Kente Weaving (Day 5)
It’s really day five already? Woah, time is flying! Today I woke up before my alarm surprisingly. Of course, Joe had breakfast ready but I just ate those lovely pineapples! We were at our placement five minutes before they opened, so we thought. We ended up waiting for them to arrive for over thirty minutes, nonetheless I will start to be late again. We were only there for like two hours because we were scheduled to go hiking at the waterfall. Unfortunately, the van has to go to the mechanic shop and that has to be postponed…this is random (actually majority of the things I tell you are in no specific order) but my stomach is saying WTF to this food, but I have Imodium on deck. I actually have the entire pharmacy in my suitcase.
OMG, while I was at placement I had to use the public restroom y’all! One of the social workers escorted me to the restroom, which was around the corner and near a church. The restroom had a sign that said lady and gents so you can foreshadow how it was going to smell. They didn’t have tissue or soap but guess what, ya girl came prepared! I had my handy dandy baby wipes and hand sanitizer. I squatted and was out of there in five seconds.
For lunch, we had goat stir fry, jollof, and PINEAPPLES! Goat is very chewy and fatty, not one of my favorites.
Since our hike was rescheduled, we emerged into their cultural and went Kente Weaving, which was very fun! Anyone that knows me, knows I LOVE Arts & Crafts, I really really wish I was able to complete an entire weaving project but just learning the history and skill was awesome. Kente cloth is a woven cloth of interwoven cloth strips, originating from Ashanti Kingdom and then adopted by many West African countries and in the Ivory Coast. The teacher said the white man watched the bird to make a plane and the black man watched the spider to make weaving. As he demonstrated the movement of cloth, opening and pressing the material together, it formed a beautiful pattern. Ke means open and te means press in the Ewe language. My lesson ended with me purchasing a Kente graduation stole, book mark, and small bag.
As if I did not have enough of fabric already, I requested to stop by the fabric shop and I purchased two more patterns. Only 116 Cedi = $26.07!
I promise the days are becoming shorter, I went to placement, ate lunch, did a cultural activity, and went to the store all before 2:30 p.m. I have also noticed I am tired earlier, I guess starting your day with the roosters means you end your day earlier.
Dinner was fried chicken, noodles with red sauce, cucumbers, and watermelon…really delicious!
Random Vent: I hate that despite not doing much sweating or anything that requires physical labor…I am so dirty and dusty! These dirt and dust roads are too much to bare. I literally have to exfoliate the dirt off of my face with a cotton swab and witch hazel before my regular wash routine.
Forgotten Moments: I have two mosquito bites, no worries though I have the Benadryl Itch Spray and I took my Malaria pill this week. Speaking of Malaria, apparently this disease is common for local people to get but it is also easy to obtain a prescription to treat it. It is similar to our Flu in the States.
Also, I forgot to mention we went to a “Club”, if that’s what you want to call it, the same day we went to Cape Coast. Hasky (our body guard/driver) suggested it, it reminded me of a Cabaret. There was a live band singing, dancing, and playing instruments. People were eating and drinking at the tables nearby. They played a variety of music, some songs I recognized and others I did not. At midnight, they start to play Afro Beats but we were long gone before 11:00 p.m. A sista was TIRED!
Hmm…what else did I forget? Oh yes, the people here drive like a bat out of hell! One of these days, our driver was going 120 mph in a 50 zone (mentally played OTW in my head)! They blow the horn at each other so much. There are no sidewalks so people are just out in the street; they get honked at before and after passing…They dispose of their garbage by burning it…I was wondering why the ground was on fire and smoked often but this is why.
I never talked about the bedroom and bathroom in home based. Well, we are not allowed to flush any paper towel or toilet tissue because the sewage system is not that great. The shower head is not propped up as it is in America, therefore I had to create my own stand. The only awful thing about Home Base is the shower pressure and cold showers but a girl can’t have everything, right?