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