Long Weekend!

So, Thanksgiving turned out to be quite the adventure. One girl went to get her hair done, so another girl and myself stayed back to wait for her while everyone else headed to the restaurant on the beach. We were supposed to be there at 5 and the place was supposed to be 15 minutes away. Well it took Rachel longer than expected to get her hair done and we left pretty late. We get a cab but the cab driver does not know where the restaurant is. Some guy walking down the road tells the cab driver where we are going. That should have been a warning to get another cab, but we got in anyway, thinking we could find this place. It can’t be that hard, right? Well first we got stuck in traffic. During this traffic, we started talking to the driver. Eminem came on the radio and we asked him if he knew where he was from. He said yeah. I told him we live near Eminem in Obama land. He understood where we live. The cab driver decides to take short cuts and such down some other roads and eventually we hit Beach road. As we come up to Beach road, there is a big sign for the hotel we are going to eat at. It said 3 minutes ahead. Great, we found it. So we start driving but we are still in traffic so we didn’t expect to make it there in 3 minutes. After 30 minutes, we were starting to get worried we had to driver pull over then we told him to continue and during this time the ocean is getting farther away. We call Sandy and she tells us to look for ships. Thanks for the landmark, but Tema is a shipping port, so there were lots of ships. After driving around for an hour, we learned we need to turn the other way and it was about a minute from the sign. The cab driver wasn’t too thrilled with us. He may never pick Americans up again. We were got to dinner; it was after 7 so it was pitch black. We couldn’t see the rock, but we did see it another time. We tried Octopus, which was great. I tried to order pizza but they were out, which was a big letdown, so I was stuck with a burger on Thanksgiving. Not my ideal Thanksgiving dinner, but I was sitting basically over here the ocean while eating my burger. After dinner, we were informed that taxis do not come to this hotel since it is basically in the middle of nowhere. We were with Osei, who is our go-to person for this trip, so he informed us. We did have “Uncle T’s” phone number so he said he would try to find other cabs and come get us. Well, he couldn’t find other cabs so he said he would do trips. There are 11 of us and we wanted to do this is 2 trips. We fit 7 people in the cab. Never knew cars we so spacious. Finally, we made it back and relaxed and went to bed. As Rachel pointed out, “If you see a crowd of white people in Accra, chances are a Harry Potter movie just got out.” After the movie, we headed back because we knew Saturday would be an early morning.
Saturday, we got up and left about 6:30 for our boat trip. We left a little late because of our professor and her husband. Who would have thought 9 college students could be up and ready to go before the professor. We had to beep the horn so they knew it was time to go. We were going on a boat ride on Lake Volta to Dodi Island. We had some miscommunication or we were misinformed, but we arrived about 2 hours before the boat was supposed to leave. Now remember, this is Ghanaian time and being on time is not such a big deal. Lucky for us, there was some shopping. Just what we need to do when money is getting tight, but prices were good and I checked some more things off my list. After shopping and waiting around, we boarded the boat and waited. We went to the third deck and sat behind the captain. Then we sat some more. We were told the boat leaves at 10, but 11 rolled around and we still sitting at the dock. The captain did blow the horn around 10:30 for a solid 45 seconds and every 10 minutes after that. Don’t forget we were sitting behind the captain. I am pretty sure the whole country knew we were about to leave the dock. Finally, we backed out of the dock and headed towards this island. The lake we were on is something the country is proud of, but this boat trip was not anything special. It was very relaxing. There was not much to look at. It was all the same, hills/mountains with lots of vegetation. I didn’t mind, but this was a long boat ride. It was 2 and ½ or so hours to the island 2 and ½ or so back with the same scenery. The food was not that good either. It was confusing and they kept running out of food, but the boat did not seem that full. When we got to the island, we were told we had 30minutes. We got off the boat, and there are a bunch of groups of children playing music on jugs, using sticks, and using the ground to make music. It was really interesting, but they really want money. There was an older group of people playing and some of the other passengers just started dancing and singing. It was cool to watch them just jump in. There new the music and how to dance to the music. There are also lots of kids on this island that want to show you around for tips. A few of us had some kids come up to them, but not all of us. We were starting to head to the top of the island, but 3 of us realized that we would not be back in time so we turned around and headed back to the boat. As we were walking back, I had a little boy grab my hand. I wasn’t expecting it so I jumped back, which scared him and he jumped back. We looked at each other and just walked around. Very awkward, but I am glad he left because I would have come back broke. It is very sad to see these children, because they cannot read. There was one girl who was about 10 years old and asked my professor to read something to her because she did not know how to read. It is very hard to walk away from those children. I am glad my professor did not tell me this story until we were on the boat. After everyone finally bored, we headed back to the dock. There was a lot of dancing happening on the boat because there was a live band. One of the guys from my group decided he was going to dance. Let’s just say he is a unique dancer. I love how this culture dances. It is very energetic and makes you feel good. Once the boat docked, we got back into our van and headed back. We did stop and do some shopping on the side of the road in the rain. Always fun to shop on the side of the road. It did rain on Saturday and we have heard it only rains during the say on Saturday, which we have noticed that, very weird.
Sunday, we were able to sleep in. For lunch, we were given a traditional dish. It was fufu and it was great. It is a dough-like consistency that you get in a bowl and a soup in poured over it. We had peanut-butter soup, which we have had before with it. The soup has whole pieces of chicken in it. This meal, like many meals, is supposed to be eaten with your hands. I first started with a spoon but tired the hands things. It was fun to eat like that. After lunch, we headed out to a soccer game. We met one of the girl’s teachers, Prince, and got a tro-tro to Accra. We all went, so Prince got us a nice tro-tro. We loaded into the tro-tro and made a small shopping stop before heading to the stadium. It wasn’t a big game, so the stadium wasn’t packed but we still enjoyed it. After the game, we went back to the tro-tro station in Accra and got an even nicer tro-tro back to Tema. This tro-tro was better than the van we have taken on our trips. As we were driving back, we looked out to window and seen so many bats. It was crazy. It probably went for a mile on either side of us and probably went from a mile both forward and backwards. There were so many bats. We got back late, so we did not have the lady cook for us. We decided we would be on our own. A few of us went to get pizza at a place just around the corner, Emily’s. The owner was there and was very nice. The pizza was great and we got a sample of the ice-cream which was also good. One of the owners was Sunday born, so he was celebrating and he was really c-e-l-e-b-a-t-i-n-g. He was having a grand ole’ time. He invited us to hang out with him this Friday, because it is a holiday. Of course, we already have plans to go shopping, so we will see. This week is going to be very busy. There is still lots to do!

Unexpected 5 day weekend...sure!

This unexpected 5 day weekend came as a very pleasant surprise! Yesterday was a revision day for the students so my teacher told me to take the day and go visit another school. I went to the Tema Parents School Association where 2 girls are teaching. I really enjoyed my visit. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. They gave me my Twi name, which I have forgotten. The students were also fun. I would like to go back. After school, a few of us went to the Tema market. This market is not really different from any other market. It is just on a smaller scale and less touristy. I bought some fabric there for 10 cedi and I am getting a dress made for 7 cedi. Basically, I got a whole dress custom made for 17 cedi, which is less that 15 dollars! Pretty excited. Let's hope it comes out like I expect it to. After the market, three of us did some shopping on the side of the road. We haven't really spent time shopping in Tema so it was nice to get out and see the town we have been living in for 5 weeks. I got some awesome things that I am very excited about!
Today, we are going to dinner at a beach resort in Tema that overlooks the ocean and the Prime Meridian rock. Pretty excited to eat dinner as I am basically sitting on the Prime Meridian.
Hoping to blog tomorrow about my day! Enjoy Thanksgiving!

