October 27th, 2010 It's going to be a long one...with no pictures!

Wow! A lot has happened. I hope I can cover it all from memory. We have internet but it took a few days to get and it goes in and out all the time. Right now, I am at school on break using their internet which is pretty good. It is still slow from what I am use to, but it works! So, now to back up and start from the plane ride. The plane ride was alright. On the long plane ride from Atlanta GA, to Accra, Ghana, I had a guy named Walter..who was 65 or so. He shared a lot of information with me. He is originally from south Africa, then moved to Florida and travels to Accra four times a year for two weeks at a time for work. A lot of what he shared has been useful, but much of it was information I had already read. It was still nice to have someone that knew the country telling me this information. The airplane dropped us off on the runway, but there was a bus to pick us up. As we were walking off the airplane, our passports were checked. Walter said it is a waste of time to take the bus, but everyone else got on, so I did too! That was a waste. The bus drives in a big circle that makes it way longer then need be. Walking would have been the better option, should have listened to Walter. But...Walter did say that we will have a hard time getting luggage. It was no different then we are use to, so Mr. Walter isn't always right. Customs was interesting. Everyone had to fill out a card on the airplane and turn that it and show our passports again. Then we walked through and there was a lady there that picked random people's passports to look at. They looked at Sandy's (my professor) and said she could only be here 30 days...the people in the village said they will help her get it figured out. If not, then I guess her husband (who is not a professor) will become our professor! :) We got out luggage and on the way out the door, the security guards checked out luggage tags to make sure we were not stealing luggage. As we got outside, we got bombarded we people asking us if we need a taxi. That was just like New York City. We got on the bus that was scheduled to pick us up and drove to our new homes. It was cool to see the roads, which are WAY different. The highways have no speed limits and there are kids running down the road, food stands, broke down cars, people beeping horns, people going to the bathroom, news cars, old cars...LOTS of things. It was interesting. We got to the village and made a very sharp turn, which turned into a 5 point or so turn. Part of the tire was over the open drainage system. After that fun turn, we made it to our new houses. The village workers and the guys got our luggage for us. The hospitality is still very much alive. They don't seem to like us women carry things much. The native women carry everything on their heads. The chose to put things on their heads before using their hands. Some of this stuff is SUPER heavy, but they still put it on their heads. After the luggage was unloaded, we were told to pick our room and we headed over to them. We got in our rooms and then the lady that cooks for us, Evelyn, came over to tell us lunch was ready. We had some rice and chicken stew-y type thing. It was a little spicy but soooo good! After lunch we went back into our rooms, and unpacked more. Then we went for a walk around the village and found the pool, which was green and has to be cleaned. Before dinner, we went out and played with the children. They were playing soccer right outside our living quarters. We sat down and then the kids just stared at us. The guys came out and sat down and then they could talk to us. They weren't very interested in just the girls. After the guys talked to them, they swarmed us. I had a little boy come up behind, which I did not know he was there, and cover my eyes and say guess who. I had no idea who any of these kids were so I could not guess. It was a pretty interesting and comical first encounter with the kids. I also had a girl, who I later learned was about 12, come over to me link arms and say, "You are fat like me. Let's go walk." That was fun... Then we went for dinner which was again amazing. It gets dark at 6pm, so we sat outside and talked. Finally, we went into bed and there was a BUG, like a cockroach type thing in my bed. I killed him and slept with the lights on. I woke up at 4 o'clock to a fly on my face. That was wonderful!
Day 2: We got up, had breakfast with omelets and cereal. Again, very good. We took a tour of all the different schools. Then we exchanged money, got to see the market, and headed back for lunch. After lunch we had an hour or so of down time then we had a meeting at my school (SOS HGIC) with all the principals and teachers. They are very welcoming, but I am not sure they are willing to give us total control of the classroom like we had in MI. It is all part of the learning experience. I met my teacher, and since we were at my school, we were able to go to the staff work room. Although this is a high school aged students, it is set up like a college, with block scheduling and the teachers have a desk in the staff work room. They do not have a classroom. So, we sat down in the workroom, and talked. She told me to never walk alone to and from school. She said I am safe, but that still makes me nervous. Our go-to person said I am fine to walk with the students, just not alone. I don't know about that....After the meeting, we walked back to the village from my school, which gave me an idea of what my walk is like. The walk is about 10-15mins. Not bad. Once back, we talked about our days and headed to bed.

Day 3: First day with the students. I got up at 5:45 and the sun is up and it looks like 10 am in MI. It is so bright. I got showered, which is another unique things. They do not have shower curtains, but it works just fine. After I got ready, I went to breakfast which was oatmeal that was very plain. We put sugar cubes that are actual cubes in the oatmeal and it was fine. Then Sandy and her husband Darryl walked to school with me. I thought they were going to meet with another teacher, but they just walked with me and walked back. I met my teacher, and we went to class. She teachers two 80min periods back to back. It was pretty boring for me. I am not use to sitting there and observing. After the two periods, we went on break, then back for another 80min class, each class being a different age or different part of English. After that, we went to lunch, which was again good, but spicier. I think that Evelyn is light on the spices for us. After lunch, we had another break. Then she co-teachers a thinking skills class and the school day is over. We left and went to Evergreen, which is the store here. They have a little bit of everything, like a Meijer, but smaller. We got a few things, but it added up quick! Then we went back for dinner and talked about our days, then headed to bed to get up and do it again!
Day 4: Today is day 4, but it is only 9am. Breakfast was pretty bad! It was a pour-age type thing, but gross. We put sugar and peanut butter in there and it made it better. My teacher does not teach until 1:45 today. She has marking time, which is grading time. She said I could come to school later, but I could not walk alone, so I just came at 7:15 with the kids. I found out yesterday that I seem to have the longest school day, which I am not very excited about. If I don't get out of school until 4, I won't get much time to swim or play with the kids! :( Maybe it will work out. This is only the second day. I think that is enough for now! I am hoping to be on here more frequently now that I can use the internet at school.