LILLY'S WORLD STORIES

Friday, 18 July 2014

Countries presentation: China

You may all know a popular saying: "it all seems greek to me!". Obviously it stretches the incomprehension of another language or topic. In greek the same expression would raise even more confusion, since Greek is our mothertongue. For that reason our equivalent is : "It all seems chinese to me".

Greek and Chinese although they are both ancient cultures, they share no common characteristics. The philosophy, language, religion, history, martial arts of China feel so strange yet enticing. In our multicultural house, the chinese representatives could not have been missed. A Chinese boy and a girl surprised us all, when they jumped into the trotro to join us to a beach trip right after a twenty hour flight. Their traveling and exploring spirit stayed firm!

On China's Monday, the three Chinese overcame their cute introversion and prepared a very interesting and interactive presentation. When Daisy came in dressed in a traditional white costume, we had no idea of the performance she was about to give us. She got cocentrated and started a combination of slow and accurate moves. It was indeed a short Kung Fu display.

Later on, we were given a Chinese language lesson and all you could hear was "Nee haoww" (=hello) from at least twenty different directions. After we learnt to say hello fluently, we were given a traditional chinese brush pen in order to try our writting skills in chinese calligraphy.

At the end of that day I felt wiser, as a new world had revealed to me. Before that, I had little wondered about the cuisine or the way of life in the far away Chinese Land. Now I know that Chinese cuisine does not include only sweet and sour dishes, but there are parts of the country that the food is really spicy (no wonder now how Bill could eat all of his food at school). I also realized that none of my Chinese friends has any siblings as a result of the one-child policy. Moreover Facebook and Youtube are blocked in China as well as 2.701 other sites, as imposed by the internet censorship policy. It just dawned to me that posisbly my blog is not permitted in China.

三人一条心，黄土变成金 sān rén yì tiáo xīn, huáng tǔ biàn chéng jīn

- If people are of one heart, even the yellow earth can become gold. Chinese Proverb

Countries presentation: Nigeria-Benin

On the first days of the interns' arrival we felt the need to organise our nights in Ghana. The activities were divided between the working days and the weekends were free for traveling. Movie night, Salsa or reggae night, inhouse party, barbecue, game night and my personal favorite countries presentation. They were all written formally in a paper and hanged on the living room wall.

The first presentation was about Nigeria. Two happy Nigerian boys were challenged to present their country in a romantic, dark atmosphere created by electricity shortage. They talked about the vast nigerian population, the expanding big cities, the different religions, the recent sad Boko haram incidents. But it couldn't end differently but by a big nigerian party. It is believed that Nigerians always attract the lights and they really know how to party. The dances did not differ much from the Ghanaians, like many other cultural elements such us food and fashion. The similarities are explained by the proximity of the two countries.

Second in a row came Benin, a small African country near Ghana. They were much luckier than the Nigerians, as the electricity paid its tribute to their night. Three girls and three boys had prepared a power point presentation. Although their mothertongue was French and some were not very fluent in English, their presentation was great and did trigger a very interesting discussion about Voodoo.. I learnt that Voodoo is a traditional religion which used to be widespread in WestAfrica. Nowadays, while the majority of the population had converted into Christianity, some still believe in Voodoo, and at the same time in Christianity. The annual Voodoo festival which takes place on the 10th of January is celebrated by everyone, beleiver or not, as part of the forefathers tradition. We were also shown a video of a creature carrying a huge cone and swirling quickly. It is said to be a tortoise or a chicken, meaning normally incompitent to lift such weight and swirl at such a speed. All the presenters reassured us that they had attended such spectacles and that noone was hidden underneath that cone. The Voodoo spirit (Zangbeto) is believed to be responsible of that dance. What's more the python is worshiped as sacred and it is a tremendous crime to kill one. When someone meets a python on his way should change route and not walk past the sacred animal. Another abnormal activity of some people, that I had no prior knowledge of, is vanishing! They are thought to disappear from a place and appear in another. It vividly reminded me of my childhood dream: Apparition influenced by the magic Harry Potter world! The presentation ended by a very useful information for men that consider to visit Benin. Eric said in an exaggerating tone that if a man is hitting on someone's girlfriend runs a serious life risk. Of course another Benin girl laughed and urged us to not think in any case that a traveler in Benin is at any risk. Personally, I was convinced and I dare to say that Benin would be one of my next African destinations..

