Lots of work getting done!

Greetings Friends and Family!
I have been doing very well in Tarkwa these days. I think this is a combination of my successful work and the thought that I will be home in about six weeks. I still have a lot of sampling and analysis work to do and this has kept my mind off any hardships I may encounter. The water has been flowing at my house the last week and the weather has been much better lately. It is really the small things that keep me sane! I have also turned some of my thoughts to the upcoming science summer camps at Penn State. There is still a lot of planning and curriculum development to do in this regard and on weekends I spend a lot of time putting together exciting activities for the kids.
Isaac and I have finished sampling the survey sites, but I am still waiting on his data before making any decisions about sites to sample again this month. At least initially, it seems that all the wells in the area are contaminated with bacteria, heavy metals and inorganic nutrients to levels that I would consider dangerous for drinking. The boreholes are in much better condition, but there are still problems in many areas. I am working with the local radio station here to distribute some of the information we are gathering. My friend Henry works at the radio station in Tarkwa and thinks we can put something together in English, Twi and Fanti. Twi and Fanti are the local languages. The message I hope to get out is to not drink the well water if there is a borehole nearby and even using the well water for washing clothes or bathing can be harmful. If there is no other option for drinking water (sometimes there are water shortages at the boreholes), the water must be boiled for at least 10 minutes before use. I am also working on getting permission to place some signs near the wells with information concerning the status of the water. This information can also be used by the local government to decide which communities are in need of boreholes.
Here are some pictures of the recent sampling trip:

Dirty well water!

Some ducks (and baby ducks) came to drink the water while we were out sampling.

Other than my work, I have not really been doing much of interest. Sampling is really an exhausting experience so I spend more time relaxing at home with my books on evenings and weekends. Occasionally, I will walk down to the club for a beer and to watch some TV (Ghana movies are hilarious, even if they don’t mean to be). I still have lots of visitors to my house as well, so I am constantly going to town to buy more cookies for the kids!
I hope all is well.

My love you all of you,

Joanna

27 April 2008

Hello Readers!

This past week I have been very busy collecting and analyzing samples from Tarkwa and surrounding villages. It has been exhausting but wonderful! I have spent a lot of time worrying about my project the last couple months and now that I am actually getting some data I feel empowered and optimistic. I have been working almost everyday to meet the goals that I put forth in my grant proposal and really feel that I can do some great work in my final two months in Africa. Can it really be only two months until I return?

Well, I promised last time to write a bit about my trip to the coast on April 19 and 20th. It was just after I returned from Accra with my supplies and although I was tired from all the traveling, I was excited to get a small vacation in before I began sampling. My friend Henry and I went to Takoradi and Cape Coast on the southern coast of Ghana. Takoradi is a city a bit larger than State College and has some amenities that are lacking in my small town of Tarkwa, for example, a bookstore. There are no bookstores in Tarkwa (except school books) and I love to read for relaxation. Henry said there was a “large” bookstore that he knew of and I had to admit the sign outside the store was quite elaborate. Well, the store was not exactly what I was hoping for. The store only had about 100 fiction and nonfiction books to choose from and they were all used (some really in poor condition), but I found four sci-fi books that look interesting and seemed to have all the pages so I was very happy. I also purchased a Ghana cookbook so I can treat you all to some traditional goat hoof soup when I return!
From the bookstore we traveled by tro-tro (big van) to Cape Coast to visit Kakum Nature Reserve and the Cape Coast Castle. By the time we got to Kakum it was late in the afternoon, but we still made the last tour of the day. The tour consists of traveling through the reserve area on a rope bridge that is suspended about 40 meters (130 feet) above the ground. Did I mention that I am afraid of heights?
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any animals. Not only do the animals rest during the day because of the heat, but the folks behind us screamed nearly the whole time on the bridge, ensuring that any animals who might have wandered into view were scared off by the noise. Bummer! You can take night and early morning tours, where you are more likely to see animals, but they are rather expensive and the timing of our trip didn’t allow for a night in Cape Coast. However, I do hope to make another trip to Kakum before I leave and possibly spend the night at a nearby hotel so I can actually see some animals.





From Kakum we traveled back to the town to tour the Cape Coast Castle. I would have to say that this was the most interesting and most depressing thing that I have experienced in Ghana. Cape Coast Castle was a hub of the West African slave trade. It was the place where slaves were kept before shipping them off to the Americas. You could almost feel pain radiating off the walls of the dungeons. The tour guide told of the terrible conditions and horrific experiences of the slaves while in captivity. As we walked into the dark dungeons and torture rooms Henry held my hand as I cried. Neither of us said much on the tro-tro back to Takoradi.

