Basic Two

Early December

Since most of my blog updates are about adventures, I thought I might as well write about the biggest adventure of them all: Basic 2. The kids are crazy but we quickly learned to just roll with it. They are so excited to learn about everything! We did a mini unit on whales and they were completely mesmerized during Free Willy. We also learned about tornadoes. 

Madam Liz: “A tornado is so strong, it can move a whole train!” 

Student: “Woah! Can it even move a bus?” …Yes.

In Religion we’ve done mini impromptu plays of the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity to prepare for Christmas. The students thoroughly enjoy it and some are getting very theatrical. In music we’ve also been singing a bunch of Christmas carols, and that’s when the real fun starts! Good luck controlling a class full of 40 second- graders whose favorite hobbies are singing and dancing. And banging on the desks. It’s always a party in Basic 2!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day

Special thanks to the cooks who spent all day preparing a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner for us! The Sisters invited the Brothers over to share our meal. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, jello, salad, pumpkin pie, aaaaaaaaand fried plantain, rice, and fish stew. YUM!

Bojo Beach

Sometime in November..

One of the teachers and his nephew wanted to introduce us to Bojo Beach, so of course we took them up on the offer! Bojo Beach, according to the postcard, is Ghana’s best kept secret, and I agree! It is located only about 20 minutes from the convent, and is the cleanest beach I’ve ever seen! You have to cross a river to get to the beach and it is breathtakingly beautiful. 

The boat to cross the river

A big boat 

Paradise!

Playing soccer on the beach

Baby clams

Takin' on the Jellies

November 18

Before break, Julie and I met with Sister Esther and she decided that it would be a good move to have us be co-teachers, so once school resumed Teresa (the aid) moved to KG (Kindergarten) and Julie started up in Basic 2 with me. So far, it’s been great!! Its much easier to plan and conduct lessons with 40 students when there are 2 teachers contributing, bouncing ideas back and forth, getting new resources and materials, and managing the many crazy kids. We have been learning about water in science, and Julie started teaching about the oceans for social studies, and so we created an “Under the Sea” unit, complete with making jellyfish out of paper plates cut in half, and tissue paper streamers hanging down. We hung the 40 decorated jellyfish from the ceiling, and before you know it the older students started hanging things in their own rooms, and teachers came to inspect our artwork. They wanted us to make their classes "Christmas Decorations" too. Everyone loves the jellyfish, and the kids are so proud!!

The RAINFOREST…. the Tropical RAINFOREST!

November 1

We went to Cacum National Park, which is a rainforest. They have a canopy walk up in the trees, with 8 swinging bridges connected in the tall trees. It was scary at first, but absolutely breath taking!!! The views were SPECTACULAR. We also got to meet a lot of different people. In our hiking group were a few Americans as well as British people. After one bridge there was a bird watching group and they let me look through their telescope at a bird with iridescent blue feathers. Absolutely gorgeous! We had so much fun up in the canopies of the rainforest. Then our taxi driver suggested to go to the monkey habitat, and who could say no to that? 10 years ago a couple from Holland started to build a lodging place for tourists, but people started asking them to take care of monkeys. So they built cages and habitats for monkeys instead! We got a personal tour of the different monkeys (and snakes, birds, and various creatures) that lived there, and it was so cool! Definitely a great stop.

Scary Bridge

Beautiful View

Big Stump

For  flashback to 10th grade biology… watch this Rainforest Rap

After While Crocodile

October 31

For midterm break the three obrunis decided to trek up to Hans Cottage where they keep crocodiles. It’s a nice little hotel with an outdoor pool, situated by a large pond with crocodiles. We got to touch a big one, and to our surprise they were really squishy!!! It was a lot of fun. 

Trick or Treat!

