So, I'm averaging about one update a month. Not bad :-)
This past week was a really great week - I had a lot of fun with my students. One day I had just started walking down the stairs in the high school when I heard a student start to sing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. I started singing along pretty loudly and we finished the chorus. Then, a male student started walking down the stairs with us as well and the three of us walked over and started serenading another student. Apparently, her and the male student have a history with this song and she started joking yelling at him and after a brief scuffle he landed on the floor! She told me that he had been purposefully getting this song stuck in her head for the last 4 days and she was not having any more of it, hahahaha. Maybe this is one of those stories where you had to be there... anyway, serenading students with Miley Cyrus is definitely a good way to spend the time between classes. Especially when you're singing with a female and MALE student, hahaha.
There was a semi-sad moment in Physical Science the other day, though. One of the students asked me if Physics will be hard next year. I told him, "I'm not sure since I won't be here next year teaching it." He was like, "Whaaaat?!" And then other students joined in, too and one even said, "Miss. Lyle, I've only been here one year and then you're leaving me." It's sad to think about how "unstable" the lives of these kids are. A lot of them move around a lot because of their parent's jobs or lots of different things and then when they get in to a school like ours the school is constantly losing and replacing teachers. It's just the nature of being in a missionary lifestyle but it doesn't make it any easier for the students or for me. I've gotten to know really well a lot of these students because I had a lot of them last year. One great (and not so great thing at the same time) about our school is that you get to know your students as more than just students - you get to know them as people. It's an environment where you can joke and laugh with your students. I just really appreciated that this week because my students are some really great people. It helped to remind me that no matter what crazyness goes on outside of the classroom, God has me here for these students and it's my job to love them and to show them the love of Christ. I'm definitely not great at that but this week was better :-)
Last night was a lot of fun in Osu. Amanda and I went early to do some shopping! We went to this new little store that Amanda found that is more pricey but has much nicer things. I bought a few pillow cases for myself that are amazing and that will look fantastic in my future apartment! I also bought a few Christmas gifts. Then Amanda and I went to Global Mama's and I bought a few napkins - again for the future apartment - and a few more gifts! It was a seriously successful shopping adventure. Then we walked to Ryan's Irish Pub where we met EVERYone else for dinner. There were a ton of us, much to the dismay of the staff at Ryan's. One would assume that more patrons for a restaurant would be a good thing. Not so in Ghana. They panicked. Oh well. They made lots of money off of us especially since they've raised their prices to ridiculous levels. I will not be back to Ryan's... ever. But it was delicious food followed by a trip to a gelato place. Aaaaaaaamazing!
Okay, so now this brings me to the title of this post: my Ghana day. Completely 100% definition of Ghana day - everything that could go wrong, DID go wrong. It was looking like a beautiful day this morning - a few clouds but mostly blue, sunny sky, AKA perfect pool weather. Faith and I suited up and headed out our door for the Royal Richester that is uber-conventiently just around the corner. Literally just around the corner with a 2 minute walk - amazing! We got there and asked to use the pool only to be told, "Oh, no. It's closed for the weekend for cleaning." Dangit! Okay, well, so Faith and I decided to walk up the main road about 10 minutes to another hotel with another pool. We walk in and pay and then walk out to the pool and wait for our chairs to be brought out. Then, the lady who took our money came out and said, "Oh, no. The pool is closed for cleaning." Ummm, seriously, Ghana? Deciding that God really doesn't want us lying out in the sun today, Faith and I started for home. Then we asked ourselves, "What if we get home and the power is off? What will we do?" It's actually a very common occurrence that the power is off on Saturday because for some Ghanaian reason they always do work on the lines on the weekend - not during the week when it makes more sense since people are gone at work. Anyway, we decided that if we got home and the power was off we would just go to the mall, hang out, take a book and read, see a movie, and just basically sit around in air conditioning. Can you guess what we found when we got home? That's right - no power. So, we showered, gathered our things and headed to the mall with Amanda. As soon as we got there we went up to the theatre to check what movies were showing and the times. Lo and behold - THEY'RE SHOWING THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE!!!!! Amanda and I had been waiting to see that movie since August and the theatre here FINALLY is showing it. So we checked the time and the next showing was about 2 hours from then. We all decided to head to the food court and look for a place to set up camp and read and eat lunch until the movie. A yummy lunch and two hours later of talking about how excited I am to see this movie, we trek back up to the theatre to buy our tickets... "Oh sorry, we don't have the movie. It didn't come." Um, excuse me, WHAT?! They had flyers and everything printed up already advertising that they were showing this movie. Apparently it didn't make it through the mail system or something because they didn't have it. AHHHHHH! Okay, well let's check out what else is playing. We decided on "2012" that started in another hour. Great, another hour to kill! Hearing loud talking and music we ventured downstairs and found a fashion show taking place in the middle of the mall. It was really funny and random until the lingerie the girls were wearing got smaller and smaller... And then the guys started modeling... it was awkward and gross but like a car wreck - no matter how much you wanted to look away you just couldn't! So somehow we whittled away another hour and finally saw "2012." I didn't know anything about the movie and therefore had no expectations, which is I think exactly how you need to see this movie. It was a summer blockbuster type of movie - totally ridiculous with scientific inaccuracies and implausible story line but a really fun ride. I enjoyed it! By this time we had spent about 6 hours at the mall and we were totally ready to go home but were loath to do so because guess what: the power was still off! So we wandered in to the grocery store thinking that if the power was going to be off we'd better be ready with something for dinner. Thankfully a few minutes after we walked in to the store our guard called to let us know that the lights were back! And thankfully they are still on!
