on returning to america

i arrived in the US on monday evening.

being back is strange. i'm back in the city where i've lived most of my life, and many things still look exactly how i left them, yet it's a place i don't know.

for months i had looked forward to coming home, but then about a month before leaving ghana, i realized that "coming home" also meant leaving home. don't get me wrong: it's great to be back and see the people i love and missed. but ghana is home to me now too, and it's now the place that is so familiar to me.

people talk about reverse culture shock, and i thought i had experienced it in the past when i had traveled abroad a few times. but after living in another culture for two years--living and loving in another culture--returning to your own is truly a shock.

going to the store is overwhelming: a whole aisle of deodorant? why?

i have a car available to me, but i haven't driven. i'm nervous that i have forgotten how.

my journey back was three flights. when i arrived at my first layover (brussels) and went to the check-in desk, i stood in line trying to figure out with the time change what time of day it actually was so i would know how to greet the lady. i paused, getting ready to say "good morning", and she just said hi. hi? what is hi? what happened to greeting? my flights back were my first time in two years that i had real butter, potato chips, and ice in my drinks. but in each of the three meals served on the planes, they served laughing cow cheese, the only kind of cheese available to me for the past two years. you can't just give me some cheddar?

being home is just a mixture of so many different feelings. i feel sad to think about ghana and the people and places i left behind, but i feel relieved to be back in a cooler and more luxurious environment. i feel really stressed to think about the big changes coming and the burden of finding a job and a home. but eating dairy again (lots and lots of dairy) is such a happy feeling.

my mom and i went to an international grocery store today. i was looking for ghanaian yams to make fufu. i found the yams, and i also found a whole list of obscure ghanaian foods that i thought i would never see in america. i must have looked ridiculous in my enthusiasm in that grocery aisle.

so, yes, i'm back. it's weird. it will be a process of adjustment. i'll probably still get a little wide-eyed at the grocery store for a while, and i expect i'll need to carry a sweater with me most places, but soon i'll (re)learn how to drive and begin my new life.

leaving wa

i am excited to be going back to the comforts of america, but i am equally sad to be leaving ghana.

specifically, leaving wa was a sad day for me. because of a last minute schedule change, my school held my going away party on the same day i left, just a few hours before i was to catch my bus. yes, it was a bit stressful, but it was also a nice way to really say goodbye to everyone, all in one day.

at assembly in the morning, i told the students i was leaving and that i would miss them all and that they should be good and work hard. they all wished god to bless me with a safe journey. at the party with the teachers, they thanked me for the work i have done and also wished me blessings and safe travels. they gave me two beautiful dresses as going away presents: one sewn by my good friend and seamstress/teacher annacleta, and the other made from handwoven cloth by a housemother at the school. it is always humbling when people who have so much less than you have give such generous gifts. but that's ghana. ghanaians are a generous people.

when the party finished, i packed just my few last minute items and locked up. it's hard to believe, but this little house in ghana has been my home for longer than any place since high school. and even more than that, so many special (and life-changing) times have taken place there.

as we rode away in our tiny taxi toward the station, i had tears in my eyes. we passed the people and the shops that i know so well. i know i'll be back to visit, but just based on how much wa has changed during my two years there, i know it will be a completely different city in a few years.

when i first considered joining peace corps some three or four years ago, strangely enough, one of my greatest concerns was that after building friendships and relationships for two whole years, it would be devastating to leave. i guess that's an indication of what a good experience this was.

jewelry, one last time

my goal in teaching art to the deaf in ghana was basically to try to give students a creative means by which they could earn a living in the future. i knew i wasn't going to change the world with my project, but i just hoped that i help even just one deaf student to find a source of income for the future.

the jewelry project just fell in my lap. i started making bottlecap earring with the jhs kids, and the vocational teacher saw us and asked about our supplies, saying she had experience with jewelry but no supplies. i agreed to try to collaborate with her. we started by selling just a few pieces, which allowed us to buy supplies to create more. when the ngo that supports the school saw what we were working on, they were so impressed they offered to help as well.

