Walking Barefoot and Non-Stop Painting

So the whole barefoot thing is only slightly metaphorical.  Now that I have been at my school for just a bit over 3 months, I can say that I am starting to feel right at home.  I feel that I am becoming more a part of the staff, my relationships with the students continue to grow, the language isn’t such a problem (the local language is a different story), and I have continued to make many improvements in my classroom and home as well as some within the school.  All of these things have contributed to my “barefoot” analogy. 

But really, I have been forced to walk around barefoot several times since my tattered 8-year old sandals keep falling apart on me. 

It all started when a Kindergarten student with an intellectual disability started following me around.  He hears perfectly but cannot speak so they decided to bring him here for school.  This kid is a goofball and apparently he is fond of me.  One day, he flat tired me and that was when the trouble with my sandals started.  I have glued the straps back in place several times since and eventually they always break off again.  I know they probably won’t last through my service, but I am not ready to give up on them just yet. 

Taken right after a bath,
so most of the dirt should be gone.

Another reason for going barefoot is to help with my tan lines.  I haven’t worn socks or shoes in over 6 months and my feet look like they have skin from 2 different ethnicities on them.  Or maybe that’s just the dirt. 

My feet get so dirty anyway, so what’s the point in wearing sandals?  With the seasonal change, my feet have begun to sweat a lot more too.  I can be sitting in my house with my feet up and they will still start to sweat.  Walking in sandals becomes an exercise that somehow involves Slip-and-Slide practice. 

The students all respond the same way when I walk around without sandals.  First they stop and stare at my feet, then they ask me “sandals where?” then, as I walk away, they cluster in groups and continue to stare.  This behavior is typical whenever something unordinary happens, which is very often around me.  Apparently adults here never walk barefoot, unless they are a vagrant or something. 

Adinkra Symbols

As for the painting, I have probably painted every day for the past 2 weeks.  First I repainted a color mixing mural in my classroom.  Then we relocated the library so I went and added some Adinkra Symbols, which are the traditional symbols that you see everywhere here.  Next, I started working on an Alphabet mural for the Kindergarten room.  And finally, the other day, I started repainting my bedroom. 

 

The Kindergarten classes are each getting the Alphabet and some Numbers painted on their walls.  The first set of letters took my 4 days so the whole project will last a good while.  I’m taking it slow so I don’t run out of things to do too quickly.  The kids don’t know about the murals so I will be excited to see their reaction when they return after the holidays. 

The paint in my bedroom has been a process. 
You can’t just go to a store and pick out your color from hundreds of swatches in various finishes like you can in the States.  Here, you get a choice between Easter shades of red, yellow, green, blue, white, peach and grey.  So I picked up a Powder Blue and added a little black paint, green paint, and purple and green batik dyes until I was happy with the color.  I painted my first wall and then discovered that the paint color was changing as it sat longer.  By the time the first wall was finished, I decided I hated the color.  The next day, I dumped a ton of green dye in until I knew I liked the color.  I’m happy with it, but now my sponge roller shredded so I have to go and buy another before the work can continue.  Painting a room is the States never seemed easier!

Recent Developments

• ·      Today marks 6 months in Ghana
• ·      Haven’t cut my hair (except for the back) yet
• ·      First term of school is now over
• ·      Sadly, I lost my first student.  She passed away while I was gone on PC business
• ·      I painted my house
• ·      I think I am done giving out my number.  I seem to have attracted a few clingy friends/fiancés. 
• ·      The Harmattan has begun and with it, dust everywhere, dry lips, seasonal cough, etc. 
• ·      I have easily read 40 books since I have been here.
• ·      I just celebrated Thanksgiving with some other Volunteers.  We even had a turkey.  It cost 200 cedis, or $100.  Expensive bird! 
• ·      Projects:
  

o   The students just completed their second football net. 

o   We are relocating the library soon, which will free up a lot of space in my classroom!

o   Soon, I will start painting Sign Language Numbers and Alphabet for the Kindergarten classes. 

o   I may have mentioned the Vocational Building earlier.  There has still not been any progress with it.  Very frustrating.  