P.s. : The following pictures were found on google.

The door of no return, Ouidah

Zagbeto

Find out more about Voodoo here.

Voodoo - YouTube

Astronomy class

Every time that one great trip was over, I felt the anticipation of getting back home, and by home I mean the interns house in Accra. Batteries loaded for a creative school week.

At that time, the interns at school had doubled and two interns matched each classroom. In mine came a very willing, smiling Chinese boy. The students summoned him "Chineseman" and wellcomed him with Kung-Fu moves. He always smiled at them back and copied their moves. One day, as I was squeezzing my mind to find a way to capture the attention of our little students, I decided that the only effective way would be an interractive class. So I grabbed an Encyclopedia, I had found in a super market, and opened it randomly. Astronomy it was! Although I had no clue about this exciting science, I looked at the pictures and got an idea. The teacher made the introduction for us to teach. The students kept quiet. The plan was to imitate the rotations of the earth and the sun. I asked Bill (the Chinese boy) to make the Sun, while I would be the Earth, moving around him and around myself at the same time. After a well dizzy three or four rounds and equal time of childish giggles, we gave the flour to the children to show us what they've learnt. "Me, me, me!" Everyone wanted to swirl. So they did! The experiment worked. In the end I asked them "Is the earth moving?" and they knew the answer.

The same night we had a party at home. Next door to our cute place lived a dog. A very strange one. I had well-founded suspicions, that there was something wrong about it. Every night at 12 o'clock the dog barked in a frightening way, as if it was mourning or suffering. I was counting the stars in the endless sky, thinking at my students, when the clock struck 12! Some clouds hid the fullmoon and darkess covered the yard. The dog, or whatever this thing was, started its usual ritual. Standing in the dark alone, hearing this creature's scream, I realized that I had undergone a little transformation. The way I look at the sky will never be the same again. The curious happy faces of my little students will simultaniously come in my mind, no matter where I am. Maybe they will even remember that the planets are moving, when they look at the sky, and giggle at our funny pantomime.

Overnight at Benyin beach

At dinner time little groups headed to different directions in quest of food. I and two of my friends decided to ask recomendations from the locals. Two little girls waived at us. We asked them where we could find some food and they urged us to follow them. Soon our company became bigger. More kids joined us looking happy with such unusual guests. They assured us that our friends went to a nearby hotel to dine. I thought how strange, but at the same time sensible, it was that five people passed before us and got noticed right away by the curious kids. They looked also very confident that we were all friends. Our little guides escorted us gladly to the end of the village, where a senior instructed them strictly to return back. So they did unwillingly. At the hotel indeed we found our friends.

Later on the night our plans included a beachparty. A very kind local put up a fire for us, which, irrespective of our hard efforts, did not last long. It seemed that some of us did not feel like sleeping. The youngest girl from our company, eighteen years old, was sitting on the sand gazing at the mighty ocean. She happened to be teaching at the same school as me. I approached her and commenced the most sincere and deep conversation I had in Ghana. That night two girls, a Greek and a Brazilian one, shared the same fears, the same agony and the same unanswered questions. How essential is our help after all? Will our presence at school make any difference to the kids' life? What will happen after we leave? Are we going to continue our lives as if those two months never happened, while at the same time our little students will keep on struggling for a better life? No need to even utter our thoughts after a while. We sighed under the strong moonlight and looked at the endless blackness of the ocean.

Nzulezu - A village on the water

We were traveling all night. This time the trip had been very popular and no seat was vacant. In the morning we arrived at our beautiful destination: Beyin Beach. The scenery reminded vividly documentary scenes. The sea shore seemed endless. Exceptionally high palm trees were laying on the beach. Beach houses made by wood and palm trees' branches were standing on poles above the ground. Even the toilet was bizarly marvelous, while an open window was right ahead of it offering unrestricted view to the ocean.

