Last week I went to a very small primary school (or elementary school). A German exchange student, Johannes, who helped to build the school. Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=301958504056 if you are interested in reading the background of the school.
I went to the school with 5 German exchange students and one Ghanaian graduate of the University of Ghana. We took the tro tro and arrived there in the early afternoon. We did not get back to campus until around 8:30 p.m. It was such a great experience! When we arrived at the school, the students were in class despite the fact they this is their holiday. The students go to the school anyway. The three men who started the school are Cujoe, Kofi, and Solomon. They cook, garden, teach, build, and honestly, sleep at the school. They do all of this for the kids. Yohannes and another guy named Sean, who I have never met, helped get the materials for the school to be built, and I think allow for the school to exist--that's a detail I'm not very sure of.
So why we spent so long at the school is because they wanted to make us dinner. Johannes is a called "brother" by the teachers, and they are all one big family. The teachers made us benku. A traditional meal that is a bread type dish with a "stew"--or sauce. It took a few hours to chop and cook the food. The sauce had vegetables and fish in it. It was delicious!! They kept talking about how you have to cook the food for a long time so that you don't hurt your stomach. My stomach definitely smiled from this dinner.
Then we ate, but not without a ceremony of course. They said some prayers and poured some hard alcohol onto the floor for the ancestors and in gratitude. We had a few spirits then we ate with our hands. You only use your right hand. You take a piece of the bread type dish (it's like a big matzo ball that won't crumble), roll it in your hand and make a little bowl shape out of it with your thumb. You then dip the bread stuff (which is not made out of wheat--I don't remember what it is exactly made out of...maybe corn) and dip it into the stew. Everyone eats out of the same big bowls of food placed in the center of the table.
After dinner they played some drums for us and it was a mini jam session/concert. The teachers are a part of a band called 024 and they have a puppy that they named 024. They also happen to have a cat named Bush. They have a garden that has these "grass cutters". They are animals that look like oversized guinea pigs. Anyway, hopefully on Wednesday this week I'll head over to the school to start volunteering for real.
Other than this, I've been hanging out. I went to the bars last night. I did absolutely nothing on Saturday except nap and study Torah. Then went to Church on Sunday with some friends. I am getting more accustomed to being here, and I have been exploring different types of food at the night market. You can get rice, then some pasta, chicken, fish, eggs, cabbage salad, or plantains. It is quite good!! You order according to how much you will pay for. I usually get 50 peswas amount for rice, an egg which is 40 peswas, and fried plantains for 20 peswas. This is like a good cereal bowl size of food and it fills me up.
Well I love you very much!!!
