Oh holy cow I'm at my site!

July 15^th

One month and eleven days.

I am sitting on my bed at my site. This is where you can find me for the next two years (starting after August 16^th when I swear in). Ok, not right here in this bed, more like right here in this town.  Here is the skinny on my situation.

I am living in a village/town named Coaltar. There was once a Kraboa-Coaltar, but the people in charge decided to split it into two districts…Kroboa….and Coaltar. Coaltar was created about a year ago so they don’t really have any representatives yet because in Ghana everyone (president, representative, etc.)  are voted for on the same day, and that day has yet to come. Coaltar is in the Eastern Region, about an hour or so away from Accra. It’s a community that farms a lot of different veggies and what-not.

My school is called Presbyterian Senior High Technical School. It’s a good looking school. World Vision (an organization that provides infrastructure to schools) just built a two story building complete with electricity, overhead fans, and dry erase boards. This is where I’ll be teaching.  There are students that board, or live, there but there aren’t any boarding houses. The girls board at a house that was meant for the headmaster and the boys board in an old classroom building. There are a lot of after school sports played (they have a physical education teacher) but there doesn’t seem to be any clubs.

On to my living quarters. I live in a compound type situation with three teachers and one reverend.  I think one or two sons live with the reverend, but I'm not positive. I have a room that’s a 10x10 bright blue, cement cubicle. I have 2 windows. I did get my allotted bed, chair, and desk. My bed leaves something to be desired though. The “mattress” is a twin sized slice of foam. Like the foam you add to mattresses to help them be soft (imagine a giant sponge, only less dense). Under the “mattress” are planks of wood to support the “mattress”.  The first two nights on this bed wasn’t too bad, but on the third night the foam has been flattened and I can feel every plank. When I move to my site for good I’ll do something to make the bed better. 

Here’s a breakdown:

Bad things about my site:

·         Tiny room

·         The only furniture is a bed, desk, and chair (where do I put my clothes and all my stuff?)

·         Bed is uncomfortable

·         The toilet is far behind the house

·         The toilet is full of roaches after dark

·         I can’t use the toilet after dark

·         There aren’t any pineapples or mangos in this town as far as I can tell

·         I have a lot of work ahead of me to turn this into a comfortable living space

·         The loud noises start at 5am (people talking, animals, the opening of the squeaky gate, etc.)

·         All the teachers go to Accra on the weekends so I am left by myself

Good things about my site

·         The view is lovely. Coaltar is surrounded by mountains

·         Electricity

·         I was told I can get good internet service but I have yet to test it

·         The people are so nice

·         I found the lady that sells meat and she gave me free sugarcane (she also sells mushroom and crab!)

·         I found the lady that sells liquor and she gave me a free sprite

·         I live surrounded by teachers that speak great English

·         Close to Accra

·         Porch

·         Weather

·         Food

·         Large front yard (although someone owns it so I can’t build a garden or anything)

·         Momma cat and baby cat are my neighbors

·         Being a teacher means that I can get the kids to do everything for me. I don’t have to fetch my own water or even get my own lunch. I can just ask a kid to do it for me

·         The brand new building I get to teach in is awesome

·         Cell phone service in my room

·         All the teachers go to Accra on the weekends so I am left by myself

And that’s not even all of it. As you can see the good outweighs the bad so far. My biggest task is turning this room into somewhere I can consider home. I talked to my counterpart about getting some furniture and we have some ideas. It’s a pretty big pain when you don’t have a car and no money for delivery. There is a school carpenter that may be able to build me things or I can use his tools to build things so I think everything will be fine.

\The small kids are also going to be a hurdle. I have told them, in Twi that my name is not obruni, its Melissa, about a zillion times. I really hope that with time I become old news and they figure out I am a pretty boring spectacle. Every time I go into town to get a bite there are several kids screaming at me constantly. I usually wave once and then ignore them. I think the adults are even getting tired of hearing it. When I was walking back to my house from the market, this one kid, he was probably 6, kept yelling at me and asking me something I didn’t understand. I told him in Twi that I speak English and I don’t know what he’s asking. He started to follow me down the road yelling obruni, trying to get my attention. Me being annoyed and hungry, I ignored him. A woman a little farther ahead of me started yelling at the kid and basically told him to stop pestering me or I was going to leave and then the whole town would kick him out. It was pretty funny and I thanked the woman profusely.

Tomorrow I leave to go Mepe, in the Volta Region. I have to shadow another PC art teacher till Friday and then I return to homestay for 3 more weeks of training. She is extending for a 3^rd year so she must be pretty happy with her situation. I'm excited to see what another PC art teacher has accomplished and talk about what struggles she has had to overcome. I am hoping I will get a pretty good idea of what’s in store by watching and learning from her.