Great Weekend!

Saturday morning we got up early, as we seem to do everyday, and headed to Cape Coast. It took us about 4 hours to get there after we took some back alleys and bottomed out the van. Got to love the roads here. We went to the Cape Coast Castle and the Elmina Castle. The history of these two castles is overwhelming at points. These two castles were used for many different things, but they are most famously known for their purpose during the time of slavery. These castles were the points where salves were taken to before they were loaded on ships and sent all over the world. The tours were very powerful. We were put into the slave chambers and told many facts. It sent chills through my body. I learned so much. There is much more to this part of history then I felt I learned in school. The tour guides made it very clear they the blame was not placed on the white people, but is blamed on humans as a whole. They also noted that the North America received the least amount of slaves. I cannot remember the exact number but of the total number, the amount North America got was significantly less! Overall, the castles were amazing and I learned so many facts and so much information.
On a lighter note, there were some funny points. As I published in the last blog, we were told that the children were mean in Cape Coast. We didn't really experience that. There was a lot of hounding from adults. On the whole, when a group of white people get out of a van, we are flocked with people selling things. We are getting use to that. It is annoying, but we are getting use to it. At the second castle, we were bombarded! It was crazy. Eric, our driver, told us to watch out for these rascals. As we were waiting for the whole group to walk out of the castle, these rascals spotted us and were waiting for us. We told Eric we were not coming out until he opened the van. We headed out as a group and charged towards to van. Kind of felt like a celebrity. After we fought our way into the van, we headed to the resort. Amazing. We stayed at a beach resort. Yup, we had rooms right on the beach. You had to walk through the sand to get to your room. Rough life we are leading. Then we got ourselves some milkshakes and such and lounged on the beach. It was great. After dinner, we went back out to the beach to watch a fire. To sum it up, on November 20, we were sitting on the beach watching a bonfire. :) Basically, it was amazing! After the fire died down, we went to bed. We showered and had the A/C going and were all ready for a nice restful sleep! Then we lost power. We laid there for a few minutes because usually the power comes back on with a few minutes. Then we get up and look out the window and notice that the other villas seem to have lights. We come out and only our room and the other girls room did not have power but everyone else did. We found an employee of the resort and he said give me 5 mins. We start walking back to the room and all the power goes out. I guess if we couldn't have power no body could. Just kidding. A few minutes later the power came back on. It was a good laugh. Sunday morning, we got up bright and early and headed to Kakum National Park, which is in a rain forest. (It was raining/sprinkling. Pretty cool to be in a rain forest and it be raining!) The resort was a bed and breakfast, but breakfast was not served until 7:30 and we had to leave by 6:30 to get to the park to see the animals. The resort was concerned so they packed us some boiled eggs, LOTS of bread, jam, and butter. It was fun to try and put jam on your bread while driving. We got to the park and went on the tree top canopy walk. It was so cool, but scary. Basically, you are walking on a plank from tree to tree. You have to use the ropes because it is so hard to keep your balance as you are swinging back and forth. You walk on a total of 7 bridges and they only let 2 or 3 people on at a time. In between each bridge, you stop at a tree stand where only 5 or so people can be. It is crazy! You are so high up! It was very scary but also very exhilarating! To get to the canopy walk, you have to walk up this hills and the guide tells you about some of the trees. As the park was first being researched, guys would go out in twos and do some research. If they lost there partner, they would not yell or clap their hands, but they would bang on this certain tree because it sounds like it is hollow and sends an echo into the rain forest that can be heard up to a mile away. I was very impressed with that. Who would have thought to do that?! After our walk, we loaded back into the van and headed to back to the resort. We stayed there for a few hours and ate lunch and walked along the beach. 3 of us took a long walk down the beach. As we got further away from the resort(which there were many white people, probably the most white people we have seen at one time,) the beach was filled with garbage, such a bottoms of rubber shoes, underwear, rags, fish nets, and lots of plastic. It is a shame that this beautiful place is trashed like this. Also, another group walked the opposite direction the night before and they also found something more disgusting. As they were walking, they came across many fishing boats and fishermen. That part of the beach area was used as their bathroom. It was used as their toilet and their shower. During many of our trips, this one more so then others, you see people openly bathing in the ocean/water and bathing suits are very much an optional clothing item.
After lunch, we headed back to Tema. The drive seemed to be quick, which we all really enjoyed. When we got back, we went into our rooms and 3 out of the 4 girls huts did not have power. Of course the boys did have power. Apparently we were not to have power this weekend. We did get power back after a few attempts were made to fix it. The weather has been chilly and over cast both yesterday and today. I got a slight chill last night and closed some of my windows. It was a nice change in temperature. Walking to school today, I was not soaked with sweat. I enjoyed it. This week is going to be a short week for me, but not as short of a week if I was in the US. I am looking forward to the break. For the last 5 weeks, it seems as if we have not really had time to relax. It is still hard to believe that Thanksgiving is 4 days away! Pretty sad I won't be getting on Turkey or stuffing or mashed potatoes or...PUMPKIN PIE...this list could keep going :(

A little of this...A little of that...

Not much has happened in the last two days, but I am sure I will find a way to make yet another long post. :) On Wednesday, after school we just hung out for awhile and had seminar. After seminar we made a quick trip to Evergreen (the grocery store) before dinner. After dinner, we went back to our area and played a card game. The game was going great, but while we were sitting under the pavilion, there was a bat. That bat wasn't the big deal. The issue was that the bat kept flying into the roof over and over. We were starting to worry about the little guy. That was until he drive bombed us. He flew into the middle of our group and landed on one girl's arm of her chair. We were all yelling/laughing and trying to get away from the bat. As we were all trying to get out of the way, the girl went to put her hand on the arm rest...right were the pat was! It was so quick! It gave us a good laugh. After we all gathered ourselves from that, we continued to play the game before heading to bed. Thursday was just another typical day at school. Just more talk about exams. At the end of the day yesterday, Richard, who is a teacher and also leads CAS, invited myself and who ever else from my group to come to his CAS group. (CAS is like an extra curricular thing, but every student is apart of one. Basically, they are trying to make the world a better place.) Richard's CAS group makes the fabric that a lot of clothes are made out from here in Ghana. It was a really neat process and he invited us to make our own cloth one day. We also stopped by some other CAS groups, one of which was making jewelry. The students make these things and then they sell the things and use the money to help out other schools. It is a pretty cool thing. The students seem to enjoy it. After we got back, we did the same ol same. Just dinner, a little talking, then bed. Today is Friday. On Fridays, school starts early for the assembly. The assembly was a presentation by the environmental CAS group. The students talked about the importance of clean water, not littering, and not destroying things by being wasteful. It was neat to watch the students who seemed to be very passionate about the topic. Side note: one of the facts the students gave: Only 27% of the world has access to clean, safe drinking water. I am not sure who the source is but that is a crazy fact! The students also asked for more bins (trash cans) and the principal said he agreed with them and would get them more bins. It was cool to see the power the students had with the quick reaction from the principal. It makes the students feel validated and active members. He then went on the scold the students. It was a quick change of pace. He talked about how the students are not acting like good members of society and if that did not change, they do not have a place at this school. Very intense. I am not sure if these are idle threats or not, but it had me shaking in my boots! After the assembly, things went on as normal. I sat on the computer for awhile. I did get to observe the teacher from New York city who is here on a one year leave. I really enjoyed her class. She has 9 students, most who come from other SOS schools. The students are all orphans or come from a unstable home life leading then to the SOS villages. It is great to see them getting an education and being so excited about it. Two of the students are girls from Ethiopia. From what I understand, education is not very high on the priority list, and girls get an education is an even lower priority.It was great to see those two girls. Also, there is another student from Ethiopia who is missing two fingers and has to use a crutch from war injuries. On one hand, it is so sad to know that but on the other it is great to see them here. It is sad that there are only 6 students from Ethiopia here. These students also come late into the year so they tend to stick together. The teachers and students tend to "blame" it on them. I think they need to take a step back and realize these students are coming in late, moving to a whole new country, and for most of them, English is there third or fourth language that they have only begun to learn in the last few years! Also, there class is held in a basement in a building behind all the other classes. The school is not really helping to make them feel welcomed. They miss the beginning of the year orientation then they are placed in a class together in a basement. There is a big lack in education to not notice how wrong that is. Enough on that, tomorrow we head for Cape Coast. This should be interesting. Word is that there are a lot of children begging and if you don't give them money, they get mean. I guess we will have to see who is meaner.

