I got to Kumasi on a Friday, by Saturday I'd learned a thing or two

Our second trip of the semester occurred this weekend, with an excursion up to Kumasi, the traditional capitol of the Asante people in Ghana. It was about a 5-hour trip by bus, which wasn't too bad except for the usual poor roads and bad traffic. We got to enter the forested belt of Ghana for the first time, and it was very relaxing after the dust and dryness of Accra. Apparently Accra gets the least rain of any area in Ghana, so we also got rained on a few times during the trip. And there was plenty of lightning, comparable only to the kind of lightning storms I saw in Pinar del Rio, in Cuba.

Kumasi was razed by the British during one of the Asante-British wars, in 1874, and it shows when you arrive there. Unlike the disorganized sprawl of Accra, Kumasi's streets mostly are named, and they even have traffic lights. Kumasi is certainly more structured than Accra, and everyone seemed a little more laid back. I don't think I even saw any drivers screaming at each other. There also seemed to be many more large stone buildings, as opposed to the metal and wood shacks that dominate much of Accra and the rest of Ghana.

Kumasi bustle

After dropping our luggage off at the Treasure Land Hotel (which we were hoping would be shaped like a pirate ship with a name like that, but wasn't) we went to the former palace of the Asantehene (top chief of the Asante), now a museum. It is right next to the luxurious digs of the current Asantehene, which we got to see but not enter or photograph. Let's just say there were sculpted bushes and peacocks. Also, interestingly enough, the Asantehene-to-be is required to be educated now, and the current one has multiple doctorates from universities in England in engineering (I think) and does a lot of work planning development in Ghana.

The old palace was given to Asantehene Prempeh I in the 1920s as an apology for having imprisoned him on the Seychelles Islands during a rebellion. It was basically a nice older house with lots of wood furnishing, mirrors, and crystal. There were still a number of interesting Asante items dating from the 1700s on, including replicas of the Golden Stool (sacred throne of the Asantehene that is said to have come down from heaven), ceremonial muskets from the 1800s, golden pipes for the Asantehene's personal use, war drums, palanquins, etc. Sadly no pictures were allowed, but I think one of my room mates hung back and got some anyway, so if I get ahold of those I'll post some.

Afterwards we visited another Asante museum with a lot of similar stuff, including fantastically decorated golden jewelery made for various Asantehenes. They had pictures of an Asantehene on parade wearing so many gold rings it was a wonder he could wave at the crowd. No wonder they carry them on palanquins - I don't think they could manage to walk with all the gold.

Then it was time for dinner and relaxing at the hotel. We watched a Ghana vs Uruguay soccer match on TV (2-2, which was good for Ghana) and then took off to hear live music since it was a Friday night. We arrive at this place called the Sports Hotel, which had mainly an older crowd but fantastic live highlife music. No one was dancing, so Bethany and I got it started and eventually got most of the crowd up and dancing. They probably figured that if two oborunis were dancing they probably could too. Afterward we went swimming drunk in the middle of the night at the hotel pool, which is becoming a tradition on our trips, and then crashed.

Bethany stamps on adinkra cloth

Saturday involved visits to three different craft villages around Kumasi. We visited a kente cloth weaving center, a bead factory, and an adinkra cloth dying center. They were all interesting and had lots of pretty things for sale, but the adinkra cloth was the most interesting by far. Adinkra means literally "farewell message" because the cloth was originally worn for funerals. The word now refers to the dye, made from a certain kind of palm bark boiled for hours; the symbols that are dipped in the dye and stamped onto relatively plain cloth; and the finished cloth itself. We got to see all parts of the process and even all pick out a symbol or two and stamp them onto a cloth that we could take back with us. I picked out the symbols for forgiveness and humility and put them down, along with buying a book of the symbols, their names, and interpretations. I also was shown how to make kente cloth and got to sit down at a loom and weave for a very short time. Liz and Z also bought slingshots, which they had for sale for some reason. We've yet to hurt ourselves with them, but I'm sure it's coming. We keep saying we need to catch ourselves a turkey for Thanksgiving, so now we're armed for that.
Boiling dye

I learn to weave kente. Note the toes.

Saturday evening I had the option of going clubbing, but wimped out at the last minute, which is good because apparently they were out until 4:30 and I was about to fall asleep at 10:30, when they left. I hung out and watched Big Brother: South Africa with Liz and Taryn, which was the most terrifying thing ever, and then fell asleep. I also got to eat fufu that night, which I haven't liked much in the past but it's the traditional specialty of Kumasi so I thought I'd give it a try. It was served with groundnut (peanut) soup and goat meat, and was much better than before, so I'm glad I went for it. Not sure I'll have it again thought unless I find myself back in Kumasi.

On Sunday we drove to a lake near Kumasi. It's apparently the only large lake in the whole area other than the gargantuan, man made Lake Volta. About 18 fishing villages surround it, but on a Sunday morning it was very calm . We got to go out in canoes and paddle over to the next village just to take a glance at it. There was nothing very exciting about it, but the lake was relaxing and I got to show off my canoe-paddling abilities. Then it was a box lunch on the bus and the long drive back to Accra.
Taryn, Liz, and Z are on a boat. They're going fast. They've got nautically themed pashmina Afghans

I spent the trip planning my midterm break, which is only 2 weeks away. 5 of my roommates are going nuts and traveling to Cairo to try and pack in all the Egyptian sights they can see. I'd go, but I hope to make it over there during my long break in December/January. Zarif is going to Niger to visit two close friends currently over there with the Peace Corps, so that leaves Taryn and I needing to make plans. Right now we're thinking going over to Benin and Togo. Benin has the apparently ancient and fantastic palace of the Abomey people, while Togo has really good hiking in the center of the country, in beautiful forests filled with butterflies, says my guidebook.

Right now I'm at my internship working hard as always. I'm on to hour three without anyone having given me a single thing to do. In about another hour I'm going to see if I can make for the door without anyone noticing.