So anyway - we had quite a Ghana day but you know what - it was really fun :-) I guess after living here for this long you just have to get used to it and go with it. God's really been working on me with that this semester - I still have to be thankful and praise God even when things around me are falling down and are frustrating. There's still so much for which I have to be thankful that I should be praising God all the time! I think that's part of the reason that I've had such a great week - I'm focusing on praising God even when things are frustrating and He's giving me amazing joy in my life. Yay!
Okay, well Meg just came in with the splendid idea of making Rice Krispy treats with her American marshmallows - only one of my most favorite things ever! So I'm gonna go help/eat that :-)
Amendment: Meg just pulled her marshmallows off her food shelf only to find that the American wrapped and sealed marshmallows have ants alllllllll inside..... It's Ghana - we're gonna eat 'em anyway :-)
Hope you all have a great weekend!
14 November 2009
15 October 2009
Desperation and Determination
Hello!
So, I'm up waaay past my bed time tonight. It happens. The reason though, is that I'm baking cookies for the seniors at school! They're trying to raise money for their senior trip next semester and tomorrow they're having a bakesale - somehow I told Ryan (their senior class advisor) that I would bring cookies. Well, it turned out to be much more of a hassle than I bargained for. Apparently, not all flour is created equal. I don't bake too much and when I do it's usually from a "just add water" box type deal because those are cheap in the States. In Ghana it's cheaper to cook from scratch. And once again, in America things are much easier because when you go to the store all the flour is pretty much the same price and you just buy the one that says "Flour" in big bold letters. Here in Ghana you have to be careful because a seemingly innocuous looking bag of flour might actually be $20... or more. So, thinking I was saving money, I did the math and bought the flour that was on sale not knowing that "self-rising four" is in fact not what you want to use for baking cookies. A very flat batch of cookies later I've learned my lesson and am now cooking using the correct ingredients thanks to the wonderful girls upstairs loaning me some flour. These cookies are much prettier.
Tonight was also really fun because our house was invited over to the Mozley's for dinner! The Mozley family is just so great. Last year, they had alllllll of us over for dinner every Monday night. This year we won't be able to do that just because there are so many more of us. So, tonight was just our house and we had delicious food and amazing conversation. It was just fantastic to be back in that house eating pita chips and salsa :-) mmmmm So many fun memories from last year!
"But Elyse," you wonder, "what's going on with the title of your blog???" I'm getting there.
I remember last year having a conversation with Mariah about how the word "desperation" really effectively summarizes your first year in Ghana. I agreed with her then but now looking back I really how seriously true it is - desperation describes everything about last year.
Every time a plane flew overhead I was desperate to be on it.
I was desperate to learn this crazy culture and feel like I understood it well enough to get around on my own.
I was desperate to feel like a part of an already established friend group.
I was desperate to figure out how the school was setup and run (still working on this one).
I was desperate to figure out how to handle 6 preps - 1 of which I was certified to teach.
I was desperate to blend in with the crowd.
I was desperate to learn how to count on God for everything and to get myself out of the way.
