Compared to the last two weeks, this week has been almost lazy. Monday was spent regrouping and answering emails. It’s amazing how many emails a girl can get after only 5 days without internet. Tuesday we started out to Accra at 4:45 am… not the way I usually like to start my Tuesdays, but it was worth side-stepping seriously insane traffic in order to run much-needed errands. Even so, traffic was pretty bad – I don’t want to imagine what it would have been like if we had left later than we did. Among our stops that day was a small private college where 2 VoH recent high school graduates hope to attend in the fall. They submitted their applications, met several professors, and chatted for a bit with Mr. Essel, the president of the college. I started asking Mr. Essel questions and got him talking so we left the college about 30 minutes behind schedule… Oops! But he invited me back to talk with him and a math professor we met. Hopefully I can work out the travel arrangements for that in the next several weeks.
Wednesday was the last day of finals. Students will still be coming to school for another week to collect their graded exams and clean the school. Yes, yes, you did read that correctly: the students clean the school after exams are over and before vacation begins. Although I don’t quite understand why this requires a week’s-worth of time, I do think the arrangement is pretty good. Yet another Ghanaian system I don’t foresee catching on in America any time soon.
Thursday morning was another early one. Laura and I woke up at 4:45 to go to the baking house. Most of the Maas on campus joined us over the next 15 minutes to mold dough into forms before setting it for its second rise. It was really hard work! This really shouldn’t have surprised me since most of Ghanaian meal prep is work… 30 minute-meals do not exist here. But I didn’t expect the dough to be as tough as it was. Everyone really had to put their weight behind each movement.
On Wednesday and Thursday Laura and I covered the reading program. Even with the most orderly of intentions, this is still a bit chaotic. We were surrounded by children for about 2 hours, each wanting to share several story summaries. Although most are enthusiastic about reading in general, the excellent milestone prize is particularly good motivator: students who reached 150 book summaries are rewarded with a visit to Papaye’s, a fast food restaurant in Accra. So not only do students get a special meal of fried rice and chicken, what seems to be a favorite for the entire country, they get to go on a special trip to Accra.
In addition to all of the curriculum project stuff that has been going on, several UCSB issues have required my attention. It’s been a little difficult to juggle those two projects. When we decided to do the teaching seminars earlier than originally planned, putting my research on the back burner was tied to that decision. And that was an easy decision to make since I’m here first and foremost for my curriculum project but I would still love to accomplish my research while I’m here. I’ve also been hoping and planning for that for some time. So hopefully everything will be cleared up shortly and I can begin my research shortly!
(Song: Jack Johnson)
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