a year in review

the 4th of june marks the one year anniversary of my training group's arrival in ghana.

so, for this historic day, i decided to let you know what has happened during the last year.

 

out of the ten regions in ghana, number i have visited: 9 (upper east, i'm coming soon!)

number of times i have puked: 4

number of times i have been puked on by a small child on a bus: 2

have i joined "the club?" no!

number of times i have been to a mall: 1

number of phones i have had: 4

number of hamburgers i have eaten: 3

largest number of people who have slept at my house in one night: 11

number of miles i have walked: millions

number of marriage proposals i have received: way too many

number of babies i have made cry because of my skin color: a lot

number of times i have had my hair braided: 3

number of times i have blow-dried my hair: 0

have i fallen in a ditch? not yet!

number of times i have worn my jeans: 1

number of 3 inch long crickets that i killed in my house in one day: 8

number of dresses or skirts i have had made: 10

number of times i have been to the beach: 2

number of students i have taught: 132

number of fields i have set on fire (accidentally): 1

 

 

 

 

music!

i wanted to share some popular music with you. the first two are songs that you hear all the time here in ghana, along with celine dion, of course. they are both nigerian, actually, but just like movies, nigerian music is very popular in ghana.

first up, my favorite, is yori yori. it's catchy. it'll get stuck in your head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnDlN7R73oQ

next is fall in love. my favorite lyrics are "sweet potato" and "sugar banana." they alone make this song amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KhxmAD74Ck

the last one isn't played so often now, but it's one i still enjoy. this was popular last summer, when it was announced that obama's first african trip would be to ghana. some of the biggest ghanaian musicians came together for this song to welcome obama to ghana. akwaaba is the twi word for "welcome," and you'll hear that a lot in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9b9XZOERJU

enjoy!

drumming & dancing

here is video from the drumming and dancing session we had at school a couple months ago. the kids can feel the vibrations of the drums through the ground, so that is how they know the rhythm for dancing.

good afternoon!

my jhs1 class sends their greetings! they are signing good afternoon, and of course some other stuff too...

visit ghana!

i know most of you can't actually come and visit me here, but i've heard of a way you can come close.
on the 31st of july is ghanafest, held in chicago.
now, i've never been, so i have no idea what this will be like, but it says it transforms washington park into a ghanaian market, with colorful african dress and wonderful crafts.
those of you who can go should.
let me know how it is.
eat fufu if they have it.
http://ghananationalcouncil.org/ghanafest2010.htm

teenage pregnancy

in ghana, i suppose women do sometimes get married and have children very young, and it is normal.
but i am really sad that one of my p2 girls (second grade) is pregnant. she is an older student (14 years old), but that is still too young for a baby. and it almost certainly means the end of her education, at the level where she can barely spell her own name.
last term, a jhs2 (9th grade) girl got pregnant, and that made me sad too, but she at least got some amount of an education first.
but now these two girls, audette and lika, are probably just beginning a really hard life. so sad.

koko

my new favorite food in ghana is koko. it makes me laugh that i now like this so much, because when i first saw it and first tasted it, it was disgusting.
it is served in a clear plastic bag, and it is a brownish-gray color similar to that of dirty dishwater. and it is thin and runny like dirty dishwater too.
koko is made out of millet and has ginger and i think even some hot pepper to flavor it. it is a breakfast food, add a little sugar and eat it like porridge. and it kinda burns your throat a little bit because of the spice, but it feels so good on a sore throat.
it is SO good. i find myself craving it for breakfast.

totally worth it

there might be some very civilized, very polite way to eat a mango, but i have not discovered it. 

whenever i bite into the wonderful, juicy sweetness of the mango, right away my teeth fill with the fibrous pulp.  as i try to pick the bright yellow vampire-like fangs of mango threads from between my teeth, the juice starts dripping into my hand from the piece i'm still holding.  then it starts dripping down my arm.  if i'm lucky, i can catch it before it gets to my elbow, and i lick the juice back all the way to my hand.  then, when i've eaten through the peel, the insides get so slippery that it slides all over and i almost drop it several times, all the while picking at my teeth and licking to my elbow. 

i know every time that this will happen, but i just can't resist the mango.  i need to start hiding in my house when i eat them, i think.

i have good news for you

thanks to the massive rainstorm last week, the field i burned down a few months ago is now starting to sprout new grass!
i'll try not to burn it down again this time.

yum

there is just nothing better than a mango freshly picked from the tree in your backyard.