Today was a holiday from school which we just found out from yesterday. It’s the first president’s birthday but usually it is not observed by missing school. I finally taught my first class yesterday- maths as it is called here. I made myself do it because I was feeling anxious about it and just needed to get it over with instead of building it up in my head. Plus it’s all a grand experiment anyways so the only way to get better at teaching is to try out different things! The other teachers haven’t really started teaching besides reviewing end of the year exams from last year so it was hard to motivate myself. It went well and I hope I came across as a serious teacher like I wanted. I just introduced myself, got the students names (which will take time to learn), discussed my class rules with them, and did a mini-lesson on our first topic which is numeration systems including base numbers. I made sure to tell them that I am here to give them knowledge not money or food since I have had students and community members ask for both. They laughed at this but I hope it got the point across in a light-hearted manner. In other news, one of the English teachers is transferring but didn’t tell the headmaster so he found out informally on Friday. We’re waiting to hear if another teacher will get placed here as a replacement. The system here is definitely different.
I am happy to start settling into a routine here which involves little movement in the form of transportation during the week. My commute is a less than one minute walk to school. I will probably only go to a bigger town one day during the weekend to do my food shopping for the week at market. It’s amazing to reflect on how much my life has changed. My friend and fellow math teacher Chris and I went for a two-hour bike ride this morning and he gets such a kick out of people’s reactions when I greet them in their language. A lot of times they’re so shocked to see a white lady much less hear her speak Buli that it renders them speechless. It is quite humorous. People are also surprised that I ran ride a bicycle; I am always willing to prove it to them by riding a little ways on their borrowed bikes. Yesterday after jogging we were walking back to my house by way of the borehole where people were fetching water before sunset and I impressed them by walking a few steps holding the wagon used to transport water. To which Chris exclaimed ‘You are Ghanaian!’ which is a huge compliment I think but I’m not convinced I’m quite there. Sure I can greet and make small talk in the local language, eat the Ghanaian food with my hands and even cook a few dishes, wear the clothes complete with the head scarf, and hand wash my clothes and dishes. But I’m yet to carry water or other items on my head, hold a baby on my back, dance well, bath morning and night, and much more!
While chatting on the phone with my niece Carey a few days ago, she heard a donkey braying in the background (they are super loud) so she decided I live in ‘redneck Ghana’ which is true I guess. It is quite rural with the most common livelihood being farming. And while there are some drawbacks to being out in the middle of nowhere, I really enjoy the pastoral scenery and try to appreciate the beauty of the place on a daily basis by getting outdoors. I’ve been able to see the Milky Way a few nights this week when it wasn’t as stormy and it is an amazing sight. The kids here continue to bring by critters to show me. Last week I had the opportunity to hold a newborn baby goat and stroke it while it fell asleep. Today after they finished swinging on a branch in the tree in front of my house, some boys caught a tiny mouse in a jerry can and held it up for me to photograph. Earlier in the week I had an impromptu photography session with the kids and somehow my TOMS shoebox, plants, and a game became props.
I want to end with a quick story on some of the shirts from America I’ve seen here. While I was in my community during site visit, I saw a guy was wearing a Kentucky shirt that had horses on it so I asked him if he knew where Kentucky was. Unsurprisingly he didn’t so I educated him on the state and the Kentucky Derby horse race. I also saw a little kid in our district capital wearing a shirt that read ‘Come back to my crib’ which made my day. And last but not least, this week I saw a kid wearing a red and green 'Santa’s Helper' shirt complete with a collar that reminded me of the clothes Buddy wore in the movie Elf- so pretty legitimate basically. I had a really hard time holding in my giggles. Speaking of Christmas, I also explained Santa Claus to someone recently- definitely get to have some pretty interesting conversations. Hope you enjoy my musings- thanks for reading and experiencing this crazy ride with me!
I am happy to start settling into a routine here which involves little movement in the form of transportation during the week. My commute is a less than one minute walk to school. I will probably only go to a bigger town one day during the weekend to do my food shopping for the week at market. It’s amazing to reflect on how much my life has changed. My friend and fellow math teacher Chris and I went for a two-hour bike ride this morning and he gets such a kick out of people’s reactions when I greet them in their language. A lot of times they’re so shocked to see a white lady much less hear her speak Buli that it renders them speechless. It is quite humorous. People are also surprised that I ran ride a bicycle; I am always willing to prove it to them by riding a little ways on their borrowed bikes. Yesterday after jogging we were walking back to my house by way of the borehole where people were fetching water before sunset and I impressed them by walking a few steps holding the wagon used to transport water. To which Chris exclaimed ‘You are Ghanaian!’ which is a huge compliment I think but I’m not convinced I’m quite there. Sure I can greet and make small talk in the local language, eat the Ghanaian food with my hands and even cook a few dishes, wear the clothes complete with the head scarf, and hand wash my clothes and dishes. But I’m yet to carry water or other items on my head, hold a baby on my back, dance well, bath morning and night, and much more!
While chatting on the phone with my niece Carey a few days ago, she heard a donkey braying in the background (they are super loud) so she decided I live in ‘redneck Ghana’ which is true I guess. It is quite rural with the most common livelihood being farming. And while there are some drawbacks to being out in the middle of nowhere, I really enjoy the pastoral scenery and try to appreciate the beauty of the place on a daily basis by getting outdoors. I’ve been able to see the Milky Way a few nights this week when it wasn’t as stormy and it is an amazing sight. The kids here continue to bring by critters to show me. Last week I had the opportunity to hold a newborn baby goat and stroke it while it fell asleep. Today after they finished swinging on a branch in the tree in front of my house, some boys caught a tiny mouse in a jerry can and held it up for me to photograph. Earlier in the week I had an impromptu photography session with the kids and somehow my TOMS shoebox, plants, and a game became props.
I want to end with a quick story on some of the shirts from America I’ve seen here. While I was in my community during site visit, I saw a guy was wearing a Kentucky shirt that had horses on it so I asked him if he knew where Kentucky was. Unsurprisingly he didn’t so I educated him on the state and the Kentucky Derby horse race. I also saw a little kid in our district capital wearing a shirt that read ‘Come back to my crib’ which made my day. And last but not least, this week I saw a kid wearing a red and green 'Santa’s Helper' shirt complete with a collar that reminded me of the clothes Buddy wore in the movie Elf- so pretty legitimate basically. I had a really hard time holding in my giggles. Speaking of Christmas, I also explained Santa Claus to someone recently- definitely get to have some pretty interesting conversations. Hope you enjoy my musings- thanks for reading and experiencing this crazy ride with me!
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