Weekend at the Beach!

I'm gonna try and stay on top of this blogging thing so that it doesn't add up the way it did before! Last weekend a few friends and I went to my favorite beach, Ada. This is that Maranatha Resort-the one with the huts and the sandy floors. Remember that? It's my favorite place to get away from the city and my stresses. There's no internet, hardly any phone service, no electricity, and no showers. All you do all day is lie under the sun and read or chat with your friends. It's a fabulous relaxer and it's only a few hours away by tro-tro. We had a long weekend because of President's Day in the States, praise the Lord for presidents! We arrived at about 10:30 in the morning on a Friday and spent the day in the sun on the beautiful beach. That night we took some pictures. As per usual-a jumping shot is always the way to go...

with the sunset on the coast of the Atlantic...

beautiful ladays!!! Amanda, me, Anne Clair, and Elyse

Anne Clair shot us three from behind. We realized later that it looks like all three of us are going in different directions. We started to tear up when we realized that in about three months, we will be doing just that. Amanda heads to Japan to work at our sister-international school in Nagoya. Elyse is heading to Ohio and I to Michigan. WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?!?!

I'll TELL you what we're gonna do. We already decided we're gonna print out this picture and take it everywhere we go. We ALSO decided that we're buying a pair of big baggy sweatpants and creating our OWN sisterhood. That's right Hollywood.

Anne Clair is fabulous. She is DOWNRIGHT hilarious. She's from Mississippi and I wish I had her singing voice and her knack for being able to cook ANYTHING and make it AMAZING. mmmMmmmm. She's also got a huge heart for the Lord's kids and I wish everyone could love them the way she does.

So, we got a couple huts and then realized that it was SO hot we couldn't stand it. We decided to pull out our mattresses and sleep under the stars on the beach while listening to the ocean.

At first you couldn't HEAR the ocean because our laughter was so loud and constant. More jumping karate pictures were in order...

Goofy photos are a must when you're dirty and there are no movies to keep you entertained. We had a BLAST!

Then we decided to alll lay down and take more goofy pictures on our super sandy mattresses.

These are those times when I picture God looking down on us and laughing so hard that his big belly shakes the whole universe.

Speaking of the universe...after the pictures, my friend Elyse, who is the smartest of us all and has an amazing passion for astronomy, told us about how enormous the universe is. She showed us the Milky Way that we're in. She picked out constellations and tried to explain to us 'little' people in simple terms how far away those stars were. She tried to teach us the mathematics of it all and it was gut-busting to listen to her reactions when we tried to explain it back to her. We talked about meteorites and meteors and all kinds of other things I can't remember the names of. The most earth shattering? Learning that....

BILL NYE IS NOT A SCIENTIST HE'S JUST AN ACTOR.

You should've heard the air that got knocked out of our lungs when the realization that pieces of our childhood had been falsified.

Devastation.

Despite this news, we were still able to have a spectacular evening. We even awoke to a gorgeous sunrise and a lightening show that lit up the sky. The rest of the day was as relaxing as the one before. We headed out in the afternoon back to the city and smog and dust and most importantly-to our showers. It was the perfect couple of days and I wish I was there right NOW. Thank you Jesus for the beauty you created with your world and it's phenomena (Elyse taught me that word-it's plural for phenomenon...you shouldn't say "phenomenons" because that's wrong). Nature's awesome. God created it. Get psyched.

Love until next time!

Meg

Back in Ghana-January 2010

Gosh a ton has happened (obviously...it's been just under two months since I've been back-yikes!!) Please forgive the lateness. I'm needing some prayers for productivity lately. My work load is larger than last semester and I've been letting things pile up. I was given another class to teach until the end of the school year and it feels like the work has doubled-even though I know that's not true. Anyway, I know everyone is working hard right now, especially with the economy being the way it is. Please let me know if there's anything I can pray for specifically. I'm realizing how more and more I'm needing to rely on my time with God as I continue to stress myself out with my worldly life.

So not two weeks into being back in Ghana, I got a call from my Ghanaian sister Grace, remember her? We've stayed in contact on the phone once a week since I've been here, but we've hardly been able to see each other. She had told me that she was going to be in Accra when I got back from Jerusalem and she wasn't playin'! She came in the afternoon and hung out with me and my friends for a little while (hardly saying a word). She's quite shy in big groups, but once it was just my roommates and I she started to open up. The girls had somewhere to go for dinner, so while they were gone, Grace and I set up an e-mail account for her so that when I leave Ghana, she'll be able to write back and forth with me. We spent a LOT of time working on my computer. Turns out her hometown doesn't even have an internet cafe, so she had never used a computer before. I had no idea! How do you teach something that you yourself have used all your life like it's an extension of your hands! How do you teach someone to use their hands!!??

