Anticipation of my homestay and adopted family

Today we are at the University of Ghana at Legon, which is located on the outside of downtown Accra. It is our last day of lectures. In fact yesterday and today were our last two days of lectures. Yesterday we discussed the political history of Ghana since its independence on March 6, 1957. We also discussed the role of health care and how it deals with cultural views on treatment. We finished the day by discussing gender issues in Ghana. Today we will visit the children's ward of a nearby hospital, but first we have to attend one more lecture on religion in Ghana. I am pretty certain that we will discuss the role of traditional religion and the influx of Islam and Christianity. Earlier today we participated on a discussion about the geography of West Africa and we heard a lecture on traditional music and dance. The variety of topics that we have discussed in this visit to Ghana is amazing. Today is also our last day that we will be together until next Tuesday. Tomorrow we will all be dropped off one by one to begin our four day home stay.

We will all be dropped off at a home in a region north of Accra and east of Kumasi called the Akwapin Mountain Ridge. This is the part of the trip that is the most exciting to me because it will be a chance to see how a family lives. I am sure the family will be putting their best foot forward, but it will be interesting. I do not really know what to expect. Will Max put us with a poor family (by Ghanaian standards) or a middle class family. I do not belief that the family will be rich in a financial sense, but I bet they will be in the sense that they have a deep love of the culture of their country. Just about everyone we have run across here in Ghana seems to be very proud of a nation that has a lot of opportunity in front of it and a lot of challenges to face.

My biggest concern is of course not to offend my hosts. Ghanaian food over the four and a half weeks we have been here has not been very agreeable with my system, but I am hopeful that I can pull it all together for the home stay. I wonder what occupation the father is involved in. I wonder what occupation the mother is involved in. What are the interests of their children? How many children do they have? I am sure you can imagine the kinds of questions that are running inside of my mind.

I wonder if they are political in their thinking. Do they support the the party in power which is the New Patriotic Party (the NPP) or do they support the National Democratic Council (the NDC)? Like the US, Ghana is facing a presidential election in 2008 and like the US Ghana is waiving good-bye to an eight year president who must leave because of term limits set forth in the constitution. One difference between Ghana and the US is that the Ghanaian people seem to generally like their president right now. The president's name is Kuofor and he is referred to as the "Gentle Giant" because he is so calm in the face of controversy of which there is plenty because the former president (JJ Rawlings) originally took power in a coup de tat back in 1979. Rawlings then held power from 1982 to 1992 as a dictator and then as an elected president from 1993 to 2001. He is a threatening force and despite many calls for Kuofor to arrest Rawlings, Kuofor says it is important that freedom of speech and other civil liberties become an integral part of life in Ghana. I don't know much about him but Kuofor does sound like a gentle giant (by the way Kuofor is 6' 4" tall). Anyway, I hope my host family will give me their perspectives about the political situation as they see it in Ghana. I guess my only other really big concern is that they are bored with me and me with them. that would make for a long four days.

I brought with me a gift of a nice bathroom towel set accompanied with some dish cloths. I also plan to share with them a bag of candy. I will also arrived armed with a Polaroid camera so that I may leave some pictures behind. all and all I am very excited a bout the upcoming visit. I will try to put a new post up then. If the family at my home stay has Internet access, and it seems like a question that is OK to ask then I will ask them to type up a post.

I have offered an invitation to all of my colleagues to write their own post to put on this blog. So far, two have done so. Ida Malloy from New Jersey says she wants to put one on tonight, so check back a little later and hers may be here. Traveling for 47 days is tiresome and I look forward to getting home, but this has been one of the most valuable experiences I have ever had. It has exceeded expectations in many ways, but in a way that I didn't fully expect. I will try to explain more on a later blog post. See you all for now.