but the rewarding part of this wasn't getting the supplies; it was getting the girls' enthusiasm. that, i'll admit, was a battle. with no set class timetable for jewelry, many girls just didn't show up because they weren't interested. at some point, though, they began to enjoy it. suddenly girls were coming to class and were making beautiful, interesting jewelry. they learned how to mix and match colors and how to use the hardware correctly.

as a final goodbye, (thanks to my mom's help from america) we were able to use some of their profit to purchase a jewelry kit for each student. i think this is the part of the project that was the most rewarding. the girls were truly grateful for the kits when we distributed them yesterday. not only did they appreciate what they received, but they asked very good questions about where in ghana they can also buy their own supplies when these finish.

i think some of the girls are really excited about this and truly do want to learn it well to sell jewelry in the future.

that's exactly what i was hoping for!

class pictures

the last day of class, instead of having exams (shh! don't tell!), i returned the students' artwork from the past year and recognized one student from each class who did exceptional work.

it was nice to have a final chance to say goodbye to all of the students.

this is p3, the youngest class i taught this year. this class is energetic and enthusiastic, and there is such a broad range of talent and personalities in this class.

this is p4. this class was a challenge. it was my biggest class, and some of my worst troublemakers were in this class, leading to a couple of fistfights and lots of drama. but they're all sweet kids at heart!

p5 had a couple of very talented artists. this was a class that had a lot of creativity.

p6. my smallest class, always made even smaller by the extreme truancy of most of the students. i often had only two or three kids show up for class. frustrating, but i got to spend extra time with those two or three kids who did come, and we had some great times. the one-on-one attention with them was wonderful.

jhs prep. it amazes me when i look back at this class when i first came. they were so young and immature, but this year i've watched the whole class grow up and become some of the new leaders of the school.

jhs 1. these kids are jokesters. the boys especially just liked to goof off (can you tell by the calabash on their heads?). despite that, they were very hardworking and made some great stuff.

jhs 2 also is a class that amazes me when i think of how much these kids have matured. enock, the third from the left, used to run away and refuse to attend class when i first came. now, he's one of the best and hardest working. they are the oldest jhs class now, and they act it.
it's true. i will miss these kids.

assembly

these are pictures from assembly.

assembly is every morning at 7:00am. the students all line up:

sign the Lord's prayer and the Ghana national anthem:
have some announcements

and then march off to class:
i can't say i'll miss assembly--it's too early in the morning--but it is definitely part of the rhythm of the days here.

asaazuma

this is asaazuma. she's my little friend. she's in p3. she is sweet and precocious; she likes to visit me and offer to do chores, such as sweep in front of the house. then she asks me to give her something. she starts big, and each time i refuse, she asks for a little less, until usually i just give in and give her some chilled water.

she likes to just visit too, though. one time when we were "talking" she paused then asked if we are friends. yes, i said, we are friends. she liked that.

everyone once in a while, she smiles and signs again that we are friends.

she's talented at crocheting. she'll just find a little piece of metal wire to use as a hook and whatever scraps of string she finds, and she crochets little purses and hats. when she saw that i had an actual crochet hook and real yarn, that immediately became what she most wanted me to give her.

she came by this afternoon and offered to sweep for me. i said no, it was ok, but we "talked" for a few minutes. she asked when i'm leaving. when i told her i leave wa in just one week, she looked like she would cry. it almost made me cry too.

i'll miss my little friend.

i am giving her my crochet hook and yarn when i leave.

things i missed?

over two years ago i was so excited and nervous about my peace corps service. what would it be like? how will i change? how hard will it be? i just reread some of my original posts from my preparations before leaving for ghana. 

it's interesting the things i thought i would miss and the things i actually have missed.

