Lost In Translation

The Ghanain people are by far the most hospitable that I have come across in my travels thus far.  That being said, although English is the official language here there are over 70 tribal languages that are spoken.  Most are "mutually intelligible" according to my sources [Wikipedia] but we must realize that sometimes things may inadvertantly [or purposely] get lost in translation.  I thought, if you were kind enough to "slog through my blog" yesterday, with the visions of Debbie standing by the sea darkly reflecting on humanity, you may need a little humour to make up for it and maybe have you visit again.  So, instead of taking you through yesterday [which was a wonderful day at Ramseyer CU and the meeting with the full Board was fantastic] I will give you a few "faux pas" that have occurred to Louise and I over the weekend and tonight.

Firstly, you all know the story of ending up on a canopy walk instead of a slave castle...this is an example of purposeful rather than accidental.  Nancy and Larry's driver, Bright, listened to them when they said that we all wanted to do the Elmina slave castle Satrday and then, becase they had a shorter drive home, they wanted to do the Kakum canopy walk Sunday morning.  As near as we can figure Bright decided there was way more time to do the canopy walk on Saturday, and the slave castle Sunday AM.....it didnt occur to hìm that we planned it in such a way to avoid some severe phobias.....lost in translation, you know the outcome, I walked the canopy walk.

For a week or more now I have been thinking I am the center of the universe.  OK, Sandy caused this, but I walk down the street and everyone is calling my name.  DEBBIE!debbie!debbie!  I always turn around and smile although they don't seem to be particularly interested in me...and always seem to be saying my name with a little venom...Today I remembered to ask Alfred what my name meant in Twi.  He said it didnt mean anything, which clearly is disppointing to someone who is the center of [Sandy's] universe.  Then he got a good chuckle.  All those people calling my name on the street...."Daabi" is the Twi word for "no",  Burst my bubble.  Lost in translation.

Tonight, knowing that we should not anticipate anything on the menu for fear it isnt available Louise and I asked our friendly waiter, Fred, if the chef had any pizza [we have lucked out once during our stay].  Fred rushed off and came back saying no, there was no pizza, but he could get us one.  What a nice lad.  We told him around 6 PM to have it delivered.  Our other waiter, Michael, came up to us shortly after and asked us what we felt like for supper as the chef had two pizzas left.  We thought Fred had gone to Michael and talked to him about the pizza.  At 6 PM tonight Fred delivered the delivery pizza to our table.  About the same time Michael brought our pizza from the kitchen,,,,don't ask, we bought the wait staff a pizza for their dinner tonight...lost in translation.

Power outages are common here, tonight was no exception.  Louise and I had settled ourselves around the pool and were busy writing our report when the power went out.  Normally the generator kicks in at the 5 minute point, but it didnt this time.  I am a big subscriber to Louise's mantra "Dont let it in" [meaning eyes forward, it's all good] but when the giant bug landed on me I did let out a pre Africa shriek [but maintained my sense of humour]
Michael:  "Ma'am, have you both provided for the mosquitoes?"
Me:  "Yes Michael, we have blood."
Michael:  "Very good ma'am.  Thank you, all is fine."
Louise and I thought that was good crack, [here's your Irish saying for the day] and giggled a little as he walked away, assured we had provided for the mosqitoes.

The power outages are a little like camping, blackout conditions but the possibility of reprieve with a little light.  Now, the "light" is a segway as we had the best day of our skin turning into other's amusement today.  We were at our new credit union and we were taking a walk around the block to bounce some ideas around.  We walked by two older ladies, one was staring at us intently so I said hello.  She didnt answer, but held my gaze until we passed.  I felt that she was still looking at us so I stopped, turned around, and she was staring at Louise's legs.  She looked, laughed, then went on her way....lost in translation?  Louise has the perfect white skin like Delainey, but I have to admit, she does stand out here in Ghana.  She stops toddlers from crying and school children in their tracks, both of which happened today.

I can only wish I had that much attention....it will never be the same....."Daabi!  Daabi!"