Pantomime

So this week I have been really busy with "the panto."

Every year the International Players put on a "pantomime" which is a weird British thing. It's a play that has to do with fairy tale characters and the lead guy is always played by a girl and there is a "dame" who is a guy dressed as a girl. There is a lot of silliness and audience participation is expected. You know, booing at the villain and cheering on the heroes. That kind of thing. Maybe joining in a dance or song too. They say they like actors of all ages, but really it's mostly kids. They were looking for more adults so I decided to try out and finally fulfill my dream of being on stage! :) Ever since high school (after trying out every year for the musical and not getting in) I have been wanting to be part of a production. My dream is finally being fulfilled!

I got in, but I'm only in the chorus/circus. So I don't have any lines or anything. Just a few dances and I'm a back ground character so I just have to react to what's be said by the main cast. Even though it's only a bit part, I was probably way OVER excited when I found out I had a part! It was really fun because a few of my students were also chorus members and I was able to give them the good news that they got a part while we were at school (since I could check my email at school and they couldn't)! I nearly cried when I saw how excited they were. Jumping up and down and screaming was involved!

The other chorus members are all pretty much the younger siblings of those with main parts in the panto. So I pretty much spend all my time hanging with 10 to 12 year olds. I feel a bit ridiculous, but it's still fun. Since several of my students are in it, I've really enjoyed being able to do something outside of school with them.

Anyway, our first performance was yesterday. It went really well. Two more, tonight and tomorrow. They put a promo on YouTube so if you want to see kind of what it's about you can look it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asQmyKm4LfQ&feature=youtu.be

Another Day Off School...

So we had a day off school last Monday, so of course Christy and I asked ourselves where we were going! We finally decided on traveling to a waterfall that wasn't too far from the city. We dragged Josiah (the PE teacher) along with us. The three of us had no idea where we were actually going but a friend's husband (Gideon) was driving that direction back to his hometown for the day so he gave us a lift and helped us find the right tro-tro to get us to the waterfall. We started off fairly early expecting to be at the waterfall in a couple hours. We had no trouble getting to Sominya, Gideon's hometown. It took us a little longer than I thought, but that's normal. This is Ghana! Sominya was a larger town than I expected. It was fun to see a new place. Gideon introduced us to his mother and an area chief. We also saw where Liz (Gideon's wife) started her organization Overflowing Hearts. She works with the children of the area, sharing Bible stories and helping with basic education skills. I love being able to see new areas where God is working. So after seeing the town a little, Gideon took us to the tro-tro stop. While we waited for the tro-tro to fill up, the driver started a conversation with us. He wanted to talk to Christy at first and then he had me sit next to him. After a marriage proposal, we finally were able to get in the van. The driver wanted me to sit in the front seat next to him, but I found my way to the back! What happened next was one of the funniest parts of the day! A boy about a year and a half old was crying and I thought he might be kind of afraid of us. I tried to talk to him and his mom stood him up near me. I picked him up. And that's how I traveled two hours on the tro-tro! His mom sat near the front and seemed to have no concerns with me holding her son the whole trip! Every so often I looked back to the backseat at Christy and Josiah and Christy and I would burst out laughing. Only here would a mother willing give her child to a complete stranger! The boy fell asleep for quite some time which was amazing because the road was TERRIBLE. When he finally woke up we took a picture of him. He almost threw the camera when we tried to show him the picture! Then his mom took a picture on her phone (which the boy also tried to throw) and set it as her background. For years to come I will be known as that white lady her son sat on for hours! We finally made it to a junction where the driver put us on another tro-tro taking us to the waterfall. We finally got there, got a guide, and took a hike up to a rock. It was fun and beautiful and so nice being in God's creation and out of the city. And oh my, do I need to start working out again! I am so out of shape! But I did make it, maybe not with quite the spring in my step as Christy (Miss "I work out all the time") or Josiah (Mr. "PE") did. Then we walked down to the waterfall which was beautiful! Then we had a lunch of peanut butter pitas and apples. After that we started walking out to catch a tro-tro back to Gideon's town. We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked! We walked for about an hour and fifteen minutes without getting a tro-tro. Finally we started wondering if we were going the right way. At least we were able to entertain all the village kids we saw along the way! Josiah said it might rain and sure enough, it began to rain. We mildly cursed Josiah until we realized it was a blessing since it didn't rain very much, but hid the sun for a little while, giving us a break from the scorching heat! Christy started praying we would have clarity about our direction. We met up with some men walking and they told us that we were in fact going the wrong way! Then they walked with us until we finally found a tro-tro. We got on a tro-tro heading the wrong direction, but they said it was just going to the next village and turning around to head to Sominya. After several hours we finally made it back to Gideon's town. His mom made us dinner which was really nice! We took the food "to go" and headed back to the city. For being not very far away from the waterfall, we ended up traveling for probably over 7 hours! It's a good thing we are flexible! This blog is insanely long, so I'll stop here and just give you a few pictures!