I was desperate to get home.
(You know how when you say a word too many times it loses all meaning? Just happened with the word desperate.)
So, the word for last year was desperation and I think the word for this year is "determined."
I'm determined to be a better teacher this year than last year.
I'm determined to be the light for Christ that I know I'm supposed to be and that I want to be.
I'm determined to finish the year well.
I'm determined to stay focused in Ghana.
I'm determined to just get through it and get home.
None of that probably makes any sense but I'm very happy with my word choices: desperation and determination. I enjoy alliteration.
Okay, well by now it's SERIOUSLY past my bed time and the last cookies are cooling on the counter. I'd better go put them away before the ants get to them.
Hope you're all doing great!!! Less than two months to break!
So, I'm up waaay past my bed time tonight. It happens. The reason though, is that I'm baking cookies for the seniors at school! They're trying to raise money for their senior trip next semester and tomorrow they're having a bakesale - somehow I told Ryan (their senior class advisor) that I would bring cookies. Well, it turned out to be much more of a hassle than I bargained for. Apparently, not all flour is created equal. I don't bake too much and when I do it's usually from a "just add water" box type deal because those are cheap in the States. In Ghana it's cheaper to cook from scratch. And once again, in America things are much easier because when you go to the store all the flour is pretty much the same price and you just buy the one that says "Flour" in big bold letters. Here in Ghana you have to be careful because a seemingly innocuous looking bag of flour might actually be $20... or more. So, thinking I was saving money, I did the math and bought the flour that was on sale not knowing that "self-rising four" is in fact not what you want to use for baking cookies. A very flat batch of cookies later I've learned my lesson and am now cooking using the correct ingredients thanks to the wonderful girls upstairs loaning me some flour. These cookies are much prettier.
Tonight was also really fun because our house was invited over to the Mozley's for dinner! The Mozley family is just so great. Last year, they had alllllll of us over for dinner every Monday night. This year we won't be able to do that just because there are so many more of us. So, tonight was just our house and we had delicious food and amazing conversation. It was just fantastic to be back in that house eating pita chips and salsa :-) mmmmm So many fun memories from last year!
"But Elyse," you wonder, "what's going on with the title of your blog???" I'm getting there.
I remember last year having a conversation with Mariah about how the word "desperation" really effectively summarizes your first year in Ghana. I agreed with her then but now looking back I really how seriously true it is - desperation describes everything about last year.
Every time a plane flew overhead I was desperate to be on it.
I was desperate to learn this crazy culture and feel like I understood it well enough to get around on my own.
I was desperate to feel like a part of an already established friend group.
I was desperate to figure out how the school was setup and run (still working on this one).
I was desperate to figure out how to handle 6 preps - 1 of which I was certified to teach.
I was desperate to blend in with the crowd.
I was desperate to learn how to count on God for everything and to get myself out of the way.
I was desperate to get home.
(You know how when you say a word too many times it loses all meaning? Just happened with the word desperate.)
So, the word for last year was desperation and I think the word for this year is "determined."
I'm determined to be a better teacher this year than last year.
I'm determined to be the light for Christ that I know I'm supposed to be and that I want to be.
I'm determined to finish the year well.
I'm determined to stay focused in Ghana.
I'm determined to just get through it and get home.
None of that probably makes any sense but I'm very happy with my word choices: desperation and determination. I enjoy alliteration.
Okay, well by now it's SERIOUSLY past my bed time and the last cookies are cooling on the counter. I'd better go put them away before the ants get to them.
Hope you're all doing great!!! Less than two months to break!
04 October 2009
Morning puzzles...
So, I actually haven't been any better this year about updating... Yeah, sorry :-( It's just weird because my life here has become just that - my life. I don't do things during the day that make me think, "Wow! People would really enjoy hearing about that!" It's normal to be here and living in Ghana so I don't think about how getting to go to a Korean festival is all that abnormal but it is probably abnormal to people in the States. Anyway, that's my lame excuse for not updating :-)
Let's start with the Korean festival from last weekend since I already mentioned it...
