Yevu

I wrote this on Tues April 1st. I was unable to post until now because the internet in Ho was down for 4 days.

Even though my flight was over an hour early, my ride to Ho was waiting for me upon arrival. Yannick (Yah-NEEK; along with his mother Christiane, Krist-E-ann; run Village Exchange Ghana, V.E.G.), his fiance Genevieve and I made the roughly 2 hour drive reaching the large village at 10am.

The home / office I'm staying is a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath one story home about a 20 minute walk or 0.40GHC (.40 cent) taxi to the town center. There's also a 30 foot mango tree and an open aired, thatch roofed "summer hut" located in the side yard that adds additional character.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner is provided each day and prepared by a local Ghanian woman named Dylalie who is always accompanied by her 11 month old baby which she carries in a traditional wrap around her midsection. Almost like a kangaroo but the baby is carried on her back.

Currently there are 5 people staying at the house with durations ranging from 2 weeks to over a year. Everyone's cool and Christiane is incredibly hospitable. It took less than a days time for me to feel at home; whether we were working, relaxing on the front porch or getting a snack or water from the kitchen at any hour.

The water... There's tap water and "pure water." This "pure water" is provided and come in small, clear, square plastic 400ml bags. You bite a hole on the corner and drink. You can place it on a table or the ground between sips. It plops down and surprisingly I've yet to see one spill. Clean "pure water" is very accessible to everyone in Ho. Each 500ml bag costs the equivalent of .05 cents.

The locals are very friendly too, especially the small children. They stare at you with wide-eyed amazement, because most have not seen many white people.

White people; aka "Yevu" (YAY-voo), is somewhat equivalent to the Mexican slang for white person, "gringo." Though I believe "Yevu" is less harsh and depends on how it's said and who says it. For example, little children often use it and mean nothing by it, but if an adult would shout it as they drive by, it can have a negative connotation. Kind of like a harmless catcall. "Hey Yevu!!!

Ironically one of the dogs that lives in the house (there are 2) is named "Yevu." When asked why that name was chosen, the response was a jokingly, "We wanted to call someone else "Yevu."

The internet has been down in Ho for over a day now. That's the reason my posts to the blog have been nonexistent. I'm currently writing this in MS Word and will past to the blog when the internet is back (hopefully tomorrow which is Wednesday).

On my next post I'll write a little about what everyone here refers to as "Lights Out" and the significance of left hand gestures...