bats

i think i have mentioned in the past the problem with bat infestation in the classroom block of my school.  i would estimate the building to be 20 or 30 years old, and i think there is approximately 20 or 30 years' worth of bat excrement in the ceiling of the building.  between the corrugated metal roof and the thin plywood ceiling must be piles and piles.  and, as you can imagine, when it's hot, that metal roof...well, anyway.  it's gross.  

so the other day, in one of my jhs classes there was a large dead something on the floor in the middle of the classroom.  at first i thought it was a huge cockroach, then as i got closer, it looked like a mouse.  with wings?  EWW A BAT.  i, of course, was disgusted, but my students had just been ignoring it for several hours already.  

when i couldn't handle it anymore, i asked one of the boys to sweep it away.  

instead, he reached down, picked it up WITH HIS BARE HANDS and tossed it onto the grass outside.  

he walked in, brushed his hands off on his shorts, and continued with his work.

EWW.

braces

i was recently showing my students some pictures of students in their penpal class in america.  several of the american students had braces, and this was bewildering to my students.  

what is that on their teeth?  

are their teeth rotten?

how do they eat?

is it like nail polish?

and really, explaining braces and explaining why so many american children wear braces to children in ghana IN SIGN LANGUAGE is very difficult.

garden!

i am really looking forward to fresh green beans, zucchini, squash, and corn in the next few months!

pictures!

i mentioned earlier that i would try to post some pictures of my kids with their fertility dolls, the latest and greatest art project success. so, here you go!

this is class p4.

this is class p2.

these are some of those beautiful children.
here is tang, a really shy girl, but very proud of her creation.
this is dafaar, showing off his doll.
i will try to edit more pictures to post again soon. as soon as i pull out a camera in class, the kids go nuts and all order is lost, but i got some good pictures the other day!

world cup mania

the world cup begins on friday.  this is the first world cup to be held in africa (south africa), and ghana is one of only five african nations to qualify.  

everything right now is world cup mania.  

so, since america doesn't really care about football (soccer), don't support america.  support ghana.

go black stars!

life is normal.

several of you have been commenting lately that i need to post more often.  i know i do.  i just don't have a whole lot to say.  to me, life here is normal.  at this point, it is hard to me to remember the things about ghana that would seem exotic to you in america.  i just sat here for several minutes and could not even come up with a good topic to write about.  

so, if you can come up with some ideas of things you would like to know about, please tell me.  sometimes my internet connection is difficult (especially now starting the rainy season...), but i'll do my best to keep up with my blog.  

i'll try sometime to upload pictures and post some of my most recent art project with my lower primary kids (first to fourth grades).  

we took empty toilet paper rolls, pieces of cardboard, scraps of cloth, yarn, and markers and made fertility dolls.  it was really fun, because i felt like this was a rare project that actually allowed them to be creative.  so often the children here are afraid to be creative.  if i show them an example of the project we are working on, they all want to copy that example exactly.  if i don't show an example, it is often difficult for me to communicate to them what it is we are working on.  so it's a tricky situation.  but this time, i did show two examples.  one, an actual fertility doll (a wood carving that is traditional here), and the other, a simple one i made.  and then i just let the kids make a mess.  and they made some really fun dolls!  

so, i will work on taking some pictures with the kids and their dolls and let you see them.  

until then, let me know what i should be writing about!

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...