Here is a picture of the castle and of the 'door of no return'. Once you left this door you were loaded on a ship and knew you would never see you country again!





We spent the night in Takoradi, which besides the large bookstore, has an American restaurant. At this oasis I had a glorious, wonderful hamburger! I told Henry he should try some US food, but he politely declined and ordered some banku with fish. The next day we hung out on a beach and relaxed to the sound of music and surf. I was excited for the start of the week and the start of work!

I met with Isaac (Fifi is his local name) on Monday to discuss water sampling sites and protocols. In case you are wondering, Abina is my local name, which means Tuesday born. Isaac is a master’s student here at UMaT and has interest in several sites that are also of interest to my project. We are basically looking at wells and boreholes in and near Tarkwa. I want to focus primarily on drinking water sites, whereas he is surveying the whole area. We will sample about 60 sites in total. After the analysis of these samples, I will select 10 sites with interesting results to sample monthly. I believe I can get Isaac or another student to take and analyze the sample sites when I am back in the States (July-December). Isaac works at a lab that has the capability to do bacterial and some metals analysis, while I have the ability to analyze for many heavy metals (copper, chromium, lead, cobalt, etc.) and some non-metals like nitrate and phosphate.

Sampling began on Wednesday and it was very successful! The local people were very helpful with information regarding what the water is used for and approximately how many people use the well or borehole. We could also gather information about how reliable the source was and if there was ever any sort of bad smell, taste or illness associated with the water. We get a lot of attention when we go out. Isaac says this is primarily because of the Broni that accompanies him, but I prefer to think that the people are just very interested in the quality of their water J. Kids will follow us to the sites asking me tons of questions and asking me to take their photo, even in the pouring rain. It disturbs me that more of them don’t attend school! At one site we had to meet with the village chief and elders before we were permitted to take the sample. It was just like in the movies! We sat on benches in a circle while the chief and elders asked us questions about who we were and what we were doing. Isaac translated for me, since they don’t speak English, and after a while they took a vote to see if we could collect a sample. The major concern was that we may be from the local mining company. They don’t like the company because it takes away their farm and hunting lands and pollute the waterways. They thought we may be spies coming to survey the land or that we would falsify the water data in the mining companies favor. I guess they were satisfied with our responses because they let us sample their drinking water borehole. Here are some pictures of the sampling sites. The first is a drinking water borehole, the second is a rudimentary well. The well is only occasionally used for drinking, but becuase it is uncovered and at ground level it should never be used for drinking.


Well, we sampled Wednesday and Friday all day in pouring rain. On Thursday and Saturday I spent about 14 hours each day analyzing samples. I don’t have a good way of storing samples, so I try to analyze them within 24-28 hours. There is a small refrigerator in the lab, which will hold one day’s samples (about 10-12 bottles), so I need to empty it before each sampling trip. We have two more sampling days scheduled for this week (I am writing this on Sunday, April 27), so I will have lots of work to do to keep me out of trouble. That being said, every day in Ghana is an adventure and I am sure I will have some stories for my next blog!

For those of you who are wondering, I had running water briefly on Friday but it was off again on Saturday and today. That makes nine waterless days out of 10! I have hope that tomorrow I will be able to take a nice long shower!!

News from the Skluz

Note that the title is in honor of my friends south of the US border!

OK, I admit it. I am a terrible blogger. I have gotten lots of comments in the last few weeks about not keeping up with my updates from Ghana. I can offer no explanations except that I don’t really like talking about myself and I consider myself a horrible writer. The thought of all of you reading my misspellings and grammatical errors, quite frankly, freaks me out. I also feel that what I write may be boring. Well, in an effort to find some interesting things to talk about, I decided to answer some of your questions. I will try to answer them as honestly as possible. Here are some questions from friends:

