Marriage Proposals, Sweat, and Elephants!

For the past five days I have been driving around with the group in the Northern regions of Ghana. First we went up to Kumasi and then continued to more rural agricultural areas and ended in Mole National Park...where one can see the wildlife in Ghana through a guided walk through the Park. All in all it was a fantastic trip but I'm going to just list the top ten highlights.

10- "Sweat Sweat Why?"
I think that people not accustomed to living on the equator are probably more likely to sweat a lot. And well of those people I may or may not sweat more than most. So we went to this ridiculously big market in Kumasi which is said to be the biggest in West Africa. And we went in the middle of the day...so you can only imagine. The "sweat sweat why?" comment was made by a man utterly perplexed by my condition.

9- Dana Loll, Crocodile Hunter
We went to this crocodile farm and in addition to feeding the croc a live chicken, we were allowed to hold it by its tail. Scary, scary situation..especially when other crocodiles started crawling towards us and surrounding us. At least it makes for a good facebook picture right? Haha I'm such an addict.

8- Grilled Lamp
Also not so funny but I liked this. We went to this fantastic hotel with hot water, TV and airconditioning. Might not seem that great to you all but trust me...it was heaven. I pretty much took the hottest shower possible and then laid in my bed with the AC all the way up...all huddled in blankets. So nice to feel cold once in a while. And I saw about your snow at home. SO jealous. But my favorite part was the menu, which featured "grilled lamp." I think I was delirious that I laughed so much at such a dumb thing. But I did see this after eating a "harm burger" for lunch earlier in the day...

7- Locked in a Bathroom
So at this nice hotel in Kumasi I went to take a shower at like ten thirty at night and went to come out, only to discover that I was locked inside the bathroom. I fiddled with it for like 5 minutes until my roommate woke up to help. She couldn't get it either and went to get the man working at the front desk as I prepared to sleep in the tub. Alix had to wake him up and he came in to let me out. Eventually I got out, but he seemed a bit surprised and embarrassed when he flung open the door to find me in a towel.

6- HOT Adinkra Man
We went to this place where they stamp symbols onto cloths and it was cool because we got to see how they got the ink and made the stamps and stamped our own. BUT there was this guy that was showing us who was pretty hot and apparently I really liked him because a friend asked me to take a picture of her. Not realizing that the camera was in video mode, I tried to take a picture of her but instead got a video of this guy as the camera wandered...hehe oops.

5- Wedgies in a Waterfall
We went to this waterfall where you could go and play. I climbed the rocks and slid down them to the pools below. It was really like a waterslide. Complete with the wedgies at the end. Really nice, especially for the men waiting for us at the bottom. The waterfall was so surreal though. The wedgies were definately worth it.

4- Beware of the Baboons
Baboons dont mess around. Instead they steal your things. We went in this Nature Reserve up North called Mole National Park and expected to see all kinds of wildlife in a natural setting. Instead, we witnessed baboons climbing into people's cars and running away with their things. We even saw one break into someone's hotel room and run off with stuff and another get a pineapple from a car. After which all of the local kids chase the baboon and try to recover the loot.

3- ELEPHANTS
We saw ELEVEN wild African elephants swimming in a pool bathing and drinking. It was absolutely amazing. Reminded me of Disney world on the safari ride...except these elephants were not mechanical. And even got to see two elephants copulating in the pool. Get em.

2- Broken Air Conditioning
So we took this van to the North and probably spent at least 20 hours in te car. I am not joking. But then the roads were so bad that about halfway through, the AC broke. This wouldnt have been such a big deal except that there werent windows that could open in the back and the average temperature has got to be 90 degrees here. So I was thinking about people and dogs dying in hot cars...and that was pretty much how it felt. At one point I just tried to go to sleep to forget about my approaching death.

1- Marriage Proposals
In bargaining for kente cloth in an hour and a half (this very intricate and ornate cloth weaved by the Asante people) I was offered marriage by three gentlemen. One man used it as leverage in a negotiation, offering me a large piece for free if I just married him. Another talked with me of the US and then asked if I could marry him and take him there. And a final man remarked to my Ghanaian coordinator that he would like to marry me. She immediately started laughing and told me of his plans. Other requests included a desire for me to remove and donate my Terps Rugby shirt and for me to pawn and trade my things. All in all I counted 7 proposals in my 5 day trip.

The trip was absolutely fantastic but had the good as well as the bad. On a serious note, the children that I saw in the North were absolutely wonderful and touching despite the poverty that many live in. The north of Ghana is a poorer area than the cities in the South and many dont have access to schooling and other resources. It was here on my trip that I first saw the malnutrition that I had read about. Really tough to see. And yet, the kids were happy to see us and just talk to us and really taught me a lot about how fortunate I am and that happiness comes from within and not so much circumstances.

So finally, I feel caught up and am trying to relax after such a busy trip til the weekend when I travel again.