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Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Written for Ghana Reflections
Reflections of Ghana: Togo and Benin
by Christine
The Penn State group’s trip to Togo and Benin has been my favorite so far. It is interesting how two cultures could be so similar, and yet so very different. Though all are West African countries, seeing the difference between British influenced Ghana and francophone Togo and Benin was a pleasant culture shock. The first major difference I notice once driving across the border was the abundance of motorcycles and motor taxis. In most areas the motorbikes far outnumber the cars. All of the bikes during rush hour weaving in and around our bus reminded me of a swarm of bees. Continuously surrounded by this swarm, our bus first took us to tour Benin.
One of the first places we visited on our trip was the Python Village near Ouidah. In this town, pythons are viewed as sacred animals, and even as gods. A sanctuary exists for them in the village. When the people of the town come across a python, they bring it to the sanctuary. The snakes are then allowed to go free at night. There is also a priest of the pythons who takes care of prayers and offerings to them, as well as the sacred python cemetery, which only he is allowed to enter. At the sanctuary, we were allowed to pet and hold the pythons. Several brave students even wore the pythons around their necks while their picture was taken! (including me!!!!)
Next we visited one of the most important slave forts in Benin, Ouidah. Ouidah was a small fortress built by the Portuguese in the city of Ouidah on the coast of Dahomey in 1580, after which it grew around the slave trade. Here we saw artifacts like slave shackles and beads and shells used to trade slaves. Cannons were also a commodity of the time and used for slave trade. Being in a place where such significant events of history occurred is always moving.
The next day we traveled to visit the village of Ganvie, which means peaceful people. It is said that the people of this village moved into the lagoon centuries ago to avoid war and slave capture. The entire village is on stilts in the water, a good 20 minute boat ride from shore. It is amazing how this unique group of people have altered their way of life to live in the lagoon. We could see their floating market in several long boats. We also learned how they create patches of dry land by piling the mud and clay high behind fences. They primarily do this so their children have a space to learn to walk. However, we saw many children swimming and playing in the water.
One of the final stops on our tour was as fetish market. In Togo and Benin, Islam and Christianity coexist with the traditional Voodoo religion. Our group was split into smaller groups of two or three and shown into see a Voodoo priest. He then blessed each of us to have safe journeys throughout Africa. Some students then chose charms for good luck, good grades on final exams, or even to find love! The market had many strange items like horse heads, antelope skulls, hyena pelts, cobra spines and much more! One student even bargained for a pair on monkey feet! It was an experience of a lifetime to say the least.
Penn State’s trip to Togo and Benin was definitely an exciting one! This segment is just a glimpse of the great times we shared. I hope someday to return there to explore more of Togo and Benin’s exciting history, culture, and great food!
by Christine
The Penn State group’s trip to Togo and Benin has been my favorite so far. It is interesting how two cultures could be so similar, and yet so very different. Though all are West African countries, seeing the difference between British influenced Ghana and francophone Togo and Benin was a pleasant culture shock. The first major difference I notice once driving across the border was the abundance of motorcycles and motor taxis. In most areas the motorbikes far outnumber the cars. All of the bikes during rush hour weaving in and around our bus reminded me of a swarm of bees. Continuously surrounded by this swarm, our bus first took us to tour Benin.
One of the first places we visited on our trip was the Python Village near Ouidah. In this town, pythons are viewed as sacred animals, and even as gods. A sanctuary exists for them in the village. When the people of the town come across a python, they bring it to the sanctuary. The snakes are then allowed to go free at night. There is also a priest of the pythons who takes care of prayers and offerings to them, as well as the sacred python cemetery, which only he is allowed to enter. At the sanctuary, we were allowed to pet and hold the pythons. Several brave students even wore the pythons around their necks while their picture was taken! (including me!!!!)
Next we visited one of the most important slave forts in Benin, Ouidah. Ouidah was a small fortress built by the Portuguese in the city of Ouidah on the coast of Dahomey in 1580, after which it grew around the slave trade. Here we saw artifacts like slave shackles and beads and shells used to trade slaves. Cannons were also a commodity of the time and used for slave trade. Being in a place where such significant events of history occurred is always moving.
