Beach in February

They let me talk about SCIENCE!!! For a whole night! Usually when I talk about science people roll their eyes and/or laugh at me and just generally pressure differentiate. But this time... this time no one pressure differentiated, everyone was amazing and it was glorious...

Let me back up...

This past Friday was a day off of school - praise the Lord! I don't even know why we had the day off. President's Day? Something? I honestly am not even interested in why because all I needed to know is that I had Friday totally off. Now, the students also had today, Monday, off and I had to go in for a "teacher fun day." Call it whatever you want admin - I still had to be at work doing curriculum, blech. Anyway, I digress...

To celebrate our day off school and three-day weekend, we decided to hit the beach! I had never been to Ada and Amanda and Meg assured me that I HAD to go at least one time while here in Ghana. Before, I had always resisted because sleeping in a hut with no electricity or running water and going to the bathroom in a hole in the ground and taking a bucket shower never sounded like much of a vacation to me. Rest assured - our time in Ada is one of the best vacations I've ever had... in my LIFE.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Friday morning we woke up bright and early, caught ourselves a taxi and sat for an hour in morning traffic. Nothing we hadn't expected. We finally arrived at the Accra Tudu station where we did the best we could to find the correct tro tro to Ada without getting totally violated and accosted by the sellers. I can't say we totally succeeded in that endeavor - seriously, they were ferocious - but we did manage to find the correct tro tro and we were on our way - after buying some apples and FanYogo. You can buy almost anything off someone's head. One of my favorite things about Ghana.

Amanda, Liz, Meg and I on the tro tro

After a blessedly uneventful two hour tro tro ride we arrived in Ada and boarded our transportation to Maranatha Beach Resort - we're using the word resort, here in the loosest of terms.

Meg posing in front of our canoe with a motor! And our driver

Riding on the boat out to Maranatha was incredibly peaceful and beautiful!

some kids pulling in a fishing net in one of the villages we passed on the way

our first view! I love the painted trees

I will never be able to overstate how peaceful this place is. The quiet was absolutely amazing after the constant noise of life in East Legon. From the second you get on the canoe to the second you get off it after being in Maranatha it's silent - no cars, no random people driving down the road broadcasting a message in Twi, no electricity to curse when it turns off, no water to curse when it turns off... peace. You go to Maranatha knowing that you're just going to be dirty the whole time. You go knowing that there isn't electricity or running water. You go knowing that the "bathrooms" are really gross - but okay, I wasn't expecting that bad. But the point is that you go knowing that it's going to be nothing like living in the city like we live in the city and then it makes the dirtiness and no electricity and no water a completely bearable part of the experience.

At Maranatha you stay in a hut on the beach... literally.

Amanda, Liz, Meg and I had a 4 person hut

No more than 100 yards behind this hut is the beach. The beach!!! Mind you, this isn't a super nice beach and I was actually surprised to see a good bit of trash around BUT - it was a beach with sand and the sound and wind of the ocean.

Friday was spent slathered in sunscreen lying on the beach reading, sleeping, listening to music and just generally wasting away the day listening to the ocean crash. The waves were amazing - probably the biggest I've ever seen - but that isn't saying too much. After a couple blistering hours in the sun we retreated to the main area (about 20 yards behind where I was standing to take the above picture) and sat beneath an open hut in the shade and read the rest of the day away. During the course of the day, I of course needed to use the "facilities" and was greeted with this...

Yep. Out in the open. No roof. Sitting in the ridiculous African sun. Baking all the poo. Remember, the toilets inside are holes in the ground. Uncovered holes in the ground. Flies like you wouldn't believe...

See the purple container? That's where you rinsed your hands if you were so inclined after you finished. No toilet paper. No soap. Flimsy doors. Mmmmmmmm

Okay, so they could have been worse but the "bathroom" definitely left something to be desired. I survived. It's okay. And it all became so much better after Ben and Anne Clair showed up!

riding in on their canoe

They were originally supposed to come with us on our journey to Maranatha but Anne Clair had been sick the night before and had decided not to come. Imagine our excitement when they texted to tell us that she was feeling better and they would make the trip out!

We sat. We chatted. We relaxed. We laughed. Amazing. When the sun started to go down we headed out to the beach to watch an incredible sunset.

Seriously, how beautiful is that? Thanks, God :-)

Liz, Meg and Amanda basically being amazing. I love my friends!!!

