Monday, August 31, 2009

Bits and Pieces

Just FYI, to the left, on the blog, there is a website that you can go to in order to view all of our pictures on Picasa Web Albums. Also, below that there is a link to our videos. We will update both of these as often as possible.

Now, for the more important stuff! Such as, I (Meg) went for a run this morning for the first time and was soon joined by three kids who ran with me for a short strech, I had Obruni (White person) yelled to me about 100 times. The people were so excited to say hello!

Katie here, how is everyone doing? I wanted to share a couple of things that have been going on around the convent. First of all, we met Martina, who lives here at the convent but she was on a retreat so this was our first meeting. She is from the Upper West region of Ghana, and will hopefully take us up there to travel at some point. Also, we had a convent game night on Saturday. I was a little nervous knowing my competitive nature. I was very careful and in the end it was the most fun game of Uno and Jenga I have ever played. Comfort and Alice, two candidates who live here and are preparing to go into the Novitiate in the US in Feb., have never played before. It was hilarious to observe them get the hang of the popular game- the idea of Skip, Draw 2, and even Reverse. Don't worry, Alice fully understood the power of the Draw 4 Wild and decided to drop that bomb on me twice. My new nickname around the house is Draw 4. Jenga was justas exciting... Evelyn accidentally bumped the table and down went the tower. The laughter that erupted was so contagious that even those who were not playing got a good kick out of it.

On Saturday evening, Meg and I went out to explore a bit. We were looking for players to get a game of cards going. We ran into Alice in the classroom who was teaching 4 local children how to serve during mass for Friday mornings when we have mass here at the convent. Afterwards, she was going to walk them home so Meg and myself decided to join. Phyllis, Cecilia, Joseph (our student), and Emmanual were great! I brought along a football and we were laughing and playing catch the whole way home. Cecilia insisted she needed my sunglasses so I gave them to her. She was mimicking everything that I said. The kids then were pointing to things and teaching us new words. They loved the fact that we already knew a couple of animals. So we bragged about knowing akoko (rooster), bodum (dog), anoma (bird), and a couple of others and they laughed and laughed.

Last night (Sunday), I was skyping and Meg yelled at me that our friends were here. Confused I looked into the court yard area and there was Cecilia, Emmanual, and Joseph asking if I still had the football. We played for a couple of hours with them before it got dark and they had to go home. Later in the evening, we were in the TV room with Comfort, one of the candidates. Since she is going to the US soon we were preparing her on what to expect. We told her really important things like not to point with her middle finger (a lot of people do that here), not to say 'flash me' while talkin on the phone (very popular phrase meaning call me back), the fact that when she says she has boyfriends we get very confused so we told her the difference between boyfriends and friends that are boys, among a couple of other do's and don'ts. It was really fun to be able to just sit and talk to her about her upcoming adventure to the States because we are currently experiencing all of our firsts with our adventure here in Ghana. We also had the chance to talk about her family, friends, and all the normal stuff considering she is the same age as Meg and me. She is one of the kindest people we have ever met and because of our age- it's fun to have her here to make our transition easier.

To Takoradi and Beyond

We are officially "Tadi" Girls (short for Takoradi)! We made it home safely from Takoradi on Friday evening. The sisters decided that we are now "city girls." We had an amazing time with Sister Helene, Sister Scholastica, and Sister Evelyn.

On Tuesday we went to the most wonderful place, Egyam Orphanage. This was an orphanage started by a Dutch woman named, Thea. She came to Ghana to visit a priest friend and fell in love with the children, but also was heartbroken by the living conditions of many of the children. So, in 2007 the Egyam Orphanage was opened (sponsored by a foundation in Holland). A young man named, Daniel, is the house father and pretty much runs the orphanage. Thea returns home to Holland to be with her husband and children for part of each year and Daniel makes sure that things are run well while she is gone. The orphanage has roughly 52-54 children currently ranging from age 3-15. Katie and I couldn't believe how happy all the children were. They were obviously well taken care of and comfortable. They have routine chores each day, scheduled meals, they attend school, and in the summer they have enrichment programs to keep them learning. What a beautiful environment. Thea wants nothing but the best and top of the line for these kids.

Tuesday evening Katie and I went with Evelyn to "Harbor View." It is a little lookout restaurant where we had a Coke and had a great view of the Takoradi Harbor. We also stopped at a golf course which was right on the ocean. It's only about $7 to play 9 holes!!! The next morning we were able to go down to the harbor and have a private tour on the docks. The gentleman who showed us around did it free of charge and explained everything from the history of the ports to how Ghana's ports are ranked 2nd in Africa and 4th in the world for "Turn Around Time" (how fast they can unload and reload a ship to get it back in the water).

