J. S. George

Home

2011-09-03T08:19:00.001-07:00

I'm home. Weird.

Upcoming Changes

2011-07-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

I have 11 days until I leave Kaleo in the Upper West region of Ghana for the last time. I will play my cards close to the chest on that topic, but I'm sure there will be a certain amount of nostalgia as I leave my home of the last two years for the last time.

I will be heading south to Accra to finalize all of the administrative details of my service (Peace Corps has its fair share of paperwork) and to make sure that I am not leaving the country with any strange parasites or diseases (fingers crossed on schistosomiasis). If everything goes according to plan, on August 4th I will cease to be a PCV and will begin life anew as an RPCV, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

I will not be returning to the states immediately. I will spend a few more weeks in Ghana with a gothilic jezebilo before finally boarding a plane to NYC on August 23rd.

I predict I will be back in the redwood forest by about September 13th. w00t.

Adaptations

2011-07-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

When exercising for the first time after a long period of sloth, our bodies rebel. Every movement is labored and each breath is painful. The naive self image of ourselves as athletes quickly crumbles. And, once we work our way through that first workout, the next day is even more torturous as muscles take revenge.

Then, we adapt without even realizing it. Two weeks later, what we once thought was impossible becomes easy.

Why, dear reader, am I talking about human biomechanical adaptation? In the upcoming transition period the internal adaptations I have made will come to light and decide the manner in which I will land in cultural America, rubber down or in full Pixies style "with my feet in the air and my head on the ground."

Fortunately, I have allowed myself plenty of time for these discoveries. My greater concern for this moment is an essential question that every volunteer struggles with to varying degrees in their years of service: has my time here been worthwhile? I am not speaking in the evaluative sense. The question--have I done enough?--simply begs a higher question. I am speaking in the realm of ideals: is Volunteering in a foreign country to help it change a worthwhile endeavor?

Even asking this question may seem callous to many, but after completing two years of such volunteering, I think it is deserved. Answers to this question, on the part of volunteers, tend to run the gamut. Answers supporting "yes, it is worthwhile" speak to the personal development that occurs, the relationships built with people, the effects on those individual people, and the "best practices" they have been able to share. Answers supporting "no" tend to doubt the actual effects of their projects and address the lack of long term sustainability and the frustration at working to help people who don't necessarily want to change themselves or many times even help each other.

I have come to terms with my own service with a combination of the "yes" answers. I have been teaching chemistry and physics for two years. I have most likely improved the future prospects for at least some of those students. I have provided HIV and health education to a large number of students. I have made a life here with some good relationships and I have certainly grown.

But, there are always these niggling doubts. The adaptation to a workout requires both something to adapt to, a challenge, and motivation to push through that challenge. Are we simply trying to unnaturally force adaptation while simultaneously propping up systems so that they do not need to adapt?

If I had not been here for the last two years would the administration at my school organized itself to find a permanent chemistry teacher? Have I, by helping my current students, delayed help for all of the following students?

Isn't all of this volunteering a moot point in the face of unfair trade agreements and outside meddling from a bevy of "developed" countries?

The answer to these doubts is different depending on who you ask.

As I said, I have found my small victories, my time here is probably worthwhile if at least one person goes on to university because of me or if just one person avoids contracting HIV. I would even be happy if just a single person developed a more critical mind under my tutelage.

Yet, I cannot help but wish that all these small victories, from all of the volunteers, are developing towards something grander. I will continue searching for the answer.

If you're wondering what I've been up to....

2011-06-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

...it can be summed up with: teaching chemistry, co-organizing and running a health and leadership camp for junior high school girls, paragliding, completion of service conference, all-volunteer conference, more teaching, STARS Conference and as of tomorrow, teaching again.

If you're wondering, "What is a STARS conference?" check out www.starsconference.com I designed the site, and while its not absolutely complete, it's getting there. During the last week I updated the STARS Team blog daily with a hopefully excited and optimistic tone. I also uploaded some testimonials from students and mentors. Check them out. STARS Team Blog

Je ne parle pas francais ou l'arabe

2011-02-24T03:36:00.000-08:00

I am in Morocco for a week for ambiguous reasons. I will be spending my time mostly in Rabat, a very lovely city. Yesterday my lunch was some sort of Tajine, my afternoon snack was falafel and my dinner was a McChicken sandwich at McDonalds. The first was a new experience, the latter two were just amazing. This morning I ate croissants and real oranges for breakfast (despite the love affair some PCV's have with Ghana oranges I find them to be repulsive). It is very cold here... high's in the 60's lows mid-40's. I am freezing. I have grown accustomed to weather that never dips below 80.... Luckily, I brought flannel with me and the hotel where I am saying has some serious blankets (at least six inches thick).

One thing that has struck me about this city is the quiet. There are cars, there is honking, and there are many people, but compared to Ghana (where the volume always seems to be turned to 11) I feel very peaceful. Maybe it is the wide streets or the grand architecture that absorb the sound, or maybe it is a cultural difference that prevents yells from coming and going in every direction. Either way, it is a nice break.

Oh, and attending to the title of this blog's post, I don't speak french or arabic, the two languages that are spoken commonly here. I am getting by with pointing, pidgin french and the charming smile. Last night I wanted to buy soap. I went to a small store and said "soap", then did the motion indicating washing hand to which the man said "sabon?" "Yes! I mean oui! Sabon!" Repeat ad infinitum for every interaction. I have to say, it is kind of fun.

Applications Complete!

2011-02-09T03:36:00.000-08:00

Yes! Doing this with slow internet was an adventure. It took me 53 minutes to upload the files and submit for a single application. But yeah, it is done. I am currently doing a happy dance. Now it's time to give some tender loving care to www.starsconference.com and www.coniwas.com.

New Camera

2011-02-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Therefore, pictures. My sister is amazing and sent me a new camera. My old one was defeated by African weather. I am so excited about the new camera that I'm posting some pictures from the last few days of overzealous "snapping."

This is one of the new classrooms I teach in. Agriculture track, Year 2, Chemistry.

Meet Gromit, my cat. The name came with the cat. Gromit's interests include hiding underneath things, meowing incessantly, licking hands and feet and eating lizards. Call 555-meow if you'd like to have some live kitty talk.

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Chemistry is a much harder subject for the students here in Ghana than back in the US. First of all, they are required to learn a large amount of material for the WASSCE, an exam at the end of high schools that is nearly the equivalent of the British A levels. This means they need to learn many more details than you would find in any US chemistry syllabus. Not to mention, most students come out of junior high school with only a moderate grasp of the English language and a woeful science/math background.

Part of this ultimate high school examination is a practical portion (worth 40 percent of their final exam score) where they have to perform a titration and some exercises in qualitative analysis. This is difficult when there are either no supplies or no teachers qualified or willing to set up these experiments for practice. My school is a bit of a mixture of the two. Middling supplies, few teachers.

Anyways, we just reached acids and bases in the syllabus so it was time to do some simple titrations involving neutralization reactions i.e. we mix a known concentration of acid with an unknown concentration of base and, using some mathematical trickiery called stoichiometry, calculate the concentration of the base.

