The adventures of Afia Dola in Techiman...

Before anyone asks, "Afia Dola" is what i am most commonly called in my homestay community... So it works like this: I found out from my mom before I left America that I was born on a Friday. This is very useful info in Ghana, because everyone at birth is given their "Christian name" (mine being "Dara") and each person in Ghana automatically gets a "Day Name" based on the day they were born. There are different names for each day and different names for males and females. Since I am a female born on Friday, I am "Afia" (pronounced "Ah-FEE-yah".)
Ghanaians get really excited when an Obruni (translation: white person, or foreigner) introduces himself or herself with the day name. But since approximately one out of fourteen people in Ghana have the name "Afia", I try to cut down on confusion by introducing myself as "Afia Dara".
Greeting in Ghana is of extreme importance. If you do not greet everyone you come into contact with, you are considered very rude. And there are specific rules in Ghana concerning greetings and how and when they should be done.
So, as I pass someone, the exchange goes something like this (keep in mind, I do it in Twi, so it is not always as simple as it looks in English - there are extra things you have to say in Twi that do not translate into English):

Me: "Good Morning"
Ghanaian: "Same to you"
Me: "How are you today?"
Ghanaian: "I am fine, and you?"
Me: "I am also fine"
Ghanaian: "What is your name?"
Me: "My name is Afia Dara."
Ghanaian: "Afia what?"
Me: "Afia Dara"
Ghanaian: "Afia Dola?"
Me: "Afia Dara"
Ghanaian: "Afia Dayla?"
Me: .........sure...

After a while I just figured it was easier to agree to the first attempt of "Afia Dola" to cut down on confusion, especially since this is the third person I have greeted since I left my house, and I am only three houses down on my way to hail a taxi. Add to that the fact that the interaction doesn't end there, but goes on to include me telling them where I am going, what I will do there, where I am from, and how long I will be in Ghana.
Luckily if my Ghanaian sister is with me, she can step in and cut down on a lot of the confusion that often happens.
I really like the family I am staying with. My sister, Constance, is the primary person in charge of taking care of me. She cooks all of my meals for me, and pretty much does everything else that I prove I do not yet know how to do the correct way. She and my brother, Amponsa are the only two who speak English... except for my father whom I rarely see, because he lives elsewhere.
Meals are always an interesting negotiation. I was highly relieved to discover that I rather enjoy most Ghanaian meals, and that there are very few that I just can not stomach. And my sister is always sure to ask whether I like the meal or not, and I am allowed to be honest. This helps a lot, because the meals that I am fed are easily large enough for a whole American family. The other day, my sister told me she made my breakfast "small small". It consisted of two eggs, three peanut butter sandwitches, two oranges, and a thermos of milo (sort of like hot chocolate).
I can't eat that much, especially all in one sitting. Luckily, there is a little puppy that is happy to take the occasional scrap that I throw to him. This helps me look like I have eaten more than I have. The tricky negotiations come in with deciding how much to leave on my plate before I can get up and declare myself done. If I eat too little, my sister asks "Why did you not eat all?" and I have to come up with a really good answer to convince her that it wasn't because I didn't like the food. If I make a habbit of not eating enough food, word gets to my Peace Corps trainers, and an impromptu meeting comes up to decide whether my sister is taking care of me as she should, or if I am being honest when I say that I like the food. This has often made me feel that I should eat beyond the point of being full, but then I have found that what I don't eat is given to the children... and I am very interested in leaving as much as possible for them to eat what is leftover. It is not like they would not eat without it, but the food I get is special food that I don't think they would normally have access to. So I am always trying to evaluate during each meal whether I have eaten the prescribed "ok" amount before getting up and declaring myself "satisfied".
My mom will be astounded to find out that my Ghanaian sister has found the key to making me WANT to do the laundry and the dishes. Yep. Reverse psychology still works on Dara. The key is to act like I am too much like an ignorant child to know the correct way to do it. Don't allow me to do it for two weeks, and then allow me to take on the least complicated parts of the task, such as rinsing... after seeing that I can handle that ok, let me graduate to the actual washing of the dishes or the laundry, but be sure to ask me every so often whether I need help or can I do it by myself. You can be sure that I will pipe up with "I can do it! I don't need help, REALLY!!"
I am hoping that by the end of my homestay, I can graduate to cooking a meal by myself. Today, my sister let me peel an orange, so I am pretty happy today.

I hope to update more later! Keep praying for me!