Carrying Baby Jacinta - African Style!

Here's an update of my little namesake. She's getting quite chubby now, and is just starting to smile and interact a bit more. She recognises me I think, and seems quite happy to come to me - I sometimes babysit her for an hour or two and bring her to my house for a little play, then take her back home when she gets hungry!

I've learnt to carry her "African Style" - on my back, with a cloth wrapped around her tightly and twisted over at the front. Its quite comfortable actually, although I still need some help getting her in place to start with - its a bit of a balancing act. Sometimes if she's crying I put her on my back and start walking around and within about one minute she falls asleep! I walk to and from her house with her like that, and everyone laughs and cheers for me - "Hey Madam Jessie, you have a beautiful African baby"!!

Hopefully my photos upload OK....

When Strange Things Don't Seem Strange Anymore...

I'm sure that when we first arrived here I was goggle-eyed at everything that was strange and new to us. The first few days were filled with comments like "Look, that lady's carrying bananas on her head!" and "Wow - that man is selling giant snails!" But sure enough, you get used to it all after a while and it just seems normal.

The other day I was walking to the office carrying a plate with a cake on it, and had a sudden impulse to put it on my head! For some reason it seemed like it would have been easier, however I suspect would have been a big waste of a perfectly good cake, so I carried it in my hands like normal.

However some strange things still catch me by surprise - particular with regards to breastfeeding babies. The other day I was walking along and saw a lady carrying a baby in a football hold against her side, and breastfeeding while she was walking along! Mind you, her boobs were at about the level of her waist too...

Then, I visited baby Jacinta one day and when I walked in to their house baby Jacinta was sucking away on her Grandmother's boob!!!!! (I think her boobs are lower than her waist!) I'm sure I looked very surprised and said "Hey are you feeding her?" and she laughed and said she was just stopping her crying. Just like a dummy - except it never gets lost. As much as you get used to seeing it, I still don't think I'll be getting my boob out to settle Jacinta when I babysit her!

Another Marriage Proposal??

Over the past two weeks I've been doing a few trips to some of the local villages to meet people with disabilities or injuries - I'll write another post about that soon. However, when we go to the villages you have to go through a formal process of meeting the chief, who is dressed up in formal robes, speaking to his advisors and "stating your intentions". His messengers then sound a gong and tell the people and then you can go to meet them.

After the formalities, one of the chiefs at a village called Patrensa called me to sit beside him and said he wanted me to be his queen (his wife)! He's 92 years old, and apparently has 64 children!!!!! Sly old dog.... The chiefs are allowed to have as many wives as they like, and if you are one of his villagers you're not allowed to say no! He told me that he would "sack" his current wife and marry me, and then when he died (which could be anytime now) I could have everything - including 11 cars and 20 houses (including one in Brooklyn, New York where one of his children lives). Sounds like a good deal to me - Warren only has one old car, and half a house!!!

Queen Jacinta of Patrensa - how does that sound?!

Accra - good and bad

Due to Warren's dose of malaria we had to reschedule our trip away for his marathon, which means that we're here in Konongo for a further six weeks than we had planned when we did our big shop for supplies. So on the weekend we decided to do a quick trip to Accra for grocery shopping - that's 4+ hours on a very bumpy and crazy road to get there. It's one of the major highways in Ghana, but is being rebuilt at present - and I suspect for the next 10 years! So at the moment, half of it has been ripped up and because it has been raining a lot the dirt has washed away leaving large holes and canyons in the dirt. Its really not fun, and I'm beginning to dread those drives with a passion!

However, we do have the luxury of staying at a nice hotel at the other end of the journey - the Golden Tulip has a big pool, tropical gardens and a good gym and restaurant - and even makes a decent cappuccino which I haven't had since we left Perth (not even in France -has anyone else noticed that they don't have good coffee?!) We also met up with a friend, Sandra in Accra - she is a student (Public Relations and HR)at the University of Ghana, but did her summer work experience at the minesite. We got along really well - I think because she was the only person who understood our jokes!! So it was nice to catch up with her, and have someone else (apart from Warren) to have a decent chat to.

We did our shopping - and managed to spend about $1500 on groceries!!! Oh my goodness - it felt wrong! But hopefully that will last us for six weeks, with some extra local fruit and veg etc from Konongo. I'm definitely not making that trip again unless I really have to - so if our supplies run out we might be eating lots of Bean Stew until our next trip to Europe at the end of October!

Bean Stew Recipe

This is a recipe for a local Ghanain favourite - Rita has cooked it for us a couple of times now, we eat it for lunch with coco yams - and it seems to fill you up for the rest of the day. I'm not sure if you'll be able to get palm oil in Australia - its made from the little orange/red seeds that grow in big bunches on a palm tree. Its a thick red oil with a strong flavour. I guess that olive oil would be the best substitute (although I haven't tried it with that).

