Across the Atlantic they talk different

Announcement #1: I have done it! I have become black! Okay, so it is more lke red... from a sunburn.... but hopefully when the red fades my skin will be one shade closer to the beautiful brown of Ghanaians. :)
Now, their skin isn't the only thing I love about Ghanaians, I also love the way they say things. You know, each culture has its own diction, and I find it fascinating (linguistic anthropology is something I've thought about but I don't think I'll do). So this blog post is dedicated to...

GHANAIAN DICTION.... and the translations of course!
"TAKING food" = eating food.
example. "you have had fu-fu?"
"yes, we have"
"how do you take it?"
"we normally take it with groundnut soup"
"GOOD LUCK" = god bless you
example. "AH-CHOO!"
"good luck"
"the rain was HEAVY" = it rained very hard
example. "Madame, that storm last night was really bad no?"
"Yes, the rain was very heavy"
"WHY" comes at the end of the question
example. Scene: Deidre, Michelle and I dancing in the rain. Matilda walks in.
"You are dancing in the rain. Why?"

Some common words and their meanings:
twi english word= american word

trousers= long pants
pants= underwear
knickers= shorts
biscuits= crackers

..... in other words, think BRITISH english. In fact, they sometimes don't even understand what I'm saying simply because of my American accent (and they say things more with a British accent).

Example. "What are you studying?"
"Oh, I'm studying dance (daaance)"
"What?"
"Dance" (again spoken with the harsh, more nasaly 'a')
"Write it for me...... *I write it down*..... Oh! Dawhnce" (spoken with the soft sophisticated British 'a')

Some things you don't say because they don't translate:
"when I was FLYING here....." = I don't remember what it means but it doesn't mean flying.
"I have a BOYFRIEND....." = It's a bit more scandolous than the American term, if you catch my drift


Announcement #2: We are almost HALF WAY DONE! Why doesn't someone just rip my heart out! This is all going WAY too fast but oh well. My project has taken a turn for the political side of things (maybe I really should have just been a Political Science Major). As I was having a discussion/informal interview with Michael and his cousin Ernest:

Michael: Michael is 23, well, he says he is but his birthday is in October :) He is going to a college in Kumasi to become a teacher. He knew RACHEL (shoutout to my girl) from last year so I guess he heard about me or something becaues he came knocking on Madame's door. His favorite country is Sweden and he loves kung-fu movies.

Ernest: Michael's 19 yr old cousin who.... actually, I'm not sure what he does. I think he stays here in Wiamoase, since he only recently graduated from school. He's kind of quite, with a gap between his two front teeth but he loves talking politics it seems.

Anyhoo, I was talking with these two gentlemen about Ghanaian politics and it seems a very interesting topic-- with a lot of meat there to dig around (especially since elections for President are next year)

Ghanaian Politics: It is very similar to American politics in a lot of ways actually. They elect their President every four years; they have four poilitcal parties but two are the main ones (NPP and NDC) which are always butting heads; they have a woman entering the race this year-- the wife of former President JJ Rawlings (sound familiar?).... Pretty cool no?

So my project is taking a turn towards that arena, instead of the dancing arena but DO NO WORRY MY FRIENDS, I'll still be learning the dance and it seems to be a great bonding tool to use... when there is music, start dancing and people love it!