What would a developing country be like if they didn't have power outages? Who knows lol, but I survived my first all-nighter. Through last night and today, the power outage lasted 16 hours. And let me tell you, it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be considering the other power outages I've been in here have been... Well less than favorable. Maybe it was because when I was awake I had the windows open, and when it was not outside I tried to sleep but it's a lot easier to manage when you don't think about it. Thank the creator of books on the iPad!!
Power outages, mother natures gift to women and riots outside my door... All in a Sunday in this village lol. It's fortunate that we have a great caretaker Chritiana, because without her I'd probably be lost. I was a mess due to mother naturs gift so I wasn't much fun. But with the power outage a lot of people just decided to stay outside and talk most of the day; conversations range from town marriages or the fact that one of the local women is becoming an important figure next to the Chief, "Queen Mother of the village", it was sort of confusing but I'll try to get the scoop tomorrow at the ceremony. The riot was actually connected, because with the power outages over the last couple of weeks, the lady hadn't been able to get inducted and with that a lot of villagers were upset. The people here are very passionate about their leaders, it's really refreshing. Even though the riot outside my door scared me... A lot. Once I understood what was going on it didn't seem as crazy. But there was banging, screaming, chants and just lots of noise. A lot of was in lelemay so I didn't understand but maybe after I see the ceremony tomorrow I will understand a little more about the transitioning of village leadership here. Something that is sort of weird though, is that most of the village leadership, doesn't actually live in the village though they have by far the nicest houses out of everyone. The village chief lives in a city called Kumasi, and the lady that is becoming a leader of the village usually lives in Accra I think. I still need to figure out if it's because of something specific, no one really had an answer on why they don't live here.
There had also been a funeral this weekend and Ghanian funerals are the celebration of all celebrations. They start by decorating half the village in black and red, then have many ceremonies around the village filled with testimonials, history and music to celebrate the person's life. It's actually a beautiful ceremony and people from all over come for these funerals, wearing traditional garb in different assortments of black. When we were in Ho Hoe, Hailey and I saw men and women marching in the streets, doing specific dances and carrying tribal instruments to commemorate a member of the Royal Family of Ho Hoe that just died. Some women marched wearing only white with their faces painted white, then in a separate march men chanted and danced across the streets with all the bells and whistles on. I think it's really amazing how Ghanians commemorate the dead, they celebrate age and they value wealth in children and wisdom, every single person is important to these celebrations. The music, the dancing, everything you learn is unforgettable. It reminds you that every person has a story, and every friend/family member/acquaintance had a purpose in that persons life. Every obituary is placed somewhere around town and they show every relative, every close friend, and a brief biography.
The things you learn on a Sunday.
Happy reading!!
OH AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUSIN JAKEY :) you're getting so big!!
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