One of the 7th grade Korean students at school has a father who is the pastor of a church. I guess every year they have this "festival" to raise money for charity. I'm not even sure which charity it was this year. They mentioned food and dancing and I was in - I didn't need to know anything else! Haha. But they had tons of amaaaaaazing food. Amanda and I decided that we would each buy a few things and then share. I ate so much kimbob (spelling?) that night, it was ridiculous. Kimbob is the Korean version of Japanese sushi. Delicious! They also had - now this is truly amazing - a COTTON CANDY MACHINE! Kim and I ate so much cotton candy - it was amazing. I'm a bad influence for her! Haha. We seriously marveled over the machine and how it's made - you just spoon sugar in and out comes this wispy cotton candy stuff. Sweet! Literally. It was funny to eat though because Ghana is so incredibly humid that by the time you're down to the last bit of cotton candy it's almost like jelly because of all the water it's absorbed from the air. Still good though. We ate it. After gorging ourselves on the amazing food then the entertainment started. I can't believe that at a church they let their daughters get up there and sing and dance raunchy style with tiny little shorts on. It was a bit ridiculous. Anyway, it was a really fun night!
This morning was a funny morning. I love getting up and having to figure out just what happened in the rest of the house while I was sleeping. Let me explain... Last night I was soooo tired and fell asleep at about 8:30 pm and was dead to the world until about 5 am. When I finally realized I wasn't going to go back to sleep I got up at about 6 am and walked in to the living room. In the living room I found our clothes drying rack full of clothes that I recognized as Christy's. That's odd considering we have a dryer. I wondered why she hadn't turned on the floor fan we have to help her clothes dry. Well, I looked around a bit and saw that the fan was pointing to the clothes but it wasn't on. Then I looked a little harder and saw that the power strip into which the fan and wireless router were plugged was not in its usual place and therefore the fan was not on. Puzzled, I turned around to the dining room and found the power strip was plugged in to the wall... which was plugged in to another power strip... into which the refrigerator in the kitchen was plugged. That's odd. Then, I tried to use the toaster and that wall plug wasn't working. Ahhhhhhh, it finally dawned on me - either a fuse had blown or ECG (the power company) has a phase off. For whatever reason, the power in our house isn't supplied by one line but two from the company. I don't know exactly how it all works but one of the lines was not (and is still not) supplying power. Thankfully, my room is unaffected. Anyway, it was just funny to be up so early and trying to figure out just what was going on. After solving the puzzle I got dressed and went for an early morning run. I love Ghana in the morning. It's still nice and cool outside and peaceful. I wish I could do it more during the week but when I get up it's still dark outside and it's not too safe to run alone in the dark.
After I got home from my run (and showering, of course) I listened to a sermon from home and spent the rest of the day reading. Which, by the way, if you haven't listened to Darrel's sermon about renewing our minds you seriously should. It was amazing and about how we have to set our minds on whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is noble - instead of the inane dribble that we usually think about because what we think about shapes our actions, which then shape our character. This power of taking our thoughts captive can only come from the Holy Spirit living inside of us. It was really convicting and I loved it - another point for Darrel! Anyway, I did finish the movie "Public Enemies," which I thought was pretty good. It was a bit dry but good. No, I didn't go to church this morning. I just don't connect with church here in Ghana and don't get anything out of going. There isn't a point to my going and being miserable when I can stay home and get so much more out of listening to a downloaded sermon from Dublin Baptist - so that's what I do :-) I miss church so much and CAN'T WAIT to be back there over Christmas break. Anyway, so then this evening the whole staff was invited over to the new business manager, Chris and his wife Nicole's, house for dinner. We had spaghetti and amazing chocolate cake! It was actually a really fun time and after dinner Ben played his guitar and we sang some worship songs. It was good :-) Nicole even sent us home with food! I love being part of the single girls that people take pity on and so they give us food! We have an amazing support system around us here and I feel sooooooo blessed.
Something I can't quite wrap my mind around yet is that having really good days in Ghana, like today, make me want to come home and be home that much more. Why should that be when I'm really starting to love living here and it feels a little more like my home everyday? While I'm feeling more and more like this is my home because it's where my life is right now I'm also starting to really get excited about coming home to America and finding a job and getting an apartment, etc. Sometimes all I can think about is job hunting and "oh crap what am I going to DO in America???" I just don't understand why when I'm doing so well in Ghana all I can think about is getting out. Interesting.
Okay, well what I thought wasn't going to be a very long update turned in to a pretty big post! Sweet. Maybe my life is more interesting than I thought :-) Hope you're all doing amazing in America and I can't wait to see you all!!! 2 months and 8 days :-D
Let's start with the Korean festival from last weekend since I already mentioned it...
