Nothing is new under the sun... well, maybe not for you.

I have been wracking my brain trying to think up something interesting to say on my blog, because I knew I was overdue for an update. The problem is that nothing much has been happening lately, and so it is hard for me to feel inspired to write about my most recent activities... which mostly include sitting around and not doing anything. Harmattan is still holding onto the Volta Region with dry and dusty fingers, and so I can't really start any of my work until the rains begin. And let me tell you, I am MORE than ready for the rains, as well as for some sort of purpose.
So, I have been agonizing over what to write in this blog, because I have been thinking "there is nothing new to report..." But then it occured to me that after six months in Ghana, things may not be new to me, but EVERYTHING is new to those of you who have never been here.
So, here is a list of things that I hardly even notice any longer, but that were new, different, and very surprising to me when I first came to Ghana. And for any of you who may end up visiting me here in Ghana, maybe it will act as a list of things to prepare yourself to experience.

- Goats tied to the top of a small bus (or trotro) - this is probably first on my list, because on my way to Ho this morning I in fact sat roughly underneath a small brown goat who bleated in confusion and fright any time the trotro stopped to cram more passengers into the seats. Good thing goats are sturdy, or there would be a lot of drivers who would have to pay the goat owners for their roadkill.

-Creative store names. Especially the very religious names. Examples: "Jesus Saves Haircuts", "God's Way Electronics", or "Saved by Grace Chop Bar". The three main religions in Ghana are Christianity, Islam, and the traditional belief system. It is extremely rare to find anyone who does not practice at least one of these. Therefore, it is generally profitable for store owners to name their shops with something that references their faith.

-The "handshake snap". This is not something you see, but rather something you do. Whenever you greet someone and shake his or her hand, as you pull your hands away, you snap each other's fingers. Took a while to get it down, but now whenever I shake the hand of a "Yevu" (white person), I probably leave him wondering why I tugged at his finger as he pulled his hand away. A handshake just doesn't feel complete anymore without it.

-The sounds of sweeping in the morning, and fufu pounding at night. Around 6 a.m. you will always here people outside their homes sweeping the dirt in their courtyards. Everyone has very clean dirt around their houses. And around 6 p.m. you will hear a chorus of fufu pounders making dinner. I may have mentioned before how fufu is the favorite meal here, so it is not surprising that it is the most commonly made dinner. To make it, you boil cassava and plantains, put it in a big wooden mortar, and with incredibly precise timing (that I have been too chicken to attempt on either end), you reach your hand in to turn the mixture of cassava and plantains, while someone stands over you with a large heavy stick (the size of a heafty tree branch) and with quite a lot of bodily force, pounds the fufu. It is definitely enough to break the fingers of the uninitiated. The sound it makes is like a muffled axe chopping wood.

-Traditional house made of mud walls, a thatch roof, and a dirt floor. When I first rode a bus out of Accra and into the surrounding country side, I was somehow overwhelmed by the site of villages filled with the kinds of houses that I would have described to sponsors over the phone when I worked at the child sponsorship organization. These are definitely the abodes of those in the most need. And I don't mean to diminish the significance of those needs, but it is interesting how perspectives change. More often than not, a small village made up of these traditional homes now appears to me more like a nice quiet neighborhood than a shocking example of poverty. It is amazing how quickly these houses can be constructed, and for the cost and convenience, they provide shelter sturdy enough to withstand many torrential rains. (one of my neighbors offered to teach me how to make one of these homes so I could build one for myself in America.) But good and bad aspects of these homes aside, I think it is more knowing the pulse of life that goes on inside and around them that makes me hardly notice them any more.

-Wow... after five examples, I am having trouble thinking of more... Like I said, I hardly notice these things anymore... Hmmm.... Let me think... Oh, I know -

-When I leave for a nearby town, having five people ask me where I am going, and if I will bring them bread when I return. My response: "Yoooo..." It would be extremely rude of me to say no. I might as well be telling the person that he or she is not worth knowing. Each person would be thrilled if I really did bring bread, and sometimes they ask when I return, but they are not REALLY expecting me to bring it (well, not usually, anyway.) It is more a way of saying "think of me while you are gone". When I return, if I didn't bring bread, and they ask, I can usually get away with saying that the market was inexplicably out of bread because of a funeral, or the goat on top of the trotro ate it, and they are just as happy - I proved they were worth making up a good story over.

-Adding "Oh" to the end of a sentence, or using "somehow" as a verbal filler. Example: "I saw a dress that was somehow nice, but it was too expensive-Oh." Yes. This is indeed how I speak now, as well as many other quirks you would quickly notice if you heard me speaking with my Ghanaian friends.

-Streetside hawkers. They sell everything from food and water to batteries and bug spray. When I first came, I would not even make eye contact with them while I was sitting in the bus waiting for it to fill with passengers, or at the places where buses will momentarily stop along the route, and the hawkers descend like vultures. My policy when I first came: IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE!! Now I get into the bus and immediately start perusing the offerings: Hmmm... those meat pies look tasty... or do I want fried yams? And I am getting adept at quickly giving my money to the running pure water seller through the bus window.

-Watching women, men or children (but especially women) carrying huge and heavy loads on their heads - no hands. Sometimes it is quite impressive to see the ingenious way hundreds of items are stacked in a bowl for balance on a person's head. I am also used to the jokes people make at me when they see me carrying items anywhere BUT on my head. I tried it a few times - but I don't have the talent.

I would write more, but am somehow out of time. Hope you enjoyed-oh.