We're Dreaming of a White Christmas

Hello bloggers!!!

Megan and Katie here (we’re going to tag team this blog, it’s been a while since we’ve written a blog together).

We’re just sitting here enjoying a nice Ghanaian biscuit on Tuesday afternoon, 3 days before Christmas… precious babe Jesus is on his way, but don’t forget, Katie’s Bday is first (December 24^th)…. She paves the way for little JC. Just in case you were wondering, there’s no snow in Ghana so we tried building a snowman with the dirt but it failed miserably. Then, we tried cutting down a palm tree, but the ornaments wouldn’t stay on the branches. Failure #2… So instead we are singing “White Christmas” and truly dreaming that there’s snow. Then we go to church where they sing the opening hymn to the tune of “Jingle Bells” (But it’s not the words to jingle bells, it’s the words to a church song, ironic) so naturally, Katie and I find ourselves singing “Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!” and no one notices because they’re singing their own words. It really is a nice set-up… we get our Christmas song fix while at church.

And just in case you’re all wondering, because we know you are, Katie and I spent yesterday decorating the dinging room for Christmas. We must say, we outdid ourselves. If you closed the blinds and ignored the heat you would think you were in Rockafeller Center on Christmas morning.

So school ended last Thursday and Katie and I took off on Friday morning for an adventure in the village of Hohoe. 1. We had no idea what we were doing. 2. We didn’t arrive until midnight, 4 hours late (thanks to the marvelous public transportation). 3. We met our guardian angel, George who took us in for the night. 4. We saw the most breathtaking waterfalls (largest in West Africa). 5. We fed Mona monkeys bananas from our hands in the jungle.

We discovered the joys of hopping from one tro-tro to another as our means of transportation the whole 4 hours back to Accra. We decided to try this method out after the “organized” STC Bus from Accra made us 4 hours late on the way to Hohoe.

So, back to George… naturally, arriving in a tiny village at midnight means no taxis running, so no way to get to our hotel… now what? Well that’s when George comes in. He recognized the look of desperation on our lost faces and offered to let us stay with his family for the night. It took us about .3 seconds to agree. We were exhausted. George literally gave us his bed to sleep in, fed us eggs in the morning for breakfast, fetched us water to bath with, and personally walked us to the taxi station in the morning so we could get to our hotel.

Once checked in, we headed off for the Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary where we met a guide named Samuel who hiked the 45 minutes with us into the jungle to the Wli Waterfalls. We paid Samuel 5 cedis to leave us at the waterfalls to explore on our own. For two hours Katie and I swam, and just took in the beauty of the falls. They were amazing. Such power and awesomeness. It literally took our breath away when we got close enough to the falls. Of course I thought it would wise to just swim in my underwear so that I didn’t have to hike with wet clothes on the way back. It was all fine and dandy for the first 2 hours until a group of picnickers came all of the sudden… oh well. They didn’t seemed phased by the crazy American in her underwear. There were hundreds of butterflies in every color imaginable and fruit bats by the thousands.

After our hike back to the hotel, we ordered our first real meal since Thursday night. We were famished. Other than the eggs at George’s house, we had been running on granola bars and Finding Nemo fruit snacks. Our meal was followed by a 4.5 hour nap and then a quick snack of French fries, ice cream, and pineapple. And back to sleep we went.

Waking up at 5:30am, we departed our hotel for Logba where we jumped on motor bikes that took us to the Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Here, our guide Daniel took us to the jungle where we fed Mona monkeys. Yes, Katie, miss I hate animals, even fed a monkey and enjoyed it. I was pretty much in a state of ecstasy.

From here, we began our long journey back to Accra. Once back to our familiar stomping ground we found some pizza, and met a family from America who was in Ghana on vacation from Nigeria. They live on a compound in Nigeria because of the husband’s job with Shevron Oil. It was so nice to talk some other Americans.

Anyways, we are safely back in Kasoa and definitely got a true taste of Ghana this weekend.

Only 2 more days until Katie’s Birthday and Adam, Michael, and Jess arrive!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Happy New Year!

Much Love,

Katie and Meg

We're Dreaming of a White Christmas

Hello bloggers!!!

Megan and Katie here (we’re going to tag team this blog, it’s been a while we’ve done that).

We’re just sitting here enjoying a nice Ghanaian biscuit on Tuesday afternoon, 3 days before Christmas… precious babe Jesus is on his way, but don’t forget, Katie’s Bday is first (December 24^th)…. She paves the way for little JC. Just in case you were wondering, there’s no snow in Ghana so we tried building a snowman with the dirt but it failed miserably. Then, we tried cutting down a palm tree, but the ornaments wouldn’t stay on the branches. Failure #2… So instead we are singing “White Christmas” and truly dreaming that there’s snow. Then we go to church where they sing the opening hymn to the tune of “Jingle Bells” (But it’s not the words to jingle bells, it’s the words to a church song, ironic) so naturally, Katie and I find ourselves singing “Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!” and no one notices because they’re singing their own words. It really is a nice set-up… we get our Christmas song fix while at church.

And just in case you’re all wondering, because we know you are, Katie and I spent yesterday decorating the dinging room for Christmas. We must say, we outdid ourselves. If you closed the blinds and ignored the heat you would think you were in Rockafeller Center on Christmas morning.

So school ended last Thursday and Katie and I took off on Friday morning for an adventure in the village of Hohoe. 1. We had no idea what we were doing. 2. We didn’t arrive until midnight, 4 hours late (thanks to the marvelous public transportation). 3. We met our guardian angel, George who took us in for the night. 4. We saw the most breathtaking waterfalls (largest in West Africa). 5. We fed Mona monkeys bananas from our hands in the jungle.

We discovered the joys of hopping from one tro-tro to another as our means of transportation the whole 4 hours back to Accra. We decided to try this method out after the “organized” STC Bus from Accra made us 4 hours late on the way to Hohoe.

So, back to George… naturally, arriving in a tiny village at midnight means no taxis running, so no way to get to our hotel… now what? Well that’s when George comes in. He recognized the look of desperation on our lost faces and offered to let us stay with his family for the night. It took us about .3 seconds to agree. We were exhausted. George literally gave us his bed to sleep in, fed us eggs in the morning for breakfast, fetched us water to bath with, and personally walked us to the taxi station in the morning so we could get to our hotel.

Once checked in, we headed off for the Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary where we met a guide named Samuel who hiked the 45 minutes with us into the jungle to the Wli Waterfalls. We paid Samuel 5 cedis to leave us at the waterfalls to explore on our own. For two hours Katie and I swam, and just took in the beauty of the falls. They were amazing. Such power and awesomeness. It literally took our breath away when we got close enough to the falls. Of course I thought it would wise to just swim in my underwear so that I didn’t have to hike with wet clothes on the way back. It was all fine and dandy for the first 2 hours until a group of picnickers came all of the sudden… oh well. They didn’t seemed phased by the crazy American in her underwear. There were hundreds of butterflies in every color imaginable and fruit bats by the thousands.

