Getting Settled

It seems surreal to me that it has been only two weeks since I left the United States to travel to Ghana.  I have experienced so much since then.  I am starting to get in to a daily routine; I am starting to get settled in. 

I am laying on my bed, under my mosquito net, which took a few days for me to hang. (Since it is the dry season, the mosquitoes have not been so bad.)  If I think too much about being under the net, I sometimes get almost claustrophobic. On the other hand, it reminds me of those younger days when I would build blanket tents with my young sons - great memories. 

I have begun doing some cooking.  Now that we are in our new home, if we want to eat, we need to cook.  Luckily, I know a couple African dishes. My first dish was rice and peanut sauce.  My second meal was spaghetti. My third meal was rice, red sauce and fried plantains. 

At this point we are mainly eating vegetarian.  Most of our protein is coming from eggs, tuna and groundnuts (peanuts). I still have not gotten past the flies on the meat sitting out in the heat at the market. Meat just is not that attractive to me at this time.  By the way, we have dogs, cats, goats, chickens, guinea fowl and pigs grazing freely throughout the compound.  They seem as afraid of me as I am of them.  We also have had some small lizard/gecko type reptiles visiting us now and then, along with wasps, bees (we have hives in compound) and ants, ants, and more ants.

The girls attended Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday. The bus must take two trips, each time packed to the brim with girls.  They sang songs all the way there. As we passed through the town of Damongo, many heads turned to see who was making the beautiful music. Little children waived at the white woman (me) with curiosity as we passed by.

After Mass,  Karen, Mary (my fellow teacher and next door neighbor volunteering with the Peace Corp.) and I visited a friend of Mary's.  Christine is an American, who has lived in various parts of Ghana for 23 years. We had a wonderful visit, including a meal of juice and pancakes and sausage (I stuck with pancakes).  Christine provided us with insights and some sage advice.   We took a yellow-yellow (motorcycle taxi) home. They are widely used here in Damongo, along with motorcycles.

I officially started my job on Monday.  I am teaching Form 1 Food and Nutrition.  Instead of naming classes Sophomore, Junior and Senior, they are referred to as Form 1, Form 2 and Form 3.  I teach four -  one hour classes per week.  The girls are very sweet and interested in learning more about America and what I think of Ghana. The girls were excited to have their class picture taken to be posted to the United States.  As you can see, the girls have beautiful smiles.

The girls at the school are very eager to help us out.   They like carrying our bags and purses home for us.  Tonight, two Form 2 girls, Hagar and Agnes, walked home with me, carrying my bags.  They taught me how to burn my garbage (at my request), swept my courtyard for me, and did some dishes (not at my request).  They become offended if you turn down their offers to help, so I let them do it.   I treated them to some pineapple and a picture on my blog.

In addition to teaching, I have been assigned to be the school secretary by the Headmistress!  Once she found out I could type, she was very excited.  They have been without a secretary this school year. I will learn more about the running of the school and the Ghanaian education system.  Another perk is that I get my own office!

Tonight Mary invited us to supper as two Peace Corp friends were staying over on their way to Mole National Park. Mole is very close to Damongo.  (I hope to safari there someday soon.)  Mary is from New Mexico, her friends are from New York and Iowa.  They had some great stories to tell.  It was fun to compare their experiences and living environment to ours. 

I have learned I need to have an open mind in order to become fully integrated in to Ghanaian culture.  It will take some time, but I already know this opportunity is a gift from God. I will strive to make the most of my time here to fulfill God's call.

Please keep me in your prayers. 

The adventure continues.....