To Togo...Here We Go!

So we had a day off from school because it was the end of the quarter. We should have been using the time to finalize grades and prepare for parent/teacher conferences. But what did we do instead? Traveled to another country for the day!

My day started out leaving my house just before 5am. I walked down the street to "Christian Center" which is the name of the "tro-tro stop" in our area. A tro-tro is an old van with 12 to 15 seats or so. It is the cheapest way to travel in Ghana. We found a tro-tro heading for the Accra station where we would be able to catch another tro-tro to the border between Ghana and Togo. After asking many people for the location of the proper tro-tro and a scolding from a driver I didn't greet properly before I asked for directions, we made it to a tro-tro to the town of Aflou. The we proceeded to wait for an hour and a half until our tro-tro filled up. There are no schedules, tro-tros just come and go as they fill up with travelers. Don't be in a hurry to get anywhere in Ghana! Two other teachers and I (Christy and Josiah) were finally on our way to getting one more stamp in our passports! After 4 hours of sitting in an old van, we finally made it to the boarder town. We passed the time with good conversation and MANY laughs! Mentioning every so often that we must be getting closer because we were seeing more motorcycles (a common way to travel around in Togo).

If you imagine immigration in the US, that is nothing like the picture before us at the border. Some police around, but no real tough security. We walked through a passageway feeling like cattle where we were not so warmly greeted by Togolese immigration personnel. Christy tried to be friendly and remembering as much French as possible, tried to communicate in their own language. We were told that the laws have changed and we were supposed to obtain a visa for Togo at the embassy in Accra. We panicked a little considering we traveled 4 hours to get Togo only to be told we had to return to Accra. Christy kept trying to communicate in French and I stupidly kept trying to interrupt in English. The man kept saying we had to pay a lot of money but he refused to tell us how much money! We assumed he was trying to get a bribe so we tried to haggle a smaller price and that did not make him very happy at all! Finally after quite some time and a painfully slow process of watching the man stamp passports and write information down and walking across the street and back to get another signature, we were finally welcomed into Togo!

Once we finally made it through, we looked at each other and wondered what we were actually going to do in Togo! So we walked along the beach near all the vendors selling bread and fish just like in Ghana. After walking for 20 minutes or so we decided to go swimming! There was no one in the water, but as soon as we started swimming, so did several others! White people sure draw in crowds. Several boys swam alongside us and several men talked with us on the beach as we rested from the rough waves. The water was amazing! The undertow was VERY strong. It was quite the workout trying to stay above water!

After a while, we decided that it was about time to head back to Ghana. A fun adventure! The only spoiler to the day was that my camera and phone were stolen right as we were packing up to leave the beach. It was startling how fast it happened. So alas, I have no pictures to share with you of the adventure. At least my passport wasn't stolen! Praise God!

