It's Sunday, September 12 and I just walked to the grocery store. Boy is it good to be sitting in the direct line of my fan now! There is a small "mall" about a 15 minute walk from my house, but you can't be sure what the grocery store will have, nor how much you'll pay. Adjustments come in unexpected places. I've been as busy at home as at school, and trying to see new things on weekends gets me backlogged everywhere. I really am glad I'm not in an apartment by myself, but I do wish at least one other person in "the Palace" was at least twenty years older or closer to my age. Joyce and Tim have been so kind, but this week is the Convention/ meeting of all the directors in Asia, Indonesia and Africa plus people from the home office of NICS meeting here at our school, so it's hectic for the Crosbys for a while.
Cooking consists mostly of sharing the dinners at home five nights. I'm making dinner tomorrow, and substituting what is available for what I really want. The three other girls in the house with whom we rotate dinner making are all in their twenties and don't know how to really cook, so I eat a lot of burnt frozen vegetables and rice put in a pita. Last week I roasted some chicken and cooked carrots with onion in some butter; if I want a real homecooked meal I'd better plan to make it myself.We'll have some beef with gravy made from onion soup and cream of chicken soup mixed with milk (there is no canned mushroom soup, thus the chicken soup substitute). The girls appreciated my home cooked “Mom meal" and the feeble ginger snaps I made Friday (even with the right ingredients the results aren’t the same). Since the house had no cookie sheets, cooling rack or oven safe dishes it has been a challenge (I bought that stuff this weekend, necessary for my sanity). The stove has numbers from one to ten (no temperature gauge), since I was successful with the chicken at 6 or 7 for an hour and a half, I concluded that was about 350F. The first week my main investment was a high voltage protector, a power strip surge protector/ extension cord and power adapters. The second week was a cell phone/ trac phone and minutecards. Now I can address the cooking needs as I see them.
Friday was the last day of Muslim Rhamadan, so a national holiday. Although Accra is mostly Christian, the country is still predominantly Muslim. I enjoyed the day off from school, and went for a short excursion with my housemates to a different part of Accra. The "Art Mart" is like a poor flea market full of stands with Ghanians hawking their wares; I'm still in the looking stage trying to get a feel for what souvenirs to buy. Then we took a bus (really a run down van with lots of people crammed in). We had to go to a big station with at least a hundred vans to find one going where we wanted, and none of the vehicles would pass a Car-max inspection. . . I never would have ventured out by myself, and was glad to be with four other young teachers experienced in bartering for better prices. Actually almost everyone is young, about half my age, and truth be told, I get weary of them at times.
They went to a fabric shop where you can get clothes made or buy what she's already got. The fabric is neat, mostly batik and quite colorful. I will eventually get something made, but I want to draw a picture of what I want. Joyce had a pants and long dress outfit made that was nice: had pockets, flared for easier fit, and I think incorporated princess seams at the side (not common in African clothes). Ghanians are not especially noted for good craftsmanship, so I 'll go to someone Joyce recommends. Riding a cab or tro-tro (bus) is a real trip in itself: crazy drivers honk all the time to say "here I come, move over", and other than on the downtown streets there's shacks on the sides of most roads with miscellaneous stuff. Lots of food vendors, but then a hubcap hut, landscape plants, pineapples & bananas, then casket vaults. Makes no sense.
About my school, although there are some native Ghanaians as students atAIS, most could not afford the school. It's mostly children of CEO's of big companies, diplomats or embassy type people, or kids of missionaries out in the more remote areas (nannies take care of them at home in Accra). They are respectful, and from a lot of different countries (I think I heard mentioned about 20 different) but all classes are taught in English. The school has a generator, but power fluctuates all day. There's cold water and power at schhol, even when it’s locked up, so teachers go in as early as 6:15 am. Sometimes I'm told to turn off the air conditioning, sometimes I'm told to turn it on because if there's too much excess power. the internet crashes. This month I decided to get the main lunch every day: usually rice or noodles with some meat and a spicy sauce. They call it chicken stew or spaghetti, but believe me it's not what I know as stew or spaghetti! I think in October I'll do the opposite and get just the fruits or yogurt. Even coleslaw would be more helpful to my diet that this spicy pasta stuff. I don't mean to be complaining, but it is an adjustment, but I have learned the hard way to drink LOTS of filtered water.
