I can't believe I haven't written at all so far this month. Days go quickly now I'm in a routine, and I enjoy all my art classes. As with any school, once you get to November 1 you've got to start thinking of what you want to accomplish before Christmas break. It's the same thing here; only art lessons seem to be falling out of the sky.
The West African Rescue Association (ambulance, fire, any emergency basically) is having an art contest for ages 5 through 12; a mother of three students works for the Accra branch and asked if I would encourage participation in a contest with prizes. My first grade class (10 students), my fourth graders (17) and hopefully my third graders (13) are all creating artwork for it before Thanksgiving. I've taught the first graders how to step by step draw a helicopter and an ambulance, then they create the emergency scene and color it.
My second graders are making large angels to be used as decorations for the December 4 Christmas music program, for which the third graders are making props of warrior shields for their African type song "Lion of Judah". These shields are made on scavengered pizza boxes painted on one side with yellow, red and green tempera paint (colors of the Ghanaian flag), and then I draw an African symbol meaning "God is supreme king" which they paint in black. Fifth graders are in their final week of yarn weaving on cardboard looms also made out of pizza boxes; they actually like it so much they want to take them home to finish because I can't justify more class time on one project and quite honestly I've never had a class WANT to do more weaving lessons. Sixth grade is making African graphics called Adinkra symbols, which were on one part of the "Amazing Race" show filmed in Ghana last summer. The symbols are quite interesting, and remind me of the Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs, only in black and white, each one having a separate meaning. Each sixth grader is making four selected from about two dozen "censored" symbols which are not contrary to Christian values. My seventh graders are getting tired of making two small origami Christmas trees for cards which I will also use as decorations for the Christmas program. Of course keep in mind my largest class is 17 students, and so far they all seem anxious to come to art. That is really good for my ego, but not enough to want to stay another semester!
Well, this is a long trxt entry. No new photos to add, and it's time for bed. My computer and I both need to recharge.
Then in the midst of this the school is holding a festival for the families of the workers who completed major building projects on the school this past summer. It is almost unheard of for native Ghanaians to work so continuously to complete a project like adding a whole floor to a building and constructing a major exterior stairway for three floors and completing it all in three months. Teachers are manning carnival type booths for children and adults of the workers' families and food is being supplied. I decided this morning to make big thank you posters with all the students signing it when they come to art. I have first through seventh graders at least twice a week, and lots of study halls with high schoolers. So anyway, this is keeping me busy, but also providing lessons for me. I like the team spirit of the teachers here, so finally feel like a participant.
Okay, now for some "I'm not in Kansas anymore" moments. Last Saturday I found hundreds of ants in my underwear drawer. Talk about ants in my pants . . . I freaked out, ants have been in my computer too. Really really tiny creatures that bite big time. I had to go to get pills to take I got bitten on my hands so many times they swelled up. Then today we learned that the day the school is closed next Tuesday for a Moslem holiday, well that holiday has been changed to Wednesday instead. The school is required to be closed for that holiday, and the government just told the school around lunch time today that the moon readings require the holiday be Wednesday instead of Tuesday. Welcome to Ghana!
The new transformer near the school was finally installed last month, but it has caused as many problems as it eliminated. Our generator is turned on only when the electricity goes out; and can't handle the air conditioning. Now our generator shuts off for hours at a time, and some rooms are veritable hothouses not able to even use fans or lights. Happily my room is not as bad as most on my side of the building. Usually when the power at home goes out I knew I could at least get air conditioning and cold water at school; that can't be taken for granted now, and I hear it gets much worse after Christmas. Another thing to be grateful for my not returning.
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