Happy Tanksgiving!!!

Booyakahshaw- I’m in Kumasi for Thanksgiving: Part Deux. Thanksgiving: Part One was held at the US ambassador’s house, which I’ll get into later. I’ll try sticking to a chronological order of events, though…..

Sunday 11/16

My neighbors presented me with a nice and large and dead black scorpion that wandered out from the bush. It looks like the innocuous emperor scorpions commonly seen at pet shops, but I’m not going to try my luck with a live one. I was too lazy to run and get my camera at the time, so I’ll leave it up to you to go and see one at the pet shop or local zoo.

Monday 11/17

The headmaster and the keys to the book room were nowhere to be found this morning, which was troubling considering I NEEDED the math books for my Form 2s. So instead of proceeding with a lesson I had planned over the weekend, I instead improvised by explaining how easy the new unit was going to be, and put up some practice problems they would be doing over the next few weeks. But I was flummoxed as to why my headmaster was absent more than present at my school over the past few weeks. I’m hoping this won’t be a trend, since I need him to help me out with students sometimes.

I had one student stay with me a half hour during lunch (my first detention), and in talking to him, learned that he might very well be illiterate, which would explain his frustration with my classes. This is tough for me because I do not want to leave the student behind, but at the same time I would have to allot possibly an inordinate amount of time helping him to gain at least a basic ability to read. I’m hoping I can help him build confidence in himself; his mother I know all too well (she makes me fried yams almost everyday) and she laughs whenever I plead with her to get involved with her son’s education.

To lighten the mood for this entry, let’s talk about what I introduced to my school today: American football. The students were all up for it when I made mention of it last week, and I purchased a ball while I was in Accra over the weekend. To compliment my hype of the sport, I found a Miami Dolphins book (pre-Marino) among about a hundred books donated years ago to the school. The book was a boon in the sense that it got everyone excited about learning a new game, and a bane because it had pictures of some Fins making some serious tackles against their opponents, going against my rules that you are supposed to do two-hand touch.

After showing the students some of the rules on the chalkboard, as well as teaching them the concept of getting open and making plays, we went out to the field to put what we discussed into practice. Everyone did much better than I had anticipated, and even the girls were able to hold their own, almost too well. There did come a point where the boys would tackle and, to some of the girls’ complaints, feel them up, so I threatened to kick anyone who did that out of the game. After proving to my students that I do not use empty threats, not one boy hassled the girls after my warning. Alls I can say is my students made me proud today.

Tuesday 11/18

Day 2 of American football worked out splendidly. I helped the students some more with throwing and catching, and again played QB for both teams like yesterday. After practice, my headmaster taught me how to put on a funeral cloth on, which I had upgraded to 8 yards and then tailored the previous day. Putting the cloth on by myself was surprisingly easy, and after a few tries I got it down pat.

Wednesday 11/19

Today was particularly tough for me. Right before going to school, I found out my ex was going with one of my best friends to this Peace Corps prom going on during the all volunteers’ conference. I still don’t know why this got to me, maybe because I was so stressed about classes or I was just being a big baby.

When I got to school, I convinced some teachers to let me teach in their place since plan on spending the next two days in Accra for Thanksgiving, as well as attend the all volunteer’s meeting in December for about a week. I taught 5 classes and covered a lot of the material, but at the cost of me being so tired and stressed that I had a nice cry session with myself in the office. Thank god none of the teachers saw me. I felt pretty down over the past few because I realized more and more that I was not going to be able to finish my Form 1 Science on measurement, a rather lengthy section (no pun intended), as well as some ICT sections I wanted to cover with my Form 2 students. My Form 2 students are also well behind in Math, mainly because the math teacher didn’t show up for weeks on end while they were supposed to be learning.

After crying some, I made up my mind that my will-o’-the-wisp goals were in the beginning unrealistic considering it was my first term teaching. I called up some of my friends who taught here for about a year, and they told me what I covered was fine; this lifted my spirits a bit.

Earlier in the day, I allowed my students for the first time to grade their own math quizzes, showing them that I had the capacity to trust them, and helping them see where they might have made mistakes if any were made. The good news is everyone was honest with their grading, which surprised me when I went to enter the grades. Even the students who I know try to get away with cheating put themselves down as having missed a problem or two if they had gotten it wrong.

Towards the end of school, a beautiful green snake, quite possibly a green mamba, graced our school with its presence; shortly after, my students chased and clubbed it to death. I felt bad for the snake, but people here in Ghana are deathly afraid of snakes, and for a good reason. Despite the fact that most snakes will turn tail from any approaching person, the species in our area are notorious for their deadly bites to humans.

Today also marked Day 3 of football; after school we spent another 2 hours tossing the ball around, and I let the students play on their own, choosing captains and having their own QBs. After the game, some of my students wanted to show me the bush path they take back to their home in the neighboring town of Anwiem. The trail is beautiful, and you have to go through some heavy bush before getting to a large dirt road flanked by palms (see picture below).

Thursday 11/20

Yahtzee! This is my 4th time having giardia in Ghana, and let me assure you it is not fun having to run 10 minutes from school to home with a completely rational fear of dumping your pants. To make matters worse, the power and water’s been out for two days now, preventing me from showering and thusly exercising, as well as maintaining my equine diet of delicious oats.

My Form 2 students also tried my patience to the point where I had everyone sit on their knees in the hot sun while I vented my frustrations with them. Talking was uncommonly incessant among all my students, so I punished the whole class. In retrospect, I could have planned the lesson better, making it slightly less frustrating for my students to learn, but that was no excuse to let them disobey my requests for them to stay quiet. When I allowed my students to go back in the room, we spent the rest of class discussing how to prevent wide-spread class disruption. After turning down several students’ calls for me to start caning, we came up with a system where certain students would take down the names of students talking while I’m trying to write on the board, and those on the list would either have to stay after school, do a chore, or be kept from playing football for a week. Sounds like a plan.

Friday 11/21

No power and water makes Darren go something something…The food in the friedge is starting to turn, and I haven’t been able to cook or wash up in almost three days!!! I left for school feeling disheveled and hungry.

Classes were cancelled early today so students could play sports. I was fuming because I had scheduled the local tailor to come in so we could do measurements as part of the Form 1 Science unit on Measuring. Guess I’ll have to leave that for next week. While the kids played sports (I have two students in charge of watching the football), one of my student’s parents made me complimentary meal of plaintains

When I got back home, my water and power were back on, and I quickly set out to cook a stew using all the vegetables that had been sitting in my friedge for the past few days. I chopped up some vegs while some beans were boiling, then noticed when I was about to throw the rest of the ingredients in that the water was no longer at a boil. Curses! The power went out again! I went around to my neighbor’s house and had to use their fire to cook the rest of the stew. The fire turned my orange pot black, but it did the job. After eating, I got some exercise, shaved and showered to make up for the past few days.

Saturday 11/22

I promised my students that I’d be at school most of Saturday and Sunday if they needed help with anything school related, but before I left this Saturday morning, I desperately needed to do some laundry. I was nervous though to leave out almost all my underwear, socks, towels, etc. on the line while I was away at school because I feel like I’m flaunting my affluence whenever I do laundry; in this case I was afraid that someone might take my clothing while I was off at school, though this was highly unlikely. I had no choice, though, and I got home to find all my clothing still hanging on the line.

While at school, a few of my students showed up, and I helped them with their math for a few hours. I prefer to work with students one on one because it helps me see precisely where possibly other students might be running into problems. We were doing basic algebra problems, but the students seemed to have trouble doing easy division, multiplication, and addition of negative numbers. This prompted me later to reexamine my math lessons for the week, including my science lessons for my Form 1 students dealing with measurements.

