Obruni, what is your name?

Obruni how are you? Obruni where are you going? Go and come ok....

Every single day, since we arrived in Otuam, people ask me those questions whenever i go out. Mostly little children, who dont know any other english... the same kids everyday go "Obruni what is your name?"... "My name is Janice"... "Chalice?".."No, Jaanice"..."Janet?"... "JAANICCEE".... "Jani?!"..... o_O "Yes, Jani"

I'm starting to get used to it, i feel like a tape recorder, with a script that i have to read and repeat day in and day out. I can walk down the paths "Hello"... "I'm fine"... "afternoon"... "My name is Janice"..."How are you?"..."buh byee" its so predictable that i dont even need to hear the question, one of those statements will most certainly answer anything people ask me. It's funny tho, whenever people ask "How are you?" the answer that we all expect is "I'm fine"... its a combination of not really caring how someone is and here, in otuam, not having a mutually intelligible language to communicate fully. Somebody asks how i am, I'm not going to say "I'm not fine. I'm hot, sweaty, tired, hungry because the stew sucks and i have a million mosquito bites that came out of nowhere. I need a shower, a cup of coffee and a day where the goddamn roosters dont wake me up at 4am, so I'm not fine ok. I'm not fine".... but no, "I'm fine. Just fine thank you. How are you?"..."fine!"

But, in all... I do like it here. Dont think that i hate it or that im complaining... its just that those questions get really old, really fast. and yet, everyday, every. sinlge. day. i have to smile and wave, smile and say im fine, my name is Janice, buh bye... to every person i see on the street.

but i'm learning fante, so the conversations should become more interesting as time goes on.