The next day we traveled to visit the village of Ganvie, which means peaceful people. It is said that the people of this village moved into the lagoon centuries ago to avoid war and slave capture. The entire village is on stilts in the water, a good 20 minute boat ride from shore. It is amazing how this unique group of people have altered their way of life to live in the lagoon. We could see their floating market in several long boats. We also learned how they create patches of dry land by piling the mud and clay high behind fences. They primarily do this so their children have a space to learn to walk. However, we saw many children swimming and playing in the water.
One of the final stops on our tour was as fetish market. In Togo and Benin, Islam and Christianity coexist with the traditional Voodoo religion. Our group was split into smaller groups of two or three and shown into see a Voodoo priest. He then blessed each of us to have safe journeys throughout Africa. Some students then chose charms for good luck, good grades on final exams, or even to find love! The market had many strange items like horse heads, antelope skulls, hyena pelts, cobra spines and much more! One student even bargained for a pair on monkey feet! It was an experience of a lifetime to say the least.
Penn State’s trip to Togo and Benin was definitely an exciting one! This segment is just a glimpse of the great times we shared. I hope someday to return there to explore more of Togo and Benin’s exciting history, culture, and great food!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Long Time No Post
Wow. It's been almost a moth since I posted last. I can't believe I've been here that long. I've had several pretty awesome trips since then.
I spent the night on a beach hut in Ada, about three hours from Accra. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the stars were. I havn't seen anything quite like that in my life. Swimming the the ocean here is pretty crazy. The undertow is the strongest I've ever seen. I was knocked over several times standing in less than knee deep water. (!)
We also took a trip to Cape Coast. The city there was much nicer than Accra. It's definitely a place I would love to go back to. There was a local festival going on, and our group was invited to participate in the parade! It was definitely an awesome experience and I had a great time. We visited Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. The magnitude of the history that happened there is indescribable.
Finally I was able to volunteer and a local scool, and tomorrow I'll start volunteering at a orgphange.
Hopefully I'll be able to elaborate on all that more soon! Missing everyone.
I spent the night on a beach hut in Ada, about three hours from Accra. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the stars were. I havn't seen anything quite like that in my life. Swimming the the ocean here is pretty crazy. The undertow is the strongest I've ever seen. I was knocked over several times standing in less than knee deep water. (!)
We also took a trip to Cape Coast. The city there was much nicer than Accra. It's definitely a place I would love to go back to. There was a local festival going on, and our group was invited to participate in the parade! It was definitely an awesome experience and I had a great time. We visited Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. The magnitude of the history that happened there is indescribable.
Finally I was able to volunteer and a local scool, and tomorrow I'll start volunteering at a orgphange.
Hopefully I'll be able to elaborate on all that more soon! Missing everyone.
Monday, August 25, 2008
How to Offend Royalty
I wrote most of this entry more than a week ago, but I haven’t been able to access the Internet till now. Hope my shenanigans amuse everyone!
The last few days have been amazing in so many ways I haven’t found the time to write about them. But, I’m sure if I don’t write it all down now I’ll want to kick myself later. Yesterday was our first official tour in Ghana. We finally go to go into the city of Accra and see some things. We visited the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum, which was in a lovely park. Our guide was very cheerful and explained many things to us about Nkrumah’s life and his significance to Ghana and all of Africa. I found the statue over the mausoleum to be the most interesting. It is half of a tree. This signifies that Nkrumah’s work is the root of a forward moving Africa, but that his legacy and work must be carried on and finished by Africa’s people.