October 30

In Ghana they don’t celebrate Halloween, but that did not stop all the first and second graders from Trick or Treating at school today! We spent all week learning about Halloween and Jack O’ Lanterns and all the different costumes people can dress in. Since we have midterm break on the 31^st we celebrated it today instead. During art time the kids were busy drawing Jack O Lanterns and costumes they would wear if they could go Trick or Treating and I would pull out one group at a time to knock on our door and yell “TRICK OR TREAT!” Then Julie brought the Basic 1 class over and they got candy too. We made each kid stand in the front of the room and tell us what they “dressed as” (the candy was real, the costumes were imaginary). They loved it! Who doesn’t love a holiday based solely on getting free candy and wearing weird clothes? 

How Old Are You Now?

October 27

Happy Birthday Monica! We celebrated by going to the market to drink/eat fresh coconut. Delicious!

Tuna Sandwiches. Shower Curtains. Reggaeton.

October 25

The strangest things can make you homesick.

RASTAS

Tuesday October 15

Today we had a holiday so the three amigas decided to get our hair braided into tiny braids called rastas. We bought fake hair and spend aaaaaaaaaaall day getting our hair braided. We have each have around 80 braids. Back at home I would probably look at myself and think I was a hippie. Here, so many people have told us how gorgeous we look and how beautiful we are. Even people at the post office! They can do really neat styles with our hair and I think its so cool! I forgot to mention that I chose violet for half of my hair… It’s pretty awesome.

Here is a picture of me with my Rasta hair, and my new dress that Alice made for me! I love the hand-dyed fabric here!!

Second Grade Talent Show

Sunday October 13, 2013

Things have been getting better and better each day of school. I have found out different fun things to do with my students, and I have an aid in my room now, which is a lot of help! On Fridays we have free period and Teresa (my aid) set up a talent show for our class. It was PRICELESS to see these little second graders sing, dance, recite poetry, and one of them even started preaching. I loved it!!! Sister Comfort has recently finished her exams in Takoradi and has made it back to Kasoa. She is close to our age and is hilarious! We are so thankful she is here with us, as she loves to laugh and hang out.  We love Sister Comfort! 

Part-time Fufu Pounder

Sunday, October 6, 2013

On the way home from the beach on Saturday I saw a sign “Wanted: Fufu Pounder” and it made me laugh so hard! I told the Sisters and they said I should apply for the job. Naturally they decided to make Fufu today so I could sharpen my skills. Fufu is a dough-like substance made from mashing boiled plantains and boiled cassava (a root) together with a giant stick. It takes quite a bit of effort! I gave it my best effort and I’d say that by the end of this trip I could be a successful Fufu Pounder. Fufu is one of my favorite dishes when it’s served with Groundnut soup, probably because Groundnut soup is my favorite thing ever. Groundnuts are like peanuts, so its like eating peanut butter for dinner! It’s also a fun thing to eat because you get to use your hands. My other favorite dish is rice balls and Groundnut soup. A rice ball is pretty much rice formed into a ball. It’s delicious! Since we’re on the topic of food I also love plantain chips, sugar cane, Milo (hot chocolate), jellof rice, and fried sweet plantains. 

The Beach

Saturday, October 5, 2013

On Saturday we took the boys to the beach, or they took us to the beach since we had no idea how to get there. As soon as we saw the ocean we were so ecstatic! We felt so liberated and free; amazing what waves can do. The boys and I played in the water for a long time, while Monica and Julie relaxed in the sand. The waves were very strong because of the storm the day before, so we stayed shallow. We laughed so hard as the waves tossed us around and around and we got so sandy. I had enough sand on me to build a castle. The obrunis got sunburnt and made all the Sisters laugh because we looked so funny. It was a fabulous day!

Rain Dance

Friday, October 4, 2013

A HUGE Rainstorm! It poured for a long time, and the power went out for a full 24 hours. Julie and I were so happy it was raining; we did a Native American rain dance on our porch and made the boys (Robert and Isaac) laugh so hard. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I lept from the veranda and ran around the yard chanting my rain dance song. I was soaked in seconds! Julie followed soon after and the boys just laughed at the two obrunis singing and dancing in the rain, still fully clad, getting soggier by the second. It was joyous!

