Little did I know...

...I could speak Twi before coming to Ghana!

First of all, some apologies are in order. The first is for my complete lack of editing skills on my last entry. For some reason, I thought I could write an entry in under 10 minutes as that was all the time I had left on my computer at the internet cafe. Next time that happens, I will buy extra time and do things properly. The second apology is for still not having any pictures to post to prove that I'm in Ghana. Trust me they are coming and when they do you will all be happy to see my shining face coming at you from the screen. Don't worry I look the same, although if this humidity keeps up I'll either be forced to shave my head or get braids.

Anyway back to my new found linguistic skill. As it turns out, I learned a song in Twi (the main Ghanaian dialect) many summers ago at Camp Hyanto. Our diocese had a Bishop visiting from Ghana and he taught us this song. I still remembered it because it was so beautiful but I completely forgot that it was Ghanaian and that it was in Twi. Anyway, on my way to work I read many phrases written on the sides of trotros and taxis. Most are Christian or Muslim messages and most are either in Twi or in English. I kept seeing the word "Nyame" which I recognized from the song I knew to mean "God". One day last week I asked my colleague Francisca if she knew the song and I sang a bit to her and she joined in and before you knew it I was singing in Twi! It was an amazing feeling and now I think I'm well on my way to learning more of the language. Ideally, I would like to learn Ga, which is the dialect of Accra, as many of the people here are from the Ga tribe. However, I was told that Ga is a harsh language like Dutch and that Twi would be easier to learn. We'll see where I get with both of them by the end of my time here.

In other news, work has been picking up at HelpAge Ghana which I may start referring to as HAG (not the nicest acronym, I know). I'm currently planning a host of media and fundraising events for the UN Day for Older Persons which is October 1st. We have a full week of events leading up to this day. The office environment is a lot more comfortable now that people know each other and we are working together on projects. Jody and I known in the neighbourhood too because there are too many "obrunis" where we work. I'm starting to feel a part of the community there whether it's buying lunch so much from the same ladies that they know what you want before you get there, or sharing my lunch with a young pregnant woman with children who lives close to the office. The feeling is nice. It makes the days brighter but inevitable go by way too fast.