After school, I was trying my hand at cooking plantains, and while in the process of frying them, this random guy came over and made things quite awkward. My front door was open to let in the nice breeze from outside, and I noticed this guy was standing in the doorway when I looked in that direction. There was nothing menacing about the guy, but it was strange that he was just standing there. He looked to be about my age, and I’ve seen him before. Today he asked if he could come in to talk, and even though I wanted to have some downtime alone, felt obliged to be a good host. He sat down and talked while I was cooking, and I offered some of my fine plantations I was cooking with some brown sugar and palm oil. The guy goes to college in Kade, about an hour from Otumi, but by on weekends when he’s out from school. The guy is nice enough, but our conversations are not the most engaging, and it was mostly awkward while he was over. The power went out again, and I ended up falling asleep in bed while trying to wait it out until the power went out again.

Sunday 11/23

In the morning, before going to school, I talked with one of my friends teaching at the high school level. Apparently one of her teachers seemed to be sleeping with his students, and although she had no proof of this, it looked fairly obvious. This story echoes what my other friend told me just yesterday about her coworker sleeping with the middle school students. In Ghana, teachers that sleep with their students is not uncommon, and in many cases if they are caught, are just relocated to a different school (as in the middle school teacher’s case). Both of my friends are now talking to the students about how what these teachers are doing is wrong; when I asked why they didn’t bring it out into the open, I was told that the teachers might be killed for their actions. So it’s either kill the teacher or relocate them; otherwise prosecution is lengthy and usually nothing comes of the sentence.

When I got to school to further help students who needed it, I ran into my headmaster and we talked at length about teachers sleeping with students. I hadn’t suspected any of our teachers sleeping with the students, but my headmaster said it was a national problem, and little is done to the perpetrators. My headmaster also talked about the most random things like grizzly bears and the problems with indoctrination in religion and education.

On Sunday, after talking with my headmaster and helping some students with math, I tossed the ball around with my neighbor and some students. People were milling about because of the NPP political rally going on in my town, and right after I made plans with my headmaster and some other people to go with them to the rally, it hit me that as a Peace Corps volunteer, I was disallowed to attend any political rallies for a myriad of reasons. I didn’t end up going, but I had really wanted to check out the scene.

Monday 11/24

A lot of the students were missing today during my first period, and when I asked where everyone was, the students who did come told me they skipped school to avoid getting caned for some nonsense. Today was the first time my class openly asked me how I felt about caning, and I told them I abhorred the punishment, though the students know what not to do, yet they do it anyway. Today, they were getting beat for coming so late for morning campus cleanup, but many of them were telling me getting a vehicle out to the school sometimes made them late; for now I’m holding back on stopping the teachers from hitting my students, but it won’t be too long until I protest. I know I keep harping on this caning thing, but readers, if only you saw what I witness daily!

During my Form 2 Science class, in the spirit of learning about water, I had students take me to the nearest river, which according to my headmaster and many of my students, was not more than 5 minutes away from my school. I grabbed one of the teachers who was free for the period to help chaperone my students on the way to the river. It turned out that the river was over 15 minutes away, and in my teaching clothing I went through thick tropical forest bush before reaching our river. Once we got there, we further discussed sources of water and water purification. On the way back, I was a sweaty mess and took a student up on his offer of a piggy back ride. We passed a ton of houses while I clung to the back of this fairly large student, to the open amusement of my village.

Tuesday 11/25

At the crack of dawn, I woke up and took a car to a neighboring town to visit a very sick student who’s been out for a few weeks. When I saw the student, she looked miserable, but said she would try to come by Friday. I told her she needs to take it easy and not go anywhere. Before I left for school, she asked for me to pray for her, and I told her I would as I was leaving to catch the next car to my school. But she meant I would pray with her then and there. It was very awkward, but I said a quick and hopefully convincing prayer for her. If there was any room for humor, I would have done it in Hebrew.

When I got back to the school, I asked my students to contribute money, fruits, or vegetables for their sick classmate, but at the end of the day not one person contributed anything. I was really disappointed.

After school I visited Chihiro at the hospital in Kade, then went to the District Education Office to type up my term exams.

Wednesday 11/26

For the mot part, uneventful

Thursday 11/27

Headed out early for Accra (danke schon, Dubin, for the earplugs) and ate a delicious dinner at the US ambassadors. Before dinner though, I went to the Peace Corps office, I saw Jack, Stephen, and a number of other friends I haven’t seen in ages. I also met for the first time the new Peace Corps trainees set to swear in sometime soon. We left around 12 for the US ambassador’s house, and had a grand time chatting, swimming, and eating a real Thanksgiving dinner. For dinner, we had the typical Thanksgiving items available, with an incredible chocolate pecan pie among the desserts. As tasty as the food was, it did not touch the Thanksgiving dinner we had in Kumasi two days later (more about that below). After dinner and swimming at the ambassador’s, I headed back to the hotel, where we watched some movies and fell asleep.

Friday 11/28

Today I woke up early to visit the dentist about matters concerning my jaw. If the dentist detected any signs of infection, I would go back to the States for surgery; if nothing was found, I would remain in Ghana and deal with the problem after completing my service here. The prognosis: no infection could be found, and the weird sensations, though alarming at times, are in no way harmful to my health- meaning I aint going nowhere.

When I got back to the Peace Corps office, many of my Peace Corps friends were still in town before heading back to town, though my two best friends were planning on going to Kumasi around noon for Thanksgiving at the Peace Corps office up there. On a whim, I decided would go and enjoy a second round of Thanksgiving with my friends. I felt hesitant at first since I told my students I would hang around school Saturday, but I needed a vacation and had yet seen the Kumasi Peace Corps sub-office (KSO).

At noon we headed out from Neoplan station in Accra and went straight for Kumasi, but not without having a few heart-stopping moments on the ride up there. The driver drove like a maniac, flying down the road and beeping the horn like that would make up for his ineptitude to drive safely. I struck up a conversation with a PCV I met a while back, Gray, who sat squished next to me on the four and a half hour ride up. Happy to step out of the lorry alive, we walked a short distance to KSO.

KSO is amazing, and the sign on the front door of the house nicely sums the place up- “The home away from home”. The spacious quarters is complete with 4 bedrooms with bunk beds, living rooms, a beautiful kitchen stocked with cutlery, cookware, every spice imaginable, a stove, and whatnots that satisfy the decent chef’s heart. Many of my friends in Accra ended up going back to their sites, but a few of us went on to KSO. I met a few other friends who did not come to Accra because of their location. Thanksgiving was being held at KSO, Accra, the Tamale sub-office, and other offices in the northern regions of Ghana for Peace Corps volunteers on Saturday. Today we spent the day lounging though.

Saturday 11/29

Today, before attending Thanksgiving at KSO, I went with Stephen to his previous headmaster’s funeral in Sarpe, about a half an hour’s ride from KSO. I never met the man, but he was a friend of my own headmaster, and in fact I broke the news to him three months ago that the man passed away. My headmaster told me about how well known the deceased Mr. Ntiamoah was for his munificence and concern for student advancement. A good number of people showed up to the funeral, and Stephen and I were ushered with the rest of the people into a room with the man’s corpse, propped up to allow loved ones to cry out for him. Stephen had on a black button-down with dark pants, but having gone to Kumasi on a whim, did not bring my 8 yard funeral cloth and therefore couldn’t kit myself out correctly.

The funeral procession lasted until around noon, and just as Stephen and I were about to leave, one of the nieces of Mr. Ntiamoah asked if we wanted to have lunch and stay until five (a typical funeral procession in Ghana is followed by joyous music and dancing to celebrate the person’s life). Stephen and I ended up staying until one, and showed up about an hour late to Thanksgiving dinner back at the KSO. This was fine though because there was plenty of food to go around, and it wasn’t formal in any respect. What the dinner lacked in formality, it made up for in the palatable dishes that covered the dining room table: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad, potato salad, pumpkin pie, lemon bars, chocolate chip bars, jell-o, fruit salad, fudge, and banana cream pie were all made by PCVs and consumed by myself. Friends, it might be hard for some of you to imagine how great it is to eat a delicious thanksgiving dinner, scratch that, TWO Thanksgiving dinners, after months of eating mostly Ghanaian foods. I’m usually eating a good variety of foods at my site since I have so much to choose from at my market and I can easily go to Accra and get Western food; some of my friends have only tomatoes, rice, and okra available in their towns, and I can only imagine how good their Thanksgiving dinner is sitting in their bellies.