Updates!

October 6, 2013

So here is the update on my life. School is getting easier each day, although with now 40 students and 1 teacher it definitely has its challenges. My main concern is not having a general “carpet” area so the students can get out of their desks to learn. There is not enough space in my classroom to fit 40 desks and have an area or corner for 40 students to sit down to learn, but I really wish it did! Then I could do a lot more teaching outside of standing in the front of the room, and the students would have a chance to get out of their seats to learn. Who knew that a carpet space was so important? Amidst these (and other) challenges, I find so much joy in my kids, and I love seeing their smiling faces. They are so eager to help- they all want to sweep and carry my backpack and clean the board! When they see me walking from my house on top of the hill they will run up to meet me, carry my bag, and hold my hand the rest of the way. It is so precious! I also notice the manners of the students. They stand up to answer a question when they are called, and in the morning the boys salute and the girls courtesy while they all say “Good Morning Madam Liz”. They make it a point to individually greet me each day. At school assembly when Sister Esther will greet them the entire school responds “Good morning Sisters. Good morning teachers. Good morning friends.”

When Sister Esther asks the students how they are they respond “We are fine. Thank you. And what about you?” in a very robotic/ rhythmic way. It makes me laugh every time! They have great manners, don’t get me wrong, but can be just as rowdy as any typical second grader!

The students have loved learning different fun songs, such as the Moosey song, Boom Chicka Boom, and Penguins Attention. They are so cute when they dance around the room. 

First Week of School

September 17, 2013

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school.

Teaching is hard.

Tell your kids to hug their teachers today.

September 23, 2013

Well, we survived the first week of school! I have 39 second graders and I’m all by myself until Sister Comfort can join us in a few weeks. She’s off in Takoradi taking exams. It is extremely overwhelming and chaotic most of the time, but each day was a little easier than the last. We were rewarded with a 3-day weekend already; woohoo! We are remembering Ghana’s first president’s birthday and it’s a national holiday. I spent the weekend writing lesson plans, creating a new seating arrangement and seating chart for my students, grading papers, and hanging out with our American friend Sierra who came to visit. I am well rested and prepared to start our next week of school! Prayers for patience will be greatly appreciated (:

Jingle Bells

September 15, 2013

Today we celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It is an important feast day in the Congregation of the Holy Cross, as Our Lady of Sorrows is their patroness. My favorite part of the day was the Apostle’s Creed in the middle of Mass. The keyboard started playing “Jingle Bells” as an introduction, and I almost laughed out loud. When the congregation sang the entire Apostle’s Creed to that tune, I definitely laughed out loud. It was the coolest thing ever.

We had a big celebration afterwards, a joint feast-day celebration/ going away party for Sister Helene, who has worked in Africa for 15 years. I thought 1 year was long! We feasted on jeloff rice, goat soup, grilled sweet plantains, popcorn, and cake! It was great to hang out with the Brothers again; they are a lot of fun. 

Neighborhood Get Together!

September 5, 2013

Today was an amazing day!!

This afternoon Isaac and Robert (our goat keepers) were hanging around our house and so I chased them because they kept running away. Jamie (the cook's daughter) caught up and the 4 of us ran to the playground and hung out. I found out so much about them! Isaac’s favorite music is church hymns and then he sang one for me! He has the voice of an angel, so high and perfect and beautiful. It was absolutely amazing.

Monica and Julie met up with us and the 6 of us went for a walk around the neighborhood. First we went to Vanessa’s house (Grade 6) & her family was nice- they brought us chairs to sit on us outside. Then we went to Prince’s house, who lives across the road from Mary. We met both of them and Jonathan and about 15 other kids, ranging from age 1 to 13. It was such a blessing! We talked and talked and raced down the bumpy, pot-holed dirt road, and laughed and laughed. We finally made our way back to the school and on the way Prince was trying to convince me he could read palms. Apparently I am 100 years old and very short. My father is 2 billion and my mother is 1. I really enjoyed our walk, even though Prince told me that when he gets angry he eats human flesh, but judging on his palm reading skills I just assumed he was not 100% truthful. I am so happy to be here, and so blessed to have this experience and meet these children! The smile on their face alone makes everything else seem small in comparison. It will brighten the darkest day.  

