Babies on the back!

It has been a while since I have posted, time gets away from me sometimes. I have gone on a few adventures and there have been some big things that have happened. Since I am winding down my trip and I still have a lot to share about my experience I plan on posting when I return home about my experiences.
I don't know if everyone knows this but I became an aunt to a beautiful little girl this last month. And I have been wondering if my sister would let me try to carry her around like the women do here. On their backs. It is amazing! I think it is wonderful, but I think some foreigners think it is crazy. When I first got here I thought that the babies would suffocate or they could slip out easily. But, then it must not be an issue if the moms keep doing it. One reason I really like this practice is because it allows the woman to continue doing normal things with her hands tied up hanging on to the baby or trying to push a stroller through these impossible streets. They will carry newborn babies to toddlers in this manner.

How they do it is they bend over so their back is flat and place the baby or toddler on their back. They then use a cotton cloth and wrap it around their chest above their breasts and make sure it is under the baby and tie the bottom in a not under their breasts. My explanation is pretty bad but in the pictures you can sort of see how it works.

This is one reason I believe Ghanaians can sleep anywhere. Because when they were a baby they were hauled around everywhere and slept no matter if it was noisy or quiet and most likely it was very noisy.

I did see some crazy things though when I was in the Tamale the capital of the Northern Region. There were ladies even riding motor bikes with their babies on their backs. This might not be the safest thing, but they don't have rules like we do, but they also don't have vehicular accidents like we do. They don't drive as fast and pedestrians outnumber cars so there is much more awareness when driving. Not saying that accidents don't happen, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
This is one custom I could see myself practicing when I have a baby, my friends say I first have to practice with a pillow or stuffed animal just like they did when they were little girls.

I got my hair did... Rasta Braids!

So I have always believed that white girls do not look good in braids. In my opinion it was a hairstyle strictly reserved for black people. But I think my opinion has changed after my own experience having my hair braided and wearing the style for almost a week at this time. So first, why did I choose to braid my hair? I had mentioned in the office that I was thinking of braiding my hair or getting a weave. They thought it was a great idea. My office mates and friends didn’t know that in the United States that braids and weaves are often only worn by black people. I don’t really know why it has been this way, but I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the different types of hair people of different races have. So I visited the salon to get my nails done and talking to the stylists they insisted I come and get my hair braided. After talking to my friends a bit I decided I would get my hair braided. 

Before picture

The day I went to get my hair did I was warned it was going to take a while so I had a big breakfast. I had already picked out the color of my extra hair the day before when I had gone in to make my appointment. It is a dark maroon red. The stylist washed and dried my hair… I was ready to go. The stylists first have to weave the hair. The plastic hair comes in a six foot long bunch. They cut it into three pieces and then spend a few minutes on each piece mixing it in a way to make the weave. I don’t really know how to explain it well, so you’ll have to experience it on your own. 

When they start the braiding they start on the nape of the neck. They tie a piece of the weave around the roots of the hair. This is the painful part....for the next four hours. They braid it down to the end. At one time I had four women braiding my hair at once. At the top of the head they want the base of the braids to be really tight so I was slowly crunching down in my chair gritting my teeth. When they finish braiding they soak the ends in warm water and cut them so they are even. I felt like my face was pulled tight when I got done.

My head was sore the next day and I felt top heavy for a few days. It has taken a bit to get used to them, but I am now having quite a bit of fun changing how I style my braids. I get many compliments too…so I guess white girls can wear braids! 

Mount Afadjato and Tagbo Falls

Last Sunday I was invited by my office mates to join a short course group for an excursion to Mount Afadjato and Togba falls in the Volta Region.  Mount Afadjato is the highest mountain in Ghana at 885 meters or 2,904 feet above sea level. It isn’t what one would call huge, but climbing it was quite an adventure. Tagbo falls is 60  m or approximately 180 feet tall. 

 

There is a small village on the bottom of the mountain where one pays a small fee to climb the mountain. The trail up the mountain is crazy bad and quite dangerous in my opinion. Since it is the rainy season it was even worse. Luckily it didn’t rain when we were there, because we would have been riding our butts down the whole time instead of just half the time.

view from top of Mount Afadjato

Many in the group were not prepared for the severity of the hike up the mountain, lacking proper shoes making the hike even more difficult. Along the trail there was only one proper rest stop half way up the mountain. There were no hand rails or ropes along the trail and maintenance was very poor. Supposedly this was a new trail that was much better than the old one. The view from the top of the mountain is gorgeous. The only problem is a large amount of annoying flies that don’t exactly bite, but are looking for the moisture from ones skin. I recommend anyone who is interested in making this trek is a fan of hiking, in good to descent shape, wears proper shoes and clothing that they don’t mind getting dirty and maybe even stained.

