On the way to
Tamale (the crazy jackhammer bus ride--with a lot of joy from the help of the Lord and hymn-leader Fred), we'd switch seats every stop to get to know each other. I ended up sitting by this guy named Jahlove ("God's love", left, with my teammate Lea). I mentioned that we had a good conversation about the gospel in my email. Another cool thing about the conversation was that he took the time to fill out the first several pages of my notebook with language lessons! I had been feeling a bit behind with language learning, and God just dropped some in my lap. He was so patient to write it all out and listen to me practice. He also drew these pictures of Dagombas--particularly their dress and scars. Dagomba children are often given scars on their faces, with different meanings. Dagombas speak Dagbani and are usually Muslims.He told me that compared to Accra, Tamale is a lot like the way a chameleon walks. (I think this meant it's laid back and takes its time). I was glad to hear that.
Tamale was a lot more laid back. For orientation we were assigned a cultural mentor. I paired up with my teammate Benis (left), and our mentor was Salame (right), a Jr. Higher. We spent the day with her, taking a tour around town, and visiting her home. She volunteered to show us how to make T.Z.--pretty much the staple food in the North. First, we went to the bore hole (well) to get water, and I tried to carry some on my head. Man! It was heavy! I just barely ma
de it from the bore hole to the house without it tipping over, and it wasn't much distance. I'm amazed at how much Ghanainas can carry on their head, and with no hands! They train at a pretty young age. I didn't try that...although I later found out I'm pretty good with pizza boxes.Anyhoo, maybe I'll devote a blog to the process of making T.Z. It's intense!
Salame is sweet and pretty soft-spoken, and is mostly devoted to household duties when not in school. She shares her house compound with her landlord and his family, who are Muslims. Her mom is a seamstress (a common profession for women in Ghana).
It is common if you visit someone for them to show up at your place in a few days. So our mentors showed up the next afternoon at our guesthouse. I'm not sure what it would be like to entertain someone at your own home there, but we offered them water and snacks, and sat on the porch. One thing to know when entertaining is that there is no such thing as an awkward silence. We kind of all sat around a lot between bits of conversation, which was very uncomfortable for us Westerners, but totally normal for the Ghanaians. It's ok to just "be." I had an especially hard time I think because I always feel the burden to carry a conversation even at home. That would be something to get used to! But I think it would be different the more you got to know people. One nice thing is that they taught us how to sing "What a freind we have in Jesus" in Dagbani, and a few other songs.
I think my favorite moment in Tamale, though, was when the worship leader from the Baptist church, John Mohamma visited us. He's probably in his early 20s.He shared with us how much he loves to sing, and the difference between "praises" and "worship." Praises start out fast and joyful and you're just celebrating. Worship is when you begin to feel it resonating in your soul and you sing slower. We scoff probably a little at the distinction, but I wish you could've seen the joy and love for praising God in his face! So he led us in one of the beautiful Dagbani hymns. It's kind of cool because the worship leader usually has a kind of descant--a higher harmony that he begins once he's gotten the main singers going.
Here are the words:
Ti pura tali, kalpari a yuli
we greet you O Lord, we honor your name
Ta wuni wunam sheli khamzah
Great creator of heaven and all things
Ti pur tali
we greet you O Lord.
Here's us singing and dancing to the fast version the next morning. ( :