After our hike back to the hotel, we ordered our first real meal since Thursday night. We were famished. Other than the eggs at George’s house, we had been running on granola bars and Finding Nemo fruit snacks. Our meal was followed by a 4.5 hour nap and then a quick snack of French fries, ice cream, and pineapple. And back to sleep we went.

Waking up at 5:30am, we departed our hotel for Logba where we jumped on motor bikes that took us to the Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary. Here, our guide Daniel took us to the jungle where we fed Mona monkeys. Yes, Katie, miss I hate animals, even fed a monkey and enjoyed it. I was pretty much in a state of ecstasy.

From here, we began our long journey back to Accra. Once back to our familiar stomping ground we found some pizza, and met a family from America who was in Ghana on vacation from Nigeria. They live on a compound in Nigeria because of the husband’s job with Shevron Oil. It was so nice to talk some other Americans.

Anyways, we are safely back in Kasoa and definitely got a true taste of Ghana this weekend.

Only 2 more days until Katie’s Birthday and Adam, Michael, and Jess arrive!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Happy New Year!

Much Love,

Katie and Meg

"Waiting"

Hello All,
Katie here. It has definitely been a long time. I hope this blog post finds everyone doing well. Things have been pretty busy here in Ghana and I am going to try my hardest to keep you up on everything. As for us saying we were going to do this weekly... haha whoops! But as we are in the 3rd week of Advent, and temperatures averaging in the high 90's... I am still not believing that Christmas is 9 days away.
Life in the classroom is going great. Since I got back from the States, Meg and I have been doing lots of fun things with the kids. We made caterpillars after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, started animals in science and the kids are loving it, keeping up with addition facts in math, and teaching the students about Advent in Religious and Moral Education. Meg has been giving them a new prayer each week, and we light candles in the room. The kids are OBSESSED with the candles and had a slight heart attack when they saw a green candle... (we are using green because we couldn't find pink). It is the little things that crack me up with these kids.
Today in school we had our Christmas Play that Meg busted her butt working on. It was AMAZING. The kids did an awesome job and it was adorable. I am sure she wants to talk about it, but I just had to mention it because it was not only hilarious but so good for only 6-10 year olds. I posted a pic of the wisemen from the play... Samuel I., Nana, and Isaac N.
The title of this blog post is WAITING, coming from the meaning of Advent, and describing the feeling Meg and I share right now. We are both not only WAITING for Christmas, but waiting for the end of this first term in the classroom, and waiting for our visitors to arrive in Ghana.
Tomorrow is our last day before break and the kids call it "Our Day". Basically, they come to school from 10-2 to eat, play games, and receive gifts. I am pretty excited to see them each get their own bag of little presents. You have to remember there is no Santa Clause here, so this is most likely all they will receive this holiday season.

Meg and I have big travel plans coming up so I am going to wait to blog about that when we get back. We are going to Wli Falls in the eastern region of Ghana. It will just be us two so wish us luck, and stay tuned for an update.

Other than that, life is good. I am still thrilled to be here. Even though it is disappointing being in 90 degree weather when it should be snowing... to have Christmas here is going to be something to remember forever.

10 More Hours

Ahhhh Hello everyone! We’re back in action. Sorry it’s been so long since the last blog update. There are new pictures posted on the Picasa page so check those out.

Since you last heard from us we’ve had celebration after celebration. Including a genuine Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the sisters’ hard work in gather and preparing all that they could to make Katie, myself, and Sister Veronica feel like we were at home in the States. We have turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, pumpkin and apple pie, and even pilgrim and Indian decorations, compliments of Katie and Comfort’s artistic abilities. From the bottom of our hearts, Katie and I want you all to know how thankful we are for each and every one of you who supports us!

We’ve had the past two Fridays off of school due to national holidays. December 4th is national Farmer’s Day. It is a day honoring the farmers who saved the people of Ghana during a drought and famine in the 80’s. Without their hard work the country would not have survived.

Katie made it back safely to Ghana after returning home to be with her family as they buried her grandfather. She was so happy to see everyone and had a fabulous time in Florida (she’s got the battle wounds to prove it: during an intense game of kickball on the beach she wiped out when rounding third base). Plus, she got to drive, eat a big Mac, and spend time with the girls from Saint Mary’s who surprised her at the airport (Ash, Jen, Bender, Lindsay). The kids were so cute when I told them why Katie wasn’t going to be at school for the week. We said a little prayer together and a few of them even cried. They are such little “Love Bugs.”

Needless to say, I simply “survived” 10 days alone in Ghana. Definitely missed Katie a lot and was worn out by the time she returned. Handling the classroom alone was a big task. It’s not like handling a classroom at home in the US alone. At home, when it’s time to take the kids to art, music, gym, computers, library, there’s a teacher waiting there to take them off the classroom teachers’ hands for a short time. This gives the teachers time to plan and get ready for the next lesson. NOT the case here. We have them from 7am-4pm straight with a 30 minutes break for lunch. We teach art, music, computers, library, PE… EVERYTHING. So it’s go, go, go all the time without any prep. breaks.

We’ve recently been having a lot of electricity shortages. We’ve been whole days without power and then there’s some days when the power goes on and off continually throughout the day. So this has made communication tough the past few weeks. I’ve ben talking to my mom, dad, Michael, Adam, and Jess quite a bit though to get them ready to come to Ghana. Only 19 more days!!! Woo hoo! I CANNOT WAIT for them to be here.

Oh, just a side note, I did contract ringworm, but it’s pretty much cleared up now. So that’s good. I’ve still been running a few days a week and actually starting to enjoy it (for those of you who know me, you know that I hate running, and I only ever did it b/c I felt guilty if I didn’t exercise, amazing!)

Sister Theresa returned from the rehabilitation hospital last week with her new prosthetic leg. She is doing well and making good progress every day as she learns to walk again.

Some funny things that have happened in the classroom recently:
1. Well, one of our little dears, Samuel A., came to school with new sandels. He’s so proud of them. They are actually girls sandals but who cares. They are little red rubber sandals with a blue buckle. Adorable.
2. This past week, while the kids were working in groups on animals, we were telling them, “okay, 10 more minutes. Okay, 5 more minutes.” Etc. Then Nathaniel comes up to us and, very seriously, asks… “Please Madame, can we have 10 more hours? Just 10? (he meant 10 minutes but it made Katie and I laugh pretty much for about 5 minutes)
3. Nicolina shouted “shit” in the middle of class this week. It’s a pretty loosely used word around here and it doesn’t mean the same thing as it does at home. I don’t even think the kids really know what it means other than they hear it from other people. So we had a good laugh over that too.
4. The kids also decided (very logically) that since I am approximately 1.5 months older than Madame Katie, I will be dying first. I tried to get them to explain their reasoning and they said it’s b/c I’m older. So lucky you, Katie! Anyways, one little girl, Elizabeth O. got really worked up about the whole thing while we were discussing it and stood up and shouted, “NO ONE IS DYING!” That put an end to that. I found it pretty amusing.
5. I was reading a chapter of “Charlotte’s Web” to the kids and all of the sudden I feel this little hand rubbing my calf. It’s Samuel A. I don’t really shave my legs in Ghana. So Samuel finds it really amazing that I have blonde hair on my legs. I don’t even know if he noticed he was doing it, but I just kept reading as if nothing was wrong and in the back on my mind I’m thinking, “oh, my God! This kids is fascinated with my leg hair” I almost lost it!