Day off From School!

Yesterday was a holiday from school for all 9 of us. We decided we would go into Accra and doing some shopping. We got a taxi and headed to the Kenshie market. It is a market that is more traditional in that it is where the local people shop and it is not usually visited by tourists. It is a 3 story market. On the first level, there is the food section. You can imagine what that smelled like, although this is an indoor market. The second floor is the miscellaneous level. Everything from toilet paper to beads (jewelry) can be found here. We spent a lot of time at the jewelry section. People were very nice here. We could not find the beads, so we asked a lady. She turned to the lady next to her stall and asked her to watch her station. She walked us to the beads with no problem. After we finished buying some beads, we moved to the third floor, which was the fabric floor. Many of us bought fabric, myself included. The fabric is so pretty and vibrant. I love it! After we bought some fabric, we headed out of the indoor market. Outside the market you still have people selling things all over the sidewalks. We walked down the sidewalk for a short ways but did not really see anything of interest. We decided we would get a tro-tro and headed to Osu, which is basically another part of Accra. A tro-tro is another way to get around in Ghana. It is just a big van that runs like a taxi but is way cheaper. It only cost 50 pesewas, the coin currency. The tro-tro was actually not bad. Many people seem to view them as a lower form of transportation, but we really enjoyed the price and the ride wasn't bad either! We got dropped off in Osu and did some more shopping. I spent a lot of money, but I got a lot of gifts. Don't worry, Mom. I am be responsible with my money, or as responsible as I get. ;) By 2 or so, most of us were out of money so we headed back to village. We cramped into a taxi. For some reason, I always seem to be in the taxi with 5 people. Both on the way there and back we had 4 people in the backseat. We are crammed into the backseat of a car equivalent to say a Ford Escort. We were packed in there, but we managed. Once we got back, Osei, who is basically the person who takes care of us, brought over his tailor. We were able to give him our fabrics we purchased and he is going to make clothes out of them. I am going to getting two skirts made. It was pretty cool to have your measurements taken and know the clothes are being made specifically for me. Makes one feel special! I did tell the tailor that he was not allowed to say my measurements out loud. He laughed and said, "for me to know only, right?" Apparently not wanting to share your figure measurements is a universal thing. Dinner was shortly after the visit from the tailor. Now I am at school, waiting for the one and only class of the day. Three weeks from today we will be heading home!
The holiday is a big Muslim holiday. As we were heading to Accra, we seen so many Muslim people in their traditional outfits. At one point we seen many Muslims going to this field area, where we assume they will have their event(s). The holiday has something to do with sacrificing. It was very cool to see all these people dressed in their traditional Muslim clothing.

Some Other Things...

On Friday, we were out playing with the kids and some more questions came. I got asked why I don't exercise more, why my skin is peeling (because of my sun burn), why I have read dots on my face (pimples), why I have lines on my feet from my shoes (tan lines)...one of the guys Paul was also being bombarded with questions. They asked him why he is so hairy. They also said he looks like a girl and he has nice hair. While asking these questions, one kid just started grabbing at his nose. This kids are so funny. They love to touch you get get some human contact. It is crazy when you have 10 kids all trying to hold your hand at once. There was one little boy, Michael, who I love! He is so cute. We were playing ball together. He was so content not being in the big mob of kids. He just wanted to toss the ball back and forth. It makes me smile just thinking about it.
Today, my teacher asked me to help her with the computer. I thought to myself okay, I am not good with computers, but I can try. She was amazed when I copied and pasted something. She had me type up the exams today. It was interesting. At home, I am lacking in computer skills. Here, I am a genius. She asked me if I would give her a lesson about computer skills.
Today, I had another teacher come up to me and ask me if I would like him to show me around the Hostels, which is where the students I teach are boarded. I had also mentioned to my teacher that we can hear jazz music at night but we do not know where it is coming from. She told this other teacher and he said he will take me and if anyone else from my group wants to go and see this jazz music. I am pretty excited!

Might just be my favorite (favourite)weekend!