These are some students who helped me set up the lab. I was sleepy.

And they actually did a pretty good job! Here is the lab, set up in all its glory. Each table outfitted with two stands, two burettes, some acid, some base and a wash bottle for every boy and girl.

They were pretty proud of themselves.

The students were so excited for the practicals that they crowded forward. "Back!" I yelled, "Back! Back!" But they could not be stopped as they rampaged forward in a fit of hands-on education.

This picture does not well communicate the craziness that ensued after we actually started the practical. Unfortunately, I had to run back and forth helping people and couldn't take any more pictures. It was chaos.

After the storm, everything was cleared and Solomon remained, one of my best students.

Alright, that's enough for now. Acid-base titration: Cleared.

Events events

2011-01-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

Recent happenings:

Rhea, my sister, just came to visit me for a week. She is the most amazing, wonderful sister in the world. I think she had a good time, but it was definitely an African experience.

I've been working on the website for our STARS Conference. It is a work in progress, but keep a look out for updates, and if you really want there will be a chance to help donate to make the conference a reality in the near future. www.starsconference.com

I am currently in Accra for some medical ish, some day I will make it back to the upper west and start teaching again.... someday....

Time for the Harmattan

2010-12-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

Fires dance happily around my house
They burn the bush

Green turns black and brown
The days are scorching

A cold wind blows from the north
We sleep under covers

Dust is our new air
Saharan weather

you are welcome.

And they stay there...

2010-12-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Earlier today ramblings whilst walking in the hot sun. What is the value of culture? Now, when I asked myself this question, it was incumbent upon me to define what I mean by culture (how many arguments and misunderstandings simply stem from a mutual misunderstanding of the central idea of the discussion?) That was a difficult question to answer. Is it only a general collection of the things people do and the values which guide them on a daily basis? I used the modifier "only" there, I suppose one could argue that such things are extremely important. But, if culture is simply the way we have collectively adapted to our environment, then why is it necessary to preserve that culture? If new life situations require an evolution of 'culture' what is the purpose in invoking the previous system as something inviolable? My perspective of this is definitely one of an assimilated American. I am fourth generation in the country, I find Greek things interesting and nostalgically familiar, but they are not part of my daily self.

At this point in my thought process I reached the classroom and proceeded to explain the general functioning of a mass spectrometer to a classroom of students, most of whom will never see a mass spectrometer in their life. Heck, I've only seen one once. I certainly didn't have to learn exact details about how they function in high school. But, this post is not about my disapproval of a syllabus requiring the teaching of infinite details and ideas to students who are ill prepared to conceptualize such things, producing a large number of graduates who can talk the talk, but rarely walk the walk (My students can spit out technical terms and their definitions, but generally don't understand, or only slightly understand what they are saying).

Anyways, the question about culture comes as a result of trying to make sense of the value inherit in spending time in other countries i.e. what is the value in me learning and trying to 'integrate' in another culture. Another big question is, how important is it actually to keep old traditions alive in a modern age? How important is it to maintain cultures of days past? I find such things to be of great interest academically, but would I actually want to live, well, as the Romans did?

This also brings up ideas of identity. Maintaining culture is a way to make sure we feel like we have a "place" within our lives. People thrown out of their cultures tend to be rather unhappy.

So, in this rather scatterbrained blog the values of culture I've identified include: it gives us an identity and a place within a community, they are interesting, knowing about how others live gives you a broader sense for humanity (oh, I didn't say that one before? too bad. Is it true? Is it valuable to have a broader sense of humanity? Or could it be just fine to live your life within only your culture? I guess it depends on the goal you have for who you want to be. I refuse to say that one way is better than the other. I refuse to revile those who choose to live out their happy lives. It's too easy and it's silly. Though, in a coming global age, maybe they are the ones who are silly?)

So where does that leave me? The value in integrating into another culture is that it broadens your sense of humanity and lets you look on your own cultures, and all cultures, from a different perspective. I have not yet felt the effects of this value, maybe this will benefit me in the future, but who knows. The real present day value I take from the culture here is one of identity. Without assimilating at least part of the culture here, the world would be topsy-turvy socially.

But, I want to come back to the first question. The real impetus for all of these thoughts is the conversation about preserving cultures. For example, Ghana has over 70 languages spoken within the country. Many of these are fading away as people learn English or Twi and jump into the mainstream. What is the value in maintaining these languages? Part of me says there is real value in maintaining them and part of me says, get rid of them! I think the difference between those opinions comes from my interior competing cultures, the former comes from some sort of liberal international culture that has conglomerated inside myself throughout the years and the latter from the American sense that we must move upward and onward.

Ah, a blog with no conclusions. It seems we live in a world of infinite questions.

Fits and Starts

2010-11-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Just finished reading: Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, a novel set in 17th century Japan during its transition into the Edo period, focused on the samurai and their changing roles in society as internal wars subside.

Currently reading:
Concurrently, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche.

These three books come from different places, times, perspectives, points and ideas. And yet, there is something vaguely necessary about all of them.

I was in the old market of Wa searching for a turkey on Saturday, when I ran into a mad man. An unlit cigarette hung from his lips, his pants were tied with a piece of old rope and he wasn't wearing a shirt. How did I know he was crazy? He was wearing shackles. Apparently he's been deemed dangerous to society, but there's nowhere to keep him.

This takes me back to a man I met a few times in my town. When I met him, he was completely normal. He taught English at the local elementary school, he helped my friend Judith, a girl from the south of Ghana, find her way around town when she first arrived to teach here. Then, a month later, he was also encumbered with the shackles of the insane. At night, he was tied to a tree.

What else is there to do?

Why am I speaking about madmen when I had an enormously delicious thanksgiving meal yesterday (apparently I know how to cook turkey; I need to practice the carving more) with some good friends.

I think the reason is something everyone in Peace Corps tends to experience. When we first arrive everything is new and worth informing the world about. Now, all of that is normal. So what if I wash myself with bucket water and squat to use the bathroom? So what if goats and chickens make a constant cacophony at tender sleeping points? Who cares about madmen with no recourse?

Somebody does, I suppose.

Things I like

2010-10-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

Kapala
Kenke
Computers
Trashy Scifi/Fantasy Novels (you know the type)
Super Stuck Up, Snooty Novels (the kind that never call you back)
Chill novels (you know, for just hanging out)
Running
Laying down on hard flat surfaces
When a student *gets it*
When I *get it* (What is it anyways?)
BURRITOS
Finishing things
Procrastinating with super nintendo games, movies and entire television series
Sleep.

To be continued... (if I don't procrastinate)

Accra cra cra cra cra!

2010-10-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Accra is the capital of Ghana. It is one of those places where you can buy anything you need but lacks a soul. The entire city feels like a very large, sprawling, dirty mall. Maybe one week isn't enough time to judge a place. Maybe if I was rich I would enjoy it. But, I only had one week and I'm not rich so my judgement stands.

Anyways, this week will not have fantastic stories of kimodo lizards. Just a quick update on life. I came down to Accra to 1.) take part in our national volunteer committee meeting 2.) get my mid-service medical checkup and 3.) meet the Peace Corps director. They are having some meeting of bigwigs in Accra so he was around and we had a little Q and A session with the big boss. (By the way all of the people in that meeting are staying in the Holiday Inn, which costs approximately 350 dollars a night... significantly more than I make in a month, with conversion
probably around what I make in two months! Ridic.)

