Hello again!
So, another few weeks have passed and I am back in Tamale. Things have been great recently. Nothing much of note has happened, but I’ve been having a great time. Let’s see, on Sunday night, we spent the night at Mike’s (a Peace Corps volunteer), which was fun, but much hotter than where we sleep. Potentially because we normally sleep outside and we were in a walled-in compound. Anyway, the next day, we went to the Savelugu market, which is the nearest biggish market to us, it happens every 6 days. We had a ball. We had some really amazing food there. We tried all of these new kinds of fried yumminess. It was great. I also got a few used teeshirts, so I can give the ones I brought to some of the schoolgirls when we leave.
Time is flying. The school week went pretty well after that, Tuesday it rained very heavily, so it was nice and cool for two days. Yesterday, we were invited to one of the main ITFC (Integrated Tamale Fruit Company) guys houses for dinner and to spend the night. Air conditioning! And coffee and cereal with milk for breakfast! We had a test with our 5th and 6th grade in school today. I think they did okay. We are currently working on prepositions, very basic ones (in, on, under…). And now we are in Tamale; tomorrow, we catch a bus to Bolgatanga in the Upper East and then another bus into Burkina Faso for the weekend. We don’t know much about Burkina, but have heard there are fresh strawberries and milkshakes to be had.
I miss you!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Glorious Tamale!
Hello again!
I am once again in Tamale for the weekend!! This weekend we are staying with Julie, the American woman who hired us and her house is NICE! Not only is it air conditioned, it is also bug-free and full of cold drinks, television, and all the other amenities we lack in Tunayili.
I wanted to also acknowledge the lack of photographs on here. Early in the trip, we tried to upload photos and they were all deleted, so we are afraid to try again.
We have been having a great time! In Tunayili, we have just finished a week long funeral for the chief who died seven years ago. Lots of dancing and partying all night and day, crazy fun. It was amazing to see all the people out in their fabric dancing; it reminded me of a stereotypical depiction of what Africa is.
We didn’t teach on Thursday because we had to take a little boy, my favorite little boy, Abukari Mumin, to the health clinic in the next town because he fell and cut his head on a nail. It’s a small cut, but there isn’t much in the way of hygienic anything here. After he saw the nurse, we got some yams and delicious bombara beans for breakfast before catching a ride home just in time for lunch. Thursday afternoon and evening, we spent at the funeral with Shawn and Mike (from the Peace Corps, PS-I’m really glad I didn’t do the Peace Corps). Today is Independence Day, 6 March, so we had no school again and are excited to be in Tamale.
In Tunayili, we are getting very settled and have a good routine down. We get up with the son, between 6 and 6:30, eat banku with spicy tomato or groundnut soup from the community, go to school, do penmanship with the 3rd and 4th grade, another exercise, and then physical education (I referee football!), break for ten minutes, teach 5th and 6th grade, have lunch, do washing/read/any other errands in the shade, make and eat a snack around 3 (this usually consists of eggs, pasta, or crackers, with veggies if we have any and canned hummus) walk or play with the kids around 4-5, dinner with the teachers (which I normally dislike and is usually incredibly fishy and salty), shower, and are in bed around 7:30.
We sleep an incredible amount here. The sun takes everything out of us! Last week it was 117 most days, but this week has been a cool 106!
So here we are in Julie’s house, relaxing in the AC and having a great time.
Miss you!
I am once again in Tamale for the weekend!! This weekend we are staying with Julie, the American woman who hired us and her house is NICE! Not only is it air conditioned, it is also bug-free and full of cold drinks, television, and all the other amenities we lack in Tunayili.
I wanted to also acknowledge the lack of photographs on here. Early in the trip, we tried to upload photos and they were all deleted, so we are afraid to try again.
We have been having a great time! In Tunayili, we have just finished a week long funeral for the chief who died seven years ago. Lots of dancing and partying all night and day, crazy fun. It was amazing to see all the people out in their fabric dancing; it reminded me of a stereotypical depiction of what Africa is.
We didn’t teach on Thursday because we had to take a little boy, my favorite little boy, Abukari Mumin, to the health clinic in the next town because he fell and cut his head on a nail. It’s a small cut, but there isn’t much in the way of hygienic anything here. After he saw the nurse, we got some yams and delicious bombara beans for breakfast before catching a ride home just in time for lunch. Thursday afternoon and evening, we spent at the funeral with Shawn and Mike (from the Peace Corps, PS-I’m really glad I didn’t do the Peace Corps). Today is Independence Day, 6 March, so we had no school again and are excited to be in Tamale.