One of the 7th grade Korean students at school has a father who is the pastor of a church. I guess every year they have this "festival" to raise money for charity. I'm not even sure which charity it was this year. They mentioned food and dancing and I was in - I didn't need to know anything else! Haha. But they had tons of amaaaaaazing food. Amanda and I decided that we would each buy a few things and then share. I ate so much kimbob (spelling?) that night, it was ridiculous. Kimbob is the Korean version of Japanese sushi. Delicious! They also had - now this is truly amazing - a COTTON CANDY MACHINE! Kim and I ate so much cotton candy - it was amazing. I'm a bad influence for her! Haha. We seriously marveled over the machine and how it's made - you just spoon sugar in and out comes this wispy cotton candy stuff. Sweet! Literally. It was funny to eat though because Ghana is so incredibly humid that by the time you're down to the last bit of cotton candy it's almost like jelly because of all the water it's absorbed from the air. Still good though. We ate it. After gorging ourselves on the amazing food then the entertainment started. I can't believe that at a church they let their daughters get up there and sing and dance raunchy style with tiny little shorts on. It was a bit ridiculous. Anyway, it was a really fun night!
This morning was a funny morning. I love getting up and having to figure out just what happened in the rest of the house while I was sleeping. Let me explain... Last night I was soooo tired and fell asleep at about 8:30 pm and was dead to the world until about 5 am. When I finally realized I wasn't going to go back to sleep I got up at about 6 am and walked in to the living room. In the living room I found our clothes drying rack full of clothes that I recognized as Christy's. That's odd considering we have a dryer. I wondered why she hadn't turned on the floor fan we have to help her clothes dry. Well, I looked around a bit and saw that the fan was pointing to the clothes but it wasn't on. Then I looked a little harder and saw that the power strip into which the fan and wireless router were plugged was not in its usual place and therefore the fan was not on. Puzzled, I turned around to the dining room and found the power strip was plugged in to the wall... which was plugged in to another power strip... into which the refrigerator in the kitchen was plugged. That's odd. Then, I tried to use the toaster and that wall plug wasn't working. Ahhhhhhh, it finally dawned on me - either a fuse had blown or ECG (the power company) has a phase off. For whatever reason, the power in our house isn't supplied by one line but two from the company. I don't know exactly how it all works but one of the lines was not (and is still not) supplying power. Thankfully, my room is unaffected. Anyway, it was just funny to be up so early and trying to figure out just what was going on. After solving the puzzle I got dressed and went for an early morning run. I love Ghana in the morning. It's still nice and cool outside and peaceful. I wish I could do it more during the week but when I get up it's still dark outside and it's not too safe to run alone in the dark.
After I got home from my run (and showering, of course) I listened to a sermon from home and spent the rest of the day reading. Which, by the way, if you haven't listened to Darrel's sermon about renewing our minds you seriously should. It was amazing and about how we have to set our minds on whatever is pure, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is noble - instead of the inane dribble that we usually think about because what we think about shapes our actions, which then shape our character. This power of taking our thoughts captive can only come from the Holy Spirit living inside of us. It was really convicting and I loved it - another point for Darrel! Anyway, I did finish the movie "Public Enemies," which I thought was pretty good. It was a bit dry but good. No, I didn't go to church this morning. I just don't connect with church here in Ghana and don't get anything out of going. There isn't a point to my going and being miserable when I can stay home and get so much more out of listening to a downloaded sermon from Dublin Baptist - so that's what I do :-) I miss church so much and CAN'T WAIT to be back there over Christmas break. Anyway, so then this evening the whole staff was invited over to the new business manager, Chris and his wife Nicole's, house for dinner. We had spaghetti and amazing chocolate cake! It was actually a really fun time and after dinner Ben played his guitar and we sang some worship songs. It was good :-) Nicole even sent us home with food! I love being part of the single girls that people take pity on and so they give us food! We have an amazing support system around us here and I feel sooooooo blessed.
Something I can't quite wrap my mind around yet is that having really good days in Ghana, like today, make me want to come home and be home that much more. Why should that be when I'm really starting to love living here and it feels a little more like my home everyday? While I'm feeling more and more like this is my home because it's where my life is right now I'm also starting to really get excited about coming home to America and finding a job and getting an apartment, etc. Sometimes all I can think about is job hunting and "oh crap what am I going to DO in America???" I just don't understand why when I'm doing so well in Ghana all I can think about is getting out. Interesting.
