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.
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.