Getting back into Ghana was a snap and it was nice to greet the friendly faces of Ghana once again! Then God blessed us again with an almost full tro-tro so we wouldn't have to wait for hours for it to fill up again! Josiah, Christy, and I took the last three seats! Soaked, sandy, and sunburned, we started our journey home to Accra. There were MANY police check points on the way back. They were always interested in saying a word or two to the Oburoni (white people). At one point, we all had to get out and show our passports. Then the tro-tro started going up the road and we thought we had been left behind! We started running after the tro-tro trying to get their attention when we found out the tro-tro was just moving up the road to wait for all the passengers. The ladies on the tro-tro had quite a laugh when they saw that we thought we were being left behind! Back on the tro-tro we ate some bread and prayed for safe travels back to the city.

Quite the adventure! No better way to spend a day off school!

Water...

So often in Ghana I see children or women walking down the street carrying water. Just another normal day in Ghana. People always walking to fetch water. I never really thought about it much. How difficult it must be to do this day in and day out. How time consuming this chore must be. I go back to my house and turn on the tap without even thinking how lucky I am. Then about once or twice a year, for some reason we run out of water. The pipes aren't flowing and our tank runs dry. All of a sudden, CRISIS!!! I can't do laundry...I can't do the dishes (oh wait, I don't cook so I don't really have that many dishes to do!)...I can't wash my face...Brushing my teeth is now a chore...another "shower" using a bottle of water?!...My toilet won't flush!...I forget how important water is and how I take it for granted when I have it. We often lose power here in Ghana, but that is nothing compared to losing water. Hopefully I can remember the next time we don't have power that at lease we still have water, even if the pressure is low because our pump won't be able to turn on!

The other day I was reminded about the importance of praise. How I need to be intentional in offering praise to God in all things. Even in the little things, I should be thanking God for working in my life. I find myself being selfish WAY too often. If I focus on praising God for who He is and what He has done, then my focus won't be on me quite as often. My prayer is that my focus would switch to Him more frequently...

A Trip to the Mall

So my roommate Meghann and I decided to hang out tonight at the Accra mall. Always entertaining! We had dinner at this Chinese restaurant we go to frequently. We hadn't gone there this year yet, so our usual waiter was happy to see us! So we ordered our water and prepared to look in the menu just in time for our waiter to inform us that they did not have any pork dishes available today...or chicken dishes for that matter! Have you ever in your life been to a restaurant where two thirds of the menu wasn't available?! Meghann and I just started laughing and ordered several beef dishes. You know you've been in Ghana a while when you just roll with the weirdness! So we enjoyed our beef dishes at the Chinese restaurant in Ghana listening to the background music of "Killing Me Softly." It doesn't get better than that!

Meghann and I also decided to see a movie while we were at the mall. There really are only two reasons to go to the mall. To eat or to see a movie. Rarely do people actually shop! It was fun seeing a movie especially since you get free popcorn and Coke on Mondays. After the movie we noticed a rather large group of people outside the theater...Then someone called out "Make a hole people!" and apparently someone rather famous came out because everyone went crazy! Security escorted someone down the steps, through the mall, and out the door. People were running after them with camera phones while Meghann and I stood wondering who we just saw. Well, now I can say I saw "someone famous." I don't know who it was, but I did see a famous person!

So there you have it, just another day in Ghana...

Birthday Celebrations!

My birthday was a week and a half ago and I was thinking it wouldn't be a big ordeal. Just another school day. Giving homework, dealing with kids...

But actually the country of Ghana decided that my birthday should be a national holiday! So school was canceled! So what did I do instead of teaching? Of course I went to school! Yeah, I know. It seems ridiculous, but I did. The container from America came and we had to organize all the new books and materials. I was not in a very good mood, but it had to be done. I was excited about my new algebra books though!

After the work, the celebrating began! Christy and Meghann who are two of my closest friends here in Ghana took me out for lunch. We went to the Koffee House where you can get pretty much any kind of food under the sun. Do you want chicken and rice? Ok! Do you want Chinese food? Sure! How about cheese cake? Why not!?

