thesaurus

my peace corps service will be ending in less than six months. it is a strange thing to think about. 

going home will be weird. it will be one of those times in your life when you know you've changed, but you can't see where or how because it has been gradual, and then being back in a new, yet old environment will make everything seem very drastic.

i know i have changed. 

one way is my speech. i use ghanaian english a lot. sometimes it is on purpose, either teasingly or simply to make a point clear to the ghanaians with whom i am communicating, but sometimes it just slips in, even when i am with other americans or even talking on the phone to family. 

because of that, i suspect i'll have trouble with that when i get back to america.

so, when you talk to me in america in six months, here is what you need to know about my vocabulary:

"somehow" means "kind of" or "somewhat."

"small small" means "a little bit."

"paa" after anything means "very."

"are you having?" means "do you have?"

"i'll go and come" or "i'm coming" means "i'll be right back."

"moto" means "motorcycle" or "motorbike."

"watah" means "water."

"link" (as in "the link is down") means "internet."

"small time" means "see you later" or "talk to you later."

repeating any word (such as "more-more-more" or "small-small-small") means emphasis or very (this one is more sign language than ghanaian english though!).

"pick" means "pick up" or "get" or "answer the phone."

"cock" means "rooster."

"drop" means to exit a taxi or bus.

"two days" means "it's been a long time since i've seen you."

"pants" means "underwear."

"trousers" means "pants."

"in fact" means "i agree" or "it's true."

"sorry" means "that's unfortunate" or "i'm sorry" (regardless of whether it is my fault).

"flash" means to call someone and then hang up before they answer, the ghanaian equivalent of voicemail.

"football" means "soccer."

"abah" means "ugh!" or "come on!"

good-bye harmattan

harmattan ended two weeks ago. it was a very abrupt and much too early end. harmattan is the dry, windy season. although it was very dry this year, and very windy, and everything was constantly covered in dust, and my feet were cracking from the dryness, i was really enjoying the cool weather. at night, even with the fan off, i was cool--even sometimes cold. during the day was often fairly pleasant. 

but then, so suddenly, humidity swept through. suddenly i could not stop sweating or drinking more water, and now even the highest setting on my fan is sometimes not high enough.

and actually, a week ago it rained. it was weird: last year, we didn't have a drop of rain from november until easter. but this year we got a surprise rainstorm at the beginning of february. i worry, because some people tell me that is an indication that an extra-hot hot season will be coming.

SNAKE!

ghanaians don't like snakes. this is understandable, since most of the snakes found in ghana are the bad, poisonous ones. so anytime anyone sees a snake, they do whatever they can to kill it.

so today there was a snake near the classrooms. i was upstairs, so i got to watch from the balcony. down below, suddenly, a bunch of men started chasing after something in the bush. they formed a circle and were throwing big rocks. more and more people gathered, until suddenly, YEAH! and i could then see the white underside of the now dead snake.

it probably became someone's lunch.