goodness gracious

since my last post my SIT study abroad program has ended and grace has come to visit me! we started in accra and visited the UG campus in legon. next we headed to kumasi where grace got a taste of the central market and got to meet my friends and family there. it was great to see everyone again, but also sad to say goodbye. we visited okiakrom, the village where i lived for two weeks, and spent time with JK. i was excited that the children there still remembered me. we also spent a night at lake bosumtwe which is the youngest crater lake in the world and the only in west africa. the lake is about an hour south east of kumasi. it was beautiful there and we stayed at a guesthouse called the rainbow garden village. the lake was like glass until night came and brought a storm that tore the floating dock (that had been there for 4 years) from the shore! after kumasi we headed to cape coast where we visited the black star book shop, and toured the elmina st. george's slave castle dungeon. we took the tour with a group of ghanaians and it had a very different feel than when i took it with my SIT group. and now we are in takoradi. takoradi is a city west of cape coast and this has been my first time into the western region. now i have seen 8 of 10 ghanaian regions. the coast is beautiful. we have spent the last four nights at a guesthouse called the hide out which is right next to a village called butre. we have taken a few day trips to a near by fort and on a crocodile canoe safari! we have also enjoyed relaxing on the beach and meeting other locals and visitors. on wednesday we will be heading back to accra and spending our last night there before flying out on thursday. i can't wait to get home! see you all soon!

love, dane and grace

hide your blenders!

while the rest of the world frantically follows the spreading swine flu outbreak, ghanaians are concerned with an epidemic of a different sort. several newspapers, news stations, and radio programs have reported a serious threat to the people knows as 'sakawa'. sakawa is a juju curse put on young men by evil priests that makes the victim seek out furniture and kitchen appliances. these young men flock to internet cafes to purchase toasters and arm chairs online. others obtain the desired goods in a more destructive fashion. several news reports claim that men have been breaking into homes and businesses to steal refrigerators and microwaves. the headline on the cover page of the daily graphic (the new york times of ghana) states 'sakawa scare is real'.

in other news.... my SIT friends will be leaving tomorrow and i will be joined by another friend to travel ghana for two weeks! i will miss these people and i look forward to seeing them again in the states. happy summer to those of you who have made it there, i can't wait to see you all soon!

love, dane

sidenote

happy birthday/mother's day midge!!

everything is good here, i'm back in accra and will be presenting tomorrow

love, dane

make way knowlton house

after spending a long day in the library and around campus last week, amanda and i had a realization... we are the goofy foreign exchange students of KNUST. perhaps you've seen us on your own campus sporting capris, sleeveless shirts, and over-the-shoulder bags. we are rarely found alone, frequently ride bikes, and enjoy speaking in our native tongues. the average KNUST male dresses in leather shoes, slacks, and a button down shirt. i, however, have chosen to defy these conventions with my sandals, shorts, and t-shirts. these wardrobe selections are less of a fashion statement than they are a survival mechanism to endure the 100 degree afternoons; although i do think i look pretty fly in my chacos.

mangoes and maize are in season (i say maize because that is how ghanaians refer to corn, not just because i really like alliteration) and i have been enjoying them regularly; lots of times we can pick mangoes right off of the trees!

tomorrow amanda and i are traveling to cape coast to visit with friends and to attend a musical show. my friend jones has been working on what he refers to as an opera for his independent research project. the opera tells several stories about kweku ananse (a spider) through high life and hip life music. the show features some of the biggest names in ghanaian music, none of whom you've probably ever heard of (reggie rockstone, maybe?).

my firing with frank has been postponed until saturday so i will be returning early to kumasi to help stoke the kilns. i was going to bring smoar and grilled cheese ingredients to cook over the fire, but then realized marshmallows and cheese don't exist here; nor do any dairy products for that matter, i haven't had a glass of milk in three months.

who's playing floralia???? does anyone still read this???

love, dane

on fufu

after three months in ghana, i confidently can say that i have learned to eat fufu properly. fufu is more than a food, it is an experience and i'll do my best to explain. although it is eaten all across ghana, fufu is the dish of the ashanti people. the ashanti make fufu with cassava and plantain, while others use yams and cocoa yams. ashanti fufu is made by boiling the cassava and plantains in a large pot. the cooked starches are then placed in a mortar by the 'turner'. pounding fufu is usually a two person job and the turner is most commonly a female. she sits in a stool next to the big wooden mortar and after each drive of the pestle, the turner sneaks her hand into the mortar to expose a different section of ingredients. the pounder is usually a man and they stand with a large wooden pestle (about 5 or 6 feet tall). the pair work together to soften the mixture of starches until they reach a soft, doughy consistency. fufu comes either soft or hard depending on how long it is pounded for. the turner then shapes the gooey concoction into a ball--usually between the size of a softball and a muskmelon if it is one serving--and places it into a bowl. one of three types of hot (temperature) soups is then poured on top of the fufu ball - groundnut soup (peanut), palm nut soup, or light soup (egg plant, which is known as garden egg); light soup is my favorite. a meat, either cow, chicken, goat, or fish, commonly accompanies soup. fufu can only be properly eaten after taking apateshi. apateshi, the local alcohol made from palm wine, increases one's apatite and two shots are frequently taken before one begins chopping (what ghanaians call eating) fufu. at restaurants fufu is always served in individual bowls, however, when one eats fufu with family or friends, it is usually served together in one bowl. before eating, one must wash your right hand in a bowl of water that is always provided. when eating fufu, you use your index and middle finger as scissors to cut off a piece of the ball. you then use your entire hand to form the cut off piece into a ball and to soak in in the soup. fufu, like most ghanaian foods, is a vehicle for transporting the soup. the ball is then placed in the mouth and swallowed, never chewed.after the fufu is finished, the eater can cup their hand to scoop the soup into their mouth. by the end of a fufu session, the eater's entire right hand (sometimes up to the elbow) will be dripping with soup; and the eater's fingers will be pruned like when you exit a hot tube after three hours. the right hand is again washed to end the meal. my mother in accra said that you can only eat fufu on sunday and then you must walk around the block and go to bed. for an ashanti, however, it's not uncommon to eat fufu everyday; many claim to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, everyday! there is nothing polite, sanitary, or attractive about eating fufu, but i have grown to think it is delicious!

