Up late-procrastinate

It's currently after midnight, but you know how moms are REALLY good at giving guilt trips? Kathy Bauhof reminded me that I hadn't updated in a while. And of course it would be quite easy to blame her for my staying up late, but it's just my knack for procrastinating until the very last minute that has caused me a lack of shut eye. So mom, it's not your fault...

It has been about two months since I have come to East Legon to work with American International School (AIS). Goodness, how the time has passed! As you can imagine quite a few things have happened in that time. First of all, I have gotten to know my STELLAR housemates.

Amanda (22)-from Seattle, teaches 1st grade
Ashley (21)-from Ohio, teaches Kindergarten
Jules (26)-from Canada, teaches 3rd grade (previously taught with the NICS program in Suriname for two years)
Mariah (27)-from North Carolina, teaches 4th grade (previously taught with the NICS program in Argentina for two years)

The five of us are from all over and from very different backgrounds, but teaching and living together is a blast! After a recent house meeting we decided that our house verse would be 1st Timothy 4:12-Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. That has currently become our day-to-day mission. It's an incredible high to live in a house with 4 other strong believers who are walking a similar path.

Speaking of paths, God has finally led me to a decision regarding the one for MY upcoming future. After many discussions with family, friends, respected elders, and my homeboy Jesus :) I feel the best next step for me would be to stay on in a teaching position at the school here in Accra. Among other reasons, there is a huge need for willing teachers at AIS that is hard to ignore. I have of course been back and forth with the pros and cons, but the bottom line has become that I feel God leading me back here, something that is hard to explain in words. It is going to be another 2 years to undergo the stress of being away from loved ones, but it will also be another two years to connect with this community of which I have worked so hard to be a part. Your support has been the cornerstone of my emotional stability here in Ghana...that sounds a little dramatic, but when it's broken down, I am truly surviving with your prayers, notes and letters of encouragements and humor! So it is to you all that I attribute my ability to stay out of my comfort zone for another chunk of time, God willing. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH for your continued support, EVERYONE, thank you. If any of you have any specific questions about the program or my plans feel FREE to write, and I would be happy to delve a little more into the details.

Another life altering moment happened in this past month...I GOT MY HAIR CUT! You know a girl's hair is as close to the meaning of life as you can GET! Hehe...I thought, since I'm in Africa, why not? Here's a pic:



Teaching updates:
I am learning an incredible amount about Autism through books, print-outs, and internet research, but would LOVE any insight that anyone might have as to some teaching strategies for a one-on-one style work environment. Prayers for my student's continued learning and improvement would be appreciated.
Is it bad to say that I am learning a lot as I develop curriculum for my U.S. History class?? I'm LOVING it.
My eighth grade basic Spanish course is fun. I get to use my favorite teaching techniques from MY favorite high school Spanish teacher. How interesting when you can see it from the other side! :)

Thank you again for your continued prayers and encouragements...they get me through my days!!
Love and hugs :)
Meg

Day 4: December 30th

So MAYBE I was in over my head when I decided I was going to track my holiday trip on this blog...seeing as though it is currently the end of February...but I figure I kind of left ya'll hanging, so I'll do my best to keep this thing goin!

We left off with falling asleep in a tree house...

We woke up FREEZING and TIRED, BUT ready for a new adventure. Our guide came to lead us back to the office in order to be picked up by a car to go back to Wechau. In Wechau, we headed straight for the bus (there was only one). Once a week is market day in Wa (The Marketday company that you order from on the pretty piece of paper that comes home with your student from school is QUITE different than the marketday in Wa). Small towns from all over join on the bus from Wechau to Wa, because THIS is the day of the week when all the supplies come from the south. So things you can't get out of your own backyard will arrive on market day. Lucky for us, that was today. We got on the bus in a fairly comfortable seat. There were about 30 rows, each with 5 seats (when you fold down the seat in the aisle). Today, for market day, if you could fit on the bus, you had a ride. Of COURSE the mate on the bus is going to let on as many people as will fit. Each new person is another Cedi (about $1)! So our rows (with no aisles) of 5, turned into rows of 7 or 8, with many people sitting on the stairs and on top of seats. With no way to get out of our current position, we were quite happy this was a short hour and a half bus ride. SHHEEEESH! If you're claustrophobic, don't try to travel in Ghana, you won't survive. Happily hopping off the bus in Wa, we made a bee-line for a tro-tro to Sawla which is about 2-3 hours west of Larabanga (which is 30 minutes south of Elephants!). A few hours later we were in Sawla, where we were told to sit and wait because the tro-tro 'was coming'. Three hours later we got into the tro-tro that took us down a dusty, bumpy and...DUSTY road to Larabanga. Larabanga...a 100% muslim populated town and the home of THEE oldest mosque in Ghana. It is also our destination for the night. We had read all about the Salia Brothers Guest House in Larabanga. If they have a room open, they will arrange for you to get to and from Mole National Park (elephants), as well as provide you with dinner and a personal guide to show you around the small town of Larabanga. When we got off the tro-tro, a man walked straight up to us and said, "You're probably staying with me." Apparently, everytime a tro-tro comes in, the Salia Brothers Guest House sends a representative to the stop to pick up any foreigners. Well, he was right! We followed him about 20 yards to the guest house where we were relieved to find that, yes, there WAS an open room and we weren't going to have to sleep on the street.

