(Mostly amusing) Things to Remember

What follows are a few random things that I thought were amusing or things that didn't fit in any other blog that I don't want to forget. But mostly they consist of the former.

Princess Tyra- I know I mentioned a little bit about this before, but there's so much more to say. Princess Tyra is a Ghanaian movie that depicts the clash of tradition and modernity, with royalty, romance, and class issues (like rich and poor, not like classy... although, one may argue that there were indeed some of these class issues as well). The plot isn't all that important to what I'm about to share with you. First, the main character, Mefua, is a ways into her scandalous pregnancy and gets rushed to the hospital whilst experiencing intense and prolonged pre-labor pains- as she is shoved into the back of a taxi by her caretakers, sweating and moaning prolifically, we see she is wearing a plain gray t-shirt, screen printed on which in plain black letters are the words "Dolce and Gabana". Second, Mefua's long lost twin, Ashley, gets cornered in a large park by two assassin thugs who shoot two "warning shots" into her thighs, and then leap in a taxi that pulls away, the rear window emblazoned with the word "Culture". Third, the four songs that make up the soundtrack must be noted:
1- a midi sounding bit used during suspenseful moments
2- a song that was reminiscent of the theme for Mr. Roger's Neighborhood during touching moments
3- the "Princess Tyra" song that played whenever Princess Tyra was on screen. The lyrics are as follows- "I am a princess. This is my kingdom. My name is Tyra. This is my world. Beautiful kingdom, where I come from, is a land filled with milk and honey..." a calming and peaceful melody accompanies this refrain, the irony being that Tyra is, for lack of a better word (and pardoning my language), a bitch.
4- the last song is another original composition for the film, played whenever something unfortunate and tragic happened (which was very very often). The lyrics- "Life. Liiiiiife. Life... is a bittersweet mfdgh...." (we could never catch the last word). The group has taken to singing this song whenever something seemingly tragic befalls us.

Arnold Schwarzenegger-For the first week we were in Cape Coast Anna's host sister was home from work (school?) because she had malaria. She watched much TV during this period, but literally everything that Anna saw her watching was a vast variety of Arnold Schwarzenegger films. This confusing pattern led, in our minds, to the possibile existance of a chanel devoted to nothing but the govenator's works. Turns out that it was just a DVD collection, but I was a little alarmed for a few days there.

Flag Seller interaction- The following interaction took place while I was on our bus in Kumasi traffic:
Vendor (selling an assortment of small flags): Where are you from?
Me: America.
Vendor: I have American flags.
Me: No, thank you.
Vendor: (pauses and stares at me, defeated, then-) I love you.
Me: Thanks. (Bus pulls away)

Commercials- There are many advertisements that baffle me here, but my first favorite is one that advertises Indo Mie. Indo Mie is basically ramen type noodles. One commercial shows a women cooking Indo Mie to demonstrate how easy it is. The best part is when she says, "I love Indo Mie so much, look at how much I have." She turns around to open her kitchen cupboards, and there is literally nothing in there but stacks upon stacks of Indo Mie. It's like the woman is running a side business out of her home as an Indo Mie distributor. Then her kids get home from school and run in for dinner whilst singing the Indo Mie theme song. I don't know why this commercial tickles me so. Probably because the advertising shows people, like people in the real world not just starving college students, who have an intense love for ramen.
My second favorite advertises Coastal Milk. A husband calls his house to talk to his wife, but (it is a bit unclear what exactly happens here) he hears her moan and thinks that she's having an affair. The man storms out of his office and drives home to see what's up. Before he walks into his house he grabs a basball bat (Do they even play baseball here? And what exactly is he going to do with it?). Once he steps inside he sees his wife take a sip of her tea and make the same noise- he figures it out and hides the bat behind his back. He makes up an excuse to his wife about forgetting his phone and needing to come back, but then his phone rings in his pocket, and the wife cleverly figures out the real reason why he came and just shakes her head. The parting catch phrase for Coastal Milk, as the commercial ends, is: "Coastal Milk- Finally, milk just got creamier!" Amen, Coastal Milk, amen!

Carnival- While in Benin there was a carnival set up about 5 minutes away from our hotel. It was a strange feeling to be at what I perceive as a rather American pastime in Africa (that is, I suppose, partly why I went on study abroad. You know, to expand my horizons and learn and all that... also notice in what ways American/Western culture has infiltrated much of the rest of the world. Where do carnivals come from anyway?). It's a strange day when one feels homesick because of a Ferris Wheel. Anyway, it was rather charming and a wonderful evening full of bumper cars, high flying swings, and adorable Easter decorations.

Stars- When we got up at 4am to drive back from Benin to Cape Coast, the stars were out. Kelsey told me that she'd heard that because Ghana is so close to the equator that it goes through both the Northern hemisphere stars and the Southern hemisphere stars in a night. We tried to discern whether or not the sky was indeed showing the stars of the Southern hemisphere, but it was a little tricky. I'm fairly familiar with constellations in the Northern hemisphere, but know nothing about the Southern. The only constellation Kelsey knew was the Southern Cross, but she was unsure if she would be able to pick it out after seeing it for such a brief time in South Africa. Since neither of us could find a Northern constellation we knew and were able to pick a fairly large and prominent cross shape out of what was there, we decided that we had indeed seen the stars of the Southern hemisphere. Neat!

Ghanaianisms- There are several common Ghanaian turns of phrase that I would like to share.
Small small- example, "How many of my fries did you eat?" "Only small small!"
Pass here- used to indicate where one should walk.
Pick a call- example, "Why did you not pick my call?" "Because MTN sucks and I didn't get your call."
Uh huh- I can't really describe this one correctly online. It's kind of a an-huuunh in affirmation while someone is speaking.
______-O- example, "Sorry-O" or "I'm coming-O", used for emphasis
I'm coming- I know we say this phrase in America, but it's used frequently here and in some interesting ways. If you need to leave a room but will be back one says, "I'm coming" and then leaves. Or, if you're waiting for someone, they will reassure you with this phrase that they'll be with you in a minute.

Dubbed Soap Operas- Dubbed anything makes me crack up. Dubbed awful Latin American soap operas kill me even more. Pasion, Catalina y Sebastien, Until my Dying Breath, etc. Anna is obsessed with Pasion, and was very adamant about watching it during our time in Accra. I am unsure as to why there is such a proliferation of these shows on. Perhaps Nordia's ISP on the media will help to clear it up for me.



I know this post was a little random, but I hope you enjoyed reading about some things I have learned, experienced, and been amused by.

Only a week left... that's a little too bizarre to think about right now, so I won't. More later!