Okay, well what I thought wasn't going to be a very long update turned in to a pretty big post! Sweet. Maybe my life is more interesting than I thought :-) Hope you're all doing amazing in America and I can't wait to see you all!!! 2 months and 8 days :-D
03 September 2009
Ghana - Year 2!
Good morning from Accra!
Well, there's so much to say! Let's start with summer... It was FANTASTIC! I had a great summer at home in America and got to travel way more than was planned. In addition to spending so much time with family and friends in Columbus I was able to visit Amanda and Meg (fellow Ghana teachers) out in Seattle and then my friend from college, Morgan, out in DC! It was so much fun to see Meg and Amanda outside of Ghana and to see that yes, we can all be pretty when we're not in Africa! hahaha! I was in Seattle over the 4th of July and we were fortunate enough to be invited over to one of Amanda's friends apartments that has a rooftop view overlooking the Seattle city skyline. They shot off the fireworks in a lake so they exploded right in front of the skyline - it was amazing! We also got to eat dinner in the Space Needle (thanks again Amanda's family!), which was really cool if a bit disorienting for super motion sickness-y me. But the food was great and we got a 360 degree view of the city. DC was next and I got to spend a whole day in the city by myself just bumming around and seeing EVERYTHING! I almost couldn't walk the next day because I had walked so much on my own. It was incredible to just wander around and explore the city all on my own. It's the easiest city to get around in and Morgan lives close enough that it was only two metro stops from her apartment to the city. Morgan's apartment you ask? Is beautiful and amazing! It was SO great seeing her after not getting a chance to visit with her in over a year, so we had so much fun together and I got to meet a lot of her great friends. Spoiler alert: she MIGHT be coming to visit me here in Ghana. Stay tuned :-D
Now GHANA...
TRANSITION: It's been such a smooth transition back and for that I'm SO thankful! It was really hard leaving Columbus as it always is but once I got to Ghana it really did feel like I was coming back to a different home. This year it feels different to be in Ghana because I'm already adjusted mostly. I know what to expect, I know where to shop, I know how to get around - it's easier. Notice I did not say "easy" but "easier" :-) It also felt pretty good to be the "veteran" with soooo many new teachers this year. It was and is still cool to be the one answering questions this year instead of asking them. Speaking of new teachers we have 7 of them! SEVEN! Sooooo many. It was weird getting adjusted to new people living in the house and sad realizing that the girls (and guy!) from last year aren't coming back but it's been fun. The new people are all hilarious and really great!
SCHOOL: Wow, what's been going on at school. Over in the elementary building they've been doing alllll kinds of construction. It's mostly finished now except for a few small things outside. To the building they expanded three classrooms on the first level and ADDED three new classrooms on the top! It's really amazing how much more room they have over there now. They're like American sized classrooms! Also this year we have a ton of new students - the high school literally almost tripled in size. It's great to have so many new students and it's good for the school but it's hard to go from three students in a class last year to eight or nine this year, especially when I still don't have books! It's frustrating a lot of the time to keep getting new students and to have no books to give them and no resources for them. Really it's just too bad for the student's education let alone my job, which is made twice as difficult. A good thing about classes this year though is that I actually feel like a science teacher! I'm not teaching any math this year - YAY! - and I'm licensed to teach 60% of my classes instead of the 17% last year. This year it's: 8th grade science, Health, Physical Science, Chemistry, and Physics. Health you ask? Yes, health is random because I know far less about teaching health than I did about teaching math but someone has to do it I guess. The 8th grade science was a bit of a surprise as well but I'm enjoying it and having fun with it. A prayer request! Currently I have NO physics books except one I brought from home that is not a teachers edition. I was also able to find at a bookstore here a workbook from which I've been able to take a few problems except quickly it is going to get too technical for this class since it is a workbook I used in college. Anyway, even though yes, physics is what I studied in college, creating a physics class out of almost nothing is pretty difficult. Physics books and resources have been ordered but are currently lost... somewhere. So if you could please pray that all of that stuff would find it's way to AIS in Accra that would be amazing and pretty much make my life a lot easier!
