Greetings from Africa! I hope everyone at home is happy and doing well. Much has happened since I last blogged...
Well, school began, FINALLY! Turns out I really enjoy teaching...who'd of thought :) Its tough work, but I can already begin to feel the rewards that come with it. I teach about ten 70 minute periods a week, which I think is pretty much the perfect amount for a beginner. My students are so cute and I love them already. Some have very good English skills and have already adapted to my accent (they are super helpful at telling me when I need to re-phrase something or say it again), and then of course, there are many who I can barely get to say a word. And only God knows if they are understanding me or not. Thats where the "tough" part lies.
Also, there have been many days where my classes have been canceled (this has especially been the case this week: Wed class cancelled due to Catholic Mass, one class Thursday due to an HIV/AIDs course, and all classes Friday because the students were harvesting the beans and peanuts on the farms). But we will get through the syllabus eventually...although that may mean holding extra classes after hours :(
So I had my first class test (the equivalent of a quiz in US). The grades ranged from 100 % to 0%. The class average was a 47% in one class and 29% in another (the 3rd class is so far behind we haven't even covered enough to have a test). Not good!!! So, for a homework assignment I told them to go home and correct all of the questions they got wrong. Well, the next class I went around to check their homework and turns out that at least one-third of the class didn't do it. So, I gave them a speal about how it seems that the students that did their homework were the same students who did well on the test. Then I told them about how I'm not going to cane them (a form of corporeal punishment that is very frequently (like everyday!!) used here that involves using a branch from a tree to hit the children), and how I didn't believe in it, but that there would be punishment for not doing homework in my class. So, I told them they had to do the original homework, plus write "I will do my homework on time." 50 times. At this point one kid in the class raised his hand and said "Madam, please, could you just cane us instead?" I thought that was quite funny..and hopefully a sign that the punishment might actually work...we'll see...
So, I went to Tamale (the 3rd largest city in Ghana) for the weekend to meet up with some other volunteers. It was pretty awesome! There is this bar there that makes you feel like you've just entered an American bar (only more modern!). And we hung out there...watched to the 80's-early 90's rap videos that were blasting from the tv screen and drank literally THE BEST white russians I've ever had (and that used to be my drink...(before the vegan in me came out)). I'm pretty sure the secret ingredient was Ideal, which is a condensed milk they use here (I think you can see a can on the table in the pic of my homestay). We also spoiled ourselves by going out to an Indian restaurant and having real ice cream for dessert. Not a bad weekend. Except the last night...I stayed up all night trying to upload my pics onto this blog (plus I had to leave for the bus station at 4 am anyways and was afraid I'd oversleep), with very limited success...as you can see. Over the course of about 4 hours I was only able to get those 4 pictures uploaded due to some mysterious problem with the connection...bummer! But it looks like I'm having to go to Kumasi (the 2nd largest city in Ghana) at the end of this month for some official business, so I'm going to try again.
Another fun adventure...I just went to a festival Wednesday of this week...which was pretty cool. There was dancing, food, beer, and good conversation. I'll definately go again next year.
So...what is a normal day like for me? Wake up at 6 am and make breakfast (including REAL coffee..thanks mom :) and listen to BBC. Walk/ride bike to school by 730. Then sit and read for the vast majority of the day...with classes randomly intertwined. A lot of times the students whose teachers are not there (which is quite often, actually) come and ask me to teach them something. This turns out to be quite a difficult thing to do...totally wing it with no lesson plan and no idea what kinds of things the students know, or are supposed to be learning. So, some days I'm actually teaching quite a bit..it just depends. Then ~2pm school closes for the day. The other teachers and I usually go sit under some mango tree and drink some pito. Fun times...it's probably where most of my Degarre learning comes in. Then maybe bike ride or go and relax (read more) or go visit someone in the town...which usually results in more pito drinking :) Followed by dinner, possible lesson plan writing, bathing (yeah, I actually do that daily here..can you believe it!?! Of course, you never really quite sweating at any point throughout the day, so it's a bit more necessary than in the US) and more reading before bed by around 8 pm. So, yeah, pretty chill atmosphere most of the time...I like it...very low stress.
Speaking of reading...the new book "The Omnivore's Dilemma" is awesome! If you have any interest what-so-ever about where the food you're eating actually comes from...check out this book. He even explores the Organic industry and how "inorganic" it actually is. He's a really intriguing writer too...keeps you interested the whole time. Check it out!
Ok, I've written enough for now..and I'm sure you're all tired of reading at this point, so until next time. Love and miss ya...
Diana
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This is me at the Amsterdam airport after far too many hours without sleep! I didn't realize quite how scary I look in the picture until I posted it...but I think it's funny.
This was one of the first meals I ate with my homestay family. I soon figured out that it was not customary for Ghanaians to eat together like this (they were just doing it as a sort of introduction to the family) and I ended up eating most of the meals over the next 10 weeks alone, which I was totally ok with. It also is not customary to talk while eating in Ghana (due to the abundant amount of spices used in the food, they are afraid they will choke if they try and talk while eating) so eating alone is virtually the same experience anyways.
Here is a pic of me and the girls at a spot. Check out the gigantic beers they serve here (for only 1 Ghana Cedi too!).
I took this picture while riding in a car on the way to Bote Waterfalls. At first I was like "shoot I think I accidently got those people that we were passing in the photo", but once I saw it I thought it was a really cool pic.
This is Kukurantumi, the town where I had training. It is right before the daily rain...
A kiss for you!
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