http://joyinghana.blogspot.com/2009/05/in-addition-to-all-of-you.html

"the office. snuggling with my dog. air conditioning. target. cheese. watching my dog chase her tail. internet. margarita nights. thunder picnics. washer and dryer. winter. snow. instant communication. driving. showers. ice cream. making my dog roll over. my little apartment. being cold.  my down comforter. crisp fall days when the leaves start turning. baking. quoting arrested development. flowering trees. walking my dog. iming in all caps. borders. electricity? thai food. my comfy couch. ikea. the day the arrested development movie comes out. iced chai lattes. text messages. monkey bread on christmas morning. going barefoot. blowdryer. learning to like wine. roadtrips. chocolate. cnn.com. blowing in my dog's face and watching her freak out. "

wow. yes, i have missed some of those things: air conditioning, WINTER AND SNOW, ice cream, being cold, my down comforter, etc. pattern here: i missed cold.

however, i'm only about a year behind on the office. pirated stuff is easy to get here. instant communication, text messages, internet: i have all those things here. 

the things i actually missed, aside from cold, were so many american foods, the ability to move about freely and without waiting hours (mainly, having my own car), and anonymity. it will be refreshing to be able to walk around and not have every single person stare at me. or tell me three weeks later what my exact whereabouts were on a certain day. i missed having family and friends around, especially on holidays and hard days, but i found new family and friends during my time here!

and while i'm so excited about being reunited with the things i have missed, i am becoming quite nostalgic about leaving. so now, my new list: 

things i WILL miss from GHANA:

the laughter of deaf students. fufu and light soup. the formality of greetings. seamstresses. banku. alvaro. so much free time. pure water satchets. the fresh breeze when it's about to rain. wagashee. a simpler life. vibrant, colorful clothing. small victories in the classroom. being entertained by chickens and goats. traditional music and dance. the thrill of receiving a package. my students' constant willingness to help with anything. mango season.

jewelry update

after a rough week here last week, i am so happy that this week is already starting better.

i'm really excited about some recent updates in our jewelry program. several months ago, an ngo that supports the school had some of their leaders from canada visit. they toured the school and saw what kinds of projects the students have been working on. they were really impressed with the jewelry we had produced. the visitors bought several pieces when they were here.

and, it turns out, they were so impressed that they also donated a large amount of money for supplies!

the teacher i have been working with, annacleta, went to kumasi last week and bought OH SO MUCH beads and other jewelry supplies. she's excited. the headmistress is excited. the students will be excited, when they see it. i'm excited. hopefully this will be the nudge that the school needs. we've been on the brink of having something really great; i hope they can keep it up.

i talked to the headmistress today about all of this stuff, and she and annacleta want to expand the jewelry program to the jhs students and boy vocational students as well, if they are interested.

additionally, the headmistress is interested in opening a small shop just outside the school so that a couple days a week some students can go and tend it. they'll sell the woven cloth and jewelry that the students have made.

which in turn...will raise money to keep things going!

this wasn't exactly how i pictured the program being funded, but i'm really happy that some money (and enthusiasm) has come through. i still plan to bring with me some of the jewelry the students have made, and i'll sell what i can in america. the only other thing the school needs now is jewelry pliers, which annacleta couldn't get in kumasi. they'll need plenty if all these extra students will be working as well, so i'll use the proceeds from my sales to send back some pliers.

here are a couple pictures.

this is me and annacleta. she is the vocational arts and crafts teacher, responsible for teaching jewelry and embroidery and lots of random craft stuff. she has become a good friend since we've been working together. (oh, and she made both our dresses too, of course.)

this is annacleta helping amina and salamatu with some embroidery work.

oware

this is a game called oware. it's basically like mancala but a few different rules. you can get boards carved from wood, but the kids just make their own by digging small holes in the ground and using stones.

appreciating the small things

when i first started teaching here, i used to get so frustrated at the lack of creativity shown by my students. often they were technically very talented, able to copy things wonderfully. if i showed an example to my class, i would receive 15 exact copies of my example as their final projects. if i didn't show an example to the class, they would just sit there, frozen in fear of doing something wrong, and they wouldn't even start.

so last week, i was excited when they suddenly got it. it was as if they suddenly understood i wasn't going to cane them or fail them if they made something different.

we made pop-up figures for the books they made last term. i showed the example of a pop-up star, but i told them they could make a flower or a heart or anything else they imagined. i was so excited when i received cars and animals and letters and all sorts of other ideas that they made.

