My First Day...At School

Marian, John, and Eddy (Mandy’s sister, brother-in-law, and niece)

 

Marian's daughter, Eddy

were miraculously able to get out of Nigeria late last night.  And not a moment too soon because today “they” stormed the airport and prevented a plane from leaving that was in the midst of boarding.  I don’t have all of the details, but it sounds like people are starting to use force against those who are not complying with the strike, and 6 people are dead.  This is all through the grapevine, and I still have a hard time understanding them sometimes (it often feels I’m listening to a foreign language when they are all talking fast in a group - but that’s probably because they often are…haha.  I’ve come to learn that English is not spoken in casual conversation very often…and when it is it’s usually a combination of English and Tree or Ga…the most common Ghanaian languages in Ghana - Ayo…I know how you feel ; )

But yeah…so that meant they were there for school today.  And thank goodness!  Because I don’t know how we would’ve

Is she not the cutest thing?!

survived without Marian!  It was CRAZY at the school today…being the start of a new
term and all.  I have so much more appreciation for the administration and office staff of a school!  From the moment we arrived (we didn’t get there ‘til 9ish because Marian was so exhausted from all of their traveling, even though we were going to leave at 6:30ish…so I woke up at 5:38 = /) until we left (a little after 5) there was a steady stream of parents, students, and teachers with questions/problems that needed to be sorted out.  Marian often needed to give her undivided attention, so a lot of my day was spent trying to keep her 8-month-old, Eddy, happy.

Between the small hot-box of an office and the beating sun that I was under while playing with Eddy, I was dripping all day!  But it was so much fun!  Just being around school kids again (I got to interact with them quite a bit, too…although not in a formal setting - still not sure what my duties are going to be) and having a full, tiring day was energizing…as crazy as that sounds.  But we’ll see what I say at the end of the week…haha = )

Three of the wonderful ladies I work with in
the office.
Aunty Angie, Melinda, and Theresa
(pronounced The-REE-za...
rolling the 'r')

The school's office -
Marian's in the background
(the lady in front...angry parent?)

I’m like a totally different person!  Today I only peed once the whole time I was at school (the bathrooms smell like Japan bathrooms…and you have to ask for toilet paper before you go…and I just didn’t wanna be a bother)!  For snack they had these things called meat pies, and when I told Marian that I don’t eat beef she was surprised and kinda taken aback, and I started to realize that if I’m going to be fed lunch there everyday I can’t be picky about what I eat or else I’ll go hungry (and by that point I was REALLY hungry!)…so I told her I’d try it!  It turned out to be fish = )…but still…I was honestly gonna eat it.  I haven’t had a piece of fruit in like a week!  I haven’t exercised in almost two!  I go more than 5 hours without eating, even though I know it’s terrible for my metabolism.  I only have one pair of shoes to choose from, ONE ring (my Ghana flag CTR ring from Becky that I love and that I get compliments on all the time - even had someone ask if they can have it when I leave!), and two pairs of earrings!  I wear my glasses everyday!  And I haven’t brought my water bottle out with me ONCE!  It actually feels really liberating to not be so concerned with all that stuff right now.

After school the kids started a pick-up game of football (soccer) on the turf pitch in the middle, and it was SO fun to watch!  It was just like totally the cherry on top of my day = )…but gosh I miss playing SO much!  I’m gonna need to find people to play with soon!  Some things never change, though.  There was a group of girls sitting in the corner who would squeal their heads off anytime the ball went towards them = )

When I came home I was so excited to see Mandy and Chi-Chi = )  It was great to just sit and chat with her…it’s fun what great friends we’ve become in such a short amount of time! = )  AND THEN I GOT TO TALK TO MOM!!!! = )  It was so great…and I wished I could’ve stayed on forever.  Just hearing her voice was…ahhhh.  It almost makes it a little harder, actually, to have contact with home…but in a good way = )

The boys playing soccer

And the girls watching...haha