A student in the nose box.  He didn't know I snapped this, much to the delight of the class.

Bad Decisions and Worse Consequences

I know it’s been a while since my last post.  Let me take you back to the reason it has been so long.

Against all reasoning, I went for a nice little swim in the dam near my house late September.  At some point during my excursion, I cut my foot open.  Then, since I am really stupid, I went for a swim again the next day.  You can imagine my sunburn after that. 

Within a few days, I knew I had problems.  I was continually running (and not the exercise version), I had developed a UTI, pink eye, sinus infection, blurry vision, sprained ankle, and spots all over my skin.  It was time to call the doctor. 

They were worried I had some serious stuff so I went to the hospital for tests and started an antibiotic.  Eventually everything cleared up and I was fine.  Until, the kids at school all started passing around a seasonal cold, which I am still fighting off. 

To top all of that off, my power was out for 5 days during my illness(es).  It’s usually not that big of a deal but I was having to wash dishes by candlelight.  Not very easy when I also don’t have a sink.  

Daily Life

As per request, I have decided to compile a list of things that no longer phase me about everyday life. 

Getting into Town

I live a few kilometers from the village of Tongo where I do most of my shopping.  As long as I have my bike, getting there is fine.  If the tire is blown, it’s still possible, but the very slight and gradual incline makes it very annoying.  Walking there takes about 30 minutes. 

Getting into Bolga

First, I have to get into Tongo to catch a tro tro.  Now, there is a market day every 3 days in Bolga so I plan all of my tasks around this schedule.  Waiting at the taxi stand in the village can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. If you are fortunate when you arrive, there will be one spot left in the tro, you take it and leave immediately.  If you are unlucky enough to be the first person in the tro, you know there is a wait ahead of you.  Plus, it is very common to have a full tro but still have to wait for 20 or more goats/sheep/dogs/small children to be strapped to the roof before leaving.  Today is the first time I have been to Bolga on a non-market day.  Getting here took 1 hour.  Who knows how I will get home.  

Market Day

These days are a mixed bag.  I always go to the huge market in Bolga to buy veggies and wagashi cheese, which is similar to fried feta.  Some days, the city is packed and it becomes difficult to cross the road, other days everything is closed.  

The Bank

The 3-day schedule makes some things difficult to achieve.  Say it is Saturday Market Day, and you have 2 cedis in your wallet.  It costs 1.50 to get to Bolga so you know that will be fine.  Once there, you head right for the bank, only to find it is closed even though the sign on the door says it is open on Saturdays.  True story:  The bank manager herself told me the bank is closed on Saturdays despite what that sign says. 

So now I only go to the bank during the week.  Mondays are off too, because everybody needs their money and you are likely to find hundreds of people waiting in “line” and it would take hours to get your money.  Fridays are a similar story.  So now that leaves mid-week days the only days I will attempt to go to the bank. 

Now all of this sounds silly, why wouldn't I just use an ATM to get my money.  Luckily, they do have them in Ghana, but the card I applied for 6 weeks ago is still floating around somewhere. 

School

I guess it is surprising that I teach 50+ kids in each class.  That is something you get used to very quickly and before long, I stopped realizing how challenging it used to be.  Add the fact that the students cannot hear me if I try to add a detail while they work, and I had to reform the way I teach everything.  Oh, and the fact that my Sign Language is effective enough to get by, but I can only do a basic amount of explaining anything. 

I also teach IST which is mostly about computers.  The kids love it and I don’t.  Simply put.  It’s not their fault that they don’t know much about how to use a computer.  It has been difficult to teach them basic things like clicking and dragging things around.  I teach about 25 kids at a time with 7-8 computers.  I have 30 minutes to teach them all so I have to plan about a 4-5 minute activity to allow enough time for everybody to try it out.  It takes about another 5 minutes for the student to correctly turn the computers off.  The language barrier and my complete lack of technological sign language knowledge makes these classes stressful.  But the students are making progress and it is becoming easier. 

Bathing, Washing hands

I am still bathing with a bucket.  It sounds like it would be annoying but after a while this too becomes normal.  I boil a little of my water first so I have a nice warm bath.  Or if I take a second shower, I sit the bucket in the sun for a bit to heat it up. 

