you should all call me.

in case you haven't heard yet, i did get a phone! i posted the number
on my facebook, or email me if you want it. please call me! i love
hearing from people back home. over here, it's easy to forget that
america continues to exist.
today is our last day in koforidua for now. this week was our first
week of practicum at the local deaf school. tonight we go back to our
homestay families. we will be there for one week, then back here for
another week.
have i mentioned that i'm THRILLED with the program i'm in? i really
think the six of us have the most unique and exciting program in all
of peace corps. we get to PLAY with kids, TEACH art, LEARN sign
language, LIVE in ghana! the kids at the deaf schools are wonderful.
the special schools in ghana are often neglected beyond the normal
schools. many teachers at deaf schools barely know sign language.
sometimes the money for food is stolen, so the kids eat only soup or
porridge. it is really quite sad. the deaf schools are boarding
schools, so these itty bitty kids don't even have parents around.
they form a family among themselves and take care of each other. i am
really excited to get to know the kids at my school and help them
LEARN! they are all behind their grade level in every subject, mostly
due to the language problems.
on wednesday we attended a ceremony in our village. we were each
required to bring a piece of firewood "as big as we are" to present to
the chiefs. peace corps and my host father provided that. all the
village school children were there, all crammed into the chief's
palace. along with our host parents, we each walked around and
greeted all of the chiefs and the queen mother. we then sat as the
village linguist welcomed us. there was some sort of prayer or dance,
and the linguist poured out a glass of apetechi as an offering or
something. they then gave us some apetechi, palm wine, or minerals.
then we each went forward and our host families introduced us to the
chiefs. then we all lined up again and said goodbye. then we left.
it was mostly a chance for our host families to show us off to the
rest of the village. there are only eleven peace corps living in my
particular village, so it is a great honor to be selected to be our
hosts.
thanks for all the suggestions about blog topics! when i get back to
my homestay, i will do a blog of a description of the view out my
window! for now, i will talk about other topics mentioned.
babies! are everywhere! moms tie the babies to their backs with
fabric and wear the babies wherever they go. sometimes children carry
the babies the same way, children who look too small to be alone
themselves. often the babies are afraid of white people, so it is
really fun to tease them and try to scare them!
what people wear: it's a broad range. there is the traditional
clothing, which is beautiful bright patterns. most women wear dresses
or skirts in bright batik. all the girls in my group are looking
forward to getting some dresses made here. the men mostly wear
trousers and bright shirts. shorts are scandalous, and you can always
tell a tourist by his shorts. the people here consider dressing well
a way to show respect for others instead of a means of personal
expression.
people eat with their hands here. usually a meal has some sort of a
dough ball type thing and then a stew or soup. they break off a chunk
of dough and dip it in the stew. they only use the right hand, of
course. i haven't yet grown to love those foods, so for now i'm
sticking to more familiar things like rice, rice, and more rice. and
EVERYTHING is cooked in palm oil here. i am really excited about
getting to my home and being able to cook for myself.
ok, well hopefully that answered some questions. i may not get online
next week since i will be back at homestay, but i'll probably get
online the following week since we will be back here! leave me lots
of love in the form of comments!