THINGS I HAVE LEARNED

1. Ice Cream in Daboya is literally cream over ice – kind of like a snow cone.
It’s really pretty good….but Baskin and Robbins will still be one of my first
stops when I get home!
2. Closest thing to actual ice cream in Ghana is Fan Ice which is kind of a cross
between ice cream and cake frosting. Not too bad. Fan Choco is a chocolate
version. I like Fan Yogo best which is frozen strawberry yogurt. In the big
cities you can find “Abruni” stores (stores for westerners) that have real ice
cream.
3. Whether at Yankee Stadium or a dusty futbol field in Daboya, there are always
food vendors at athletic events….it’s just that the food is very different!
4. HUGE appreciation for water!! And it’s only 4 cents per barrel!
o You do NOT know how good cold water is until you live in a hot, dusty
country with no ice cubes and you haven’t had cold water for months.
o A cool bucket bath on a hot day
o A hot bucket bath on a cold morning during Harmattan
o A cool river to swim in
o Schisotomiosis is a good reason NOT to swim in that river
o Glorious rain to cool things off when you haven’t had any for 3 months
o Pure water to make ice (I LOVE my fridge!) so I can have iced tea
5. Rural villages cancel school for a whole week to have school track meets
o The students all run barefoot
o The “track” is not nicely groomed sand or cinders
o No matter where you live, people love a winner and forget who came in second
o There are some wonderfully naturally gifted young people in rural areas who
will never have the opportunity to develop their athletic skills
6. People get just as obsessed with their cell phones in Daboya as they do in Phoenix
7. If you live in a Muslim community, ALL meetings must be planned to start after
prayer times and end before the next prayer time. This gets tricky for afternoon
meetings since prayer times are at 1:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 7:30. It wouldn’t be
too bad except for “Ghana time”. I had my first Community Meeting on Friday.
Forty people were invited and it was scheduled for 3:30. Eleven came and they
showed up at 5:15. Sooooo…my 90 minute meeting became 45 minutes.
8. Goats cough ....and climb trees.
9. Arizona evaporative cooling techniques work in Daboya (thank God!). During the
hot season, it doesn’t get cool enough inside to sleep until about midnight or
later. However, using what I learned in Phoenix, I can drape myself with a cold,
wet sheet or towel and, since the ceiling fan is directly above my bed (by
design!), I can go to bed earlier and have nice evaporative cooling.
10. Playful flirting between men and women is easily identifiable even if you don’t
understand the language
11. Change your living context and what you thought of as deep rooted absolutes may
change. I’ve seen strict vegetarians eat meat daily here. I’ve seen pet lovers
eat cat and dog and love it (don’t worry Kara – your Uncle Larry hasn’t eaten
either!). I’ve seen people who have been warned since birth about bones eat
chicken bones, fish bones, and pretty much any bones that came with food they
eat. I have personally brushed an army of ants off of my bread, knowing that I
probably didn’t get them all, and then eat it. I’ve seen people who were very
clean and sanitary back home eat stew out of a communal bowl with several other
people with everyone eating with their fingers. And I don’t even want to talk
about the toilets…..
12. Cashew nuts grow out of a fruit on trees. The people in Daboya eat the fruit
but not the nuts. Those they sell to processors – mostly for export.
13. No matter where you are, most people are nice, some people are jerks, and some
people are just plain bad. Though you have to be cautious, you can’t live your
life watching out for the bad ones.
14. When you accept early on that you will probably lose everything you brought (a
lesson I got from a Peace Corps Volunteer who has been here a year), it makes it
much easier when things are lost, stolen, broken, water damaged, or just plain
used up. Not a bad lesson to take back to the States. Your possessions aren’t
that important ….REALLY!
15. Bright white smiles in beautiful black faces will ALWAYS make you smile!
16. Everybody loves Independence Day – whether it happens to be 7/4 or 3/6 – and 3/6
is just as hot in Daboya as 7/4 is in Arizona! I couldn’t believe that those
kids stood and then marched in a parade for hours in that heat!
17. There are no nubile, topless women dancers during dance festivals – at least not
in Daboya. Those old movies LIED!!

OK – I think that’s enough for now. I’m enjoying communicating with you and reading your responses. I hope it’s fun for you too!