Did you get your supplies yet?
I traveled to Accra last week (April 15-18) to see what was up with my sampling kits that shipped last month. The consignment folks kept telling me that they have not received the items, while the shipper confirmed that they have been in Accra since March 7. So, in an effort to find out exactly what was going on, I traveled the 6 hours from Tarkwa to Accra by bus. Dr. Amankwah, the department head of the mineral engineering department, traveled with me to aid me in my hunt for boxes from the US. Although English is the national language here, it is rarely spoken between Ghanaians and conversations between me and locals can get confusing very quickly. The bus left at dawn, which in Ghana means 4:30 am. I am still quite confused by this because the sun doesn’t come up until about 6 am.
We arrived in Accra and dropped our things at the UMAT guest house in Accra, which is much nicer than the guest house I live in at Tarkwa. However, there is a large wall surrounding the compound with barbed wire and broken glass at the top. There is also a guard (unarmed) at the door. This type of security gives me a very uneasy feeling and I would not like to live there. On the brighter side, the compound had a cook who cooked us great meals that we can’t get in Tarkwa. I ate tons!
That afternoon we took a taxi to ConShip, the customs consignment place at the airport. I was extremely nervous. What could I do if they say that they don’t have my supplies? I had an email that stated my supplies arrived in Accra, but in the end it is just a piece of paper. I arrived with plenty of money to “grease the wheels” of the process, but I was afraid that my things were permanently lost, either by accidental or intentional means.
I found the office, which is one of a dozen trailers near the airport. Each trailer does consignments for the different airline or shipping agencies. So there was a KLM trailer, an AirFrance trailer, etc. I went into the trailer and spoke to the supervisor. I had emailed and phoned her often and was really ready to argue or yell or something. I showed her the email, which she has seen at least a dozen times, and said “Oh, yes, these are at the KLM trailer”. Um, OK, so now what? So we confirmed that my three boxes were at the KLM trailer, which, by the way, is about 10 feet from the ConShip trailer. And, no, I don’t know why they were just sitting there for a month without being able to be found!
The supervisor then explained that I needed to fill out some paperwork in order for the supplies to be released to me. Mind you, I have filled out so many pieces of paper for these people over the last two months that I really didn’t know why I had to fill out the same pieces of paper again. The forms had to go through the customs board for approval. Of course this process is ultimately ConShip’s job, but they haven’t wanted to do it for the last month, so I might as well fill out the forms and submit them to the customs board myself. This process can take three days, but I convinced them that I could pay an “extra fee” aka bribe to get them to approve the forms by tomorrow.
So, after all my worrying and stressing over the last two months, I heard “No problem, you can pick your things up tomorrow afternoon”. Just like that! The fees were crazy expensive and I even got charged a storing fee for having my packages there, but I got my things and now can do some serious work. I am still waiting on a shipment from another company, but now I know that as soon as I hear things are in Accra, I will go there and pick them up myself.

What do you do when there is no water for several days?
This is a very good question, since we currently have not had water for six days and counting. I have two 5- gallon containers to store water, which will last for about three days. Joe Gordon, a lecturer at UMaT, also has a large storage container outside his house, which he allows me to use to fill my containers when I run out. Since water is scarce we all try to conserve as much as possible. I use a pitcher to scoop water out of the containers and pour them over my head to bathe. The water is cold and I never feel very clean after the experience, but with the heat and sweating I need to do something.
I pile my used dishes outside on my balcony. You can’t have food items or dirty dishes around the house because the ants will overtake you. I also use the toilet several times before I fill the tank and flush.
The water shortage does NOT affect my drinking water supply. I buy cases of bottled water from town and use for drinking. You cannot drink the tap water and should not even open your mouth in the shower because you may imbibe enough water to make you sick.

Is it really that hot over there?
Um, yes. It is really that hot. Everyday is well into the 90’s (Fahrenheit) and 85% humidity. It was much more enjoyable in Accra and other places on the coast because it is not as hot. I have AC in my apartment…thank goodness. Very few places have AC including my office.


How often does the electricity go off?
The electricity goes off daily; sometimes for 1 hour, sometimes for the entire day (although the latter is rare). I am normally at work, when the electricity goes off, so the internet connection also cuts out. The university does not have enough generator power to keep the servers online. Most afternoons the electric will go off for at least a couple hours and other times the lights will just flicker, which is enough to disrupt my online chatting with friends. Yesterday was one of those days with no electricity most of the day. The sun sets at about 6 pm, so I just kind of hang out in my house, sweat and read a book by flashlight and candlelight (thanks for the books Holly!)

