oh captain my captain

It’s Sunday night. And I just finished watching Dead Poets Society for the first time. Well, technically partially the second time. I remember we watched a clip of this movie in my high school history class once. Anyway, this is the message I got from the movie: find your passion, follow your passion, and yawp your passion.

Find your passion.

This first part sounds simple enough, right? Finding your passion, finding what you’re good at, finding what you enjoy. But it’s tougher than it seems. Some people may say if it’s truly your passion, then it’ll just come to you. Wrong. Most often times, the things that come to us are the things that make us comfortable, not what make us passionate. We tend to find something we are good at, something we somewhat enjoy. We get used to the thing we find, we get comfortable. As time goes on, we realize we aren’t happy with what we have. However, we also realize that we are happy enough to not change it. We are scared enough to not change it. We cozy up into these repetitive motions and become afraid to do what really makes us happy. Think about what makes you happy. Think about what gets you excited. Think about what you yearn for. Truly think about it. Once you find it, hold on to it tightly. Don’t let it go.

Follow your passion.

Don’t let go. Work for that passion like you’ve never worked for anything else. Now, finding your passion isn’t easy, and following your passion isn’t any better. Following your passion is when you get tested the most. The highs and lows. Things will come at you that will knock you down, but if you really believe in this thing, in yourself, you will thrive. Look at the challenging times as ways to improve yourself. Look at the low times as a small bump in the road. This is a magnificent journey. You will have dead ends, construction zones, traffic jams. But you will also have clear blue skies, beautiful sunsets, bright shining stars. Following your passion isn’t easy, but as long as you keep your eyes on what lies within your heart, it will be the greatest journey you’ve ever made.

Yawp your passion.

Finally, we come to yawping. Yawp your passion to everyone you know! Don’t be afraid to shout your love! We conquered fear before; don’t let it crawl back into our lives. If you are passionate about something, tell the world. Maybe they won’t be excited about the same things as you, but they will be excited for you. The first two points I mentioned aren’t easy, and having those people you’ve yawped to, those supporters, makes all the difference. Sometimes you may feel like nobody notices what you are doing or what you are striving for. Then you feel like, what’s the point? You lose ambition. You lose motivation. You lose hope. Don’t let that happen. Stay strong in your beliefs. Let those around you make those values even stronger. Let them help you follow your heart.

And who knows, maybe through all of this, you spark that light inside of someone else. You help someone find their passion. You support someone when they need it. You listen to someone’s yawping and you yawp right along with them.

Let us finally set sail, let us cross that ocean, let us tell our story, oh captain, my captain.

Friendship

It has been one month since I have gotten electricity (yahoo!), and I have yet to blog about it (or anything for that matter). Now that I have electricity, I can use my computer more often and start telling you more about my awesome and exciting adventures.

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago, and she was telling me about something she read in my blog, and the topic she had read was utterly and completely boring. I can’t remember what it was that she had read, but from here on out, I promise to make my material a tad more reader friendly.

So, November 13, 2013 was the day I finally received electricity in my nice little home. So, that is 63 weeks or 439 days or 10,536 hours I lived without electricity. And I can honestly say I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Yes, it was extremely difficult to deal with at first. How will I charge my phone? How will I read at night? What do you mean I can’t watch any of the hundreds of movies I loaded onto my hard drive? At the time, I was pretty bummed about it. But as time has gone by, I have really appreciated not having those lights. It made me get out of the house, meet people, experience Ghana.

I found a place in town where I could charge my phone. I became friends with several of the teachers at the high school in town who let me use their offices whenever I need to use my laptop. And because I left my house frequently, I have met some pretty amazing people.

When I am having a rough day teaching math or grading exams, it cheers me up to just sit and chat with the friends I have made in the village and in town. Working at the school is only part of what I am doing here. Another part is experiencing this culture. And the best way to do that is to get out there, make friends, and simply talk.

I recently read a blog where the author wrote about how scary it is going to a new place not knowing anybody. And I couldn’t agree more. It’s terrifying. But it’s also so rewarding when you finally find a friend or a group of friends you can share anything with. Now, I will tell you, I don’t have hundreds of friends in this place, but I do have a handful of extremely close friends. Quality is better than quantity. At least for me. And I want to give a shout out to those friends. Now, they probably won’t ever read my blog, but I just want to be able to recognize those people because they have given so much to me without even realizing it.

