It might take a while for me to get in the habit of updating this blog as often as i would like too, but I thought tonight I would at least begin my attempt. Hello! I am currently sitting in the kitchen of my new host home, wishing I had one of Kayla and I's delicious baking soda free cookies. I'm thinking its going to be almost impossible to remember everything that has happened so far, but for you, my friends, and my family, I owe it to you at least to try :)! So lets go like this...
Day 1
4 o'clock start, Weston Hotel, one of the most challenging days of my life. I remember it so perfectly, how it felt showing up to the airport and realizing that the day i'd been waiting for had finally begun! I walked through the doors, with Dad and Lexi by my side, and put my suitcase on the scale. 50 pounds on the dot, I definitely own the title of ultimate packer ! Then it was time to go to my gate, B22! Oh wait, customs first. Anyone who had been with me for the month before knew that I was an emotional wreck, but all it took for me to not cry that day was a look from my big sister and a "oh Jillian, don't start!". Getting through the customs was scary, then finding my gate all on my own then sitting down it was all scary. Then the plane , omg the plane. I do NOT like take offs, but once I was up everything was wonderful, I snuggled down with my iPod and read my letters. I started bawling which resulted in a few weird looks from my neighbors, along with a sympathetic one from the lady in front of me.
10 minutes until land, it was like some strange feeling swept over me, that was the moment i realized i was truly on my own, I looked for my dad, but he wasn't there to tell me where to go pick up my luggage, that's when panic set it. Its like the big signs in front of my face with an arrow pointing to a bag, didn't even exist. Cut to the chase, I found my bag, along with Kayla and Quin, holding a sign for CWY. Once everyone was together, we got on a bus to Tatamagoosh, Nova Scotia. Oh wait, we met the Ghanaians in there somewhere! On the way there I was on a bus with the boys from my exchange and a few girls from the Salt pond- Saint Johns exchange. Once we arrived at the center we dispersed into the two exchange groups and went into our own houses. We were a family already! Everyone was laughing, Eddie (one of our new Ghanaian friends) put on a CD and they all started dancing! It took a while for us Canadians to bust a move, I've never seen anyone dance better than each of the Ghanaians. But finally, with a lot of laughing from everyone, we started dancing with them. Our style of dancing is a lot different which is probably why they found it so funny, Canadians have a tendency to bounce around a lot and use a lot of energy whereas the Ghanaians move their hips (more than I've ever seen anyone do ).
.......I cant remember how each of the days went after that. We were at Tatamagoosh center for a week and everyday was filled with team building, good eating, soccer games, dancing and culture classes. It wouldn't be any exaggeration if I were to say it was one of the best weeks of my life. It would take forever for me to explain every bit of the Ghanaian culture that Ive learned so far, so here are a few of my favorite aspects:
Ghana Man Time: As Eddie would say "Time no be problem", which is just the definition of GMT. 2 o'clock means 4 o'clock. 6 o'clock means 8 o'clock! They never rush to get anywhere. In Canada, if you tell someone you are picking them up at a certain time and they arn't ready, its considered rude and disrespectful. In Ghana, if you show up at the time you decided on, you could be waiting up to as much as 2 or 3 hours before they are ready. Something Ill have to get used to!!
Dating : If a boy walks down the street and sees a girl he thinks is pretty, he simply stops her, complements her on her beauty and asks for her phone number. He would then follow up later that night asking her for a date. If she likes him, she says yes, if she doesn't, she says no. Simple as that! No texting first ( to them that makes you look desperate) no hesitation, they simple recognize their feelings and act on them!
Personal space: There is none! I don't go a single day here without walking hand in hand with one of the boys. Everyone simple loves to be around each other. There is no "creepy", its simply sincere affection.
Respect: This one is huge, I could go on for days and days ! Respect is SUCH an important aspect of their culture.Just one example: we were sitting eating dinner when one of the older ladies running the camp, Heather, came around to clear all of our plates. Everything was fine until she came to Mercy, one of the Ghanaian project leaders, who refused to let Heather take her plate from her. The reason for this was that Heather was older, and in their culture it is extremely disrespectful to let someone older that yourself do what you can do for yourself.
Now, before I move on to C.O.W (community orientation week) Id just like to make note of a few things that I experienced or liked at the beautiful Tatamagoosh centre!
1. The apples!! There were apple trees in our backyard bigger than Ive ever seen, with the most delicious apples:)
2. The view . We were right on the ocean, and the tide that came in and out every nine hours.. wow! Ive never seen anything like it , it was so beautiful.
3. The stars at night
4. Kayla and I taught B.B (our supervisor) a song on the piano.
5. Dance party whenever music was heard, even from the speakers on Eddies phone
fufu. A Ghanaian food, hard to explain, but resembled a raw ball of bread dough, that you swallow without chewing.
7. Me do wo : I love you in Twi (pronounce ch-wee)
8. Playing spin the bottle on the last night ( I only watched)
Those are only a few of the things that made my week as amazing as it was. Every day I'd wake up and its like I wanted to pinch myself, to make sure I wasn't waking up to a dream. CWY is such a unique program with its way of completely immersing you in another culture while making lasting friendships and lifelong memories. I'm just so lucky, everyday I tell myself, I'm just so so lucky:)
I think this is all I can do for now, I start work tomorrow at Saint Patricks Family Center. Stay tuned for chapter 2 of my journey : Moncton !
Pumpkin juice and love !
Jillian xo