Well, after the sun goes down and you don't have electricity there isn't much to do. We headed back up to the main area and ordered dinner... probably an hour later we got our food, which was yummy, and they turned on their generator so we at least had a little bit of light to see each other and talk and laugh some more.

Now begins the incredible-ness that made this weekend my best vacation ever. I hope I can tell it right - forgive me for not being the writer I wish I could be.

Because there are no fans in the huts where you sleep, we all decided that a night sleeping out under the stars on the beach would be very much preferable to a hut with stagnant, hot air. So, we gathered up our mattresses and bedding material and headed out to the beach! Hahaha, I wish it had been that easy...

Ben and Meg lugging the heavy, lumpy, yet flimsy mattress

It was quite a chore getting those things out there but once we did... heaven on Earth! Everyone should know what it's like to lie outside under a BAJILLION stars - remember, we are so far from civilization, aka light pollution, that we can see far more stars than anyone in the city - and only hear the sound of the waves crashing on the sand and the sound of the palm trees blowing in the wind.

This is when I got to talk about SCIENCE! More specifically, my greatest love, ASTRONOMY!

Okay, I'm ahead of myself again. First we took goofy pictures...

I don't know if you know this but... we're ninjas.

six beautiful people... right there

Now, let the science commence! Because we were under a sky full of stars - and planets and galaxies and GLOBULAR CLUSTERS - it sparked a myriad of questions, all of which I was delighted to answer! Well, answer as best I could.

"So, exactly how much time is a light-year?" (note: a light-year is a measure of DISTANCE)
"You mean not all those things up there are stars?" (NOPE!)
"What's in the middle of the galaxy?" (probably a black hole - and nope, those don't suck)
SCIENCE NEVER SUCKS!

We even started to calculate just how big a light-year is.
Me - "Well, light travels about 3 x 10^8 m/s so let's just start multiplying until we get to how many meters light travels in a year and then that's how big a light-year is."
someone who shall not be named - "Okay, let's start... 3 times 10 is 30!"
Me - "Noooooooo!"
hahahahaha! Okay sorry, I guess that's only funny if you know scientific notation. Nevermind. Let me have my science joke!

and on and on and on

It was amazing. Mostly because they were all questions I could answer fairly well. It was also such an awesome reminder of just how big, complicated and amazing this universe is - God is so creative and awesome! To create all of this - it's something I'll never understand until I get to heaven and I can't wait to ask God all about it.

A few more crazy pictures, a few more science questions and we were dreaming... until it started to rain. Now, in Ghana you can never be sure what kind of rain you're going to get. Is it just going to sprinkle for a bit and be done? Is it just going to sprinkle for a bit and then UNLEASH THE DAM IN THE SKY??? In our half-asleep delerium we didn't know. We panicked. We grabbed everything as quickly as we could and started to draaaaag out mattresses back to the hut. I'm sure that if anyone was watching us, we were a sight to behold! After we were a bit more awake, we decided that it was still only sprinkling, the hut was still full of hot stagnant air and we would like to finish our night under the stars. So, we stayed outside. Thankfully the rain let up and we were left to sleep once again... until the lightning storm started. Crazy, ridiculous, bright lightning lit up the sky over the ocean for almost an hour before the sun came up. Once again, God gave us something beautiful to look at an appreciate! Again we were afraid of the rain but once again, thankfully, it stayed to just a light sprinkle. After the lightning storm died down and the rain stopped, this is what we got to see...

beautiful :-)

A relaxing, leisurely morning of Bible reading, random book reading, iPod listening later and we were ready for the beach again. Anne Clair, unfortunately, started to feel sick again so her and Ben headed out in the morning. It was SO fun for the time that they were there and I'm so glad they were able to come at least for a little while and have the amazing night outside!

After a second day on the beach, a second day covered in sunscreen and ocean grime and we were ready to head home.

It was an incredible weekend at the beach.

Peace.
Joy.
Laughter.
Love.

Those are all things I soaked up this weekend with the amazing friends God has gifted to me.

Loved it :-)

350 pounds of sand

Let me first start with a funny story from the other day...