Washing my hands is done by pouring water from a cup over a large bowl.  I probably miss a nice sink the most. 

Cooking and Washing Dishes

I use a 2-burner gas stove to cook everything.  I make pancakes just about every day for breakfast.  Varieties include but are not limited to:  original, cinnamon, coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate, strawberry, and rum.  I think I may open a pancake stand when I get back home.  Lunch is usually something easy like IndoMei, which is very similar to Ramen.  I always have some soup for supper, either groundnut soup, chicken noodle, or tomato soup. 

I have developed an interesting method for washing dishes.  I pour about 1 cup of water into a bowl and use that amount of water to wash everything.  Then I rinse the same way by pouring it from thing to thing.  It’s shocking how little water you can use when you have to ration what you have. 

   

The Real Start of School

It’s finally time to formally start school, 2 weeks after the students started coming, but that still doesn’t mean I am teaching classes. 

My classroom is conveniently blocked in by Kindergarten on each side and those kids just love to peer at me through the crack in my door and the windows like I’m some animal on display at a zoo.  It is harmless at first and then it becomes very annoying as I chase them away time after time until it becomes a game for them.  Needless to say, what discipline I learned in America doesn’t apply here and I am picking up some really bad habits that I won’t speak of. 

When it finally comes time to begin teaching, I quickly learn that I am not going to be provided with a schedule so I had to chase the other teachers around and basically come up with my own.  That took about another day off my teaching schedule. 

 I assign a first project and have the kids illustrate their names and sign names as a way to gauge their levels and help learn their names.  When the projects were completed, many exceeded far above my expectations and I was really happy about their work.  However, it seems many of the kids don’t know their real names, only their assigned sign names, and the roster is impossible to line up with the list I created from the cards.  Grading is going to be fun…

Next, I taught a mobile lesson where the kids got to work in groups.  They collected whatever they

could find outside and some groups came up with really nice finds.  After 3 classes completed the mobiles, my class now looks like a jungle and everybody loves looking at their new art!

My pool with the hills in the back

The kids are currently working on snake coil pots.  Clay is clearly a medium they enjoy and their creativity blows me away.  They use stones and sticks to add embellishments to their pieces without me even thinking about it.

Somewhere between my last post and this one, I explored around my site some more and found a huge dam that is now my personal swimming pool.  I risk contracting Schisto and other nasty bugs by just having my feet in the water but I consider a nice refreshing swim to be well worth the risk.  Except for that part where I have felt like crap since I first went out over a week ago…

End of day 1

I got bored and decided to start a small project on campus, working on building a football net from water sachets, which are small plastic bags that all the water comes in here.  They are discarded everywhere since there is really no public trashcan, and the kids go out and collect them so we can continue to work. The first net is almost complete and the football team couldn’t be happier!

I also went on a short trip to Navrongo and saw the world’s largest basilica made entirely from mud bricks.  The interior decoration is very traditional and was inspired by the Nankani-Kassena motifs that are used to decorate their houses.  It also includes reliefs of local animals and religious stories.

The wet season is coming to an end and with it, some amazing storms have been blowing through.  We get a lightning storm just about every night and I was able to get some pretty exciting shots.

Developments with Biggie:  He is a really horrible cat and we have come to a point in our relationship where I thought he would benefit be more as a meal.  But after being far to aggressive toward him, I decided to start feeding him outside and he no longer wakes me up at night!  So now, he is welcome back on probation, as long as he can behave himself.

   

The “Start” of School

 It’s finally school season, which means I can finally start doing what I came here to do.  But just because school has started doesn’t mean I am teaching as of yet…  It takes several weeks for all of the students to trickle in and the ones that are here from the beginning spend a couple of weeks weeding and fixing up the place. 

In the meantime, I have been making a few trips out to the Tengzug Hills to do come climbing and sight seeing.  There are random piles of huge boulders stacked everywhere with shrines nestled in some places.  The views from the top of the formations are breathtaking! 