This weekend was absolutely amazing! We got up on Friday morning, bright and early and headed out. We requested the driver from the Mole trip because he was awesome. We were told he was going to go but not be the driver. We go out to the van and James, the driver, is all excited. It was a great greeting. This culture is very hospitable. The take our bags and pack the van. Yes, I said van. We took a van. There are 11 of us, 2 drivers, and all of our luggage including two cases of water to fit into a 16 person van. Sounds like a big van, but the poor guy in the back was squished in with all the luggage because there is basically no trunk space. It was way different from our nice charter bus we had going to Mole. I think each of us felt car sick at one point or another. There were a few who acted on the sickness, including one girl we had to take care of business as we were driving down the road at say 75 or so MPH. Oh the experiences we are having! Finally, we got to the Monkey Sanctuary! So cool! We drive down this crazy 2 track one lane road then it opens up to the Monkey Sanctuary. We meet our guide and get right to our tour. Our guide comes over and starts making this kissing like noise and all these monkeys come over. We were standing at the edge of the forest and one monkey jumped on a girl. She screamed and he took off. We all started cracking up. We had no idea the monkeys were that comfortable with people. The guide then gave us bananas and showed us how to feed to monkeys. We had to hold the bananas really tight and the monkeys we jump on your arm and sit on it while they watched you and peeled the banana and took the banana and ran off. They were so cute and little. It might be my highlight of the weekend. After we finished with the monkeys, we headed to the falls. We got there and had lunch which was great! Then we changed our clothes and headed to Wli Falls. It was about a 40 or so min walk back to the falls, which to my surprise, was rather dirty. A lot of trash, like water bottles and water bags (a very popular way to drink water.) As we area walking back to the falls, we start to hear really load music. The walk back is through the forest and on a path that that is pretty tight, as in you make a wrong step and you will be falling down a little cliff. Not sure why we kept hearing this music, then, as we are almost at the falls, we see that there is this big party going on. There is like a DJ system, catered food, and massive amounts of people all in the middle of this forest. Very interesting. We get to the falls and take our shoes off and head in. This is the biggest water fall in Ghana, so you can imagine that the water coming down is coming down pretty hard and it was! Regardless, we walked over to the falls with the water hitting up like a bunch of little needles. It was PHEMONAL. We slowly made our way behind the falls which wasn’t much of a different between being under the falls. We couldn’t open our eyes and just hung on to the wall, but we were cracking up the whole time we were back that. We definitely drank a lot of the water, hope we don’t get sick! After swimming in the falls, we walked back to the village. We stopped at some little shops. I bought some pretty cool things and the best part is I bought them from the lady who made them! Love that! Then we went back showered and headed to dinner. Dinner was great. It was meatballs, which were hamburger shaped but tasted great. It tasted somewhat like meatballs but better. The herbs or something were really fresh. I also had mashed potatoes and a stewed tomatoes type thing, which was heated so I could eat it! I am really missing my vegetables! The place we stayed at was started by a “friendly German couple,” which is how they are known. They still run the place today, in fact, the wife of the couple took our orders, and then she went and sat down at the table next to ours with her husband and some friends. It was unique, but a great time. Our huts we stayed in were great! It was really a hut, only modern. It was very nice! The water pressure was great; we have very little water pressure in the village. After packing up, we headed to breakfast, which was good. After everyone finished eating, we loaded into the van and headed to the highest mountain in Ghana/another waterfall. The guide book said it was a roughly two hour rounded trip for the mountain and a 45mins leisure walk to the falls. The roads are crazy here and a few of us were not feeling so good, but 8 of us headed up the mountain and 3 people headed to the falls. As we were starting to head up this very steep path to the top, one girl said she didn’t feel good and was going to go back. She was also the girl that stayed with me when I didn’t feel good, so I headed back with her. Once we got back to the fork in the road to go to the mountain or the falls, we asked some guy standing there if there was only one path to the falls. He pointed with his machete and said falls. Not sure he understood us, but we started on the path anyway. There was only one place that was slightly questionable as to which way we should go but when we seen the bridge was nearly collapsed and the path on the other side was basically gone, we continued straight. We never really seen any animals, heard someone chopping down a tree with a machete, the tool of choice here. Based on the fact that we were told it was a 45min walk, Connie and I started to get worried when we hadn’t see the falls after walking for 40mins. We came across a small little fall and Connie asked if that was the falls. It was a good laugh considering that we were starting to wonder if we were now in Togo. (This trip put us very close to the border and we were told there are no markings letting you know you crossed the border.) We kept walking and shortly came across the falls which were BEAUTIFUL! It was a very warm walk. We were roasting by the time we got there, so the mist from the falls was great! We stayed at the falls for awhile. The falls were more relaxing than Wli Falls. The falls are not as much of a tourist attract. We were the only people back there. These falls are also very sacred. It is considered to be a fertile falls. And if a woman is experiencing her monthly time and touches the water, she will continue to have her monthly time until she returns to the falls and asks to be blessed. The old man giving us the information before we left basically asked the girls not to swim if they were having their monthly time. On Friday, you cannot wash your clothes in the river. They do not allow soap in the river on Friday. It was neat to see how important a water system is to a culture. After we finished with our pictures, we followed the guide, who was about 12 years old in flip flops, back to the village. He was running up these steep rock cliffs like it was no big deal while all of us in our boots are taking baby steps trying to find our footings. A few times we had to jump over Solider Ants, which we learned about in Mole. If they bite, they hurt. Any ant bite you get here REALLY hurts. As we were walking back, we also found out that when the group was walking back to the falls with the guide, they had to stop for snakes. Snakes get the right away. This was something Connie and I were very glad that we did not think about as we were taking our own little adventure walk to the falls. Once we got back, we found that the, to our surprise, the mountain climbers of the group were back already. They said it was one of the hardest climbs of their lives. It was straight up, which meant it was straight down. Many said they spent a lot of time on their butts on the way down. They also changed because they were so sweaty. James, the bus driver, pretty much ran up the mountain and barely broke a sweat. This guy is great. He is probably 45 or so and has so much energy. Eric, the other bus driver, who is about our age, said he will never climb the mountain again. After we relaxed for a second, we loaded into the bus and headed to Frankie’s. It was definitely out of our way to go, but we all really wanted a nice burger for dinner. It was great. Now, I am sitting at school waiting to go to our meeting then lunch. I don’t have school tomorrow because it is a Muslim Holiday! Excited to relax and go to the pool tomorrow or maybe shopping!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!
I did not have a chance to update the blog yesterday because the internet is being very sketchy. It is still being very sketchy today. Yesterday, I taught my last lesson for observation. I really enjoyed the lesson and I think the students did too. In class, we read a poem and then the students were put into cooperative learning groups. In groups, the students need to write up a paragraph about their interpretation of the poem and also draw a picture. I gave each group some colored pencils. They loved the chance to draw. I had not planned on this activity taking so much time, but the students were working so hard and enjoying themselves, I had to let me keep working! It was great. After each group presented their work, I assigned another poem in which the students had to do the same thing but on their own with this new poem. I then gave each student a pack of colored pencils and told them they could keep them. Now, the majority of the students I have are not poor, but they were so happy I gave them the colored pencils, which came as a pleasant surprise. The students here are not given a chance to be creative or a chance to express themselves or their opinions. There is no doubt these students are smart, but I believe it is import to express yourself in way besides pen and paper. Every assignment turned in is done in blue pen on the same paper, which the school provides. I went into the art room the other day. These students are so talented. The paintings are phemonmal. The art teacher then told me that the art work around the school is from the students. I was shocked. I thought the work was professional. Also, there is a mosaic in the hallway that some of the students did as an after school activity. It is just so surprising to me that these students have so much talent but are only really allowed to demonstrate their “book smarts.” Either way, I really enjoyed giving the students the colored pencils. They were so excited and happy. For being in the equivalent of 9th grade, it was surprising to see how happy they were. So, I must say thank you to the 6th graders and their families from my first student teaching placements. The students here really appreciated the gifts you provided them!
After school yesterday, we headed to the Accra Mall. The taxi ride there was, as always, an adventure. We noticed that the speedometer, gas gauge and engine temperature gauge did not work. Accra is the next town over, so we were heading on a 30 or so mininute drive not knowing how fast we were going, how must gas, or if the engine was going to overheat. About half were there, when we were getting on the expressway, which is a toll road, we stalled out a few times. For a few minutes, I thought we might be walking down the expressway to the mall. Lucky for us, the taxi started back up after each stall out. The mall was somewhat of a disappointment. It appeared bigger from the outside. It was basically the same as an American mall. The mall was quite expensive, too. There was only two stores that we seen which had traditional African things, but it was VERY expensive. Basically, we went into the grocery store and that was it. Oh, I did by some CDs of Africa music. I am pretty excited about that! After the mall, we got another taxi for the way back. This taxi was pretty nice. As always, a taxi ride here is always an adventure. We get up to the toll booth and pay. Well, the arm doesn’t go up because apparently it is broken. So, the taxi driver starts inching closer. (The arm thing is pretty high.) We thought for sure he was just going to try to drive under it, which you could tell that other cars clearly have before. After we got the whole front end of the car under the arm, the driver pulls the parking brake and gets out. During this whole time, people are being horns like crazy! He runs over to the other cab, (there as 8 of us so we took 2 cabs), and I think told them what was going on. The other group was in a little Ford Fiesta looking car. The taxi driver of their car decides he is going to turn around. Well, that was crazy to watch. He did like a 10point turn around. The ladies that sell things to cars where running from the driver, then the driver almost backs into a charter bus, who is pounding on its horn. It was crazy! Finally, we make it back for dinner. After dinner we headed to seminar before bed! Today is Friday and I have been at school for 2 hours, but I have yet to see my teacher. I went to the assembly and then to the form meeting, which is a class she is supposed to advise, but the students seem to have it under control. She has a class in a little less than 2 hours, I wonder what will happen if she doesn’t come. From what the other student teachers I am here with say, if the teacher doesn’t come to class, the students just sit in class during the lesson time. When the bell rings, they leave. I do not think substitute teachers are an option here.
Well, that is all for now. This weekend we are off to Wli Falls, the monkey sanctuary, possibly climbing to highest mountain in Ghana! Sounds exciting!

