Southern Roots

I gave my first class test in all three classes this week. Form 1’s results were pretty dismal which indicates they’re having a difficult time understand my American English. I am hoping by end of the first term in December it will be easier for them to ‘get’ me. I am also going to issue textbooks (which isn’t always done) to the students for them to take home and read and do homework out of. My pace of covering material has been slow already so I don’t think I can go much slower but probably need to be more creative in my explanation of computers. Especially since most of my students haven’t ever seen one, which is one of the main challenges I’m facing as I’ve previously mentioned. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that two of my students in my Form 1 class have computers at their houses. The textbooks came with an educational CD which these two students helped me remove and the boy asked if we should just leave them so people can use them if they have computers. My response was we could just give them to the students who needed him- so then he and the girl each took one. Besides the challenges of the language barrier and teaching ICT without computers, the large class sizes are also difficult to manage because of marking (grading) papers, controlling their behavior, and learning names. My form 2 and 3 students did much better on their tests so that made me happy and less worried that they aren’t understanding me.

Some of my form 3 students really want computer lessons so I’ve agreed to let them come by on the weekends. Unfortunately with my travels the past two weekends we have yet to begin. I did give my friend and fellow teacher Chris a short lesson one day on the internet and email during which we found out that if you yahoo (doesn’t quite have the same ring as google- but that’s what I use with my browser here) Gbedema Upper East Region my blog is listed 5th. This week Chris helped me distribute and post some Operation Smile posters since they’re coming to Ghana in December and Peace Corps is helping support them in their efforts.

Earlier in the week I made fried green tomatoes which I don’t think I’ve ever cooked in the States. The other teacher’s quarters has a garden behind it growing green bell peppers, tons of tomatoes, and some local vegetables. I was inspired to make fried green tomatoes since I’m Southern and all. They turned out pretty well and I ate them with a vegetable plate of Dijonnaise (whatever that means) green beans and stewed okra and tomatoes. There were definitely tasty but I did get sick the next day, ironically when there was a representative from the district health services office came to the school to meet with the students. Well done job Health Madam- way to take care of yourself! Anyways I’m all better now but the fried green tomatoes were probably won’t be happening again for a while. Back to the veggies, there’s a ton of okra here so I’ve made gumbo a few times and okra and tomatoes cooked in the skillet. Speaking of okra, it’s one of the staple vegetables here but a lot of Volunteers can’t get over the mucous-y texture. I’m glad I’m Southern and grew up eating okra. My sister reminded me of one summer where we had an abundance of okra in our garden until we were sick of okra. I hope that doesn’t happen to me here since it’s one of the few familiar green veggies I can get consistently. So if you come across any fabulous okra recipes please send them my way!

I cannot believe it’s already over halfway through October but I am definitely feeling more settled in. I’m not feel so exhausted all the time and don’t feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster as much. As I’ve mentioned before, the highs are really high and the lows very low during cross-cultural adjustment and perhaps living in its entirety. If you’re wondering how you can pray for me, the challenges I mentioned in the classroom is a good place to start. Also I’ve been experiencing some anxiety and panicky feelings when I am in very crowded cars with a low ‘ceiling’ (much more so than the photo but you can get an idea of what types of cars are available). It’s a very specific case and thankfully I really only have to worry about it on the weekends but it’s still a struggle I am facing here. I was always slightly claustrophobic in America (elevators aren’t my favorite) but never had it pushed to the limit like it has been here. Thanks for keeping up with my blog and enjoy the lovely autumn weather and festivities!