Cocoa tree

Even if one is not a fan of strenuous hiking there is the Tagbo waterfall which is easy to reach on a well-kept trail. It is an easy thirty minute hike, well worth the beauty of the water fall. The trail starts by going through a forested area, with some cultivation of different types of agricultural products, including plantains, bananas, cocoa (for chocolate) and more. Farther down the trail it turns into the natural habitat. While I was hiking there had recently been a large tree cut down and put into planked boards for use by the village people. We met two women carrying large boards on their heads back to the village. The trail does cross a small stream several times that stems from the waterfall. The crossings over the stream are everything from a nicely built bridge to narrow boards laid across in some places. The village people request that women who are menstruating not touch or enter the water at the base of the falls, but if one has a swimsuit they are welcome to swim. But as a warning there have been drownings so it is not recommended unless one is a strong swimmer.

Tagbo Falls

rainforest

I have known people that have taken Tro-tro to reach the village, but be prepared for a hot, bumpy and crowded ride. It took us about four hours to reach the village, but this was with no stops along the way. 

On the way back we stopped at a small fishing village along the Volta river. Ghanaians are huge fans of Tilapia and often when visiting the Volta Region will stop in small fishing villages to buy a large quantity of freshly caught Tilapia and other fish. The price is very reasonable and the catch is always fresh compared to what one can get in Accra.

I had a fun and exhilarating trip with a group of wonderful people!

Nkrumah memorial

Last Saturday I met two wonderful women who were visiting Ghana, one for work and the other a friend who came along for company. We went to the Nkrumah memorial and neighboring arts and craft colony. 

Kwame Nkrumah was a pivotal leader in the independence of Ghana. After achieving independence Nkrumah became the prime minister of Ghana. He supported Panafricanism, which is the push for the uniting of former African colonies, when put simply. He was educated in the United States at UPenn as well as spent time in Great Britain studying. He married an Egyptian woman, which is why his memorial is highly influenced by Egyptian architecture. 

During his time as prime minister there were many ups and downs. Throughout his tenure he succeeded in suppressing the opposition through questionable means and consolidated his power to become very powerful. Nkrumah’s was toppled in 1966 by the first of many military coup d’etat in the first few decades of Ghanaian self-rule. Nkrumah has been memorialized as a great leader in Ghana as well as in greater Africa. The memorial is one of the few tourist sites in Accra and I have to admit very beautiful. One strange thing is though, that it was the first time I had random Africans (not only Ghanaians) ask if we would take a photo with them.  We even took some pictures with a bride and groom. Woo hoo!

The art colony next door is a great place to buy hand-made tourist pieces. I even bought a ‘djemba’ a hand drum. I have had a very little bit of experience playing while in Italy, but I’ll need some lessons when I get back to the states. I’ll be in Ames, Iowa for the next year, if there is anyone who will give me some free lessons please shoot me a message!

Adeboyer's house...."chop my money, chop my money, oohh, I don't care."

Well, I have had a busy week since I have healed from my illness. I don’t know where to start, but I have to admit I had a great friend Mika who invited me to a pretty cool party on Friday night. It was at Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor’s mansion! 

Adeboyer, his mother and another footballer Gyan

Adeboyer is a Togolese footballer who plays for Manchester City as a striker. He has links to Ghana as well. The party was to launch his foundation that provides football stuff to children in the Kumasi area as well as in Togo. Millionaire!!! I was on the prowl for a sugar daddy….. no luck! Mika invited me to the party but he forgot to mention whose party and the appropriate attire. Luckily I felt like dressing a bit fancier than normal and my roommate even borrowed me a pair of cute heals and earrings. Sadly my jeans and nice top with my hair all did up and some make up was still quite under dressed, as the girl sitting next to me said, “these people are dressed wack, don’t worry about it.” So I grabbed a drink and enjoyed the show. 

Shelley and Mika

The security was crazy, before I went to the party I had joined my office mates for drinks and live music at a local bar called Chez Afrique. Since I was arriving in a taxi and I didn’t even know where I was going they didn’t want to let me through the gates, but luckily they finally did let me to the third and final security gate where a friend picked me up. There was a red carpet with his dozen or so unbelievable cars in the background, good thing I showed up late because I was not in red carpet attire. It was quite an interesting experience, my friend invited me to go the next evening, but I climbed the tallest mountain on Sunday so I figured I would need my rest. More to come in the next few days on the exciting happenings in Ghana!  