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us here in Ghana. We need it!

Love, Katie and Meg

May God Bless you Now!

Hi Everyone!



Yes, as many of you may know, I turned 23 last Wednesday: November 4th!!! Woo hoo!!! I can't believe I actually got to celebrate my birthday in Ghana. It was a fabulous day. Ama and Elliham baked me a cake and, of course, we had ice cream. My day started with a delicious home cooked meal of oats, fresh bread, and oranges! I arrived at school to find the classroom beautifully decorated by none other than Madame Katie herself. Balloons, posters, the works! The kids sang Happy Birthday to me about a million times (THEY SING LOUD too). We had birthday lollipops and each kid got a special sticker. I had students bring me cookies, juice, a necklace, all sorts of fun things (things that I know they cannot afford, but they still bought them anyways.) It is officially, 1 week after my bday and I am still receiving odds and ends from the kids. They LOVE to celebrate! Then, for lunch we had Fufu and Groundnut soup, my favorite. To end the school day, the whole school sang to me at assembly. I don't know if I've ever felt so happy! Then, after praying the rosary at Auntie Mary's house in the community, we came back and had a celebration, the sister way! We had the cake and ice cream, the sisters bought me a birthday Smirnoff Ice, we danced and sang and just had a fantastic evening!

I received a piece of beautiful cloth and a card from the sisters along with a basket full of "nonsense" if you will. Here in Ghana it's a tradition to present the birthday person with a basket full of all their favorite things. So, I received a basket with a pineapple, Mp3Player, a picture of Adam, some oats, fish (as a joke), custard, peanut M&M's, etc. It's so cute. They have a little presentation ceremony and everything.

The birthday song sung the Ghanaian way:

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. How old are you now? How old are you now? How old are you now? How old are you now? (birthday celebrant answers) I am -23- years now. I am -23- years old. I am -23- years old. I am -23- years old. I am -23- years old. May God bless you now. May God bless you now. May God bless you now. May God bless you now."



In between all this action, we also celebrated Halloween with the kids and we celebrated jemillah's 4th birthday. Ironically, today is also Sister Martina's bday! We are a house full of November born. We shared all the traditions of Halloween with the kids and they got to draw their own pumpkins. We recently received a package from Ann Yohe with candy corn in it, so we will be giving that to the kids. They thought it was crazy that we dress in weird clothes, but the ABSOLUTELY loved the idea of simply knocking on some one's door, saying "trick or treat" and getting candy from it. We told them... "and by the end of the night, you have so many toffees (that's what they call candy here) you won't know what to do with them." Their eyes were as big as pumpkins. So the Monday after Halloween, they got to practice their "trick or treat" lines on Katie and I and receive some candy.

For Jemillah's birthday, I baked her a banana bread cake that she got to put 4 candles in and make a wish. She was dressed in her cute little party dress all day long. It was so cute. By the end of the day the dress was a mess, proof that she had a successful birthday.

Weather here is still... hot, and hot! - I've become a professional sweater! Our class garden is doing well, Isaac N. and I built our own trellis for the cucumbers to climb. It looks likes something from Gilligan's Island, but it's sturdy and will work, so we were happy! Speaking of happy, I am getting so excited for Adam and Michael to come... word on the street has it that Jess Chubinski will also be coming for an extended stay to travel around Ghana... Jess?? Is this true?

From October 28-November 4th all the sisters, minus Comfort, Alice, Cynthia, Monica (the candidates), and Mary were in Uganda for an area planning meeting. So, we took it upon ourselves to have a grand old time. We went to Accra for the day, we spent two days at Till's Beach (took a picnic and everything and got to watch little kids literally climb the coconut trees to get the coconuts down to sell them), Had a party on the veranda where we ate popcorn and sang songs (just fyi: Sister Mary busted out her spoons to accompany our singing, she's a pretty skilled "spoon player"). Throughout the week of October 26th (Monday - Thursday) the kids took their mid-semester exams. For the most part, a success. There's no national testing, so we make all the tests on our own. Then, we had Friday October 30 and Monday November 2nd off of school. So on top of having a 4 day weekend, the younguns' had the house to ourselves! But OF COURSE, on Thursday, to end our short week, we had to have a little drama in our lives. We had about an hour of monsoon type downpour rains. The kids were trapped in the classroom so the school bus had to drive the food to each classroom so they could eat. Ahh Africa, each day it's a new adventure.

On the topic of adventures... This past Sunday morning I woke up and couldn't even get out of bed. I had a sore throat and my body ached... my first thought: malaria!!! So Monday morning Sister Evelyn took me to the Kasoa Clinic to get a blood test done. Thankfully it was negative, however, the doctor found an infection in my throat. It's not Wednesday evening and I'm feeling 110%!!! The clinic was quite different from a doctor's office at home. The paperwork was very unofficial they just took my name, age, and phone number. I didn't even have to prove if I was in the country legally. There were SOOOO many people there. Babies crying, angry mothers, tired nurses, the whole bit! It was a regular nightmare for someone sick and not feeling well. But that is that, and I'm better and that's all that matters.

Please keep Katie and I in your prayers, as well as the students and the school.

My love to all!
Meg

Please Madame, I must Urinate

Let me first say, there are NEW PICTURES up on Picasa. So type the web address that is to the left into your browser and you will be able to view the new album.

Katie and I have been busy bees over the past few days. So, here is tid bit of what we have been up to...

First of all, last weekend we set up a Day of the Dead altar in our chapel here at the convent. Sister Veronica arranged it all so we got to have an evening of sharing where everyone presented their pictures and names of people that they wanted to be remembered on the altar. I shared my grandpa's name and Aunt Annie. Katie shared the names of her uncle and a close friend from high school. It was a really nice way for us all to share.

Okay, so last week was full of fun adventures! I'll work backwards. On Sunday, Katie and I drove with the sisters to Kumasi (it is up North in the Ashanti Region). Very lush and green and full of life. Much different from Kasoa, which hasn't had rain in weeks. We went to celebrate Brother Daniel's jubilee with his family at his home parish. The drive was about 4 hours, I was a little cramped in the backseat that's made for 2 people with Alice and Comfort and myself. It was good to see all of the brothers though.