Ingredients:
1 cup Black-eyed beans (dried)
1/2 cup palm oil
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
4 tomatoes, cut into thin wedges
small tin of tuna, or other similar fish (herring, mackerel)
chilli powder to taste, or paprika if you prefer no heat

Method:
Boil the beans in water for two hours or until soft. Drain and rinse.
Heat palm oil, add onions for 1-2 minutes and then tomatoes. Cook for a short time until the liquid boils down a little. Add tuna fish and chilli. Add cooked beans. Allow to cook for a further 15 minutes until quite thick.

Serve with coco yams, yams, or bread or potatoes.

Apparently next we're trying snails (which are big buggers!) with a cocoyam (spinach) soup - hmmm???

Malaria Strikes!

Well Warren was supposed to be doing a marathon in Warsaw next weekend, BUT unfortunately he's been struck down with malaria this week!! Oh no - bummer! Last week I had a cold - felt bad for a few days and then got over it. So when he started complaining of flu-like symptoms I just thought he was being a bit soft. A few days later he was feeling worse, and was very hot in bed (that is, he had a bad fever and was sweating so much the sheets were soaked through)! So the next day he went to the little Russian Ghanaian doctor here, had some tests done and voila! he has malaria.

There are different strains of malaria - one kills you in six hours - thankfully he didn't have that one. More commonly around here you get a low-grade strain which makes you feel pretty awful - flu like symptoms, fever, stomach upsets, muscle pains and fatigue. Once you get the right medication for it you start to feel much better within three days, and he should be back running again in about a week. So he has cancelled that marathon in Warsaw and rescheduled for another one in Frankfurt, Germany in about six weeks time. Hopefully all will go smoothly until then!

Its the rainy season at the moment (the second and shorter rainy season for the year) so the mosquitos are out in force, and a few people at the mine have had malaria this week. The locals build up an immunity to malaria after they've had it numerous times in their life, so will only get mild symptoms generally. They usually have an injection for treatment and off they go again. I'm trying to stay out of harms way - our house is pretty mosquito proof, so I'll try to stay inside as much as possible, especially in the evenings, nights and early mornings. And/or use lots of insect repellent.... and fingers crossed....

Ethics of a Housekeeper

Before we came to Ghana I knew that we would be having a housekeeper here,and I felt rather strange about it all. I wasn't sure about having a "servant" to do all my household chores. It really felt wrong when you're so used to doing it yourself, and isn't part of our culture in Australia.

If you've been reading these blogs you've probably heard me mention Rita fairly regularly. She's our housekeeper here - she comes each day in the morning, and does the dishes, washes our clothes by hand (we don't have a washing machine), irons and sweeps or mops the floors. She sometimes cooks food for us too, but that's not part of her job description - she just likes to cook and teach us African food.

Sometimes in the afternoon Rita will go with me to the markets, and thank goodness because she knows all the good places to go for different things, and negotiates prices for me which can be a bit confusing at times as many people don't speak much english. She also teaches me little bits and pieces about the local culture and language - we have fun whilst I try to learn to speak Twi, or carry things on my head or learn to cook local food.

Rita left school at year 10, and doesn't have any further skills or training. She has a six year old son (but the father is not around), and lives with her mother, her sister and her two children (including baby Jacinta). Before she worked here, she was selling bread in the market and would earn about 1Cd per day (about 80 cents). Then she decided she would bring bread to the mine and sell it here, which is where she met the Project Manager, Roger, who gave her a job here as a housekeeper. She started working here when Warren arrived. She now gets paid about 200Cd per month, and also gets some other benefits - her family gets free accomodation in a house here at the mine village, her healthcare gets paid for and she gets two meals a day provided - so its a pretty good deal for her. She also gets spoiled by us - she loves chocolates and cakes, and we give her little presents or some extra cash every now and then. Its also prestigious for her to be seen with a "brunni" in town.

So I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't feel guilty about having a housekeeper - its a win-win situation for both of us. Rita gets a good job, and I get a clean house and a friend! How will I cope when I get back to Perth though?!!

Ghanaian Noughts and Crosses

This is a game that Rita taught me yesterday - its like a variation on noughts and crosses, but a bit trickier! I wanted to draw in a picture but my computer technical skills were no good, so hopefully you get the idea from my descriptions.

Draw a square on a piece of paper (or in the sand if you like!) - about the size of an A4 page. Draw lines vertically and horizontally to divide it into quarters, then draw diagonal lines from each corner to the opposite. So now you should have eight segments.

You have two players. Each player has three tokens - ie three little rocks and three little sticks. The aim is to get three in a row. Take it in turns to place one piece at a time on any of the junctions (ie the middle, or outside corners, or side edges). If you haven't got three in a row by the time you have put all the pieces down (which you most likely won't), you then take turns to slide one piece at a time along the lines to the next junction. You can only move one section at a time and you can't jump over another piece. Whoever gets three in a row first wins.

I beat Rita the first game we played - and then haven't won a game since!! Beginner's luck....

The rest of the holiday....

