So it's been over a week since I wrote, I think I got lazy after the long entries before.
I made it back from site in one piece.... but since it's been a while, a few more random thoughts:
Ghanaian Laugh:
It's funny. I noted that Ghanaians laugh when I'm firm on a price, and it has just occurred to me, rather, I've come to learn from trial and error, that it's actually for one of two reasons.
Sometimes I think it's a kind of "you caught me" moment, where they weren't expecting me to know the right price, and that's what I have assumed every time till now, including some stories I have written on here about fares for cabs. But I've learned that other times I'm actually the one who's wrong, and they're laughing at how incredible it is that I'm refusing to pay. I've slowly come to realize that the laughter in those cases is not a "you caught me" it's more like "holy shit. This white dude is seriously not going to pay us for this... that's hilarious..." Like if I was a Ghanaian I would get reamed out, but since I'm a novelty to them, they think its funny and add it on to the list of other things about being white that make me strange and foreign. The learning moment for me, and the one which serves as a perfect example is the time i was traveling back from site visit to our training city. I had my backpack and a small carry-on bag. I get to the tro and there was 2 of them. An air conditioned one for 6 Ghc or one without for 5Ghc. Once i get on and I pay my fare and he loads my little bag, he goes "ok now 1ghc for the bag". I about lost it on him. I had been traveling all day, and had no patience and said
absolutely not! you said 1ghc, that's why I got in this car. that's all I'm paying.
haha sah, it's 1ghc for the bag we loaded
umm. no. you said 5ghc that's what you're getting. you're not ripping me off.
sah, 1ghc
Dont ask me again. If it's a problem, I'll take my bag and try with the other tro
He blinked at me, started cracking up, and told the story to his friends. They all bust out laughing as well. I was proud of myself and did a mental "pat yourself on the back" moment. When I sat down, I asked (to be sure) someone next to me what they paid. They said 5ghc. Ok, so far so good... Then I saw someone walk up to the tro, pay her 5ghc, pass the man her bag, and then once it was loaded pay another 1ghc.
Oops.
At that instant, I revisited the look on the bag handler's face... it was IDENTICAL to the one the tro-mate had when he asked me for 30gp (Ghana Pesewas) and I told him it was only 20gp. Remember that story? When we escorted hannah home? The mate who kept laughing, talking to the driver, laughing some more and then repeating the price to me? I heard in passing about a week ago someone, I forget who say "yea well on tros the prices differ slightly, depending on how new it is, whether it has AC or not etc."
Oops.
So yea. Lesson learned. Them laughing at my firm pricing isnt necessarily because theyre the ones who are wrong. But at least theyre good sports about it....
My Small African Friend:
So I was in my tree writing some business thoughts down when a small boy came off the dirt path, obviously towards me. When I looked again, he was at the base of the tree, staring up at me not saying a word. He reached to climb up, but couldn't reach. He spoke little English, and I little Dagbani, so we used mostly gestures to understand that I'd pull him up. In one swift pull "these guns" pulled him into the tree.
In reality he weighed about the same as a gallon of milk.
He climbed up and we sat together, not understanding each other for about an hour and a half. I asked him to write his name for me, so I wouldn't forget. he started in big block letters
W A H A B
Then he looked surprised and concerned "ooh!" he ran out of room on the small piece of paper I handed him. He wrapped the last letter to the next line. U.
W A H A B
U
Which I think is Dagbani for "adorable".
I tried some small Dagbani on him, and got his name, and that he was 5 years old. It turned into a fun game, I wrote down words he repeated a lot and when I returned to my training site Suf translated them for me.
Push-Up Lizards:
So there are these cool ass lookin' lizards I wanted to share, but was waiting until I could get a picture. Theyre cool lookin, with Orange and Grey and Black.
Push-Up Lizard"So Guillermo, why do you call them Push-Up Lizards?"
Well, imaginary inquisitive audience member, thank you for asking... Unlike the lizards I've seen in the US, they dont have red neck fans to attract mates. You know which ones I'm talking about, the generic looking brown ones that are about 4-5 inches long? Well the pushup lizards here are more the size of a household iguana, the one in this picture is probably 10-12 inches long. Anyways, the ones in the US have this weird lookin red blood colored fan that comes down from their necks to attract mates, the pushup lizards... well... do pushups.
And it's hilarious.
Every time: a male runs into a clearing, looks around for hunters, and does 3-6 reps of push-ups showing off his bright contrasting colors. Literally from the ground to as high as his little legs can stretch. One time I saw 2 males face off and do a push-up competition. They would do a few reps, moonwalk backwards a few steps, and as soon as one started his next set the other would stop walking and start furiously doing pushups as well. They did this a few times, maybe 3-4 full cycles of this process before they dropped the sophisticated road, scrambled in a little lizard ball for about 15 seconds, and then ran off in different directions. It was great.
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