I've started working out again... pause... have you stopped laughing yet? Okay, story. Running outside in Ghana always presents the normal obstacles: small window of time between when it's cool enough to be outside but before the sun goes down, Ghanaian men yelling at you and generally giving you the "once over creepy stare," wondering if today is the day my iPod is going to get stolen, etc. Nothing too dramatic or worrisome. I started around what we have titled the "Mozley loop," which takes you by the Mozley house - or whomever's house it is now. I'm about 10 minutes in to my run so I'm already pretty tired since it's only my second time out running in about a month. I turn the corner and down the road I can already see the group of kids playing, about 8 of them, and I groan. I was really not in the mood to listen to a loud chorus of, "Obruni!!!" at that point in my life. I just wanted to keep going on my run and mind my own business - I wouldn't yell at YOU if you were running by. But this time something totally unexpected happened. As I got closer to this group of kids they started cheering. CHEERING! I didn't know if they were making fun of me or what - but I didn't care. All the sudden I was surrounded by this group of kids cheering and clapping and high-fiving me! I felt like I had my own personal little cheer leading squad encouraging me on my run. It was amazing and hilarious because these kids followed me and kept cheering and high-fiving until I finally found the energy to sprint away laughing. I love the little surprises Ghana always has for me.

Okay, so 350 pounds of sand...

Yesterday, a group of us traveled up north a bit to Kitasi in the "mountains" of Ghana. People call them mountains but they're really just big hills, I think. They're mountains compared to here in Accra, I guess! One of the teachers at AIS runs an organization called "Children of the Light" for the kids in the "neighborhood" and she's in the process of clearing land and getting things ready to put in a new building and play area for them. Right now it's still in the beginning stages and yesterday our job was to bring up water and sand so that they could begin to mix cement for the foundation of the new building. First, this place is beautiful! It's far out of the city and this place is so green and beautiful that I couldn't decide if I felt more like I was in Africa because of the "jungle" feel or less like I was in Africa because of the same "jungle" feel.

Okay, so the picture to the left isn't exactly where we were doing the work but it's the one that best captures the amazing green of the area. No pictures will ever do it justice really.

Unfortunately, the best mode of transportation out there is to go by tro tro - a taxi would be expensive and that's really the only other option. The tro tro's really weren't bad but they still wouldn't be my most preferred method of travel - even though they are seriously so much cheaper. So, after getting up at 6am and spending a little more than an hour in tro tros we finally made it to Kitasi where we saw where we'd be working and the giant hill up which we were to bring as much dirt and water as we could so that workers could use it to make cement. It really wasn't that big of a hill but it was steep enough and long enough to make walking with 30-40 pounds of sand on your head rather difficult. Yep, on our heads.

Okay, seriously. Carrying things on your head makes so much sense! It really was easier than trying to man handle 30-40 pounds of sand up the hill carrying it with your arms. Now, don't get me wrong, it was by no stretch of the imagination an easy project but it was easiER on our heads than carrying it any other way. When it's on your head you get to use your whole body to carry it, which is an enormous help when you're carrying it up a large hill.

I think this picture gives the best indication of the incline of the hill. Someone timed it once as we were walking up the hill and I think it was about 3 minutes of the walk on this incline. That's not taking in to account getting to the hill and then after this part of the hill, continuing up a second part in the clearing to where we dumped the sand. (Meg, pictured, carrying water.) All in all, maybe 4-4.5 minutes of walking with the sand or water, which might not sound like a long time but until you try it I don't want to hear a word!

It really was a good time, though and it was great to be helping Jean out with her project and to hear about her vision and dream for the organization. A little manual labor never hurt anyone and it was great to get out of the city for a while and do something good.

Oh! She also had us try cashew fruit. I had no idea that cashew nuts grow #1 on a tree and #2 as part of a fruit. The nut is on top of the fruit and in it's own hard shell. Jean told us that she learned the hard way never to bit in to the shell to try and get the cashew out because you will get acid on your face that burns. You have to roast the nuts out. Anyway, the fruit was really good but VERY weird. I don't have a picture of it, I think Ben does and I'll do my best to get that from him so you can see it. The fruit is really juicy and sweet but as soon as the liquid hits your mouth it's like instant cotton mouth - sort of. That's the best way I can describe it but it's not totally accurate. It was such a weird sensation that left you smacking your tongue like you're a dog that has far too much peanut butter in his mouth. It was weird but really good.

So, a productive weekend moving sand! It was a really good time and it was fun helping Jean because I know that she really needs it and appreciates it. Check out Facebook for a ton more pictures from Kitasi!