Besides those three things it was a week of delicious but expensive food, drinking at British pub facsimiles and the excitement of hanging out with a lot of volunteers I haven't seen in some time balanced with the depressing weariness of city life. Big shout out to Jenny, who let me stay at her awesome place for a couple nights! I heart "Everybody Hates Chris" now.

I'm currently traveling back up to my town in the Upper West. I'll be happy to be home again.

The End.

Lizards

2010-09-19T08:53:00.001-07:00

An interesting skill that I've learned here is how to fall asleep on a cement floor. This is useful when it is way too hot to get in bed. I use it as a nap technique. If I get in bed I might end up sleeping through the rest of the day, but something about a hard floor always wakes me up after a few hours.

I was sleeping this way a few days ago, stomach down, my hands cradling my face. I woke up with a strange tickling/feeling on my upper back. I started to lift myself up when a black lizard the size of my foot crawled up my shoulder and jumped down in front of me. We had a face off moment. I could have sworn he gave me a contemptuous I-own-this-place look before running into hiding.

Now, I reacted in the way that any half-asleep person in the middle of some sort of malformed yoga pose would: I made a stupid face and one of those stupid noises like "huh?", "gah?", "oof?" If this were a horror movie, that's the moment when hundreds of those little reptiles would descend from the ceiling and consume me (hint, the only way to avoid that is to react in a dynamic, protagonisty sort of way by say... jumping up immediately and looking for an escape route or saying something witty).

After I pulled my bones off the floor and woke up a little bit more I weighed my options. I eliminated the idea of living in harmony with the lizard and naming him "Rupert" almost immediately. Lizards poop everywhere and are impossible to potty train. Just try it.

That just left forcible ejection.

For my battle gear I chose boxers and a bandana around my forehead. As my weapons I chose a rag mop in my left hand and a wooden stick in my left hand. Conventional tactics had no room here. The enemy was fully trained in guerilla warfare and went so far as to hide among my own civilian clothes to escape the wrath of my mop. Collateral damage was a given as we went from one room to another and back again in a battle that could only be described as epic.

The thing about lizards that I've learned is that after about 10 minutes of running around, they get very tired or overheated and can barely move. My nemesis tired and I flung him from my room with a roar of victory. But, with a refrain of "never again" pounding through my mind, I walked outside grabbed a shovel, loaded the lizard on the shovel and catapulted the thing over the horizon (a la Team Rocket).

The real moral of the story is that when school is delayed until September 27th for the National Census there are many ways to amuse yourself.

All around the world.

2010-09-05T05:19:00.000-07:00

Summary of the last three months: Teaching, map, partay, grading, website, new people, girls camp.

Teaching:
Chemistry and Physics, just like term two. Except we're now getting into some meaty topics, I had a lot of failures on the final so we're going to do a bootcamp for the first month of school in the coming year.

Map:
Full explanation with pictures below.

Partay:
We had a big ol' party to say goodbye to some of the volunteers that are COSing (Completion of Service....ing). We had people coming from all over Ghana for this one.

Grading:
The worst part of being a teacher is definitely grading papers/exams. 'nuff said.

Website:
I'm designing a website for CONIWAS (Coalition of Water and Sanitation) an NGO focused on... water and sanitation in Ghana. I'm hoping it will be finished in the next couple weeks and up and running by the end of September.

New People:
We're getting seven new volunteers in the Upper West. Once november rolls around there will be a completely different feel to this place! Oh, and I have a new German neighbor in Kaleo. His name is Hans.

Girls Camp:
Two volunteers up here took the lead on setting up a week long leadership/health/environment camp for junior high school girls. I brought some girls from my high school to help lead the camp and some younger girls from the local junior high to participate in the program. We had it at Talawona which is in the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary southwest of Wa on the Burkina Faso border. Unfortunately, it is the rainy season so we were unable to see any hippos while we were there, but it was fun just to be out in the bush for a week. Though, my back is a little bit unhappy from sleeping on floors. The program was definitely a net positive for the girls. Who doesn't like camp? Pictures are forthcoming.

Okay back to the map. A very common activity in Peace Corps is the World Map Project. You find a wall that's empty and you fill it up with a world map. It's pretty simple, educational, fun for the kids and if anything looks better than just a blank wall.

Here Evelyn and I are color coding the maps to make it easier when we finally paint. Alasdair is setting up the baseline.

Here we're drawing the grid jury-rig style...
When we finally finished the grid (it took about a full day, for some reason other people who have done this project before were able to do their whole grid in a couple hours, I'm not sure what we did wrong!) we started drawing the countries and continents!
You draw that South Africa.
Starting the painting process.
Antarctica!
Did you know that the ocean's are really dang big?
Over on the left is Ana, she's Toby's girlfriend and was visiting for about six weeks.
We got tired and had to play a football(soccer) game, teachers versus students. We won 2-1. Toby and I represented white person land on our team. The big dude with the stomach is Mr. Lampson and the shirtless guy smiling is a good friend of mine Abdulai. The others aren't so significant.
Painting is mostly done, I'm working on the Peace Corps symbol here.
A little bit of a wider shot. This building has the Tech 3 classroom and the computer lab currently.
Me, Toby, Alasdair, finished map. Boom.
Bang, bang, bang.
Grrrrrr....

I have a few touch-ups left but the map is finally done :) Toby and Alasdair have now left the country. We shall meet again Oktoberfest 2011!

Two posts one day

2010-05-28T09:37:00.001-07:00

What what.

So it's been a few weeks since that last post. Quick update: I'm teaching again. Next week I'm taking two students down to Kumasi for a week long leadership conference run by Peace Corps Volunteers. I get to be a group leader, which basically means I get to play camp counselor to ten Ghanaian high school students. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun :)

In other news, I now have more regular internet access, so... email me. And here are some pictures because my blog posts have been horribly bereft of them so far.

This is my Agric 2A chemistry class.

Three chickens that we ate for Christmas Dinner

A few students that I don't teach anymore. But I love the picture.
Crazy Stick Bug!
This game was a lot less cool than it looks.

Okay that's it for now. Hasta la proxima vez.

Totalllly Retro

2010-05-28T09:26:00.002-07:00

This post was written a month or so ago I think.

There is a certain point in bouldering that you realize you have just done something stupid. I was halfway up a sandstone spire when the panic hit.

Moments before I had been shading my eyes from the African sun with one hand, staring upward and contemplating. My first thought was “that looks completely possible, even easy.” My second thought was more sobering “If I did fall from there I would definitely break a leg at least and you would not be able to call the PCMO or get help.” Then my imagination kicked in, “You would just be lying in the bush semi-conscious, in horrible pain where you would eventually be consumed by ravenous ants.” I had seen a dead rat being consumed by ants earlier that day. My third thought was stereotypical, boring even, “what kind of man are you if you let your fear stop you from doing something you want to do?”

