next week i think i will have a chance to have GOOD access to the internet, and i will try to post pictures and give some better updates.
but i haven't taken ANY pictures in the last month, so i need requests. are there any things that you are dying to see pictures of? i'll try to take some of my kids and classes, but what else?
you have one week. i'll do my best.
21 October 2009
13 October 2009
fashion statements
for classes, my students wear uniforms. the girls wear yellow dresses; the boys wear yellow shirts and khaki shorts. when classes end, the students change into their "play" clothes, blue checkered dresses or shirts.
on the weekend, the students are allowed to wear whatever clothes they want. and they, like most of the people in ghana, wear some funny things.
you know those clothes that you give to goodwill? and then from those, the ones that goodwill can't sell? and then the ones that the goodwill clearance whatever can't sell? well, those come to africa. they are called dead white man clothes, because ghanaians can't understand why someone would give away perfectly good clothes, so they assume the person must have died.
anyway. so my little students this weekend modeled some wonderful selections.
a little boy wearing a pink aeropostale shirt
a little boy wearing a "DYNAMAITE SISTERS" shirt
a big boy wearing a lady skins basketball shirt
a little boy wearing a shirt that said "hockey pro" with a picture of a football helmet
then there was also a little boy wearing a massive down ski jacket, despite the heat, i guess just because he owned it and thought it was cool.
on the weekend, the students are allowed to wear whatever clothes they want. and they, like most of the people in ghana, wear some funny things.
you know those clothes that you give to goodwill? and then from those, the ones that goodwill can't sell? and then the ones that the goodwill clearance whatever can't sell? well, those come to africa. they are called dead white man clothes, because ghanaians can't understand why someone would give away perfectly good clothes, so they assume the person must have died.
anyway. so my little students this weekend modeled some wonderful selections.
a little boy wearing a pink aeropostale shirt
a little boy wearing a "DYNAMAITE SISTERS" shirt
a big boy wearing a lady skins basketball shirt
a little boy wearing a shirt that said "hockey pro" with a picture of a football helmet
then there was also a little boy wearing a massive down ski jacket, despite the heat, i guess just because he owned it and thought it was cool.
08 October 2009
what i'm actually teaching
i realized i have never actually mentioned what classes i am teaching or what the classes are like. so i'll do that now, for you super curious readers out there.
i am teaching p1 through p6, pre-jhs, jhs1-jhs3. it's a total of ten different grades ranging from the american equivalent of first grade through 10th grade.
the students are sometimes the correct age for their class, but they are sometimes much older, depending on how long they had to wait to go to school. so p1 might have some six-year-olds, but it might also have 14-year-olds. it's a broad range.
the class sizes also vary quite a bit. my p1 class is monstrous: 20 or so hyper deaf kids who REFUSE to stay seated. but the older classes get smaller and much more manageable. p5 has about 8 students, jhs3 about 10.
the classrooms are all in one building, but the school is currently being renovated, so the girls dorm is also in the same building, and a few teachers also live in the same building. so several classrooms have been converted to housing, and the classrooms are partitioned off so two fit in one room.
this is fine; the kids can't hear to be distracted by another class. but it means that there is not a DOOR that can be CLOSED when class is in session, so all the kids who don't have class swarm the class that i am teaching and drive me NUTS.
the kids sit one or two to a wooden desk/bench combination. many are broken. the windows are broken/screens torn. the blackboards are black painted on the wall. it's little things that i've already stopped noticing, but just dramatically different than american classrooms. the walls are mostly bare; the only posters are hand-drawn diagrams of science topics, usually drawn by the best artist in that class.
the kids absolutely love using the pencil sharpeners that i have. typically, they use razor blades to sharpen their pencils, so the real sharpeners are still a novelty to them.
it's simple things like that which keep them entertained.
i am teaching p1 through p6, pre-jhs, jhs1-jhs3. it's a total of ten different grades ranging from the american equivalent of first grade through 10th grade.
the students are sometimes the correct age for their class, but they are sometimes much older, depending on how long they had to wait to go to school. so p1 might have some six-year-olds, but it might also have 14-year-olds. it's a broad range.
the class sizes also vary quite a bit. my p1 class is monstrous: 20 or so hyper deaf kids who REFUSE to stay seated. but the older classes get smaller and much more manageable. p5 has about 8 students, jhs3 about 10.