A List of Reasons Why I Think I am at Hogwarts Instead of Our Lady of Holy Cross School

1) The school is divided into houses

2) The houses compete in a soccer tournament (although its probably codename for Quidditch)

3) They call the hall monitor a "prefect" 

4) Sister Esther is referred to as the "headmistress" instead of "principal"

5) Instead of the Department of Education, it is the "Ministry of Education"

6) They may have an African accent, but they have a very British vocabulary. For example, “Madam Liz, are your eyes paining you? Do you have contact lenses or do you only wear spectacles?”

To be continued…. 

ACCRA ACCRA ACCRA ACCRA

September 7, 2013

Today Justice (aka Kwame) took the American Girls to the capitol, Accra. We experienced our first tro-tro ride, which is like a large 15 passenger van.. but the bigger ones seat 22-25 people. They stop at little stations and the door man leans out the door screaming their destination. In our case,  Accra, they would say it so fast and blended together it sounded like a crow: “Cra-cra-cra-cra-cra”. It’s a very convenient way of traveling, as it cost 1 GCD 80 pesawas (approximately 90 US cents) for the 1.5 hour drive, depending on traffic. In Accra, Justice took us to the market, showed us where they make drums and some guys gave us an impromptu drum lesson. Then we continued to important buildings in the capitol. I also tasted sugar cane for the first time- they peel it and cut it into chunks where you take a bite, chew it like gum until the sugary juice is gone, spit it out, and repeat. It was SO delicious! Definitely one of my new favorite snacks, along with pineapple and plantain chips.

We went to Mama Mia’s for dinner to order pizza. There were only foreigners there; pizza is not high up on the list of traditional Ghanaian food. We made it to the mall, and I felt like I traveled across the ocean to America, it was big and spacious and air conditioned. The tro-tro ride back home was eventful… I was in the very back with Monica, Kwame, and our friend Sierra when another tro-tro pulled out right in front of us. There was a collective “gasp” as we all realized we were going to hit it. Nothing major happened, and we both kept driving, until our engine caught fire in the front, so the driver pulled over and we all had to get out. Nothing major happened and everyone was fine, but we were pretty shaken. The driver even tried convincing us to get back in the same tro-tro five minutes later, but we opted to wait for a different one to take us the rest of the way home. What an experience!!

Applause and Major Celebration with Sung Melodies of Congratulations

August 31, 2013

Today is the big day for Sister Kate and Sister Martina! They professed their final vows to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. They have been in this Congregation for 10 years, and now they are fully married to Jesus. The ceremony was held in Cape Coast at the Brothers of the Holy Cross compound because it is a larger area and more central for people who are traveling. It was held outside and they set up large canopy tents and 500 chairs. It was just like a huge wedding celebration! The ceremony lasted 3 hours and then the dinner and dancing was for 2 hours afterwards. Later that evening the remaining guests struck up another band and danced for a few more hours. It was the most joyous occasion!! The choir had 2 very large xylophones made of gourds and bamboo-type wood for the keys. They also had a few different drums, which was awesome. I wish I knew the words because I just wanted to sing along with every song! After the sisters made their vows and were presented with a silver heart (the symbol of the Congregation of Holy Cross) they had what the program described as “Applause and Major Celebration with Sung Melodies of Congratulations” and it was nothing less than that. The choir went to town with the drums and singing, while everyone gathered into a huge reception line to congratulate the two sisters, which immediately turned it into a dancing Congo line and continued even after greeting the sisters. Once everyone was done, we went back to our seats and continued with the rest of Mass. It was so full of life and energy and celebration! I was blessed to be a part of it. 

TO CHECK OUT FATHER BOB'S PICTURES CLICK HERE! Where's Waldo? Can you spot the white girls amongst the crowd? Be sure to watch the videos at the end!!!! 