In Tunayili, we are getting very settled and have a good routine down. We get up with the son, between 6 and 6:30, eat banku with spicy tomato or groundnut soup from the community, go to school, do penmanship with the 3rd and 4th grade, another exercise, and then physical education (I referee football!), break for ten minutes, teach 5th and 6th grade, have lunch, do washing/read/any other errands in the shade, make and eat a snack around 3 (this usually consists of eggs, pasta, or crackers, with veggies if we have any and canned hummus) walk or play with the kids around 4-5, dinner with the teachers (which I normally dislike and is usually incredibly fishy and salty), shower, and are in bed around 7:30.
We sleep an incredible amount here. The sun takes everything out of us! Last week it was 117 most days, but this week has been a cool 106!
So here we are in Julie’s house, relaxing in the AC and having a great time.
Miss you!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Madame Fransistah
Hello Hello!
SO I have finished my second week of teaching in Tunayili! It has been fun, though is incredibley challenging at times. Getting to know the kids has been a lot of fun. Last week, we had two sports days, in which we went to Gushie, the next town up, by the main road for football and races, we lost all but one race, but had a great time there and are really beginning to feel like part of the school. Our schedule has changed, we teach 3rd and 4th grade english and physical education from 8:15 to 10:15 and then 5th and 6th grade english from 10:30 to 12, it is exhausting, but we really enjoy it.
We have also been getting to know the other teachers better, which has been very nice. One of them, Asana, is very quite. She cooks us dinner every night and is not a very good cook. She seems to think that making everything taste like fish is the way to cook, we have started snacking and preparing some of our own food. One of our favorite things to eat is canned hummus! We can buy breakfast in the community also most days. For 10-20 peswas, about 10 cents, we can get rice balls with groundnut (peanut) soup or fried doughy things called maha, both are delicious!
Three 5th grade girls, Zainab, Bantu, and Karima, have started coming over every day and insisted on doing any washing we have. This all started when they saw me washing our clothes in the wash bin last week. They came over and showed me how to do it properly, but whenever I try to help, Zainab, the most vocal, looks at me like I am crazy and says, "Madame stop!" After they finish they ask us for toffe, which means they want orange tic tacs.
There is a Peace Corps Volunteer, Shawn, in Dipali, the furthest village from the road, who we have been getting to know. She is very nice. Last weekend, she invited us over to watch a naming ceremony for a newborn baby. We didn't get to see much, but met a lot of her community and then went to her house for tortillas with steamed vegetables and apple pie, it was incredible! It has been nice getting to know her, she is very friendly and as she has been here over a year, has answers to a lot of the random questions we have.
Allright, time for me to sign off for now!
Lots of LOVE!
SO I have finished my second week of teaching in Tunayili! It has been fun, though is incredibley challenging at times. Getting to know the kids has been a lot of fun. Last week, we had two sports days, in which we went to Gushie, the next town up, by the main road for football and races, we lost all but one race, but had a great time there and are really beginning to feel like part of the school. Our schedule has changed, we teach 3rd and 4th grade english and physical education from 8:15 to 10:15 and then 5th and 6th grade english from 10:30 to 12, it is exhausting, but we really enjoy it.
We have also been getting to know the other teachers better, which has been very nice. One of them, Asana, is very quite. She cooks us dinner every night and is not a very good cook. She seems to think that making everything taste like fish is the way to cook, we have started snacking and preparing some of our own food. One of our favorite things to eat is canned hummus! We can buy breakfast in the community also most days. For 10-20 peswas, about 10 cents, we can get rice balls with groundnut (peanut) soup or fried doughy things called maha, both are delicious!
Three 5th grade girls, Zainab, Bantu, and Karima, have started coming over every day and insisted on doing any washing we have. This all started when they saw me washing our clothes in the wash bin last week. They came over and showed me how to do it properly, but whenever I try to help, Zainab, the most vocal, looks at me like I am crazy and says, "Madame stop!" After they finish they ask us for toffe, which means they want orange tic tacs.
There is a Peace Corps Volunteer, Shawn, in Dipali, the furthest village from the road, who we have been getting to know. She is very nice. Last weekend, she invited us over to watch a naming ceremony for a newborn baby. We didn't get to see much, but met a lot of her community and then went to her house for tortillas with steamed vegetables and apple pie, it was incredible! It has been nice getting to know her, she is very friendly and as she has been here over a year, has answers to a lot of the random questions we have.
Allright, time for me to sign off for now!
