My Town (9/10)

So I was biking home with Bubu the other day and he says to me "Oh! Actually. The other day, I come home and I see my sheep is missing. I searched all over, even went all the way almost to the next town. Finally I went to the Chief's palace and found her there. She was tied to the Chief's house.
Hahaha... seriously?
Oh! Yes! It's true! They said they thought it had wandered away from another town so they picked it, and took it there.
What did you say?
Oh. I said it is my sheep. And I took it. I think they were hoping no one would claim it so they could keep it."

I really like Bubu a lot. He's a great guy and he cracks me up. He's an extremely friendly person who is very polite, reserved, and laid back. His super passive nature made the story so much funnier because he wasn't angry at all. I really don't know how to explain it, but it's super endearing and hilarious at the same time.
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My town is not the typical "Arms wide open, roll the red carpet out for the white-man savior" scene that seems to happen so often to Peace Corps Volunteers. (In Ghana, anyways). Many of my friends have told me about the (almost absurdly) huge welcoming they've gotten and it was kind of depressing at first. The people here are polite, but not necessarily what I'd call overtly surprised or appreciative. It's more like "Oh cool, another white dude. 'Sup white dude. I'm gonna get back to my yams now." Even my trip to the Chief's palace was a let down. It took me the whole week of site visit, and almost 3 weeks at site to meet him. Most of my friends were escorted to the chief's palace in their first days of arriving at site during training. We went to the chief's quarters, he was an old man literally sitting in his bed looking like he'd been asleep 10 minutes before. He gave me a short hello and didn't say anything else. The Chairman and SubChiefs mainly talked to him, explaining who I was and what I was going to do. He nodded and we left. No cola nut offered to chew (which is the custom in the north) no Dagomba(Dah-GOME-bah, the name of the people who speak Dagbani) name. Nothing. Hell, Beth has like 3 names. So I went home upset and let down, feeling like my town doesn't want me here. Most volunteers get huge thankful "Hello"s from the chief and the villagers saying "We've been waiting so long for you!" My town the SubChief had to inform the Chief "..and he has come here to...what will you do?...oh, yes, he will teach..."

But as the days pass I'm starting to understand this place more. My town is a commuter town. People come here for school and market from half a dozen other towns around, so it seems to remove some of the communal-close feel. Add to that that the school and community, while I'm the first PC volunteer, receives a ton of financial aid from Unicef, the World Food Program, etc. and so any 'white' novelty is gone as well. But if I don't look at this place as a whole and I push deeper,(almost a reverse "Can't see the forest for the trees" kind of situation) I've met some extremely friendly and appreciative people here who really make me feel very welcome. And I've come to realize that that's what this is going to be. 2 years of building 1:1 relationships. It's a challenge I'm excited to take on, where as most people's arrival and actions will define their integration, and during the process they'll meet many people; for me the sum of all the individual interactions and relationships I build will become my integration. I now know a few good friends at market, a few of the elders who always sit at the main junction of town, and plenty of the regulars who hang out near the recharge stand, in front of the Mosque.

Children yell in packs "Siliminga!(See-lee-MEEN-gah, Dagbani for white man) Hellooo! Siliminga!" and I have been systematically turning these packs into instructional sessions. "Pa Nyule siliminga. Nyule Giemo" (My name is not Siliminga, my name is giemo... that's how they pronounce it here). Also, in the north they refer to teachers as Master, instead of Mister, so now whenever I pass a group I've stopped and educated I hear "Mastah jiemo! Masta jiemo! Hellooooo"

But the culmination of my understanding of what I've had to do here and how my town is unique came from finally receiving my Dagomba name. I finally, after almost a month at site (total including site visit), got a name. So many people ask "Ka a yule?...to...dagban-yule?" (What is your name...ok... what's your dagbani name?) And I have to explain "Nka dagban-yule" (I dont have a dagbani name). It made me sad every time, thinking about how my chief trip was so uneventful and noone else in the elder group wanted to name me like all my other PCV friends had been named. 2 Days ago I said that again and the person righted it. I had been named: Malititi (Mah-lee-TEE-tee) "Prepare the place for us. You have come with a purpose to our village, to do good things, so you will prepare this place for us." Bubu was there when I got my name so he translated it in the wording above.

Most times, as I explained, village names are given by the Chief, or at least a respected elder. Who was this prophet that bestowed a noble name onto me? The lady who sells me my tea bread. Which for me is so much cooler than a random name from a sleepy chief who doesn't even know why I'm here. Her naming me is totally atypical and odd but it totally fits for my town. It's great, it confirms the outlook I've set into of 1 on 1 for 2 years and I couldn't have asked for a better place to get a Dagbani name :)