you can dance if you want to

June 16, 2012

Bread for breakfast again!! Yummm!!  And I had a banana.  Double yummm!  Today was also amazing.  The lectures were interesting (we talked a lot about differences in cultures and gender roles).  It was getting sooooo hot towards the end of the lectures, so we were done with classes early!  Yahoooo!  It was so hot because it was about to rain, so the humidity was just killer.  Lou is planning a PCT spaghetti luncheon tomorrow, and asked if a few of us would get some ingredients.  Sam’s “mom” owns a shop in town, so Sam, Ethan and I went to see what she had.  As we were looking, it began to pour.  Her shop is outside, but has a tin roof.  So you can imagine how loud it was under there.  I think we stayed under there for about 20 minutes.  We ended up buying some garlic and pepe (a very spicy…spice).  We still needed spaghetti noodles, so Sam and I decided to go to Kukurantumi for spaghetti, as well as an internet café!  We picked Angel up on the way to the taxi station.  Once we got into town, our taxi driver dropped us off at the internet café, and was told that the internet was down.  Shoot.  There was another café nearby, so we decided to get out and walk around.  Sam bought 3 packages of spaghetti, Angel bought a thing of hand soap, and I bought 3 small packages of sweet biscuits (cookies) for my family.  We walked to the other internet café, met so many friendly people along the way, and found out that the internet wasn’t working at this place either.  Double shoot.  It was getting dark, so we decided just to head back to Anyinasin. 

Once we got back, my whole family was so excited to see me!  That definitely makes this place feel more like home!  It’s so nice.  My “mom” had dinner waiting for me.  She made me rice, chicken, a boiled egg, and this spicy sauce she tried to feed me before.  Everything tasted beyond delicious (and I was hungry, too!).  Kofi came home later and had music playing on his phone.  He walked in and I told him I like his music.  He left his phone in the room for all of us to listen to.  We all started dancing a little on the couch, and then I made Ama and Aquia stand up and dance with me, and then my “mom” jumped up too!!  We were all dancing together to Ghanaian music and laughing and smiling.  It was so much fun! 

Side note:  my “mom” just walked past my window and said “Ama, are you sleeping??” (Ama is my Ghanaian name).  It scared the crap outta me!  Haha but it made me smile even more J  She is beyond sweet. 

Anywho, it was just such a fantastic day.  I am so grateful for having such an amazing homestay experience so far.  Tomorrow, I have to go to bath and do my laundry all before church at 9am.  Whew.  I wish I could sleep in past 7am.  Oh well.  I am just happy to have a break from class tomorrow.  It’s gonna be nice.  I hope these entries aren’t too boring for you.  If you want to know more or ask me questions, please don’t hesitate!!  Ask away!!  I want to spread this Ghanaian culture with everyone!  Much love to everyone.  Day-ee-ya!

no homework, no chay-bays

June 15, 2012

It’s Friday!  But we still have class tomorrow.  Shucks.  Anyway, today was all about micro-teaching (where we taught a small group of Ghanaian students).  I think it went pretty well!  And the others in my group said I did a really good job, so yay!  It was a lot of fun, and it got me really excited for practicum next week!  I will be teaching 2 lessons a day every day at Presby School in Kukurantumi for the next 2 weeks.  The first week I will be teaching science, and the second I will be teaching math.  I have several 70 minute blocks!!!  Ahhh!!  I have never taught/presented for that long!  It will definitely be tough, but my counterpart (Ebenezer…a fellow Ghanaian teacher) gave me some ideas to take up time, and he said to let him know if I have any questions.  He was uber nice. 