one girl even brought a small girl into the class so she could trace her hand and use that.

i know this is a small victory, but it was really rewarding.

time flies

my time with peace corps will end on the 29th of july 2011. it really has gone so quickly, and yet, so much has happened.

racecourse station

a couple weeks ago i traveled for some conferences. i had to go through kumasi on the way there and on the way back. i think i have mentioned that i don't like traveling, and i think i have mentioned that i really don't like kumasi either.

racecourse is the station that buses to the north leave from. i don't like racecourse station either. there are at least four separate "wa stations" in racecourse, each with a different bus at a different price leaving once filled with different passengers. the trick is finding which one is leaving soonest. that would be easy if the station managers were honest, but when you ask how many tickets are left on their bus, they always lie and say maybe 2, when in actuality it is 20 and you'll be waiting 5 hours if you buy a ticket on their bus.

anyway.

that wasn't going the be the point of this post.

while i was waiting for my bus to fill, a guy came around with a loudspeaker, advertising the ointments that he was selling. this is normal: sometimes they are trying to sell cassettes or cd's, sometimes it's just preachers or whatever.

this man met a little boy who was just wandering around, and he started interviewing him. they were speaking in twi, so i couldn't understand the actual conversation, but it was pretty cute.

rainy season

i am thankful the rainy season has begun, but i wish it didn't make its entrance with quite so much enthusiasm.

friday i returned home from nearly two weeks of back-to-back peace corps conferences. having been in the south, where the rains come earlier, i was dreading returning to the sweltering heat of almost-but-not-quite-rainy-season in the north. i was wishing for rain, but doubting it would come.

well, no more than two hours after i arrived home on friday evening, we got that rain. ghana doesn't have tornadoes, but i would say this rainstorm was just about the closest thing you could get to tornadoes without actually having a funnel cloud. first rain, then hail, lots of thunder and lightning. the power went out. the rain started coming in the windows. the windows were closed. rain was gushing in the windows, through the cracks on the sides of the louvers. some areas of my house had up to an inch of water on the floor. that began the frantic effort of raising things off the floor, IN THE DARK. it involved lifting my spare mattress off the floor and finding every electrical cord (and there are a lot) that was anywhere near floor level.

when the lightning flashed, i could see that the outside of the house was faring as badly as the inside. the tree right outside my bedroom window was knocked over from the roots. the fence surrounding the chicken coop was completely blown off.

it wasn't until morning that i saw that my house was not the worst hit: the entire roof was blown off the boys' dormitory at my school. the kids' rooms were completely flooded and all their belongings soaked. the zinc from the roof is in twisted shreds about a hundred feet from the building, so who knows how long it will take to repair that damage. 

the dormitory was only a year and a half old.

mango gardens

the other day i went to a spot for the afternoon to read a book by myself for a while. the place i went is my favorite spot in wa, a place we call mango gardens because it is, indeed, a spot under a bunch of mango trees.

there is a playground nearby, which is one of the few playgrounds i've ever seen in ghana. the spot is usually fairly quiet, or at least not too many adults around. kids swarm the place, obviously.

so i spent a lovely afternoon, just me and my book (and some staring children).

and, as i've mentioned before, it is mango season. so every so often, i'd hear a THUNK and see a ripe mango fall from the tree. 

then the children would race over to it to try to be the lucky one to claim it. i guess it's the closest thing in ghana to an easter egg hunt.

i was just hoping the whole time that one wouldn't THUNK on my head!

school's out, school's out...

today the kids went home! only one more term for me. wow.

ivory coast troubles

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/06/ivory.coast.unrest/index.html?hpt=T1

it looks like the end of the standoff in cote d'ivoire is near. yesterday, gbabgo was supposedly negotiating a surrender. however, it seems as those maybe he changed his mind. but either way, it looks like ouattara is soon going to have control of the country. 

hundreds or thousands of people have died in this conflict. i hope it can be resolved soon.

happiness

my students just brought me my first mangoes of the season.

road construction?

after living in ghana for two years, i would actually be relieved to get stuck in some orange cones and traffic barriers.

