Belling the Cat

"Who is going to bell the cat?"

Kofi, our Twi professor, looks expectantly around our classroom, seeing that our faces are lacking comprehension, even though he had actually spoken English.

So he kindly then explained himself with a folk tale. There was a community of mice, whose numbers were dwindling because of the cat who lived near by. So they were having a meeting to determine what should be done to save themselves and one mouse suggested putting a bell around the neck of the cat so they could hear when he was coming. It was a great idea, but had a catch. Which mouse would be bold enough to approach the cat to put the bell around its neck?

Therefore, to bell the cat means to be the bold one to step up and make something happen.

And living in Ghana, where every day is a new adventure, I am learning to bell the cat.

My Intro to Traditional Dance class is a perfect example. Because of our schedule, Heather, a few other girls, and I decided to take DANS 102, which is NOT the obroni class. We could hear the drumming as we approached the building and could see the mass of people following the beat. Most of the steps are not that complicated, but making sense of the polyrhythmic music, and the syncopated arm movements with the steps is taking some time to pick up. But I absolutely love it. The teaching assistants are very helpful- and don't correct only us obronis! Last night, one of them approached me and I fully expected for him to show me once again how this arm thing is supposed to go. But he smiled widely and said "You got it going!!"

Monday I went to talk to Theresa, our director, about possible internships or volunteer work. Once I said I was interested in history or archives, she suggested the National Archives. I said that would be great and then she said "What are you doing tomorrow?" What? So soon? I thought. But I met her driver (which felt odd on a totally different matter), and we drove to the archives. I had no idea what to expect, and really didn't know what I was supposed to do when I arrived. She had given me a letter of introduction, so I just stepped up to the information desk, handed them the letter and stated my purpose. They looked kinda confused when I said volunteer, but eventually had someone lead me to the director's office. I awkwardly sat there for about five minutes before I was told that he was out but that I should leave my contact information. So I made the first contact and hopefully something will work out for me to help out the archives.

I was already nervous about taking Information Studies classes because I have never had anything of the sort. But sitting in the lecture hall as it slowly filled up with the other students I got even more anxious. I am the only obroni and no one else will talk to me. My Collection Development class had lecture today and I just loved hearing about how to manage a library. So I just need to have more courage to speak to the Ghanaians in my class to make new friends and contacts about our work.

My room mate Patience is helping me to be bold. Our first few days residing in the same room were a little tense because I think we were both trying to figure out how to approach each other. But once I tried to explain how my sunburn felt after my trip to the beach on Saturday, we have been having a wonderful time. She makes amazing fried plantains and thinks that since I don't like to drive, I should get a driver. Haha. Her dad works for Fan Milk, which is the biggest dairy provider for the country, it seems. But apparently he will visit and bring us ice cream? I think this is wonderful. And she is making me practice my Twi with her, which always leaves us keeled over in laughter. But she tells me that she can at least figure out what I'm trying to say and gives me English equivalents to figure out the pronunciations. I definitely lucked out with a wonderful room mate that provides nice insights to living here.

I tried banku the other day instead of eating the standard rice, chicken, bean stew or fried plantains. Banku is this dough ball thing made with corn that is really sticky. You take a tiny bit of it and dip it in soup or the tomato stew. It definitely filled me up, but it might be because of the weird consistancy of it. I was kinda proud I tried something new, and plan on eating it again, though not often.

A group of us went to the beach on Saturday, leading to the aforementioned sun burn. It was exciting to ride on a tro-tro without the help of Afiba, our student guide during orientation. I think I am starting to get the hang of dealing with the mates to find out exactly who is going where. Even going to the beach was an adventure for me, since I don't really like sitting in the sand and roasting myself for hours. But it was definitely nice to see the Gulf of Guinea. It was even more interesting people watching and continually telling everyone that no, I didn't bring any extra cedi for their necklaces/CDs/wood carvings/paintings/nail polish/etc etc etc.

I haven't had any marriage proposals yet. But I think my True Love Waits ring has been a bit of a deterrent, interestingly enough. One guy on the beach asked Paula, who actually is married, about her ring. She told him it was her wedding ring and then he asked about mine. I said it was a promise ring, and he didn't ask anymore questions after that.

Going to the library on campus I thought would be comforting because of familiarity. It was nice to use the card catalog, but soon I understood that their system was some crazy variant to the Library of Congress system. It doesn't help that there are tons of different collections, either at the main building or spread all around campus. It will take me awhile to locate my various readings, which I can't simply buy at the bookstore, and to determine exactly how much I really need to read.

Slowly but surely, I am stepping out and experiencing some amazing things. I think I'm going to market tomorrow. And then we are visiting Cape Coast this weekend. It blows me away every day what I get to do and learn and who I get to interact with. Hopefully I can report back soon that I am continually belling the cat.