I stood there for a moment, unable to come to a decision. But, when I awoke from my reverie, I was already starting to climb, my body’s motion autonomous from my contradictory thoughts. It was three-quarters to the top that I realized I had made a mistake. There were no more handholds, nothing to grab. The ground below me became a wash of green. My legs began to shake. Thoughts that were recently points of debate became flashes of oncoming reality as I imagined myself falling. I hugged the rock, baking in the heat, my heart pounding.

Then I took control. Breathe. I let my lungs fill. Slow down. Soon, the panic subsided into a simple dullness of motion that carried me down the spire.

Nothing quite like battling with your own mind on the side of a cliff face. I'm definitely addicted to that adrenaline.

Anyways, in actual news I am back at site and in decent spirits. The teaching will begin on Monday and I will be about as busy as a hundred monkeys in a room, being forced to type Shakespeare (and just as effective, probably). Last term I laid out my hopes and dreams for my accomplishments, I fell short but I think I got a good start. HIV club will continue and hopefully will start doing presentations to other schools. Lab practicals will start on Monday with classes and will be every week if things go to plan. And, after all-vol I’ve been kicking around an idea for a teacher training workshop of some sort, probably focusing on how JHS teachers can do proper HIV/AIDS education for PEPFAR purposes, but I need to talk to the District Assembly. The last two terms I have been spinning on my laurels, my eyes going from place to place without much follow-through. It’s time to get the lead out.

White People Bonanza

2010-04-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

I'm currently sitting in a swank hotel in the Volta Region of Ghana, eating delicious food, meeting new volunteer people and pretty much just having a good time. It's the Peace Corps Ghana All-Volunteer Conference 2010! All 126 Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana have come together for a week of sessions on PEPFAR (President's Emergency Program For AIDS Relief), Peace Corps Policy and general wackiness. Tonight is Peace Corps Prom (it looks like I'm going stag unless I cook up an appropriately ironic date in the next few hours) and on Friday night we're having a talent show. Mostly, this has been a good time to get to know each other, get information from older PCV's and consolidate ourselves.

I will be going back to site in the next week some time and start the next term of teaching. I'm hopefully going to be starting a lot of new projects and bringing other projects to the next level. We'll see how that goes.

End of Second Term

2010-04-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

I am officially 2/3 done with my first year of teaching. I am now commencing the hell that will be grading all of the final exams and realizing that the majority of the students scored somewhere around 50%. Ah well.

In other news, I was bitten by a dog. I was out running and I passed by a man and what appeared to be a happy dog. I greeted him as I passed and then looked forward again. Just then a dog launched itself at my leg. The bite wasn't deep at all but it definitely broke skin. I tried to question the man about whether the dog had its rabies shots.

"Does your dog have Vaccinations?"
"Yes, yes" (smiling blankly and nodding)
"Rabies?"
"Yes, yes"
"Injections? Rabies?" (a worried tone creeping into my voice)
"Yes, Yes, yes"
(I roll my eyes and sigh)
"Ok thank you" (I take off running back to my house, a decent amount of blood dripping down my leg)

It told the Peace Corps doctor about the bite and I was told that I need to come down to Accra, the capital, for rabies shots. This actually turned out awesome because I got a free vacation! My friend was house sitting an awesome place owned by an ex-pat in Accra so I had four days of air conditioning, TV and a pool.

Anyways, I returned a week or two ago, got gastrointestinally ill on the way and now have a cold but I guess it was worth it.

There's some bad news that has been weighing on my mind the last few days. I probably shouldn't give all the details in a public forum, but if anyone knows Stirling and his family ask me about it.

Finally

2010-03-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

A blog.

Just so everyone knows it literally took me 40 minutes to open the page where I could finally enter a blog. 40 minutes. Shoot me.

Okay, whats been up.... I finally have gas. The propane kind, not the intestinal kind. There is only one propane filling station in the Upper West. For the last two months gas has come and then run out within a day or two until the next shipment would come a few weeks later. I finally got on top of it. I called the guy that works at the filling station incessantly over the last few days to find out when it would be coming. This morning I got up at 6 and made my way to wa andddddd now I have it! Everyone should realize this is probably one of the most satisfying things that has happened to me for a good while now. haha. No more bending over a coal pot for me!

Anyways, other things. I've started my HIV education club, we meet every Wednesday for about an hour. Unfortunately, not too many people have been there consistently for all four meetings, but luckily, each meeting has been a success for the people that have come. First meeting (54 people or so attending), we talked about role models ie who should we model our lives after. They ended up narrowing it down to five: Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (the man who brought about Ghana's independence), Jesus Christ, John Mills (current Ghana President), Yaa Asentawaa (an Ashanti Queen) and Jason George. I think they were just trying to flatter me. There's a very large... "flattering of those above you" culture here in Ghana. People always try to get on the good side of "Big men" ie rich and powerful people. The reason is that, much more than in the US, the patronage or hatred from a big man can make or break your town, village, family. Especially in the Upper West. This is a country whose entire economy seems to be based on "I know a guy..."

But, I digress. Second meeting was a failure because people didn't show up. I taught a basic anatomy lesson to the kids that were there, that is I explained male and female sexual organs and their functions. I don't think I would make a good health teacher. It's easy to talk about anything sexual and euphemisms, but try saying "vagina" and "penis" in front of a classroom full of high school students. Yeah, it's difficult.

Let's see, in the third class, I started talking about the different ways that HIV can be transmitted. We played a pretty cool team game with candy prizes. They did pretty well on the game except that they seemed to think you could pass HIV through kissing. Nope! Not unless you're both bleeding from the mouth!

Then this last meeting (yesterday actually). I went over the ABC's of HIV prevention. Abstinence, Be Faithful, Condom Use. Remember it. Use it. We talked about why each part is important. Then for a part of condom use, I gave them a condom demonstration on a wooden penis that I had my carpenter friend make. I think it went well, I really need to get a bunch of condoms and have them all practice though. Just so everyone knows, Abstinence only education leads to more teen pregnancies. The decision to have sex isn't usually a rational one, or a well-informed one in teens, so the danger of disease or pregnancy doesn't really scare that many away. Plus, everyone thinks they are invincible all the way through their mid-20's so... yeah, telling them about condoms does not encourage them to have sex. It just lets them stay healthy and not knocked up if they make that decision for themselves. If someone is going to have sex, I want them to do it with a condom. Personally, I don't care if they have sex or not, that's their decision. Alright, that's enough of a polemic for now.

What else has been going on? We had an interhouse competition. We have 5 residences on campus: Lasallian, Van-Rest, Tuurey, St. Gregory and Sandu. I am associated with Lasallian. I helped train the long distance runners. They are dang fast, especially considering they run barefoot or in sandals. Anyways, in football our house got last but we got second in track and field! I take complete credit for this haha. Everyone was expecting Lasallian to get last but we did very well :)

Okay, no other news for now.

Jason

Another day, another Cedi

2010-01-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

The new term has begun. Luckily, I am teaching fewer classes this term. I have thrown off the shackles of the Integrated Science Curriculum. I am now just teaching Chemistry to Form 2A and 2B and Physics to Form 2. I'm excited about teaching physics, but mostly I'm excited to be only teaching 3 classes rather than 5. I'll have time to do cool experiments, take afternoon naps and make lots of food. OR I'll just be lazy with the extra time.