I am so tired right now that I’m calling it quits and going to bed. I feel like I'm pregnant with 8 pounds of Thanksgiving meal madness. I’m waking up tomorrow to somehow meet up with Chihiro in Kade, although this is my first time in Kumasi and I have a vague notion of how to find my way back. Hopefully in my next post I’ll write on how everything worked out alright in the end. All is well though, and it was a very good Thanksgiving indeed.

Next week, I’ll be teaching classes, Chihiro will come Tuesday to watch my students play football, I’ll go to Kade to type up my report for Peace Corps, Thursday Jack will come to my site and Friday we’ll both leave for the all volunteers conference for five days. I might be able to post an entry while over there, depending on whether my friend’s internet is working on his computer. For now, etre yebihya (pronounced yebishyia- we’ll talk later).

Music and wine to accompany this entry:

I'll post that at a later time (too tired to think at the moment)

"Students, this is American football"

Football: Day 1


Football: Day 2


Soon after this picture, the students attacked my camera

V for Victory!

The way home for some students o' mine


Some fly slop on the burners

Ralph in the newspaper

Where's the funeral?

Posing with what very well might be a green mamba

Poor/Beautiful snake

Part of the trail to the river

Squinty Mcgee, Kyle, and Erin at Thanksgiving '08

The US ambassador to South Africa(left), fool (center),

and the US ambassador to Ghana (right)

My store room at school

(aka: The Batcave or The Place Where I Go to Cry)

The funeral

Myyyyy Kiiind of Town, Otumi is...

It’s been close to three weeks since my last post, so I’ll just give a brief outline of whatever I jotted down in my journal, and then elaborate on anything important. Before any of that, here’s a recap of what I had written in my last entry: a certain jaw situation left me in limbo while D.C. figures out what to do with me, two new teachers arrived at my school, freeing up my schedule somewhat, I was at odds with many of the teachers in my town, and I almost choked to death on a cocoa bean. Much has passed between then and now, so here we go…

Friday 11/1

Got Giardia for the third time now

Sunday 11/3

Chihiro came over for lunch

Tuesday 11/4

The Peace Corps doctor called to tell me that DC wanted more info from my dentist back home before taking any measures

My friend Stephen slept over to listen for the presidential elections outcome, and subsequently we recieved texts asking us which one was the "big spoon"

Wednesday 11/5

Celebrated early- 4:30AM for us- over Barack and America’s big win

Showed Stephen around my school a bit before he headed back.

Raised around $60 from the students and teachers to purchase a computer for our school

Was asked by the headmaster and my Form 2 students to teach math again, putting me back to teaching 5 different classes

Mary, my Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD), visited my school as part of her tour de Ghana.

Learned from Mary that my counterpart (whom I’m not what you’d call “buddy buddy” with) will accompany me to the in service training (IST) seminar in December.

My bout of Giardia evidently ceased

Thursday 11/6

My headmaster, Mr. Donkor, gave me a brief account of a rivalry between our school and the Presby school on the other side of town, just before we went there to pick up science equipment.

On the way to the Presby school, Mr. Donkor chased and shot at pigs with his slingshot

After picking up the science equipment, Mr. Donkor and I, on a whim, took a walkabout in Otumi. I met a lot of people and discovered a lot more about Otumi than meets the eye.

I happened to be the first whitey this toddler in my town had ever seen. My god you should have seen his face.

Talked with some neighbors I had neglected visiting for quite some time.

An earwig got in my ear

Broke up a troupe of ants, who seemed to be filing their way towards my bed.

Realized that I am in love with my town, and would severely regret having to leave if my jaw situation got serious. I do miss big cities, though.

Friday 11/7

Parent/ teacher argument over confiscated cell phone

JICA showed up at KMS, my humble school

Played my iPod off the speakers for the first time for the children around my home. We enjoyed our daily workout while such hits as Morris Brown (Outkast) and Summer Love (Timberlake) played in the background

Saturday 11/8

Went to Boti Falls with Chihiro, then grabbed some burgers(?) in Koforidua before heading back to Kade

Sunday 11/9

Caught up on my work for school

Got chili pepper in my eye

Monday 11/10

Made AWSOME science posters with students

Started to plan out what I’m going to cover for the rest of the semester.

Tuesday 11/11

After school, ran into the chief while on my way to grab a tro bound for Kade, the main market town near Otumi. He and I talked for a while. I also almost gave a dog a heart attack when it saw I was both white and abruptly running for a fast approaching tro.

Went to Kade to get some vegs and use the slow ass internet at the internet café, where I met this guy Michael D. More about him below.

Got 6 yards of funeral cloth since I’m invited to the event weekly.

Wednesday 11/12

Gave math test to my Form 2s, then graded their papers only to find out that 95% of them horribly failed it.

Thursday 11/13

Rebuked my students about how they were not putting in any work in my math class.

Friday 11/14

Went to Kade to type this sucker and meet up with Chihiro. Stephen was SUPPOSED to sleep over, but got caught up with a school event.

And that is an account of the last 3 weeks since my last post. Before I go, I’ll go into detail about my current state of affairs, and elaborate on some of the things listed in the outline above.

Firstly, this jaw situation hasn’t gotten any better. It feels like I have about 5 goddamned marbles tucked away in the left side of my cheeks, and it’s a feat to try to communicate with people while pretending this invisible sensation isn’t there. My face isn’t swollen at all, and a passerby wouldn’t be the wiser about what’s going on with my jaw. It’s just so annoying to wake up each morning and feel like Droopy Dog’s face was grafted on to the left side of my own. Thankfully, the eye twitching has ceased, while the kidney tingles are fading. Still mark me down as being a mess, though.

It did come as a relief when I found out that I am not in fact going back to the States before the end of the first term at my school. I’ve worked too hard to let things fall apart, which I’m more than sure would, if I left early. As I stated earlier, I also love my town, and became even more enamored with it that day Mr. Donkor and I did our walk about. I consider myself to be a city boy- in love with towering metropolises like New York, Chicago, and Tokyo. But there is something about Otumi; I can’t put my finger on it yet, but I feel I’m close. Otumi can be considered an island, one with buildings (and I’ll use this word loosely for some structures) surrounded by a dense tropical forest. Trails only a native Otumian can discern have become apparent to me, and following them, sometimes for what feels like an hour, I’ll come upon a home I never knew existed. Some days I wish I could be a fly on the wall, watching and listening to the daily conversations that take place throughout town; but my whiteness immediately curtails my going unnoticed when I leave the house. About my home though, it is situated all the way at the farthest end of my town, which means I get more privacy, and I’m far away from the speakers that blare music almost every night.

A red road slices through the green bush that lays everywhere that isn’t taken up by road or building. Red dust coats viridian-colored houses, whose inhabitants always call out to me- using my Ghanaian name- to join them for food. The children in my town even have taken to calling me Nana Boateng, the title Nana being an esteemed prefix in Ghana. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking a lot with many of my students parents, and on top of compliments on educating their children, I get hooked up with a salubrious assortment of fruits and vegetables. This week’s haul included tangerines, bananas, a pineapple, cocoa, apples, an egg sandwich, oranges and some cucumbers. So yes, I’m in love with my town.

And the inimitable JICA volunteer Chihiro. All I can say is this girl is smart, she can speak English and Twi, as well as her native language Japanese, she is well traveled, she has a good sense of humor (she admitted to being fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm of all things!), is a good cook (strangely she can make an excellent Italian dish) and is sadly leaving in less than two months. Just to remind you, Chihiro is the JICA volunteer ho visited my school a while back to schedule a lesson with my students. She came last Friday to my school to educate my students on HIV/AIDS, and was pleasantly received. The first time she came, though, I silently languished through a bout of Giardia, which I've had now two times previous to this while in Ghana, both times leaving me with soiled underpants. You need to do the research on your own on what Giardia is. Let's just say the fear of shitting myself while Chihiro was over was the only thing on my mind that day. And I'm not ashamed of saying I soiled myself during my adult life. It is so ubiquitous amongst volunteers that we even have a club for it. In a discussion with one of my friends who has been here for over a year, I could quote him on saying that "Every fart should be considered with suspician."