We were all expecting to visit the unique village of Nzulezu (=surface water). As its name states a village on the water. The canoe station was at walking distance from the huts. We went aboard the big, but rather short canoe, and indulged the beautiful trip. At the beginning the passage was short and could not fit two canoes at the same time. Later it became wider and the nature thicker. In the end a big lake appeared- Lake Tadane. An incident brought be violently back to reality. A little local boy, who was traveling with us, sunk his bottle into the still lake water and took a big sip out of it. Instantly I remembered a similar scene from documentary in Siera Leone, which had made me crying.

After a while there it was. Nzulezu, a village on stilts nominated for Unesco World Heritage Site, was spreading in front of us. Photography fee paid and our tour among people's houses began. The locals seemed to be familiar with the tourists, for sculpted miniature canoes were on sale in the little shops and receipts were offered to the tourists. Other than that life on the village seemed to be usual. Women were preparing family lunch and doing the laundry while kids were playing around. The sole path led us to the school, which for some of our team had a sentimental meaning. A few years ago they had realized a social project, through the same student NGO, concerning the school library. When we were on the narrow corridor in front of the school, observing the outstanding spectacle of houses made of rafia on the water, a cracking noise was followed by a feeling of descending. Thankfully the corridor moved only by an inch or so and did not drop us into the unwelcoming lake waters.

The School

We were seated at an open air venue next to the school and informed about the history of the village. At the end, we were offered the floor to make questions. Some wondered about rubbish collection, electricity, rain issues, burial. There seems to be an "extension" of the village on shore,with which Nzolezu is connected and supplies it with the necessities. Moreover we learnt that "Thursday" is a sacred day at Nzulezo: no fishing is permitted and no tourists are allowed at the village. Snails are revered by the inhabitants, since it is believed that the early settlers or the ancestors were led there by a snail. Another interesting fact concerns the "judiciary system". The elders of the village and the chief, hence the most respected personalities, form a regulatory body and decide upon criminal offences, apart from felonies.

Leaving the village on the water behind, I and my Greek friend started singing Greek songs from classic black and white movies. Maybe this was the first time that the lake creatures have heard such peculiar tunes!

A day at the Paradise, in other words "Ada Foah"

Our exciting day had started by hiking in Afadjato Mountain, continued with swimming in Tagbo Waterfalls and would end with a beach party in Maranatha beach, or at least that was the plan. After the Waterfalls we headed to Ada Foah. From the narrations of Eduardo, a Brazilian intern, this place would be one of the most beatiful sceneries of Ghana. Every Saturday night the beach is transformed into an outdoor beach club, that promises a lot of fun. Everything was set. We had had contacted the owner of the resort and made reservations for the beach huts. A boat would pick us up from the one side of the lake and deliver us to the other, where the party would take place.

We were all anticipating to test and improve our dancing skills once again. But the way was long, the weather rainy and oops we also got lost. Consequently we arrived at the meeting point a little.. later than agreed. Something around one o clock at night. Needless to say that the party was over and no canoe was waiting for us any more. There was only one solution: to spend the night in our beloved trotro. That would be a bit of a mission, because this time every seat of the trotro was occupied. Thus there was no free space to stretch ones tired bodies. But it was not only us in the trotro. Mouldy clothes and sneaky tropical mosquitos were also accompanying us. The excess amount of the antimosquito spray did not cease their bloodthirsty attacks. Some of us managed to sleep, like the Chinese for example. A couple others stayed outside the trotro for the night. A French and a Brazilian guy were holding their laughter back while watching "Ice Age". I would switch between the three options, sleeping, "Ice Age", hanging out.

The fullness of the trotro

Next day morning

Finally, the time had come to visit our "Ithaca". It definately worths waiting for. The sun had just come out, the water was serene and the view hard to describe with words. High palm trees, painted in blue, pink and yellow, were poping up from everywhere. The doors of the beach huts were painted in a flag's colours (no matter how meticulously I searched, I did not find one in blue and white stripes). The traces of the previous night party were still tangible. At first we laid in the sunbeds in order to regain our horizontal shape. The lake was so calm that even Mario's (medical student's) warnings about protozoa infection hazard, did not stop me from diving.