We made our ways home, and I was really excited to spend some time with my family.  I just love them.  I took a bath, and then ate dinner.  My “mom” prepared banku.  I wasn’t hungry because I was soooo hot, so I told everybody (multiple times) that they were invited to eat with me (bay-dee-dee).  While we were all sitting around outside eating, my “grandmother” asked me if I had a husband.  I said no.  Then Kofi and his friend (whose name I do not remember) asked if I had a boyfriend.  I also said no.  They then asked “Why?!”.  It was such a fun conversation (no joke!).  Kofi ended up saying that his dream is to marry a white woman.  And his friend blurted out “I’m single!” :)  It was soooo funny!!  Everybody was laughing and having a good time.  It was just awesome.  Then we went to go fetch water!  We took 3 buckets with us and walked to the spicket.  For 10 pesawas, we could fill 2 buckets.  My bucket got filled, and my “mom” put a folded hand towel on my head and placed the bucket on top.  I was carrying water like a Ghanaian!!!  I had to keep my hands on the bucket, but I didn’t care!! It was amazing!!  Afterwards, I played with the girls (and I found out I should call them my sisters), and none of us had homework!  On the nights we do have homework, once we finish, I give the girls a treat.  I don’t really know what it is, but they say it is called “chay-bays”.  They asked me for some tonight since we had no homework, and I said “No homework, no chay-bays” with a smile.  They started laughing because they thought it was a funny sentence.  And they kept repeating it aaaallll night.  It was adorable.  We ended up just hanging out for most of the night.  They taught me a few Twi words too.  The night ended with bedtime hugs and goodnight kisses.  I taught them my signature move (putting your fingers in the shape of a heart and holding it up to your heart).  So my “sisters” and I do that to each other every night J  We have class tomorrow (on Saturday?! I know…no bueno).  But hopefully it isn’t too bad.  My “sisters” are going to walk me to class, so that’ll be fun.  And I hope I get bread again for breakfast!  And fruit!  Fingers crossed!  Day-ee-ya!

“may-pay” Peace Corps!

June 14, 2012

 

Today was also fantastic!  We spent aaaaaaaaallllllllll day doing sessions and lectures about sexual assault awareness, what to do if/when it happens, and one on STDs.  It was pretty interesting, but going 9 hours on those topics is kind of a downer.  So the PCVTs (Peace Corps Volunteer Trainers) took us to their favorite chop bar (almost like a bar and grill…without the grill) to have dinner and a few drinks.  I ordered a Star beer, which is a light beer that tasted deeeeelicious!  It was a huge bottle for less than $2.50.  Even better!  For dinner, I had one ball of rice and ground nut soup.  The soup was ground nuts (obviously) and some type of oil and some spices mixed together.  It was actually pretty good!  But we all got to sit around and hang out, talk, laugh, vent, and whatever we wanted.  We didn’t have to talk about sessions or listen to anyone give a lecture.  It was just so nice to finally get away and have some social time.  I mean, yea, we see each other every day, but never in this type of setting.  It was great. 

It was getting dark so we decided to head out.  Angel, Sam, and I were trying to find a taxi together, but a tro stopped next to us.  We told them we wanted to go to Anyinasin, and I asked the driver how much he would charge.  He said 15,000 (which converted from the old currency to the new meant 1.50).  I said perfect!  So the three of us got in, and they started driving.  It was just the three of us, and it was now dark out, so we (at least I was) were a little nervous.  We stopped for gas, then kept going.  When we got to Anyinasin, we handed the mate the money, and he just looked at it with a puzzled look.  So I said “1.50, right?”.  He said “Nooo!!!  50,000 each!!”  Which meant 5 cedis each.  No way!!  That is waaaaaay too much!  We tried to argue with him, but decided to cave in since it was late, and we felt we wouldn’t get our way.  In the end, it was my silly fault for thinking he said 15,000 when he actually said 50,000.  Oops.  Angel and Sam weren’t mad at me or anything, and we all agreed it was a good lesson to learn from.  We’ll know better next time!

Once I got home, Aquia and my “mother” gave me a hug!  They were so happy to see me!  I assume it was because I hadn’t been home all day.  I told them “may co toilet” (I am going to toilet).  Aquia pointed out that every time I come home, that is the first thing I do.  It’s true.  And I don’t know why! J  I thought it was kind of funny.  I told Aquia that I also had homework to do, so we all (including Ama) came to my room to work.  It was a lot of fun.  I helped Aquia with her math homework (subtraction) and used bananas as an example.  I had them teach me how to say banana in Twi (kwa-due), and we had a (pretend) bunch of bananas and eat them to show subtraction.  It was so much fun! 

I get to teach a 15 minute lesson tomorrow on anything in the science syllabus.  I chose to do mine on changing the state of matter.  I had to write out my lesson plan for it (and notes, because you have to turn in your lesson plan before you begin your lecture).  I don’t think it is too hard, but I guess we will see tomorrow!  Fingers crossed!

