Surprise! It's a Public Holiday!

In the Brandt’s Travel Guide to Ghana, which was kindly left here by former volunteers, Jamie and I learned that there are approximately 10 official public holidays in Ghana each year.  However, since our arrival, we’ve experienced two additional ones, which were not mentioned in the guide book.

On Sunday evening, at the house of our favorite neighbor, Irene (this neighbor) informed us that Tuesday (yesterday) was Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday,  and she had heard on Friday that it was a public holiday.  For Ghanaians, Kwame Nkrumah is a combination of George Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Their first president after declaring independence from Britain, Nkrumah was also a proponent of the pan-Africa movement, which still has some followers here in Ghana.

Because of the late notice of the holiday, Jamie and I actually ended up working for most of it.  Some of the teachers asked us if we wanted to go to the beach with them, but as we had already made work commitments we had to ask for a rain check.

Our commitment in the morning was at GIU International Christian Academy, a Korean-owned senior high school (SHS) located nearby in Golf City.  Trying to kill two birds with one stone, Jamie and I decided to skimp money on transportation and learn more of the surrounding neighborhoods by walking there.  After looking at the map they posted on their website and talking with Irene and Dornuki, we figured it would take us about 45 minutes to an hour to get there, so at 9am we left for our 10:30 appointment.  On the way, we actually ran into a student from Manye who offered to walk with us and show us the way.  As 10am came and went, with the school nowhere in sight, we decided to call the school and check the directions.  Trying not to run late, we hopped in a taxi, with the directions to take us to the Golf City Station; to our acute embarrassment, the driver basically retraced our steps from the past half, forcing us to realize that we had basically walked in a big circle and then started heading west towards Accra, instead of north. Oops.

We reached the school around 11am, but luckily meeting times in Ghana are much more fluid than they are in the US. Our conversation with the school’s director was really interesting. Jamie was able to charm him right away by speaking in Korean, so for the first few minutes they just chatted away about our background and what we do, while I smiled and tried to look polite.  Their school is very religious – much more based on Christianity than even Manye.  He talked about the importance of helping students (Ghanaians in general) meet Jesus as their personal savior, and from what we could tell, this was his priority, while education fell in behind that. He was really friendly though, and it was really nice for us to see another school other than Manye.  We decided to enjoy the lovely weather (not a cloud in sight) and navigate our way back to Manye. This time, the walk took just under one hour. But it was one hour in direct sunlight, and Jamie and I could feel the UV rays. (My first sunburn in Ghana – but don’t worry, it’s already almost gone!)

In honor of the holiday, and our slow but growing introduction to Ghanaian food, Irene invited us over for a late lunch.   The best part, from our point of view, is that social events like this count as work (wahoo!) because Jamie and I are trying to get involved in the community.  Irene served T.Z. (pronounced Tee Zed), which actually stands for Tuo Zafi, a very popular Ghanaian dish. It involved mashed corn balls -- kind of like banku or mashed potatoes, depending on your point of reference -- pieces of meat, and a SPICY (I’m going to have a mouth of steel come next August) sauce made from tomatoes, palm oil, red chili peppers, and green leaves that looked/tasted a little like spinach.  Traditionally, Ghanaians eat this with their hands, using the starch to scoop up the sauce, but Irene had kindly provided us with large spoons, which she encouraged us to use. For beverages, her husband served alcohol. This was the first time we’ve been offered booze in Ghana, as Mr. Kabutey doesn’t drink and doesn’t really approve of it.  We were hesitant to accept any of the Johnnie Walker Black Label that he brought out (so classy), but we did accept a local beer that tasted a little like Heineken. The meal was spicy, delicious, and very filling.  We didn’t have room for a real dinner that night, instead snacking on fried plantains and our favorite cabbage salad.

Despite the fact that we ended up working for several hours of the day, the slower pace was a nice break from our busy schedule over the past week.  We went to bed without showering (Madame Emma is in the process of changing the shower curtain) but well-rested and ready for a typical work day in the morning.