I'm Ghana Love It

Dear Virtual Friends,

I made it! I am sitting in an internet cafe listening to Mariah Carey and trying to type as fast as possible. I only have a couple minutes so this won't be witty or silly or clever, but it will be informative, grammatically incorrect and fast.

Ghana is wonderful. I have forgotten much but I am quickly being reintroduced to the culture. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I could smell Ghana. I forgot how completely devoid of smells America is, until I came back. Ghana is a vibrant country will rich colors, strong scents and beautiful people.

One of the most shocking pieces of news that I have heard from my family here is in regard to food prices. Commodities have been raised exponentially. I am sure you have all heard on the news or from Oxfam about the price of rice and others staple foods, but let me tell you, it is crazy. I went to the market yesterday and was absolutely stunned. I could barely afford to buy food. And then I spoke with my Uncle Yawo who told me that it is bad. The Government has not raised the income and people simply cannot afford to eat. Unless something changes soon, there will be major problems in Ghana and most of sub-Saharan Africa.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer. Here's some great news: I am going to my village, Amedzofe, today! I am thrilled. I seriously cannot wait. That is why I am typing so fast. The sooner I leave this internet cafe, the sooner I will be in the village. Last I heard there was no electricity and hasn't been any for 3 weeks. Hopefully it will be back on or this will put a damper on all nighttime activities, music and movies from my laptop. But all is well, it will be interesting nonetheless.

The computer is beeping extremely loud at me. I think this means my time has come. I will try to write again soon but it may be a couple weeks. But please, do not hesitate to email me or mail me: Molly Bryant, Box 2632, Accra, Ghana. I LOVE mail. Seriously.

Talk to you in two weeks or so!

Love.

Ghana 101

Dear Bloggers,

Sound the trumpets, release the doves, I am now one of you. Although I have long considered blogging a form of vanity, I accept that I too am vain and enjoy telling stories about myself. Screw humility, I am interesting. And I’m going to spend the summer in Ghana playing with children, eating spicy food, wearing high wasted skirts, dancing at church and possibly even catching malaria again. What more could one girl want?

In six days I embark on this next adventure. For those who did not know me two years ago when I lived in this beautiful country, here are few tidbits from my journal to get you started on what life is like in this crazy country:

On my day at the market in Accra: “I hate it. Men like to tell you that they love you and want to marry you. Vendors try to sell you children’s shoes and fat men’s pants. It’s okay for a little while, but it gets old pretty quick”

“Tonight we have a Togolese man staying with us. He is told us he was here to study butterflies. I asked him if he took pictures of the butterflies and his response was ‘No, I kill them and package them.’”

“A rooster ran into the school today while the children were taking a nap. He flipped out when he realized where he was and tried to escape as fast as he could.”

“On our way out of town, we decided to visit Mama Patience but we did not know where her house was. We asked Mr. Otsina and these were his directions: On the first road in Vane there is a big tree on the right and a small tree on the left and a big house that’s not finished next to the big tree. We should go into the unfinished house and ask where Patience Ebedi lives.”

“The sheep were a big hit and the children thought they were fascinating. Unfortunately, ‘sheepy play time’ had to be cut short because the children started throwing rocks at them.”

“We watched and laughed as they ran home, because running kids are funny enough- but with the wind factor it was bordering on hysterical.”

“I have malaria along with my two white companions, Lauren and Lesley.”

“There I was in the field with a baby on my back and an inside-out umbrella trying to make it back home before the wind carried us to Togo.”

Also, the pictures are from my village Amedzofe (sort of pronounced: Aw-meh-joe-pay) and some of the beautiful children mentioned in the above quotes.

Peace and Chow.

Your Unsure Blogger,
Molly

Addendum to my friends:

Yesterday as I was driving home from an atypical post office visit, I suddenly became aware that my friends are pretty spectacular. What caused this realization? Why haven’t I noticed before? I definitely knew I was surrounding myself with intelligent, witty and kind people… but I did not know how much they really cared about me. After a long chain of events within 24 hours that consisted of several phone calls (Tangent: Phone calls are uncharacteristically significant to me considering I am awful at calling people back or taking the initiative to start the dreaded but necessary phone conversation between friends who do not live in close proximity, so I more than appreciate the effort that it takes- maybe I have phone phobia “telephobia”). I also received a long letter and package that consisted of hours of indie music and a card about lunch meat, a combination that is rarely trumped. As my fellow Okies would say, “I sure know how to pick’em.”
My friends, you have been extremely supportive, and more importantly, enthusiastic about my return to Africa. It is one thing to have someone tell me that they think it’s cool or whatever that I am going, but it is a completely separate emotion when my friends are genuinely interested and eager to be a part of my adventure. Your words are followed by actions. For that, I will never be able to thank you enough. This is so super cheese louise, but I felt it needed to be said.

I apologize for the extra long blog. I will work on being more efficient with my virtual dear kitty.

really clever posts and super awesome photos coming soon...