Weekend trip number three! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) this trip started on a Friday morning and went till Sunday- so I had to miss my Friday classes again. Luckily, my professor for Dramatic Theory and criticism didn’t mind at all, and this week even asked how the trip went and postponed class for a bit to discuss Kumasi and what we had seen. He is probably one of the cutest, weird men alive. He is very thin and has extremely dark skin. Like, his eyes practically glow. He is older- probably at least in his sixties. He uses his hands excessively when talking and contorts them very intricately when emphasizing his points. One of my friends named Kelly (literally the epitome of a theater major, she is completely terrifying in her enthusiasm about EVERYTHING) pointed this out to me, and I couldn’t focus on anything else. I guess as actors we are trained to pay attention to such things. Haha.
Anyway, we left at six in the morning. You can imagine my delight. I literally wanted to cry when I decided to not drink coffee because I wanted to sleep on the bus. I purposefully packed Excedrin knowing that I would receive a caffeine headache. I packed oaties for the road though (an oatmeal cracker/cookie thing which are amazing when put with peanut butter- like nutter butters). We left and our upal Gideon decided to steal my camera and take attractive pictures of everyone sleeping. Not. Nice. I will post them, of course.
Sam.
Jess.
Camille. Good thing she doesn't read my blog...she would KILL me.
HAHAHA. Megan. Also would kill me.
Hannah (Kim's roommate).
Both of these are Ofori. Win.
Kumasi is about four hours away but with traffic and the common dirt roads, it took around six hours. However, apparently we made good time. About half way there we stopped at a rest stop which was really cool. I wish I had taken pictures. Mainly because it was the first legit rest stop I have seen. There was food, a public restroom which you had to pay to use- but you got free toilet paper! Wooooo. But they had burgers, pastries, sodas, iced milo (a delicious chocolate energy drink that Julie liked so much when she came that she took some back with her) and many other things. It was called the Linda Dor rest stop. We continued traveling and made our way to our hotel called Treasure Land. It was down a random road which did not look like a road that would house a hotel. It was vacant besides us. Which I guess was a good plan because we were a pretty large group- at least thirty or so.
We got there and I ended up rooming with a girl named Neyat. It was cool because for some reason Kim transferred to the other group with Maggie and my two other close friends so this trip gave me the opportunity to mingle with other people and get a break from my usual crowd. Our room had a air conditioner, a fan, a hot shower, and everything else I could possibly want. The shower had two shower heads which confused me. I used both? Yeah, I clearly am adept in the way showers function. It was funny because I must have looked crazy in the shower. I couldn’t decide which head to use. And since I was so tall, I had to duck for some of it. I am literally constant entertainment for myself.
We grabbed lunch at the hotel which ended with fan ice for dessert (a popular ice cream brand here- sometimes it comes in bags just like the water and you just bite off a corner and suck the ice cream out. Convenient and portable!). then we headed to the asante palace museum. We ran into some peacocks:
Unfortunately, none showed their plumage.
This was the palace from the outside.
A side part of the palace.
I was mad because we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside of the museum. I will do my best to paint the picture though. The group was split in half and part of us got the tour while the other part watched a short film. I started with the tour. There were wax models of people in every room. And even though they told us they were wax I consistently screamed silently whenever I saw one. Apparently they have complete use of their limbs as well- so they change the positions of the models every few days or so. So they are robots. Nightmares.
Some of the things in the household (because it was a past palace, super cool) still worked. Such as the fan, the record player, etc. They also had the first TV in Ghana put in their household, which was really interesting. Around the house were paintings with cool captions and random glass cases with weapons, special vases, and footstools that were only used by the kings and chief mothers. The king chose his female companion of the throne from his family. Usually it was their mother or aunt. The king was more of a figurehead than an actual ruler. Apparently the chief mother did most of the “king” duties by talking with locals and dealing with issues presented through the society. I liked that quite a bit- considering how little females are featured in Ghana. However, regardless of her position of power, she is still seen as less than the king. Which sucks.
Sidenote- I saw some things this week that made me question my gender stereotypes within this society. On the tro- tro there is a mate that takes care of all of the money handling and where the stops are made, and they are usually male. However, I didn’t realize this until for the first time I saw a female mate. I did a double take when I saw her. I was clearly confused. Moreso, because I realized I never would have thought about the fact that this role seems to be exclusively male unless I had seen something different. I also realized that most of the people selling water on the street are female. Random, but again I noticed this when I saw a man doing it and it freaked me out a bit to see something “out” of the norm. However, how the heck do I know what the norm here is? It’s easier for me to assume I know so much after being here for two months. But I still know nothing.
After the tour of the house we watched the short film which basically discussed aspects of the Asante culture and how it is honored here. They have festivals every 40 days where the king and chief mother get highly adorned in gold and kente cloth and are paraded through the streets in chairs supported on the heads of four individuals. We saw some clips, and I was once again struck by how strong their necks must be. Those muscles are insane. After the palace, we headed to the largest market in West Africa. The market already is intimidating, but this one was out of control.
First of all, it was hot as anything. So we were cramped and melting- but actually. It was gross. You couldn’t even see the whole market. That’s how huge it was. They were selling everything from clothing, shoes, fabric, jewelry, to live stock and car parts. It was easy to get lost. I eventually gave up staying with the same group of people and ended up wandering around by myself. I got cat called, people yelled, “Sistah! Come look at my beautiful things. I give you special price.” I want to yell back, and sometimes I did. A few people grabbed me, I ripped my arm away. Being touched by men and women in the market is aggressive and annoying. I miss being ignored by employees in the states. You can just walk around and browse without being bothered. But here you look at something and they run over and bring it down for you. You have to practically yell, “No! I am just looking, please.” This is probably why its so hard to find souvenirs for people. They hassle you so much you can hardly think.
I eventually got a few things and then found some clothes….my weakness. Thanks mom. I got three dresses, two pairs of pants, and a shirt for ten cedi. It was AWESOME. All of the clothing is slowly and sheer- Indian-esque. I will be wearing it in the states regardless of everyone’s stares. They can deal. After the market we headed back to the hotel and did show and tell with the upals. Our chaperones were the best. They helped us shop and loved all of my clothing purchases. LOVE THEM. They are such great shoppers. I actually modeled my first skirt that I got made here from Janet’s skirt (one of our chaperones).
We went back to the hotel and grabbed dinner…which included cheeseburgers? I was so confused. But they were good! We had chocolate pancakes for dessert. I was very pleased. The night ended with a few people chilling by the pool and talking about being here- catching up and interacting with new program members. We all grabbed beers and just relaxed. It was really chill. HA. Oh and funny story, we lost power at this hotel about five or six times. It was ridiculous. I laughed each time. I just thought it was funny because I can picture how I would react in the states…something akin to me screaming or being mad. Here, I just say oh well, laugh, and then go back to sleep. Or grab some form of alcohol (those are for the special times when we have no water and power. That’s rough.)
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