Overall, it feels really good to be back in Ghana. My life and work is here right now and I know it's where I'm supposed to be. It doesn't make it any easier to be away from Columbus and away from family and friends but it does feel good to know that Ghana is where I'm meant to be.
I miss ALL of you at home like crazy!!! I'll be home the afternoon of 12 December... start your countdowns :-)
Well, there's so much to say! Let's start with summer... It was FANTASTIC! I had a great summer at home in America and got to travel way more than was planned. In addition to spending so much time with family and friends in Columbus I was able to visit Amanda and Meg (fellow Ghana teachers) out in Seattle and then my friend from college, Morgan, out in DC! It was so much fun to see Meg and Amanda outside of Ghana and to see that yes, we can all be pretty when we're not in Africa! hahaha! I was in Seattle over the 4th of July and we were fortunate enough to be invited over to one of Amanda's friends apartments that has a rooftop view overlooking the Seattle city skyline. They shot off the fireworks in a lake so they exploded right in front of the skyline - it was amazing! We also got to eat dinner in the Space Needle (thanks again Amanda's family!), which was really cool if a bit disorienting for super motion sickness-y me. But the food was great and we got a 360 degree view of the city. DC was next and I got to spend a whole day in the city by myself just bumming around and seeing EVERYTHING! I almost couldn't walk the next day because I had walked so much on my own. It was incredible to just wander around and explore the city all on my own. It's the easiest city to get around in and Morgan lives close enough that it was only two metro stops from her apartment to the city. Morgan's apartment you ask? Is beautiful and amazing! It was SO great seeing her after not getting a chance to visit with her in over a year, so we had so much fun together and I got to meet a lot of her great friends. Spoiler alert: she MIGHT be coming to visit me here in Ghana. Stay tuned :-D
Now GHANA...
TRANSITION: It's been such a smooth transition back and for that I'm SO thankful! It was really hard leaving Columbus as it always is but once I got to Ghana it really did feel like I was coming back to a different home. This year it feels different to be in Ghana because I'm already adjusted mostly. I know what to expect, I know where to shop, I know how to get around - it's easier. Notice I did not say "easy" but "easier" :-) It also felt pretty good to be the "veteran" with soooo many new teachers this year. It was and is still cool to be the one answering questions this year instead of asking them. Speaking of new teachers we have 7 of them! SEVEN! Sooooo many. It was weird getting adjusted to new people living in the house and sad realizing that the girls (and guy!) from last year aren't coming back but it's been fun. The new people are all hilarious and really great!
SCHOOL: Wow, what's been going on at school. Over in the elementary building they've been doing alllll kinds of construction. It's mostly finished now except for a few small things outside. To the building they expanded three classrooms on the first level and ADDED three new classrooms on the top! It's really amazing how much more room they have over there now. They're like American sized classrooms! Also this year we have a ton of new students - the high school literally almost tripled in size. It's great to have so many new students and it's good for the school but it's hard to go from three students in a class last year to eight or nine this year, especially when I still don't have books! It's frustrating a lot of the time to keep getting new students and to have no books to give them and no resources for them. Really it's just too bad for the student's education let alone my job, which is made twice as difficult. A good thing about classes this year though is that I actually feel like a science teacher! I'm not teaching any math this year - YAY! - and I'm licensed to teach 60% of my classes instead of the 17% last year. This year it's: 8th grade science, Health, Physical Science, Chemistry, and Physics. Health you ask? Yes, health is random because I know far less about teaching health than I did about teaching math but someone has to do it I guess. The 8th grade science was a bit of a surprise as well but I'm enjoying it and having fun with it. A prayer request! Currently I have NO physics books except one I brought from home that is not a teachers edition. I was also able to find at a bookstore here a workbook from which I've been able to take a few problems except quickly it is going to get too technical for this class since it is a workbook I used in college. Anyway, even though yes, physics is what I studied in college, creating a physics class out of almost nothing is pretty difficult. Physics books and resources have been ordered but are currently lost... somewhere. So if you could please pray that all of that stuff would find it's way to AIS in Accra that would be amazing and pretty much make my life a lot easier!
Overall, it feels really good to be back in Ghana. My life and work is here right now and I know it's where I'm supposed to be. It doesn't make it any easier to be away from Columbus and away from family and friends but it does feel good to know that Ghana is where I'm meant to be.
I miss ALL of you at home like crazy!!! I'll be home the afternoon of 12 December... start your countdowns :-)
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