Okay, list of things I'm trying to start this term:

HIV/AIDS Education Club, I did an interest poll among the students, I had 256 students sign up. Thats way too many (there are only 500 or 600 in the school), I'm currently contemplating how to make this an effective club. We shall see. I was hoping to train peer educators but it looks like I'm going to have to do some sort of tiered thing... We shall see. I got some sort of go ahead on condoms from my headmaster too. My school is catholic and they have a strong anti-condom/family planning stance. Luckily, I'll be able to promote the ABC's (Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condom use).

World Map Project - I wanna draw a big world map on a big wall. If you think the American school system sucks at Geography, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Getting propane in my gas tank- they ran out of propane in Wa recently. I have been cooking with coal, it's not hard but it adds another 30 min to an hour to cooking time to get the thing lit. If

HIV/AIDS Bike ride- This actually is gonna happen in August if all goes to plan. I'm working with another volunteer in Jirapa to do this. We're gonna get a bunch of people, riding from small town to small town doing presentations, giving out condoms and doing HIV testing.

Organizing the Lab - Getting that thing organized and set up so we can use it for practicals. The kids have to learn how to do titration, qualitative analysis and they need to see explosions.

Being a good teacher - That didn't work so well last term, it's time to get that going.

Anyways, I think there was some other things I had swirling around in my head but apparently they're not ready to be written down yet cause... I can't remember them. Okay, I'm out.

The south is muggy

2010-01-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

It's funny how my perspective has changed in the short seven months I have been here. When I first arrived in Accra and Kumasi, all I could see were relatively dirty cities. Now, when I look at them I see development everywhere, concrete structures and a world of opportunities. After living out in a truly rural area, I have become very "village" when entering the cities. I gape at buildings, I almost get run over by cars, basically, I am no longer literate in modernity.

In other news, I just bought a guitar in Kumasi. It was 60 cedis (about 40 us dollars) and its brand is Fendar. Not Fender, but Fendar. I am excited to have that at my site.

It's time to start the new term and resume the good fight. I got a lot of good ideas at our In-Service Training (IST). We'll see what happens.

And so it begins again

2010-01-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

School starts again next week. It will be nice to have breakfast and lunch cooked for me again and to have students around. It's time to start doing that lesson planning thing that I really need to do weekly rather than nightly. Anyways, it's a new year, new possibilities. I guess I am also another year older.

Lately, I have been watching a lot of The West Wing. Great show. I also have been reading 100 years of solitude and a few of Cicero's speeches. I think I'm trying to find a way to connect these three in my mind but it's difficult. Reading Cicero, you really get a taste of the emotional, rough and tumble environment that was the Roman empire at the time of Julius Caesar. I'm looking to connect that to the current American political environment. We'll see how I do.

Convictions are like metal shards

2009-12-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard the stories where pieces of metal have lodged under someone's skin. Perhaps they were doing some work in a machine shop and they had an accident. After carefully cleaning the wound, they think they have removed all the metal. But then, years later, the pieces that were missed are pulled to the surface and ejected from the body. My convictions are similar. I systematically buried a number of thoughts, but now, these ideas have resurfaced.

If you will permit me to switch analogies, I will do so. Imagine some Frost-esque paths diverging. In my mind, these paths are in the middle of the desert (Oh! the desert of existence! haha), rather than a yellow wood, but the location is unimportant. Some time ago, I decided to walk down a certain path. I am thinking that I chose incorrectly. So I have carefully backstepped my way to the crossroads. Now, I am sitting cross-legged in the middle of the desert, contemplating the various paths that I could walk down. But, unlike previous visits to this spot, I am not anxious about the choice. I wouldn't call myself happy with this spot, or content, but it's not so bad to watch the tumbleweeds roll by as a backdrop to my contemplation. And, maybe (cross your fingers!), I might get some sick Robert Johnson guitar skills in meantime.

Dag, yo.

Once upon a time...

2009-12-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

... I decided to read The Fountainhead (again).

I had read the book once before in high school and I think that most of it travelled right over my head because, well, my whole life was ahead of me. What did I care for evaluations for what is worthwhile to do in life and what isn't? Actually, for those who knew me in high school, you probably remember that I didn't think there was much a point to anything.

Anyways, I am reading the book again and it means a lot more to me than it did before. There is a lot of philosophical ideals hopping around the book but a lot of it can be boiled down to this: the selfish vs the selfless. And, contrary to most visions of the world, the selfish is portrayed as superior, because the selfish is alive, the selfish is honest, the selfish has self-respect.

Do I agreew with this? Maybe? Sometimes? Does the book simplify people to fit its purposes? Perhaps. But there is something there. All I have to say is, I hope I can find the purpose that makes me the most like Howard Roark, the most selfish man in the world.

Settled back in

2009-12-03T04:54:00.000-08:00

I am now back at site. The exams for the students start next week and until then.... I'm basically hanging out and answering any questions they have. I'm starting to do some language learning in a little bit more earnest bodaa is male goat. That sounds delicious. I am going to cut this short because I'm hungry. Hasta Luego.

So...

2009-11-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty dang bad with the blog. Here's the skinny:

Teaching
Exams coming up
Review week is this upcoming week
Went to the ambassadors house for thanksgiving (turkey galore)
Went to the beach (I miss swimming)
Tired (see facebook photo for an example of said tiredness)

I miss people.

That is all.

Picture!

2009-10-22T05:14:00.000-07:00

My house :) I live in the apartment on the left side. Posting pictures apparently takes a full half an hour at this internet cafe so I'll post more in the future if I can get it to work.

Oh and if you think that trash can looks nice. You're right, the trash can is nice and apparently there is a service where they "pick up your trash" that the previous volunteers had. But, in the last few days we've figured out that they have just been taking the trash can and emptying it behind our house. So, I'm going to start burning the trash like all normal Ghanaians do.

Send me things

2009-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

Letters, happiness, pictures and food

Jason George
PO Box 523
Wa
Upper West Region
Ghana
West Africa

Let's Talk About...

2009-10-02T08:37:00.001-07:00

If you didn't read my blog before, too bad! It was a hilarious description about how I got sick but the voice of reason prevailed.

Tacos and Dinosaurs

2009-09-14T08:53:00.001-07:00

So a few of us got together recently and we made tacos. This was pretty hard and took about four hours with three people working that whole time. The first thing we did was make some beans. Then we mashed the beans. Then we refried the beans. And I'm using the royal we here. After that the plural we made tortillas using some recipe in our dawn of cooking peace corps cook book. Then we cooked some goat meat and made guacamole. Actually, it turns out that a good hour of that four hour cooking time was spent trying to light the coals in the coal pot that we were using. Regardless, when we were done we had some delicious soft tacos, which I think really upset my stomach. But they tasted good so it was totally worth it.

Other exciting events... I electrocuted myself! My friend does not have a switch for her fan. Instead, there are simply two wires that you either have pushed together or pull apart. They were pulled apart when I was reaching around in the dark trying to find the light switch and my left fore arm became the contact points for the electric circuit. You gotta love 220 volts running up your arm.