What is the most difficult thing about living in Ghana?
Wow! That is a difficult question. I find lots of things difficult, but mostly because I am spoiled. The lack of reliable water and electricity is a problem, but there is not much I can do about it. I think a lot of my struggle comes from the people here themselves. The Ghanaian people are very religious, with a high percentage subscribing to the Christian faith. I have been told directly by several people that they do not think non-Christians are good people and they do not trust them. I get asked whether I am a Christian by people within two minutes of meeting them, even at work. They not only ask what faith I am, but how often I read the bible, how often and where I go to church. I am told often that I need to read the bible and go to church or else bad things will befall me. I met a science lecturer outside my office last week and he introduced himself and then said a passage from the bible. He asked if I knew the passage and I said no. He then went on for about 15 minutes about how I need to read the bible and how terrible it was that I did not attend church regularly. He asked several personal questions about my family and lifestyle. He asked me how I think I can be a good person without a strong religious believe system. I met him five minutes ago! I get this A LOT from students and faculty and it makes me extremely uncomfortable.
Another difficult experience that I face daily is simply the color of my skin. I know, I know, I should not complain, but I said I was going to be honest. I have seen a few white people around town, but they are mostly mining men. Sometimes I just want to be left alone to walk down the street or even in my apartment. It simply does not happen.
I walk down the street and get stopped by at least a dozen people (adults and kids) asking to be my “friend”. They want my phone number and address. They ask where I am going, where I am from, if I am married and, of course, if I am a Christian. They will follow me and it makes me uncomfortable. The rest of the people on the street just point and shout “O-Broni” or “hey white” and wave. I pay more than the citizens for everything at the market and for taxi rides. This past weekend I went to tour the Cape Coast Castle. Admission for blacks was one Ghana Cedi, admission for whites was 10 Ghana Cedis. It was the same situation at the Kakum Nature Reserve. I get people coming to my apartment all the time just to say “hi” and “I want to be your friend”. Of course, I don’t know these people and wonder how they know where I live, but I guess word gets around. I am not afraid of these folks or anything like that, it is just annoying. Especially when they knock on my door at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday J.

Do you cook your own food and what about the food?
Yes. I have a little hot plate at home where I cook simple things like rice and beans. Food here is different, to say the least. With the power outages and simply because of the cost of refrigeration there are not many “fresh” things here, besides the fruit and veggies. You rarely see meat in the stores, only in the open air market. I don’t trust the meat that has been out in the hot sun for several hours or more. You can buy meat at the butcher, but it is difficult to find good quality. Fish is the main staple food, but even this is sometimes not the freshest thing to eat. Mainly, the stores sell canned and dry goods. Canned mackerel in tomato paste is a favorite here, but it sort of freaks me out. Pouring out a can of tomato paste and having a big fish slide into the pan is not my idea of appetizing.
Two weeks ago I had a dish that I truly did not think I could keep down. Joe Gordon invited me to his place for dinner. He wouldn’t tell me what we were having; only saying it was a treat. The treat was goat hoof soup. The hoof joint and the corresponding leg bone is a wonderful meal here. Even though most of the hoof is removed you can still tell what it is you are eating. They don’t remove the skin, so you can see little wisps of hair. I almost lost it. I had to admit to Joe that I couldn’t eat the soup. I didn’t want to disappoint, but there was just no way I could eat the meal.
I dream about food and Wegman’s grocery store. I miss milk (there is only evaporated milk in a can) and cheese very much!
Well, that is all I have time for today. I promise to do better at updating things and will probably have some stories about my upcoming sampling trip tomorrow. I will also tell you more about my trip to Cape Coast.

day at the beach

Welcome again to my blog!
I want to begin by saying that I am so extremely grateful to all of you for your support. The calls, emails and just knowing that I have people at home that support me is a wonderful feeling!
My work here is currently stalled because I still have not received most of my supplies from Accra, the capital of Ghana. This is really becoming a bit issue for me. The supplies have been in Accra for over three weeks! The shipping company is waiting for EPA (Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency) approval because of the chemicals contained in the shipment. I try to keep in mind that things move slowly here, but my time is getting short and I want to make sure I am doing my job.
I have gotten the university here involved in hopes of speeding up the process, but with another long holiday coming up, Easter is celebrated from Thursday through Monday, I am not expecting much to happen. Anyway, you all don’t want to hear about this stuff, so let’s move on to happier news!
Thursday, March 6th was Ghana Independence Day and a day off work.

Victoria, Don Juan, Henry and I went to the beach near Takoradi, an hour’s drive south of Tarkwa. We went to a beach resort, actually, through some means of under-the-table payment to the security guard. The weather was lovely and it was so nice to dip my toes into the cool ocean. Since we were at a resort, there was a restaurant and live music, so we proceeded to have a few drinks, some semi-American food and dance. I have attached some pictures of us on the beach. Here, Henry is in utter amazement of my dancing moves! Yes, white girls can dance…sort of.