Last night I went with some other teachers to an Ethiopian restaurant for their New Year's celebration. I had been invited to go but didn't realize the only other person from “the Palace" had left without me, and I had to walk by myself in the dark about four or five blocks to "the Pink House" where they were meeting. Then I learned that I don't especially like Ethiopian food since it's spicy and you eat everything with your fingers (no utensils at all). It was about twice the cost I expected, so I learned to maybe inquire more in advance before going out. It was an experience, but I doubt I'd go again. Live and learn.
How I miss our Sunday church services back in Charlotte;. I’ve been going to Elim International Church with my friends the Crosbys, and while it is uplifting, it lacks the traditional aspects I love. The American International School has better fed my faith, and the whole staff is so caring and devoted to God, it lifts me through the many adjustments. Every Monday and Wednesday mornings we have devotionals and prayer before school, and the faculty meetings on Tuesday afternoons are begun and ended with prayer too. It is an incredible experience, and I really am well cared for.
It is a different world here, and there is so much I am grateful for. Although there is air conditioning, this is the “winter” and so we use ceiling fans when the electricity is working. You can see the gaps in the windows and doors (all of which have bars over them) and the small refrigerator and stove are enough to get by for a few days. The other five women in my house are all about Jeremiah’s age, not really accustomed to cooking balanced meals or washing dishes in hot water; I admittedly miss older company to talk with, but I’m glad I don’t live alone.
Admittedly the younger teachers are more willing to go places on their own that I wouldn't: like last night I was included in a group going to a restaurant to celebrate the Ethiopian New Year. I didn’t realize the group was meeting at a house about five blocks away at 7 pm. It gets dark here at 6 pm, and I was extremely uncomfortable walking by myself at night. It is not something I expect to repeat, although nothing happened; and I learned I do not enjoy the spicy food you eat entirely with your fingers (no utensils of any kind). Some things you just chalk up to experience.
Speaking of chalk, I also learned I need to put “ant chalk” on the legs of my bed. Apparently some ants feasted on my hands one or two nights ago and left little pus filled bites. Here I thought I’d done so well with my mosquito repellant at night and sunscreen on weekend outings. I feel so much better at night if I can take my shower before bed; each bathroom has a small barrel size water tank (that if you think about half an hour ahead) that can heat and hold hot water for a trickle shower. This morning the water pressure was low (why I do not know) so the shower was a real sparse trickle if at all; of course this is not the same as a power outage or running out of gas, As long as I’m at school the generator kicks in when the electricity shuts off, so it’s not so bad, and they have water coolers to get very cold water at school. At home we put the tap water through a pottery filter to purify drinking water, but obviously that isn’t cold.
So far I’ve been able to use lesson plans from my past teaching jobs. Materials are extremely limited. Paper is expensive, many supplies like blue carbon paper are difficult if not impossible to find locally. I don’t even have large construction paper, poster board or stubby paint brushes. Anything sipped from America is likely to be held up for a bribe. “Officials” open packages and put “taxes” that can shurpass the price you paid in America. Most supplies that the Crosby’s order in the summer are sent over in crates through JARS (I believe they are home based in Waxhaw, NC; they get missionarys supplies to remote areas and are involved with the Wycliff Bible translations).
Please understand I am not meaning to complain. I just wanted to explain the circumstances the school (and the country) is operating under. American International School in Accra is doing a remarkable job representing Christ to some students who are not even Christian. The parents feel that the caring, nurturing environment at AIS is important to their children, even if the family is not Christian, and they agree to the Bible study requirements and realize it will be part of the curriculum at all levels.
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