Kello – You inspire me to be a better teacher. You have so much passion for your students and so much motivation, that I hope to one day teach like you.

Thompson – You have so much knowledge and such a great sense of humor. It’s amazing how you combine both of these traits, and having conversations with you is always entertaining.

Slim Macho – You’re one in a million. You are always joking around, and even when I am having a long day, when you show up, you always make me laugh and help me realize not to take things so seriously. Rahi – You’re so young and beautiful and you have so much ahead of you. You’re such a kind hearted person, and I know you will always be there for me.

Zakia and Zenabu – You two always make me laugh and we always have so much fun together. Even though you hate it when I beat you at Ludu. Even if we don’t see each other for a few weeks, I know when we meet up again, it will just be like last time.

Aisha (and little Tahani) – Aisha, you are such an inspiration. You have such a positive outlook on life, you are such a hard worker, and you are simply amazing. I don’t know how you do it. You inspire me to want to be a better person, and I love you for that.

Roger – Words cannot describe the love I have for you. You are simply amazing and have made this whole experience magnificent. You have been there from the very first day, and I couldn’t have asked for a better neighbor, a better friend, and a better Ghanaian father.

Saana – There is so much that I could say. I remember you promised my mother that you would take care of me and help me not miss home so much. And I must say, you have more than lived up to that promise. Yes, I miss home like crazy, but you somehow make it bearable. There is plenty more that I could say, but I don’t want to bore the readers and get all sappy.

So, this is not how I intended this blog post to go. I was going to just talk about getting electricity and what it was like without it, what it’s like now, all that jazz. But I think this post took a turn for the best.

In a nutshell, everything that has happened so far in this crazy and amazing experience has brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn’t want to change a thing.

promise yourself...

…to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind

…to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet

…to make all your friends feel that there is something in them

…to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true

…to think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best

…to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own

…to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future

…to wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile

…to give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others

…to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble

…to think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world not in loud words but great deeds

…to live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you


-Christian D. Larson

My Peace Corps Project

Greetings!

 

I hope this finds you well! I just started my second year as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana. I am teaching Mathematics at a junior high school in the Upper West Region. Within Ghana, the junior high schools are divided into 3 classes called forms. Unfortunately, each form in my school has approximately 70 students, causing overcrowding and discomfort. I spoke with my fellow Ghanaian teachers, and they have been trying to build extra classrooms to remedy this project. However, the district has not been able to fund the entire project. That's where I come in. I was able to apply for a grant through Peace Corps to help cover some of the costs. With the combination of the grant and the contribution from the district, we are able to move on with the project. But where does the grant money come from? That's where you come in. All the money requested by the grant comes from generous people like you. Whether you can donate $1, $20, or $100, every little bit helps. You can also help by spreading my story. Tell people what I just told you. And soon we will be able to begin construction, and we can give these students the quality education they deserve. Because let's face it. They are pretty awesome, and they deserve the best.

 

-Reassurance-

 

I know you may be asking yourself "How do I know my money is actually being put to good use?" Worry not. I will be taking pictures and videos through the construction process as well as the final results of your generosity. These photos and videos will be posted on my blog at jessicakeeton.blogspot.com I will keep you updated throughout the entire process in hopes you can see where your contribution has truly made a difference.

 

-How to Donate-

 

All donations can be made online at the following link. https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-641-033 Simply click on this link, and it will take you to the Peace Corps donation website. Here, you will be able to read more about my project, see how much money has been raised, and how much remains. It is also here where you can make your own donation. So, feel free to browse the site at your leisure. And I want to thank you for your time, your consideration, and your generosity.

Watch this video at the following link and help make a difference. (click here)

June 18, 2013

Woweeee!  It has seriously been half a year since I last wrote on this!  So today, I had nothing to do after work, so I decided to bike to the high school to use a teacher's office and update you all on my life.

So, throughout these past months, I have been writing down blog ideas on post it notes sent to me by the lovely Katrina :)  I use them all the time.  I love them!  Anywho, apparently nothing exciting happened between January and Easter.  At least not according to my post it notes.  Or it could be the fact that I didn't have post it notes to write ideas on, so knowing my memory, those ideas are long gone.  Okay, I promise to get to the point.