First Observation Day!

Today was a very nice day! My host teacher does not teach until 1:45. I am not supposed to walk to or from school by myself. My teacher told me to just walk with my professor and come in later today. It was great. I got to sleep in, which is sleeping until 6:30 after that, my room turns into a snuna. I went to breakfast then came back to my room and laid down, then got up look at my lesson. I followed that up with some laying around before showering and eating lunch. My professor and I headed over to school to meet with my host teacher and talk about the lesson, which the host teacher told me to come early. I get there and she tells me to take a 10min break. I think we looked sweaty and over heated. Then, I did my lesson. It went okay. It was a very simple topic, which in the U.S. I would have only spent maybe 30mins, but I obviously cannot just come in and tell the teacher what I will be doing. I took her advice and somehow made this a 80min lesson. Sandy, my professor, said I did a good job, but she could see my frustration with it be such a slow lesson. We talked about how this is all a learning lesson, learning to be patient. Not something us student teachers seem to be use to. After we got back, I sat in my room trying to cool off. Then we sat outside and chit chated. Shortly, I will be going for dinner. Tomorrow Sandy is coming in again to watch me. It is nice to have a chance to teach, but it is very different. There is too much down time for my liking. It is strating to make going to school dreadful. Oh well! Check out the pics of my teaching!

Also, this morning, after breakfast, I opened the door and stepped into my room. I thought I felt something drop on my shoulder. I looked at my shoulder, and, sure enough, there is a little gecko. He quickly jumps on the door frame and hids. Don't worry. I took his picture.

First Day Teaching!

So, yesterday was just like any other school day. I came to school went to class a few times, then had lots of break time before finally heading back to the village. After school, I walked home with this girl that told me she had 2 other CMU student teachers before. She was your typical high school girl. She talked my ear off. I couldn't keep up either. She was talking so fast. I am guessing that is what the other students who have walked to and from school with me think about me. I do like to talk. She didn't give me much time. During break time yesterday, I sat and talked with a student from India. She shared a lot with me about her culture and compared it to the culture in Ghana. She was very detailed. I really enjoyed talking with her. She told me how she hates how much rice people eat here. :) Once I got back to the village, I sat outside and talked with some of the other girls. We had a guy come over and fix the internet. It has not really worked at the village regularly. I think they are trying to make it more regular for us, although I think the group con census is that we don't need it all the time. But, this guy came to fix it and said it was fixed, then he left and the internet has been in and out since then. We lost power a few times last night, and when we lose power, we lose internet too. Usually at night we can get internet, but last night I could not. Dinner was pretty good last night. We had fried fish, some rice, and some coleslaw. It was nice to eat some fish with no head, tail, scales, teeth, or eyes.(At school when they serve fish with eyes and all that jazz, I do not eat it.) After dinner, I went back to my room to finish up my lesson plans. Today was my first day teaching. I am teaching two different classes. There are both first year classes. Some of the students are in both sections. In the section I already thought, I was teaching English, specifically about comparing and contrasting. First, I did an ice breaker activity. I learned their names, took pictures (so I can hopefully learn the names faster), and they were given different color pieces of paper. Each different color represented a different question. After the students told me their name and answered the question, I allowed them to ask me a question. To my surprise, there were just typical questions. Some were off the wall, like asking me if I am engaged. She didn't ask if I was dating or married, just engaged. After I talked to each student, we moved on to the actual lesson. To introduce the comparing and contrasting idea, I showed the class a picture of my dogs, Max and Paris. (Oh, one of the students asked me if I had any pets, which was a perfect connection to the actual lesson! Loved that!) The students worked in pairs to make a list of similarities and differences between Max and Paris. Then we talked about them before reading two stories and comparing and contrasting the two ladies of the stories. Finally, I gave the students an individual assignment, which asked them to write a paper comparing and contrasting their favorite musician and favorite movie actor/actress. The students LOVED this. I was pretty sure that the students are not given a chance to expresses their interests in their work, so I figured they would like the assignment. I did not anticipate them being this excited. I enjoyed it. So, that is that. Right now, I am just hanging out, waiting for the next lesson. I am not really looking forward to this one. I have to teach part of Act 2 of  Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." I don't mind reading the plays, I am just not sure how well I am teach them. I hope there are not a lot of questions!

