Happy Advent: November 28

Today I went to a mega church by myself. I decided two weeks ago I needed to expand my African worship experience, so I've gone to different churches. Last week I went to a Presbyterian service, which had a similar general order of worship to my home church, just different music and although it was in English, it was heavily accented. Today the service was in a very modern huge church with an Arch Bishop (no affiliation with a denomination) and the President of Ghana was there. Kind of neat to see the equivalent to the secret service, and you know you're not in America when the prayers include asking God that the president not be asassinated before he finishes his term of office.  This was the first service in an actual sanctuary; not under construction or not in a rented hotel space. Huge choir and instruments other than African drums, guitars or keyboards. Unfortunately one of the many brass instruments was badly out of tune. I can get to the churches with the help of directions from friends, but getting a taxi home was not so easy today. It costs almost twice as much to get home as it does to get there. Of course, it doesn't help that I was one of about six obroni's in the whole congregation, so I stand out as an outsider.

Yesterday I was getting cabin fever after staying home most of Thursday and Friday; other than the Thanksgiving dinner and a perm on Thursday and a few hours at school painting large pictures of the nativity characters (for next week's Christmas program). I asked one of the few housemates at the "Palace" to let me know if there was anywhere she'd like to go. She didn't seem interested so I took myself out for a walk and found a street vendor near the school selling jewelry. I got a few souvenirs as gifts and was happy with myself. When I got home Faith, one of the downstairs housemates, asked if I wanted to go to a small art market and I jumped at the chance. I found some nice earrings that remind me of Christmas ornaments, a hand made cloth doll, a very pretty piece of fabric in browns and blues, and some hand painted Christmas cards with abstract African scenes. That really made my day, and after I'd spent all the money I had, I was glad to go home and get out of the heat.

This week at school will be shorter and different. Friday is an African holiday called "Farmers' Day" and Saturday is the American International School's Christmas program at a reception room at a large hotel. Actually it will mostly be the music teacher's work with the elementary classes, each grade doing different Christmas songs. I was put on the committee, and later learned I was to display some art work. I had the second graders each make a flying angel (a project I used every year I've taught elementary art), and the seventh graders make origami Christmas trees on cards.The fifth graders lost too many classes to complete their Jerusalem skylines in time for Saturday's program, and the first, third and fourth graders were working on an art contest for the West African Rescue Association (entries due this Tuesday). I did help the music teacher by having the first graders decorate shakers for their song, and the third graders made shields in the colors of the Ghanaian flag with an Adinkra symbol meaning "God is king". I was asked about three weeks ago to make big pictures of Mary & Joseph, the three wisemen, a shepherd, the inkeeper, two angels, the manger with baby Jesus, and the star of Bethlehem. That's been keeping me more than busy, and I used two days off and a Saturday to finish them two days ago. After the program Saturday at least I'll have something to put on my bulletin boards when I return all the students' work the last few days of school December 8 & 9th.

 Almost everyone is flying out of here on the ninth or tenth of December. Tim Crosby said I may use his drivers when he's gone if I want to see any sights around here (I'll pay them and for the gas). I've got at least two or three trips planned with different people who will still be around. One teacher, Erin, is engaged to a fellow from a nearby town is interested in going with a friend  from church to a botanical garden and waterfall on Monday the 13th. Christy, the nicest of my housemates, has a friend coming to visit her and offered to let me join them at a slave castle and canopy bridge near Cape Coast (a few hours from Accra) on Wednesday – Thursday (Dec 15 – 16),  I hear there is some sort of a money sanctuary some place not too far from Accra, so if I can find company I may visit there too.

Well I've almost lost this post twice since I started it, so I'd better sign off.
Happy Advent my friends!

Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be grateful for. This awesome adventure has less than a month left, and although I am very anxious to see my friends (or at least talk with you more easily) I realise how much I have learned about myself and how God provides our real needs.
I started the day baking cookies for the Thanksgiving dinner the Wrights' hosted for all us displaced American  teachers. At 10 am I had an appointment to get a body perm with a beautican Joyce had previously  taken me to for a haircut. This is one of the few times I ventured out on my own in a taxi, and admittedly I had no idea where I was going. I had a map drawn by another teacher that located the beautician at an major intersection in another part of Accra, but not directions how to get there. Here when you get a taxi you must "negotiate"  the price before you get in the vehicle; the first taxi driver said 10 Ghanaian cd's (dollars), which was more than twice my expected amount. Since he didn't budge, I sent him away. The next driver started at ten, then 8, and I said it shouldn't be more than 4, and I started walking away. We settled on five, and I was off. That was more landmark than the perm! I also dickered for the taxi home. The perm, as always left me with a bunch of curls I don't like the looks of, but that's nothing new. Hopefully it will calm down some before school on Monday, and if not there's not much to do now. I sweat so much my head is wet my the middle of the afternoon, and the long, strangley look is worse than the curls, so it was a calculated risk.

