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
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