I have also been chipping away at setting up my classroom.  I don’t really have anything to do until school really starts so I guess I will just be cleaning and sorting more and maybe (re)painting [over] some of the murals.  I am also glad to finally have students to talk with and practice my sign language.  It’s gotten a little rusty over the past few weeks. 

My storage room and future studio

The classroom

I have introduced the students to my kite.  They make excellent targets!  Does that make me a bad Volunteer?  But really, they really enjoy it when I chase them around with it.  Their laughter and excitement for things like that are awesome to experience. 

So now it’s just a waiting game until I get to teach.  I still have no idea what classes I will have, which is a little unnerving, but that is just the way it is here.  Nevertheless, I am extremely excited to have my own classroom and get to teach whatever (as long as I can say it in sign language).   

Finally at Site!

The journey north to my site was interesting, to say the least.  Thankfully, I was with 2 other Volunteers and didn’t have to go the whole way alone. 

Getting to Kumasi was our first task and that went fine.  But when we arrived and tried to find the cheapest place to stay (as indicated by my travel guide), we discovered that it had been removed recently.  We tried another hotel, booked it and paid, and then were told that 3 people couldn’t room together.  Welcome to Ghana, where important facts like that are often overlooked.  Discouraged, we went to another hotel, booked it and were then told the exact same thing.  After a few minutes of looking pathetic and lost, the worker decided to let us stay in the room. 

The following morning, we got into an argument with staff over a crappy breakfast that was supposed to be for 2 (they didn’t know we all shared it), and then they tried to charge us for the second plate even though it was included in the room price.  We tried to leave the hotel and were literally chased outside for a few cedis.  It was stupid that it was a big deal but after all of the trouble we had with accommodations, we just wanted to go. 

Then we tried to find a bus to take us north.  We chartered a taxi and I bartered the fare.  When we got to the station, we discovered it was only for southern cities.  Then we asked the driver to take us to the proper station and I had to bargain again.  We didn’t exactly come to an agreement because I had no idea how far it was and I didn’t want to get overcharged.  When we got to the station, I tried to pay him with “the only money I had left,” which clearly wasn’t enough.  We ran into a sticky situation where there were people surrounding us, and they were all arguing about the fare situation.  Finally, it was ended when a taxi driver pulled us away and told us he was going to the same place and gave us a fair price. 

We decided to risk our safety and go along with the driver for several reasons:  Much more room, we would get there faster, the seats don’t feel like a plank of wood, it’s a lot quieter, etc…

Thankfully, there were no safety issues with the driver.  He was very nice and did as he said he would.  But, when I was about 1 hour away from my site, his car broke down and we had to get out and find another vehicle.  Luckily, we were stopped at a police security check and the cops stopped another car and pretty much told the driver he had to take us to out destinations.  It was shady, I’ll admit, but it was getting dark and I just wanted to get home.     

When I arrived in Bolga, my nearest city, it was dark and raining.  I called a friend to come pick me up and he was able to get me home safely.  In all, the travel from Kumasi to my site took about 10 hours.  I probably won’t be doing that again!

But now, I am basically just relaxing at my house with Biggie, my cat, and waiting for school to start.  I feel like my sign language is starting to go downhill since I haven’t really used it in about a week or so.  I also don’t know a lick of the local language yet.  I should probably go get on that. 

Swearing In

I got a pretty sweet haircut the night before the swearing in ceremony.  I call it something between the monk do and the bull cut.  In other words, I would have never asked for this cut in 100 years, but when in Ghana, expect to be surprised by the variable understanding of phrases such as “not too short.”

Our homestay families provided us all with a final outfit for our ceremony.  Usually, the trainee matches their family members but since I was moving to the north, my father presented me with a traditional smock from my region!  This was not a cheap gift and I am very thankful of it (even if it is pink). 

At the ceremony, I sang the National Anthem with a fellow Volunteer, performed The Lion King’s “Circle of Life” in Sign Language as our language presentation, and took the oath to formally become a Volunteer.  All of the Volunteers also got to perform 2 traditional dances for the homestay families. 

After the ceremony, we all went back to our homes to pack to leave the following morning and ultimately move to our respective sites. 