road construction in ghana is completely different than in america. in america, roads are clearly marked, lanes indicated, and construction is completed as quickly as possible. sometimes, before one road is demolished, a temporary road is even built to ease the flow of traffic.

not so in ghana.

i have lived here now for almost two full years, and the same stretch of road between accra and kumasi is still at the same stage in its construction. it's close to a two-hour stretch of road that is being repaired: a dusty dirt road filled with potholes that could easily swallow a car. no lanes are indicated, so it is a free-for-all with traffic from both directions. cars weave back and forth in an effort to avoid the worst holes and bumps, coming within inches of hitting each other...or falling off a cliff.

on occasion i have seen a few people working. more often, i just see people standing there. more often than that, not a person is in sight, as endless lanes of buses and cars pick their way over the awful terrain.

i live in a regional capital. i am very lucky; most of the roads in my town are paved. also, i don't travel very often, so i don't often experience the dusty bumpy awful dirt roads common throughout ghana.

this section of construction between accra and kumasi is just too much. these are the two biggest cities in ghana. so much of ghana travels between them every day. to put it as best i can into american terms, it would be like if half the road between new york city and washington dc was under construction, all at once, for a duration of over two years.

n-pelpuo

this is n-pelpuo. he is a fantastic artist. this boy never ceases to amaze me with the magic he is able to produce. just give him a piece of paper and a pencil, and no guidance whatsoever, and he will make a masterpiece.

n-pelpuo is a little bit shy. he's not one of those children who shadow me everywhere i go (and i am appreciative of that). he hovers in the background, and when you talk to him he kind of looks away timidly. it's sweet. he's in p6, which is a notoriously truant class, but he loves art, so he's always there as soon as he sees me coming.

i'm trying to encourage his natural talent by helping him with the resources he needs. at the end of last term, i gave him a small sketchbook and box of crayons to take home so he could keep drawing.

he's one of my favorites.

things have changed

in america.

and this will be very evident to me when i return (in five months!). but i am curious as to exactly what has changed. some things i guess i'll expect (i've heard about a singer named lady gaga?) but others will certainly surprise me.

so i've been asking some friends lately what they think will be the biggest surprises to me when i return. their answers have been funny.

my friend janet says that the phones will be the surprise to me. that they have become very high-tech and that people are overly dependent on them. she says she can even deposit checks using her phone!

my friend jessi told me that the economy/job market will be a noticeable change. she says it's still really hard to get jobs and that people spend a lot less money now than what they used to.

and she said the other thing that would surprise me is the curly lightbulbs that congress has mandated everyone to use.

the curly lightbulbs are also popular here, but they are not required by the government. and jessi told me about the special instructions in case one breaks, that you should evacuate the room, don't vacuum it, etc.

this was funny to me, because when one burns out in ghana, you just throw it as hard as you can into the adjoining field, so it WILL break. and then the little barefoot children walk through that field...

so perhaps the surprise to me will be just how regulatory america is, at least in comparison to ghana.

anyway, this is a topic that's very interesting and entertaining to me. what do YOU think will be the most surprising way that i will notice america has changed?

it's not possible to exit a trotro gracefully

i used to feel self conscious getting on and off trotros. trotros are the main source of transportation in ghana, old beat up vans packed to the max with people, chickens, yams, babies, goats, etc.

in the south, a seat that is meant to hold three people actually holds three people. but in the north, a seat meant to hold three people sometimes holds five or six. so this, combined with all the market purchases and other random everything that people carry, makes it difficult to get on or off without sitting on top of someone, sticking your butt in their face, an elbow on their side, or stepping on feet.

i used to feel bad about this, but then i realized that they all do it to me too. oh well!

larabanga and mole national park

this weekend some friends and i went to mole national park. it is one of the best places in west africa to see wildlife.

mole is just outside the village of larabanga, which is home to the oldest mosque in west africa. it is mud and stick construction, originally built in the 1400s in the sudanese style.

in mole now...animals!

right outside our hotel we discovered this family of warthogs sleeping. notice the little babies nursing!

this is the sunset over the watering hole.
more warthogs!
the ripples of a crocodile.
antelope.
our guide, guarding us from all those mean animals.
elephant footprints...though no elephants for us that day.
bushbuck.