And here's some more about the rest of our holiday.

Our first week here seemed to go very slowly – we had lovely weather and spent a lot of time lazing about. Which was a bit of a mistake, because by the weekend the weather had turned yucky – cold, grey and rainy – not so good when you want to go out sightseeing in the mountains. We should have made the most of the good weather whilst we had it, but how were we to know it would change so dramatically?

So here’s a general recap of our holiday so far:

The whole purpose of this holiday has been a “running camp” for Warren in preparation for the Warsaw Marathon in about 4 weeks time – thus every day has incorporated running of some description, and gaining the benefits of training and living at altitude. We’ve been to Annecy (about an hour from here) a few times so that he could run on the flat alongside the lake – very picturesque. It’s a very tourist oriented town with lots of people around, sailing or on pedal boats on the lake, or cycling or rollerblading along the lakeside. We’ve discovered a nice little beach which is handy to have a quick dip in the cold waters after a run, and then wander through the old town of Annecy, and maybe have a nice ice cream to reward yourself for the good run!

Similarly, we went to Geneva one day so Warren could run at the lake there. It’s even busier than Annecy, very multi-cultural and I swear that everyone seems to be dressed in beautiful clothes, dripping with jewellery and with perfectly coiffed hair (except us in our sweaty running clothes!). The lakeside is a good example of what Perth could look like with a bit of good architecture and town planning – lots of cafes, public gardens, children’s playgrounds, outdoor concerts and buskers. Although I suspect a lot more people visit Geneva than Perth.

One day we went to the St Bernard dog training centre - they’re lovely big friendly dogs, but so sad looking with their big eyes and droopy faces. As per usual with animals, they loved Warren and he was convinced after visiting there that we should get a St Bernard when we get back to Perth, but I’m not so sure – too much drool for my liking!

The whole Chamonix valley is well equipped to support hiking (and skiing in the winter), with cable cars and telecabines or tourist trains up to the main peaks. The most impressive of them is the Aiguille du Midi (3842m), which is reached by two very impressive telecabines and an elevator at the very top. There's a great view of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe and you could see a number of climbers heading off on their climbing attempts.

We also took an old style train up to the Mer de Glace glacier, where they carve an ice cave each year into the depths of the glacier. The other mountain areas we visited were the Prarion peak, Le Brevent and Le Balme - all beautiful areas in their own way. We also enjoyed lots of good food - I've certainly overindulged in cheese, sausage and croissants and pastries - and have a few extra kilos to show for it!! Oh well, we were on holiday and we certainly don't get good food like this in Ghana.

You always hear other travellers say that the French people are not very friendly. I've never found that myself, however I was thinking the other day that whilst no-one here has been rude to us at all, they haven’t been overly friendly either – you only ever get a basic conversation “Bon jour, merci, au revoir... etc” to get things done, but nothing more than that. For example, we’ve been to the same cafe almost every day and the girls there haven’t even cracked a smile yet! If we were in Konongo and went to the same shop every day we would have been best buddies, and they might have even named their first-born after me by now!! I guess its just a different perspective – in Konongo white people are considered very highly, whereas in France anyone who looks or acts remotely English is treated with disdain. I feel like yelling out “I’m Australian, I’m not English!” I definitely miss the friendly people in Konongo, and always having someone to talk to – who would have thought I would miss Konongo while holidaying in France!

Overall we've had a lovely time in the mountains, and it will always have a special place in our hearts now after getting engaged here. Warren's back off to Ghana, and I have a few more days in Paris where I'm meeting up with my parents. Some more photos of that to follow.

Happy Days!

Exciting news! Which many of you may have already heard, but this is the first chance I've had to put it on my blog. Warren and I got engaged! This all happened while we were holidaying in the French Alps - one evening we were lounging in our deck chairs out the front of our little cottage on the mountainside watching the sunset, and Warren asked me then. He actually caught me by surprise - I had no idea that he was planning it- and I have to admit that I cried! And almost suffocated him in a bear hug...

So here's a photo of the ring (as requested by a few of the girls). Its one that I had spied in a shop in Subiaco a while ago and told Warren that I like it. This is perhaps an embarressing admission to make, but I have always liked sapphire engagement rings since I saw Princess Diana wearing one when I was six years old!!!! Ha ha - the true romantic in me comes out!

Warren told me that he accidentally threw the ring in the bin earlier in the day - we'd had a lovely day out where we ventured up a big mountain on the cable car, and then had dinner in Chamonix. He had been carrying the ring around in his pocket all day, then accidentally threw it in the bin with an ice cream wrapper! Thankfully he managed to retrieve it, and it was still sparkly and shiny - but much safer on my finger (although its currently too big for my ring finger so I'm wearing it on my middle finger until I can get it adjusted).

We're both very excited about it, and plan to get married somewhere in the Perth or surrounding areas next year sometime - rather vague I know, but its a bit hard to make any kind of decisions while we're here in Ghana. Will keep you posted.....