We then visited old Accra or Ga Mashie. This is the section of Accra where the Ga people live. As you might or might not guess, they speak Ga, not Twi so my, “Etisan? Aye Aye.” Was useless here… not that it’s that helpful among the Asante either. The day of our tour was the climax of a major Ga festival called Ga Homowo. Our tour guide is a friend of our Professors. His name is Sam, and he seems to have many connections in Ghana, so I’m very excited for the rest of our visits. Sam managed to arrange for us to meet the Chief of Ga, When we arrived we were shown into a room with many traditional decorations and a throne. The chief came in, and our guide explained that we were a group of students from the U.S., and our purpose here in Ghana was to further our knowledge at University as well as to better understand and learn about Ghana and it’s people. It is tradition to bring a gift or token of thanks when visiting the chief, so we presented two bottles of schnapps as a thank you. The chief then said a traditional prayer with the schnapps asking for our safety and success while in Ghana. I was able to get an awesome video with my camera of the chief praying for us. Unfortunately with the Internet connection I won’t be able to show anyone until I return home. He then spoke with us for a while and offered us drinks.
We were then taken to the Kings palace in Ga Mashie. We waited in a room with food for a while. The traditional food of the festival is called kpokpoi. I can only describe it as a kind of yellow cornmeal in fishy broth. All present are invited to eat some… but no one from our group was brave enough. We were then shown in to see the King! He spoke to us for a while about the festival and allowed us to ask questions. Since we were out and about for the day I had decided to wear a long skirt. And when I’m in a skirt, and seated in a chair a bit too far from the ground for my stature, I tend to cross my ankles. Unfortunately for my habits, crossing your legs in front of royalty is apparently offensive. The first time I crossed my feet while the king was speaking, one of the people in his court motioned for me to uncross them. However, we were sitting for quite some time, and in the course of a half hour or so I managed to end up with my ankles crossed again. Again, the court member motioned, and I quickly uncrossed them. The king then said something like, “It is tradition not to cross your legs in front of the king, it’s just one of those things.” I then of course apologized and made sure not to cross my legs for the rest of the time. My embarrassment was trumped, however, by the member of our group, Mike, who broke the chair he was sitting in during the middle of the King’s speech. The leg of the chair just snapped out from under him. A court member quickly took the broken chair and replaced it with a new chair. Totally hysterical. Fortunately we somehow managed to keep our composure for the most part.
After the tour our tour guide Sam, invited us into his home for a traditional festival meal with his family. The meal was by far the best food I’ve had since I’ve been in Ghana. And his family was so welcoming and friendly. What an awesome way to start off my travels in Africa.
I’ll be writing more soon! And thanks to everyone who’s been keeping in touch via e-mail and phone!
The last few days have been amazing in so many ways I haven’t found the time to write about them. But, I’m sure if I don’t write it all down now I’ll want to kick myself later. Yesterday was our first official tour in Ghana. We finally go to go into the city of Accra and see some things. We visited the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum, which was in a lovely park. Our guide was very cheerful and explained many things to us about Nkrumah’s life and his significance to Ghana and all of Africa. I found the statue over the mausoleum to be the most interesting. It is half of a tree. This signifies that Nkrumah’s work is the root of a forward moving Africa, but that his legacy and work must be carried on and finished by Africa’s people.
We then visited old Accra or Ga Mashie. This is the section of Accra where the Ga people live. As you might or might not guess, they speak Ga, not Twi so my, “Etisan? Aye Aye.” Was useless here… not that it’s that helpful among the Asante either. The day of our tour was the climax of a major Ga festival called Ga Homowo. Our tour guide is a friend of our Professors. His name is Sam, and he seems to have many connections in Ghana, so I’m very excited for the rest of our visits. Sam managed to arrange for us to meet the Chief of Ga, When we arrived we were shown into a room with many traditional decorations and a throne. The chief came in, and our guide explained that we were a group of students from the U.S., and our purpose here in Ghana was to further our knowledge at University as well as to better understand and learn about Ghana and it’s people. It is tradition to bring a gift or token of thanks when visiting the chief, so we presented two bottles of schnapps as a thank you. The chief then said a traditional prayer with the schnapps asking for our safety and success while in Ghana. I was able to get an awesome video with my camera of the chief praying for us. Unfortunately with the Internet connection I won’t be able to show anyone until I return home. He then spoke with us for a while and offered us drinks.