So we are all finally official Peace Corps volunteers now.  It has been a very long 10 weeks and I won’t lie about being glad it’s over.  But now the real work sets in, as I get ready to spend the next 24 months here. 

End of Training

Unfortunately I don’t have a lot to say about the past few weeks.  Basically we have only been in language training, preparing for our LPI (Language Proficiency Interview), which must be passed in order to be sworn in as a Volunteer. 

We finally had the interview and it was set up to allow us to talk about our family, what work we will do in the Peace Corps and whatever else came up in discussion.  Thankfully, I passed!  So now, after 10 weeks, I don’t have to worry about this test and can relax until Swearing-In next week.  After then, we will all officially be Volunteers. 

As my time winds down in the village I am becoming more aware of the things I will miss:

The children.

Being close to anything I could possibly need for daily life.

My sister’s cooking.  She’s amazing at it.

The other Volunteers

Some things I may not miss so much:

The Church across the street, including the late night and early morning service, and all day service on Sunday

            The bleating baby goats everywhere

            Children following me in hoards shouting “Obruni!  Obruni!”

            My one little brother that is a crybaby

            The insects

            The training schedule.  Freedom is nice.

I have also been compiling a list of my “firsts” during my service so far so here they are:           

Solo flight           

International flight

Red-eye flight

Guinness beer

Airline food

Passport

Going through customs

Meeting a US Ambassador

Eating West-African food

Dry heaving

Heat exhaustion

Living in a village

Teaching a deaf classroom

Defecating in a cup

Chasing goats and chickens out of my house

Speaking an African language

Being called Obruni (White man)

Finding a chicken foot in my food

Having tailored clothes made

Seeing a Rhino Beetle

Eating dog

And its liver

And brain

Eating Guinea Fowl

Blacking out in a foreign country

Lying about going out to my family

Blaming intoxication on bad street meat/Malaria small small

Site Week

We traveled to Kumasi for Counterpart Workshop, aka, finding out where we will live for the next 2 years and with whom we will work alongside. 

On the first day we had site announcements, where I learned I will be working at Gbeogo (pronounced: gBway-go) School for the Deaf, in the Upper East Region.  My counterpart was also announced and I was happy to learn that he is one of the more charismatic people at the school (according to the previous volunteer).  He is also the person I will be living next to, along with his 2 children. 

On the final morning, I had to get up at 3:30 in order to have time to pack and load the PC Bus to the Kumasi Metro Station.  In Ghana, the time zone is GMT also commonly known as Ghana Man Time.  This can easily be explained as having no sensitivity to time.  The bus was set to leave for the station at 4 but that didn’t happen.  By the time we loaded everything and got to the station it was 5:30. 

The station was very chaotic.  Tickets are sold first-come-first-serve so there is always a mad rush at the ticket counter when the call goes out.  Unfortunately we missed the first bus and had to wait for the second.  By the time it came around, it was close to 7 and we still had to pay for luggage and squeeze everybody onto the bus.  I was charged a few cedi for my bags and we placed them in a pile to be loaded.  Our mistake was standing right next the luggage and letting them know they were mine.  Because Obroni (White person) are perceived as rich, they began to ask for more money to load my bags. Thankfully my counterpart took care of the situation as I snuck on and took my seat.

The busses in Ghana are just like every other mode of transportation.  They cram as many people onto them as possible. There are seats for 5 across, as opposed to the 4 in the US, and it is normal for a sixth to sit on top of something, such as a bag, bucket, or anything else you find.  There is an unspoken rule that during transit, if a passenger needs to go to the bathroom, the driver is obligated to pull over and people can relieve themselves.  This is right about the time I though a riot was going to break out:

One person needed to go to the bathroom and the driver wouldn’t stop.  Instantly, everybody started shouting at the driver and arguing with each other.  People started standing up and waving their arms around.  My counterpart joined the “conversation” and finally the driver pulled over.  You would think the people would stop talking about the issue after the bus was stopped, but they continued to shout for minutes afterward. 

