Update

I am now almost completely well, only a bit of coughing left. My brother and sister have kept me excellent company. My servants, er, uh, I mean parents (just kidding, Mom!) were really nice, too. I especially appreciated the tea and soup.

Before my stay in Texas is over, I'm hoping to visit friends in Arlington, Dallas, Denton, and Duncanville. Arranging rides, however, might be a bit tricky since I don't have a license yet. I'm hoping to figure that part out by this evening.

In the meantime, though, I think I owe you guys a story.

As part of IDDS this year, we went to visit small villages all over Ghana to ask the residents about their lives, what they thought of our projects, if they had any suggestions for us, et cetera. My first visit was to Agyereago (Ah-Jerry-Ago), at the end of my first week in Ghana.

The moment I stepped off the bus in Agyereago, I found myself surrounded by children. They had all run out to meet us. I heard shouts of "Obruni!", which literally means "white person" and refers to anyone who is clearly not African. Ah, kids. There were twenty or thirty children, and they knew what to do. A little girl led me to see the village planning committee, several men and women who were waiting for us outside one of the houses. I was feeling rather shy at the time, and waited for the rest of the group to gather before shaking hands*.

Once we had all made introductions, the meeting and hosting plans began. I had trouble paying attention to the meeting, though, as the girl who led me to the planning committee was sitting next to me. She decided we should hold hands and was quite excited to talk with me. I risked being rude to the adults to whisper with her for a couple minutes, but then I tried to be quiet. Fortunately, she didn't seem to mind too much.

After the meeting was over, we all went on a quick tour of the village and were introduced to our hosts. Our host family was very nice. The eldest, and head of the household, was the grandmother. She was 73 and still worked the fields like a pro, so I'm told. Also in the family were her son, his main wife, and their four kids. By the time we arrived at their house, they had already prepared us dinner. The first night was cassava with spinache sauce**.

By the time we finished dinner, however, it had turned dark, and my head was swimming with too many names. I took my anti-malarials and slipped under the mosquito net to sleep.


*Shaking hands is a standard way to greet in Ghana just as it is in the US. However, I had to learn the full hand-shaking etiquette upon arrival. When you meet a new group of people in Ghana, you're supposed to shake hands with each person in the group, starting with the rightmost person.

**I could be mixing this up with another meal, but perhaps it is not so important. Cassava with spinache sauce is a very common dish. It is also quite easy to make! The cassava is cut in semicircle slices about an inch thick, and is served uncooked. The spinache sauce is made from finely chopped boiled spinache, vegetable oil, and sometimes crawdads or fish. The sauce is spiced to taste, and you leave the guest to dip the cassava in it.