Random Journal Posts #3

...On Thursday we visited the Monkey Sanctuary about three hours away. I was thinking it was a big tourist site blocked off sort of like a zoo. But it was just the jungle that bordered up next to a tiny little village. The experience was worth it from the first little monkey that came out and took some banana out of my hand. It was amazing! They would jump from branch to branch, then run over to us, get up on hind legs like people, and grab the banana out of our hands, or, if we smeared it, wipe it out of hands or lick it. They were the cutest, most fascinating little animals. It was incredible. The forest was also absolutely gorgeous, and we got to climb up the inside of a tree that was really unique and hollow. There was also another species of monkey that do not like to come near humans, but that you can see if you are quiet and fairly still. They are larger and hairier, and have long, long black tails. At one point, we all went off in separate directions because Lauren wanted a spiritual reflection moment, and after sitting for a few minutes alone, I heard some crashing in the upper branches of some trees just a few yards away from me. I quietly followed the sound, and was pleased to find a family of the large monkeys very high up in the branches, watching me back. It was such a beautiful thing, and I can see how people might become fascinated with studying animals...


...Yesterday, a deaf man approached me when I was writing notes and sitting on a bench. I waved, and he motioned for me to let him see my notebook and pen. He wrote hello, and that he would like to know my name. I told him, and we kept conversing in this way for about an hour. It was really incredible, he is a minister for a deaf congregation, and our conversation not only included things about my project, but also his inclusion of religion. I asked if his dad, a farmer I had just interviewed a few days ago, spoke sign language. He said no, and that sometime they wrote on paper to talk. I can’t imagine having a parent who could never communicate with you in your own language. The experience talking to him was really great, and I am glad to now have him as a friend. He showed me a picture of one of the BYU girls in the past, who had interacted with him, and wrote that she now was serving a mission to deaf people for the church....


...On Saturday, we went to a Presbyterian wedding, and then I left early to hang out with some of the senior high girls I had promised I would visit. I ended up chilling with them at their dorms, and it was fun seeing them out of their school uniforms, just hanging around and being less reserved since it was just all girls. It is sad though, because they often make comments about how pretty I am, my soft, light skin, and my naturally long and soft hair. They think Americans are gorgeous for these traits. I always try to say something like, well I would love to have your skin! They seem to not believe me, or say why? And I tell them they need to love everything about themselves. I really, really want them to. I felt a little how my mom must feel when she tries to make me realize I can know I am beautiful no matter what society and the media says. I just want these girls to not compare themselves to the West, to the media sources slowly creeping into their society on TV or in music videos, that tell them their skin is too dark, their features too wide, their hair too course. They are beautiful! It is sad how the Western mainstream media portrayal of beauty is monopolizing the world's perception of what makes one attractive...


...My best times here recently have just been interacting with the students. They are fun and hilarious and smart. One girl asked if I could freestyle a rap or song, I told her to instead, and she immediately started belting out a Rihanna song, and quite well too! They kept requesting that I freestyle and show my American “swag,” so I finally opened up my laptop and played the song Monster by Kanye, in which I know most of the Nicki Minaj rap. I rapped the verse and they all circled around keeping beat, and yelled approval after. It was so funny! 

We also had a big question and answer session, where they could ask me about America, and I would ask them about Ghana. It really was such a great time, and they asked some great questions. Why Obama supported homosexuality, what high school is like, if Americans actually expose themselves in the provocative ways they had seen in movies, if Africans are called black monkeys in America (I get that question all the time), when and who I would marry, how I felt when American killed Osama, what it is like to ride in an airplane, if pornography is allowed, etc. I also asked them questions, including if girls and boys were treated equally. One girl got up right away and said no, that men would be favored for jobs and such...