So what does a thirty year old do on her birthday? She and her friends go on a scavenger hunt like when she turned ten! It was so fun! A group of eight of us teachers got together and split up into two teams. We went around East Legon doing silly things like catching chickens, pounding fufu, and holding snails. We all took pictures and videos of the craziness.

Me failing at playing a Ghanaian game with a couple kids.

Tonya pounding fufu - a favorite dish of Ghanaians.

John holding a chick after the Simple Brothers guys ran around trying to catch one for us!

Holding a snail - apparently it makes a good stew! Yuck!

After that Christy, Meghann, and I watched Chuck episodes that Christy had brought back from America. We are so hooked on this dumb TV show! I guess that's what happens when there isn't much to do in the evenings! But I must say, my favorite part about "Chuck Night" is the fact that I get to hang out with Christy and Meghann. We laugh, share concerns, and even complain to each other. It is definitely needed weekly! I am amazed at how God provides everything we need including friends to encourage you and fun times to remind us to enjoy life. Another great perk to "Chuck Night" is that we EAT a lot! We had chips and salsa from America, popcorn, chocolate from Germany, and frozen strawberries! What a great night!

But the celebrating wasn't over! Thursday when we went back to school, Meghann and Christy and Ardell's family made treats for my classes! Meghann came up to my room on the third floor every class period with cupcakes or homemade doughnuts! It was amazing! It's so nice to know people care. And the kids LOVED it! No homework and food! What could be better!?

And the partying didn't stop there! Friday night, a group of us went out to Chez Afrique (a local Ghanaian restaurant). It was fun just hanging out talking with the teachers. And Chez Afrique has the BEST fries in the whole world! I am not joking, they are AMAZING! I don't even really know why I get chicken there. I should just get more fries! After dinner, everyone came back to my house and we had FanIce (ice cream) and brownies and we watched the movie Red. Mr. Crosby our director even let us borrow a projector from the school so we didn't all have to sit around a computer screen!

All in all, it was a great birthday. My sister and friends at home threw me a fabulous "13 going on 30" party before coming back to Ghana and then my friends here in Ghana threw a three day celebration. I am very honored to have so many that care about me.
Hannah painting my nails at my "13 Going on 30" party!

A throw back to the 1980's - Allison getting her hair crimped.

Rachel and I with our 80's hair and makeup! Why is it that Rachel can pull off pretty much any look she wants? Where as I look completely ridiculous!?

Silver or Gold

We have some people visiting Ghana from the NICS home office. They are supposedly here to discuss plans for the new school building that will be built in the next couple years, but I think they are really here to take us all out for a fabulous birthday dinner in honor of me! Ok, maybe not, but it will be a nice addition to the birthday celebration! Not only will we be getting a nice dinner on Tuesday night, but also in honor of my birthday, we will be getting Wednesday off of school! Ok, again, it's not really for me! But I'll take it! We are still trying to decide what to do with our day off...the beach would be fun, but it's still not really beach weather here in Ghana. It's still not that hot (really I'm not complaining!) and it's been rather cloudy.

Anyway, one of the NICS visitors did a devotional this morning in our morning meeting before school. He talked about the Golden Rule and the Silver Rule. We all know the Golden Rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Silver Rule is the flip side of that. "Don't do to others what you don't want done to you." It's amazing how much more powerful Jesus' version is than this! You can do a whole lot of nothing and still abide by the Silver Rule. God has so much more for us! We must be active in caring for others and loving those around us. This was a great reminder to me to be loving the kids I teach, the teachers I work with, and those I work for here in Ghana. Sometimes I feel like a total failure when it comes to the Golden Rule. Even after hearing this message only this morning, I became angry, frustrated, and disappointed in those around me. Praise the Lord for new beginnings each day and an unconditional love to show me again what love really looks like.