We stopped at a rest stop for food and I had to pay to use the bathroom. For the first time in my life…

We continued along the road and 2 other riots occurred about the same exact issue from before.  Ghanaians are really passionate people. 

I finally reached my site after about 10 hours sitting on a bus.  For a country the size of Oregon, it sure take forever to travel across it.  I hopped in a taxi and drove down a short road to my school.  The surrounding landscape is very flat but there are some amazing hills/mountains and Baobab trees, which 

are impressive. 

My school is nestled sort of in the middle of nowhere.  It is really secluded and thus, very quiet!  My house is very comfortable and comes with a full living room set, everything I would need in a bedroom, a gas stove to cook on and I even have running water for showers and the toilet.  This must be why people call Peace Corps Ghana Posh Corps…

I got to hang out with the current volunteer and we went to a local gem, Oasis.  It is a small resort place (I think) that was designed and built by the nicest couple ever.  They cooked us Guniea Fowl burritos and brownies one night and we got to hang out in a previous volunteers vacation home.  Also a gem. 

BTW, I ate dog for the first time.  And its brain.  

Practicum Weeks

Koforidua School for the Deaf

For Practicum weeks, we began teaching at our local schools.  The Deaf Art volunteers taught at the Koforidua School for the Deaf, which is located about an hour or more away from our village.  To ease our travel, the Peace Corps set us up in a hotel in Koforidua that had running water, including a toilet and a shower!  There was also a soda case that sold Fanta and a restaurant in our hotel that served French Fries, but I will get to that later…

The first week at the Deaf School could have gone better.  I got sick minutes before leaving.  On the first day, I felt like I wanted to die and ended up lying down on some benches all day.  I had no appetite and did not eat anything.  I was really upset that I didn’t get to teach but I knew I would have passed out if I tried.  The second day was a little better so I got to teach two classes.  Still no food though.  On my third day, I taught one class and then started to feel like crap again.  On the fourth day, which also happened to be my 23^rd birthday, I was getting so tired of being ill and not eating that I called the Medical Office and they decided to cart me 2 hours south to Accra for monitoring. 

After 9 days...

When I got to Accra, they took some blood, and conveniently bent my elbow while the needle was in my arm.  Here is the 9-day bruise to prove it.

I finally felt like eating so I asked one of the PC workers to get me pizza (since it was my birthday after all).  About an hour later, it arrived and I started to devour it!  The pizza had so much on it that I usually don’t eat but you’d be surprised what you will eat when you are starving.  “Chicken,” fish, mushrooms, green peppers, “cheese,” and some spicy sauce.  I was just so happy to have semi-American food again! 

Later that night, I learned another volunteer had arrived in Accra with similar symptoms as I.  I was thinking I had Malaria since I had a constant fever and was generally miserable.  My doctor diagnosed it as Heat Exhaustion.  Right. 

The following day, I met an older Volunteer couple that was visiting for they yearly medical checkup and they took us into Accra for breakfast and to show us around.  We went to this amazing Bistro place located around the Embassies, so it is very sophisticated.  Their menu was awesome and I ended up getting a Panini and French fries.

They walked us into the town a bit to show us the main market store that had everything you could imagine.  After the market, we separated and the other sick volunteer and I had to navigate back to the main office.  I will say I was impressed we made it back considering the condition we were in. 

The doctors kept us in Accra for another night and on Saturday we drove back to Kukuramtumi for our weekly training session.  The rest of the weekend was filled with laundry and trying to make myself eat.

Basic 1 and 2 work

The second week at Practicum was an amazing experience.  I was scheduled to teach Basic 1 and 2 classes, which are just like 1^st and 2^nd grade.  This week did confirm that I am not an elementary teacher but the deaf students were amazing to interact with!  We were gradually building our vocabulary so we could teach during our classes and I though it was really neat to be relying on signs to communicate.   Sure, it is really frustrating when you are used to teaching a certain way and you cannot even come close with a limited vocabulary, but I think I was able to get the point across most of the time. 

Basic 1 and 2 work

My biggest challenges during this week were bringing my lessons down to the Basic 1 and 2 level.  I have really only taught middle and high school art so this was a learning experience for me. 