I am not sure if this is because I was shocked on my left arm or because I wore a questionably clean and damp shirt but I also developed a strange rash on my left arm. It has started to go away but, I was really excited for the "fungal overgrowth" side effect of my anti-malarial medication, doxycycline.

And finally, yesterday, I decided to go on a run. I decided to turn back early because I felt tired and my stomach felt a little bit sour. When I was halfway back to my house, my stomach did a few flip flops and I dove into the bush. I was very happy that the grass I hid myself behind was head high and pretty thick.

Oh,and final piece of news, my phone is broken. I need to buy a new one post haste.

Ohhh Ghana... Ohhh Tacos... Ohhh dinosaurs...

Another day is … another day

2009-09-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have been been meaning to upload photos of my accommodations here, but I don’t have them with me. So… next time!

I now have two new neighbors. Two Germans have arrived to live in the same compound as I. They will be teaching ICT, that is, computers. They seem nice enough, but I am having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to there being people in the fortress of solitude I had created for myself in the last few weeks. We also have to share a kitchen. Apparently, these two Germans are part of a volunteer program in which men can choose to work abroad instead of doing military service. I believe that Germany may have the same required military service as places such as Israel and Greece, but I am unsure. Anyways, these two will be here for just this year. I assume that another set will come next year as well but we shall see.

In other news, I have started on developing a Susu, that is, a miniature credit union, in Kaleo. It is still in the initial phases and I am working out the logistics but hopefully within a few months there will be a number of people in the “Association of Kaleo Craftsmen” who are able to obtain loans. The way a Susu works is that a small number of people, perhaps 6-10, who work in the same profession (in this case carpenters and craftsmen) contribute some amount of money to a common fund each month. After a few months of contributions, the capital is built up in the fund and the group is able to give out small loans to its members. As time goes on and the capital increases, more loans and larger loans can be given, and as more stability is obtained more people can become members. Anyways, the thing I like most about this microfinance paradigm is that it is self sufficient. It does not reek of the aid dependency that has caused so many issues in Ghana and Africa in general. The one line that struck me in one of President Obama’s speeches here in Ghana was something along the lines that the future of Africa needs to be formed by Africans. Susu’s involve people within a community building up their own capital in order to improve their own working and living conditions.

I am trying to go about this slowly and carefully. I have made a friend here Richard, who will be my major spokesman for this project. I do not have the language skills to be able to explain and schmoose the people I need to in town. I also don’t know the character of the people in town. One thing I worry about is that the group that Richard assembles will be more an association of his friends than a representative group of Kaleo craftsmen. This may be a mistake. But, I need to start with a group that trusts each other at first. I may be able to expand the group or have multiple Susu’s under the same umbrella, if this works out. I just finished reading a book about America’s founding fathers and so the idea of “the great experiment” is fresh in my mind and so I am considering this susu my “little experiment.” I am putting all the weight on the word experiment here as it is put in 1787. That is, it’s an experiment that I cannot let fail. Though I suppose secession wouldn’t really be an issue here, I would lose quite a bit of respect for my projects and I would have to work very hard to restart the process.

I am sure I have now bored many of you to tears. Oh, just so all of you know, I have adjusted to Ghanaian foods now, I think they are actually pretty great. Because I have mostly been eating peanut butter sandwiches and rice and beans, things like fufu, banku, kenkey and the other starchy balls of food served with soup are absolutely drool-worthy. It is no coincidence that I am very hungry while writing this. I think I will go get some food right now.

And.... at site

2009-08-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just to be clear, after swearing in I made my way to site with all due diligence and took no unauthorized detours of any kind. We shall never speak of these weeks again.

For the last few days I have just been cleaning my house, learning how to cook for myself and adjusting myself to a bit more solitude than usual. I have been meeting people, but it takes time to develop friendships beyond the meet and greet and "see ya later" kind. I have become relatively good friends with another teacher at the school named George Dery. He will probably be teaching integrated science. He seems like a good guy, but he spends most of his time out and about and is also very involved with his fiance. So, I see him for a little bit every day but don't really get to hang out. I also met this carpenter. He bought me some pito the other day and we had a good time drinking and talking to each other. Pito is a drink made mostly in the Upper West Region where I am living. It is less alcoholic than beer but still has a pleasant kick to it. I would compare it's taste to a rather sweet Hefeweizen. I like it very much, and actually prefer it over Ghanaian beer which I have no qualms in saying is pretty bad.

The mores on drinking here in Ghana vary by community. If you live with the Muslims, obviously any drinking is looked down upon. I, on the other hand, live in a Catholic community. And if we've learned anything from the Irish Catholics, drinking should be A-OK, right? Well, it turns out that the Upper West is a little strange. In the south it is perfectly acceptable for men to drink with about the same stigma as in the United States. But, for women, it is certainly taboo. A women that goes to spots (bars) is much less respected and considered a bit of a floozy. But, here in the upper west, pito makes drinking culturally acceptable for both genders. Women and men can both sit around at almost any time of day and drink some pito from a calabash. Obviously, getting drunk would still be taboo but there is such a mythical quality to pito that it is always the perfect drink. I have been told that it can: give you energy, make you strong and substitute for a meal. Why should just men get this wonderful elixir? Culturally, everyone can partake.

I like this system because it means I can sit and share drinks with both men and women. Hopefully this will be a good means to learn more about the community, make friends and hopefully find a home for myself here.

I will post pictures of my new home in the next couple weeks. Until next time...

And so we draw closer to the end

2009-08-07T08:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had our language proficiency interviews. Today we had our Technical Assessment Interviews. Both of them seemed to be a little bit on the pointless side of life. I passed my language exam and I think the technical interview went fine. These things are a little bit hard to take seriously, I have to say. As if they'd send us home if we didn't pass the language test. That would be one more high school without a science teacher. Anyways, done with that. Now we are just coasting until we swear in next Thursday. It will be a day of liberty.

Oh and here's a picture for you:
That's President Obama and President Mills up on the podium.

So like, ya know...

2009-08-01T02:48:00.001-07:00

... for some reason I am at training for another 2 weeks. I'm not really sure why, we're not actually doing anything or learning new things. August 13 and I will be free. And then maybe I'll be able to start actively working. We shall see.

Site Visit

2009-07-27T09:54:00.001-07:00

I should have pictures of my site visit up in a few days but for now you're going to have to get a poor man's description (I am most definitely a poor man, with this peace corps salary).

One week ago we left our training site to go to our Counterpart workshop at Bunso Cocoa College. This was a two day meeting where our headmasters and teacher counterparts came down and we sat through uncountable sessions on various issues that might come up when we actually start teaching. Besides the lovely accomodations and food, I did not enjoy the workshop very much.