Wednesday at school was Field Day, a whole day devoted to phys ed games for all the students with teachers supervising each activity. I was the official time keeper. so my loud voice (plus a microphone) told when to start a new game, give a five minute warning, and when to end and rotate to the next activity. That gave me plenty of time to go take pictures of the different activities, but of course, I'm not in any of the pictures. In the morning there were about twelve different teams with everyone from seniors to kindergarteners on each team, in  the afternoon there were dance contests, socceer games (teachers. housekeeping and other staff  verses the high school socceer team) and other activites. One of the games involved all the students taking off their shoes and putting them in a big pile then the teams sent one member at a time to go recover their shoes.

Well, if I'm going to post this today, I have only ten minutes until the internet connection dies (7 pm to 7 am connection) so that's all for today. I hope you all are having as wonderful a Thanksgiving weekend as I am.

God bless your day,

Diann

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

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.

Happy Halloween

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in Ghana. The principal of the high school, Barbara Willingham, invited the teachers to her house for breakfast and then we went to the glass bead shop I'd been to when I first got here. The school had just gotten a used bus, so we travelled in relative comfort, the trip was a little over half an hour and the comradary was good. Joyce Crosby came, but Tim had a last minute commitment and couldn't make it with us. There were two egg casseroles, apple and plain pancakes, fruit salad, Tang to drink and various teas & coffee: an impressive spread for about 13 guests. I sat in the kitchen with Joyce and Barbara, and the younger teachers sat in the dining room. That's part of why I enjoyed it so much: just listening to "older conversation" talking about grandchildren and struggles when their children were little did me good.

Since I'd seen the wonderful beads before, this time I came prepared with some money to buy things. Ready made jewelry was noticeably more expensive, so I bought beads to string myself, and two pairs of simple earrings. We walked to the shop, past a toll booth that the police us to detain people they think they can get a bribe from (any delay by police may be just an unnecessary delay, waiting to be bought out of the delay). Anything in Ghana may be corrupt, but there's not much to do about it except threaten to report it if you happen to be a person of authority. There was a mango tree at the shop, so I had a friend, Meghann. pose by the tree (photo).
The Willinghams live on a small Christian university campus, quite rural. Roy Willingham teaches at the Christian university (it is really more the size of a high school with two or three classroom buildings) was home when we came back, he told us of the cobra he killed in one bedroom, and the green mamba snakes in the tall grass nearby. I guess life in urban Accra does have its advantages . . .  It was about noon when we left to head back to school. We talked our driver into detouring to let us get the watermelons to carve that evening at the Palace.

We had several hours at home before guests might show up, so I had time to put finishing touches on my devotion. Monday is my turn, and I'd not felt as Biblically organized as the others who have done the Monday morning devotions. Thanks to a book Carolyn gave me months ago, "Praying Our Goodbyes" I was able to put together some thoughts about facing changes. Although my commitment to the school is only one semester, most of the second year teachers will soon be asked if they wish to stay another year, and they are struggling. Many are considering other NICS schools,but I've not heard anyone talk about returning home except for Christmas break. Anyway, I got my thoughts organized on computer, and if I can't get a printout early Monday morning, I'll just start my computer and read it from there.

Not as many people came to our house, so there were just two melons carved. Faith and Christy gutted ours and I drew Tim Crosby's face on it. Kim and Shari carved one with a Ghanaian symbol; finishing a long time before I did. I'd never tried carving lines only half way through (so the white is still in place, but lets some light through). I'm attaching a picture of the carved watermelon and one of Tim's face so you  can  judge for yourself. It was fun, and I enjoyed trying something new and artsy. We then watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin before calling it a night around 8:30. Since we were going to early service Sunday, I took a shower and went to bed.

So it was a more social day than I usually have, and I put my artistic talents to use. A very good day for which to thank the Lord!

Wednesday, Oct 27

Although nothing significant happened so far this week, I have some photos to show when the neighborhood children came yesterday after school. There were about 40 children (the photos are below, before this verbal post) and Christy took one with me in it talking with a few of the kids who stayed to look at books send by Christy's church back in the states. I've wanted to get photos of how the women carry infants around wrapped on their backs, look at them too. Since some people are very opposed to having their photos taken, I haven't been able to capture how the large square of cloth is wrapped around their torso. Sorry I forgot to rotate the photos before I imported them.

I informed the Crosby's yesterday when I went home for Christmas I would not be coming back. I think they figured that out, and that is actually all my contract covered. Tim asked if I'd like to work at another NICS school anywhere else, but I think that my problems here (mostly missing people my own age) would be what most schools would be like: mostly young single women not wanting any "motherly advise". The Crosby's and another couple, the Korum's, go out of their way to help the teachers with problems at the places they live. Most other schools don't have anything to do with the individual's housing; finding a place to live is entirely up to the teacher, as would be dealing with landlords. I'm very grateful that wasn't part of my adjustments.

I attempted to paint with one of my largest classes (17 fourth grade students), and it was a disaster! With limited water (one bucket) and a group that wasn't listening well from the beginning, they had hardly begun when it was time to go. Luckily I had a study hall immediately after, so there was time for me to clean it all up myself and still get ready for the class after study hall. The pigment in the paints is so mediocre, even the watercolors are not vibrant yellow or orange, and purple is s muddly lavender. That will be my reason for not painting much in the next two months.

Well, my eyelids are drooping, and I'm going to bed. I hope you all had a day as good as mine, and everyone is in good health.
Resting in God's hands,
Diann

Wednesday evening, October 27

Madina market October 23