Learning the Language

OBRUNI:
This means "white person". This is what the kids call out to us whenever we go walking on the street. Obruni! They call it from the roadside, from their yards, and from inside their homes. When you look over, they either give a friendly wave or a timid smile, and then continue to call it out as you proceed out of earshot, presumably notifying other kids in the neighbourhood that you're out and about.





















Marina and I were walking with our host-sister, Asia, the other day, through a chorus of "Obruni!", when an older lady called out to us in the local language. Asia listened and then called out in reply: "If you want to see them, just come to my house!"

TRO-TRO:
In order to get yourself a tro-tro, you first need to track down a beat up old van. Put a decal on the back window with an ambiguous phrase like "LET THEM SAY" or "SHARP BRAIN". Next, cram in some extra benches so that anyone over 5 feet tall has to reorganize his or her skeletal structure in order to fit inside. Then, submerge it in the ocean for six months. After you've pulled it out, roll it through a ditch of mud and garbage. Then unleash a pack of 50 neglected puppies to tear apart what remains of the interior. Now cram in another bench or two. Finally, charge people to sit inside as you drive eratically through intense heat and humidity, colliding with other tro-tros and bouncing over potholes and curbs.
















This was our means of transport this weekend as we traveled to the capital city, Accra, to do some lounging on the beach and to attend the filming of a live TV show.

FUFU:
Not only the name that some of my friends used to use when referring to my family's pet poodle, this is also a very popular food among the Asante people in Ghana. It's cassava root and plantain pounded and cooked into gooey white dough and submerged in spicy soup. This is what I ate on the beach, under the direction of, Bena, the young Asante man who accompanied us. They brought us two bowls of water and some soap so that we could wash our hands at the table. Then you just dig right in with your fingers. Bena kept insisting that I stop chewing and just swallow the slimey stuff straight down, which made it feel like I was taking some kind of weird medication.

















This was my fuel as I played soccer on the beach in what I estimate to have been 200 degree heat. I lasted about 20 minutes before retiring to the shade to inhale some water. Here's a photo of me, intensely focused, as I dazzle my teammates and opponents with some of the gangliest soccer moves they've ever seen:

















SOUNDZ SPLASH:
This is the most popular variety TV show on national Ghanaian television. And guess what? You know someone who was on the program last night! Well, I was actually just in the studio audience, but it was still cool to receive a call from the one person who I actually know in Ghana, telling me that he saw me on the show. I asked how I looked and he said "Funny!" I think he meant to say "Dashing." It's sometimes difficult to weed through these cultural nuances.

-Davis