On Wednesday we actually got to go to our sites. I awoke at 4am, was on the bus to Kumasi (a major city on the way to my site) at 5 and proceeded to wait until 6am for the bus to leave. We arrived in Kumasi around 9 am, got on a different bus and waited until around 11:30 am waiting for that bus to leave. Seven hours later we arrived in Wa, I have no comment about the ride in between these two cities. I read the entire book "Breakfast of Champions" and tried not to think about being squeezed in with no shoulder room and some ridiculous dirt portions of the road. When we arrived in Wa my school's truck was waiting for me there. The ride back today was similar (I read about half of "The Hunt for Red October") but I decided to stop and stay at the Kumasi Sub-Office (KSO) which has all the amenities a Peace Corps Volunteer could ever want.

Anyways, my site:

My site is in Kaleo,a small town about 10 km north of Wa in the Upper West Region. I will be teaching at the Kaleo Secondary High Technical School (abbreviated SHTS). Luckily, it's not also an Institute, that would make the acronym unfortunate. The school is very nice, they have running water hooked up throughout the campus and electricity. The town is fortunate in two respects: they also have electricity and there are boreholes spread throughout the town (approximately 8 in all). Access to clean water is important for improving quality of life and boreholes do that well. Unfortunately, the town has very few latrines, making people like me wonder where people actually end up defecating. Furthermore, the town is mostly reliant on the larger city of Wa for most of their goods, a dependency that leaves little room for entrepreneurship. I'm hoping to work on these two issues while I'm at site, but I'm not sure.

I have a little bit of guilt about my house. It is too nice. I have electricity, running water, a toilet, a refrigerator, a ceiling fan, a couch already there, it's amazing. The area is beautiful. It is the rainy season now, so everything is green. Though, it will begin to look much more like a dry savannah in the coming months after the rain stops. The school is also nice, especially the science facilities: running water! beakers! bunsen burners! reagents! chemicals! I was shocked and surprised.

Tomorrow, I return to my home-sweet-homestay. I'm looking forward to not be travelling anymore and for the good food. I am not looking forward to more ... training. Let's just get to site already...

My Lovely Homestay

2009-07-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

Today I'll show you some lovely pictures of my homestay. To start off, here is my bed:

Notice the chic mosquito net and the hugeness of my bed.

Next, here are some members of my family:

They are preparing the dough to bake in this picture. In the front left is Mame Esi, who has taken great care of me the whole time I've been here. Next to her is little three year old Kofi, he loves to dance and do ridiculous little boy things. The guy in the back... I don't really know who he is I think he's a part of the family but no one ever introduced me to him. He's not my host father. The lady in the back left is Ema. She is Esi's daughter and Kofi's much older sister. She is a hard worker and a lovely woman. Next:
This is Mame's other son, Samuel, nicknamed Koti. I've become pretty good friends with him. He's sitting in front of the family's baking oven, made of brick and clay. They light a fire inside to heat up the clay and it stays hot enough inside to bake bread, meat pies, rock buns and other things like cake! In the bottom right corner of the picture is Precious, she is Ema's 2 year old daughter. The other day she walked out of her room in her room, looked at me and just peed all over the porch through her clothes. It was precious. I think she just really needed to pee.There she is now, with a bucket glamor shot. Coincidentally, there is also a chicken right behind her. Goood times.

That is my post for today, give me some requests for things you want to see in the future.

Ride the bus with us

2009-07-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Akwaaba...

2009-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

...means "Welcome" in Twi. There was a big ol' welcome for Obama in this country. Everybody loves him here. On one building in Accra there was a ten story tall poster saying "Akwaaba: Welcome Home Obama Family" Intense.

Anyways, I got to see him, shook Michelle's hand. All that good stuff. He gave a peace corps shout out, said we were doing a great job. Its cool stuff. Anyways, I am sick now after the trip to Accra. I have a fever and a snotty nose. I don't think it's malaria, but probably just a cold of some type. Hopefully it goes away over the next couple days.

Next week is site visit. I'll finally get to see where I'll live for the next two years! That's all for now. 'bruni bye bye.

Obama

2009-07-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

All of us are down in Accra today. We get to see Obama! Stoked.

Roads, Some Food and the 4th

2009-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

For anyone that wants to visit me, be prepared for some of the most (least) comfortable travel you can find. Not only are all of the roads paved (about 50-50) but there is not a pothole to be found (they're everywhere). Also, the public transportation amounts to packing yourself into a van called a "tro-tro" with spacious seats (four people per row, in a minivan) and lots of leg room (usually about 3 or 4 rows of seats, in a minivan). These vehicles have all-terrain vehicle grade shocks (yeah, right) and never, ever break down or over heat (2.5 hr drive took 5 hours, stopped every 20 minutes to fill radiator with fresh water). I have pretty much gotten used to this lovely mode of transportation, but visitors, be ready.

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The food here consists of a lot of starch. Let me describe fufu to you first:

Fufu:
To make a delicious fufu dish, you get some kasava, pound it until its a fine mush, clump it up into a big ball and then throw it into a moderately spicy soup with some meat (preferrably grass cutter, an enormous rodent here in ghana, named because they eat grass).

To eat this make sure you have clean hands. Grab a chunk of the fufu, shove it in your mouth and swallow. Do you think we have time to chew here in Ghana? No, we don't. Just swallow it. Pretend that your momma bird has prechewed (or in this case, pounded) your food for you and swallow it whole. If you try to chew it, prepare for ridicule by surrounding Ghanaians (as discovered by various Peace Corps volunteers) Finish up, or alternate with the meat (please chew this to avoid esophogal clogs).

I will try to include one of these lovely descriptions whenever I post to keep you salivating back in the states.

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The 4th of July, or as people here took to calling it "America Day," was a pretty great experience. After spending a whole day being briefed, debriefed, re-debriefed and then post-debriefed about various medical and cultural tidbits, the entire PCT (peace corps trainee, for those in the know) education group walked on over to the "For You" spot (a spot is a bar/hang out place, not just any old location). Over the previous week we had been able to cajole the owner to buy a number of hot dogs, pieces of bread and ketchup. He barbecued those up, we had some beer and we had a good ol' 4th o July. To top it off we hung up Madame Gigi's (one of the older volunteers) American flag towel on the wall and played some patriotic music off a burned CD. It almost felt like a real America day :)

heyy

2009-07-02T10:17:00.001-07:00

No time but a rooster on a tin roof sounds a lot like someone knocking on your door.

Obruni

2009-06-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Why hello everyone,

So, I need to explain the phenomenon that is the "obruni" call here in Ghana. It is the type of thing that begins as something funny and slowly but surely starts to wear down the nerves. Every language in Ghana seems to have a word that means "white man" in Ghana. In Twi it is obruni, in Ewe it is "yaboo" (meaning tricky dog, actually) and in the place where I'm going to be placed it is something like "Nansalaa"

Now, if you are a white person visiting Ghana, a place with very few minorities, you are sure to hear the word Obruni screamed from rooftops, yelled from darkened rooms, and reverberated down alleyways. In a country with nothing but black people, a white person is an oddity of the greatest dimension. Not only that, but the people here love America, they love Obama and because of that they feel that it is very important to say "Obruni, what is your name?" every time they see you. Let me tell you, it was fun for the first 50 times, but it gets old. Fast. Yesterday I was going on a run and a group of 8 kids or so started a chant of "Obruni is jogging, obruni is jogging, obruni is jogging." Walking back to my house, if I come upon a group of kids they are sure to start chanting "Oooobruni, obruni, obruni, obruni" You can actually tell when another white person is approaching because Obruni chants will follow them all the way to you.