On Saturday, Katie and I went and checked out a beach called Till's Beach. It's about 40 minutes from the house and pretty easy to get to. Esther and Maggie dropped us off and we found our own way home by taxi and trotro. It was really awesome and we have decided since it's so close, we will be returning often. On the way home we were excited to be on our own and figure out how to get back. But of course, just our luck, our taxi breaks down in the middle of nowhere. So the driver takes about 20 minutes, dismembers the entire backseat and changed the fuel line. Magically it was fine and we made it to the main junction where we then hopped on a trotro which took us to the junction near the convent. Since it was late by this time, due to our slow taxi, we have to walk the rest of the way home in the dark, but WE MADE IT! It was a good experience for us.

Last Thursday, I decided to go running after school, but one of the students, Isaac Nyame, asked me to ride my bike to his house so that he could follow me on the bike while I ran. Sounded great to me, so I rode my bike to his house and we went for a run together. He took me to Stella Aikin's house, another student. I got to meet her mother and father and watch them prepare fufu for dinner. Her little sister, Elizabeth, a nursery student at the school, was so excited that the Obruni teacher came to visit. Then we proceeded to Eugenia/Sherifatu's house. She lives in a compound housing area with her mother, grandma, sister, about 7 cousins, and even more second cousins. Eugenia's cousin Kofi (an older man who is a worker at the school) and his wife gave birth to triplets only 5 days prior to that. INCREDIBLE. You should have seen these little cuties. Of course I had to hold them all. They were so tiny. The mother was in a lot of pain and isn't able to breast feed due to the medicine that she is taking. She was in a coma after the labor. She is getting better, but it's hard for them to feed the babies. Formula is not cheap here. As with many things here, day by day, that's all they can do. On the way home, I stopped at Isaac's to greet his mother.

Anyways, the next evening, I took Katie back and we did the same thing. Isaac took us to Stella's and to Eugenia's to see the babies. We had a blast.

To end, I would like to give you two lists! First, a list of the things that I miss the most from home. Second, a list of all the ironic/funny things that I have encountered while in Ghana that make me laugh. No doubt, this list is probably pretty close to the same for Katie

THINGS MOST MISSED (or you could say taken for granted)- in no particular order

1. A cold glass of 2% milk
2. Cereal for breakfast
3. My pillow
4. My cats
5. Dryer sheets/fabric softener that make clothes actually smell good after it's been washed
6. Being able to brush my teeth with H2O from the faucet instead of from a water bottle
7. Air conditioning
8. Clean air to breathe (they burn pretty much everything here including all trash)
9. Guaranteed electricity (unless you live in Indiana during an ice storm, but that doesn't count)
10. The fall weather
11. Football games (Bishop Luers, Notre Dame, and the Bears)
12. Shade (you just can't fin any here)
13. Root beer
14. Cheese
15. Hot showers
16. The smell of my house
17. Verizon fios
18. Driving
19. Mass being said in English
20. Holding hands during the Our Father (they don't do that here)
21. A vacuum cleaner (instead of a wicker broom the length of my forearm)
22. Going to the grocery store
23. Laying on a couch
24. Chicken on the grill with my dad's potatoes
25. Steak
26. Subway sandwich
27. American TV (let me tell you, the TV here is brutal, absolutely brutal)


MOST IRONIC, FUNNY, and DIFFERENT THINGS

1. One of my students came to school wearing Playboy Bunny socks last week... he has no idea.
2. The same student was seen after school wearing a Beauty and the Beast tshirt with Belle's face on the front, he's a boy.
3. About a month ago I saw a girl wearing a shirt that said, "Everyone Loves a blonde"... she definitely was Ghanaian
4. All the shops, taxi's, cars, trucks, vans, etc. have religious names such as "By the Grace Hair Salon," or "God is Alive Electrical Works"
5. You can golf at the Takoradi Golf Course for the equivalent of about $7
6. They call pharmacies, "chemical stores"
7. When the students fall or hurt themselves, they say "it's paining me" instead of just saying it hurts.
8. They call their butt "buttocks"
9. They call trash- rubbish and they trashcan the "dustbin"
10. Instead of going to the play ground, they go to the "playing ground"
11. Before every meal in the canteen at school, the student pray and then all say "Madame, you are invited." Here, it's polite to invite those around you to the meal you're eating, even if you know they aren't going to eat with you.
12. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear, "Madame, please I must Urinate" or "Madame, I must wee wee" or "Madame, I have to poopoo" or "Madame, Please, the wee wee is coming"- and it's the washroom or urinal, not the bathroom.
13. To answer yes and no questions, they children all say "please yes or please no" and they stand up from their chair every time they are called on in class. Very classy.
14. On Sunday, a huge truck that said "Humble Thy Self" in the back window cut across the intersection and cut us off, ironic.
15. There is one little boy who wears pink barbie shoes with rainbow socks, again, he has no clue. But let me tell you, it makes me smile every morning. He's one of the best students in the class.

It's Party Time

Hellllloooo Blog Readers! Again it has been some time since we last wrote. It seems that even though life in Ghana is more slow paced we are still moving a mile a minute. School and teaching has us pretty busy most days, and we just can never find the time to sit down and "blog". So I apologize for that and hopefully we can make a change so we can do this more often. We really do enjoy keeping you all up to date on our adventures so here I go... this is what we have been up to. Besides life in the classroom... Meg and I find ourselves just hanging out around the convent. We are currently trying to get some travel plans together. Not only this weekend, but next weekend when all of the Sisters go to Uganda for a meeting, and of course our Christmas break. This just in: Megans fiance Adam and her brother Michael will be coming to visit us!!! We are SOOO excited for our first visitors that our planning has already begun more than 2 months in advance. So Adam and Michael... I am hope you are ready for your own adventures in Ghana. As for this weekend... I think Meg and I will either go into Accra for a little adventure or try to find a close by beach where we can hang out. We have exams next week in school... so we don't need to plan a whole lot since we already wrote our exams. As for next weekend... I can't wait. As much as I love all of the Sisters sooo much, it is going to be Meg, myself, the two candidates Alice and Comfort, and the other two soon to be candidates Monica and Cynthia. We are the youngsters in this house of 12 and we all like to have a good time. This passed weekend everyone was travelling except us 6 and we had a lovely time. We made food, got some drinks, and sat under the veranda on the rooftop singing, dancing, being silly, and enjoying each other's company. I am not sure I ever prayed before a party... but it was great! And I know I have sang religious songs... somehow YES LORD YES LORD YES YES LORD always seemed to make its way out at every party we threw at my apartment last year. Anyway... we had a great time and I am looking forward to another weekend with these girls.

