Monday....
I started teaching at my second school and it was so much fun!! The kids were great and even though I taught them really basic hygiene stuff, they went along with it. Some the kids get a little rowdy but I try to make them shh shh before they get caned by the teachers. That's right, teachers cane here and it hurts me every time I have to witness it. They cane them for wearing sandals instead of closed toed shoes, for being late and for doing anything a teacher feels is out of order and it always breaks my heart. In my second class, I actually taught one of the boys whose mother cooks for Hailey and I. He's sweet but he acted all cool since he knew the obruni "foreigner" aka me and when I said if they'd like me to call them a nickname instead of their actual name such as princess he laughed at me, so I said I will call him princess and everyone laughed. But Hartford is very smart and always takes a good joke so he went with it along all class. I teach two classes a day at that school and they're all younger, around 5-13. Great kids, but boy do they like to rough house.
After my lesson, all of the girl students went to a seminar with a representative from the Ministry of Education discussing the importance of staying in school and how to avoid being raped. Many girls drop out after 6th grade because their parents want them to work or because they get pregnant. It was really interesting to hear, and the girls had such great questions, such as "what if our parents don't support us going to school" or "what if a man raped them, what would they do". It was interesting to listen to some of the lessons they talked about, I'm just glad they talk about them though. School ended immediately after that, and I laughed and walked with some of my students after that. We walked back to the site and just hung out until the Queen Mother ceremony began.
A woman who usually lives in Accra became the Queen Mother of Okagyakrom (the village I live in). Somewhat forced but once you're in the royal family, it's hard to ignore your birth rite. That was actually why there were riots Sunday; the son and fellow village members were upset about what had happened and felt she shouldn't have been chosen the way she was. They literally just grabbed her and declared she would be chosen. Her Queen name is Nana Obaahemma Bekoen Agyabea the 3rd Queen Mother of Okagyakrom and she is the chief’s female counterpart of status and they all must be apart of the royal family. The entire day was celebrated in her honor. It was so beautiful to see the traditional clothes, they are truly stunning. Most of the time it doesnt matter what type of cloth they wear, but since the last Queen Mother didn't have a proper burial ceremony, many of the women wore red and black to celebrate her past life. The music and dancing was so lively and an experience in itself. One of the Directors cousins in our neighborhood sat by us and explained what was happening. There are 6 clans in Okagyakrom and each one had a man dance in their own section of the ceremony, and had members of their family cheer them on and throw leaves as a way to support their dance (if they were wealthier families it would've been money). One family, who is actually very popular, even did a specific dance move that was to disrespect the current chief because he has not been meeting the villages expectations, Nana (the Directors cousin) explained.
A goat was also sacrificed, and I was not happy. I was very squeamish and was mad at Nana because he said they weren't going to and by the time I realized what was happening they had the knife against its throat and cut it. But honestly I’m so thankful I could be a part of such a cultural experience. It was a little overwhelming for me because I was probably a bigger part that I intended. Hailey and I of course stand out here and people came by to take our pictures quite frequently. We even got our own special welcome at the beginning of the ceremony. I have never felt so close to understanding what it's like to be a famous person. People are constantly going out of their ways to see us, touch us, talk to us, and especially take photos with us. I feel so awkward when they do that. I completely reaffirm that I will make sure I will never be a hollywood star.
Everywhere I go, somewhere is fetching a chair for me or worrying about the sun or offering to carry my bag. I feel rude refusing so often because their efforts are so unnecessary; it’s hard not to feel like a nuisance when people are stumbling all over themselves to make sure I’m comfortable. Nana explained that because Okagyakrom gets so few foreign visitors, they want to make sure visitors are happy and feel welcome so that they speak kindly of the village when they leave. They have so few opportunities that they over-compensate with us basically. Everyone was so excited we wanted to be a part of the ceremony, but I was completely humbled. I have never felt so... I can't even explain it. It felt like were a good omen or something. Crazy. That night I was so exhausted by the time everything was over I took a shower, read a few pages in my book and went to bed.
Tuesday was a different story. The power has been sort of sketchy lately so it often goes off when we're sleeping. I woke up ready for a sunny day, but it ended up actually being really cloudy outside and almost cold. I didn't dress smart and wore a dress. Well... An hour into my lesson at my school, E.P Primary School, it started pouring and the rain is so loud on the steel roofs that you can't even hear yourself, let alone trying to teach everyone facts about hygiene. Bummer, but it was nice to just hang out with the kids though they kept getting into fights and I was not having it. The intern that happened to help me today said he would've caned the kids had I not asked him too. I even told the headmaster that I just can't do it. And I won't let anyone else in the classrooms that I'm teaching in cane while I'm teaching. It's honestly devastating just to watch for me which seems silly but I can't handle it.
Well after I played with the rowdy kids for two hours, the rain kept going and the other teacher began his lesson and when I went to ask where I was going next to the headmaster he just told me I could go home. Well after I walked home I went with Hailey to get some fabric in Jasikan, so Christiana could make me a dress. I'm excited about it because it's a dress that will have sleeves and I won't feel so self conscious about my strapless dresses. Then when we came back we went to hang out with the boys on the soccer field. Haha I am terrible, but it was fun. I was a little intimidated about how good how they were. Kids half my size (and remember I'm 5'2) were killing it. The only thing I could do that they couldn't was an old cheerleader move where I stick my leg straight up against my body. Haha. Ridiculous. I just wanted to show them I wasn't completely inept compared to them. I ended up trying to chase one of the boys and fell down. My knee is a little banged up but I had so much fun!! Seriously these kids are the only reason I ever have energy; whenever I'm with adults I feel so exhausted and just want to sleep. I'm so glad Hailey is here because not only does she make me feel safer to go out but she gets me to go do things where I usually am content just being in my room and reading a book. Even though she thinks I'm the "fun" one, I don't think she has any idea how much I need her there or else I wouldn't do any of it all. Especially people stopping to take pictures with me with their phones, it gets a little awkward. Or when they tell me they love me and propose to me. I think that's my fourth? Gah. So embarrassing. I'm glad I can just walk away and they won't follow because its the both of us.
Right now I'm typing up this post and I'm outside since its super cool... Of course there are 10 kids surrounding me, it has gotten easier to be around all of them though I only came outside to help my favorite student with his science homework involving disease vectors. Haha some of the stuff they learn is crazy at their age, but he wants to be a doctor so any type of information that I can help him with I try to. His name is sort of long so I told him if he was to have a nickname what would he want it to be... And he said doctor lol. He really wants to be a doctor when he grows up. I love it. It's really inspiring to see how students here work extra hard when they have big dreams. Sometimes I wish I could just steal them to the USA so I could bring their motivation to learn to a school with an even more in depth specification in biology.
Well... Its amazing what happens in a couple days eh? Haha. Hope you're enjoying the blog!!
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