September 2 I've been out of internet access and wanted to post I'm fine. I've got my schedule and am supervising as many study halls as teaching art (grades 1-7). I'd been trying to keep up with my apartment-mates and realized I'm running myself too thin. Sometimes some teachers from the "Pink House" (maybe five blocks away) go walking in the morning when it's still dark out (5 am), but that's been hit or miss. My back needs the exercise, but I doubt I'll ever go by myself even in the morning. Teachers are at school at 7 am and students are in the class at 7:45.
The diet will take adjustment on my part. Faith and Christy eat pasta or macaroni as a main ingredient in most things (except pitas), and the school lunches are meat and some pasta or rice; always with the same moderately spicy seasoning. I'm hoping to see which local street venders are safe to buy fruits from; already I'm missing salads and fresh corn most.
Well, it's late and I learned this morning to pack up stuff before going to bed. Last night we had a power outage from 2 am until about 9 am, so we get dressed by candle light and since there's no power, there's no way to make oatmeal for breakfast, so no taking medicine. Since the school has a generator, I took all my stuff, left early and made instant oatmeal at school. If I learn one thing, it will be to be flexible! Even at school the power fades or goes out for a while.
September 4 Thank God it’s Friday; really, I AM thanking God I’ve survived my first week here, and the classes I teach. I have wondered what I’ll do with my classes next week, especially since I’ve exhausted my favorite lessons this week! Supplies are very limited, like no paper heavy enough to paint on, and I’m not sure how to clean up without sinks big enough to fit a quart bottle under OR buckets anyway. For the first week I didn’t even know the questions to ask; now I’m beginning to realize many questions have no clear answers, or not expected options. May I have some paper towels: yes. Are there any thicker than a Kleenex? Yes but outrageously expensive; so forget about it. Can I get a printout of my lesson plans I’m to hand in Friday? Probably, but start on Wednesday in case the power goes out or the internet is just not available for two days. In the isolated community of the school everyone helps each other, but the culture is not as “success oriented” on getting ahead.
Tonight I’m staying home. Everyone else is going to a special church program that was previewed in chapel at school on Wednesday. I needed to get some laundry done, and that may take hours (if the power stays on). The drier doesn't really totally dry anything, but if we put damp clothes on the drying rack they may be dry in 12 hours. The washing machine at my house is smaller, everyone washes all colors together in cold, and the drier sort of works in smaller batches that may take an hour each to reach basic "damp". The Palace gets internet starting at 7 pm, my back wants to be horizontal, and I’m missing friends and family back home. I thought maybe I’d leave school earlier and take a walk, but I’m barely able to venture to and from school by myself, leave alone experience the heat through streets that have no street signs. Big houses are sometimes hotels, clinics or schools; streets are so rutted I barely want to walk on them (I’d be afraid to risk driving here) and cars navigate by honking and barging full speed ahead swerving to avoid the biggest potholes.
The Palace is in a moderate neighborhood, good size houses with some landscaping, but not the area embassy people would be seen. The people who work in these homes are poor; our guards mop the floor, sometimes do ironing or extra little things to be more valuable to keep their jobs. There’s a wall around each house with an access gate and guard on duty all the time. Plants are in front of the house, but not a real yard or acreage. We are directly in the flight path for the airport, and our street has a concrete gutter three or four feet deep on each side of the paved road. Three blocks down the road the street dead ends, and we walk about three blocks on a sandy bumpy dirt path/ alley that ends near the school.
Two mornings this week I walked with one of the female teachers who lives upstairs and two other teachers from the “Pink House” while it was still dark, but they don’t have the same urgency with back problems, so faded out as the week wore on. I doubt I’ll venture out by myself, but it was interesting to see the sun rise and be in a more business area. Shacks where people sell stuff evidently are where they live too. Native Ghanaians carry things on their heads without even needing to hold on to the load with their hands. Babies are wrapped around the backs of mothers with a large scarf, and tro-tros (taxis) drive in even the more remote streets.
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