Easter

My Easter celebration wasn't anything too exciting.  But it was much different than celebrating back home.  On Easter Friday, there was no school, so I decided to do some laundry.  Exciting so far, right?  After laundry, I went into town to spend some time with some friends.  Then Roger and I went to Forrestry Bar to have some drinks and chat.  Afterwards, we went to his pito drinking spot to collect his pig feed (at my site, people feed their pigs the leftover “mush” created after brewing pito).  While we were there, I decided it would be a good idea to trip over a tree stump that had been burned for whatever reason.  It turns the top of my foot completely black and I had a nice little cut on it.  Nothing too severe.  And thus ends Easter Friday.

Easter Saturday.  Around this time, I was preparing to attend a leadership conference for high school students in Kumasi.  So clearly I had to find some high school students.  One boy.  One girl.  I had talked with some friends and one woman told me her daughter was in high school form 2 (form 2 was a requirement).  Perfect!  Saturday is when I met Jennifer, the woman's daughter.  I explained to her everything happening during this conference.  While talking with her, some of my neighbor kids brought me mangoes.  How sweet.  Now, these mangoes are impossible to eat without getting stringy mango innards all up in your teeth.  But they were delicious nonetheless.  After Jennifer left, I made some “add water only” hashbrowns with BACON BITS.  Oh mylanta, were they deelish.  After this, Jennifer's mother, Angela, invited me to go watch the stooling of a new Queen Mother.  I was excited!  When I got there, and after observing the 2-3 hour ceremony, I realized I hadn't understood a lick of it.  The people were speaking only Dagaare, and I was not yet a master of the language.  Oh well, it got me out of the house.  Saturday is the day where they have “midnight” mass service at the Catholic church in town.  I say “midnight” because it actually started around 8pm.  And didn't end until after 1am.  I was beyond tired!  I loved all the music and dancing, though.  And just like the Queen Mother ceremony, this service was also spoken in only Dagaare.  I was falling asleep towards the end, and unfortunately still had to take a 20 minute bicycle ride home.  I made it and passed out!

Easter Sunday.  Sunday = market day.  I wanted to go to the market to buy some nice sandals.  I met some of my students in the market, and they happily helped me buy a 10 cedi pair.  They're pretty comfy, so I was happy.  On my post it note I have the word HOT.  You can imagine what the weather was like.  I also enjoyed some guinea fowl (I don't remember with who...probably Roger) and the neighbor children came over to draw.

Easter Monday.  I made an egg sandwich for breakfast (this entry is filled with exciting info).  I fetched water on my own for the first time!  My students/neighbor kids love helping me with anything and everything so they never let me fetch my own water.  Everyone must have been busy this day, and I really needed water, so I went and did it myself!  And by the time I was finished I was panting and drenched in sweat.  I also put up more decorations around my house.  I taped a bunch of pictures on the wall and a map of Ghana.  Makes my place a little more homey. 

And that's all I have written down for Easter.  Sadly, there was no li'l smokies, no ham balls, no deviled eggs, no colorful chocolate pie that fell to the ground after Meagan and I had a fight, no eating until I was 7 seconds from vomiting.  Even though this Easter was entirely different than last Easter, it was still a memorable one. 

Girls Camp

Okay, I lied. Something did happen during January and Easter.  The Upper West Region had a girls camp!  Every volunteer in the UWR brought 3 female students from schools at their site to attend this camp.  I took Alice, Mary, and Rotancila.  Now, I know you have absolutely no idea who these girls are, but for my sake/memory, they're wonderful.  The camp was held in Lawra (a nearby town).  We taught the girls about leadership skills, HIV/AIDS awareness/education, malaria education, gender roles, career opportunities, artistic skills, and many other things.  It was a week long camp, and my girls loved every minute of it.  I know that's not many details about the whole camp, but the pictures really tell the story, which I am pretty sure I uploaded to Facebook, but I will add some here for a visual.

Here is the link for more pictures:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151406534062358.1073741827.503292357&type=3

my 2 dozen-th birthday

My oh my, I turned 24 this year!  It wasn't anything too spectacular.  Especially compared to the Manager's Special and Embassy Suites or Bar Golfing in Iowa City.  I had to go to work and teach a few lessons.  Then I went home and relaxed for a bit.  I met Saana in town and we went to Yeltule (yell-too-lay) Annex.  It's a hotel/restaurant/bar.  We sat and ate guinea fowl and drank Alvaros and watched TV and chatted and laughed.  It was so relaxing and calm and peaceful.  It was a nice way to celebrate the big 2-4. 