Please take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief...

The Salia Brothers Guest House is a 6-roomed + kitchen/bath mud-with tin roof house. Three of the rooms belong to the "staff" (family) that runs the guest house. That leaves three rooms (each with a bed and a table and a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling) and the roof for guests. Bathroom is separated into two small rooms. One with a hole (covered by a wooden slab) and a basket for paper, the other with a bench and a bucket [Bathroom and shower]. Kristy and I were pumped. CULTURAL EXPERIENCE!! We got right down to business, playing cards with the couple from Holland (who had seen elephants and wildlife earlier that day) and Yaya (the son of one of the Salia brothers). We had dinner cooked to order, which was fabulous, arranged our taxi to the park for the morning, then fell asleep to the resounding call to prayer.

Day 5 to come soon :)

Day 3: December 29, 2008

Another early morning for Kristy and I, but we didn't mind because hippos awaited us at the end of our day's journey. We left the key to our room and started walking our way to the tro-tro station. After one half hour we were guided to sit in another jam-packed vehicle. An hour and a half of dropping off and picking up (people AND bags of supplies to send to the next town), we were in Wechau. We got off and didn't even have to ask where to go. We were white, and the hippo sanctuary office was "that way". We walked in, discussed packages for tours, housing, and transportation, and a few minutes later got into a car and were 'transported' to our destination. A small dusty spot in the middle of no where, with no cell phone reception means when tourists show up, the little village has to accommodate. There are no open or closed hours for this hippo-centered life they lead. When we arrived, Agba was just enjoying his quiet cup of tea with jam and bread. Apparently two girls from Belgium had come before us and were already on the river, and Agba had thought he was off the hook for the day. Sorry buddy, you're with us! We dropped off our stuff and began the half hour hike to the riverside. When we got there, we met Malik and his three "sisters" doing their laundry, who all shouted "Agba!!" when they saw their cool older friend (Malik and the girls are probably 12-16 years old/kids from the surrounding village). While Agba went to find us a canoe, we were entertained by the kids. They spoke barely any English, so we communicated with our goofy faces and our digital cameras (they knew what to do for those!). Twenty minutes later we hopped in a canoe with two young boys who paddled us across the Black Volta, where we switched to a lighter canoe and I TOUCHED BURKINA FASO!!! Our new "driver" was named Abu, who couldn't hear OR speak, but somehow told Agba (our guide) how his entire morning of fishing went. Cool. So, at 11am we finally set off down the river with HUGE SMILES, life jackets, and cameras at the ready. The first 20 minutes of paddling we learned all about hippos. What they weigh, what they eat, and other miscellaneous information. The only thing he said that I can CLEARLY remember was the fact that mama hippos can MATE with their BABIES!! Eww!! "National Geographic" facts ingested, we kept a 'weary eye on the horizon'. After staring at this far-off rock for a while, thinking, 'That would be a GREAT place for a hippo to come up and sun itself', Agba spoke up. "You see that thing in the water that looks like a rock?" Kristy and I in unison, "Yeah". "That's a hippo."

WHOA!!!! (snap! snap! picture! picture!)

