February 8, 2010
I set my alarm clock for 4 o’clock this morning to wake up Bertha so she could wake up and get her chores done early enough to go to school, but I slept through the alarm and only woke up at 5:30. I felt so bad. Because now she wasn’t able to go to school today. So I talked with her and told that I keep sleeping through my alarm so I am going to let her have my phone on school night when I go to bed, and then she can wake up and then give me the phone in the morning. Her going to school is just so important. I then went over to get the girls at 5:50 but they were thinking of having me come over at 6:00 when I thought they meant they wanted to be at the House by 6, so we chilled like for another 20 or so minutes. It was very early since I stayed up talking for a little bit and then pastor wanted to talk to me about something I can’t remember at this moment.
After that, I came home and Mrs. Incoom told me that Mom had written her back on Facebook and that she wanted to teach me to cook more. So she took me to the kitchen and made me do everything. If was so awesome!!! Thanks mom!! I told her that I would love to cook for myself most of the time and learn, but it just hadn’t happened yet. So thanks for giving that boost. I lit their propane or whatever stove it is by match, put the palm oil in the pan, heated up the pain. Before that, I cut up two plantains and put them in water with a little salt. You add the plantain once the oil is hot so that the plantain doesn’t soak it up. You wait until one side is brown and then once it looks good you take it out. And then wait for the oil to cool and reuse it. I did a good job cooking, and Mrs. Incoom is such a good teacher and good person. I got so lucky with my host family. Pastor is wonderful, and Bertha is such a sweetheart. I now have two moms away from home-- Sister Saunders and Mrs. Incoom.
After that, I washed my clothes after washing the kids’ clothes that morning from 7-9. My hands are better because the House runs out of the washing powder called omo and that is what beats up my hands. They just wash with soap called KEY SOAP.
After that, I took a tro-tro to Cape. I was on a mission to get American food. So I met my friend, Paul, who helped me before find things around town. I told him I wanted peanut butter. There he took me to a side store. I bought orange juice, ketchup for fries later, peanut butter, raspberry jam, corn flakes, and spread cheese. I was so happy. It turned to cost 23 cedi and 30 pesewas. So it was kind of expensive, but for a one time thing it is worth it. I will probably only get the cheese and peanut butter and jelly again. The corn flakes are way too expensive-- 6 cedi for one bigger bag. But I also went to the Cape Coast Post Office. There, the two men, who were really funny and informative, asked if they could be my Ghana boyfriend. Your package wasn’t here yet but I sent out a few letters. So they will call when it gets here, if it ever does that is!!! Haha…. Oh Ghana.
Also, on the tro-tro to ape Coast a dumby was giving me a hard time. He did the whole “hello” and wave and then pinched his lips making the kissing noise. This noise is meant like hissing to come or pay attention to me. He then signaled with his hands that I should come back to him after I go to town so that we could… um… party. I guess that is how I could say his suggestive gestures. I gave him a really dirty look and looked away, waiting for the tro-tro to leave. He then continued to joke with one of the passengers about the Obroni and how he was playing with me. Then when I got in the tro-tro to head home, there were two men selling FanMilk. I said “No, I’m fine” and ignored them as you do when you don’t want to buy. Well he insisted and I said “no thanks,” and then he was still there so I looked at him and then he brushed his finger under my chin and said something in fante. I slapped as much hand as I could get and said “no” and gave him a dirty look again and gave one to the other boy that was selling, trying to tell him that you don’t allow this to happen again! So that was a load of crap, but those are the few bad nuts. Most people are so helpful. Like Paul, who will just walk around town trying to find what I am shopping for and then walk me to the tro-tro and make sure the driver knows to take care of me and makes sure I get to the right place.
Once at home, at the Asebu Station, there is an old man that works there and collects the fair from the taxis and tro-tros when they use the station. He has helped me a lot by finding the right ride. So this time he said “Welcome back, wife. You are my wife now.” Of course he is just really sweet and knows he is joking. But it just makes me laugh. I think people use wife to me, this person is special to me in someway. Like at church, one of the guys around 23 introduced me to a young woman about age 10 and said “This is my wife. Isn’t she beautiful?” Then he hugged her as an older brother would. So it means different things to different people. But every knows it is joking.
So then I got home and made Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches. Mrs. Incoom tried a half sandwich, and Bertha tried a whole they liked it enough. I had two and a half with banana on it. OH!!! It was so good!! Since the bread is amazing here, it tastes better. They have sugar bread and tea bread. Tea is cheaper, so that is what they bought this time. And just then when I was writing Bertha knocked on the door, around 2 pm, and said the rain is coming and that I should grab my clothes. Not a second after I had grabbed them and ran inside, it just poured so few seconds and then stopped and now it drizzles randomly. Oh Ghana!!! And then the winds came. The wind blusters like a hurricane for a moment and then stops and starts again. It is so strong that all of the doors in the house swing open from the wind blowing through the window. IT IS SO COOL!!! I got a quick video of it. You can even hear the rain and hear the wind a little little. But it is still going!!! WOW!!!!!
For the rest of the day, I took a quick nap and woke up around 3:30 and walked up to the house. There, I helped wash more clothes and helped with homework and played with the kids. I left about 15 minutes early because I had a slight headache but I was just so tired also. And since I am sleeping there tonight with Theresea, I wanted some extra sleep. I bought a Fanta to give me some extra energy and drank water when I got back home. I then took a shower, and I am waiting to eat dinner. I will then head up to the house. Hopefully it will be a restful night for everyone and not like last time. Although this time, if I ever see a beating I think I know how to handle it, and I will handle it much different from last time. I won’t just sit there like a previous suggestion was. Even though it is cultural and I will try and respect the culture, I agree that I just can’t respect beating a child, especially at home.
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