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Published: February 17th 2013
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I am sorry for the extreme lack of travel blog entries since I returned to Ghana in January- It has been a very busy start to the new term and the weeks are flying past! There’s a lot of work to fit in to a short space of time this term, and I really can’t believe we’re half way through and already enjoying a four day weekend for mid-term break :o)
A few weeks ago, we celebrated ‘Founder’s Day’, which is a day to celebrate Sammy and Florence’s birthdays as well as to give them thanks for founding the school. This year is also the 25
th anniversary of Alpha Beta school and college, so it’s great to be part of such a special year here!
Despite working long days again to stay on top of the children’s marks, progress and trying to make my lessons as engaging as possible with the help of some resources I brought back from home, I’ve had a lovely start to the new term with the children. I feel so much more settled at the school and have formed some strong friendships with fellow staff, as well as the people in my apartment building
and within the community surrounding the apartment; I often visit the local shops and market stalls to do some of my food shopping at weekends and it’s great to be recognised and welcomed back! (Although to be honest, as the only white person in this area, it’s not difficult for the locals to ‘pick me out of a crowd’!)
I’ve also developed a great bond with the children, particularly those in 4Alpha, as this is the classroom where I am based. I’m really making the most of my time with them, as I will be extremely sad to leave them in July. After spending so much time with family and friends in the UK over Christmas, I’ve missed everyone at home a lot since returning to Ghana, and the children and my friends here have consequently become a kind of ‘surrogate family’ to me!
I wouldn’t want to change anything regarding my decision to embark on this adventure, including the eventual plan to move to Mozambique, but returning to my ‘roots’ was a stark reminder of events in the lives of family and friends that I miss out on… It was, however, lovely to spend quality time
with everyone and to see a lot of happiness and achievement in the lives of family and friends!
My wonderful parents have embarked on their retirement together and have already joined a variety of organisations in order to pursue interests they didn’t have time to engage in when they were working full time, as well as planning their trip to Ghana to visit later this year! I am already very excited about their visit in the summer; it will be really great to share just a little of my Ghanaian life and experiences with them, as well as doing some travelling together.
I had a brilliant birthday at school, and the children helped to make it a special day; I was overwhelmed by lovely cards and messages from them and family and friends in the UK, as well as friends across the globe! I was truly touched to receive so many wishes of success for my future and messages of support; the internet definitely makes such a difference when I’m thousands of miles away from so many people! :o)
A lovely Skype chat with Mum and Dad a few evenings ago caused me to reflect a little
on what has now become the ‘norm’ of my daily life here; morning and evening bucket showers; piling into a taxi, sometimes with about 5 other people, or jostling around in a van with seats (aka ‘tro tro’) during my journeys to and from school and around Accra; washing all my clothes, linen etc by hand; the daily gamble as to whether or not the power will be switched off in the evening; judging ‘ampe’ competitions when I’m on playground duty (ampe is a traditional African clapping/jumping game that is very popular with girls of all ages at school!). Although I love that I’ve become so settled in this life now, I did have to laugh a little at the slight madness of it!
Particularly Thursday, when I had got up during the night to fill the bucket in my bathroom; being on the second floor of the apartments means that water rarely flows out of our taps during the day because there is not enough pressure, so if my bucket is empty during the day I have to collect water from the outside tap. In order to avoid collecting water, I have discovered that I can fill my
bucket from the shower at about 11pm. It was a little more eventful than usual last Thursday, however, when I found a rather large cockroach exploring the bathroom… I grabbed the insect repellent and proceeded to chase it around my bathroom. Unfortunately, it escaped into my bedroom, but after being attacked by the repellent it ran under my wardrobe- hopefully to die as I haven’t seen any sign of it since! Although it wasn’t much fun at the time, it does make me laugh to think of the crazy aspects of living in Ghana!
This evening, I’ve had a great time with Priscilla, her daughters and some of the neighbours in my apartment building, as they’d arranged a small birthday celebration for me. Priscilla prepared some lovely Ghanaian food and we all enjoyed an evening of dancing and playing with the gorgeous children in my building! It was a great way to celebrate a second of my birthdays in Africa.
It’s now only five and half weeks until the end of this term, and then I’m returning to Mozambique for a two week visit during the Easter vacation. I can’t wait to go back and see everyone there,
as well as hopefully making more solid plans for obtaining a job and ideally moving there later this year…
I will endeavour to write another entry before then! Here’s hoping there aren’t too many cockroaches to contend with in the meantime…!
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