An experiment

I have arrived at site and am experimenting with being able to post from here. I barely have a signal, it's on 'E' which means didly squat to me, but i know it's not 3G. And this is not my iPhone, so sorry, no photos or videos, but this just might work as a post-ability. Let's give it a try.

An Ewe Story: Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi

From Gerard Astute: an Ewe story about Spider, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi

Spider, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi, is clever but only offers help when motivated by a reward, so one has to draw him out with a bribe. In Ewe, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi is primarily a comic hero who incidentally benefits humanity, usually when it suits him, as in the following in tale.

There was this giant bird terrorizing the walled city of the King. The bird was so big, taller than a house and nearly as wide. He would threaten every one in the city and all the surrounding area, crying out,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare to challenge me, come out of your house and I will show you how fierce I am.

No one dared to come out. Everyone was afraid that the Great Bird would kill them. Not even the King would venture out, though he tried to encourage his bravest warriors, but the bravest among them had already been killed in challenges with the Great Bird. When this had gone on for a long time, the King finally announced,

I offer my daughter in marriage as a reward to the one who kills the Great Bird.

Spider, hearing this news began to plan. The king’s daughter was very beautiful. He opened a crack in the wall of his house as wide as the bird’s neck and as tall as the bird’s head. Remember, this is a time when houses were built of mud and always had cracks in them. When he was done making this hole in the wall, he began to sharpen his cutlass. He sharpened his cutlass until the edge flashed in the sunlight. He sharpened the edge until a house fly, daring to land on its edge, was cut in two. And then Spider waited.

Finally, the Great Bird flew over the town once more and cried,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare to challenge me, come out of your house and I will show you how fierce I am.

Spider, hanging out in his mud hut, called out in reply,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare challenge me, come into my house and I will show you how powerful I am.

Great Bird screamed, making all the huts shake, then lowered his beak rolling his eyes around to find the hut from which the voice came. He spied the hole in Spider’s hut with its large hole in the wall. He lowered his head through it. Spider, waiting inside, in one swift move, cut off the bird’s head.

The final week of training

We're starting the final week of training. Practicing our dances at the training center. In a week, I will be on my own in the Volta Region of Ghana. I hope that I can go to the market town and write to you all more often. And maybe pick up and send some emails. It may be that I will be writing to you, from site, the old fashioned way, but I would really like to be posting pictures like I can on Facebook.

I'd like to share a couple of map murals with you from the training center in the Easter Region. Here is a map of Ghana by the languages the Peace Corps volunteers learn.

Add caption

And me pointing to Ghana on the map of the world

Intro to Ghana

I know many of you have wondered why you haven't heard from me. I did say I did not know what email communication would be like. I really did. No sooner than getting the unlocked iPhone I had been gifted by my friend Aram up and running, Peace Corps moved us to a town with so weak a signal that it could be called no signal. Little brick phones some of bought work okay there and I can call people in the states for dirt cheap. I think Peace Corps may have done this on purpose, ween everyone from home. 

We arrived in Kumasi, the seat of the old kingdom called Ashanti, on the Peace Corps bus from our training site in the Eastern Region. Kumasi is a big noisy city, so we are staying in a suburb at a Catholic run guest compound, more suited to our purpose. We meet our 'contact person" tomorrow and find out where the Peace Corps has placed us. Up until now we have only known the region we are headed for - mine is the Volta Region for which I am learning the Ewe language. 

We have just finished two weeks of teaching practicum

and soon to go on a visit to my future site and a shadow visit to full-fledged volunteer to see what it's like. Then we return to training and concentrate on language. English may be the official language, but Ghanaian English is, well, different. And we really do need to learn the native tongue. We'll be using it. I'm so slow compared to the young whippersnappers with me...

Sunday worship is amazing to hear. Most churches have drumming and dancing, even the Presbyterians and Pentacostal, which they call Presby and Penrtacost respectively.

It's pretty amazing all around. Animals everywhere, free ranging chickens, goats, sheep, and they all know where they live! When the rain starts to fall, before bursting from the sky in a tropical torrent, you see them running to their respective compounds. They sleep on ledges during the day.

The noise level in the training village is unbelievable. There is the town medicine "barker" who starts shouting over a loud speaker every morning at 5am. He can go on for two whole hours. There was a ban on all noise for two weeks when we arrived for a festival, but it was lifted last Wednesday and it was right back to the usual. The local spots play music until 10am. When is a soul to get a descent nights sleep around here? Most people get up early and nap in the afternoon, but Peace Corps has other ideas: tell them to integrate but keep them on an American training schedule!

And yes, it is hot and humid here!