It was a challenge, but after a few hours of logging in and logging out of her new account (which is like a post office box) with a new password (which is the key), she could do it on her own!! I logged onto a friend's computer and we wrote a few e-mails back and forth for practice. It was fantastic!! We had so much fun laughing and joking and talking about boys. Grace was my closest girl friend during my first year in Ghana. She kept me alive when I was so far from everyone else. I realized that night how much I'm going to miss her when I leave. Thank you Jesus for bringing her into my life. :)

We took a few goofy pictures for fun (while she wouldn't get off the phone).


I'm not sure if any of you know this, but GHANA WAS IN THE AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS FINALS!!! This is the biggest soccer tournament in Africa and Ghana hasn't been to the finals in years! My friends and I went downtown and stood in the middle of the street to watch it on the big screen. We lost 1-0 but the team really played well! I was proud of them, they just couldn't finish. Classic problem.



So it's sort of a goofy picture of all of us, but we had a blast. :)



I believe I have written about going up to a city north of here, more out in the bush before, right??? Called Kitasi? A co-teacher at A.I.S. has bought some land and has been running a reading/math after school program for the children in her neighborhood. The program is known as Children of the Light. It was been running now for a number of years and recently she has received a grant from New Zealand (her home country) to buy MORE land and to build up a play area with a pavilion! So lately, we have been going up there early on Saturday mornings to pull up weeds, collect rocks, chop out stumps, or lug water/dirt up to the site for construction-all in preparation for this play area. It is incredible to be a part of this, knowing that soon the program will be able to be held on this land with the pavilion, protecting the students from the rain AND the heat!

Once we arrive by tro-tro we hike down about 15 minutes to the site. The view is WONDERFUL and PERFECT when normally we're spending all of our time in the city.



This area that is being cleared will be the play area where the children can run and play games until they're so tired they can't play anymore!



One of the weekends, some of the kids showed up and brought out their self-made slingshots. Our big boys bought them and turned into little boys for a while. They practiced quite a bit, but couldn't even come close to the way those Ghanaian boys could wack a target.



Auntie Jean and two of her cutie-pie kids.



Two weekends ago was the toughest physical work I've done in a while. In the week following our visit, the workers were going to begin making/pouring concrete on the land. Rather than pay some workers to lug-up the supplies, Auntie Jean got her some volunteers! My friends and I spent the day lugging water and/or dirt on top of our heads like our Ghanaian pals. We realized how much easier it is than carrying heavy loads with arms! We ALSO realized that Ghanaians are EXTREMELY talented at balancing. Gallons of water on your head spills when you walk (alllllll over your body), UNLESS you use your arms and body weight to balance it out. Coach, if you read this, I think it would be perfect pre-season training.

First you fill up the buckets...




Then, you balance-walk-lug them up the 5 minute hill.


Then you dump them in these big buckets. After you fill the buckets all the way, your friends named Ben get in to cool themselves off and spill out a ton of the water you spent all day bringing up the hill.



Then the Bens fix it.



Here are the girls luggin' dirt all day. They said it was approximately 30-40 pounds of sandish-dirt. HEAVY! They still looked good doing it! Multi-taskers.

More has happened since I've been back...I'll update soon...I hope :)

Love all!
Meg

Thank you Northbrook!!!

So, I need to thank Northbrook Presbyterian Church. I was given support money from my church family to purchase a projector this summer, and they have not yet been APPROPRIATELY THANKED. Both my school and I are completely grateful for what you were able to provide us with. Before the Epson projector came into our lives, we were passing out 50 song sheets of music at every chapel each week. There was no other option because it was too bright for any of the projectors we had to show up on the wall outside. It doesn't LOOK very fabulous on the wall in the picture, but this projector is a Godsend (LITERALLY!). Everyone can see the words and we can sing new songs (because no longer do we have to reuse song-sheets to save on ink and paper!)

Now with the projector, I'm able to do current events in class, STRAIGHT from BBC. We can take notes together from my computer without having to use up dry erase markers (one per week-it seems). I've been also able to show video clips that the kids just LOVE. I feel like they're grasping concepts faster with this thing. Thanks for helping me to be a better teacher!!!

So, officially, from the staff and students of American International School in Accra, Ghana and from me, THANK YOU for this gift, Northbrook. You're still the coolest, rockin', most awesome church in the world (at least in the places I've been).


With love,

Meg

Deutschland

So after Israel, my flight back to Accra took me through Frankfurt, Germany, so I decided to stay for awhile. :)



I had one pleasant night alone in Frankfurt, then I hopped on a train to Bremen to my friend Dori's house! She picked me up and I settled in for a fabulous Christmas week! Dori (one of Kristy's roommates in Ho in Ghana during my first year here) and her mom welcomed me into their home for a very long time during their Christmas holiday and I'm EXTREMELY grateful. Dori and I spent time touring her town of Bremen...