Punishment

I have been asked a couple of times about discipline in our school. In Ghana, there is a law about how you handle behavior problems at school. The law is... anything goes. So, at Our Lady of Holy Cross School, we have our own rules. The only person who can hit the children is the headmistress. However, that rarely happens. This passed week we had a couple of issues in our classroom. We had two girls cheat on a spelling test, and three students who just could not behave. When this happens, I take them down to talk to Sister Esther. When you mention that you are taking them down to Sister Esther or Maggie... their eyes start swelling, tears start flowing, and the look is TERROR. However, in order for it to work, we must follow through and actually take them down there to get their punishment.

For the behavior problems, the students had to hold their ears and bend down 50 times saying "I am sorry Madam Katie". For the one boy who has been a problem since nursery, he was taken into the back room to get a little "love tap" on his hands. Needless to say they behaved for the rest of the week after this incident. As sad as it was to see them cry, I could not help but laugh imagining what would happen if this was the procedure in the United States. On that note... for our two cheaters... Sister Esther was so upset and angry that students are already cheating in 2nd grade... she said she will not cane them. Instead, they picked weeds in front of the school from 8:30am until 1pm. Students who came late also joined our cheaters. They were then told to apologize to the class, and during the test today... we had no cheaters. Thank goodness!

Miss us?

Hello Everyone!
It has certainly been a long time since we last blogged. We would like to apologize for that, and hopefully we can do a couple of blog posts here today, as well as make it a weekly event from now on. Things have been busy here in Ghana to say the least. School is going great and we are really into the swing of things. It is really nice to have a routine. I am going to give you a day in the life for a typical day of school for Meg and me.

Wake up: This varies depending on our crazy late nights bar hopping... oh wait. There are no bars here in Kasoa. A normal wake up time is between 6 and 6:30am. We get dressed, eat some breakfast, and head down to the school by 7ish.

School: School does not officially start until 8am. But you must remember we are in Ghana, therefore time does not matter. If the bus drops off all the kids by 7:30 then school will start at 7:31. So for the kids who walk... they just need to get here early just incase. We have students who are at school by 6:45... and those who show up late all the time.

We are in school all day until 2:45. At least the actual teaching goes on until 2:45. Because there is one bus and two trips... we have students who stay after school, therefore we must stay at school with them until around 4pm. Meg and I have worked out a nice routine where the kids can do homework, we play review games, and sometimes I like to play soccer with the older kids as Meg mothers the young ones.

During the school day... life is pretty much to the schedule. We have classe like math, science, english, phonetics, religion, spelling, technology, library, music, pe, creativity and then Ghanaian Language and French which we don't teach. So twice a week we have a "prep" time when the Ghanaian Language and French teacher come in. Meg and I have it worked out where she teaches the phonics, I teach the science and math, and then we sort of split everything else. It works out pretty well.

After school we are both exhausted. We have rosary, holy hour, and evening mass a couple of times during the week, and then we plan.

So far so good. We are enjoying ourselves and each day brings new challenges that we can't help but laugh at.

No Shaved Legs?

Don't worry, we're still alive! Sorry that it's been so long since our last post. Time is flying here and we quickly became absorbed in teaching and school. A lot has happened since we last wrote so let me begin by informing everyone that Katie and I are loving our classroom... despite the challenges and the language barrier. Last Tuesday, September 15, marked the first day of school. The students spent the entire first day doing nothing but staring and gawking at us. I mean EVERY student, not just the second graders in our room.... the entire school! On the way to lunch when we would pass the little guys, they would stop and touch our skin and pull all our little arm hairs, pick at our freckles, and one went so far as to even lick Katie to see what she tasted like. Our students are slowly settling into the routine that we have made for them but it will take some more time to get them adjusted. They had a slightly inattentive teacher last year so they have to idea how to act in a classroom. So all 20 of our students need a little redirection.

We ended the first week with tears at the end of the day. All we can say is, "Attack of the Ants." The ants had invaded our classroom without us knowing, so at the end of the day, Nicolina's bag was absolutely covered in ants. She cried and cried and would not touch her bag so Katie and I had to clean it for her. This week began with Isaac bringing Katie and I our first teacher apples!!!! It was so cute! We also had a little "wee-wee" problem. One student asked to visit the urinal but I told him no because we had just gone only 45 mins. before that. We are trying to get them on a schedule so that people aren't leaving the classroom every minute to go to the washroom. Well, this students took me very seriously so we a bit of an accident. He had to wear a cloth around him like a dress for the rest of the day, I felt so bad, but trust me, Katie and I had trouble holding in the laughter. We never realized how hard it would be to teach with one another in the same room and not laugh at inappropriate times. We also discovered that one of our students cannot read at all. She does not even know her letters, so.... we'll just have to work on that. We have a lot of work to do, but we've already made tons of progress. Today, there were some younger children visiting our classroom and started fighting... All of the sudden our students started explaining to the younger kids that we don't hit (or no beating as they call it) in our classroom. It was so cute to see them referring to our rules on the wall to teach the younger kids.... so, we are getting through to them. They really love to do the vowel dance that we've taught them and we also love acting out how a seed grows into a big plant with the help of rain and sun and soil! Slowly but surely we're getting there.

On a different note, Katie and I recently informed the girls at the convent that we shave our legs in the U.S.! They were so confused. "Why would you do that? Men love the hair!" ---- Here, the men find leg hair attractive. They don't understand why we would get rid of it, when some of them wish for more. So weird! Anyways, Comfort likes to sneak up behind Katie to feel her shaved legs. They thinks it's so fascinating. They also call razors: blade sticks.

This past weekend Katie and I attended the Jubilee celebration in Cape Coast. There were 4 brothers who celebrated 25, 40, and 50 years as professed religious in the Holy Cross Congregation. AND, exciting, Brother Vincent made his final vows. The whole day was colorful, full of music and dancing, and good food. Sr. Maggie, Sr. Veronica, Katie and I stayed behind in Cape Coast to spend the night with the brothers while everyone else returned to Kasoa. We enjoyed some good conversation and delicious food with the brothers. We met a bunch of the brothers who we will be spending time with in the future while here in Ghana. The following day, on Sunday, we attended mass at the brother's church and then went to Brother Mike's house in Takoradi where his mother was throwing a second celebration party. Brother Michael is only home in Ghana for a short time before he returns to University of Dayton to continue his education. We got try the some true Ghanaian food, including gizzard for the first time. yum yum! On a sad note, there are 8 cute little 2-week old puppies at the brother's house but on Sunday, the mother died so the brothers are going to have to hand raise them on cow's milk. It was so sad, they were crying all night long for their mom!

If all goes as planned, Katie and I will go to Accra this weekend to stay with a friend, Amy who we know through Katie's aunt Mimi (who just had her baby! Girl #3, Siena... Congrats!)

If anyone is interested in donating, some of the kids are having trouble paying for book fees. Let us know. The money can be sent to Sister Madeline in South Bend.

