Yesterday work was very repetitive and pretty exhausting after a whole week of working on a farm. Its so cool to get a first hand look into the intricacies of the world here. I’m not just working for them, I am also spending time with them and learning about how they get through their day, observing the childrens behaviors, the interactions between people, the relationships. All of it is so cool. Yesterday we cooked cassava over a clay fire area. The heat and smoke were so strong that it was making me cry and my nose was running nonstop. It was painful and we kept doing it for hours.
I love seeing the women interact here. The men are not around often and there are just so many women laughing and spending time together. A lot of the fathers that become educated in the towns will leave the wife and children to go live and work somewhere else. Fathers are not a general part of the home life here.
Today we went to Kakum National Park. We walked through the jungle and had a guide telling us about trees and roots growing there. He showed us the tree used to make the sticks that pound cassava into fufu. Apparently it is a very strong tree because while pounding it will last for ten years, whereas other trees would crack in just a couple of days. There was a water from this tree he showed us that if you drink for 5 days you will never have the bad asthma you once had ever again. I wish we had trees and roots back home that healed us instantly. How cool is that? And there is a root that people chew that gets rid of mouth sores. These are all natural, automatic healers. It’s like we were meant to live in Africa….oh wait. We were.
At this park we got to walk the seven canopy bridges which was so incredible, and also scary. It was really thrilling and cool but really high up in the air, about 150 kilometers. On our way back down from the canopy walkway I bought a fresh coconut and drank coconut water straight out it. It was really cool! I’m so glad I did it. Usually I would just stay back and not do something like this. But afterward I felt really accomplished and happy about it.
After this we went to a really nice restaurant hotel on the water. There were lily pads covering the water and a small island in the middle with birds on it and crocodiles swimming around in the water.
Something interesting to know is that everything comes in bags here. Water is in bags. You break the corner with your teeth and then suck the water out. Ice cream also comes in bags. There is this kind called Fan-Ice and it’s the best ice cream ever. The vanilla flavor is so creamy and weirdly differently good.
Tonight back at home there is a funeral for a relative of the family. Funerals are always on weekends. Friday they have fun, dance, eat, but wear black. Saturday they wear black and go to see the body in the house and they cry and mourn the death and then in the afternoon they bury her and have a church service. On Sunday they wear white and celebrate her life. Although my family barely knew the family, they later found out that they were related so they are now in charge of hosting the funeral. The body is not here though, it is at the house of the woman that died. She was 38, I don’t know why she died. They advertise funerals as if it’s a big party on posters around the neighborhood. If you know someone who knew someone who knows someone, you are invited.
On the first day, if everyone wasnt wearing black you wouldnt know this was a funeral. Even their clothes are casual at this point. On the second day they all wear the same cloth. Someone buys cloth and gives it to them all, then they sew a new dress with this cloth for the sad day, which is the second day.
I sat downstairs and watched the women cook for a while. I watched them talk to each other and watched the little girls singing and playing clapping games with each other. Then I went and sat outside and watched the people for the funeral just hanging out and having fun and listening to music. I ate a really good meal that my sister Francesca makes and sells in front of their house every night, Tilapia. It is a whole fish, even the head is there. And there are onions tomatoes and green peppers next to it and a spicy tomato based sauce to dip in. I must be getting used to the food and the atmosphere because the smell of it has made me so grossed out for the past week but now I thought it was pretty good.
Last night and into today I felt really homesick. Sometimes it just hits me really hard and no matter what awesomeness is occurring, its so heavy on me to feel lonely and unhappy here. Its hard to adjust to being away from my home and world. I was feeling really stressed about it. But I called my mom and talked to her and she reminded me of why I was here and that I don’t get to do this every day. This is my time to learn everything from them possible because I came here to soak up their culture. Since I’m here I need to change my attitude and get as much out of being here as possible. And that got me excited all over again. I need to do that. I want to learn how to do laundry and help make meals but its not very easy because there are a lot of things that they wont let you do because they want to help you and wont let you do things yourself here.
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