Wednesday afternoon Helene, Evelyn, Katie and I took off for Busea Beach. It was roughly an hour drive outside the city. There was a "resort" hotel and hostels complete with a restaurant, swimming pool, and playground. We had pizza, fried potatoes, and salad! YUM!! Our first "American" food since being here. It was delicious and we relaxed the rest of the afternoon in the sand and at the restaurant. Katie swam and the rest of us just walked in the water and searched for shells. I took a walk down the beachfront where there are little houses and another village and met some kids bathing in the ocean. They immediately ran towards the camera and wanted pictures! Then a gentleman tried his best to sell me a lobster. I had to inform him that I had no way of getting this lobster home to cook it. He said, "Oh no no no, it still moving, it living."

Thursday was our Cape Coast day. We drove the 2 hours to Cape Coast and went straight to Kakum Nation Park to climb up to the Canopy walk. It was a steep climb and we followed our guide, Prince, as he explained various trees and ways they can be used for medicine. When we finally reached the rope bridges we were a little sweaty, but excited. Katie thought she was going to die, but obviously, she made it! It was a stunning view and so much greenery. From here we went to eat at Hans Cottage Botel. This is basically a little restaurant on a pond surrounded by alligators and weaver birds. Both creatures were fascinating!

Our final excursion was to the Cape Coast Slave Castle. We walked through the museum and participated in a tour. It was a very intense and somber experience. We were with a family that had traced their genealogy back to the Ghanaian slave trade. FYI: Ghana used to be called The Gold Coast and this is where the first accounts of slave trade began when the Portuguese built the castle as a trading post on the coast of Ghana. We learned a lot, but plan to go back because there is another castle in Cape Coast called the Elmina Castle (this was the first-ever slave castle).

All in all, our trip to Takoradi was a blast!!! We ate well, experienced tons, and met all sorts of new people.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Longer than 2 Easter Vigils

Hello Everyone!
Meg and I are happy to inform you that we will never, and I mean NEVER, complain about sitting through an hour of mass again. Okay maybe Meg has never complained, but I know I have. Yesterday we woke up for mass at 6:30am. We left the convent around 7 after grabbin' an apple for breakfast, and arrived at the church at 7:30. Now just to clear this up, we were warned that mass could possibly last a little longer than we are used to. We thought nothing of it, thinking that maybe it would be almost 2 hours with some extra singing and dancing. To our surprise, mass did not last 2 hours, but it lasted 5. After being delayed 30 minutes, it finally started.... and never ended. The normal parts of the mass were added with multiple offetories, a 45 minute homily said in both English and Twi, guest speakers, gift giving, honoring CYO inductees, a little dancing here and there, and our friend Kwame on the drums. I would like to describe this dancing we are talking about. It's like native tribal movements mixed with hiphop complete with hankerchief swinging around their head like a helicopter. When we get home we will demonstrate as we are practicing nightly in our room. If you are lucky, we will bring my video camera next week. Mass was then followed by 45 minutes of meet and greet outside. Meg and I met 4 girls who were about 13 years old. They were asking us questions and we taught them how to say "flip flop" which does not roll off the tongue too easily for Ghanaians. We then tried teaching them "Sally Sells SeaShells by the SeaShore... and again... it didn't work out too well but it gained a lot of laughs. Overall, the long mass was enjoyable because we truly felt apart of the community here in Kasoa.

We are leaving this afternoon for Takoradi, which is about 3 hours west of Kasoa. We will be there until Friday, exploring the city, going to Cape Coast, visiting an orphanage, and going to the slave castles... We will blog as soon as we return because we have no idea what the internet situation is like there.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Quick Update

Hello From Kasoa,

The Internet has been questionable lately so this is just a brief update to let you know that we are alive and well. We will post more when we have more access. Hopefully we will be able to put up more pictures and the videos that we have.

Katie and I did our first "load" or laundry. This was by hand of course, in three buckets with powder soap and water. Not exactly easy on the hands. Never the less, we did it, and boy are our clothes clean. Afterwards we hung them on the line to dry by the goat pen.

Our dear friend, Alice, one of the candidates of the congregation, was stung by a scorpion. Now don't get your pants in a wad, apparently this is taken care of with a simple injection. Piece of cake. Guess we don't have anything to worry about when we're stung by a scorpion. No need to worry. Alice recovered in a day and is doing well.

