from everywhere you go. Transportation( ill get to the driving later) makes it easy to get from one point to another. From the main taxi hub in the city center to Baakoniaba is 3,000 cedis or approx. 30 cents. And buses leave daily to big cities like Kumasi, Accra, cape Coast, Tamale,etc. A bus ride from Sunyani to Accra is 130,000 cedis of 13$. There is also a small airport on the outskirts of town. On Wednsdays there is the main market when most people do their shopping and also most of the prices of goods go down. Its quite an adventure to go, lots of commotion and yelling make it pretty fun. And Churches and Mosques, well there are more of them than provisional stores. haha. Pretty much every denomination too. SDA, Baptist, Jehovahs Witness, Methodist, Catholic,Anglican,etc. The most annoying part of the churches is the all night prayer sessions. They start at 7pm and end at 5am. Theyre not quite about it either, the make american screamo music sound like a whisper. haha. and the church that is about 200 yards away from my house speak in tongues while screaming at 2 am, so it makes it even more annoying. haha. But Sunyani is a pretty sleepy town, with not much to do. But i dont mind because i like hanging out with my host family.

Driving is a whole nother story. Believe me when i say its drivers, not pedestrians, first! For as slow as people like to walk here, they make it up by the speed they drive. Drivers are just ruthless to pedestrians and cyclists. When i run in the morning or am just walking about in town, drivers seem to try and get as close to you as they can. There has been plenty of times where if i hadnt moved, i wouldve been run over! They wont slow down for you either! But of course theyll slow down for a goat, chicken or dog crossing the road. I try and find the logic in that, but i think im to stupid. But ive asked my brothers if they care about the driving, they said no. I guess its because they dont know any other driving styles. I wont say all drivers suck at driving, but alot of them do. But of course there arent any belts in the taxis, and they pack as many people as they can into cars and buses. its pretty nerver racking when you see a bus full of school kids, unbuckled, passing a car going about 50 mph going downhill. Thats why there are so many vehicle fatalities. And i thought Americans sucked at driving. haha.

Heres a very aggrivating/funny/hypocritical story. On Mondays,Wednsdays and Fridays we have this thing at school called assembly. its when all announcements are announced and its is also used as a worship service, where a student or teacher will preach about a certain topic. This specific day was about respect for teachers and was given by my ICT teacher. Yet, i felt as though i should have given him a speach on being a hypocrite. Mr. ICT ( I dont actually know his or any of my other teachers names, everyone just calls teachers Madam or Sir) stated his belief that teachers were chosen by God to shepherd the sheep(the students). And that the students should obey everything that the teacher says. I agreed with the whole "chosen by God" statement. Because essentially God chooses everyone for something. I mean, I was chosen to be Rich Pon. But then i didnt agree with the "obey your teachers" statement because extremist terrorists listen to every word that comes out of their teachers mouths, and well, you know the rest. But the funny/aggrivating/hypocritical part of the story is that the same ICT teacher that said all that hasnt come to teach in over a month! And its not because hes sick, its because hes lazy. Yet he will give us a test on things that hes never taught(ive passes all with flying colors though). And hes told the class to come on saturday so he could teach, BUT HE DIDNT COME! His excuse; "I knew you guys wouldnt come". hahaha. I just felt bad for the students because if they dont pass this class, they cant attent college! I just have to scratch my head and aks myself if what hes doing is a bit hypocritical. I should worry about my own faults before i look at his, but he is screwing around with 50 students education! Hopefully he'll get his act together. Everyone makes mistakes, even if they are repetitive and annoying. haha.

Thats all for now, I hope all is well!

-Rich

Sunyani,Ghana 11-17-2008

Ive realized this year isnt as much about me having fun, as it is me learning about myself. Dont get me wrong I am enjoying myself. But this stay in Ghana has really made me appreciate my "Gladelife" even more! I know ive said that so many times, but its very true. Its the small things that make me love home so much(actually, the differences are totally different, but ill just say theyre small). Ive really had to cope with so many different things. And ive really had to be patient with people who are just completely rude to me. School is very very aggrivating. The teachers are arrogant know it alls, who think that the students should understand everything that comes out of their mouth. I love my host family but its not as much a son to mom and dad or brother to brother relationship as it is a business parter relationship. And the variety of things(food,sports,Entertainment) are,well, there is no variety. I eat either rice,fufu,banku,kinkee,plantains or ampesi. But usually its fufu,which i dont mind eating (or i guess i should say swallowing) but at one point in my stay i swallowed fufu 14 out of 15 dinners! If you eat anything that often youll get sick of it! Sportswise, its just futbol. Which again i dont mind watching, but right now at home hockey season is in progress and of course Vanderbilt is bowl eligible for the first time in almost 30 years, THE YEAR I GO TO AFRICA! Hahaha! And entertainment, theres really nothing to do in Sunyani other than shop, and as i like to call it, get the obroni price. Which consists of people trying to get you to pay triple the amount an obibini would pay. I really hope youre not getting the wrong impression(which im sure you probably are) of my stay or think in crying myself to sleep(which i havent shed a tear since being here, surprisingly, because i caught the homesickness bug pretty bad at first), becuase i have a new appreciation for my family, friends and life itself. Ive caught myself so many times thinking that if i didnt come to Ghana, id be just going about my life and having no appreciation for it. Im really happy with my decision in coming to Ghana,becuase, if i had gone to a more westernized country, it would have been a different story! I wish more students had the opportunity to do what im doing now,because it will take me along time to go back to my ways of complaining about not having "good" food in the pantry or saying theres nothing good on TV even though i have a selection of 300 channels, etc, etc. Hahaha. The moral of my rant this week, appreciate your life, its probably better than you think!

PS.

The first picture is of my view towards Baakoniaba road outside of my house. The second picture is of my house. If you cant read the words on the house it says "The House of the Lord". And the third is of Baakoniaba road going towards downtown Sunyani. Notice the Cocoa House in the distance, you can see it from everywhere you go.

The Ghanaian Military

My brother Adu had told me that a bunch of my fathers church members(well im not sure if theyre apart of his Kenyasi church, or if theyre just Anglicans) had died in a trotro accident on Saturday. The group of 22 people were on there way home from a funeral when a truck full of stolen wood collided with the trotro head on. Heres the whole story:
The Ghanaian military were chasing after a utility truck full of stolen wood. So they decided to open fire at the truck, which shot and killed the driver and made him swerve in to the other lane and kill 22 out of 23 people in the trotro. I just find it totally unnecessary to open fire on a truck full of stolen wood. But what also gets to me is, they drove off without helping the people in the trotro! They freaking drove off! I think that they might have just wanted to shoot at something, which ended up in this tragety. That just shows how untrained the military is here. At least wait until there arent any vehicles around! And theyre supposed to be protecting the people of Ghana?! And its also even worse that they didnt even have to integrity to stop and check on the people!
But what really hits home to me is that i met a number of these people at my host fathers installation in Kenyasi! Nothing more than an introduction to them or anything, but it still hurt me so much. Also, another AFS student had come to Sunyani to visit the AFS students here and on her way back home, she was only a few minutes behind the accident! That could have been her! 22 people died over a truck full of stolen wood! I find that very pathetic!
I just ask you to pray for these people and their families! Because their lives where cut short because of one poor decision.