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”.