Cultural NIght

After a full day of classes mainly about HIV/AIDS, we were ready for some fun.  We placed ourselves in role play to ask questions to show the differences in the cultures when it comes to HIV.    When it comes to family things, children sex education, spousal abuse and how to handle it, facing HIV and dealing with it, Americans and Ghanaian’s are not really on the same page.  It was fun though learning about the reasons they had for example of not reporting a wife beating to the police.  The Ghanaian’s would rather it be settled in the family and the community where Americans wanted police involved immediately.  It was a very open and frank discussion.

Tonight was cultural night and I have some pictures and a movie hopefully it will load up.  The music and dancing was from South Ghana to North Ghana.  It was very interesting to watch.  We are in an enclosed gated area and the neighborhood children heard the music and watched through the fence.  When they started calling us obruni’s they were told it was only time they would be told not to do it again and we never heard from them again until we started dancing.  They laughed and laughed.

There are 6 PCT’s and 6 counter parts going to the Upper East and it is a long bus ride.  They want us to try and catch the 2^nd bus so we will not be traveling at night.  We met to make sure all 12 were on the same page and agreed to this so one counterpart could go tomorrow and purchase all the tickets.  They want to catch the 2^nd bus to leave because it will be about 8 or 9 o’clock it will leave – the reason for the time difference is they DO NO LEAVE until the bus is full.  This is true for taxis’ and tros tros also – you wait until it is full before you can go or you can hire the taxi for all 4 seats and pay the going price of about 1 GH Cedis 50 peswas per seat for about a 20 – 30 min ride.  Traveling by bus all day I am worried about bathroom stops.  Thanks to Erika I do not have to worry about what to eat.  My friend in Atlanta, Laura, introduced me to a woman that had lived in Ghana by Facebook and she told me about the meat sticks on the side of the road and she loved them.  On our trip up here we took a stop for toilet and snacks.  The meat sticks were there and the boys went for them.  I took a bite of Mike’s and it was very good.  It was hot and a little spicy.

We all headed for the pool after the party and were swimming, some playing Frisbee and the manager came to us at 7:30pm saying pool attendant wanted to go home so would be please leave in 5 mins.  Of course we did but not what we wanted.  I swam about 5 am while the sun came up.  I can’t sleep pass 4 so I thought this is what I needed to do.  It was great and it was good for my foot.  I cannot believe how much it swells up when we are sitting all day.  I try to keep it up on a chair most of the day but it is still very big.  I did turn it a little last night after our walk as we came in and I stepped in a hole. YUK!!!Below are the pics my friend took.

Josh and the band

Mircale showing off her moves.   

Taj, language teacher and Suzanne Below was a

movie but it would not come on and won't go off sorry about that.