LIVING: Easter Monday

We learned the language of the Ghanan road in Accra, the "law of the honk", the basic method of communication. The roads in Accra are like the roads in Rome, which we both visited shortly before going to Ghana; the roads in Rome are like scenes from Fast and Furious. We noticed that honking in large measure replaces traffic signs and all the rest of "Western" road etiquette. For example, instead of following the rule of "person on the right goes first" the typical Ghanan driver will honk loudly and force his way through a crowded intersection, while everyone else does the same. In the countryside, where there are no speed limits, drivers warn pedestrians, goats, and other drivers that they are about to race through a village. At the market in Agona taxis honk continously as they slowly crawl through the sellers and the buyers. For me, honking triggers childhood memories of bridal proccessions wending there way past me from the church to the reception, their members announcing the good news to the world.

There is no wedding in Busua today; no swarm of aggressive taxi drivers, but the sound of loudspeakers blaring music from restaurants and the sound of traditional drumming which come from the beach mix with honking. All together it makes a cacophony of unusual sounds which give the impression of a celebration. This impression is correct, because today Ghana, and especially Busua, celebrates one of its biggest holidays -- Easter Monday. This is a day when extended families gather in their villages of origin to celebrate. With feasts of rice, fufu, and fish specialities. This is also a day when cars, tro-tros and buses which have occupied every inch of Busua announce their ALLELUIAS with honking.

Today Busua is a tourist spectacle with a carnival atmosphere and streets that are filled like the streets in Accra and a packed beach resembling the Brazilian Copacabana. The Beach-Resort and the other restaurants along the beach are packed. There is no doubt that the preparations they made over the last couple of days were necessary: the concert setups and the opening of large beach-side grills. This is certainly one of the days that Ghana tourism lives for and lives by.

The Easter Holidays in Busua are really celebrated according to Pauls:"Always be joyfull". We experienced this yesterday, at the charismatic service at Aunt Elizabeth's church. At this church, the members of which are mostly women and children (at least according to our two visits), the services are filled with dancing, drumming, and the charismatic preaching of Aunt Elizabeth through which there resounds a loud, untiring ALLELUIA! :)

Today the holiday spirit moved from the church to the tables which were occupied by various branches of the family, and after this to the beach where the festivities of the citizens of Busua and their in-land family and friends continued.

Sonja

Že v Accri sva se naučila prometnega jezika Gancev – “zakona hupanja”, ki je osnovni način komunikacije na cestah.  Spominjal naju je na rimske ulice, ki sva jih obiskala ne dolgo pred tem, le-te pa na dirkalno stezo iz filma Fast and furious. Opazila sva, da v ganskih mestih hupe v veliki meri nadomeščajo prometne znake ter ostala “zahodna” cestna pravila. Npr. namesto tihega upoštevanja desnega pravila, ganski šoferji zahupajo in si s tem opozorilom vzamejo prednost.  Na podeželju, kjer ni tabel z omejitvijo hitrosti, šoferji s hupo opozarjajo pešce, koze ter ostale avtomobile, da se približujejo. Na agonski tržnici divje hupajo predvsem taksisti, ki se v koloni počasi prebijajo skozi stojnice in pešce. Doma v Sloveniji sem hupanje povezovala predvsem z otroškim spominom na kolone svatov, ki so okrašeni svetu naznanjali veselo novico.

Danes v Busui sicer ni poroke, kot tudi ne množice nestrpnih taksistov, a kot le redko, se z glasbo gostinskih teras ter glasbo tradicionalnih bobnov, ki donijo s plaže, meša hupanje. Skupaj tvorijo nenavadno simfonijo zvokov, vsekakor pa dajejo vtis prazničnosti. Ta vtisni ni zgrešen, saj je danes za Gano, prevsem pa za Busuo eden največjih praznikov – velikonočni ponedeljek. To je dan, ko se zberejo širše družine in praznujejo. Ob rižu, fufuju, ribjih specalitetah. To je tudi dan, ko s hupanjem svoj ALELUJA oznanjajo kolone avtomobilov, tro trojev, celo avtobusov, ki ta dan zasedejo Busuo do zadnjega kotička.

Danes je v Busui pravi turistični spektakel – ob bučnem, skorajda karnevalskem vzdušju zapolnjene ceste spominjajo na tiste v Accri, plaža z nepregledno množico turistov pa na brazilsko Copa Cabano.  Beach Resort ter ostale restavracije ob plaži so polne. Zdaj ni dvoma, da so se splačale priprave zadnjih nekaj dni, ko so gostinci postavljali ogromne grile in z “live bandi” vabili prve goste. Prav gotovo je velikonočni ponedeljek eden tistih dnevov v letu, za katere živi (in od katerih živi) busujski turizem.

Za ganske velikonočne praznike zares velja tisti Pavlov: “Zmeraj se veselite”. To sva spoznavala najprej včeraj, na velikonočnem bogoslužju v cerkvi tete Elizabete. V tej cerkvici, ki jo (glede na izkušnjo najinih dveh obiskov) obiskujejo predvsem ženske in otroci, je na velikonočni dan ob ritmu tradicionalnih bobnov, ob plesnih gibih ter karizmatični pridigi tete Elizabete, donela glasna, neutrudna, nekajurna ALELUJA! :)

Danes se je praznično veselje iz cerkva preselilo najprej za mize, kjer so se krepile vezi razširjenih družin, zatem pa na plažo, ki je postala prostor za pomenkovanje ter druženje nepregledne množice Busujcev, njihovih “celinskih” sorodnikov in prijateljev.