Yesterday, we spent 8.5 hours in Accra shopping with the sisters (Maggie and Esther). Our good friend, Kwame was our tour guide and Peter was our driver. It took over 2 hours to get into the city, only due to the heavy traffic and unorganized roads. We bought fabric for the children's school uniforms, which are made by hand here at the convent. We bought a new printer and went to the market to buy some of the food supplies for the kitchen at the school (millet, onions, etc.). We also got a taste of Ghanaian cashews and chocolate.

We have learned a new phrase to help us great people: etesei (pronounced: ehtisay)- This means "How are you?" We've gotten really good at this one!!! You should all practice, that way when we come home you can speak to us in Twi/Fanti.

Oh, and one last thing, Kwame has told us he will teach us the drums. Get ready!

Peace from Ghana,
Katie and Meg

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

To the Market we go!!!




Let's just start by saying that Katie and I have never been to a REAL market... until Tuesday afternoon in downtown Kasoa. A young man, Kwame (which means he is Saturday born), was our tour guide. Kwami is the brother of one of the novitiates, Alice. We walked the bumpy road from the convent closer to town to catch a taxi to the market. From here we wandered the Kasoa market, which takes place each Tuesday and Friday, for 3 hours. We got to ride a TroTro (public transpo bus). All we can say is hot, sweaty, and crowded! We saw so many new things. So many new foods! (We've put up pictures from the market).




Today, Wednesday, Katie and I went with the sisters to a local woman's home where a small group from the community gathered to say the rosary. It was intimate and awesome! A few of the students from the school were there so we got a chance to meet them and they got to meet their Obruni (white) teachers.




Katie and I are slowly learning to speak the Fanti language. Bit by bit! The sisters are wonderful to learn from and they are patient teachers. They also enjoy quite a few laughs at our expense as we butcher the words.




Peace


Katie and Meg


Monday, August 17, 2009

Akwaaba! (Welcome)

Dearest Readers,
We made it to Ghana safely after a few glasses of FREE wine and lovely British flight attendents. Meg and I could not stop laughing when they asked us if we wanted any tea or coffee in their accents. We decided it would be best to respond to their questions in our own British accents- it went quite well. We arrived last night around 8:30 and were greeted by the lovely Sister Maggie and Sister Esther. The drive from the airport to the convent was around 30 minutes on a paved road and very light traffic compared to the normal 2 hour commute to Accra. Once we turned onto the road that leads to the convent we experienced our first unpaved road. To call them bumps would be an understatement. It was more like the surface of the moon, craters, dust, and all. While driving 2 miles an hour, swerving to avoid the giant trenches in the ground, we decided this part of the drive was more like a roller coaster. The sisters really got a kick out of our comparison and the way we held on for dear life. Once we arrived, we were greeted by 3 other Sisters - Alice, Evelyn, and Comfort. The others were sleeping. We snacked, talked with the Sisters, and were eventually led to our room.

Our lovely beds are complete with mosquito nets. And we slept like babies. This morning, we took showers after being slightly confused on how to turn them on. While showering, we heard interesting noises coming from outside. Meg cleared this up and explained they were sheep and goats walking around the compound under our window.

Sister Evelyn gave us the grand tour - around the convent and down to the school. We saw the classroom we will be teaching in and minus the spider it looks the way we imagined it. We had a nice lunch with the Sisters, and will be going to mass tonight at 7. We will let you know how that goes... we heard some stories about dancing down the aisle and singing.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Here Today... Ghana Tomorrow

Hello Everyone!
Meg and I just wanted to test out the blog before we actually get to Ghana. I am meeting her tomorrow at Dulles Airport before we depart to Accra, Ghana by way of London. Our layover is only 4 hours in England, so unfortunately I don't think we will have the chance to go find Prince Harry or even see Big Ben. We will arrive in Accra, Ghana at around 8pm their time, which is 3pm EST on August 16 (Sunday). I am hoping Meg knows how we are getting from the airport to the convent because I certainly have no idea. Just so everyone understands... Meg is the organized one behind this adventure (And just so no one is scared... The Sisters will be there waiting for us I believe).

We are both looking forward to keeping everyone informed about our adventure, and we hope you will keep us posted about what is going on here in the US. Thank you to everyone who has given us the constant support and well wishes as we embark on this journey together.

Talk to you soon from Ghana,
Katie and Megan