Lots of LOVE!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
School
I am in Tamale for the day today. My new situation is a bit different than I expected. The good news is that the house is only about 70 feet from the school. We only have to ride our bikes the 7 km when we want to come into town. Today we made the ride for the first time, it is a challenge as the roads are all very sandy. After the bike ride, we have to wave down a taxi or a trotro (bus) to get the other 38 km to Tamale.
The house isn't a house, more a motel. All the rooms (6) open onto a veranda and there are two showers a kitchen, and two bathrooms in the middle. the shower is the only one that works. To cook, we have a portable gas stove. One of the other teachers, the only other female, cooks every night during the week. We also get hot lunch from the school. Both meals are rice seasoned with fish and tomato past every day it seems. We also have rice for breakfast, served with sugar and milk. It is called rice water, but tastes like warm rice pudding.
The kids are great, though they speak almost no englsh. After school, they come over to our place to watch us, play with us, examine our stuff, and so on. In class, they are rowdy, but they seem to be learning. We have been working with 3 and 4th grade. It seems that some of them understand everything and some understand nothing, so it is hard to devise lesson plans. We hope to teach the 5 and 6th graders starting next week. The other teachers don't show much interest in us, except one, Alhassan, who likes to talk to us.
Last night, I cooked dinner, rice and peanut soup. Since three of the teachers had gone to town, we fed two local girls. Everyone said they liked the food and ate a lot of it!!
It is incredibly hot. When we get out of class (12-1), all I can do is sit in the shade and read. Around 4, I start to feel like a person again. We sleep outside at night, on the outer veranda in our mosquito net, so that we can feel the breeze. I was scared the first night, but the locals assured me that it's very safe.
We will start work for the mango farm next week, though I am not sure exactly what we will be doing as the trees were only planted 3 weeks ago and don't need much tending.
I am off to visit Wahab's mom, Sala and have some fufu for lunch!
The house isn't a house, more a motel. All the rooms (6) open onto a veranda and there are two showers a kitchen, and two bathrooms in the middle. the shower is the only one that works. To cook, we have a portable gas stove. One of the other teachers, the only other female, cooks every night during the week. We also get hot lunch from the school. Both meals are rice seasoned with fish and tomato past every day it seems. We also have rice for breakfast, served with sugar and milk. It is called rice water, but tastes like warm rice pudding.
The kids are great, though they speak almost no englsh. After school, they come over to our place to watch us, play with us, examine our stuff, and so on. In class, they are rowdy, but they seem to be learning. We have been working with 3 and 4th grade. It seems that some of them understand everything and some understand nothing, so it is hard to devise lesson plans. We hope to teach the 5 and 6th graders starting next week. The other teachers don't show much interest in us, except one, Alhassan, who likes to talk to us.
Last night, I cooked dinner, rice and peanut soup. Since three of the teachers had gone to town, we fed two local girls. Everyone said they liked the food and ate a lot of it!!
It is incredibly hot. When we get out of class (12-1), all I can do is sit in the shade and read. Around 4, I start to feel like a person again. We sleep outside at night, on the outer veranda in our mosquito net, so that we can feel the breeze. I was scared the first night, but the locals assured me that it's very safe.
We will start work for the mango farm next week, though I am not sure exactly what we will be doing as the trees were only planted 3 weeks ago and don't need much tending.
I am off to visit Wahab's mom, Sala and have some fufu for lunch!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I got a job!
Hi again!
So, I've been in Tamale in the Northern Region for a week now. It's great here!! I actually had a sinus infection at first, which was no fun, but I'm all better now. We have been having a great time, wandering the crowded streets and markets, sweating our you know whats off!
The food is amazing! We eat a lot of fufu, pounded kasava, plantain, or yam. We eat it with our hands in peanut, lye, ore palmnut soup. The peanut soup is my favorite so far, but we are trying a new kind tonight. We have found a restaurant here that we love which is owned and operated by a friend of Wahab's family, Mary. There we get fufu, rice and beans, and coca cola. For four poeple to have meals and drinks it is 8.70 cedis, like 6 USD. We have been loving coca cola here. Wahab's sister, Sadia, has been teaching me to cook some things.
Today in the market, we saw cow heads. As in entire heads. It was insane. Also, because there are so many Muslims, there are huge prayers lead in the market five times every day; they are very interesting to watch.
A few days ago, we met Sadia's cousin Niendow; when we told him we were planning to go to Accra on Wednesday to start working with WWOOF (The World Wide Organization for Organic Farming), he told us of ITFC, an organic mango farm association. On Monday morning, we met with them and Tuesday (today), they invited us to come work for them teaching in a school five days a week. We are very excited; we spent the afternoon in the market, getting groceries and cookwear because we will be making all our own meals, living without electricity, and biking 7km each way to and from school.