During this week, I started to design and batik a few yards of fabric.  This process is awesome; you draw with wax onto some cloth and dye the whole thing a color.  The wax prevents the dye from penetrating the cloth underneath.  You continue this process with many colors and by the end you can have a really neat piece of art.  This is mine.

At night, we would return to the hotel and have language sessions.  I went to the restaurant and ate The French fries.  I think I ate so much that my body didn’t know what to do with them so I got sick.  Oh well, it was worth it!

At some point in the week, a few of the junior high girls decided I was handsome and I unofficially “wed” some of them.  This is totally normal here for people to ask to marry you so you just play along and it’s actually pretty funny.  I just started calling some of them Wife and they though it was hilarious!  But really, by the end of the week, I was starting to have personal conversations with the older students and that was the highlight for me.  They really enjoy when someone else knows Sign because they obviously have a limited amount of people they and communicate with in their lives. 

I will really miss working with the students, but now we are going to focus on building our languages and visiting our sites to find out more about what it’s like to be a teacher.  I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks!

Addo Nkwanta Week

The drive up to the village was stunning! We drove over a few ridges and the roads were incredibly curvy as we worked our way around them.  From the top of the ridges, you can see for miles, until the horizon fades out to nothing.

A view of the village from outside my house.

We finally arrive at our village, called AdonKwanta, which is located in the Volta Region.  It began to rain, which is considered good luck here.  We all walked to one of the churches where our host families were waiting anxiously to hear which of us they would call their own.  As names are being called, trainees are standing up and families are rushing over to greet them.  The scene was a little wild.

My family was announced and the only family member that was there was my new father, David.  We head to the back of the church to talk and the rain really kicks in.  When it rains here, it really rains.  After the meet and greet, the entire crowd of people migrated in the rain to the chief’s palace for a reception.

This is a formal occasion where the chief meets and prays to the spirits for his visitors’ safety in and around the village.  The ceremony is completed after drinking some palm schnapps and then offering a bit to the spirits.  

Then, the entire congregation moved to the Peace Corps truck to pick up our luggage.  This scene was a bit chaotic as all of the children were excited to come see the Obroni (white people) and there were a ton of bags to distribute.  I eventually found mine and my brother carried my suitcase on his head back home.  Totally normal here.

The village was a little closer to what I was expecting before I came here.  Of course, the roads are all dirt, or in this case, a very red, sandy soil, some houses are made from mud brick and concrete and others are made from wood.  Apparently animals here are public property.  Little dingo dogs, chickens, and pigs just roam around and eat any garbage they find.  The rainwater was worked a network of trails through the village that act as drainage for when people wash clothes and other things. 

My bed.

The other half of my room.

My brothers eating some Banku.

I walk into my new home and head to my new room.  I was surprised that I had a double-sized bed, bigger than what I sleep on at home.  I also have a window, chair and coffee table in my room.

The houses here are set up completely differently than in the US.  Most houses have a courtyard of sorts that acts like the “living room” during the day.  All of the cooking and laundry are done outside.  Rooms are all lined up around the courtyard.   It’s actually a pretty efficient way to build a house.  Everybody gets their own family space while still living with their relatives. 

As far as I can tell, I live with 2 sets of grandparents, at least one aunt, and tons of young cousins.  I can’t be sure though, there are always different people roaming in and out during the day…

I live across the street from a church.  Sounds nice, right?  Well, here, God (and the roosters outside my window) wake up around 4am and so do the locals.  4am is the prefect time to get their pray on!  And it’s not quiet church like in the US.  They chant, sing, and sometimes march outside.  Generally they are having a great time and I always wake up efficiently.  So I sleep with earplugs in.  Completely normal. 

It’s impossible to walk around the village without “Obroni” being shouted at you by the children.  It has got to be one of their first words! 

We basically trained all week and returned home during meal times to get a taste of the culture.  My sister does all of the cooking and she is generally very good, as long as she keeps fish out of my food.  I eat a lot of bread, watermelon, and “macaroni” which is basically ramen noodles cooked with vegetables and a boiled egg.  

That’s most of the exciting parts about village life.