"how's the heat?"

that's the favorite greeting that the teachers at my school like to ask me. because they know i'll roll my eyes and say how miserable i am, and that makes them laugh every time.

yesterday--the first day of the month--one teacher told me that we are now in the hottest month of the year. while this is true, it was a terribly discouraging thing for me to hear, when i still have 30 more days to survive!

"how's the heat?"

and then they say "we pray for rain."

thesaurus

my peace corps service will be ending in less than six months. it is a strange thing to think about. 

going home will be weird. it will be one of those times in your life when you know you've changed, but you can't see where or how because it has been gradual, and then being back in a new, yet old environment will make everything seem very drastic.

i know i have changed. 

one way is my speech. i use ghanaian english a lot. sometimes it is on purpose, either teasingly or simply to make a point clear to the ghanaians with whom i am communicating, but sometimes it just slips in, even when i am with other americans or even talking on the phone to family. 

because of that, i suspect i'll have trouble with that when i get back to america.

so, when you talk to me in america in six months, here is what you need to know about my vocabulary:

"somehow" means "kind of" or "somewhat."

"small small" means "a little bit."

"paa" after anything means "very."

"are you having?" means "do you have?"

"i'll go and come" or "i'm coming" means "i'll be right back."

"moto" means "motorcycle" or "motorbike."

"watah" means "water."

"link" (as in "the link is down") means "internet."

"small time" means "see you later" or "talk to you later."

repeating any word (such as "more-more-more" or "small-small-small") means emphasis or very (this one is more sign language than ghanaian english though!).

"pick" means "pick up" or "get" or "answer the phone."

"cock" means "rooster."

"drop" means to exit a taxi or bus.

"two days" means "it's been a long time since i've seen you."

"pants" means "underwear."

"trousers" means "pants."

"in fact" means "i agree" or "it's true."

"sorry" means "that's unfortunate" or "i'm sorry" (regardless of whether it is my fault).

"flash" means to call someone and then hang up before they answer, the ghanaian equivalent of voicemail.

"football" means "soccer."

"abah" means "ugh!" or "come on!"

good-bye harmattan

harmattan ended two weeks ago. it was a very abrupt and much too early end. harmattan is the dry, windy season. although it was very dry this year, and very windy, and everything was constantly covered in dust, and my feet were cracking from the dryness, i was really enjoying the cool weather. at night, even with the fan off, i was cool--even sometimes cold. during the day was often fairly pleasant. 

but then, so suddenly, humidity swept through. suddenly i could not stop sweating or drinking more water, and now even the highest setting on my fan is sometimes not high enough.

and actually, a week ago it rained. it was weird: last year, we didn't have a drop of rain from november until easter. but this year we got a surprise rainstorm at the beginning of february. i worry, because some people tell me that is an indication that an extra-hot hot season will be coming.

SNAKE!

ghanaians don't like snakes. this is understandable, since most of the snakes found in ghana are the bad, poisonous ones. so anytime anyone sees a snake, they do whatever they can to kill it.

so today there was a snake near the classrooms. i was upstairs, so i got to watch from the balcony. down below, suddenly, a bunch of men started chasing after something in the bush. they formed a circle and were throwing big rocks. more and more people gathered, until suddenly, YEAH! and i could then see the white underside of the now dead snake.

it probably became someone's lunch.

jewelry!

i know i've been talking a lot lately about the jewelry my students have been making. but it's really great. the students are learning how to make a product that could provide income for them in the future, and at the same time, the sales of their lessons are earning income for supplies for the school!

i've sent a bunch of jewelry to my mother in indiana. she's helping me to sell it.

so: if you are interested in either buying beautiful jewelry, or supporting a worthwhile cause, or BOTH, please buy some!

if you know me or my mom personally, just contact us to buy some. if you just found us on this website, please leave a comment and we'll make arrangements.

thanks in advance.

my students are very grateful for this opportunity!