Kumasi: Part Two

Saturday we got up early for breakfast where I luckily had access to coffee. Nescafe- but still. Its better than nothing. We headed out early and went to a village presentation. Our guide for the day was adorable. He was short and apparently designed the kente cloth design that was used for Obama when he came to visit Ghana. Pretty awesome. We walked into the main center- I’m blanking on the name but it was a place for prayer and for offering. People came to talk to the king. A special room in the center is only opened every forty days for select offerings. Here was where the chief mother dealt with some commoners. Women came to ask for fertility and beg for children (being barren here is a tragedy). They would come and sacrifice a lamb. A part of the lamb’s spine was left behind and added to a string to document the offering:

The bananas were said to be the food for the Gods. It was an offering that was always left and replenished. The guide had a helper who was hysterical. He wanted pictures with all of the ladies and passed out pictures of him with other obruni females to ensure us that he wasn’t actually creepy (which, in effect, proved the opposite). The building was covered with symbols (Adinkra symbols) that all had very specific meanings.  Here are some pictures of the room:

This was our main tour guide. 

This was the creepy/funny man. 

These were also in the room. They are called talking drums. Usually one is pitched higher than the other and is played by the female. the male uses the lower pitch drum to respond. As many probably know, there is a drum language that is used here. Literally in the middle of drumming class our teacher will start saying the phrases he is drumming out. I think the language is more implied than literal, but there is a specific communication that is uniquely Ghanaian. Pretty cool. 

"It is the heart, not the horns, that leads a ram to bully."

Sankofa. "It is no taboo to return and fetch it when you forget. You can always undo your mistakes."

The building was decorated with various pictures and maps indicating different aspects of the Ashanti culture. One dictated the aspect of economics, education, etc. There were randomly turtles dispersed in the middle of the yard and the man told us that they represented the Ashanti chief- basically represented that universal phrase, “slow but steady wins the race”. The Ashanti are said to deal with matters slowly but forcefully. There was a boy in the corner who was charging our upal money for the use of our cameras in the courtyard. Silliness. Any way these people can get money, they will exploit and use. As we were leaving the village, I was struck by the fact that I can just leave. I am such a tourist. We just fininshed reading the book, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid which talks about Antigua and its struggles in globalization and colonialism. She talks about how when tourists come to the island they see Antigua as beautiful and charming. They fail to see what lies underneath the obvious beautiful- which is, of course, the obvious flaws and corruption. I am SUCH a dork but these quotes from the book really hit me and I think they would be helpful and insightful...

On being a tourist and observing what's around you, "you needn't let that slightly funny feeling you have from time to time about exploitation, oppression, domination develop into full-fledged unease, discomfort; you could ruin your holiday. They are not responsible for what you have; you owe them nothing; in fact, you did them a big favor, and you can provide one hundred examples."

"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist is an ugly human being. You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person ordinarily; you are not an ugly person day to day."

This quote really hit me. Because I am absolutely that ugly tourist. And I hate that. Last one, I promise:

"They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place where they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go- so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they envy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself."

Really opens your eyes, right? I feel very vulnerable here. All of the material I am reading and taking in seems to hit nerves that I always had but never wanted to slice open and probe. A lot of the material sucks, because America is America. It is stupid, it is proud, it is great, it is "free". But honestly all I keep thinking about is what i will say that dreaded day when I am home and someone asks me, how was Ghana? My answer, I don't understand it. And never will. We are here for four and a half months. Longer than any other of the programs this semester. And yet, it is STILL not enough time here to unpack. Heck, a year wouldn't be long enough. It's just too much. I love it, but hate that when I get back, America will still be the same. 

Anyway, after the village we drove away and went to the Kente village. As I mentioned before, the Kente cloth is incredibly significant to the Ashanti. It takes much longer to weave because they weave in symbols and sometimes make the fabric not just single, but double and triple woven. This means that each side can have a different design. Pretty awesome. They were super expensive though. Of course, we were overcharged, so bargaining was a must. A man tried to sell me things while our guide was giving a presentation and our guide flipped out and yelled at him. I was clearly in love. When we went inside, we were hounded by people, as usual. Everyone had their own stand and fabric. I ended up buying two pieces, one single woven and the other double. I got the single for 18 (still overpriced) but the double for 20 which was an awesome deal. Here was our guide with some of the cloth:

This was the sign above the store. 

People continued to try and sell us things and we headed back onto the bus. It never ends. Even when you are sitting down on the bus they will tap on your windows, try and get on the bus, do everything in their power to get your last few cedis. It's ridiculous. There were children asking for money. I wanted to cry because they were so adorable. I did get some cute pictures of them though (again, I hate being a tourist, but there is no use in resisting). 

See, the second you give one of them money, all of them will hoard you. Believe me, I've learned from experience. It sucks. After we left the Kente, we went to another village specifically focused on the Adinkra symbols on cloth and we got to see how the dye is made for the symbols. They pound bark, and then heat it for a certain amount of days until it thickens. The process is a little more complicated than that, but its the basic gist. 

A family was living right there and doing their laundry during the presentation. I suddenly found myself becoming very grateful for my dorm room...

We all got to take turns using the stamps of the symbols and putting them on cloth. It was very cool, but definitely a short stop in our huge collaboration of events over the weekend. 

Right when we were about to leave a man (among many others) was trying to sell a slip of kente cloth for 1 cedi. My friend maggie decided to get it after she asked him and made sure it was the whole strip of cloth and then passed him a cedi. He quickly took the money, and cut the strip in half. She was so mad. He ran away, out of the village and she got off the bus to find him. Eventually the village people felt so bad, because they couldn't find him, that they gave her an even larger strip free of charge. Silliness. But so rude. We then went to a place for food, I got a calzone. So random, but delicious. Then some decided to go back to the market, while others decided to go back and chill before dinner. I decided to go back and chill. I slept, read and did some homework, and then slept some more. The power went out again. haha. We had dinner, I watched Fired Up with some girls (courtesy of Ethan Sachs) and then fell asleep. Sunday was really uneventful...we woke up, had breakfast, and then had three hours to do whatever. I showered, read some more, and did nothing but relax in the air conditioning. We had a quick lunch and then headed home. It was a long trip, and I filled some of it by listening to an old sermon by my favorite pastor...Rob Reimer. It was a random weekend of reflection and fun.