A Day in the Life of a Peace Corps Trainee in Ghana

Before I get into this blog post, I suspect a big question people may have is about the election so I want to quickly address it. I did get to watch it and I do plan to tell the story (with as little of my own political commentary as possible) privately upon request. While my personal opinions of the result will not be published on this blog, I do want to encourage those of you who are feeling disappointed to act on that feeling. Talking about issues is important, but it’s not enough. The impact that you can have on individual lives in your community is far greater and more meaningful than what even the most noble politician could hope to accomplish.

Another quick note before the good stuff - I've uploaded some pictures to the blog that you can check out in the photo section and I'll continue throwing some up there as data limits allow.

And now, a day in the life ...

BAHHHAHHH. Oh no, not the goats again. BAHHAHHHHHHH. Having just been woken up, you roll over in bed not sure if yelling at them will only make it worse. You check the time and it’s only 1:00 am. BAHHHAHHH. You put in your ear plugs and try to go back to sleep. It’s hot and humid so you turn on the mini USB-rechargeable fan sitting in bed next to you and it starts to make things cooler. Thank god you brought that fan.

COOOO-COODOODLE-DOOOOOO. This time you don’t need to check the time – you know the roosters always start around 3:00 am. This time it’s welcome though. The malaria medication you’ve been taking makes you have really vivid dreams and this particular dream was a nightmare. You inch closer to the fan, try to think positive thoughts, and fall back asleep.

By 6:00 am you’re awake again and there’s no going back to bed this time. The neighbor is blaring his music and the animals are in full swing. In fact, it is only because you’ve explained to your host family that you don’t need to be at class until 8:00 am enough times that they haven’t tried to wake you up already. You suspect they think you’re lazy, but you’re okay with that. Some of your fellow volunteers haven’t even been so lucky as to be allowed to sleep in like you.

You study some Ewe vocabulary for a bit before climbing under the mosquito net, out of bed and into the living room. There’s a lizard on the wall. “What’s up Leo?” No response, no movement ... Typical Leo.

You grab your bucket, fill it with water, and walk out to the shower. When the door to the shower swings open you don’t walk in right away. You inspect the walls that you can see from where you’re standing and then peak in to check above the door as well before you fully commit. You don’t want a repeat of The Great Spider Freakout Incident of 2016. The water feels freezing cold and there’s no good way to ease into it. The morning bathes aren’t getting any easier with time but at least you’re wide awake after them because your best option for coffee is a 3-in-1 powder that has more cream and sugar in it than actual coffee.

When you finish bathing, you come back inside and see that breakfast is waiting for you. A fried omelet with tomatoes and peppers, some sliced bread with margarine and oatmeal. You put on some clothes, eat, get your backpack ready and head out for 4 hours of Ewe class.

The walk to class is a long one and is filled with animals, various children screaming “Obroni!” (loosely translated as “visitor” in Twi, the most common language in Ghana), and conversations with people that you don’t fully understand. You wish you could come up with a creative way to show friends and family back home just how interesting of a walk it is every day feeling confident you’ll come up with something. Fortunately, it hasn’t gotten too hot out yet (mid to high 70’s) so you aren’t sweating too badly by the end of it and you settle into class. Today, you learn words and grammar associated with shopping. “How much for three onions?” and “That’s too expensive!” get learned and then quickly forgotten by the time you leave. The walk back is a little more grueling as the sun is high in the sky and shining brightly by now.

When you make it back from class, lunch is waiting. A large helping of fried plantain and fried yam served with a tomato-based sauce that has no shortage of oil in its recipe. You eat until your full and then take a few more bites so that your momma will be a little less disappointed that you didn’t “eat all.”

With a 15-minute break before having to head back to class, you decide to read another chapter of “The Ugly American.” It was recommended to you by the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana before you self-destructed and the book is phenomenal – exactly the inspiration you needed today. You make a mental note to highly recommend it to the readers of your blog if they’re interested in learning about the benefits and risks of foreign development work and the value of the Peace Corps. You fill your water bottles up with water from your water filter and head back out.

While it’s hotter at this point in the day (mid-80’s), that does mean the village is a little quieter because many people go inside to get away from the sun. Another 2 hours of Ewe review is proceeded by 2 hours of agriculture class attended by your entire cohort. Today you learn about how to build small gardens that can be used to grow food despite ongoing changes to the climate, which has been effecting Ghanaian farmers recently.

When you’re done, you stick around to see if you can find some data or cell service at the center of town and get just enough to download your emails. A friend has emailed to check in on how things are going and it makes your day – you try to respond but the signal you once had is now gone. You start walking home and on the way you greet someone in Ewe and they respond back excitedly. Even though it feels like you’re struggling to learn the language you’re able to have a conversation with them about your day and where you’re going, which feels amazing. When you’ve run out of words to say, you continue on and shortly thereafter you see your 13-year-old brother (in Ghana, your family is not based on blood and familial names are used liberally). He is with his younger cousin and neighbor

MXLLS​​and they simultaneously run at you in full sprint before jumping into your arms for a hug. One climbs around to your back for a piggy back ride and you make it a few feet before having to wrestle them off you. It's the highlight of your day and gives you the energy you need to finish the walk home.

When you get there, dinner is waiting but it isn’t your priority. First, you take a visit to the toilet – you haven’t had a proper bowel movement since you’ve arrived and it’s important to get it out now before it doesn’t give you a choice. When you’re finished you flush the toilet, throw the toilet paper into the box besides the toilet (because the sewage system in this community can’t handle it) and then refill the back of the toilet with water from the barrel sitting outside the door.

Even though you’re hungry, you have greater priorities still. You fill your bucket with water and head out to the shower. Another quick check for any uninvited guests and then you’re dumping buckets of cold water on yourself trying to lower your body temperature and remove the stickiness that covers you from head to toe. It feels amazing.

When you return, your food is still sitting there and you discover that momma made your favorite – Indomie. Noodles mixed with veggies and some spices topped with a fried egg. Halfway through, momma and brother have learned that you’re eating now and come in to watch you finish. When you’re done you hand the tray and dishes over – you offer to help wash the dishes but your offer is declined. The food you didn’t eat will be used one way or another so you suspect the dishes aren’t going straight to the water bucket yet anyway.

Your brother sticks around and gets some of his friends come over to play Loo Doo, a Ghanaian board game. It’s very similar to the American game “Sorry” but you swear they make up rules as they go and the new rules are never in your favor. Win or lose, you have a blast figuring out how to most effectively smack talk with them using simple English words. After a couple games it’s already 8:00 pm and the kids have to go back to school for a couple hours leaving you with extended free time for the first time all day.

Exhausted, you make your way back to bed and begin to make flash cards for the Ewe words you learned today. Then you flick open your computer to watch maybe half an episode of Broad City before you start nodding off. Lights off, fan on and goats still wailing at each other, you drift off the sleep feeling accomplished from another successful day as a Peace Corps Trainee.