We went to the Christmas market and had some Glühwein (hot spiced wine that is PERFECT when it's cold out)



We got dressed up and went to a Christmas Eve service that had been what I assume to be a funny-thoughtful skit, however, I didn't understand the majority of it. We had FABULOUS fondu that night with some friends and they gave me great presents even though mine are still in the dumb mail heading towards them two months later. A few days into my visit we headed up to Oldenburg where another of our friends lives, JANE! We met up with her and her boyfriend, Roman, and took a fabulous drive along the coast of the North Sea, where we took a ferry to Bremerhaven.



We spent the day there seeing some sites and going through the Klimahaus. I could spend days describing this 'Climate House' that they set up in Bremerhaven because it is sooooooo cool taking you through every climate in the world! It's really interesting and we spent hours going through it. Here is the link to check it out:

http://klimahaus-bremerhaven.eu/

After spending a bunch of hours in Bremerhaven, we headed back to Jane's parent's house for some amazing food. This is a typical dish from their area, which is usually taken after a day of bowling outside and lots of liquor. We neither went bowling nor had liquor, but it was DELICIOUS none-the-less. mmMMMmmm Potatoes, meat, and cabbage!!!!



For dessert we had candy canes, per Kathy Bauhof. THANKS MOMMA!!!!



After Jane's, we headed back to Bremen. The next day we spent with some other friends that had also traveled to Ghana before or during our stays there. The meeting place? Duh...



I had SOOO many cups of forbidden Starbucks, it was SO fantastic. Jealous?

Hehe...after meeting at Starbucks, 5 of us headed to a Ghanaian restaurant on the other side of town. We passed about 50 African markets/shops on the way and the other four were all excited to "see Ghana again". I was like, "Dudes I'm about tired of Ghana right now." But I played along. We had some yummy Ghanaian food and typical-"I'm coming"-Ghanaian service. This is Simon and some kenkey...



It was quite entertaining to see their excitement build about Ghana. Also, quite interesting to realize was the thought that someday I would be participating in the same thoughts/feelings club. It's less than four months away when I will be heading out of Ghana. It's a scary thought to behold. It makes me nervous thinking about it, so let's not! Moving on...

My last morning in Bremen before heading down to Munich I was surprised with this pleasant sight outside my window:



SNOW!!!
I was sad to leave, because truly it had been a WONDERFUL Christmastime. I am SOOOOO soooo thankful to Dori and her mother for opening their home and for treating me the way they did. Dori took me to the train station and we said our goodbyes. Miss you and love you Dor!

Munich was next. I was to stay with my friend Stefan and his friends and family. We TEN fit in a 2 bedroom flat. The best part? A 10-person game of Monopoly is HILARIOUS and AWESOME. That's right, 20 and ups play wicked board games too!



The next morning we all took a trip to Dachau. This was the first concentration camp and served as a model for building the rest. It was an intense experience that cannot truly be told correctly. This is the sort of thing that needs to be seen by everyone because it's too hard to describe to others.



That night was New Year's Eve. We planned that everyone would cook something to contribute for dinner and we would do a big family style meal. You LAUGH, but I actually DID prepare something...I made my friends some mashed yam! Turns out in the middle of Munich at a train station, they had an African/Asian store. We stopped in and bought some yam. mMMMmm



While the yam was being boiled and mashed. The Germans prepared the schnitzel! It was sooo yummy!



The Romanians provided the desserts and meats and cheeses.



More of the Germans provided....sauerkraut!!!! mmMMMm I love it more each time I eat it!!!



After dinner, we headed out to the square with some fireworks in a backpack and champagne under our arms. Everyone had set up camp to watch the show.



Eventually I realized that the show was everyone bringing their OWN fireworks and setting them off wherever they pleased. Policemen and ambulances were surrounding the square at the ready. As it got closer to midnight people started blastin' stuff off in every direction. I half expected my cheek to be blown off at any minute. It would have made for a good story! Seriously though, the fireworks were EVERYWHERE. It was such a fun celebration! :)



Stefan, his sisters, me, and champagne. FROHE NEUES JAHR!!!



I checked out BMW World the next day. It was like going to the Detroit Auto Show (in the BMW section) except my dad wasn't there. Miss you Dad!!!



Goodness, sorry again for the late-post. I really love Germany though, I think I might live there someday-God willing. I've even recently started learning German from a woman whose two children attend our school. God provides! (He also shuts doors-so pray that the right doors are opened and the others closed). Thanks so so much for reading!!! Happy president's weekend!

Love, love!
Meg