Weekend #2

So, this weekend was pretty good. Saturday morning, we got up and headed into Accra, which is the next town over. We had a driver, Daniel, from the school who has driven us a few other places before. He took us on a quick driving tour of Tema, which has a large shipping port. We drove by the fish market. It appeared to be very intense. There were fish all over the place and you could see people bargaining. It was neat! Then, we drove along the beach, stopping to take pictures and and touch the ocean. Daniel then pointed out that there was a fishing boat down the beach a little ways. We drove down there and walked down to watch then bring in this boat in. When the boat got to be in waist deep water, the men jumped out of the boat and fought the current to bring it in. We seen one guy on shore holding a rope, which we thought was connected to the boat. We soon learned the rope was actually the fishing net. One guy was holding it while the rest brought the boat in. After the boat was brought in, the men all came over to the rope and started pulling. We were able to jump in and help! It was such a neat experience. The guys were do a chant so everyone would be pulling at the same time. It was so interesting to see all this man power at work. From the boat to the fishing net, the men did it all with no outside power. After we helped the men for a while, we got back in the bus and headed to Accra. We did a few other stops and then went to lunch. In the streets here, there are SO many people selling things. You can buy so many things. I bought some yam or plantane chips (which are amazing) and  little Ghana flags. It was pretty cool buying stuff from the window. We also stopped at this famous coffin place. It was on an Amazing Race episode, which aired right before we left. We were all pretty excited to see this place in real life after we had all seen it on TV. The guy showed us two coffins that were going to be used in the next week of so. Pretty creepy. The coffins are one of a kind. Pretty much if you name it, they can create it. We seen a coke bottle, a lion, a cow, a fish, a camera, an airplane, a beer bottle, and a pineapple.We also got to see some of the guys making coffins. Then we went up this stair case in this half broken down building to see more coffins. We were all hanging on and walking REAL slow. The guy showing us around ran up the stairs like it was no big deal! We were all starving at this point. Daniel suggested this place called Frankie's. As we pulled in, we noticed a lot of white people there. We found that to be pretty exciting. Then, we got inside and looked at then menu. They had burgers and fries! It was amazing. We all, expect for Daniel, had burger and fries. We were all stuffed after that and headed over to view some of the historical things of the city. Many of the statues and things cannot be photographed. We still got a chance to look at them. We went to go to one outdoor garden with some statues, but it turned out to be too expensive. We looked from the outside, which was fine by us. Then, we got back into the bus and headed to a different market. This was crazy. It was nothing like the Kumasi market. It was simpler and more like a mix between an indoor and outdoor flea market. As soon as we got there, Daniel gave us some much need pointers. He told us to check things out before we bought then and bargain! So we get out and were bombarded with people! It was crazy. They ask your name and then suddenly they are telling you how you are friends. I would go into one shop and come out and my new friends David and Moses were waiting for me. At first, we all went into one shop. We were leaving and Connie, Liz and I were left. Connie and I start to walk out and Liz is being sucked into buying something. We are calling for her to leave, but she doesn't here us. Then Connie's new BFF, Cofee, starts yelling for Liz. It was quite entertaining. Finally Moses said he would come back. I was like yeah sure. We kept walking through. We ended up in the back corner of the market with, Connie's BFF Cofee. We are in his shop and she is bargaining, which she did a pretty darn good job at, and I hear my name. Sure enough, I look up and Moses is there telling me we are friends and I said I would come to his shop. So, Connie, Liz and I headed over to his shop. He kept telling us our brothers were over there. At first, I was thinking that I do not know every white person here, but, much to my surprise, Moses knew what he was talking about. The two guys from our group were in there. Moses and his friends were trying to sell me a drum, which, I really want but they were getting a little crazy. Finally, Connie, said BACK AWAY, BACK AWAY and they did! It was great. We told Moses we had to go get more money from out teacher and took off. As we were walking back to the van, my friend David found me. I ended up buying two bracelets. They are pretty cool, but not what I had in mind. Finally, we all made it back to the van in one piece and, for the majority, only making purchases we could see a use for. Then we headed back to the village. We got there and dinner was pretty much ready, but no one was really hungry. Most of us went to dinner, we were all feeling guilty Evelyn cooked for us. We didn't each much, but we had some. Then we went back. Everyone was going to take a nap and then go out to the maybe the Jazz Cafe. Well, our naps turned into a full nights sleep. Some of us slept 13 hours! I guess we were tired. Sunday morning was our first day to sleep in! We were all up by 8 or so. It is very hard to sleep in here. The sun is bright and beats into your room and heats it up! So we went to breakfast and then headed to the pool. Got to the pool and it was closed. After walking around and trying to figure out what time it opens, we learned it opens at 11 and headed over there. We were there for and hour and a half to maybe two hours. I am FRIED CRISPY. Guess I will have some color. Then we went for lunch, which was rice balls and peanut or peanut butter soup. I think Evelyn said it was a traditional dish, and it was pretty good. The rice balls didn't really taste like rice, it was interesting that it was a soup but there were whole pieces of chicken with bones in there. We were only given spoons. Hmmm...we have all noticed that much of the culture eats with their hands. Some of us ate the chicken from the soup with our hands. I guess I can now say I ate soup with my hands. Then we all took naps and were just lazy for a few hours before getting ready for dinner, which we were going out for pizza. We all got ready and went out to get taxis. We talked to the taxi drivers and they really didn't know where we were going. We called the pizza place and they tired to tell us. Then the taxi drivers said it would be 40 cedi to get there! That is a bit much. We decided we would go to the other pizza place we went to last week. We get there and they are closed! So off to Evergreen (supermaket) we go. We had no idea what we would cook. We have only a propane burner. We were not sure what kind of pots and pans there were. We were going to make pizza but then we came across pancake mix. We had pancakes which were pretty darn good. After dinner, we went out to the pavilion and played some games and talked for awhile. Very nice Sunday. Around 10:30, I headed to bed. It stormed again last night. I am starting to get sick of the storms. I love the rain, but the thunder and lighting need to stop. It keeps me awake, and I need my sleep! So far today has been pretty cool compared to the last few days, but it is pretty muggy and overcast. Tomorrow is my first day to teach! Pretty excited about that!

Friday!

So after school last night, we got back and relaxed. When I got back and found everyone, I learned that at lunch, the group talked about getting pizza, so we were going out for pizza. One of the girl's teacher told her about a great pizza place not far from us. So we got in a taxi, which was very fun, and headed up there. We got there and got our drinks. Then, while sitting there, the power went out. Sad thing was we didn't have our pizza yet, nor had we ordered it. The pizza place was located right off the main road, and it was outside. We got to sit outside while waiting for the power to come back on. It was pretty cool because nothing seemed to stop. The traffic kept moving as if nothing happened. Then the power came back on and we ordered pizza. It was amazing. I am not really a huge pizza fun, but I could get use to this pizza. We are going out for pizza again on Sunday. SUPER NICE CHANGE FROM RICE. Then we got in the taxi to head back. We were going to stop at the Jazz Cafe, but there was some confusion in the group and the taxi driver was told to take us back. We got back and talk to the guard about it. He told us that the Jazz Cafe is only open a few nights a week, one of them being tonight, so the place wasn't even open if we had gone there. The guard said he will take us. Then we all went to the little talking spot and talk for awhile before heading to bed. Got up this morning and had to be to school early. Every Friday, school starts early for an assembly. Today, they had a lady lawyer come in and give the students an inspiration speech. It was pretty darn good. She also referenced Obama. That went over very well. They also do the school announcements then. They announced the swimming awards. Holy goodness. The students were told to put there awards on. This one guy put on his 4 or 5 awards, then he pulled out another 4 or 5 awards. The students went crazy when he did that! It was pretty cool to see the school spirit! After that, I went to the form meeting. At this meeting, the students in their 3rd year talk about the problems. Their concerns were valid. They were concerned with things like running out of water in the middle of the day and not having internet. They were very professional and serious. It was pretty cool. After that, my teacher and I had a nice chat. We talked about many things, and I learned a lot. She also invited me to her house so I can see another part of Ghana. I am pretty excited. She said she would also like to take me to the Tema market. I cannot wait. So far, today has been a good day. I am hoping I get to hang out with the students after school, maybe nap, and head to the Jazz Cafe. Tomorrow, we are off to Accra for the day. Sunday will be our first day with no major plans, except to go get pizza, since we got here! That's all for now!

Electricity...not always! :)

So yesterday was our first experience with losing power...a lot. Before we left MI, we were warned that the power goes out. Not sure why, maybe they are using too much power or they are not paying the bills. Either way, the power goes out. Yesterday, at the end of the school day, we lost power a few times. The school has a generator, so it isn't that bad. The classes have a lot of windows, so the lights are rarely on anyway. After school got out, I chased down some random kid to walk with me home. His name was Issac, and I think he was the least thrilled out of all the students I have chased down to walk with me home. Once I started talking about schooling in America, he was interesting. (Many students here go to the U.S. for college.) So we got back after our nice little chit chat, and I went to change as I was sweating like a pig in a bacon factory. Oh, when walking to school yesterday, I had some girls tell me we are going INTO the hot season. This should be fun.We changed and headed out to seminar. After that, we had some dinner with rice and some beef thing and also some hush puppies like thing. They were pretty good. Needless to say, I had a lot of those and very little rice. After dinner, we headed back to our area of the village. An internet tech was sent over to help us with internet, but it still doesn't work any better than before he came over. Oh well. We have internet just not as often as we are use to. (Well expect for myself and one other person. We have a lot of internet access at school.) So here we are hanging out outside, just talking. I went to go to the kitchen to get something to drink and as I am about to step foot inside, the power goes out. Very happy I was not inside yet. Came back outside to talk and wait for the power. Also, after the power went out, the kids that live in the village screamed VERY loud for a VERY long time. It wasn't annoying or anything. I just could not believe how long they screamed. I didn't think losing power to them would be such a shock, then again, they are kids. If there is a time to scream, they will take it. The power went in and out a few more times. It seemed like it went out every time one of the girls here with me went to shower. Eventually she gave up. Also, the sky here is so interesting. It is like a purple, orange, pink color and very little stars. When we went to Mole, the sky looked way different. It looked more like a sky we are use to with the dark, dark sky and lots of starts. The sky here just looks different in that it almost looks stretched. Everything looks oblong, kind of cool. I am going to try to get some pictures, but I don't know if they will capture what I am talking about. Anyway, the power stayed on for most of the night. We lost it again about 5 AM but it came back on a short while later. We lost it again during the school day, but just a short while. Well, that is all for now.

