I know where I am staying! I am going to be living in Accra with my homestay family which is great. Others have gotten apartments but I really really love the family dynamic. This morning I met my homestay mom's sister. She has this strong british accent and is so forward thinking. She does batiks and is pretty much awesome. And so is my homestay brother. Today we're all going to a play. Which is the greatest part because I am studying theatre and storytelling AND batik on the side. So it's the most fabulous situation. I'm probably going to be very obnoxious and glowy from here on out.
So I'm not doing Tamale which is a shame because the most gorgeous belgium was there and he didn't have the greatest accent or the greatest English but he was really nice to look at. People don't age here. A 40 year old looks like they're twenty. It's insane!
I made beads and pottery using natural materials. I even went to the bush to get them. I've also... what else did I do...?
I've learned the abojah and the abogo and adua. Forgive the spelling.
I went to Mole. I got charged by an elephant which was sweet. I got to see an elephant in a natural habit and it was beautiful. And I saw some woman get taunted by a baboon. When me and Jessica were walking back to our rooms we saw two antelopes eating under a tree in the rain.
In the village I studied with a great traditional priest. I sat under sacrified sheep jaws for my interviews which was interesting. I am NEVER eating pork again. People slaughter their meat here and some of the people in our village group wanted to buy a goat but you have to kill it yourself and I didn't want to be responsible for that. And at the shrine one day I saw a pig get taken and I didn't know what was worse. It squealing or hearing it stop. I refer to it as the silence of the pigs. Clarice, I know what you were talking about. There was another situation where one of the men in the chief's house brought a sheep into the compound. Jessica and I just looked at each other in horror but it was raining really really hard so he just tied it next to the bathroom. The only problem with that is in that time it sat next to the bathroom I feel I got close to it. And talking about bathrooms it was just a hole 30 feet down with little places to put your feet. It was worst when I had to pee at night. I just sat there praying that I could last til the morning. I also prayed not to get malaria because if you can imagine to get to the clinic you had to walk 40 minutes to the next village and then an hour tro tro to Kumasi. I really did like the village. It was relaxing but really... eye opening? Most parents don't care to put their kids through education and only two people go on to high school because the high schools are in Kumasi. Some students made Kente and others made baskets and apateshee. Apateshee is distilled palm wine and they distill it because its stronger distilled. You can drunk off of 2 shots. It's the nastiest stuff ever.
I thought about bringing some home because it's so cheap and interesting but I don't know.
I'm celebrating Easter with my family.
The past two weeks we were on our educational excursions. We went to Cape Coast and Krobo and the Volta region. I met the queen mothers.
I'm a little worried about the weight gain because I forgot how well my host mom fed me. She gave me a bowl of rice that could feed four last night and they told me to finish and I was just like uhhh.... yeah... about that...
Oh. And I am completely single now. No Greg. Which is really sad because you get close to people but he completely cut out and right now I have people that honestly care about me so why should I waste my time. I'm pretty, intelligent and I have amazing people around me so I'm not too concerned. And so much of that time I was so unhappy because I had to deal with all his issues and now I'm free. I want to enjoy being single. I'm not too worried. I hear he's looking to date which is great. Good for him. I'm a little sad because I thought I was that kind of girl that was worth it but I can do better than a fat kid who has no calves and can barely survive college. Sorry, those were the claws.
I am really content though and really excited about everything to come. I'm sorry he couldn't be a better person to at least be honest but you know, I'm done. Completely done with that. I don't even want to be friends. He's not worth it.
I miss you all. Tell me something American!
Until next time,
Marissa.
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Hi Marissa,
ReplyDeleteWe just got back from vacation. It is spring break this week. We stayed with Grandma Andrea and got to see Chad and Aunt Toni. Your dad and Brit cleaned out the barn and are both suffering from using muscles that they don't normally use :)
We also got to see Uncle Tony, my Uncle who is a Brother, who I hardly ever get to see. I am not even sure if you even remember him.
We finally did some PA touristy stuff. We went to Falling Water, the Johnstown Flood, and to the Flight 93 Memorial. The Flight 93 Memorial is just a collection of stone memorials that people had made, which are really nice. The Department of the Interior has not yet built the memorial due to financial funding, but the inspirational messages and memorials left are very nice. We could see the indentation in the field where the plane hit. If you don't remember, this is the plane that hit in Shanksville, PA which was destined for The White House or The Capitol.
Of course it snowed several days that we were there but it was all good.
Brit has accepted Marshall University (movie, "W are Marshall") so we are excited for her and hopefully the final transcript and the FAFSA will work out.
Please send me an email where you are staying -- Agnes' family still wants to meet you.
Love and Miss you! Mom