Vic and Don Juan also took advantage of the sun, surf and music!

here are some other neat photos:

I mentioned the semi-American food and I would like to elaborate on what exactly that means. We had a late lunch and I asked the waiter about the cuisine. I have been so hungry for American food (or really any food that does not contain fish) and was truly hoping to get a hamburger and FF. Unfortunately, no beef on the menu, but the waiter assured me that the club sandwich with fries was excellent. Ok, so I had the club sandwich, while my counterparts had some traditional Ghanaian yams with tomato sauce and some goat skewers. As you may guess, the sandwich was less than satisfactory, containing tons of mayo and, wouldn’t you know, fish. That being said, the fries were great. I know, I know I should have asked the contents of the sandwich…but oh well. For a place that puts ketchup and mayo on green salads it wasn’t bad.

We returned to Tarkwa around 8 pm and Friday was back to work!

On Saturday, I went over to Victoria’s house to try another traditional Ghanaian dish called gari. Earlier in the week she introduced my to something called banku with chicken soup. Both of these dishes use the same basic ingredients: cassava, plantain and/or fermented corn. These items are ground into a powder, sometimes coarse and sometimes fine, depending on the tribe and culture of the area. Victoria is an Ewe (I think that is the spelling), coming from the northern Volta region. Her husband, Don Juan, is Ashanti. This just means that Victoria has her own tribe’s recipes for creating basic dishes. Most often the ground plants are added to water and made into a paste or dough, sort of like fufu, and then served with a soup or stew. Typically, this stew or soup is made with fish, but since I asked for something a little different, Victoria created a chicken soup for the banku and a fish stew for the gari. Both of these dishes were wonderful! I enjoyed them much more than the fufu!
After consuming a large quantity of gari on Saturday, Victoria and I sat around her house and watched several episodes of 24, yes the US show with Kiefer Sutherland. This is her favorite show and she can purchase Chinese produced DVDs in town. I never really enjoyed the show when I lived in the US, but it was sure nice to hear all the American slang and see American landmarks. Henry came by later in the day, Don Juan was traveling for work, and we just hung-out chatting and watching a little TV.
Sunday I did not attend church, but went over to the Gordon’s house for lunch. I was told the menu for the day was beans and rice. Of course, that meant beans, rice and a whole fish (including head)! Although serving the fish this way is typical, today I just couldn’t handle it. I covered up the head with beans and rice and ate around the fish. Joe Gordon asked me about this and I felt that I just had to tell him the truth about my fear of the fish staring at me while I ate. He and his wife found this completely hilarious! They said the next time they would remove the head for me, thank goodness.
Last week was pretty boring, just work and waiting for my supplies to arrive. On Thursday, March 13th, Victoria, Don Juan, Henry and I went out to the Club house for a couple drinks and relaxation. We decided to travel again to Monica’s for a little US music and a little dancing. Another very fun night with my very good Ghanaian friends! I stayed in over the weekend for a little R&R, but went out again with the above mentioned group on Sunday afternoon to watch football (soccer).
At the Club House, we normally get goat skewers to munch on while we chat. I mentioned before that they cook all of the meat extremely well done, so it is sometimes difficult to figure out what type of meat you are eating. The skewers we had were definitely distinct, so I asked Victoria what we were eating and she told me she requested liver. Why LIVER? Turns out she has the same medical condition I do: chronic anemia. In this type of anemia, your body does not produce enough red blood cells so I get fatigued easily and have to take vitamins to make sure the red blood cells I do have run at full capacity. It is also suggested to eat red meat and green vegetables, two things that are not always accessible here in Tarkwa. Victoria’s doctor recommended she eat liver when she can because it is a good source of iron. So I ate some liver and I must admit I am feeling better than I did last week. Not that I was feeling bad, just tired and edgy. Maybe this week I will request some liver skewers!
Yesterday, I went to the doctor to get a refill on my anti-malarial drugs. I was thinking about discontinuing taking the drugs, because they mess with my sleeping, but I decided to keep taking them at least a little while longer. Malaria, spread by mosquitoes, is common here in Ghana and most people get it several times in their lifetime. If I would get malaria, it would not be fatal and may not even be very serious. I have access to medicine to treat malaria and its symptoms (so mom, please don’t worry). However, I don’t really want to deal with that if I don’t have to. I sleep under a mosquito net, rub DEET containing bug lotion all over my body if I am going out in the evenings and take these huge anti-malarial pills everyday.
Well, I guess I should try to post this blog and pictures. Since our connection is so slow this can take up to an hour!