the classrooms are all in one building, but the school is currently being renovated, so the girls dorm is also in the same building, and a few teachers also live in the same building. so several classrooms have been converted to housing, and the classrooms are partitioned off so two fit in one room.
this is fine; the kids can't hear to be distracted by another class. but it means that there is not a DOOR that can be CLOSED when class is in session, so all the kids who don't have class swarm the class that i am teaching and drive me NUTS.
the kids sit one or two to a wooden desk/bench combination. many are broken. the windows are broken/screens torn. the blackboards are black painted on the wall. it's little things that i've already stopped noticing, but just dramatically different than american classrooms. the walls are mostly bare; the only posters are hand-drawn diagrams of science topics, usually drawn by the best artist in that class.
the kids absolutely love using the pencil sharpeners that i have. typically, they use razor blades to sharpen their pencils, so the real sharpeners are still a novelty to them.
it's simple things like that which keep them entertained.
06 October 2009
and we're off!
classes (for me) began yesterday.
i taught two classes yesterday, two today.
two went well, two went not so well.
i am satisfied with that.
for the older kids, i had them write their names in the middle of the paper, then in the four corners, draw different pictures.
1. their sign name. they hated me for this, because it is REALLY HARD to draw a body and a hand in a certain shape! but it was good, because i got to know them AND their names.
2. a map of ghana and the village they come from.
3. their family and names.
4. their favorite food.
it was a really good project because we could talk and get to know each other, using their drawings to fill in the language gaps.
however, the jhs1 class is one that had trouble with it.
when i asked them to draw their families, a few drew cars. one drew an airplane. when i asked them to draw their favorite food, one drew the sun. another drew a police car.
ah, ghana.
ah, deaf teenagers in ghana.
i taught two classes yesterday, two today.
two went well, two went not so well.
i am satisfied with that.
for the older kids, i had them write their names in the middle of the paper, then in the four corners, draw different pictures.
1. their sign name. they hated me for this, because it is REALLY HARD to draw a body and a hand in a certain shape! but it was good, because i got to know them AND their names.
2. a map of ghana and the village they come from.
3. their family and names.
4. their favorite food.
it was a really good project because we could talk and get to know each other, using their drawings to fill in the language gaps.
however, the jhs1 class is one that had trouble with it.
when i asked them to draw their families, a few drew cars. one drew an airplane. when i asked them to draw their favorite food, one drew the sun. another drew a police car.
ah, ghana.
ah, deaf teenagers in ghana.
sweat
so many different varieties of sweat:
the backpack sweat, when you've been wearing a backpack and take it off. your back is drenched, and you have lovely wet shoulder stripes.
a similar kind is the purse sweat, when you simply have one long strip of soaked clothing from the strap of your bag.
then there's the wet back/wet butt sweat if you were just sitting in your own sweat.
or the is-it-water-or-is-it-sweat sweat, when you've just bathed and can't even tell if it is from the bath or fresh new sweat.
oh ghana.
(and this is not even the hot season...)
the backpack sweat, when you've been wearing a backpack and take it off. your back is drenched, and you have lovely wet shoulder stripes.
a similar kind is the purse sweat, when you simply have one long strip of soaked clothing from the strap of your bag.
then there's the wet back/wet butt sweat if you were just sitting in your own sweat.
or the is-it-water-or-is-it-sweat sweat, when you've just bathed and can't even tell if it is from the bath or fresh new sweat.
oh ghana.
(and this is not even the hot season...)
30 September 2009
priorities
because clearly it is more important that the students harvest the beans and sweep the dirt of the entire campus before we start classes.
i mean, definitely the dirt needs to be clean. that's more important than letting kids learn.
(classes starting monday, maybe?)
i mean, definitely the dirt needs to be clean. that's more important than letting kids learn.
(classes starting monday, maybe?)
20 September 2009
a mutual understanding
every evening, as i sit in my living room, i am visited by many guests. sure, some are human, but most are of the insect variety.
they come in under my front door, mostly, and sometimes through the screens in my windows. all varieties: ants, beetles, crickets, spiders, grasshoppers, lightning bugs, and weird ones i can't identify.
they come in and fly around, swarm my light, and crawl around my walls.
they do their thing, have a big party every night.
but they are kind guests. they clean up after themselves every time.
the spiders catch and kill the grasshoppers. the ants carry away the dead beatles. they all work together and clean up all evidence of their crazy party.
then the next morning, when i sweep my living room, there is no evidence of the good time they had just hours before.
such kind guests. i guess i don't mind terribly.
they come in under my front door, mostly, and sometimes through the screens in my windows. all varieties: ants, beetles, crickets, spiders, grasshoppers, lightning bugs, and weird ones i can't identify.
they come in and fly around, swarm my light, and crawl around my walls.
they do their thing, have a big party every night.
but they are kind guests. they clean up after themselves every time.
the spiders catch and kill the grasshoppers. the ants carry away the dead beatles. they all work together and clean up all evidence of their crazy party.
then the next morning, when i sweep my living room, there is no evidence of the good time they had just hours before.
such kind guests. i guess i don't mind terribly.