Today has been lots of e-mailing and responding to Facebook messages - a necessary catch up day! Tonight will be spent at the Wright's house and I can't wait! They're such an amazing family and I always leave their house full of new insights about God and life - and dessert :-)

Love and miss you all at home! :-)

Fun stuff

Today as 7th period was about to begin, a student came down the stairs to where I was standing...

student - "Miss Lyle, have you seen Mrs. Willingham?"

me - "She's in the other building. What's the matter?"

student - "Ummm, well, [another student] is locked in her room."

me - ".....what?"

student - "Yeah, he was changing in the bathroom in there after lunch and Mrs. Willingham left and locked her door and [another student] is still inside!"

me - bust out laughing "Let me go get her keys!"

A few minutes later the student was freed amidst uproarious applause! One of the funniest things that's happened here at school.


I'm also learning to play guitar! Well, sort of. I can play four chords! Which means I can play the song "Never Let Go." I just need to learn the strumming now. My fingers hurt...

Back to work :-)

What I LOVE about teaching internationally

I LOVE hearing stories from my students.

For the last half hour I've sat and listened to one of my students tell me all kinds of stories about where he's from. Most of them are the kind of, "Oh my gosh, I thought that stuff only happened in the movies and on BBC..." This student is an amazing kid and I can't wait to see what he ends up doing in the future. It's just insane to me to hear these kinds of first hand stories of bombings and fundamentalist groups fighting for their own share of land. This student KNOWS what most of the world is really like and here I am - little white girl from suburban Dublin, Ohio, listening wide-eyed to a teenager tell me about his life. Yes, I've seen my fair share of how 90% of the world lives from being here in Ghana but thank the Lord that I still haven't seen the fighting that lots of other parts of the world have. In the middle of the conversation the student said something like, "See, my part of the world is different!"

I'm beyond thankful for the life into which I was born in America.

BEYOND thankful.

Did you know that if you have a household income of $50,000 or more you're part of the top 1% of wage earners? ONE percent. I think I learned that statistic in an Andy Stanley sermon I listened to last semester. The point is - how many families do you know that make that much money? I'd guess a lot. How many families do you know that earn more than that? In Dublin, Ohio I'd guess a lot, again. The lives we lead in America are beyond privileged even if you just can't seem to scrape together enough money for that new cell phone you really want. Do you even need it? Do you really need that new flat screen TV? Why do we constantly feel the need to "keep up with the Jones'?" Why do we never seem to be satisfied with what we have? And I'm completely lumping myself into all of this, too. We think we need these comforts - but we don't. So many people go without for their whole lives and never know anything different. Most Ghanaians are such happy people. Would you be happy if you lived without electricity, sleeping on the side of the road, and going to get water everyday in a big bucket that you have to carry back to where you live? I sure wouldn't be! Maybe it's just a matter of to what we've become accustomed. Some people don't know any different way to live and they don't know that there IS any different way to live so they're happy where they are. But someone like me, who has become accustomed to a different way of living, wouldn't be happy.

But no, I don't think that can be it. Because even I find myself constantly saying, "Well if I only had THIS or THAT then I could be happy. If only the electricity and water would stay on then I'd really be able to have a good attitude today." I think so many other people are exactly that way as well - I'm confident that I'm not alone in this even though by American standards, living here in Ghana I have less! What is it about us that makes us that way? Is it something inside us? Is it something that we're taught? Is it an American thing? Is it a "people who have" thing? We're constantly wanting that one more thing because we think that will end all our troubles. But it doesn't. It never does.

I'm not saying we're all like this all the time. But there are definitely moments, day, periods in life where you feel like this. For some people these periods last much longer and their lives, sadly, are driven by the desire for more. This student told me about a drive in the car in which he had to keep his head down while a member of his family drove the car at a ridiculous speed just so they wouldn't get shot. Seriously! I've never once in my life been in a situation in which I was afraid I was going to be shot.

I don't know what all the verbal vomit above means. I'm just processing "outloud." I guess I'm just thankful for the perspective that my student has brought to me this afternoon. Yes, it's obnoxious when the internet doesn't work - but at least I have a computer and I know that the internet will come back eventually and those things are more than most people in the world can say. I mean remember when I talked about Meg's friend who is around our age and just last week set up her first ever e-mail account? This girl had never been on a computer in her life.

I think the root of the problem is related to what Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13, "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength."

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

We haven't learned, I haven't learned, what Paul had to learn - to be content no matter the circumstances. God created us and we have this hole inside of us that some people try to fill, fill, fill with stuff but the only thing that can fill it all up is the One who created us.

Whew, okay so that was just a lot of processing. Hope you all could follow it and I didn't inadvertantly say anything to offend anyone.

Have a great weekend :-)