A typical day

Normally, I wake up around 6:30 or 7:00 am, it's light out by then. I often hear my housemates, Robert and Headmaster, up before then, sometime they pray or play the radio very loud. I also hear the students who come to the house in the mornings. There are two form 1 girl students who come to the house three times a week to sweep, clean, and sometimes do dishes. This is a system that my housemates want to be in place, and I've gotten used to it. Louisa and Mamuna are nice and I've gotten to know them so that I don't feel uncomfortable finding them in the kitchen when I stagger in to look for breakfast. Other students often come in the morning looking for the buckets so they can fetch water for us, usually as a punishment imposed by the prefects. That can be annoying, but I manage.

I usually take tea for breakfast. In Ghana, tea means anything you mix with hot water, so I usually have hot chocolate. Lipton yellow tea is also available, but we don't have any Nescafe in the house. With my tea I take bread with groundnut paste and fruit jam, or oats with some dried fruit depending on what's available. On days when I have more time, I make pancakes or french toast and eat it with my dad's real maple syrup. Yum! I offer to Robert sometimes, but he's not as excited about breakfast foods as I am.

After breakfast, I go to school. I walk out my door, walk 30 feet and I'm at the school. First period begins at 8:00am, but the students are usually expected to arrive by 6:30 or 7:00. I teach 19 40-minute periods a week, as long as other events don't interrupt classes, which they frequently do. Staff meetings, Assemblies for Moral Talks, school elections, and sporting events all normally take place during normal school time. I meet my classes and teach my lessons, and hang out in the Staff Common Room or under the Tree with other teachers when I'm not teaching.

I eat lunch during the long break (20 min) at the "Common Market", which is another tree near the school that some ladies sit under and sell food. I usually have fried yam or kosi (fried bean cake) with peppe, like salsa. Food you buy from a vendor like this is called "chop", and it's used like a verb too: I will go and chop some kosi. When you buy, you order by the price, not the quantity you want. I say, "Wuntenga, la-ang wani? Oh, la me ang sunga. M-bene fu may, bo ma kosi 2 tousand busa 2 tousand. M-puheya." or (translated) "Good afternoon, how are you? Oh, I am fine also. Please, give me kosi 2 thousand and yam 2 thousand? Thank you." I spend the equivilant of 20 or 30 cents usually. Too much fried food...tasty though.

Sometimes I teach in the afternoon, but the students get restless and some of them inevitably dodge home early. They get tired and hungry, many don't have money for chop, and there's no water at the school either. Classes end and closing assembly is at 2:30. The students gather, sing, pray and announcements are made. I often stay for closing and make announcements about whatever is going on. Most staff don't. There are also Opening assemblies Mon, Wed, and Fri, at 7:30am, but I don't go to those too often.

When school closes, the students go home but sometimes some come back for extra classes. I go to my house and relax, play the guitar, read or prepare lessons for the following day. I talk with Robert about what we will cook for dinner. If it is a Sirigu market day, I go into the market to buy food and talk to the market ladies. I really enjoy the market, because it gives me a chance to socialize and practice my language skills. Lots of people know me there, and they are very friendly. I also take my phone and ipod to charge at Bismark's house because he has electricity. His kids are fun to play with too.

I ride home by dark usually, and Robert or I cook supper. It's dark by 6:30pm, so we often cook by headlamp or candlelight. Robert cooks more often than I do and he's a good cook. Headmaster often goes into town in the afternoon, but sometimes comes home and eats supper at the house, although not with us. It is not typical in Ghana to gather to eat, usually people eat on their own.

After eating, doing dishes, feeding the dog, and listening to the radio, It's getting late and I'm getting tired. I bath in the dark, then light some candles in my room and read, listen to music, play guitar, or do more school work. I'm usually in bed by 9:00pm, and often asleep by 10:00pm.

That's a typical school day for me here in Ghana. Not very exciting, but the time goes fast enough. I use my weekends for trips into Bolga, doing my laundry, or visiting friends.

All in all, it's going pretty well. Love to all my friends and family back home. I miss you all.
Love,
-Toby

PS. There's a few more new photos on facebook. find link on previous blog post. -tk