05 September 2009
the grand tour
i finally got the cushions for my chairs finished, so now i can post pictures of my house! my house was finished just a couple of weeks before i moved here, so everything is brand new and sparkly clean and wonderful. my house feels like a little bit of america here in ghana.
as you walk in the front door, you enter the living room. or hall, as it is known in ghana. these are the chairs i bought new cushions for. the giant blank space on the wall will soon be filled with something, but my walls won't take nails, so i'm working on some other solution, some way to hang pictures without nails.
if you turn to the right, you enter my guest bedroom/art studio/computer room. this is my computer desk and art workspace. next to that is a small seating area, where i mostly sit when i use my computer, and then my guest bed.
when you leave the guest bedroom, my shower and toilet are in the hallway. i know it is weird to post a picture of a toilet, but seriously! i have a toilet! it's exciting!
next to the toilet is the kitchen. this is another amazing room in my house. first is my stove (and oven! look! it's an oven!). also, notice the blender. amazing. i also have a sink, a sink in my kitchen! these things are rare in ghana: look and admire.
my curtains might be my favorite feature of my kitchen, oddly enough. they have can openers all over them, alternating with opened cans. material here has random appliances as inspiration sometimes, and i really like that i found a good one for my kitchen curtain.
yes, i do have two refrigerators. i know, seems excessive. one is spoiled though, so it is basically a bug-proof cabinet. the smaller one is the one that works. on top of it is the amazing peace corps water filter that help keep us all healthy.
on the other side of the hallway from the kitchen is my bedroom. i love it. outside that window are the goats. i don't love them.
also, i know you know what a fan looks like, but here is a picture. i have THREE. and right now, i usually have to turn them off because they are so powerful they make me cold. i am sure when hot season arrives, i will much appreciate that.
well, that's the tour! hope you enjoyed it, and please know, you are all welcome to visit! i have plenty of room!
27th birthday, ghana style
my friends elyse and jason came to town to spend the day with me for my birthday. we enjoyed fantastic fried rice, and when a man who was greeting us learned it was my birthday, he sang to me. it went: WE WISH YOU A um, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
merry christmas, happy birthday, same difference.
we came home and made peanut butter chocolate MILKSHAKES. (can you believe it? i still cannot.)
then we went back to town, where i had my first fufu. fufu is the most common dish served in ghana, and somehow i lived here three months without ever trying it. so for my birthday, that's what we did.
i realized once we finished it that we should have put my birthday candle in the fufu so i could have blown it out, but it was too late.
it was, overall, a simple yet splendid day.
many thanks for all the packages! i had four wonderful packages to open for my birthday, full of chocolate and cheese and stickers for my kids.
adventures in the kitchen
i almost died today.
ok, that's an exaggeration. but i almost burned down my house.
i decided to make thai peanut sauce and rice for dinner tonight. i lit my gas stove and was heating the oil while i finished chopping the onions and garlic, and i guess the flame was a bit too big, or i took a bit too long, but the oil in the pan got REALLY hot and started smoking, and then LIT ITSELF ON FIRE.
i had this huge pot, on a gas stove, with 1-2 foot flames shooting out the top of it.
and of course no fire extinguisher.
i turned off the gas. and hoped the oil would burn itself away and the fire would go out, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger. my house was filling with smoke.
and i was panicking.
i know you aren't supposed to put water on a grease fire, but i had no idea what else i could use to put out this growing flame. so finally, i just grabbed the pan and BOLTED to the front door and LAUNCHED it into the yard.
it was raining outside, so soon enough, the fire went out. my metal pan was halfway melted, and now i am nursing a (minor) blister on my thumb too.
i am just thankful my house is still standing.
and i'm grateful for the lack of smoke detectors, honestly. my neighbors didn't need to be any more aware of this incident than seeing a melty black pan laying in the grass.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