The PCVTs have told us that one of the biggest battles to overcome while teaching is enunciating and slowing down when we talk.  So I have caught myself overly enunciating the letter “t” when I speak.  Sometimes I annoy myself (ha!), but I know I need to get used to it, so I can teach like it.  So if you are ever talking to me, and I talk like that, now you know why J

Today was such a good day, again.  It’s starting to worry me because I feel like a bad day should be coming up (knock on wood!).  Hopefully the days keep getting better, and hopefully my fellow volunteers’ days keep getting better.  We are all in this together, and I feel like we can all help each other out to get through it.  It’s awesome.  I love (may pay) everyone.  May pay what I do.  May pay my homestay family.  And I hope that love continues when I get sworn in and finally begin teaching in my own classroom. 

mah-main

June 13, 2012

First off, I just want to say that today was FANTASTIC!!  Secondly, I want everyone to know that all the stereotypes of roosters are 100% incorrect!  Roosters do not cock-a-doodle-do when the sun rises and only when the sun rises.  They do it all day.  And all throughout the night.  They have no schedule.  It’s insane.  The first night here in Anyinasin, I woke up at 1:30am, 2:30am, 4:00am, and 6:00am all because of the roosters.  But luckily, last night, the rain kept most of them away, and I got a ton of sleep.

Anyway, today’s lectures were mostly focused on classroom management and lesson planning.  It was pretty useful.  The only downside was there was no wind to keep us cool, and the benches we sat on hurt everybody’s backs.  So most of the time we were all pretty uncomfortable.  Other than that, it was interesting, and I actually learned a lot. 

I came home for lunch, and my “mother” gave me pineapple (yum!), fried potatoes, fried plantains, and a bean sauce to dip them in.  My “brother”, Kofi, had me try some of his Banku (bahng-ku).  It is a dough-like ball and a soup.  You pinch off a small piece of dough with your fingers and dip it in the soup.  It had the consistency of sticky mashed potatoes, and that was what I pretended I was eating, because I 100% hate dough.  It wasn’t bad.  I learned a phrase today that I will be using a lot.  Mah-main.  It means “I am satisfied”.  I have used that phrase at every meal because I just cannot finish my food.  They give me so much!  But I no longer feel bad for not finishing, because I know it will not go to waste.  That everyone else will eat part of it, so it gets completely finished.

At the afternoon session, we talked about classroom rules and discipline.  Very interesting because the discipline in Ghana is much different than in the states.  Here in Ghana, we have no detention.  We have no disciplinary figure.  Yes, we do have a Head Master/Mistress, but they are not necessarily in charge of disciplining students.  So we must handle that task on our own.  It will be very different.  We were also told to be their teacher, not their friend.  I think I will have some trouble with that.  I want my students to respect me, so if I convince myself enough to be a hardass, I will. 

After all of the sessions, I went back home.  I happily greeted everybody (as you are supposed to) saying “ma dwo” (pronounced mah-JO).  And everybody in the family was smiling and responding, and I actually felt like I belonged here.  It was so amazing.  I’m slowly becoming part of the family.  I had my “mother” give me dinner outside so I could sit with everybody, and she sat with me!  It was fantastic!  During dinner, I had them teach me a few words and phrases in Twi.  I think I am going to make a blog post of just language and add to it every time I learn new words and phrases.  After I finished (mah-MAIN), Aquia and I showed everyone how we dance the Macarena.  It was so fun!  Everybody was smiling and laughing. 

It was starting to get dark, so I decided to go to bath (may co JAH-ray ah-bah).  After I was finished with the bath (they tried to teach me how to say that in Twi, and it took me forever, and I still don’t know it), I told Ama and Aquia we should go work on our homework.  I actually had some too!  We have to give a short lecture on anything we want.  I am going to show the class (all of the volunteers) how to make a valentine.  Simple as that.  Aquia got all of her homework finished (and it was all correct!), and Ama didn’t have any, so we went to the other room to watch some television.  My whole family came in and told me they were going to church.  At 7pm!  That’s awesome!  I kind of wanted to go with them, but I was in my pajamas, and it would have taken me a while to get ready.  Aquia, Ama, and I played a bunch of games.  They showed me these hand games that were super fun and made me cackle a few times.  It was so great.  Everyone is really starting to like me, and it is starting to feel like home.  At 8pm, I told the girls I was tired (mah-BRAY), and must go to bed.  I need some “me” time at the end of the night where I can write blog entries which help me reflect on the day.  Side note, in one of the sessions, we talked about how reflection is one of the best teachers.  And I agree.  Just looking back and thinking about today makes me realize I am in the right place doing the right thing.  It’s great. 

Tomorrow, we must take a taxi to Kukurantumi for a Seminar Day.  We have to be there by 8am.  The taxi ride takes about 30 minutes and costs 1 cedi 70 pesawas.  My group is meeting at the taxi station at 7:15am, so I need some sleep.  Oh, one more thing, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERY!!!!  Wish I could be there to celebrate, but I hope you enjoy your steak and fries!!! J  Much love to everyone!  I miss you all, and I can’t wait to share these stories with you!  Day-EE-ya!!

feed me, seymour!