We are excited to begin and we move into our house, which we will share with three Ghanaian teachers, tomorrow. Now, we are off to have dinner with Sadia and her family!
So, I've been in Tamale in the Northern Region for a week now. It's great here!! I actually had a sinus infection at first, which was no fun, but I'm all better now. We have been having a great time, wandering the crowded streets and markets, sweating our you know whats off!
The food is amazing! We eat a lot of fufu, pounded kasava, plantain, or yam. We eat it with our hands in peanut, lye, ore palmnut soup. The peanut soup is my favorite so far, but we are trying a new kind tonight. We have found a restaurant here that we love which is owned and operated by a friend of Wahab's family, Mary. There we get fufu, rice and beans, and coca cola. For four poeple to have meals and drinks it is 8.70 cedis, like 6 USD. We have been loving coca cola here. Wahab's sister, Sadia, has been teaching me to cook some things.
Today in the market, we saw cow heads. As in entire heads. It was insane. Also, because there are so many Muslims, there are huge prayers lead in the market five times every day; they are very interesting to watch.
A few days ago, we met Sadia's cousin Niendow; when we told him we were planning to go to Accra on Wednesday to start working with WWOOF (The World Wide Organization for Organic Farming), he told us of ITFC, an organic mango farm association. On Monday morning, we met with them and Tuesday (today), they invited us to come work for them teaching in a school five days a week. We are very excited; we spent the afternoon in the market, getting groceries and cookwear because we will be making all our own meals, living without electricity, and biking 7km each way to and from school.
We are excited to begin and we move into our house, which we will share with three Ghanaian teachers, tomorrow. Now, we are off to have dinner with Sadia and her family!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
In Ghana
Hi!
So i've made it to ghana...we left the states last tuesday at 6 pm from jfk. we being dennis and me. we spent a day in madrid wandering around and in a museum, lots of fun though it was very cold there. The next day we flew to Morocco. There were no incredibley cheap plane tickets to Ghana as we thought there would be, so we went to the Hotel Gallia for the evening to think and plan. We ate an amazing dinner of couscous, tarrine, and mint tea that night which made up for the scuzziness of out hotel. Anyway, the next day we talked to people about the possibility of taking buses, boats, or a rental car to Ghana. All sounded like bad ideas, so we went back to the airport, got our tickets and flew to Accra.
We arrived in Accra at 2:30 saturday morning. We had no plan as of yet, so we decided to sleep in the airport until the sun came up. There were no chairs or benches, so we found a spot under a table and tried to sleep. Around 4:30 am, a gaurd woke us up asking if we were the two white guys waiting to be picked up. We said no, we didn't think so, but we turned out to be wrong! Wahab, our amazing friend from the states had gotten the message we sent telling him we were flying to his native Ghana and arranged for his brother-in-law, Iddrisu to pick us up!!!
The three of us made our way to the bus station in Accra and rode to Sunyami, where Iddi lives with his wife/Wahab's sister, Sadiya. We had fufu and groundnut soup for dinner and then went to our hotel for the night.
WE MADE IT!!
So i've made it to ghana...we left the states last tuesday at 6 pm from jfk. we being dennis and me. we spent a day in madrid wandering around and in a museum, lots of fun though it was very cold there. The next day we flew to Morocco. There were no incredibley cheap plane tickets to Ghana as we thought there would be, so we went to the Hotel Gallia for the evening to think and plan. We ate an amazing dinner of couscous, tarrine, and mint tea that night which made up for the scuzziness of out hotel. Anyway, the next day we talked to people about the possibility of taking buses, boats, or a rental car to Ghana. All sounded like bad ideas, so we went back to the airport, got our tickets and flew to Accra.
We arrived in Accra at 2:30 saturday morning. We had no plan as of yet, so we decided to sleep in the airport until the sun came up. There were no chairs or benches, so we found a spot under a table and tried to sleep. Around 4:30 am, a gaurd woke us up asking if we were the two white guys waiting to be picked up. We said no, we didn't think so, but we turned out to be wrong! Wahab, our amazing friend from the states had gotten the message we sent telling him we were flying to his native Ghana and arranged for his brother-in-law, Iddrisu to pick us up!!!
The three of us made our way to the bus station in Accra and rode to Sunyami, where Iddi lives with his wife/Wahab's sister, Sadiya. We had fufu and groundnut soup for dinner and then went to our hotel for the night.
WE MADE IT!!
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