Also, any letters that you wish to send (not packages) can be sent to this address:
Sisters of the Holy Cross
P.O. Box KS437
Kasoa, C/R, Ghana

P.S check out pictures on picasa!

Love to all! - Katie and Meg

This and That

This past Saturday Katie and I were fortunate enough to venture to Cape Coast again to attend an annual festival known as Oguaa Fetu Afahye. We were first treated to lunch at Coconut Grove, a resort on the ocean. Sister Esther and Sr. Maggie sure know how to entertain. It was classy and delicious. I ate chicken cooked in mushroom and coconut sauce with potatoes on the side. Katie had a chicken basket with french fries. So, chilling, relaxing at the beach...we decided to test out our feet in the water. Hiking up our skirts we kicked off our shoes and walked on the beach. Comfort thought it was a brilliant idea to climb on the rocks near by. Naturally Katie and I followed. Hey, if Comfort was doing it, it must be okay. We were just getting ready to pose for a picture that Sr. Veronica was going to take and we were pleasantly surprised by a giant wave that decided to grace us with its presence. Just moments before, the water was calm and no where near the rocks. Ha! Esther said the ocean did it on purpose and it heard us on the rocks and thought that we wanted to swim. We were soaked! All the people at the restaurant got a kick out of it too. We felt like we were Ariel in The Little Mermaid when she sits on the giant rock, singing, and the waves crash around her.

Anyways, moving on to the festival... Before we got there, we stopped at a Shell gas station and purchased ice cream! YUM! Okay, festival...People everywhere, music, drums, dancing! The whole nine yards. We parked the car and walked to where the "parade" procession was and found our way to the public square. There were chiefs being carried in wooden chairs on top of men's heads. Their were people drumming for their chiefs and dancing all around him. We got to see the chief of Cape Coast as well as the president of Ghana, Atta Mills. There were women carrying wooden stools on their heads. These stools are believed to hold the spirits of that particular tribe's ancestors. These women are chosen by their tribe to have the honor of carrying the stool. In Ghana, each stool is unique and has a different meaning. There are symbols carved in them that represent things such as "serve God" or "Go back to your roots." It was really interesting and definitely a custom and ritual that we know nothing about, but we are learning.

FYI: Comfort has mastered the bicycle!!! Next we need to work on swimming!

So far, this week has consisted of preparing for school to begin and meeting the bishop of our diocese here. Earlier in the week, Esther and Maggie took Katie, Veronica, and myself into Accra to purchase supplies for the school. Needless to say, Katie and I have quickly become increasingly creative as we attempt to make our absolutely bare room come to life. I am beginning to appreciate all the access to teaching materials I had while student teaching.

Today (Thursday), Katie and I were taken to Cape Coast again, only this time for official business. We went to the Secretariat office of the bishop to introduce ourselves. He was a wonderful man and excited to meet us.

Our little friend Jamilla has become our shadow in this past week since we met her. She is anxious to help us and loves following us wherever we go, even if we're doing laundry. She is absolutely adorable and so lovable. Her laugh is so innocent and makes everyone around the house happy. She helped Katie and I in our classroom for hours the other day. Jamillah loves our room and can't help herself when she gets to play with things like our cameras, video camera, MP3Player, computer... she finds it so fascinating. She also loves listening to my music after I return from a run. She says, "please, put it in my ear." Today, as we departed for Cape Coast, she held my hand while I explained that we had to leave for a meeting. She looked at me and flatly said, "No, you can't!" I said, "But we have to." ... "Please don't go, stay here." She finally allowed me to leave when I promised her that we would be back later today and she could play with us then. Sure enough, she was waiting for us when we pulled in the gate.

Remove the Training Wheels

Hello from Ghana! Meg and I are sitting here thinking about what would be interesting to all of you. We came up with a couple of good stories. So buckle your seat belts... this is going to be a crazaayyyyy ride. Hereeee weee gooo: 1. We are teaching Comfort how to ride a bike. It could possibly be the funniest thing to watch- Seinfeld and Conon O'Brien have nothing on us. Because there are no paved roads or flat surfaces... it is quite the adventure. I don't think words can capture what occurs during each lesson... so once my computer gets fixed... we will upload some videos for your enjoyment. 2. Kwame, our good friend/tour guide, took us into Accra. He told us to wear walking shoes and bring h20, however, I don't own pillows for my feet which would have been the ONLY thing to keep me from getting blisters after the amount of walking we did (roughly 15 miles). Nor do I own a portable well to intake all of the water that was needed to keep me hydrated. Overall, it was still a very enjoyable day with all the sites that we saw and things we learned about the country we are living in. The monuments, museums, and statues were similar to Washington DC - minus the fact Ghana has only had 5 presidents and the fact that their military wears animal hides and carries spears to protect them from enemies. Okay, that is a slight exaggeration but possibly in some parts of the country this is true. Let's see... Kwame also took us to this Culture Center, which was a bunch of huts/shacks that sold really cool wood carvings, drums, art, fabrics, etc. Every vendor wanted us to come into their shop so we felt pretty darn popular... much to their surprise though we are 2 white people who have no money. Too bad. However, we made 2 new friends. Abu, who sold us wooden elephants and giraffes, named after the monkey in the Disney movie Aladdin and the Boss, a 90 year old man who taught us how to play these balls that have seeds in them called Kush-Kas. Also on our tour of Accra we went to a part of the city called Osu (thanks Mimi). Here I was able to find an external cd/dvd drive to fix my computer (or for Kwame to fix it because we know I can't fix anything), andddd ICE CREAMMM. Well, gelato to be more exact. But let me tell ya... BRING IT ON ITALY. This was THE BEST thing I have eaten in the past 17 days (yes it has already been that long). It was like heaven. I think the women who were working in the little shop thought we were crazy but we wanted to try every single flavor, and then we were making sounds that most human beings don't make while eating ice cream. After all of our walking, the hot weather, and the intense blisters on my foot- it was like I had died and gone to heaven. When it was time to leave, we did not want to go. We could have stayed there all day but it was exciting to trick the taxi driver. I convinced Kwame we should take a taxi to the next destination, and so he went outside to fetch a taxi, got the price, and then called us out. The taxi driver was so surprised and not very pleased because if he had known we were WHITE AS GHOSTS he could have charged us triple the price... MUAH-HA-HA-HA.

The next morning, I walked into the bathroom and SCREAMED. What was so scary you ask? A spider the size of Japan was on the wall. I ran, jumped on the bed, and hid under the covers while Megan grabbed her sandal and walked into the bathroom ready for battle. She insisted she would not miss... but much to her surprise that little arachnid was fast as lightning. However, if it was baseball she would not have struck out. It only took 2 tries to kill that little sucker (refer to picture to see the late Hair E. Spider).