Sixth March

First of all, you may be asking “Why did you spell out sixth instead of writing the number??”.  Here's the answer.  I went on vacation, spilled shampoo all over my computer, and now my number five, number six, and left ctrl keys do not work.  Huzzah.

Okay.  The Sixth March is Ghana's Independence Day.  For a solid two weeks before this day, my students practiced marching.  It's very similar to marching band marching.  Except here, they swing their arms more.  We picked the best students in our school to compete.  Oh yea, it's a competition.  On the sixth of March, we all make our way into town.  Nandom (the major town close to my village that I also consider my site) recently became it's own district.  So we had the marching competition there.  All of the surrounding schools came to compete.  There were so many!  It was so cool!  I sat in almost the front row for the whole thing taking pictures and cheering on my students.  Sadly, we didn't win, but I was so proud of my students regardless.  I also added pictures of this to Facebook, and I will try to add here...if I remember.  (UPDATE:  check Facebook.  I have deleted all the pictures from any memory/flash drive and I don't want to use credit to download them.  Here is a link to the album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151406576142358.1073741828.503292357&type=3  )

I will NOT work!

Yep...those were the words coming out of several Ghanaian teacher's mouths.  Because of pay discrimination (and I am sure other things), every teacher who was a part of GNAT (Ghana's National Association for Teachers) or NAGRAT (which I have no idea what it means, but it's very similar) went on strike.  Mind you, it's mandatory to be part of at least one of these unions.  Anyway, every teacher stopped teaching.  Except for the teacher whose office I am using.  He is so dedicated to teaching and absolutely loves it, and he is so inspirational.  Anyway, I continued teaching because I wasn't a part of either union, but as it turns out, my students went on strike too.  They were so rowdy and not wanting to learn anything, so I did what any rational teacher would do.  I canceled all classes and held a volleyball and soccer tournament.  It was fantastic.  I was the only teacher at the school, and there were over 200 students.  I think this country has finally turned me crazy.  But we had a lot of fun.  I made sure the boys weren't the only ones playing in either tournament.  I encouraged the girls to be a part of both.  So there was a little education going on throughout the whole thing.  The strike lasted basically until the end of the second term.  And I felt bad for the students because they still had to take their exams that were created by some company hundreds of miles away.  Bologna.  Such is Ghana.

too many cedis

So, I can't remember if I have updated you about my major project.  I have told you before that my school is fully loaded with students.  Each classroom has about 70 students.  Way too many for such tiny rooms.  So my plan is to build another school block with 3 more classrooms, so we can divide the students into 2 groups.  Now, we met with a local mason who found a guy in Wa (the capital of the Upper West Region), and he made us an estimate for a building with 3 classrooms, an office, a storage room, and a staff room (all things we wanted).  Turns out all of that would cost us about fifty five thousand cedis (damn you, number five key).  That is about $27,000.  Oofta!  I almost fainted when I saw that estimate.  Nope.  We can't do that.  We have to get it lower.  So I have been trying to meet with my Assembly Man who just now got back to me.  He told me about other ways to fund the project.  There is a District Assembly Common Fund, and we could talk to the District Chief Executive (DCE) about the plan and the money situation.  I tried calling the Assembly Man yesterday, but he told me he was busy, so I will call him later today.  So hopefully soon this project can get started, because fundraising this money is going to take some time.

World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day was on April twenty-fifth.  I decided to have a small spelling competition with a few of my form 3's who have been regularly attending my after school tutoring.  I had been telling them we would have a party since they were being so studious and what not.  So we decided to make lunch together, and I decided to trick them into a spelling competition.  We made about 800 pounds of rice and prepared a delicious stew/sauce to go with it.  While we were all eating, Melissa (a volunteer in the Upper West) and I conducted the competition.  All of the words were malaria related, so after a student would spell the word correctly (or after nobody could spell it), we would talk about what the word meant.  We showed them how to properly hang a mosquito net, and we showed them how they can repair a net if there is a tear in it.  The winner of the competition received a brand new mosquito net, and the second and third place winners received a needle and thread to repair any net (or any article of clothing, for that matter).  After the whole thing was over (which took about 4 hours), I had asked the students if they had had fun.  One student replied by saying “Some of us could say that this is a day we will never forget.”  I almost started crying right then and there.  That was such an amazing thing to hear.  So, even when it seems like I am not doing anything to help these students, I need to realize that even the small things make a difference.