It’s sad knowing that Chihiro's leaving so soon, but we’ve talked extensively on visiting each other in our respective countries. I wish I could invite her to Thanksgiving, which I’ll talk about in a minute, but I’m nervous about asking if I could have her as a guest. One last thing, before this paragraph becomes categorized as obsessive, Chihiro is from Osaka, Japan, and is not as familiar with Tokyo and Northern Honshu as I am. We’ve been talking about visiting each other’s old stomping grounds, bringing back fond memories of living in Japan. Also, another Japanese volunteer will take her place, allowing me to further my practice of Japanese since they will live in the same house as Chihiro, only an hour away from mine; but no one can really replace Chihiro. Interestingly enough, a few of her friends in JICA have met or are located near some of my Peace Corps friends.

As for the situation with the teachers in my town, I’m happy to say things are getting better. They’ve been acting much more amiable to me over the past several days, and I’ve lightened up as well with them. I feel like I need to have an in with them if I were to every make a positive impact on my town in terms of pedagogical methods. I wish I could swap counterparts. Technically we could switch, but I don’t think it would go over well, and I sense things are kind of tense sometimes between my headmaster and some of the teachers. I like this one teacher I work with a lot though, and I wish he could come with me to the IST we have in December.

When I went to the Presby school on the other side of my town to pick up some science equipment, I offered to help train teachers in ICT, and help them learn how to use a computer. Right now, my students have raised close to $75 for a computer, which means we are about $25 away from getting one. We still don’t have power at our school, but once we get the computer we are going to try and put some pressure on the chief to get our school electricity. I’ll also use the ICT training as a guise to teach alternative classroom discipline compared to the harsh and ineffective discipline they use daily in their classroom.

On Thursday, I spent the morning giving my Form students a diatribe on how just coming to class and taking notes in Math isn't enough, and that they need to at least spend maybe 5 minutes doing practice problems. Going back to the beginning, I was originally teaching Math to my Form 1 and Form 2 students until we had a new teacher come in to take over those classes; I wrote about this in my last post. Unfortunately, my Form 2 students were doing terribly, and I would notice that the teacher rarely was in class when he was supposed to be. The headmaster and many of the Form 2 students came to me to take over the class again, and at first I was annoyed that the other teacher was being rewarded for his laziness. I probably know less about the math than he does, and yet he wasn't putting in any effort. The headmaster promised that the other teacher would take on a new class, so I acquisced to his and my students' pleas.

I picked up where the other teacher had left off- on adding, subtracting, and multiplying different bases- a subject I am not at all familiar with. I spent a lot of time trying to teach myself the math, then making lessons, practice questions, quizzes and tests, for nothing. I repeatedly told students to do the work outside of class, and to see me the two hours I stay after school if they need help. Not one person came to see me about Math, and close to 95% of the students completely failed the test. It was like I never taught the the unit. Maybe it was my teaching, but after a lot of reflection and talking with students, I've come to suspect that it was more the students' neglect to do work of their own. So going back to Thursday, I told them that if half the class fails the next test, I'm done- I will refuse to teach the class. As part of my morning harangue, I expressed my dissapointment by saying I felt like a farmer who spent several days planting maize and cocoa, only to find that nothing grew. The students are doing extremely well in my science class, but as for math they have no confidence and might find the subject vapid. It was weird though that all of them came to class, participated, and seemed to understand the problems when we worked them out on the board, but the end result showed all of this was fruitless. The next unit is on linear equations and inequalities, so I'm hoping for a successful turnaround in grades.

Thanksgiving’s coming up, and I plan on seeing a bunch of good friends at the dinner table in Accra. Jack’s coming over the night before and I’ll get to show him around my site. There’s this water tower at the other end of town, and I plan on sneaking us up to the top so I could show him all of Otumi (the thing’s about 4 stories up). I. Love. Thanksgiving. I hope there will be yams like the ones my mom makes. Oop. I have some drool on my shirt. I actually fell asleep one day while grading my students’ papers, and drooled all over them. I just remembered that.

Recently I talked to my parents, and when I asked about how Max, my cat, is doing, I found out he broke yet another cherished thing of my parents, a vase that’s been in my living room since forever. I spent weeks training Max to break that vase, and he finally accomplishes the feat only when I’m away in Ghana. He is still receiving what sounds like a gross amount of turkey from the hands of my mother, father, brother, and cousin. I love that cat. Unfortunately, he would not last a day here.

Another matter that’s been on my mind is the all volunteers conference coming up December 5th-10th in the Eastern Region. Because of the elections coming up in Ghana, and the possible violence that might ensue following the results, the Peace Corps is consolidating all volunteers in a dormitory-like compound. Although I get to see loads of friends I haven’t seen since swearing in, as well as close to 50 new volunteers that just came to Ghana, there is one person in particular that I am very reluctant to see- my ex-girlfriend from training. Don’t get me wrong, I have not one iota of ill-feelings toward her. In fact, it’s just the opposite. In case she or someone relevant is reading this, I won’t make it too embarrassing for her and not go into too much detail; but this is worth mentioning because the poignant thought of it creeps into my head daily, and comes almost on schedule once a week to haunt my dreams (which might be due in part to a side effect of the malaria medication I take). There’s nothing I can do about trying to not think about seeing her there. Instead of shifting my thoughts to something else, I found myself, out of dread, thinking up ways to go about inevitably seeing her in December. I’ve thought up a number of ways to act around her, none of them seeming to be realistic when I try to work it out in my head. I could somehow save her life and she would forever be indebted to me. She could save my life, and I would have a reasonable excuse for trying to talk to her again. I could only use head nods to communicate with her. I could employ a plane to fly over the compound with a banner reading “Hey, let’s talk.” Probably, though, and this is sad, I’m going to have to cadge her to forgive me or at least let me get in one good dialogue with her. If you have ideas, please message them to me. Otherwise, you can pray. Pray for Darren.

Music to accompany this post:

Slide- Goo Goo Dolls

Cherry Blossom Girl- Air

Beautiful Day- U2

1 Giant Leap- Braided Hair

Happy Valentine's Day- Outkast

Morris Brown- Outkast

Rescue- Eve6

You Sexy Thing- Hot Chocolate

All in a Day- Joe Strummer

Amy- Mark Ronson

The Puppet Show- PM Dawn

Kiss- Prince

Sussudio- Phil Collins

Can't Wait- Hepcat

Doorbell- White Stripes

Passing Me By- Pharcyde

Can't Hurry Love- Diana Ross

Tallahassee Love- T-Pain

Nutmeg Fantasy- Macy Gray

Gnossienne No.5 Modere- Erik Satie

My Kind of Town- Frank Sinatra

La Belle Excentrique- Grande Ritourelle

Build Me Up Buttercup- Dance Hall Crashers

It Takes Two- Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock

Wine to compliment this entry:

Chardonnay, La Crema, Sonoma Coast, 06

Waking up to the sound of a god forsaken parade in Kade

Chihiro (notice my nose shadow)

Chihiro!!!

Too scared to come down from the "Umbrella Rock"

Boti Falls


Stephen


Maaaaaaaaaax

Boti Falls

Ipso Fatso

“Holy crap.” These were the first two words issued from me today. Why? Because the horn of the bus I needed to so desperately catch was blaring not too far from my home. Usually, I’m much more composed and am standing by the road. This time though, I was sleeping like a baby at 2AM - 30 minutes before my alarm was to go off and approximately 1.5 hours before I should hear the sound of the bus idling up the severely underdeveloped road that snakes its way past my house. Bleary eyed and shaken, I quickly dressed and stuffed whatever I meant to pack the night before in my bag and ran out to the road. And here I am, in Accra, at 6:20 AM, still bleary eyed and shaken.