Tarkwa, Ghana, 4MAR08

Hello again from West Africa!
I have been a pretty busy girl over here, finally starting my research work. I went on my first sampling trip to rural Ghana on February 26th, traveling about two hours north of Tarkwa to Asankrangwa sampling the water of small villages along the way. The roads are in very poor condition, so traveling can become treacherous. I have been eager to get out into the field and begin work, unfortunately because of shipping problems I haven’t received any of my work supplies as of yet. However, I did find a pH probe and conductivity meter to use for the trip, so off we went. At least we could collect some samples and store them for testing once I receive my supplies.
As many of you know, I am a very punctual person and don’t have a tremendous amount of patience. My time here in Ghana has been a test of my ability to relax and not be so concerned with time. I was traveling with a Master’s student who has sampled in these areas before and rented a car and a driver from town. I asked if we could be ready to go by 8 am, which in Ghana time means sometime in the morning preferably before lunch. So I am waiting and fidgeting for people to get themselves and the car ready to go. Once we started our trip (at 10 am), I was told that we would probably be back in town by 5 pm but by this time I knew better!
The sampling trip was a great success and I am beginning to feel like I can truly do this research project. As you may know, I struggle with my fear of failing in this project. I don’t worry so much about getting sick or having trouble adjusting to the culture, but I fear not having a successful research project. With the shipping problems I been having, my fear was beginning to get the best of me. So, send good thoughts my way that the Ghanaian EPA will ship my parcels from Accra to Tarkwa in a timely manner..ok?
As I said, the sampling trip was wonderful. We collected nine samples from various borehole sites in the villages. Some of the villages we traveled to do not have electricity and many of the families live in mud huts with thatched roofs. Usually, there is one borehole well to serve the entire community, so people line up nearly all day to get their turn at the hand pump. Quite often, the people fetching the water are women or young girls and they may have to travel quite far to get to the well.

When we arrived at the villages, many people would gather to get a look at the Broni (white woman)! The kids were exceptionally curious gathering around and giggling when I smiled at them and said hello. Although it was a weekday, many of the kids were not in school, which I found interesting. Some were dressed in school uniforms, so maybe they were taking time out of their day to see some little white girl? In other instances, it was clear that the kids just didn’t go to school. Many of the town elders also came to ask me what I was doing and where I was from. Luckily, I had Patrick (Master’s student) with me to speak to them in the local language and assure them that we were only there to help. At a few of the sites, the elders would tell me of the water problems that they were having. Usually, the problems were either diarrhea or lack of water, since these can be detected immediately, unlike metal poisoning. Unfortunately, I didn’t have sterilized bottles for bacteria testing, but I assured them I would be back to test for other things at a later date.
The kids were totally adorable! They followed me around like little sheep and always wanted their picture taken. I would then show them the photo on my digital camera and they would scream with joy and run around waving their hands. I truly wanted to scoop them up to take them home with me! I hope to get the photos printed somewhere and take them back to the villages to show the kids. Maybe they can post them in the school or something. I have posted some of the pictures of the borehole wells and of the cute kids. In the one picture, you can’t even see the well because everyone wanted to be in the picture!
Lunch was interesting, as many meals here in Ghana. I opted for plain rice and tomato sauce since we were out on the road, but my traveling companions had traditional fufu with bushmeat. See last blog about fufu. Anyway, I was curious about bushmeat, but decided to try it before asking and Patrick gave me a couple pieces. It was really quite disgusting, in my opinion, but the Ghanaians seem to love it. It was very gamey and chewy and tasted like nothing I have ever tasted before. Anyway, after giving it a good try, I inquired about the origin of the meat. Here it is called grass cutter, but lots of things eat grass, like good old American cows, so I needed more information. Turns out, a grass cutter is a small four-legged animal similar to a porcupine. Well, at least, now I know!
We arrived back in Tarkwa around 7:30 pm (not 5) and unloaded our gear and headed to the local watering hole for a well deserved Star Beer.
We have been having strong storms here in the afternoons, which is typical of the beginning of the rainy season. Quite often the electricity and internet will go out around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. The rain will last about an hour and then stop. Post-rain time is really the best time of the day for me because the temperature drops to an acceptable number and the air is clear. On Thursday, February 28th, the storm was very strong so Victoria and I decided to call it an early workday and head to town for a late lunch. She really wanted to take me to one of her favorite restaurants for soup and rice. Everyday, she asks me what I’ve eaten and how much then tells me I am too skinny! I have to admit, the meal I had at this restaurant was the best food I have had since I arrived in Ghana. It was a light and very spicy soup with goat meat and a side of rice. Victoria was very pleased because I ate everything on my plate!