Emergency room visit

So I was going to write a really well thought out blog about Malaria, I even started researching, but I don't have the energy right now. I'll have time while resting this next week to tell people a bit more about Malaria. In general I want to make sure everyone knows I am fine and recovering. I’ll tell my story quickly before I forget. I had a few interesting experiences while seeking treatment at not one but two hospitals. My illness came upon me very quickly. I was ill for about two hours before I decided I needed to go the hospital under the advice of my roommate and professor. The first hospital I went to, the doctors were on strike so there was no one there to treat me and the nurses were not kind at all. I had such bad nausea and diarrhea at that point all I wanted was a bathroom but they informed me that there wasn't one. An outright lie, but their bosses were gone so what did they care...very little obviously. They were kind enough to call a taxi for me after I requested. While waiting I felt ill and went outside. I accidentally left my phone in the hallway and jumped in the taxi forgetting it completely.

The taxi driver was going to take me to another hospital but at this point I figured I was better going back to my room to compose myself and think up a new strategy. By the time I reached the dorm I realized I forgot my phone, but I was too ill to return and asked the taxi driver to kindly go get it for an extra 10 cedis and bring it to the front desk. While at the hospital I had called the professor I work with to inform him that I was ill and that at the hospital there was no doctors so I needed to go to another hospital, but since I had forgotten my phone he could not reach me. Being the wonderful person he is he went straight to the hospital found my phone, talked to the taxi driver and came and found me in my room. Just when he arrived I realized that I should call him from my roommate’s phone since I had forgotten my phone, but he arrived with his wife to take me to the emergency room in Madina. Without them I would have been helpless at the hospital, not knowing how the system works.

The emergency room was full of mostly mothers with young children that were ill. Within two hours I was being treated for Malaria. They call it blind treatment they don’t really test you for anything, but since I had a fever, chills, bone aches, they treated me for Malaria. Since I also had stomach issues they treated me for stomach protozoa. They choose this blind treatment because 90 percent of the time it is one or both of these. I was so dehydrated I had an unquenchable thirst. My prof and his wife waited till they had me settled in a hospital bed and went home to rest till the morning.  I received two liters of fluid and a few other injections for the malaria.

The nurses here were also unpleasant and I soon found out quite inattentive. When I was sleeping they must have also decided to take a nap or at least not check up on me because I woke up with the nurse grabbing my hand and a puddle of blood on the bed next to my head. The fluid bag had run out resulting in me bleeding out. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to startle me. Luckily the gentleman who was in the room with me had a son who was attentive enough to help me when I needed it and called the nurse. There goes donating blood ever again, but don't worry the needle was sterile and packaged. I learned to watch for that from piercing parlors. Finally I was re-hydrated and pumped full of a bunch of lovely drugs to make me feel better for a while at least. I felt amazingly better after waking up in the hospital and I was hoping it would last but that was too good to be true.

The wife of my prof made me a wonderful breakfast and dinner, even though I don’t have much of an appetite I know I have to try to eat a bit to get better. My stomach is still extremely upset and my headache and body aches come and go. I am drinking water with powder Gatorade to keep my electrolytes up and hydrated. I will recover and I will be fine, but it I don’t wish this experience on anyone. I highly recommend that if you do come down with a sickness while traveling in Ghana, and I have a feeling in many places that have endemic malaria and stomach diseases one has not been exposed to, to instantly go to the emergency room and seek treatment. One can dehydrate so quickly and find oneself in a tough position. You also may not be sure as to how the system works and getting treatment may take a bit longer than you thought it would. I figure this is just one more life experience to learn from, as unpleasant as it is. I will be fine, just give me a few days!

Pissing in public

So this blog is quite simple. Pissing in public and how here it is not considered inappropriate or illegal in fact, and the ways in the US we have made it a criminal act. If nature calls, you pull off the road or go to the side of the bush path and simply relieve yourself. Mostly men, but I have seen my fair share of women who find a hiding spot when need be. I can't say I'm super comfortable with this, but I understand that there are worse things and I have found myself in the same situation many times when a toilet is simply not available. While in the US these people could be cited for public urination or even worse indecent exposure if a cop in a bad mood finds you. In 13 states in the US a public urination ticket can warrant a listing as a sex offender on the state wide sex offender list (The Economist, Unjust and ineffective America has pioneered the harsh punishment of sex offenders. Does it work? August 6, 2009). While I do understand people who may live next to bars do not appreciate people pissing in the open or maybe even on objects making the ally way smell like a sewer, but I think we have all found ourselves in the situation where a restroom is not easily available and using a dark corner maybe the only option. Does this simple act of nature have to be made illegal, or can this be handled by people telling each other that they don’t appreciate it? If anything get a damn big light and shine it in the problem area. I bet our cultural norms will take control and you won’t find many people pissing there any longer. Just thought it was interesting a simple thing that we let our dogs do all over (does their urine smell any better than ours?) can really hurt someone’s future in the US if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time and even worse in the wrong state. Should we not just take a bit more of a laid back stance on this and just let cultural norms rule versus the strict hand of the law?