Today I have to go back to the doctors because the meds they put me on were making my kidneys go a little nuts on me. My right eye has been twitching for the last two days. I’m a mess, it seems. Hopefully the doctor will have sorted out my jaw situation and I can get back to teaching uninterrupted. Standing in for absent teachers has helped me catch my students up with the work, and now that we have TWO new teachers, things might start to change for the better. Then again, my headmaster and counterpart had to go and find the teachers who hadn’t shown up for two days, and Mr. Bbbbbb (another teacher) and I had the school to ourselves. Later, after the two teachers were retrieved, they just sat in the office and stared at books. They seemed rapt in making lesson plans, so we didn’t talk much. Ostensibly, they will stay at the school and teach maths and social studies, but that was what the last four teachers were supposed to before they mysteriously vanished from our school and Otumi.

Having a new math teacher means I can go from teaching 3 subjects to the much more manageable number 2. Since six 70 minute classes have been excised from my weekly schedule, my life is now unfettered enough to start planning other projects for my students as well as study Twi to the point where I have a good command of the language.

In my last entry, I was in Accra visiting my friend BJ before he leaves Ghana, possibly for good. That was Saturday. We said our good-byes to each other, but now we’ll do it a second time around, since I talked with him yesterday and found out he is leaving Thursday. Today we’ll probably go get lunch if the doc doesn’t hold me too long. When I got home on Saturday from Accra, it was pretty late, around 10PM, and my landlord Kwame and is brother were sitting on my/his porch. This was the first time I met the man, and seeing that I was tired, he told me we would talk tomorrow after our introductions.

Sunday, I went to church in the morning before really sitting down and chatting with my landlord. I hadn’t been to church in almost three weeks, and the last time I was there, I embarrassed myself by putting change in the collection plate when it turned out people were dumping something else in there. But that’s what happens when you leave a Jew to his own devices at Christian church- embarrassments all around. This time I was ready, and made sure the patrons were putting money and not envelopes or notes in the collection plate. Luckily, I get the impression that I’m well received.

After church, I called my host parents in Kukurantumi to see how they were doing and inquire on whether they had a host child from the new omnibus group that came into town. My group, the 2008 PCV education group, was the first to do training in Kukurantumi; before, Peace Corps training was done in Techiman, located in the Brang Ahafo Region. More about training is talked about in my first post, but I did not mention much about life with my host family. I turned out to have an incredibly nice host family, the Boatengs. My large and in charge mom (Mama Agy) was a great cook, but spoke rapid-fire Twi to me without including a word of English. Nana Boat, my host father, likened by many of the people in my group as the “Ghanaian Santa Clause”, was in fact one of the jolliest men I’ve ever met. His English was excellent, and he helped me with almost everything. He not only was one of the sub-chiefs of Kukurantumi, but also an electrician; we would have daily discussions on topics ranging from how the chieftaincy works in Ghana to how to repair electrical outlets. Both of my parents made me feel like I was part of the family, to the point where I would tell them I was going out or inviting them to my soccer games as if I were a teenager. One time some neighbors kept referring to me as Obruni, white man, even though I repeatedly told them in Twi that that wasn’t my name. Even though this didn’t really bother me, my host parents intervened and told them I was an Obibini (African) in heart, which I took as a major compliment.

There were several children and grandchildren who lived at the house as well; unfortunately I later found out that to accommodate for me, the children jammed themselves into two rooms. I became closest to the grandchildren, one in middle school and the other just entering high school (Ema and Kwazi, respectively). They would help me with Twi and we would talk about different things like what cold climates are like. I had a deaf sister who helped me pick up some sign language- I know how to say sit, mother, father, and stupid. I’m digressing. Getting back to the call I placed to my host parents, I found out they did in fact have a host child, and I got a little jealous. We made plans to see each other within the next two months, and I can’t wait for them to visit me at site.

Sorry, the rest of this post might be scatter-brained; I just got back from the dentist with some very bad news. It seems that the infection in my jaw is the result of a botched implant that left a severed nerve and some damaged tissue in my mouth; this means that they need to take the implant out or else the situation will get worse. My body is rejecting the medicine, and they say I’ll need to replace the implant with a bridge.

I’m waiting to see the Peace Corps doctor to find out if they can take care of this here or in S. Africa (where many PCVs go for complex medical procedures). Going back to the States is exciting in a way, but I felt crestfallen when I first heard the news because that means I’m away from my students for god knows how long. I just got to my site, and I feel it’s too soon to leave them, even for a little bit. The semester is almost over, and I need to get them ready for the end of the term final. I’m working out in my head just how to solve this dilemma. If worse comes to worse and I have to be gone for an extended amount of time, I think I might work with a student or two to teach the class for me while I’m gone. The other day I asked around to see which students might want to become educators, and whether or not they would like me to mentor them in becoming a future teacher. I had a about 4 students who were interested, and they are actually some of my top students. If it comes down to it, perhaps the students can teach out of the books while I’m gone. I’m just hoping I can hold out until the end of the term, but the inflammation is pretty nuts right now, so I might have to scratch that idea. We will see. Let’s get back on track.

When my landlord came back from a funeral taking place in town, which is what brought him up here, we talked for a while about politics in Ghana and the States. Kwame owns a construction company over in Medina, Accra, and only comes up to Otumi every few months for a funeral. He talked about growing up in Otumi, and explained he was happy to put me up in his home to help benefit his community.

On Monday, I went to school, and during morning assembly, found out one of my students might be getting kicked out of the school. He is one of my form 2 students, and although he does in fact disrupt my class sometimes, all I have to do is move his seat and he’s good the rest of class. Apparently, he stole some corn from one of the teachers and was caught, thusly prompting the headmaster to take action. He told me he was held back last year from going to Form 3, and he hung out with a rough crowd. I asked to speak with him alone while everyone else was in assembly.

I had the student follow me to the benches in the sitting area, and we talked for a bit before class started. I pretty much tried to relate to him, since as a kid I myself used to steal lawn ornaments and be disruptive in class. I told him that looking back, it was wrong for me to do that, and that he should catch himself and try to refrain from hanging out with some friends he described to me. I got the headmaster to give him one more chance, and I’m keeping a close eye on him. He’s got smarts, but he definitely has too much mischief in him.

When I got home, I experimented with vegetable oil, brown sugar, and corn kernels to make delic caramel corn which I enjoyed thoroughly. Later, while I was putting the container of corn kernels back on the shelf, I noticed a ton of beetles mixed in with the kernels. More protein! Later, when I went outside to do dishes, I could hear from the mosque across town the calling for prayer on the loudspeaker, and it was at that very moment that it hit me that I was really in Ghana, that I was really doing this. Since I came to Ghana, I hadn’t experienced any surreal moments; living in Ghana has been pretty much natural to me. I’ve wanted to do Peace Corps for well over a decade now, and I finally was a volunteer in a foreign country living the dream. That stuck with me the rest of the day.

Tuesday I got a call from my PCMO that I need to be at the doctors in Accra on Wednesday. Later, during one of my classes, a bunch of the primary school students came close to my classroom and started yelling obruni through the windows; I had one of my students kindly remove them from the area and take them to their teacher. Later, when I saw the primary school teacher, I told them that their kids are disrupting my class, and he just laughed.

This is part of what I mentioned last week. The teachers in my town, save for Mr. Bbbbbb show unabashed contempt for me, and I’m still trying to think of how to react to this. There are about 15 teachers in my town, counting the now 4 at my school, 5 at the primary school, and the rest at the Presbyterian middle school on the northern part of Otumi. Whenever I run into them, I act like I normally do with everyone else, I greet them, and they just laugh at me and put on a nasal whitey tone to mock me. Kids. The teachers in my town are kind of like kids. Which is what kills me about my students- their role models are scarce, and the teachers set incredibly bad examples. For instance, students are taught not to fight or hit one another, otherwise, they get beat. Students are expected to show up on time to school everyday, even though many of the teachers are nowhere to be found. I’m not saying all teachers in Ghana are like this, but I can tell you the ones in my town certainly are, save for Mr. Bbbbbbb. Mr. Bbbbb is alright, he cares about the students and is nice to me, but he canes way to much as well.

