I woke up at 5:45 because I had to be in the dinning hall by 6:15. Breakfast was such a let down. They only had these weird roll things. They didn’t even have cereal. It was so disappointing. So I ended up having a granola bar that I bought in Canada.
We boarded the bus and headed to Torgorme. We got there after about 1½ hours of driving.  The entire village greeted us. It was so cool! They led us to our seats and then the welcoming began. They gave one of the most touching welcome speeches I have ever heard. This village really opened their arms to us. They then did a prayer from the local holy man and the chief entered. We all stood and then went and shook all the village elders hands. The chief hand some major bling going on.
After numerous dances from the village children ranging from the ages of 4-14ish, the naming ceremony began. The day of the week in which you were born is very important in their culture. SAS had provided them with our birthdays so they knew what day they were on. Everyone’s first name, or birthday name, is the name that corresponds with the day of the week they were born. For example, I was born on a Sunday, so my first name is Akosua. Then their second name is what they call their local name. My local name is Sitsofe, which means, “shelter”. So my name is Akosua Sitsofe. I don’t remember what the names were in that dialect, but some of my friend’s names were:
        Mackenzie – “My Creator Loves Me”
        Kelsey – “Day of Joy”
        Kristin – “Courage”
        Katie – “Patience”
        Jeremy – “Wisdom”
How the ceremony worked was that our names were called and we went up where we presented our left wrist (right if you were a guy) and a woman tied a bracelet around it. Then a man presented you with a pot that they have made in the village with your new name on it. The village is known for their pots. The pots are really smooth and round, but they do not use any sort of wheel to make them. It’s pretty amazing.
After the naming ceremony, there was more dancing and some poetry readings and soon the welcoming ceremony was over. We then got to meet our host families. After everyone met their hosts we all gathered around the chief and took a picture.
We only had enough time to grab our stuff off of the bus and put it in the house we are staying in. Me and three other girls are staying with a woman named Maggie. Brittany and me are in one room and the other two girls are in another. We had some quick introductions and then we were whisked away to the local mess hall for lunch. We had rice and French fries, fish and this goat stew stuff. I have been forcing myself to eat fish on the ship just because there really isn’t anything else besides pasta, but I couldn’t make myself eat this. It was literally a fried fish and you could either have the head or the tail so I settled for goat. It was actually pretty good.
After lunch, there was some drama about the next day’s itinerary. There was some debate about changing it from hiking the highest mountain in Ghana and visiting a monkey sanctuary to going to a nature reserve and seeing baboons and caves. Tom, our trip leader and the cop aboard the ship, wanted to do the later and was proposing it to the group. Needless to say lots of arguments ensued and we just said we would figure it out the next day.
We went back to the village and met back up with Maggie. She planted all of us firmly on her porch thing and let us watch her cook. It was awkward because she really wasn’t talking to us and we all just wanted to walk around the village. Watching her cook was entertaining for about 2.5 seconds. One thing that I did think was interesting was that one of the first things she told us was that Torgorme was now our home and when we graduate we need to send them lots of money….um no. She also kept asking Brittany (who has a Canon 5D) and I to leave her cameras with her. Again…um no. She said that they needed the money because they needed to clean up the village, which was true and I totally could have gotten behind that, but she told me this as she opened a tin can, emptied the contents into the pot and then flung the can into the street where small children run around barefoot.
Kelsey and Kristin joined us a little later with their host and sat and talked with us. The next thing I know I see little Ryan (who is kind of like my little brother on the ship. We have extended families on the ship and his mom is my mom, her name is Christie. Christie, her husband Jay, her two sons Ryan (4) and Luke (5), and her father in law Milton make up the Orris clan and they were all on the cultural immersion with us) running around being followed by about 20 kids. He was really overwhelmed because these kids are very physical with one another and he is not used to that. He had gotten separated from his parents because he went off chasing goats. He was trying to find his parents and these kids are just dragging him around. So I got up and went over to him and at first he wouldn’t even come to me, but he eventually let me pick him up. So Kelsey and I went off in search of Christie and Jay. We eventually found them and I had escaped Maggie. Ryan had fallen while he was chasing goats, so I went with Christie and Ryan to the first aid station at the village. I eventually just sat outside and played with the kids with Kelsey. After leaving Ryan, Kelsey and I met back up with Kristin and their host. So I just walked around with them and we went down to the school. We saw the play area that they had for soccer and volleyball. We also saw the classrooms. At this point another girl from the village joined us named Cecelia. She told me she was 14. The school was really sad. They really had no supplies, but they were making the best of it.
From the school we went down to the riverfront. It was so beautiful! It reminded me a little bit of the boundary waters, but not as big. After the riverfront, Kelsey and Kristin went back to their house and Cecelia took me back to Maggie’s. I had no idea how to get back to her house from where we were in the village. On the way back Cecelia took me by her house and I met her mom and her littlest brother. When I asked her about how many brothers and sisters she had she just said “I have plenty” which I thought was really cute. At one point we walked past these people and Cecelia stopped me and told me that we had to greet them and I totally kept on walking…whoops. But I came back they just laughed at me as I tried to say I was sorry. It amazes me at how formal their society is. That was the last thing I was expecting out of Ghana.
When we got back to Maggie’s I couldn’t find anyone. So Cecelia asked around and found out that they were down at the fields. So we walked down there and I met back up with the girls I was staying with. We hung out and played with the kids a little bit more before we headed back to Maggie’s to load up on bug spray before dinner. I still haven’t seen Maggie since I left the house with Ryan. While waiting at the common area for dinner we played with the kids. These kids are adorable. I want to take all of them back with me. All they want to do is just hold your hand. At one point I think I had 3 on one hand and 2 on the other. We played Ring Around the Rosie and London Bridge. The kids got a kick out of it.
The next thing I know Brittany is taping me on the shoulder saying we are sitting over there and then warned me that Maggie was mad at me. Before I can even sit down at the table Maggie is yelling “Why did you leave? It not good for you?” I am trying to explain that I came by the house, but no one is there and then she started yelling “You Lie! You Lie!” I just gave up and sat down. Then she just walked away. Apparently she had yelled at the other girls too. I guess she was giving us the typical Ghanaian family experience. It kind of sucked because it was such a bad way to end a fabulous day. The rest of the night we did whatever Maggie said. If she wanted to dance – we danced. If she was tired, so were we. None of us wanted to get yelled at again. I am just glad that she didn’t resort to beating us with the sticks like they do the school children. But she did force us to have these drinks called Malta that are made by Guinness. It is basically all the barley and hops in beer, but without the carbonation and alcohol. So basically, it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. Maggie wouldn’t let us leave the table until we had finished our drinks. There was no way I was going to make it through the whole bottle without getting sick. Luckily, she got up and walked away for a minute and Brittany and I poured our bottles out and kicked some dirt over it.
After some dancing, we headed back to her house to go to sleep. I use the term house loosely. It was this little mud brick type thing. But we did have electricity and a fan! I actually had a mattress and it felt like I was sleeping on a marshmallow. I melted into that bed it was so comfortable. The best part was the fan though. It actually made the heat bearable, especially since we were sleeping in long sleeves and long pants to avoid mosquitoes because I really don’t want to get malaria.