Wayward Travels: Nesting, Cuddling, and New Words

Upon my arrival, I have discovered that I am one of 7 “newbies” who arrived around the New Year. I will be entering the role of Program Assistant and could not be more excited to learn my assignment and begin my tasks within the school. As we have successfully concluded our groups’ orientation, I feel ready to dive straight into my responsibilities with Exponential Education.

In comparison to Senegal, Ghana is very similar on the surface. Similar architecture of concrete, metal and brick is everywhere. As Ghana is located closer to the equator, there are banana and palm trees thickly covering rolling hills. Presently, a strong wind constantly blows, kicking dust and pollution into the air. I’m told that in a month or so this wind will die, the dust will settle, and the sun will be punishing. To be honest, I’m looking forward to that as the dust gets into everything, eating its way into any crack it can find.

Neighborhood view

My street!

My first week was entirely devoted to Orientation activities. After leaving Accra, we bused to Kumasi and stayed for a couple days at the staff house in Oduom. We had giant communal dinners and breakfasts as most of the staff converged to welcome us. Our days were spent learning the basics of Ashanti Twi, the local language spoken by a good portion of people in our region, as well as hearing overviews of our programs from the current staff members.

Photo Cred: http://mci.ei.columbia.edu/millennium-cities/kumasi-ghana/kumasi-maps-and-population-data/

Photo Cred: http://www.ghanabooksjwp.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=113429022

It was a lot of information, and it’s all starting to sink in a bit. The names of places are becoming more familiar - from how to get into town to which lady to go to for the best fried rice and plantains. Our neighborhood is a little bemused by the arrival of so many unfamiliar obronis and everything we do is funny to them. The biggest challenge so far is to master the language. Ghanaians learn English in school, and many people can speak it well. However, like when one is visiting the UK, Australia, US etc, one uses different words for different things. Please see several examples below:

Ghanaian English	American English	Used in a sentence
Somehow	Possibly, maybe, a little bit	“Do you like this café?” “Somehow..”
Alight	Get out (of a taxi, tro tro)	“Mate, we will alight at this next stop.”
Small small	A little bit, any small quantity	“I understand small small Twi.”
Knock-ups	Fire-crackers	“Look out for all those knock-ups on New Years.”

For now, this is my focus as I wait to reach out to the schools I’m going to be working in. Language language language. I have flashcards with three different translations on them and I go through them every night. The faster it sticks the easier my work and life will be here.

My fellow staff members are absolutely wonderful. The previous generation of Expo staff are incredibly helpful with any questions we might have. The new arrivals, including myself, have a bit of a fire in us to learn everything as quickly as possible. We’re all eager to get our programs started and put our knowledge to the test. Not only in our work, but in our daily lives. We’re bent on pooling our money to improve our living space, make new friends in every Ghanaian we meet, and seek out new places in town to explore. We all seem to have a contagious case of "nesting" as we order beds made, tables built, and trying to make this space "ours."

More news to follow on house and work progress… but in the meantime, please enjoy these initial snapshots of daily life!