I think part of the reason they act this way towards me is because I actually put in work when I teach. The only other people I’ve seen show enthusiasm in class is my headmaster and Mr. Bbbbbb. Yesterday, I watched my headmaster give a lesson on the Twi language, and the students were really in to it. My headmaster told me he used to be a teacher, and missed doing it, though he plans on becoming a farmer once he retires in two years. My headmaster is usually really good with the kids in my town.

After school, since I was going to be gone the next day, I had one of my students stay after school so I could catch her up in science for the test Friday. The girl came from Nigeria about two weeks ago, and she’s one of my best students. I caught her up on the carbon cycle and climate, and a bunch of students ended up staying after as well. I’ve talked to the girl’s father on a few occasions when I see him around town, and I think it might be hard on them since they are so knew and don’t really know anyone. My town is a major produces of palm oil, so we get people from all over, especially from Togo, coming to Otumi for work.

Tuesday was also a close call when I choked on one of the slimy cocoa beans I love to eat. My headmaster gives me a bunch from his farm whenever he goes. I got Jack on board with this popcorn thing. He’s thinking of getting a popcorn maker. That’s not a bad idea….I also talked with one of my friends, who will stay the night next Tuesday to watch and listen for the election results. The next day he’ll observe maybe one of my classes and head back. I’m running out of money, but I would like to get a bottle of champaign for the momentous occasion. Aside from that, mine and Chihiro’s lunch plans were again postponed to this coming Sunday. I need to find mangoes to chill, but they are not in season

Music to complement this entry:

Cruisin’- Holly Cole Trio
Vagalume- The Mosquitos
Waiting for the Man- Nico
Friends- Luscious Jackson
Fortress- Pinback
Tallahassee Love- T-Pain
St. Thomas- Sonny Rollins
Tubthuumping- Chumbawamba
Gnossienne No.2- Erik Satie
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor- Mozart
Hold Your Head Up High- Bloodhound Gang
Isaac- Squeak E. Clean
Falling to Pieces- Faith No More
What You Know- T.I.
Do It- Nelly Furtado
Fire- Ohio Players
Hatchet- Low

Wine to Complement this entry:

2004 Stony Hill Chardonnay

Host family brothers and sisters

My host parents at swearing in

Family photo

At home in Kukurantumi

Kwazi, my host mom, and mom's friend

My headmaster at his well

Some students of mine

Saying Bye to a Friend

I’m back in Accra for the third time this week, didn’t think I’d say that, but here I am. My friend BJ is leaving and there is no way I’m going to miss him before he goes. Coincidentally, the meds the doc has me taking is having a curious effect on my kidneys; they've been tingling a bit since I started taking the medication. Knowing this isn’t right, I’m also going to see the PCMO. I’m starting not to enjoy coming to Accra though; it’s getting expensive, I’ve seen enough for now, and the rides to and from my site are dangerous. After today, I’m going to stop coming to Accra for a while, I think.

On the last trip, I made the mistake of not taking the front seat on the tro going back to my site, and had to endure 5 hours of sitting in a fetal position in the back since the floor started where my knees were supposed to be. I didn’t know at the time that the floor was like that, but didn’t want to sit in the front where I can fly out the window if we hit something. This is where my reluctance to come to Accra stemmed from. The good news is the people in Kade, the town I do a stop-over in before going to my site, have stopped calling me Obruni and started calling me Kwazi Boateng (or as some people call me, Boat), my Ghana given name.

Briefly, Obruni (emphasis on the “o” to give a mocking effect) is the equivalent of saying “white man” to someone. Obruni kokou, or “white man with red skin”, is commonly heard from screaming buoyant children or the occasional adult. I usually have a comeback; in fact my students just the other day told me I should say womboadee- “you’re not being respectful”. I used to say Obibini! (African!) or just browbeat the person.

When my tro pulled up to my site, the caretaker and his family were on lawn chairs near the collapsed bridge that marks the beginning of my property. The power was out, and since it was around 9 PM, the only light came from their flashlights. Monstrous sacks of cucumbers were on the ground, and they explained that they were taking them to Accra the next day when the bus comes at 2AM. They offered me a cucumber, which in fact was delicious when I cut it up, chilled it, and had it with olive oil and garlic. We talked for a while, and then the lights came on, which was my cue to get inside and get some much needed rest.

The next day was a challenge; since I missed Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday classes, I used Friday to do some serious catching up. Based on the fact that Mr. Mhm does not show up to most of his classes, I step in for him and teach math, science, or ICT. Students spent the latter part of the day weeding and playing football; I think the teachers were getting bored and eschewed teaching the last 4 periods. The other teacher and I followed the students out to the field, where they spent a good 45 minutes just weeding, and to the students’ surprise I joined them. I’ve gone to farm with my neighbor before, and he showed me how to properly use a cutlass (machete), so I was able to impress them with my mad cutlass skills. I enjoy it, in increments of 5 minute chopping, 5 minute resting. One girl got caned really badly for fooling around, and I glared at Mr. Mhm for hitting the girl so hard across the knees.

Before leaving for school on Friday, Mr. Appiah, the brother of the owner of my house, had some news for me- his brother will be in town this weekend for a funeral in Otumi. Keeping in mind that Chihiro, the JICA volunteer near my site, is supposed to meet me for lunch at my place on Sunday, this kind of throws a wrench in my plans. At the same time, I’m incredibly grateful to the man for letting me stay in his huge house for free. I’m trying to think of how to balance my time between the two.

I’m starting to teach my students how to make cryptograms, which worked out well with my host sister during training, in exchange for learning Twi. So far, I’ve got a few that are pretty good at it. Acryptogram looks like this: YGKSHN GWH KSV PK NHGNSK, ZHV P KHHE SKH VS AWHNHKV VS UTPTPWS VSYSWWSI- good luck to anyone who wants to decode it.

On the ride to Accra today, I noticed an unusual number of winged, ant-like insects all over the bus. I phlegmatically watched as they used my arms, neck, and head as a landing strip. The trip was violently bumpy, like usual, and I unfortunately chose the seat under the speaker blasting gospel music throughout the trip. One woman was reading a newspaper with a featured article on the front cover titled “Woman Turns into Cobra”. The woman gave me a disdainful look when she saw the smile on my face looking at her article. Just the other day I got in trouble when I was making faces at someone’s baby. It’s hard being on your best behavior when crammed into vehicles.

One final note: Flipping through my Form 1 ICT Computer book while planning lessons, I came across this picture of a Microsoft Word box in the Word Processing unit; I noticed that whoever made the book grabbed the wrong picture to display what a Microsoft Word box looks like. The one they have is a parody of the original box, with famous rappers on the front in lieu of plain white. I posted a picture of it below, making most of this paragraph redundant.

That’s it for now. I’ve got to run and eat lunch with my buddies. Next week I’ll go into a situation I have with the teachers in my town, and how I think they don’t like me very much. All else is fine, though.

Music to complement this entry:

The Wind- Cat Stevens
Don’t Worry Be Happy- Bobby McFerrin
Over the River- Jiving Juniors
Daly City train- Rancid
Teardrop- Massive Attack
Smoke and Mirrors- RJD2
Graffiti, Pt. 1- Stereo MCs
Clouds Up- Air
In the Swim- Blank Blue
Two Icicles- Flunk
Handbags and Gladrags- Rod Stewert
Lost Weekend- Brother Love
Mad Rush- Philip Glass
Better Days- Sublime

Wine to complement this entry:

2007 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva

My friend BJ (left)

Your Typical Tro

Word!!!!!