Here are pictures of that event.  I have about 300 more that my students took throughout the whole party, but I only uploaded the Malaria Day specific ones to Facebook.  The others are soon(ish) to come!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151458035637358.1073741833.503292357&type=3  

I want to go shopping....me too!

No need, because I have an amazing tailor who likes making me dresses/outfits!!  I think I have about fifteen or sixteen outfits made, and there are 3 more on the way!  They are made either out of tie-n-dye (like batik) or printed material.  I look very Ghana-esque and the students always compliment my outfits.  Maybe one day, I will take a picture of every outfit I have and put it online.  Maybe.

pop goes the tire

Super short story, but it was interesting (to me I guess).  There was one day I wanted to go into town.  However, my bicycle tire was flat, so I had Roger's son/my student (Raymond) pump air into it.  It was beyond hot, and I should have just stayed in my water barrel all day.  I get into town, and I am heading towards Saana's shop.  I get off my bicycle a few meters away and walk it the rest of the way.  As I get to his shop, I hear this strange hissing noise.  It sounds like it's coming from my tire.  No problem.  It's just a puncture and the air is coming out.  I'll just get it fixed while I'm in town.  As I put the kickstand down and walk away, I hear an explosion!!! Okay, it wasn't that bad, but I turn around and see my bicycle tube and tire has burst, making the loudest noise ever.  Okay, not the loudest, but I want to make this story more interesting than it actually is.  Everyone is looking at me wondering what happened, and I just turn around towards Saana's shop laughing hysterically.  I have officially gone crazy.

scary

One day on the side of my house beneath my bedroom window, I saw a camel spider eating a lizard.  The end.

free education!! ...sort of...

One day at school, my headmaster decided to pull these giant rice bags out of the storage room.  Yay, we get lunch today!  Sadly, not the case.  Not so sadly, those bags were filled with exercise books, graph books, and atlases for all!  Well, almost all.  Ghana Education System can never be perfect.  Each student received five exercise books, one graph book, and an atlas.  For free!  Now make me a sandwich. 

vacation

During the holidays, I decided to take a small vacation.  I went towards the capital and went to the beach in Keta with some friends.  It was pretty fun.  The water was nice and cool (and over salted), we made s'mores, and ate like kings and queens.  Okay, we had grilled chicken and tilapia.  Close enough.  After that, I went and visited Sam at her site.  I met all of her friends and we enjoyed some banku and laughter.  It was a lot of fun, but way too short of a visit.  I am hoping to visit there again, because let's face it, Volta Region is beautiful.

tired

As you can see, my stories are getting shorter and shorter and shorter.  I am getting tired of writing.  Also, the power just went out and then back on.  I was worried for a second that all my things that I am using/charging got fried.  They didn't.  It's all good!

planned vacation

I plan on going to Mole National Park with some friends (including Kelsey and Dani!!) in a few weeks, so I am super excited about that!  I will also be traveling down to Kumasi with a counterpart to attend a workshop about Grassroots Soccer.  Grassroots Soccer is a program that educates people about HIV/AIDS while incorporating the always fun and awesome game of basketball!  Just kidding...it's soccer.  So I am really excited about this.  I was thinking of meeting with my students on Saturdays to play a li'l ball and teach them stuff.  It'll be fun.

STARS

I had mentioned before that I was taking Jennifer to a leadership conference.  This conference is called STARS (Students Taking Action Reaching for Success).  This was very similar to the Girl's Camp, but with high school males and females.  There was also more of a focus on furthering their education and seeing what programs certain schools had to offer.  I took Jennifer and also Roger's son, Prosper.  Each year, they have Junior Group Leaders who attended the conference the previous year and are there to help out.  And Prosper was chosen to come back next year!! So we will be going to the conference again, and he is super excited about it.