Her husband and his friend came by the restaurant to meet us. Victoria’s husband’s nickname is Don Juan and I have taken to calling him that. He is truly a charmer. We all left for the Clubhouse for drinks. Unfortunately, Victoria had a church meeting and left early, but would meet up with us later.
Don Juan wanted to take me to this place called Monica’s because it had an American atmosphere. It was a very nice taste of home in rural Ghana! I got a bit tipsy and had tons of fun. I have finally begun to feel at home and get a sense of how things work and where things are. I have to admit, Friday I was a bit tired for work and was not very productive. It didn’t help that there was no running water at my house when I returned home on Thursday. Lack of water is a problem, even in the rainy season. I would say I have no running water about 2 days a week, so the local kids come to my door not only for cookies, but to bring me a couple buckets of water. I now have a couple barrels to store water for times when there is none for showers or toilet flushes, but in this instance I didn’t have water for four days. It finally came on yesterday, Monday, and I enjoyed a very nice shower last night.
On Saturday, I further explored my town of Tarkwa. I needed some things, since I haven’t received any shipments from the US of personal goods. I found a maze of vendors behind some buildings downtown where you could honestly get lost for days. It is very cramped and crowded and dark, but you can buy lots of things there if you are willing to negotiate a fair price. Since I am an American, I will first be quoted a ridiculously high price, maybe four times higher than what I should pay. I am not a good negotiator, but I tried very hard to come to a fair price for a couple of towels and a steam iron. I suppose I still paid a high price, but it is a learning process and hopefully I will become better with time.
All my best to everyone in the US and abroad and know I miss you all greatly!

Tarkwa 18 Feb 08

This was my first real weekend in Tarkwa, last weekend I went to a funeral in Kumasi. Ashanti funerals are really quite interesting.
Anyway, I posted some pics from this weekend. Saturday is wash day here. Everyone does their laundry by hand with buckets. There are no washing machines anywhere in town! As you might guess, laundry is a hard and time consuming process. I went over to my friend Victoria’s house so she could teach me how to wash my clothes properly. In her mind, washing is an art form and not something to be done half-ass. The process takes a very long time. First you wash and rinse, then hang the clothes on the line to dry for several hours. After this, you have to iron everything.
My hands were red and sore after a few items and Victoria found my technique very hilarious.

After a couple hours of this, I needed a break. We had a typical meal of rice and a red sauce fish stew. She gives me very large portions because she doesn’t think I eat enough! Well, with the heat, I don’t have much of an appetite, but she is right to think I need to eat more.

Her husband came home with his friend Henry and asked if we would like to go out for a while. There was a football game (soccer) on at 5 pm (Ghana revolves around football). So we traveled by taxi to a local restaurant/bar. I ordered a Star Beer, which comes in 625 mL bottles. The electricity was out so it was desperately hot in the restaurant, but luckily the beer was cold. We sat and chatted for a while, then went off to The Club House to watch the game. It was Manchester United vs. Arsenal. I don’t really know anything about football so I just sort of watched and talked to folks who came by to introduce themselves to the Broni (White Woman) and find out my life story. Air conditioned places are hard to come by and I was hoping that this popular place would be cooled, but alas, not to be. So I just had another Star!
The Club House has a grill that cooks goat on skewers and Henry bought me a couple of these for dinner. They were very good. I don’t think I have ever had goat before, but it is really the only red meat around. They cook meat very well done to guard against parasites and other things I don’t really want to think about, so the meat was a little like jerky, but it was very good none the less.
Manchester won handily and then they switched the TV to another football match from the French league. By this time I was pretty tired of football, but please don’t share this with me Ghanaian friends…they would be very disappointed in me. I took a taxi home and slept well with my belly full of goat and beer!

Of course, Sunday is church day. My friend Joe and his family pick me up at some horribly early hour and we go to church.

Church starts at 7:30 am and continues until 10:30 am. This is a lot of church for anyone to handle. I go to a Baptist church which is similar to what you may see in the southern US. Lots of singing and dancing. It is at least entertaining!
After church, Joe invites me home and his wife cooks us lunch. She never eats with us, but spends about 1 hour cooking for us. Joe wanted to introduce me to fufu, a local meal with fish. Fufu is a doughy substance. This is placed into a fish soup and you eat it with your hands. I can’t say that I liked the fufu, but I ate as much as I could. They serve the fish with the head on it and this really grosses me out.