BJ!!

I'm an Idiot

I’m in Accra again; I forgot to take my meds with me to my site and had to go all the way back, which means I missed another day of classes, spent ten valuable bucks, and have to languish on a bumpy five hour ride from and to my site. Fun part is I got to see two friends at the office as well as rapaciously eat a tasty meal at the Ghana Army Mess Hall food just down from the Peace Corps office. One of my friends had malaria for two weeks, and she came down with a pretty serious fever. I'm the first non-Ghanaian she's seen since site, and we caught up before I left for my site. Her other friend is coming tomorrow, so at least she'll have good company.

I found out yesterday that another one of my friends in my group is ETing (early termination, which puts the number at 6 people from our group. I heard he’ll be here tomorrow, so I’m missing him by one day. I can’t even call him. I happened to be in Accra to bid farewells to my other friends, but I’m missing this guy by one day; I can’t even get a hold of him by phone. I learned Tuesday that our country director is leaving as well in mid-December. I really look up to this guy, and we had some good conversations; I’m going to try to get in a game of tennis before he leaves. He’ll be replace by an ex- Marine/ Peace Corps Volunteer who we’ll meet in a few months.

On to lionizing my friend Jack- We were talking on the phone yesterday and I heard all this commotion like students fighting over something in the background. Apparently, Jack has night classes from 8-9 everyday, helping students with test-taking & computer skills. I don’t do anything but teach. I haven’t really done anything yet with my students, and I’m jealous every time I here all the great things other PCVs are doing. I’m still trying to figure out what my students can benefit the most from before I announce anything. For now, I just help the Form 3 students after school with whatever questions they have.

Another bat flew into my home yesterday, the second one this month. Again, like the last one, I had to get a chair in between me and the winged rodent so that it safely flies out of my home. I’ve also had to chase some chicks out of my home, as well as some pesky goats I alluded to last time. This morning, as I was rushing out of my home at two AM, I noticed a communion wafer-sized spider come out from under my bed. I grabbed one of my Tupperware containers, caught it, and released it before catching the bus bound for Accra.

When I get back home today, my neighbor’s kids and I are making peanut butter using the grinding bowl (see below). Per usual, I’m loading the mix up with tons of sugar. Then, reading time with the kids IF it is not too dark out. I'm still working on getting my dog to at least play fetch, and I might squeeze that in too if I have the time.

Music to complement this entry:

Help!- The Beatles
Kola Kola- The Clash
A Well Respected Man- The Kinks
Gone- Kanye West
Soul Call- Soul Rhythms
Ghost Town- The Specials
Rosa Parks- Outkast

Wine to complement this entry:

2005 Ravenswood Zinfandel

The Country Director for Peace Corps Ghana

Jack and I

My friend Jen (far right) who I saw in Accra

Ma Dog

Making Peanut Butter

My front porch where the children and I read

Mr. Darren Goes to Town

I spent the past few days typing up what I’ve experienced since swearing in, as well as some back stories to go along with whatever needs to be elaborated on. By page 30, I stopped, realized no one is going to read that much drivel, and scrapped the whole thing; instead I’ll hark back to last Tuesday and proceed from there. In fact, events that took place last Tuesday are a major reason why I’m sitting here now in the Accra Peace Corps Office today and not teaching classes at my site. It stinks that I’m leaving out a ton of stories I have from the past several weeks at site, but I hope to make up for it in my later posts. This one might be alright, but I’ll leave that up to the reader.

Quizzes and Caning

Last Tuesday, the year of our Lord October 14, 2008, was what one could call a typical day for a Peace Corps Volunteer: went to school, chased goats out of my home, and went to the main market a ways away from my site. My Form 1 and 2 students took their first test in my class, and cheating wasn’t too bad, though after grading the tests, I found some awfully similar incorrect answers on students who sat next to one another.

Cheating is prevalent in most Ghanaian schools, and is sometimes even encouraged by some of the teachers since it makes them and their schools look good if the student does well on high stakes tests like the BECE. Cheating goes on in my classroom, but it’s been on the decline since I usually just stand there, arms akimbo, quietly telling the student to go to the front of the room where they can sit and take a zero. Some students do really well on the tests and quizzes I give, while others seem to do poorly for one reason or another. I’m still trying to get to know each of my students on an individual level, so it’s tough for me to see who is studying and putting forth an effort while others might have learning disabilities. Many of the students, after school, do a long list of work for their parents, many of them being farmers. I don’t blame the students for being exhausted when they come to class, which is why I try to make my lessons as enjoyable and insightful as possible.

Word of mouth is pointless; the teachers at my school are out of touch with the students. Case in point, we had a new student come in, and my headmaster told me she is known to be shy and probably won’t participate in class at all. So far, she’s volunteered more than most of the class in providing answers. Almost all my students are still conducting themselves very well, taking notes and coming to class on time. I’m still working on getting them to be more open and comfortable during class discussions.

Student performance is alright in my classes. Since I’m teaching Math, Science and ICT to the Form 1 and 2 students, it’s sometimes hard to step back and evaluate things when so much is going on. Basically, I’ve found that both forms do well with attendance and effort in class. I try to keep my classes interesting, but I’m still finding it hard to get many of the students past just waiting for the answer or reciting in verbatim the definition for something. This is just how they learn from their other teachers, so I’m hoping with time and effort I can help students move away from this type of learning and actually understand what they are studying.

I’ve noticed with the teachers at my school is that they have very little confidence in their students, and they think caning is the end-all solution to dealing with students who misbehave or don’t know the answer to sometimes cryptic questions. On top of working with students, I’m putting some effort into getting the two teachers at my school to realize that the students are not hopeless and need to be hit to behave. All I hear from them, and this is no joke, is that students are “stubborn” and need more discipline. I feel they are just middle school students with tons of energy and frustrated with such a heavy workload at school.

One teacher at my school, we’ll call him Mr. Mhm, evades classes at all cost, and shows up late on a regular basis; but if one students does something minor, they are punished severely, I’m talking punches them hard in the arm in a non-playful way. These are my students, and I really don’t know how long it will be until I lose my cool on him, though first I need to talk to him alone. I really don’t like him though, and these probably won't be the last pejorative statements I make about the guy. Thus is the situation at my school.

I might be having some sort of affect on my headmaster, because he told me and the rest of the students and teachers during morning announcements the other day that “caning is no good, and that it will hopefully be done away with soon.” I’ll have to see it to believe it, but for now I’m just going to continue doing what I’m doing and try to convince the teachers that there is a better way.

From the Ghanaian teacher’s point of view, I’ve been told that being a teacher here is frustrating, that students get little discipline at home and must cane or they would have little power in the classroom. Another source of frustration comes from the low pay for teachers and in many cases extremely late payments into their accounts. I’m ignorant as to how many of the teachers are trained, and I’m slowly learning about the teacher-placement process as well as many other aspects of the Ghanaian education system.

This week I’ve been collaborating with teachers about how we can deal with the teacher shortage at our school as well as more effective methods of classroom management. I’ve seen little results this week, and I still hear the terrible sounds of students getting caned in the next room over. I caught myself glaring at the primary school teachers going nuts on their students with the cane. My students know how much I hate the measure since I openly protest to it when we chat after class.

Chihiro and the Problem

So Friday an odd but wonderful thing happened- I was asked to go home to collect some of the extra class money I was responsible for holding for the school, and on the way to my home, thought about how great it would be if my friend Jack came with me to Japan after we finish Peace Corps. Jack and I share a similar interest in Japan, and he can speak the language pretty well. I reminisced about the two years I spent there on the return back to my school, and when I entered the staff common room to count the money, not a minute later this Japanese girl is there before me. This might sound mundane to most people, but when I am the only non-Ghanaian in my town and don’t normally see any foreigners, it’s a big deal. If I had a tail, it would have been wagging.