As I have already mentioned, it's the sort of thing that starts out funny but that slowly wears on you. And when it is added to an already stressful day, it makes you wish that you never had to leave your room.

Anyways, I deal with it by telling the children "My name is not obruni, my name is Kofi" in Twi (yenfre me obruni, yefre me Kofi) where Kofi is just the name for anyone that was born on a Friday (which I was) or the biggest hit is when I respond with "Obibini" which means black man. "White Man!" they yell. "Black Man!" I respond. The nearby adults laugh whenever I do that. The important thing here is to keep a sense of humor. "Hello, please give me 5 cedis." My response: "I'm sorry but my wife stole all my money!" It works.

In other news, I finished reading As I lay dying and have started Love in the time of Cholera. Good book after good book, I say. This week we have started our Practicum teaching. I have been getting up in front of these children and teaching them about the water cycle, liquids and solids and other sciencey things. It has been rather trial by fire. The kids here react very differently than students back in the states. They won't say anything to me without putting "sir" at the end. Also, they are definitely scared of answering questions and being wrong. I hope I will be able to instill in my students that it's okay to be wrong as long as you correct that wrongness and don't hide it.

A large festival starts in my town of Old Tafo tonight. The "quiet time" that we have had in our village will erupt into loudness. It has not been that quiet, hence my sarcastic quotations, so I can only imagine what sleeping will be like this evening. I can only assume, not good. But, I have this lovely mp3 player given to me by a certain Carly Dennis, so I have plenty of music to block out any obnoxious goats, roosters, drunks or obruni-chanting children if there is a need.

Alright, next time on jsgeorge blog! Exciting revelations about Fufu! village chiefs! giardia! and much much more!

Homestay and Training

2009-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Our trainers have told us that the peace corps will waste our time less than anyone else in Ghana, but I have yet to see any truth in that. Oh well, patience and flexibility are the traits of a Peace Corps Volunteer, even patience with the lack of organization in the program you are in.

Anyways, I am now staying with a homestay family in Old Tafo which is just outside Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana. They are a very quiet family and I have been unsure how to approach them so far. They bring my meals into my room (apparently they don't have family dinners very often) and they are always very delicious, ranging from fried plantains, to banku to boiled yams and fish and chicken and all very good things. Luckily they don't spice it up that much because I said no pepe (pepper) in my food. Anyways, my room opens up into a yard with chickens and goats following the true meaning of "free range" they can go anywhere they want. Also, roosters make noise whenever the hell they want, whether it be 3am or 5pm, never actually at dawn. Luckily I have been so tired from the heat at night it is no problem. Hopefully I'll be able to post more later but I am out of time now. I miss everyone, send me letters and emails!

Ghana

2009-06-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

So, I am in Ghana and have been here for a bit more than a week now. I have little time to post an much to say about the last week. Basically, we arrived in country and were spirited away to a dorm facility at Valley View University outside of Accra, where we had a number of sessions on various "need to know" information for Ghana. Part of that was a trip into Accra on "Tro-tro's" which are basically really small vans that fit four people to a row, or more. Hopefully I'll be able to get a picture up at some point. They are the cheapest form of transportation.

Anyways, eventually they sent us on our "Vision Quest" in which we were sent to current peace corps member houses to see what it will be really like at our sites. I have enjoyed this part of the training immensely. We were no longer babied in the same way as at the university and I have been able to try real food, meet real people and do real things. Rather than all the imaginary stuff from before. I am out of time now. Until next time!

Staging

2009-06-03T02:48:00.001-07:00

My roommate's thoughts on staging "If training is anything like staging, it's going to be a long three months" It actually wasn't too bad, we learned a lot of stuff and we bonded. Everyone in our group seemed really open minded, had a great sense of humor and seemed like the kind of people that I want to have as my friends for these coming two years and beyond. But, it was a long 2-7 pm session and all of us were tired afterwards. The good news was that we got a good amount of money allotted for our travel to Ghana so we went out in historic Philly (just a block from the liberty bell), got some good cheesesteaks (in my case a chicken cheesesteak with no cheese) and had some refreshing beverages.

Tomorrow: Early wake up, yellow fever shots, bus to JFK and flight to GHANA!

PS. I didn't post this until what was tomorrow last night, but at 5:45 am. As everyone who knows me knows, I just love getting up early, I am such a morning person! In the words of some of my lovely students, "NOT!"

Pre-Staging

2009-06-01T22:24:00.001-07:00

After a day of travelling, I am now in Philadelphia at the Holiday Inn - Historic District. I have a roommate named Derek Burke. He seems like a nice guy, he's from Kansas and is going to Ghana to help with sustainable farming. My flight was delayed, but once I actually got on the plane everything went smooth.

I totally rocked a "hard" sudoku on the plane, and by "rocked" I mean that I spent 2 hours trying to solve it and eventually did so after mapping out every possibility for every square. It really isn't that much fun when you do sudoku that way, but I HAD to solve it.

Anyways, staging starts tomorrow, where I meet the rest of the 67 volunteers that are going to Ghana and get told what to expect for the next two years.

Stoked? We'll see.

Packing And Weather

2009-05-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

The description of Ghana's climate has been "hot and humid, hot and dry, hot and rainy and sometimes cool." Let's take a look at the current weather:

It is currently 8:20 am and the temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit with 79% humidity and an expected high of 91 degrees and a low of 78 degrees. I'm getting excited, I can almost taste the malaria. It's going to be like a hot New Haven summer, but I won't be able to hide in my room and blast the air conditioner. I hope they like their American's sweaty.

Packing: I have pants, shirts, shoes, books, a knife, duct tape, and a water bottle = good to go.

Leaving

2009-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to go into the Peace Corps for over a year. Whenever I wait for anything that long, I have to put it into the back of my mind. Otherwise, the frustration of wanting to move forward and the need to wait constantly clash. So, I have gone about my life, finding a place in my heart for so many new people at MVCS and becoming much closer to some Moose. People always quote Shakespeare "parting is such sweet sorrow," but that sorrow is a little less sweet when you are parting for over two years.

I just don't know where I will end up. John Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" always comes to mind when I leave places. But, I have not found the "fix'd foot" of my compass who he speaks to: "Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun." (Here is the whole poem It is one of my favorites.)

Sticking with that analogy, I suppose I am just a pencil then, without the center foot for now. I can wait until I'm older to draw perfect circles. Until then, the world is stuck with my shaky handwriting and imperfect knowledge (my students will attest to the quality of my penmanship - "that's more like an oval isn't it?" and "I think it looks kind of like a squash").

Anyways, given that the people reading this are probably the ones whom I care for dearly I just want to say that I will miss you all. As I drove away from MVCS and then the 8th graduation party, it hit me harder than I thought possible. This was just going to be a transition year, but it ended up being so much more. I am so grateful for that. I am probably going to have a lot more moments like this over the next few days as I say goodbye to my friends and parents, but I will spare everyone the angsty posting for these.

Alright, upwards and onwards. Time to pack!