Hot Season!
I’ve complained that it’s hot here before, but now I am experiencing hot season for the first time. I feel like I’m melting. Everything tastes like salt because sweat is constantly running into my mouth. I look like I have pimples across my torso because I have heat rash. If I sit down, even for a minute, it looks like I wet my pants because of the collected sweat. I know that I haven’t because I have a hard time drinking enough water to pee more than a few times a day- even if I drink more than a gallon. I’ve taken my temperature a few times thinking I had a fever only to discover I’m perfectly healthy- it’s just that freakin’ hot. Every night I dip a cloth in my water barrel and sleep under the wet cloth to stay cool. It doesn’t work, but it’s better than nothing. I have seriously contemplated trying to sleep inside my water barrel more than once, but I can’t quite figure out the logistics to make that work. It’s not this bad every day though. Even when it is, there are some upsides. I am sleeping outside every night because it’s a little cooler, and it’s beautiful. I really like sleeping outside. From about 4 in the morning until about 8 in the morning it is gorgeous outside. For the rest of the day, if there is even a tiny breeze it feels amazing. It wouldn’t have as much impact if it wasn’t so hot. There are more ants and termites, which sounds bad but it’s actually nice because they come and carry away other insects and make it so I don’t have to clean my house as often. Because Dagomba people love greetings, there are some special hot season greetings that make me laugh- “How is your heat? How is your sun? How is your sweating?” Even with the good parts of hot season, I catch myself fantasizing about living in Siberia or Antarctica every now and then.
Excellent Question
I was getting dressed the other morning when I heard my door opening. It was about 6 a.m. It’s not unusual to get company that early in the morning, but typically people announce themselves and then wait for me to come out, so I was a little concerned. I finished dressing and went into my entrance. A four year old kid I had never seen before was standing in my screen door (he had opened it but not entered). When he saw me he asked “Why?” I had to laugh, because I wanted to ask him the same thing. I told him to go home and he left.
Chief’s Funeral
My village recently held two funerals for the chief. The first one was at the chief’s house. It involved lots of drumming and dancing and shooting of guns- it was basically a lot like the burials, except the body is already buried. The second funeral had some variations because it was a chief’s funeral. The second funeral took place at two houses- the house of the messenger sub chief and the house of the warrior sub chief. At the warrior sub chief’s house they had a special type of drum that sat on the ground instead of being carried. There were also a lot of flute-like instruments. The eldest male and eldest female child of this chief wore a special hat made out of animal skins. A male and female grandchild were also selected to wear a special hat made out of paper. The paper hats had some cigarette packages attached to them, which held some charms to protect the grandchildren who were wearing them. The other house was the house of the messenger sub-chief. The children and grandchildren wore the same skin and paper head gear. The main difference was that this house had the traditional gong gong beaters.
Naming Ceremony
Children are named one week after they are born. The family prepares food and friends come to celebrate the occasion. The day of the naming ceremony, the baby is circumcised if it is a boy. The head is also shaved, regardless of gender. People believe that if the hair is not shaved, dogs will always try to attack the child and the child won’t grow. Friends usually give money to the new parents at the naming ceremony. The mother and child go to live with the woman’s family for some time before the woman moves back in with the husband.
American Ideas that Don’t Make Sense Here.
• Buying houses. In my village, when somebody wants a new house, they build it. First they get permission from the landowner, and then the people gather and make the house out of mud. There is no real cost for building.
• Renting houses. If you move to the village, someone will have a place to stay and they will feed you too. Hospitality is valued here.
• Helmets. Helmets are largely unavailable here. By largely unavailable, I mean that the only ones I see here belong to Peace Corps volunteers who brought them from America. Once when I was riding my bike, an older woman asked me about the helmet. I explained that you wear it in case you fall, and she looked at me like I was crazy. “Who told you you would fall?” she asked. I have to say that she was wrong on this point. Most bicycles here are old and not well maintained, so many don’t have working brakes. Combined with all the animals everywhere and horrible roads, bicycle wrecks are pretty common.
• Sandwiches. Some friends sent me an amazing care package which included a copy of Salt Lake magazine. I was excited because it had pictures of things that are hard to explain (like snow). It also had pictures of sandwiches. I showed a group of men in my village, and they looked at me and asked if I was really sure that the picture was of something that you eat.
• Toilet paper. What a waste of money when there are so many other materials you can use!
• Moving away from home. You are not allowed to move until your parents tell you to. You are not even allowed to ask about moving- your father has to bring it up. Most people don’t get their own compound until they are about 40.
• Being my age and not being married with children- I know my friends always complained about Utah being bad about this, but Utah’s got nothing on Ghana. Here it is absolutely unacceptable not to have a spouse. And the idea that not everyone wants children is inconceivable.
• Alone time. Most people here spend almost every minute of every day with other people. Women share their rooms with their children, so they don’t even sleep alone. People were very worried about me being in an apartment by myself when I first got here for this reason, and were not OK with it until the teachers in the apartments next to mine were back.
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