In 2018, I was in Ho for a project. The language was an issue for me but I noticed one thing, everyone I met was able to express themselves in English so I didn’t have much problem chatting and getting along until one day I went to the market to get some foodstuff. I met a woman selling fresh tomatoes and other vegetables. I went to her. Immediately she saw me, she started speaking Ewe. I said in English, “Please I can’t speak Ewe.” She said in corrupt Twi, (probably the only Twi she understood) “You don’t understand Ewe?” I nodded my head. From there, there was chaos in our communication. She didn’t understand what I was saying and I didn’t get what she was trying to say. For some minutes we were there trying to make sense from sign language.
Then a lady walked to the woman’s table, buying some of the vegetables. She spoke impeccable Ewe. Soon the two of them were laughing. The lady turned to me and said, “The woman said you don’t understand anything she says so I should ask you what you want.” I told her and she interpreted it to the woman. She told me, “The woman said the onions are GHc5 cedis but I’ve asked her to reduce it so you can pay GHC4 for it.” For the next five minutes or so this lady stood in for me and negotiated everything on my behalf. She said, “If you don’t understand the language around here, then you’re in trouble. You’ll buy things at higher prices than usual.”
I said, “Then let me follow you so you help me.” For the next thirty minutes or so, I followed this lady around as she bought her stuff and also bought mine for me. She was as friendly as she was helpful. At the roadside in front of the market, we were ready to depart. I asked her name and she said, “Lololi.” “Lololi, can we be friends? You’ve been a lot of help today and I appreciate it.” She said, “Why not. It’s been fun.” We exchanged contacts and I called her to say thank you when I got home.
I would say hi to her on Whatsapp and she would say hi back. I told her to teach me Ewe and she told me, “The first step in learning Ewe is to start eating banku and okro stew. It’s all about rolling your tongue. If you learn that first, the language becomes easier.” I laughed about it but then she started teaching me a few Ewe words. One evening, I called her on phone. She said, “Give me two minutes I would be back. Don’t cut the line.” Two minutes, five minutes, seven minutes later she was back. I said, “It’s 9:25pm now. That’s seven solid minutes since you went away.”
She said, “So you’re counting…” I said, “Yeah, I’m a maths person so I love to count.” My credit got finished around 11pm. She called back. Her credit got finished around 1am. I called back. At 4am She was yawning. I asked, “Are you feeling sleepy?” She said, “Nooo I’m Ok, let’s talk.” Around 5am, I kept repeating her name, “Lolo. Lololi. Lolo. Lolooooo” She was gone. Asleep. I said to myself, “If I could stay on the phone from 9pm to 5am with a girl without feeling tired or sleepy then she’s the one.”
The next day, I went to her house. She said, “You came at the right time. Come let me teach you how to cook Ewe dish.” I was in the kitchen with her when her mother came in. She said something in Ewe and she laughed. I asked her, “What’s your mother saying?” She said, “She asked why I’ll take someone’s son to the kitchen and kill him with smoke.” Her mother said (in broken Twi), “If you follow this girl, you’ll be smelling of smoke wherever you go.” I laughed but more importantly, I learned.
It was that same day that I proposed to her and she said yes.
I was the happiest because Lolo was happy news. A year after dating, she came home with me to see my parents. They were both happy. My dad called her beautiful. He said, “Your color. You look like an Igbo girl.” Lolo laughed. She replied, “I’m Ewe. People from my area are mostly fair.”
It turned out that my mom didn’t like her because of her tribe. She said, “She comes from far away. Look around here. There are equally beautiful women around town. Why go far when you can get one closer here? My dad didn’t agree with her. For several minutes they argued among themselves. My dad said to my mom, “We all come from far away depending on the places we go. What matters is finding who you want to live with. If he wants to marry her, nothing stops him.” Mom had her reservations but I’m glad she didn’t let it show. I’m glad she didn’t do anything to let Lolo know she didn’t like the idea of our being together. They both talk and laugh and even gossip about me like all women do. I guess her dislike wasn’t deep like that.
June 19th, 2021 is our wedding date. We pray for strength and we pray for life. We believe He’ll make all things beautiful in his time.
—D. Gyamfi
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