What is there to say? I passed my Language Proficiency Interview with an Intermediate Plus rating, which is very good. My sign language group was way ahead of the other language classes, partly because some of us had previous experience in ASL, and partly because sign language is simply an easier language for a novice compared to Dagbani or Twi or Ewe, which are tonal languages with sounds and structure completely foreign to English. While my language group was conversing in sign about gender equality in the workplace and other complicated topics, the other groups were memorizing a rigid, rote introduction about themselves and their family, and were virtually unable to deviate from their script to answer questions or engage in actual conversation. So, being ahead of the curve, my group took our language test a few days early, and then had the rest of the week to prepare our “Heal the World” song, and waste time in Kukurantumi.
We had a formal going away/thank you ceremony for our homestay families yesterday, which was basically a dry run for swearing-in on Tuesday. We danced the Ghanaian dances we had all been practicing, and my sign language group performed our song. Sitting around after the ceremony, I had my first actual conversation with my homestay mother. She seems to be a very busy woman (I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt here); she runs a catering school in Kukurantumi for at-risk women. It seems like a worthwhile endeavor, and one that I would like to have heard more about earlier, but I’ve never been invited into my homestay mother’s home (I’m in the outhouse) or felt like I am part of the family. On the bright side, I’ve had all the freedom I could ever want, whereas many homestay families treat their PC trainees like children, wanting to know their whereabouts at all times, doing their laundry, etc. I think I must have set some unspoken precedent early on that I am not a child; I can do my own laundry, and I will come and go without being unreasonably questioned. Kate will not be coddled. However, I remember I was told by my homestay aunt on the first day that I met her that she would prepare me for marriage…and I can’t say I feel any more equipped by my experience here. Although I was taught how to make groundnut soup and rice balls in my language class, which I hear is the key to a man’s heart. It’s certainly the key to my own heart.
As is standard, my homestay mother had a dress made for me, which she presented to me just before the ceremony. It’s a very pretty fabric, but the entire chest area is adorned with tiered ruffles that act to completely obliterate any curves/figure I may have naturally. I’ll let you judge for yourselves, but I felt like a Spanish birthday cake in the dress.
So, tomorrow morning we actually, really, finally leave our homestay behind, bright and early, and head back to Valley View University near Accra to await our official Swearing-In on Tuesday at the American Embassy. I hope it’s a big party—I’m really excited.
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