Comfortable sunbeds

Beach huts for rent

A little piece of heaven

The transportation means of Maranatha

Later on, I decided to follow the bravest to the other side for exploration and swiming in the sea. Just a few steps away from the resort's area, the rubbish were forming small hills. The sea was just how I remembered it, wild and wavy. Some peculiar, almost transparent, white crabs were running around in great numbers.

A little further from the "touristic" area is laying a small village. The houses are built on the sand and made by palm tree fronds, weaved skillfully. The sun was burning and I was clever enough to not wear my flip flops. Thankfully Mario lent me his. Apart from rubbish hills, I noticed some other hills by shellfish, that in Greece are considered a luxurious delicacy. It seems though that shellfish and tourism has not influenced much the village, whose inhabitants face multiple problems. At some point we encountered a new school, in a basic structure. It does give a spark of hope for the future.

Ghana, Greece, Brazil, France

The way to the village

shellfish

Testing my balance skills

Travelers playing soccer with local boys

"The Tribe" Documentary by volunteers in Maranatha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Flying fourchette blog about Ada Foah

A tropical conundrum in Afadjato and Wli Falls

In our second trip we would explore Volta region, on the east part of Ghana, close to neighbouring Togo. The trotro picked us up in the midst of the night. The ride was so crazy that I preferred to sleep than to be awake and consequently aware of the extreme speed, overruning and turbulence on a bumpy dark road. Things went as planned until an extended horn noise and some blindingly powerful lights woke me up. Although we were in the middle of nowhere, a huge lorry was speeding right towards us. I shut my eyes, convinced that I would soon see my life in photo frames. A laughter of relief coming from Mario interrupted my thoughts and assured me I was still on earth. He said "I was just thinking from which window I should escape".

A few hours later we arrived at our accomodation to rest till the morning. Next day, still shaking from last night's drive, we were warmly wellcomed by the owners of the hotel. Milo, eggs, yums were served in the restaurant as a breakfast in order to load up our batteries for the rest of the day.

http://thethreemonkeys.com/

Next up was hiking on Mountain Afadjato. A silent teenage girl with short hair, some of which was grey, sold us boiled eggs and water. The way to the top was steep and seemed pretty long under the hot sun. Finally, we reached the peak of the mountain, sweaty and proud. A group of excited students surrounded us, the obrunis, to take a picture together as if we were any Hollywood actors. A sign congratulated us on our acchievement "Wao! You have made it! You are on top of the highest mount in Ghana! Enjoy the panoramic view!" . But the sign was soon refuted by the sight of one clearly higher mount right next to it.

As it often happens in a tropical climate, the sun was succeeded by thick clouds, which resulted in no time in heavy rain. And there we were: On the top of the highest (or not) mountain of Ghana, exposed to tropical rain. The struggle of the Chinese to maintain their dryness subsided. Soon we were all soaking wet but totally happy. The way back was transformed into a muddy slide. I took off my non-suitable allstars and kept sliding barefoot. Some travellers were not discouraged by the rain and mud, and kept ascending the mountain. By the time I returned at the starting point I literally looked and felt like a dirty pig. Luckily our next stop would be Wli Falls, where we could have a nice swim.

In a little while we were at the entrance of the Waterfalls. We paid the fee and walked through the rainforest escorted by a guide, who was holding a vast umbrella. He was very helpful and obviously expected a tip. As we were approaching the highest Waterfalls of Ghana, the sound of the falling water pounding on the lake became more and more loud. The moment I saw this amazing spectacle, I had no second thoughts about swimming. Everybody was in the water, knowing how to swim or not. The sand was moving at some places and the depth of the lake variated. The Waterfall was so mesmerizing that we moved as close as possible to it, holding each other and creating a human chain. The water was gently "whipping" our backs, like a good massage. The feeling of freedom was unique.