June 12, 2012

Whew.  All I can say was that today was a long and rough day.  For breakfast, Mami Grace made me eggs with veggies and gave me a bunch of sweet bread.  It was really good!  I still couldn’t finish all of it.  I left for more lectures about lesson planning and learning styles.  I got a lot out of it, because lesson planning was one thing I was iffy about.  Then we broke for lunch.  And here is where my day got rough.

I went back home to have lunch.  Kofi had prepared it for me.  It was about 5 huge chunks of yam, plantains, two pieces of chicken (in Twi:  ah-CO-co), and a stew-like sauce thing.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  There is no way I could eat all of that.  I was still uber full from lunch.  I ended up eating 3 chunks of yams, half of a plantain, and one piece of chicken.  I only had an hour for lunch, so I had to leave.  Kofi came in to clean up my plates and said “When we give you food, try to eat as much as you can, because we make it just for you.”  I said I tried to eat it all but I was very full and satisfied (“satisfied” is what you tell them when you can’t imagine eating another bite).  He said okay, walked away, and I left for the afternoon sessions.  I felt terrible.  I am trying so hard to eat everything, but I can’t.  So once we got back to Presby Church (Presbyterian Church, where we have our lectures), I talked to the PCVTs (Peace Corps Volunteer Trainers) and asked how do we stop feeling bad about not eating all the food?  They said don’t feel bad.  Just tell them you are satisfied, and they will be okay.  I am going to try to not feel guilty, but it is very difficult.  That is probably the hardest thing I am dealing with now.  I get so nervous before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  It sucks. 

Anyway, during the lectures, I noticed I had a small red spot on my inside forearm.  I had been told that if a mosquito carrying malaria bites you, it leaves a mark that does not itch.  Uh oh.  I examined the rest of my body and I have two on the back of my hand, and two more on my other arm.  I’ve been taking my malaria pills, so hopefully they are working! 

After all of our lectures, we had a cultural fair.  There were 5 different stations showing us artifacts, games, clothing, food, and a station with 20 items where we had to guess what they were.  It was actually really interesting and a lot of fun.  We only got 10 minutes at each station, which definitely was not enough time.  It would have been really cool to spend more time at the stations, especially the artifacts station.  There was some mosaic art that was just amazing! 

Finally, we got to go to the chief’s house to be formally accepted into the village.  Unfortunately, the chief himself wasn’t there, but 4 of his leaders were.  We went through some traditional blessings and speeches, and then each volunteer and our “mother” would come up to the leaders and introduced ourselves.  It was a lot of fun.  It’s really amazing to see different cultures and how they welcome people into their communities. 

At the end of that, we all went off on our separate ways towards home.  Uh oh.  Dinner time.  Mami Grace made me a ball of rice, this oily broth stuff to dip it in, and fresh pineapple.  I downed the pineapple!  Every last bite!  And ate about half of the rice ball!  I was so impressed with myself, so I didn’t feel bad when I said “I am finished.  I am satisfied”.  It was getting dark pretty quickly, so I decided to wait until morning to go to bath aka shower (I am trying to write in Ghanaian lingo to get used to it…so bear with me). 

I helped Aquia (ay-KWEE-uh) and Ama with their homework again tonight.  I was pretty exhausted and kind of in a funk, but I tried to be as positive and helpful as I could.  They both finished and looked very tired, so they said they were going to bed.  So I said goodnight (in Twi:   day-EE-ya).  I wanted to get out of my funk, so I pulled my computer out, put on some music, and decided to actually unpack my suitcases.  I wanted to make it feel homier.  I wanted to feel like I wasn’t in a strange place.  I don’t want to feel like a visitor.  This is my home for the next 10 weeks.  I want it to feel like home.  And surprisingly, it worked.  I feel like I have done something for me, and I feel better about doing so.  I also think I am going to read tonight.  I need to have some “me” time, and that seems perfect.  I really haven’t had many opportunities for personal time, and I think that is part of why I am in a funk.  Hopefully by tomorrow, it will be gone.  I feel like the first week at homestay is really difficult because you are trying to get the hang of things and trying to feel at home.  I need to remember that this is only day 2, so there will be some bumps and bruises at first, but soon enough I will feel perfectly fine.  Now, I will relax, get lost in a book about San Francisco, and doze off.  So I will say “day-ee-ya”.