After the fufu, I went home to take a nap! So nice!
Around 5 pm Christiana, a little girl who lives down the hill, came to my door for her daily dose of cookies. She is very cute and very sweet. Her English is not very good, but we try to communicate as much as we can. I would say she is about 8 years old and she tells me that her father is sick and her mother takes care of him so they don’t have very much money. She usually waits outside my door for me to come home from work. I give her cookies and offer her whatever I can find in my fridge (which is not much).
Well, that was about it. Today is another hot day in Ghana and i am procrastinating at work by writing my blog!

Joanna in Tarkwa, Ghana 11 Feb 08

Greetings from Tarkwa, Ghana, West Africa!

I am having a great time and the people are wonderful. I live in a smalbrl room near the University of Mines and Technology campus. I arrived late on Tuesday, February 5th in Accra, Ghana (the capital of Ghana) and after a bit of struggle managed to find a hotel room for a reasonable rate of $60 US. Unfortunately, the water was not running, but was on by the next day (although no hot water). A big bonus was that the air conditioning actually worked! It is hot here. Most days are around 90 - 95 F and really humid. Accra was a typical large 3rd world city. It was noisy and there was a lot of trash around, but the people are wonderful and compassionate.

There was even more energy around the city because of the Africa Cup (soccer) was been held in Ghana and there was a game held that evening in Accra.

On Wednesday morning, after a cold shower and a breakfast of scrambled eggs and baked beans, I made my way to the bus station to figure out how to get myself to Tarkwa. Sammy, a very nice man on the hotel staff, drove me into the city and gave me a breif tour of the major sites. On the busy ring road, you can find vendors selling everything from oranges to hub caps to car floor mats. They stand in the middle of the road holding the items up and when you slow down for traffic they come by your window and quote you a price. Ghana has recently changed their monetary system to make transactions easier. It used to be about 9500 Cedis to one US dollar. Now it is about 0.97 Ghana Cedis to one US dollar. this makes things a lot easier for me to calculate and you don't have to carry dozens of Cedi notes around.

My hotel was also a jazz club and there was live music each night. I met some Nigerians who were in town for the soccer matches and they invited me to have a drink with them that evening at the hotel. They asked me if I have ever been to Nigeria and after I said "no" they said I should go sometime while I am visiting Africa. I told them I was concerned about the safety in Nigeria, but they assured me that the US press has blown everything out of proportion and if I would allow them to be my host, I would be more than safe.

Even with their assurances, I don't believe I will put Nigeria on my list of thing to see while in Ghana!

That evening I enjoyed a Star Beer and listened to songs like "You Are Wonderful Tonight", by Clapton in a sort of elevator music sound.

Well, the following day I traveled by bus to Tarkwa. The bus left at 2 in the afternoon, so I knew it would be dark by the time I arrived. Since we are so close to the equator, the sun rises about 6 and sets about 6. My host in Tarkwa, Dr. Richard Amankwah, said that he would be sending his student, Victoria, to collect me at the station.

The bus ride was long, about 6-7 hours, but fairly comfortable. I arrived in Tarkwa without incident and after a bit of a wait at the stop, Victoria found me and drove me to the University Guest House. I did, and continue, to get a lot of attention here. I am the only Broni (White) in the whole town..I think. I get a lot of looks and people want to ask where I am from, etc. I don't ususally mind, they all have good intentions. The kids, in particular, come up to me often saying "Broni, broni, what is your name?" They like to touch my skin and sometimes ask for money. I don't give them money just because then I would have dozens of children following me around town. So I tell them that I don't have any money today, but I will be in Tarkwa for 5 more months and that I will be sure to give them something before I leave.

English is the official language, but most people speek Twi (pronounced Chwee) or fanti. The accent they speak english in is very strong and it is often difficult to understand them. I am learning, but slowly.

My room is small but comfortable...and has hot water! I do have to get used to the bugs and other animals running around. I am trying to live in peace with the insects and geckos in my room. Here is a picture of Mr. Spidey, he lives on the wall by my door. We had a talk and I told him as long as he doesn't come into my bed, we won't have any trouble.

Outside my house/apartment there are also many goats and chickens. I took this picture from my front doorway:

The goats don't really bother people and will run if you try to get too close. There are also lots of chickens. The only problem is that the roosters crow all day, beginning at about 6 am. this is a problem!

Tarkwa is a heavily forested tropical rainforest. There are lots of palm trees, coconut trees and orange trees. The back of my place is all jungle, but it is being removed rapidly for building. Here is a photo from my back porch:

Since I have been in Tarkwa, I have been to a true Ashanti funeral in Kumasi and to church...Yes, church. Folks are really religious here! I went to a baptist church where there was a lot of singing and dancing.
I will write more of my experiences as time goes on, but for now I should try to do some work!