Goodbye’s at the Chief’s Palace

We have had two leaving meetings with the Chief (Togbe) and his elders. This is done traditionally in Tsyome. The chief sits at the back of the room flanked by most of his elders and our drinking buddy Tsiami (the linguist / spokesperson) sits in front with a couple more of the younger elders (?!). It seems really serious at first, but after a couple of meetings we have realized that it’s like any meeting: there are conventions such as introductions etc, but you can have a laugh too. This is especially true at Tsyome as Tsiami always makes sure we have the local palm wine (bitter and sweet and warm), the local gin distilled from palm wine called ‘apateshie’ (70%: ‘nuf said) and a couple of beers and sprites in case it’s an early morning session. I like the meetings…

We’ve been living at Tsyome for about a month now. Most of the time we have been with Joanna (Leeds lass), Cassy (Ohio, USA connection), Amalie (gone to meet a friend in Accra but coming back), Dorte, Kristina and Kathrine (left for Denmark: The land of drinking songs). Thanks and goodbye to all for helping us settle in and get work started.