BECE

My form 3 students (along with everyone else's form 3 students) are taking the BECE this week.  BECE stands for Basic Education Certificate Examination...I think.  Basically, it's like an entrance exam into high school.  I am nervous for them, and I hope that they do well!

say cheeeeeeeese

I discovered wagashie (wa-guh-she).  It's basically fried cheese aka cheese balls/nuggets/oddly shaped things.  I first discovered them in Wa where Melissa and I bought six cedis worth.  Which is equivalent to sixty pieces!  We thought we were getting half that (which is still an extremely large amount).  I don't want to frighten you, but we did in fact eat all sixty pieces.  We made a marinara sauce from scratch that was to die for!  A few days later, I discover Nandom has wagashie!  Holy smokes!  I had Saana buy some and bring some over, I prepared my own marinara sauce, and we feasted!  He loved the marinara and said I was a great cook.  Little does he know, that's about the only thing I can make.  Aside from mac n cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  In any case, I get the feeling I will be eating this wagashie until my time is up.  I am gonna be broke, and fat, and I don't care.

January 5, 2013

A fo bronye?

How was your Christmas?  Much like most of you, my Christmas morning started early.  Around 7am.  I woke up and prepared a delicious breakfast consisting of an egg sandwich.  I greet Roger and we decide to head out to go collect my woven dress.  We hop on our bikes and reach the seamstress’s house in less than 20 minutes.  She shows me the finished product.  It’s a 2 piece dress, and I go to try it on.  The top is more than difficult to get on.  It has thick tank top like straps and they meet in the middle in the back and branch off into 4 different straps before meeting the rest of the dress (sorry if this sounds confusing.  Hopefully I’ll get a picture up soon).  I try the bottoms on.  They are snug against my hips and then billow out slightly.  Lovely.  This dress definitely accents my curves.  I go show Roger and he loves it!  I change out of it, the seamstress makes a few touch ups, I pay her 20 cedis, and we head out.  After leaving, we stop at Roger’s pito spot, and we each take a calabash of pito (mine was a little smaller than his).  After sitting and chatting with the people there, we decide to head home. 

Roger’s family traveled up from Accra for the holidays.  We were all planning on attending mass service that morning, so we had to prepare.  Roger thought maybe we could wear our new outfits (he had a smock made out of the same material) to church.  Okay!  So right when I get to the house, I put the dress back on because I know it’ll take me forever to do so.  I finally finish, and a few minutes later, Roger calls and says the mass service had been cancelled in our village, so we weren’t going.  Gah.  So I have to change out of the dress again.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  I finally manage to get out of it, and Roger and I head over to his family’s house.  When we get there, I am greeted with a “Happy Christmas” (yep…happy instead of merry) and hugs from everyone.  I love his family (which consists of his brother Charles, Charles’ wife Lorencia, and Lorencia’s sister Elizabeth).  They seriously made me feel like I was a part of their family.  So we just sit and chat for a little bit while everyone is getting ready, then we decide to head into town.  We reach a spot around 2pm and begin the festivities.  We order some drinks and food.  Round one consisted of a beer and goat meat.  Round two began with another beer and beans cake (beans cake is a batter made mostly out of beans and then fried…I’m not a huge fan).  Round three I shared a bottle with a friend and we feasted on guinea fowl.  So.  Much.  Food. When the guinea fowl had arrived Lorencia shrugged her shoulders and said “Well…it’s Christmas!”.  I thought it was the funniest thing ever.  So basically we just sat and chatted and laughed all day long.  It was fantastic. 

I definitely missed the Christmas traditions from back home.  The lotto tickets at Grandma Glenda’s, the pajamas and book on Christmas Eve, the breakfast casserole on Christmas morning, the marathon of A Christmas Story (how long is that marathon?), chicken and noodles at Grandma Kay’s, baked goods galore, ugly Christmas sweater parties, and constant eating and laughing and sleeping.  Even though I was feeling a tad homesick, my family in Ghana helped me make the most of the holiday season.  I am so grateful to have such loving and wonderful people in Ghana who treat me like family.  It was definitely a Happy Christmas for me :-)  

yuompaala!

Happy New Year!  For New Year’s, I decided to spend some time with fellow volunteers.  We went to this oasis that is owned by a Return Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) in the Upper East Region.  It was beautiful!  It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a gorgeous scenery (pictures to come soon!).  The sleeping quarters were modernized huts.  It was amazing.  From the outside it looked like a mud hut, and on the inside was 2 beds with mosquito nets, a place to hang your clothes, a dresser, and outlets!  It was adorable.  I loved it.  There was another building nearby (that was the RPCV’s house I think) where we hung out.  We could go up some stairs and sit on the roof and stargaze.  It was so peaceful.  And being the dry season, the bugs/mosquitoes were not plenty, so we weren’t aggravated by those.