My headmaster introduced her as a Japanese volunteer belonging to JICO (can’t remember what this stands for), and I remember him mentioning something about her a while back. The girl is about my age, beautiful, and has worked at a hospital not too far from my site for about a year and a half. Her name is Chihiro, and I took great pleasure in surprising her that I lived in Japan and could speak the language pretty well. As part of her work in Ghana, she would go around to schools teaching about AIDS/ HIV and other diseases. That day she made plans with my headmaster to come back Tuesday to educate our students. We chatted it up for a bit, with the end result of her planning to come to my house for lunch on Sunday.

Later that day, though, I was eating dinner at school while the students worked on this science poster I asked them to make, when my mouth suddenly started to swell up precisely in the area where a year earlier a dentist had accidentally severed my nerve. A little panicked, I asked my students if they noticed anything wrong with my face, with which they replied they did, and I looked a bit weirder than I usually do. The past few days, I’ve been having some strange sensations in that area, and even felt like my salivary glands decided to shut off. I’d get dizzy some days, and there was a level of concern that entire week. I figured it was a new allergy that might have cropped up, though I’ve only ever been allergic to plutonium isotopes. I called the PCMO (the Peace Corps medical officer), and he was under the impression that it might be an allergy and I should go on anti-inflammatory for a while until it clears up.

Friday, though, it was serious enough to get a hold of my dentist stateside and find out what he thought. He was under the impression that I had a mouth infection based on my history in that area and what I experienced the past few days. He gave me a list of medications, and I called the PCMO again to see her Saturday. If you could picture it, here I was with a swollen mouth in pitch black (my power was out and it was night time), writing down fantastic prescription names and packing my stuff for Accra. I did not find the humor in it at the time.

When I got to Accra Saturday, the PCMO looked at what was going on with my mouth, saw there was some inflammation, and put me on meds. She told me I need to stay in Accra until Monday to see the dentist. I told her maybe it would be best if I went back to my site, which was about four hours away, and come back bright and early Monday morning. She told me no. I looked at her incredulously; on any other occasion I would love to stay the weekend in Accra with Peace Corps’ permission. I usually spend my weekends taking a brief sojourn in Accra to visit friends and surround myself with all things familiarly Western, including shopping malls, pizza, and ice cream. A while back I had to cajole my APCD into letting me stay in Accra so that I could watch my friends compete in a marathon, and from that conversation I acquiesced to not coming staying in Accra again until the end of the term.

Any other weekend would have been brilliant, but this one was no good. The PCMO asked me why I needed to get back so badly, and I let it out that this beautiful Japanese girl was coming over to my place at noon on Sunday to eat lunch, and that I really had no choice but to go back to my site. No go. And here I am in Accra typing this up.

The weekend wasn’t so bad though. All in all this turned out even better. I texted Chihiro that I wasn’t going to be able to make it Sunday, and asked if we could maybe move the lunch to Saturday or Sunday of next week. She took that well and so next Sunday I plan on doing something really special, which I’ll elaborate on in a second. So with that matter resolved, I walked again with some panache in my step to the mail office to get the package I heard came for me the previous day. Signing for it, I noticed my friends Chris and Tammi from my group had also picked up a package not too long ago, and Sammy the mail guy told me they might still be in Accra. I gave them a call immediately and learned that in fact they were still in Accra and would stay the night.

We met up at a great Italian restaurant called Mama Mia’s, which I had previously went to with my friend Stephen. My friend Ming, a PCV from the education group before us was also there. They all came to Accra to vote as well as run other minor errands, and we got to spend all day together. We caught up, and even though I had talked to Chris and Tammi numerous times on the phone before, it was great to see them in Accra. They are a great couple, and part of the reason I enjoy Chris’ company so much is because he towers over me like a sky scraper, reminding me of such wonderful cities as NY, Chicago, Tokyo, and San Francisco.

After lunch, we stopped by the Asian marketto look at squid in a bag and get some dried plums. I bought up some soba, green tea cakes, and something else for lunch next Sunday when Chihiro comes over.

Sunday I bid farewell to Chris and Tammi, and I spent the rest of the day lounging at the Peace Corps office with my friends Ming and Ira, as well as some other people I met over the weekend. While at the office, I saw an article featured in the San Francisco Chroncile about Ralph, one of the PCVs in my group; he is currently the oldest PCV, and one of the most amusing in my opinion. I also met this one woman who had volunteered as a PCV in Ghana, but was now stationed in Afghanistan as an engineer for the Army. We talked for a bit, and Sunday she and the rest of us went to the officer’s mess hall just a few meters away from the Peace Corps office. The food there was amazing and affordable.

Monday I got to vote, which felt wonderful in many respects. For one, we voted before any state-side suckers could, and two, this is by far the most exciting election that Florida will NOT screw up, so help me god. I also spent Monday going to the dentist’s in Osu where the doctor checked out the inflamed area, which ballooned up the previous night while chowing down dinner; the doctor told me to go to Korle-Bu, an area about 30 minutes by taxi from where we were, to get an X-ray. It was a scenic ride to the office, where we passed long stretches of beach. I would recommend though that anyone who visits the beach to plug their nose

When I returned to Osu to show the dentist my X-ray, he pointed his finger at my chest and said “Son, you have a mouth infection.” Really though he told me this news like a normal person. He wrote me a prescription, but before going back to the office to give the prescription to my PCMO, I stopped in an actual bookstore I had noticed on the way to the dentist’s. Actual bookstores are a rare site in Ghana, and I being the avid reader cannot escape bringing everything to a halt to check out what was in the shop.

The bookstore had a decent selection of books, all used, and I picked up maybe $35 worth of books even though I had only $20 and needed the rest to get back to site. Since I thought I was going back to my site the same day I left for Accra, I didn’t bother taking things like extra underwear or money. The result was me standing in the bookstore with an armful of books, smelly clothes, and a defeated look on my face. The guy at the register ended up giving me such a good discount that I got to take almost all the books home and had enough to return to the office, where I would later be reimbursed for food and travel.

When I got back to the office, I entered the computer room to find three girls I was all too familiar with: two of them I’m enamored with, the other knowing about these attractions since I confided this fact to her a while back. The two I liked were staying in Accra at the same hotel I was to take the GRE the following day. Excellent, although I think any interest in me by other of them is nil. They went to dinner while I worked on this entry; later I met up with another friend at a restaurant across from our hotel before meeting back with the two I adored.

Today, being Tuesday, four of us had breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants, and we headed back to the Peace Corps office. We talked for a bit in the computer room before they left and I got back to work on this post. I also picked up my medication, and plan on coming back here for a check-up next week. I’m really upset I missed two classes, and I hope this doesn’t put my students too far behind in the curriculum.

While putting the finishing touches to this entry, my friend Ira and I, the only two PCVs at the office at the time, were invited to pizza, which happened to be on my mind all day. Soon I’m taking off, though, so I’ll leave you with an address to an Amazon Wishlist I’ve created. I’m not saying I’m book deprived per-se, but I would greatly appreciate if you send any of the items on the list my way. My next entry should come next week, if anyone is at all interested.

Music to complement this entry:

Johnny Appleseed- Joe Strummer
People- The Oscar Peterson Trio
The Good Life- Kanye West
Senorita- Puff Daddy and the Family
Outversion- Mark Ronson
Photograph- Def Leopard
Around the World- Red Hot Chili Peppers
Flutter- Amplifico
You Can’t Hurry Love- Diana Ross and the Supremes
Living in America- James Brown
You Sexy Thing- Hot Chocolate
Fly- Sugar Ray
Jump- Van Halen
Ooh La La- The Faces
Flower- Moby
Raspberry Beret- Prince
A Little Less Conversation- Elvis Presley
Yay Area- E-40
Passing Me By- Pharcyde
Dark Eyes- Ramsey Lewis Trio

Ming and Chris and Squid at the Asian Market

Sunset at my Site

The Inquisitive Goats

Packages!

Mama Mia's

Chis, Tammi, Ming and I

Stephen and I

Jack

Ralph and Squinty McGees

Chris and Tammi

Pizza!