Another Post...

Not much has happened since the last post...After school I walked back with a few girls. They gave me some more insight about their lives. Very interesting. They also talked with me about hair, again very interesting. I think if there was one word to describe the trip this far, it would be interesting. After we walked back, I found my fellow CMU-ers and we headed over to the pool. Boy was this interesting. The rule is that each one of us can only bring one student into the pool. We were told this before we left, so this was not a surprise to us. We were also told we would have to make a list because so many students would want to go. Sure thing, we will. Well yesterday, we started walking over to the pool. No students to be seen. There was 4 of us already at the pool and 4 more of us heading over. We seen one little girl, Amanda, who we said if you get your suit you can go. She runs back, but never comes to the pool. No big deal. Then we had a little boy following us. Doesn't say a word, but has his bathing suit. No big deal, he can go. So finally we get to the pool, the 4 of us and the little boy. We walk into the pool area and suddenly there are 8 kids in the pool. Interesting. It was like they were hiding. I have no idea where they came from. So, our little boy could not go swimming. He was okay with it. He was just going to sit on the side next to the pool. So, occasionally we would look over there and he was sitting on the first step. We would tell him to get out, which he did. After swimming for an hour, we had to get out to head to dinner. That was a challenge. The students did NOT want to get out. We all head to get our teacher voices out and lay down the law. Not what I expected. It took us 30-40mins to get the now 9 kids out of the pool. The little boy that followed us was soaking wet...apparently he found his way into the pool. After that, we went to dinner and played on the computers then sat outside and talked for awhile. Very nice. I went to bed early because I was very sleepy last night. Woke up this morning had some amazing toast and cream cheese again! Love it! OH! Dinner last night was AMMMAAAAZZZZZINNNNG! It as fried fish...no bones, heads, or tails and potatoes cut into very thick fries. (I think there is a name for those but I don't know it.) We also had coleslaw. We were told not to eat fresh vegetables, but we were also told anything made for us in the village was safe to it. Most of us tried it, haven't gotten sick. (Knock on wood) It was darn good meal. By far my favorite. Alright, that is all for now. Just hanging out at school. Wednesday's are my SUPER slow down. School starts at 7:30 and ends at 3:05 or 3:45. My teacher has a break from 7:30-1:45. I have some time on my hands.
Also, Jess, thanks for the posts. I love to read them! Makes me feel like people are really reading this. Love you!

Here are some PICTURES!!!

Picture 1: This is from our day of visiting each of the school. This is at Tema Parents School. The students are in the lunch area.
Pictures 2&4: That is some of the food from the first few days.
The rest of the pictures are just students in the village with us after school. They love cameras!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

After yesterday's posts, I had a few people make comments about the next post. Sorry to disappoint, but nothing major has happened. I do have a break right now, so I have time to talk about my relatively boring day. I got out of school yesterday at 3:05, which was lovely! Last week I was at school until 5:45...it was a rough day. Anyways, on the way to school yesterday, I was walking with two girls and we were chit chatting about this and that. When we got to school, they asked me how I got home. I told them I walk back, but I am unsure how to get back. They told me they would wait for me. I was pretty excited about. So, 3:05 comes and I ran into one of the girls. She told me that she had a meeting and could not walk back with me. She called this boy, Ernest, over to walk me home. I don't think he was to happy with the idea, but he walked with me back. Don't worry, I talked his ear off and asked a million questions. After we parted ways and he headed back to the hostel and I headed over to my living area, I had three little (4 or 5 year old) boys run over to me. It was like I was the high light of their day. They were in love with my watch and ring. They kept saying, "Auntie, pretty watch, Ooooh look at the pretty ring." So cute. The kids in the village can seriously make your day. They are always so happy to see you. They just wanted to hold your hand and look at everything you have. Makes me smile just thinking about them. I hope they greet me again today. After that fun encounter, I headed back to put on some different clothes. Walking to and from school is about a 10-15min walk, but when I get back, I am sweating like a pig. It stinks...literally! So I changed, and went to find everyone. I found out they were all in the computer. Funny thing, I had been on the computer all day. I really didn't want to get on the computer again. Lucky for me, the other person, Paul, who is at a school similar to mine, was also on the computer all day. He and I sat outside and talked about the crazy things that happen in the school. Very eye opening compared to the states. After everyone slowly came back from the computer lab, we all sat around outside in the nice weather talking about our days. Our living arrangements are pretty cool. We all have our own rooms with one other room attached by a bathroom that we share. We each have a door to the outside and a door to the bathroom. There are 7 of these house/dorm things, one being the kitchen and one not being used by us. In the middle of the house/dorms, there is a pavilion area where we sit and talk, which is where we were yesterday. The weather yesterday was perfect. It was warm, maybe 80's but overcast. It was nice not to have the sun beating down and there was no rain. Usually, from what I have seen, if the sun is not out, the rain is. Yesterday, we had neither, although it looked like it was going to rain. I was a little worried about walking home. When it rains here, it pours! Anyways, sitting outside talking with the group was the second high light of my day, the first being those 3 little boys. Around 5:30, we headed down to dinner at my professors house. For dinner we had pork chops, which are VERY little with...you guessed it...rice! It was a yellow type rice. I was very glad it was not white rice, but I did not eat very much. After dinner, we talked about writing lessons and such for our classes. Then we headed back to our rooms and chit chatted for a while. I was super tired last night, so I passed out by 10:00. Woke up this morning still feeling tired, but breakfast was good. We had toast for the first time. I was beginning to think they did not have toasters because usually we get bread not toasted. We also had Laughing Cow cream cheese. It was amazing, but I am very hungry right. I wish there was enough so I could have had more. Today is the first day I have been starving, like stomach making noises, and my host teacher decided she would show me what the students eat for snack. I was so excited! It looked like a hot dog. She picked one up and said "see," and then said,"let's go." Never asked me if I wanted one, which I REALLY did. Maybe I will be losing weight and my little friend, Edwardian, won't call me fat anymore. So, that's that. Right now I am in the teacher's lounge just waiting for it to be 11:55 so we can go to class and then LUNCH! Pretty sure we are going to have rice! Getting excited...not. Anyways, that is all for now. Tomorrow is the day I have a lot of down time. Expect a post tomorrow, but no promises!

Wait...

Read Mole National Park blog first, the Kumasi blog!!!