We tried fufu for the first time... wayyyy too much work for the taste it has. You have to pound and pound plantains and cassava for hours with a giant wooden pistol into the mortar bowl thinger mabob. Also, if any of you were so fortunate to get one of the green shirts Megan and I sold for a fundraiser, we met the girl that is on the front of them, Jamillah. She mooned us during our first introduction... needless to say we are now best friends. Not only that, she bit Megan's butt... and plays an intense game of hide and seek. We are really looking forward to an entire year with this 3 year old.

Bits and Pieces

Just FYI, to the left, on the blog, there is a website that you can go to in order to view all of our pictures on Picasa Web Albums. Also, below that there is a link to our videos. We will update both of these as often as possible.

Now, for the more important stuff! Such as, I (Meg) went for a run this morning for the first time and was soon joined by three kids who ran with me for a short strech, I had Obruni (White person) yelled to me about 100 times. The people were so excited to say hello!

Katie here, how is everyone doing? I wanted to share a couple of things that have been going on around the convent. First of all, we met Martina, who lives here at the convent but she was on a retreat so this was our first meeting. She is from the Upper West region of Ghana, and will hopefully take us up there to travel at some point. Also, we had a convent game night on Saturday. I was a little nervous knowing my competitive nature. I was very careful and in the end it was the most fun game of Uno and Jenga I have ever played. Comfort and Alice, two candidates who live here and are preparing to go into the Novitiate in the US in Feb., have never played before. It was hilarious to observe them get the hang of the popular game- the idea of Skip, Draw 2, and even Reverse. Don't worry, Alice fully understood the power of the Draw 4 Wild and decided to drop that bomb on me twice. My new nickname around the house is Draw 4. Jenga was justas exciting... Evelyn accidentally bumped the table and down went the tower. The laughter that erupted was so contagious that even those who were not playing got a good kick out of it.

On Saturday evening, Meg and I went out to explore a bit. We were looking for players to get a game of cards going. We ran into Alice in the classroom who was teaching 4 local children how to serve during mass for Friday mornings when we have mass here at the convent. Afterwards, she was going to walk them home so Meg and myself decided to join. Phyllis, Cecilia, Joseph (our student), and Emmanual were great! I brought along a football and we were laughing and playing catch the whole way home. Cecilia insisted she needed my sunglasses so I gave them to her. She was mimicking everything that I said. The kids then were pointing to things and teaching us new words. They loved the fact that we already knew a couple of animals. So we bragged about knowing akoko (rooster), bodum (dog), anoma (bird), and a couple of others and they laughed and laughed.

Last night (Sunday), I was skyping and Meg yelled at me that our friends were here. Confused I looked into the court yard area and there was Cecilia, Emmanual, and Joseph asking if I still had the football. We played for a couple of hours with them before it got dark and they had to go home. Later in the evening, we were in the TV room with Comfort, one of the candidates. Since she is going to the US soon we were preparing her on what to expect. We told her really important things like not to point with her middle finger (a lot of people do that here), not to say 'flash me' while talkin on the phone (very popular phrase meaning call me back), the fact that when she says she has boyfriends we get very confused so we told her the difference between boyfriends and friends that are boys, among a couple of other do's and don'ts. It was really fun to be able to just sit and talk to her about her upcoming adventure to the States because we are currently experiencing all of our firsts with our adventure here in Ghana. We also had the chance to talk about her family, friends, and all the normal stuff considering she is the same age as Meg and me. She is one of the kindest people we have ever met and because of our age- it's fun to have her here to make our transition easier.

To Takoradi and Beyond

We are officially "Tadi" Girls (short for Takoradi)! We made it home safely from Takoradi on Friday evening. The sisters decided that we are now "city girls." We had an amazing time with Sister Helene, Sister Scholastica, and Sister Evelyn.

On Tuesday we went to the most wonderful place, Egyam Orphanage. This was an orphanage started by a Dutch woman named, Thea. She came to Ghana to visit a priest friend and fell in love with the children, but also was heartbroken by the living conditions of many of the children. So, in 2007 the Egyam Orphanage was opened (sponsored by a foundation in Holland). A young man named, Daniel, is the house father and pretty much runs the orphanage. Thea returns home to Holland to be with her husband and children for part of each year and Daniel makes sure that things are run well while she is gone. The orphanage has roughly 52-54 children currently ranging from age 3-15. Katie and I couldn't believe how happy all the children were. They were obviously well taken care of and comfortable. They have routine chores each day, scheduled meals, they attend school, and in the summer they have enrichment programs to keep them learning. What a beautiful environment. Thea wants nothing but the best and top of the line for these kids.

Tuesday evening Katie and I went with Evelyn to "Harbor View." It is a little lookout restaurant where we had a Coke and had a great view of the Takoradi Harbor. We also stopped at a golf course which was right on the ocean. It's only about $7 to play 9 holes!!! The next morning we were able to go down to the harbor and have a private tour on the docks. The gentleman who showed us around did it free of charge and explained everything from the history of the ports to how Ghana's ports are ranked 2nd in Africa and 4th in the world for "Turn Around Time" (how fast they can unload and reload a ship to get it back in the water).

Wednesday afternoon Helene, Evelyn, Katie and I took off for Busea Beach. It was roughly an hour drive outside the city. There was a "resort" hotel and hostels complete with a restaurant, swimming pool, and playground. We had pizza, fried potatoes, and salad! YUM!! Our first "American" food since being here. It was delicious and we relaxed the rest of the afternoon in the sand and at the restaurant. Katie swam and the rest of us just walked in the water and searched for shells. I took a walk down the beachfront where there are little houses and another village and met some kids bathing in the ocean. They immediately ran towards the camera and wanted pictures! Then a gentleman tried his best to sell me a lobster. I had to inform him that I had no way of getting this lobster home to cook it. He said, "Oh no no no, it still moving, it living."

Thursday was our Cape Coast day. We drove the 2 hours to Cape Coast and went straight to Kakum Nation Park to climb up to the Canopy walk. It was a steep climb and we followed our guide, Prince, as he explained various trees and ways they can be used for medicine. When we finally reached the rope bridges we were a little sweaty, but excited. Katie thought she was going to die, but obviously, she made it! It was a stunning view and so much greenery. From here we went to eat at Hans Cottage Botel. This is basically a little restaurant on a pond surrounded by alligators and weaver birds. Both creatures were fascinating!

Our final excursion was to the Cape Coast Slave Castle. We walked through the museum and participated in a tour. It was a very intense and somber experience. We were with a family that had traced their genealogy back to the Ghanaian slave trade. FYI: Ghana used to be called The Gold Coast and this is where the first accounts of slave trade began when the Portuguese built the castle as a trading post on the coast of Ghana. We learned a lot, but plan to go back because there is another castle in Cape Coast called the Elmina Castle (this was the first-ever slave castle).

