Making Friends

Day by day or what you would say here “in short time” I’m feeling better about being here in Paga. I’ll just go through some randomly selected examples of my experiences here so far. Along the lines of my last post, I’ve starting talking more with the people living in the compound and made some friends. There’s mainly one lady Sophia, who’s been a world of help for me and a really friendly person to talk to. She’s kinda like my mom here in Paga so far. We have a couple good conversations about the lifestyle here in Paga and she’s taught me some valuable things like an easy way to wash my hands, how to greet people properly, and also helped me out by giving me water and a couple cooked meals so far. I was very hesitant to ask her or any of the other women for water or food because it didn’t feel right asking to be basically waited on. I talked to her about this the other day and told her how I lived alone back in Canada and did all my own cooking and cleaning so it didn’t feel right to have someone do it for me. I gave in a couple days ago and asked a small boy if I could pay him to wash my clothes because for one I’m clueless as to where the water source is, and second I don’t have large pales/basins to do it. Also, when Sophia gave me a warm meal I offered money and she refused and said it was taboo. She said that we are all one family in this compound and everyone helps each other and shares water, food, or whatever. But I persisted and tried to find another way to contribute and found out that I could buy some uncooked food in the market or other supplies to help chip in. So tomorrow I’m going to ask her what I can pick up from the market when I head out. On the whole, the more I step out there, swallow my pride and make the effort to talk and ask questions, regardless of the embarrassment and uneasy feeling, the better I feel. Ghanaians aren’t lying when they frequently say “you are welcome”, I just have to believe it.

(P.S. I’m going to take my camera out soon, maybe this week, if not then definitely next week. I just want people to be somewhat familiar with me so they don’t think I’m just another tourist who made the trek up to Paga to see the tourist attractions: the crocodile pond and the old slave camp. I want to start off on the right foot. Patience is a virtue, trust me. And I just tried to upload some pics with no luck, I'll try again next week in Navrongo )