Kumasi

Day 7-8: Saturday morning we got up and headed down the crazy road to Kumasi, which is a very large city in Ghana and I believes holds the 2nd or 3rd largest market. We got into town and went to the college in Kumasi where we stayed the night. The place was very nice. It was probably the nicest place I have seen since we have been here. It might have looked so nice because our conditions at Mole...different story. After we settled in and took a shower for the first time in three days, we went to dinner. We eat a lot of rice, so it was nice to eat something that had no rice. We were all going to have pizza, but we were told the pizza maker was gone for the day.Most of us ended up having mac&cheese which was pretty good. We had french fries a few times. Every time we have had them, they have been pretty good! They taste very similar to our home cooked fries, but these tasted better. I am guessing it is because it wasn't rice. The next morning we got up had breakfast and headed to town to do a few things before heading back to Tema. Our bus driver, who was amazing, called a friend of his and we went him at a place called the Palace. There we learned about the Ashanti culture, which is very interesting. I hope to learn more about the culture while I am here. This group use to be so large that is almost encompassed the whole country. They went through some issues with war and ups and downs, but they are still present today. After that, we quickly stopped at the culture center. We were there on a Sunday, so there was not much going on. We went into the shop, which was interesting to see some of the cultural items. Then we went to the market! That was a journey! The bus driver said he could not find a place to park, so he was going to point us to the market and we were going to walk. Not a big deal. As we were starting to walk down hill, a guy stopped the bus driver and told him he would take us to the market, find a place to park the bus, and show us around. I was unaware of the fact that James, the bus driver, did not know this man. The culture is very much a bargaining culture. You help someday out for a few cedes (their currency.) We noticed that for each stand the guy took us to, the owners would give him some money for bring us. Very cool to see how the culture works together. So we got on the bus and head to the market. James dropped us off and we headed into the mass craziness. The market is a massive, massive maze. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how this place is set up. There are hundreds of little shops. The shops are so small like 5X10 or something like that and the people are packed in there. Some people just set up shop on the sidewalk or the steps into the market. We walk down these steps and by people selling used shoes and jeans and head into the market. We were looking for two things basically because we only had an hour. We wanted some traditional Kenta cloth and some Ashanti beads. We are following our college student tour guide. We walk into the actual market and are greeted by the WORST smell ever. I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to smells and I almost lost it a few times. Imagine this....fish, pig, beef, and other meats, onions, peppers, tomatoes, other vegetable, fruits, clothes, shoes, anything you need to buy all out in the open, sun beating down on all of this, no moving air, few showers, massive sweating, and open sewers. All of those things mixed together. We were there at 11AM, I did not want to eat dinner after a shower and 7 and 1/2 hours later. I was so grossed out. It is crazy to think that this is the way of life for so many people. Don't worry though, I am a shopped at heart and was still able to buy some cloth and beads. (My mom would be so proud...hahaha) Actually, at some points, the smells were not bad at all. Very interesting. After the market, we loaded into the bus and headed back to the village through the roller coast roads! We got back, showered and had some dinner. After dinner, we went and tried to get on the internet. The internet here is very temperamental. I finally was able to get online last night around 10:00 PM and talk with the PU. It was cool to here the door bell and the trick-or-treaters while I was talking with them. Halloween is not celebrated here, but I would have to say the market or some of the bathrooms are probably some of the scariest things I have seen in my whole life! Now I am at school again, on one of the many breaks.............................From the first 9 days, I am getting the feeling that the school part is not going to be my favorite part. I think I had a GREAT first 8 weeks with an amazing coordinating teacher and students, that I had subconscious expectations. This is all a learning experience! That is all for now!

Mole National Park and the adventure to get there...

Day 5-7:Thursday morning, we woke up and left the village at 4:30AM to start our adventure through the countryside. We were driving up to Mole National Park, which is almost the length of the whole country away. We loaded into a bus that was very nice. It looked like a Gray Hound Bus. It was a BIG surprise to us, as we were expecting a tro-tro, or a run down van with no AC. We head from Tema to Accra, very nice! Once in Accra, that is a WHOLE different story. The roads are under construction. Let's just say I will NEVER complain about MI roads again. The pot holes with CRAZY big. You could lose a car or something in there. And there are a lot of broken down cars everywhere! Some of these cars have been left there for years..there are trees and bushes growing inside them and they are completely rusted out. After we got through the construction, which was some time...maybe 2 hours. We got onto a two lane road. The drivers here are crazy, but very good. All the drivers seem to know what the other driver is doing. In our bus, we were passing a few cars at a time or semi or other buses as we were going up hill AND around a corner. It was intense! We drove through a lot of poor areas. Many people living in huts with no electricity or running water, but everyone seems to have a cell phone. The people really live off the land. That amazes me. As we were driving up to Mole, we would go through many towns and villages, and in the towns, there would be so many people, men, women, and children, walking in between the traffic trying to sell stuff. It was very weird. We stopped in Kumasi for lunch. We sat down and decided we would try a beer from Ghana. They said small or large. We thought 12oz or 22 oz...we order 22oz. We were wrong. A large beer in 36 or so oz. We slept very well after lunch, which was again very good. We continued on our travels through many villages and towns, most of which had stands selling stuff on the road. For bathroom breaks, we stopped at various locations, most of which you had to pay for the toilets that were sick. I cannot believe how dirty some places I peed in where. Also, while waiting for the bathroom, I had a guy tell me he wanted to marry me, which I was trying to ignore, but my professor heard and then said, he wants to marry you and laughed. I am getting mixed reviews from the culture...We had to take the long way because the other way had a bad road. So, we turn our bus onto this dirt road. Boy, were we in for a treat. This road was HORRIBLE, I would really hate to see the bad road. There were so many pot holes and just areas where the road was like washed away. At some parts, we were driving in the ditch in a bus. The bus driver kept getting calls from the village we are living at and the park wondering where we were. He started to get pretty frustrated I think. We heard he say, "We are in a bus! Not a 4X4, a BUS!" That was a good laugh! In fact, we got there at 9:30 at night and all headed to bed. In the morning, the bus driver told us he had to go get the muffler strapped back up. Very interesting. At Mole, it was beautiful view, but the motel was a different story. I thought I had a cock-roach in my room, but I was wrong! Whatever I had in my room was a little grasshopper or something nice! We had one in the motel. It was HUGE and ugly! It was on it's back and I learned that if a bug is on it's back it will die. We let him die and then had one of the guys come in and remove it! After our "nice" sleep, we got up and went outside to find a warthog. We were all taking pictures of the warthog, who was eating and could not careless we were there, or so we thought. One girl sat down by the warthog so we could get a picture of how close we were. Mr. Warthog was NOT having that. He let this big snort out and we screamed and ran like little girls. Then we went to shower...NO water! Water is only on for a few hours a day, all hours we were not there.  I washed my hair with bottled water and my body with baby wipes.The walking safari was cool. We walked passed elephant tracks that were only a few hours old. We seen lots of antelope, baboons, monkeys, birds, warthogs. No elephant. :( After the walking safari, we went back to the motel which had a look outpoint. We were able to see elephants that were VERY far away, but with binoculars, we could see them, although some people think they were just warthogs. I seen trunks, so I seen elephants. Later in the day, we went on riding safari in a Land Rover. There were three of us in the back sitting sideways with no seat belts, we just hung on. We were did some off roading, but the trails in the park were nicer than the road to get to the actual park. At one point, we had to do a running start to get back on the trail and another part we had to do a like 10 point turn around. A few times, I thought we were going to go in the ditch that we would not to driving out off if we went in! We did not see any new animals from the walking safari, but still a great adventure. Then we went back had dinner, tried another beer and headed to bed. In the morning, we loaded back into the bus to head down the crazy road to Kumasi, which is the complete opposite. Kumasi is a big city. We went from rural to big city. I am running out of time, so I will have to talk about Kumasi later..hopefully later today!