Site Visit Part 2

Yesterday, Friday, I returned to Anyinasin from my site visit and job shadow trip.  It's nice to be back, but at the same time I'm really looking forward to going back to Bodada.

Last Saturday I met two of the three chiefs and two of three queen mothers in Bodada with the help of my counterpart and my headmaster.  I met one of the queen mothers who was just sitting in a store, went to the stool chief's house, met another queen mother, and then went to visit the chief of Bodada-Buem.  I didn't end up meeting the paramount chief or one of the queen mothers, but I don't remember which queen mother I didn't meet.  The paramount chief is basically the head chief of the area, but the stool chief has similar authority.  I'm not really sure what the difference is, but here's what I do know: every town has a chief (like a king-mayor, chiefdom is inherited); every region has a paramount chief (I think he's elected from the other chiefs but I'm not sure); and stool chiefs rule over regions as well.  The paramount chief and stool chiefs work together, but I don't know where the stand on the hierarchy.  I'm pretty sure that the paramount chief rules over a group of people, in this case it's the Buem people, and they choose the site for the paramount chief based on the safety and protection an area can offer.  Since Bodada is in the middle of the Buem area, and it's between two mountains, it's a very secure location.  I found this information fascinating, but I've probably bored many of you reading this already.

Each time you meet a chief or queen mother you have to go through the same formal greeting and introduction.  It goes something like this:

                "Good morning chief, how are you today? We mean no ill will and carry with us no bad news.  As you know, many months ago we applied for a Peace Corps Volunteer to come to Bodada and teach at EP JHS.  Thankfully our application was accepted and by God's grace our volunteer has arrived.  His name is Peter Vanney, but he's known as Ofah Yaw (I'm not sure how you spell it, but it means Uncle Yaw).  He's here primarily to work as a teacher, but he's also here to help all of Bodada.  He'll be leaving here on Sunday and will return at the end of August to stay for two years.  He's from America and will be learning our language and getting to know many people in the community. We've come to visit you to gain your blessing and to inform you that he'll be living with us."

So then the chief says, "Yes, you are welcome." and he goes around to shake everyone's hand (in a counterclockwise motion so as to never have the back of his hand facing someone whom he hasn't met [you only shake with your right hand]).  If you're meeting a queen mother, then the ceremony is over; however, if you're meeting a chief you are offered a shot of some alcohol.  In most cases it's akpeteshi, but sometimes the chief will have beer or Schnapps.  It's not impolite at all to decline this drink (just like America some people don't drink alcohol), but I have taken it every time it's been offered.

On Sunday the 15th, I went to church and then hung out with my counterpart and his friend Castro.  Church was a long ordeal, and since the pastor (my landlord) broke his arm on Friday in a motorcycle accident, a few different people gave sermons.  For a while everyone was worried that the pastor might have been seriously injured (you hear motorcycle accident and you know it can be bad), so it was nice to hear that he only broke his arm.  It was completely serendipitous that he broke his arm the day after I arrived, but I couldn't help but think some crazy people might connect the accident to my arrival.  Like I said, I am glad that it is only a broken arm.  Church only lasted a little over 2 hours, but since I had to sit up on the stage the whole time so they could introduce me to the congregation, it seemed a lot longer.  The sermons were mostly in Twi, occasionally they would translate parts into Ewe and Lelemi, but none of it was in English so I didn't understand a bit of it. 

The woman who was leading church in the pastor's stead introduced me as Ofah Yaw to the congregation.  Basically she went through the whole chief speech and then asked me to say a few words.  I thought this situation might arise, so I told them good afternoon in four languages (English, Twi, Ewe, and Lelemi), the crowd loved that. (Rural Ghanaians are almost always happy to see a white person, and they are especially happy to see a white person who can speak some of the local language.)  After that I didn't really have anything else to say; I just told them that I was happy to be in such a nice place and that I looked forward to meeting everyone more when I return in August.  Then they sang a few more songs, and church was over.

Godwin was late to church because he had to run out to one of his friend's farm to pick up a bottle of palm wine.  Palm wine is the fermented liquid inside palm trees, I'm hesitant to call it sap because it's ridiculously sweet and very watery.  I'll explain more about it in a later post, but it's really not too strong, between 5% and 12% alcohol.  Anyway, after church we went to Godwin's house and split a liter of it, and then we went to visit Godwin's good friend Castro.  We hung out there for a while and drank some more palm wine while watching a replay of the Spain-Portugal Euro Cup semifinal.  It was a fun afternoon, and I think I'll get along just fine with those guys once I return to Bodada.  I just hung out an packed up my things that evening and on Monday morning I left Bodada to travel to Saviefe Gbogame for my job shadow.  More on that next time.

PS These are my school break times if anyone wants to visit me of buy me a ticket back to America: December 14 - January 7, April 19 - May 13, and July 25 - sometime in late August.