All in all, our trip to Takoradi was a blast!!! We ate well, experienced tons, and met all sorts of new people.

Longer than 2 Easter Vigils

Hello Everyone!
Meg and I are happy to inform you that we will never, and I mean NEVER, complain about sitting through an hour of mass again. Okay maybe Meg has never complained, but I know I have. Yesterday we woke up for mass at 6:30am. We left the convent around 7 after grabbin' an apple for breakfast, and arrived at the church at 7:30. Now just to clear this up, we were warned that mass could possibly last a little longer than we are used to. We thought nothing of it, thinking that maybe it would be almost 2 hours with some extra singing and dancing. To our surprise, mass did not last 2 hours, but it lasted 5. After being delayed 30 minutes, it finally started.... and never ended. The normal parts of the mass were added with multiple offetories, a 45 minute homily said in both English and Twi, guest speakers, gift giving, honoring CYO inductees, a little dancing here and there, and our friend Kwame on the drums. I would like to describe this dancing we are talking about. It's like native tribal movements mixed with hiphop complete with hankerchief swinging around their head like a helicopter. When we get home we will demonstrate as we are practicing nightly in our room. If you are lucky, we will bring my video camera next week. Mass was then followed by 45 minutes of meet and greet outside. Meg and I met 4 girls who were about 13 years old. They were asking us questions and we taught them how to say "flip flop" which does not roll off the tongue too easily for Ghanaians. We then tried teaching them "Sally Sells SeaShells by the SeaShore... and again... it didn't work out too well but it gained a lot of laughs. Overall, the long mass was enjoyable because we truly felt apart of the community here in Kasoa.

We are leaving this afternoon for Takoradi, which is about 3 hours west of Kasoa. We will be there until Friday, exploring the city, going to Cape Coast, visiting an orphanage, and going to the slave castles... We will blog as soon as we return because we have no idea what the internet situation is like there.

Quick Update

Hello From Kasoa,

The Internet has been questionable lately so this is just a brief update to let you know that we are alive and well. We will post more when we have more access. Hopefully we will be able to put up more pictures and the videos that we have.

Katie and I did our first "load" or laundry. This was by hand of course, in three buckets with powder soap and water. Not exactly easy on the hands. Never the less, we did it, and boy are our clothes clean. Afterwards we hung them on the line to dry by the goat pen.

Our dear friend, Alice, one of the candidates of the congregation, was stung by a scorpion. Now don't get your pants in a wad, apparently this is taken care of with a simple injection. Piece of cake. Guess we don't have anything to worry about when we're stung by a scorpion. No need to worry. Alice recovered in a day and is doing well.

Yesterday, we spent 8.5 hours in Accra shopping with the sisters (Maggie and Esther). Our good friend, Kwame was our tour guide and Peter was our driver. It took over 2 hours to get into the city, only due to the heavy traffic and unorganized roads. We bought fabric for the children's school uniforms, which are made by hand here at the convent. We bought a new printer and went to the market to buy some of the food supplies for the kitchen at the school (millet, onions, etc.). We also got a taste of Ghanaian cashews and chocolate.

We have learned a new phrase to help us great people: etesei (pronounced: ehtisay)- This means "How are you?" We've gotten really good at this one!!! You should all practice, that way when we come home you can speak to us in Twi/Fanti.

Oh, and one last thing, Kwame has told us he will teach us the drums. Get ready!

Peace from Ghana,
Katie and Meg

To the Market we go!!!

Let's just start by saying that Katie and I have never been to a REAL market... until Tuesday afternoon in downtown Kasoa. A young man, Kwame (which means he is Saturday born), was our tour guide. Kwami is the brother of one of the novitiates, Alice. We walked the bumpy road from the convent closer to town to catch a taxi to the market. From here we wandered the Kasoa market, which takes place each Tuesday and Friday, for 3 hours. We got to ride a TroTro (public transpo bus). All we can say is hot, sweaty, and crowded! We saw so many new things. So many new foods! (We've put up pictures from the market).

Today, Wednesday, Katie and I went with the sisters to a local woman's home where a small group from the community gathered to say the rosary. It was intimate and awesome! A few of the students from the school were there so we got a chance to meet them and they got to meet their Obruni (white) teachers.

Katie and I are slowly learning to speak the Fanti language. Bit by bit! The sisters are wonderful to learn from and they are patient teachers. They also enjoy quite a few laughs at our expense as we butcher the words.

Peace

Katie and Meg

Akwaaba! (Welcome)

Dearest Readers,
We made it to Ghana safely after a few glasses of FREE wine and lovely British flight attendents. Meg and I could not stop laughing when they asked us if we wanted any tea or coffee in their accents. We decided it would be best to respond to their questions in our own British accents- it went quite well. We arrived last night around 8:30 and were greeted by the lovely Sister Maggie and Sister Esther. The drive from the airport to the convent was around 30 minutes on a paved road and very light traffic compared to the normal 2 hour commute to Accra. Once we turned onto the road that leads to the convent we experienced our first unpaved road. To call them bumps would be an understatement. It was more like the surface of the moon, craters, dust, and all. While driving 2 miles an hour, swerving to avoid the giant trenches in the ground, we decided this part of the drive was more like a roller coaster. The sisters really got a kick out of our comparison and the way we held on for dear life. Once we arrived, we were greeted by 3 other Sisters - Alice, Evelyn, and Comfort. The others were sleeping. We snacked, talked with the Sisters, and were eventually led to our room.

Our lovely beds are complete with mosquito nets. And we slept like babies. This morning, we took showers after being slightly confused on how to turn them on. While showering, we heard interesting noises coming from outside. Meg cleared this up and explained they were sheep and goats walking around the compound under our window.

Sister Evelyn gave us the grand tour - around the convent and down to the school. We saw the classroom we will be teaching in and minus the spider it looks the way we imagined it. We had a nice lunch with the Sisters, and will be going to mass tonight at 7. We will let you know how that goes... we heard some stories about dancing down the aisle and singing.

Here Today... Ghana Tomorrow

Hello Everyone!
Meg and I just wanted to test out the blog before we actually get to Ghana. I am meeting her tomorrow at Dulles Airport before we depart to Accra, Ghana by way of London. Our layover is only 4 hours in England, so unfortunately I don't think we will have the chance to go find Prince Harry or even see Big Ben. We will arrive in Accra, Ghana at around 8pm their time, which is 3pm EST on August 16 (Sunday). I am hoping Meg knows how we are getting from the airport to the convent because I certainly have no idea. Just so everyone understands... Meg is the organized one behind this adventure (And just so no one is scared... The Sisters will be there waiting for us I believe).

We are both looking forward to keeping everyone informed about our adventure, and we hope you will keep us posted about what is going on here in the US. Thank you to everyone who has given us the constant support and well wishes as we embark on this journey together.

Talk to you soon from Ghana,
Katie and Megan