in other news.... this past week i continued to make the commute to frank's studio. his studio is in a village called adankwame, which is about an hour north of kumasi. there i have been throwing pots, digging clay, chopping wood, and firing kilns. i will be loading a kiln this week and staying over at the studio on wednesday to fire the kiln through the night.

today i went to the otomfuo tenth anniversary celebration. otomfuo is the ashanti king and he has held the golden stool since 1999. the celebration was held in the soccer stadium and every sub chief in the region gathered around the field to pay their respects to the king. the king gave a speech (actually is was his linguist who did the speaking for him), as well as the current president john atta mills, and the former president jj rowling. after the speeches and greetings, the king was carried into the streets and paraded back to the palace, it was crazy! there were so many people dancing and cheering in the streets and shooting guns into the air (ghanaian fireworks). it kind of reminded me of the parade after the red sox won the world series.

i hope final studies are going well for everyone, i'll be home in about a month!

love, dane

action

yes, it's true, you can see me and three fellow SIT students in the highly acclaimed, cinematic suspense thriller of the century: innocent souls. alex, amanda, toby, and i met kwame on thursday afternoon and naively anticipated a brief view of the ghanaian film industry. kwame took us to board a bus headed for the gold mining town of obuasi, about an hour outside of kumasi. we arrived fairly late in the evening at the super mambo hotel where kwame informed us we would be spending the night. despite our lack of preparation, we agreed and went to the roof top bar where we met the director of the film that we were about to star in. we woke up the next morning at 5:00am, but we were not alone. the entire cast and crew were also staying in the super mambo, and with them we boarded a bus to a near by village where the film was being shot. we ate breakfast with the cast and crew (about 40 in all) on location before filming. we first observed the taping of a scene in which a man fell from a tree while attempting to pick a mango. a thin piece of foam was used at first to catch the crashing man but after his first attempt, a group of men stepped in to catch him trust fall-style. the man hit his head on a rock and ketchup was used to show his injury. the director would keep rocks in his pocket and whenever someone on set was talking during a take, he would throw one at them.

next it was our turn. toby and i were costumed as middle aged fathers manning the barbecue at a saturday afternoon picnic. we played the parts of president obama's lawyer and body guard. alex and amanda were given outfits that were left behind after the last spice girls tour. they were 'our ladies'. the entire village (about 150 people) gathered to watch the filming of our scene! in the film, we had traveled to ghana with our friend david, who we met in america, to visit his family. what else happens in the film?? you and i will both have to wait and see. i do know that there is a godzilla like monster, and a small person (who was wearing a wisconsin badgers hat! and p.s. i saw another favre jersey yesterday!). we finished our scene and returned to kumasi.

on saturday i traveled to a village where i will be doing ceramics. it's an awesome outdoor studio with hand crank wheels and wood fire kilns. i will be working with a man named frank and his five friends and brothers. he is a former student of naab's and lived in china for two years teaching english and studying ceramics.

some new pictures are up! that's me and JK from the village, me and yemi, kintompo falls, and david with cassavas on his head.

love, dane

pictures!

three pictures made it up! hopefully more will come today. the first is from the canopy walk at kakum national park, the second from a soccer game that amanda and i went to on sunday. we watched kotokoo (from kumasi) play against another team from the ashanti region. they are playing in the otuomfo cup. otuomfo is the senior chief of the ashanti region and on the 27th of april he, and the rest of the region, will be celebrating his 10th anniversary as chief. we are going to the final match on the 22nd. the third picture is of an okomfoo or priestess; she was possessed by a spirit and telling us our futures.

on monday amanda and i picked up bicycles to make getting around town a bit easier. since then i have learned that the only thing more amusing to a ghanaian child than seeing a white person, is seeing a white person on a bicycle. amanda is now known by several children as the rough rider.

tomorrow two fellow students, toby and alex, will be coming up to kumasi from cape coast. toby and i scored roles in a ghanaian film that we will be shooting tomorrow. our friend kwame is a ghanaian actor and he got us parts in the film. i can't wait to tell you more about it! ghanaian films usually take about four days to produce so hopefully i will be able to bring a copy home.

this weekend toby, alex, amanda, and i are going to lake bosumti. it is a huge crater lake outside of kumasi and we are going to spend the weekend hiking around it!

a picture of a monkey just got up! hopefully i can get a few more on. have a great weekend!

love dane