We were then taken to the Kings palace in Ga Mashie. We waited in a room with food for a while. The traditional food of the festival is called kpokpoi. I can only describe it as a kind of yellow cornmeal in fishy broth. All present are invited to eat some… but no one from our group was brave enough. We were then shown in to see the King! He spoke to us for a while about the festival and allowed us to ask questions. Since we were out and about for the day I had decided to wear a long skirt. And when I’m in a skirt, and seated in a chair a bit too far from the ground for my stature, I tend to cross my ankles. Unfortunately for my habits, crossing your legs in front of royalty is apparently offensive. The first time I crossed my feet while the king was speaking, one of the people in his court motioned for me to uncross them. However, we were sitting for quite some time, and in the course of a half hour or so I managed to end up with my ankles crossed again. Again, the court member motioned, and I quickly uncrossed them. The king then said something like, “It is tradition not to cross your legs in front of the king, it’s just one of those things.” I then of course apologized and made sure not to cross my legs for the rest of the time. My embarrassment was trumped, however, by the member of our group, Mike, who broke the chair he was sitting in during the middle of the King’s speech. The leg of the chair just snapped out from under him. A court member quickly took the broken chair and replaced it with a new chair. Totally hysterical. Fortunately we somehow managed to keep our composure for the most part.
After the tour our tour guide Sam, invited us into his home for a traditional festival meal with his family. The meal was by far the best food I’ve had since I’ve been in Ghana. And his family was so welcoming and friendly. What an awesome way to start off my travels in Africa.
I’ll be writing more soon! And thanks to everyone who’s been keeping in touch via e-mail and phone!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Busy Internet
I'm currently at Busy Internet with my roommate, which is supposed to be the fastest internet in Accra. Its not too bad, kind of comprable to a slow day at home or stealing from a wireless conncetion. However, it 2 Cedi an hour. (!) So I'm afraid this will again be a short post. Since I'm on the topic, the currency here is the Cedi, which is just slightly less valuable than the U.S. dollar. The cents are called peswei, (cute!) It's pretty much one-to-one. Certain things are cheaper, like food and transportation, but others like toilet paper are more expensive, so I haven't been able to live as cheaply as I hoped. Our first "trip" is tomorrow, but really it's only a tour of Accra. I'm excited though, because I haven't seen most of the city yet. My group has been to a section called Osou a few times, but I hear that's where most foreign students tend to go. It isn't really a city like you would think. I haven't really seen any sky scrapers... hopefully some day I'll be able to post pictures! Another thing! Transportation here is insane! But more on that later... I only have a few minutes left!
Now I guess a little about where I'm living. I'm currently at the University of Ghana, Legon. Legon means "hill of knowledge" in Twi (pronounced Ti-vee). The language of conversation here is most definately Twi, but almost everyone speaks some English. Some students were surprised that there is somewhat of a language barrier. So far I've learn a few key phrases in Twi, like "How are you?" and "Thank you" but hopefully I'll pick up more when classes start. Thats all I have time for now! More soon!
Now I guess a little about where I'm living. I'm currently at the University of Ghana, Legon. Legon means "hill of knowledge" in Twi (pronounced Ti-vee). The language of conversation here is most definately Twi, but almost everyone speaks some English. Some students were surprised that there is somewhat of a language barrier. So far I've learn a few key phrases in Twi, like "How are you?" and "Thank you" but hopefully I'll pick up more when classes start. Thats all I have time for now! More soon!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The 5500 miles
I've been in Ghana almost a week now, and unfortunately I haven't been able to update. For now I don't really have easy internet access. The journey here was extremely long, but went well overall. Bah! I will for sure update more tonight! But NOW I need to catch a trotro to the Medina market to get a bucket to do my laundry in and more cell phone minutes... which I can probably purchase five feet from each other... weird! Hope all is well at home! More soon!
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