Kumasi: Enlightened about Culture

“CAST AWAY” LADY DANVILLE
You know those days where you pin down the perfect song to describe what’s going. This song is EXACTLY HOW I FEEL.
For some reason I feel like I am casting away to a place: Ghana. I do love it, ever second, but right now I still have a hard time understanding that everyone in the United States is still doing what they do, even though I am not there.

Kumasi Trip
This is the second biggest city in Ghana. It is in the Ashanti region…and is the capital of this region. This is kind of like Denver is the capital of Colorado, but Washington DC is the capital of the US (Accra is the capital of Ghana). The Ashanti people were one of the most dominate tribes in all of West Africa. It was considered, and is still considered, one of the MOST important inner country cities in Ghana. It was the main stopping route for slave trade and is know for its woodcarving, kente cloth, and Ashanti prints.

Traveling there
The VOYAGE TO KUMASI was a flash back. We start by driving through Accra and then into the mountains. The roads in the mountains are VERY poorly built, giving almost everyone on the bus stomachaches. This part of the trip was wondrous because of the foreign climate with the familiarity of MOUNTAINS (or rather Colorado foothills). There are two saying in Ghana I think fit my ups and downs. WWA (What a Wondrous Africa) and TIA (This is Africa (or if I am in a REALLY bad mood TIAB (this is Africa bitches)) really describe the ins and outs of culture shock and awareness. There are stages when I am COMPLETELY WIDE EYED about everything that is going on around me…and there are other times when I AM IGNORING EVERYTHING AROUND ME…and just trying to get to the next thing. Some days walking to class, I break out the ipod and jam to familiar tunes…getting through a down moment. There are other times when I open up and say hello to EVERYONE I pass. The mixture of feeling has to do with where I am going and how I am honestly doing. At this point, traveling to Kumasi, I was wide-eyed absorbing two regions I haven’t been to yet: Eastern Region and Ashanti Region.

RAW CHICKEN…THE BATTLE

After we arrived to Kumasi, we stopped at a restaurant to get some food in our systems. I ordered some chicken and plain rice. When my order came out I hungrily gobbled down my meal…but half way through I DISCOVERED THAT MY CHICKEN WAS COMPLETELY RAW! Yep, that’s right I was eating raw chicken. I told the owner of the restaurant that my chicken was raw and she got furious. All I wanted her to say was sorry and that she will try to double check the meat…this after all A RESTAURANT…not a market, not off the street…but a restaurant. She wanted me to pay 8 CD FOR A RAW MEAL? Well, she walked a way in a huff and didn’t let me pay. The moral is…I will not eat meal while traveling here…cause who knows what happens to the meat…if it is cooked or how it is stored. I became VERY WORRIED. I have been sick twice already from malaria and bacteria…the LAST THING I NEED IS FOOD POSIONING. Luckily I was just exhausted from my recovering bacteria infection and never felt the chicken.

Asante Palace: Manhyia Palace

We stepped off the bus and looked at a building that looked like a very nice house…tropical…but nice. There were peacocks (a symbol of the people for bravery) all around and a fountain with a porcupine (a symbol of the people for toughness when in battle) in it. This place was the previous home to two Ashanti kings. About 10 years ago there was a newly constructed building for the current Ashanti king…which was LITERALLY right next to this building. I was about 300 meters away from the current king of the Ashanti region…SO CRAZY. We watched an informational video about the Ashanti people and then toured the house. This museum was FULL of artifacts and information. Anything that a king touched was valued. There are about 25 chairs in the museum because any chair a king sat on…NOBOBY ELSE would be allowed to sit on it…EVER.

This region…that used to be a HUGE EMPIRE is where Twi originated (this is the language commonly used in Accra and I am auditing a course in it).

Kente Cloth making…a little background:

“Of all the crafts practiced in West Africa, few are more readily identifiable with a particular country than kente cloth with Ghana. Strongly associated with the Ashanti, modern kente is characterized by intricately woven and richly colorful geometric designs, generally dominated by bold shades of yellow, green, blue, orange, and red. However, in its earliest form, before the introduction of exotic fabrics and dyes through trade with the European castles of the coast, kente cloth was somewhat less kaleidoscopic, since white and navy blue were the only available dyes.”

