On this day when Americans eat turkey, I am reminded of the expression "to eat crow"...perhaps because I don't eat birds of any kind.
To eat crow means that you made a mistake and have to acknowledge it humbly.
When a crow dies it shrivels up and even insects won't eat it. And in Ghana where people eat cat, dog,and large rodents they don't eat crow because they believe that crows are witches in disguise.
I do know for a fact that Ghanaian crows are large, extremely noisy and easy to spot because they look like they are wearing white T shirts.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
from 37 to Medina
-----http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTA2i0nPIM&feature=youtube_gdata
After the previous post, I owe you something less serious.
If you've been to Africa you'll find this very funny.
BTW: an Obroni is a white person. The driver is saying that the mate is good for business and when he doesn't show up for work the passengers are unhappy.
After the previous post, I owe you something less serious.
If you've been to Africa you'll find this very funny.
BTW: an Obroni is a white person. The driver is saying that the mate is good for business and when he doesn't show up for work the passengers are unhappy.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Pastors in Nigeria denounce children as witches
This headline is over a story in the Boston Globe that tells about a father who poured acid down his sons throat after the pastor accused the boy of being a witch.
The boy is dead.
It's not just in Nigeria. In Africa if you don't like someone just accuse them of being a witch. That pretty much finishes them. They may not die, but they are shunned and that can be just as bad. When I asked why one of my neighbors in Ghana was a witch, the proof was that she didn't cry when her husband died.
This is the husband who mistreated her and disappeared, leaving her with 10 children to support.
In the States halloween was celebrated last week. There were lots of little witches wandering around and everyone said they were so cute. Even a dog was dressed in a pointed hat. Can you imagine what an African would say about that?
There were houses decorated with witches and ghosts. Ghosts? My, my...we don't even talk about ghosts in Africa.
In Salem, not far from Boston, witches were burned at the stake. There was a frenzy in the community and many "witches" were put to death. The story goes that slaves told stories to children and the children started to see witches.
My fascination is with cultural differences, and this one is a doozy. It might even be funny if so many corpses hadn't piled up.
The Boston Globe article goes on to say that in the past month alone, 3 Nigerian children accused of witchcraft have been killed and another 3 were set on fire.
All this in the name of religion.
The boy is dead.
It's not just in Nigeria. In Africa if you don't like someone just accuse them of being a witch. That pretty much finishes them. They may not die, but they are shunned and that can be just as bad. When I asked why one of my neighbors in Ghana was a witch, the proof was that she didn't cry when her husband died.
This is the husband who mistreated her and disappeared, leaving her with 10 children to support.
In the States halloween was celebrated last week. There were lots of little witches wandering around and everyone said they were so cute. Even a dog was dressed in a pointed hat. Can you imagine what an African would say about that?
There were houses decorated with witches and ghosts. Ghosts? My, my...we don't even talk about ghosts in Africa.
In Salem, not far from Boston, witches were burned at the stake. There was a frenzy in the community and many "witches" were put to death. The story goes that slaves told stories to children and the children started to see witches.
My fascination is with cultural differences, and this one is a doozy. It might even be funny if so many corpses hadn't piled up.
The Boston Globe article goes on to say that in the past month alone, 3 Nigerian children accused of witchcraft have been killed and another 3 were set on fire.
All this in the name of religion.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Obama in Ghana
President Obama visited Ghana in July. Ghanaians like to celebrate anything, but they were definately happy that he chose their country.
Above is a picture of commemorative cloth that was made for his visit. I have some for sale. If interested contact aba@culturalcollaborative.org.
If he every wants to be President of Ghana, I think he's got it!
Above is a picture of commemorative cloth that was made for his visit. I have some for sale. If interested contact aba@culturalcollaborative.org.
If he every wants to be President of Ghana, I think he's got it!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
sokope
Sokope was a resident at Aba House. Everyone loved him more than I did.
He was dirty, flea ridden and a major thief. I was playing scrabble in the yard and he ate my E. He also ate the usual like bananas. One day I gave him some brown bread. He looked at it and then threw it away. Guess it was too healthy for him.
Tourists would hold him and he'd play cute and then pounce...trying to rip their jewelry off.
He was usually tied to a tree in the yard and would wrap himself around and around until he had no space to move or he would jump into the branches and end up hanging himself. I felt sorry for him and was not unhappy when he escaped once in awhile. But he was always captured and brought back.
Eventually he wasn't living with us any more and when I asked, I was told that "he went back to his village". That could mean what it says or it could mean that he died. Ghanaians have a way with words.
And that's the story of our monkey, Sokope.
He was dirty, flea ridden and a major thief. I was playing scrabble in the yard and he ate my E. He also ate the usual like bananas. One day I gave him some brown bread. He looked at it and then threw it away. Guess it was too healthy for him.
Tourists would hold him and he'd play cute and then pounce...trying to rip their jewelry off.
He was usually tied to a tree in the yard and would wrap himself around and around until he had no space to move or he would jump into the branches and end up hanging himself. I felt sorry for him and was not unhappy when he escaped once in awhile. But he was always captured and brought back.
Eventually he wasn't living with us any more and when I asked, I was told that "he went back to his village". That could mean what it says or it could mean that he died. Ghanaians have a way with words.
And that's the story of our monkey, Sokope.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Reading between the lines
I was flipping through one of the women’s magazines and was struck by the content of some of the articles.
What a window on American culture...well, a segment of American culture.
Even with my body in America, my mind is usually in Africa, so I really chuckled at how an African woman would react to the survey about whether the father-in-law should be consulted for his blessing by the future son in law. Most American women said, “No way. It’s none of his business.”
And the article about how to improve your posture. They suggest walking with something (like a book) on your head. Or maybe just grow up as an African woman and carry everything on your head. (no, that wasn’t their suggestion).
And then the article about whether children should sleep in the same bed/room with the parents. You’d have to pick an African women up off of the floor she’d be laughing so hard when she read the American answers. Give the child his own room...ha,ha. Child abuse..ho,ho...let the child decide..OMG, what will these Americans think of next......
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