Church with Louisa

some kids in Kumasi
There is a woman named Louisa who sells baked goods outside of my dorm. She is somewhat of a celebrity, partly because she is a fixture on the bench, but also because she is very energetic and loves interacting with the students. She makes banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, pineapple pie, mango pie, and tuna pizza. (I’m not quite sure how successful the tuna pizza is…it looks and sounds terrible). She promises that her baked goods are “tantalizing” and that they will help us get A plusses in class. My friends and I started talking to her one night and she told us about her family who lives in the Volta region, her daughter, and her former job as a cook for a rich government family. We got the feeling that she had endured some hard times that caused her fall from that job to selling food independently on a college campus. We talk to her every night that she visits, and she calls us her “sweet ladies” and tells us that she wants to take us to meet her family in the Volta region. One night we asked her if she would take us to her church (she is roman catholic). Her face lit up and she said, “Of course!” So this morning we went to church with Louisa.
We met her outside campus at the tro-tro station. She was wearing a beautiful traditional outfit, made out of traditional African cloth. All of the ladies wear them; it’s a fitted shirt with a matching floor-length skirt. We rode the 35 peswas (comprable to cents) tro-tro to the Christ the King church. There was a mass before ours, so Louisa got busy introducing us to all of her friends who had just finished their service. She paraded us around before and after the service, introducing us to everyone and telling them we were students at Legon. The mass was pretty similar to the other catholic masses I’ve attended in America. There were some different prayers that I did not recognize, but the mass included communion, a sermon and hymns… except African drums accompanied the organ and a choir led the songs.
It’s really interesting to think about how devout many Ghanaians are. The country is about 60% Christian, and EVERYONE goes to church. In America, I feel like a lot of people associate themselves with a religion but rarely go to church (myself included). In Ghana, people actually practice their proclaimed religion. What’s strange to me is how Christianity is so engrained into the culture here. It’s not a traditional African religion, and I know that colonizers worked hard to convert the Ghanaians, but I would think that some elements of traditional religions would be apparent. This is not the case at all. Western customs of religion are so weaved into the culture.
After church, Louisa invited us to her sister Eugenia’s house for lunch. We all got back on a tro-tro and headed to her sister’s home. Mid-ride, Eugenia called Louisa and told her that she actually could not have us over for lunch because she had to go to a wedding. Just like that, she left for the wedding. (Another example of the casual nature of the culture). So Louisa called the other sister, Kate, who was happy to have us over. We took two tro-tros and walked through unmarked roads to finally arrive at her sister’s house. The house was very nice, with ceiling fans, a television, running water and a full kitchen, similar to an American home. Kate is a seamstress and her husband (whose name I could not understand) is an accountant who travels frequently to the UK. They have three children- two boys and one girl. Even though the family had already eaten lunch, they wasted no time getting our lunch ready. They made us fried plaintains, a salsa-like red sauce, and an entire fish each. The fish still had all the skin on it, complete with eyeballs and a tail. It was soo good. The entire time we were there, the family was so hospitable and welcoming. The husband chatted with us about politics, telling us how much he loves President Obama because he’s a “man of the people”. He told us about plans to modernize Accra roads (many of which are VERY bumpy and unpaved), including an overpass that they are building in front of the university. When we left, Kate offered to have us back any time to have her make us a dress, and the husband reinforced her invitation by saying, “you sisters are welcome to our home any time”. Their hospitality really touched me. They did not know us at all, and it must have been a little strange having three obrunis come into their house to be fed. We were so appreciative of how welcome they made us feel. It was a really wonderful experience.
School is interesting. A lot of the lectures are really basic material, like for my polisci classes we are discussing motivations for colonialism, and that can be frustrating. I have a great English class, though, and it's really fun being in class with Ghanaians and other international students. As for entertainment, my friends and I have to be pretty creative when it comes to fun things to do during the week. We try out lots of new restaurants, have movie nights in our dorm rooms, and play cards. it kind of reminds me of camping in a way- there is not a whole lot to do, but we always have fun. On weekends, there is great nightlife in Accra! The bars and clubs are really fun.

Classes are in full swing and our EAP group is going to cape coast this weekend for the Panfest! I'll be celebrating my birthday on the bus.