Other Happenings from the Weekend

The night before the Profession of Final Vows they had a vigil where Sister Kate and Sister Martina gave reflections of how they came to be here. They were both very touching stories. Immediately after that the Brothers of the Holy Cross had a little dance party right then and there in the chapel with their drums and singing and “ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiy-ing.” I could not stop smiling and laughing. The people are so happy!!!! We moved the gathering into a big room where we were offered “pastries” which are just like empanadas from Argentina! Meat stuffed in a small pastry dough and cooked in the oven. I was so excited!

Between the reception and dinner on the Big Day, our friend Alice took us to pick out fabric from the local market. She is a fashion designer/ seamstress and what people do is they buy the brightly patterned fabric from a seller in the market, and then go to a seamstress and tell them what kind of outfit they would like. Alice was super helpful and we are all anxious to see how our new outfits will look!! Later that evening we went in search of a TV that would show the Notre Dame football game in the brother’s house, and Father Bob helped us. Alas, they dropped that channel just this year, so instead we had an hour-long chat with Father Bob about the poverty in Ghana, the cultural influence America has over Ghanaians through the media, as well as good places to visit during our stay here. Father Bob is a priest from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and has lived in Ghana since 1975. It was a very interesting and thought provoking conversation. When Monica, Julie and I reflected on it later we realized how much we have grown and learned in just the last week, and how much more we will learn and grow over this year!

Akwaaba Means Welcome

I finally arrived in Africa on Saturday night- 24 hours after scheduled. Long story short- my flight from Duluth to Chicago was canceled and pushed back a day, therefore pushing other flights back a day. After I passed through customs in the airport I heard shouts of Monica and Julie yelling my name before I could see them and I was immediately filled with relief. I made it to Africa. With all my bags. Through customs. On time.. sort of. Now I can breathe. The hour drive to Kasoa from Accra was filled with near accidents, horn honking, and pedestrians crossing highways, which frightened Monica and Julie but only reminded me of Argentina. Interesting.

I met Sister Esther- headmistress of Our Lady of the Holy Cross School and quick as a whip, Sister Lillian and Sister Evelyn, who have a great sense of humor. Our house is FANTASTIC. We each have our own room and bathroom- which lets face it, has happened NEVER before. And the floor tiles are super slippery which is good because snakes don’t like slippery surfaces, and my socks do.

I went to Mass Sunday morning. We walked there at 6:30am, to make it by 6:45. Sister Esther sure can MOVE for her age. I basically went for a 6:30am jog .The Mass lasted until 8:30 complete with tons of singing, dancing, clapping, a language I don’t know, an offering of toilet paper and laundry detergent, and many insanely happy people. It was a joyous occasion. Afterwards they had an auction to fundraise for something, I’m not sure what, and after an hour Sister Esther told Robert to walk me home. I was the first to leave. The sisters came home about 2 hours later. Robert is an adorable 4^th grader and I can’t wait to spend more time with him this year.

I don’t want to bore you with the details so here’s the rest of my first day in Africa in bullet points.

·      Took pictures of the school

·      Nuns have wifi

·      peanut soup is delightful

·      posho looks like mashed potatoes but its actually smashed corn fluff

·      I chose the rhinoceros as my napkin holder for the rest of all eternity

·      Sister Esther smashed a scorpion

·      I found 2 lizards in my bathroom and named them Calvin and Hobbes. I later found Calvin playing dead in the doorway, but alas, the joke was on me.

·      Ended the night perfectly- singing the Salve Regina, Latin style.

Stay tuned for more African Adventures!

Twi words of the day:

Akwaaba [ah-kwab-ah] --welcome

Madaase [meh-dah-say] --- thank you

Ete-sen [eh-tay- zane] --- how are you

aye [A- yay] I’m fine

Obruni [oh-brew-knee]- foreigner, or white person.. but in a non-offensive, more like blatantly stating the obvious, sort of way