Of course by the time we got close enough (not too close, if you get between a mama and her baby on accident, SHE'LL EAT YOU) mama hippo was fully submerged. We stayed close to the bank and parked. Now, I don't know much about bird watching, but with HIPPO watching, you just sit and wait and watch and wait...AND THEN FREAK OUT WHEN IT COMES ABOVE WATER AND WIGGLE ITS EARS AND LOOK AT YOU AND YOU SCRAMBLE TO TURN ON YOUR CAMERA AND TAKE A PICTURE BEFORE IT TAKES ONE MORE GULP OF AIR...and then it goes back under and you wait. We were out on the water for about two hours. It's basically a guessing game of where they will pop up so you just have to keep your eyes peeled for any breaks in the surface. We were lucky enough to see two sets of mama hippos with their babies! They were soooo cute! And they really do wiggle their ears! Agba laughed and Abu smiled at our silly excitement, but the only time we've seen hippos in real life is when they're in a SUPER dirty tank that smells so terrible that you can't even enjoy the experience!

Unfortunately, we were paying by the hour, so after two hours we reluctantly decided it was time to head back. Just as we were turning to come back, we were passed by the girls from Belgium. What do you call females my age? Ladies? Girls? Post-teens? Well, anyway, we all met up back on site and together enjoyed our mid-day snack. After some visiting and exploring and resting around the area, Agba prepared the rice and tomato paste we brought with us. Kristy and I decided he added some spices for us, because what we thought was going to be a bland meal turned into pretty darn good reddish rice! We must have misjudged the amount of rice to bring because there was a whole pot-full. Good thing though, because the Belgium post-teens misjudged their hunger! Their crackers and oranges weren't gonna cut it for the night and oh look! We have plenty left over! Haha, bread and fish story coming to anyone else right now? Well, there wasn't enough left to fill 12 baskets, but just the amount that the four of us ladies needed. At about 4 pm, when we were scheduled to hike to our housing for the night, we noticed some smoke in the distance. Then people were rushing back and forth to the water pump, ut oh. Brush fires are common right now, but are usually controlled. This situation didn't seem to be controlled. It's just before the dry, windy Harmattan season, so most villages set their fields on fire now. So later there is nothing to burn when the wind picks up and can carry fire for miles. We learned that this fire was started an hour earlier than planned, so the right people weren't in the right places to help to control it. Hence the rush with water and hence our wait to walk. About an hour later the manager of this hippo program (I never did catch his name) led us on another 30 minute walk toward our housing (walking right through the burning field of course-completely safe;)). I bet you're TOTALLY curious about where we decided to stay the night...

IN A RIVERSIDE HIPPO HIDE!!!!

So basically, it's a tree house right next to the river! Rock on! Isn't it every kid's dream to sleep in a tree house at least once? Well, it works for post-teens too. Our manager-friend set us up with our mattresses, mosquito net, and showed us the toilet (down the ladder/50 feet away/logs over a hole with grass around it). Then he left us to unpack and explore. We found a pathway to the river, washed off our dirty piggies, and had some nice quiet time with God's creation. Agba showed up as it was getting dark to check to make sure that we had settled in 'comfortably' for the night ahead (it's going to be cold-he warned). Then he left us.

You know how in your tree house at home, your mom and dad and favorite flavor of ice cream are just 20 yards away in the big, real house? Well folks, the nearest 'big, real house' was about 30 minutes walk, and mom, dad, and the ice cream are a little farther than that. So as it was getting dark, I'm not gonna lie, I was a little spooked. But, big girls that we are, we managed. We had a late dinner of strawberry cookies and water, made an "MTV Cribs" video of our 'pad', and listened to the sounds of nature as we drifted off to sleep.

Coming soon...Day 4

Africa Cup of Nations '08

So every two years, the 16 best teams in Africa come together to decide who is the ULTIMATE best. My friends Kristy, Simon, Jane, and I attended the opening ceremonies and match OF COURSE. It was such an incredible high to be around thousands of people who love their country and their football this much. I haven't been to a game since, and we don't have a tv in the house, but whenever there IS a game, you know when we score because the entire neighborhood ERUPTS. Its AWESOME. Then today was the first quarterfinal game, in which Ghana played. THEY WON!!!! So far they are undefeated (knock on wood). My friend Jules and I were running and stopped on the way back at a local shop that had a tv out for anyone who wanted to watch. When they scored their last goal and then won 15 minutes later, we screamed and danced with the rest of the neighborhood. I wish they showed the games in the states so you could all keep up, but I'll let you know later what happens. GO BLACKSTARS!!!!

This was all to explain my profile picture. Jane painted my face with colored eye-liner. Sweet right!?