We stepped into the small structure filled with color and weaving structures. There were about 15 weavers ready to sell their pieces. I got the chance of doing a bit of my own weaving. When I was in elementary school we did several weaving projects and this system was very similar to that…other than it was a bit more complex…OKAY WAY MORE COMPLEX.

I REALIZED how different each cloth was…and that each had an entirely different meaning. This culture I am trying to understand, piece by piece, has so many beautiful presents…waiting to be discovered. Sometimes I feel like a detective…finding the new piece of “secret information”.

Adinkra Symbols

There are MANY DIFFERENT Ashanti symbols. All of them have rich and powerful meanings:
“More than 60 different adinkra symbols are in use, each of them signifying a specific tradition or proverb. The most popular of these is the rather Chinese-looking Gye Nyame, symbolizing the omnipotence of God, and is easily recognized since it is depicted on the 100 cedi banknote.”

My favorite symbol…which is temping to get a tattoo in is the “sankofa”, which is a heart-shaped with two whirls inside. This encourages building on ones cultural roots and giving back to society (which is what I want to do for the REST OF MY LIFE, as a teacher).

These symbols are often put on Kente cloth or on fabric. I purchased a purse with “sankofas” ALL over it. The creation of these symbols is through the soaking of tree bark with water for days. Then the water is boiled and finally ready to use. The creation of the liquid is very ritualized. I was able to participate in the creation of the liquid by pounding on it and using the liquid in my own printmaking stamps (on some kente cloth).

The uniqueness and variety in this creation was fascinating. I wanted to stay and absorb the skill in adinkra symbol making. Something on the silly side: a new stamp has been created for OBAMA…funny INDEED!

Woodcarvings
Woodcarvings in Ghana are ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. The rich in colors, the smoothness in the wood, and the pure loveliness of the act all make up the experience of watching someone carve the wood.

We spent the majority of the time with the woodcarving looking at the beautiful creations and deciding which ones we would like to bring home…and then bargain for them.

SHOPPING UNTIL YOU DROP
The idea of commercialism repulses me after being in Ghana for seven weeks. I just can’t imagine wanting things and stuff after seeing so much poverty…and teaching children that endure the poverty. Alas, when in Kumasi, I HAD to buy plenty of souvenirs…because after all how often does one go to the continent of Africa? What helped me swallow the greed, which was knowing these families I was buying from would be using the money to feed and education their children.

Bargaining is something, oddly enough, I am getting a hang of. The trick is to walk away from the person to illustrate how serious you are about the price.

Similarities and differences of Accra to Kumasi

Accra is SO MUCH DIRTIER…the chaos in Accra seems to be to the next level. Yet, this dirt and chaos is what I am familiar with…making Kumasi something NEW AND DIFFERENT. I would like to come back to Kumasi. We were only able to explore their HUGE MARKET for less than an hour…not enough time to absorb the culture…there did seem less people calling us Obruni…because the size of the market was significantly larger.

Hotel

We spent two nights (Friday and Saturday) in the guesthouse at the local university. It was a surreal experience having Air Conditioning on the bus and in our rooms….What is this? America? I had some very odd flashbacks to the past three years of field hockey and ALL THE UNKNOWN HOTELS, traveling through the United States in pursuit of the AMAZING GAME OF FIELD HOCKEY…A SHOUT OUT TO THE FIELD HOCKEY TEAM…which I miss dearly and thought of you lots during this trip. The simple luxuries of AC and hot showers (I had my first hot shower in 7 weeks), catch me off guard…oddly making me want to stay here even longer…I don’t want to go back…EVEN THOUGH I DO MISS PEOPLE SO MUCH!

Traveling back

We headed back with many souvenirs…the bus was crammed to the rim. We all drifted in and out of sleep wanting to be back as soon as possible...traveling back seems to DRAG ON…no matter where you are going…because you just WANT TO BE BACK! Along the way back we stopped on the side of the road and got some traditional pots. These pots many Ghanaians use for eating and crushing many seeds. Collecting these dishes I felt a bit closer to the culture. I hope to create a purely authentic meal for my sister when she visits…so preparation here I come. 