PST Begins

**I actually posted 2 entries, since I am not able to access the internet much. Might want to read the Hiawa entry first.**

**Also major bummer, my picture files are too large for Flickr, so I will have to resize them at home and bring them back to post another time.**

Maadwo! Wo ho te sen? Me ho ye pa!

After returning from Hiawa, PST (Pre-Service Training) began. Diana is my roommate again- she is one of my buddies. We are enablers to each other, big time. We have lots of fun. I think we annoy some people at night because we cannot stop laughing and talking. Anyway, training has been exhausting. We start at 7:00 am and finish at 7:00 pm. There are countless sessions so far- safety and security, diversity, cross-cultural exchange, language, and on and on (and on and on and on...). It is very educational, but at times it is a bit much. I won't bore with the details. Luckily I am surrounded by a great group of people, so it is bearable. Many of the trainers are PCVRFs (Peace Corps Volunteer Resource Facilitators... another acronym, they are never ending), which is great because they have already been here about a year, meaning they have lots to share. The big news we have all been waiting for is our site assignment. We had some site interviews where we could state our preferences and tell the APCDs (Assistant Peace Corps Directors) more about ourselves and what skills we have brought with us. I was pretty set on JHS. At most SHS (Secondary High School), the teachers live inside of a school compound, more removed from the community. My preference was to live inside of the community. I also wanted to live somewhere that I could get fruit and vegetables year around. The North is so far (we're talking up to 2 days of traveling) and so dry that often produce does not make it up there. In my interview, I began to express these thoughts, and I was stopped in my tracks. I was told that my site was already picked out for me- I will teach Physics is SHS. I guess there are not too many people here (i.e. 1 other person) that are comfortable with physics. However, I was not given the details at that time. Meh.

After an excruciating wait, we were officially given our site assignments the next day. The PCVRFs drew a large map of Ghana with chalk on the ground and labelled our sites on it. It was wonderful! They read out our assignments in a ceremonial fashion. We were all very nervous, not just because it is where we will be living for 2 years, but also because it will determine what village around Kukurantumi we will live in for our homestay (the next 3 months). The group was split into villages based on the language we will learn for our site. We will be in small groups 4 days per week, and will meet with the large group only twice per week.

Drumroll please......

The official site assignment (straight from my site description):

"Name of PCT: Megan Lockwood
Sector: Science
Name of School: Kpandai Senior High School (pronounced bahn-dye)
Location: Northern Region
Site Language: Twi

The Community:
Kpandai is the district capitol of the newly created Kpandai District. The people here are mainly yam and maize farmers. They also cultivate groundnut, guinea corn, and engage in small commercial activities. They export their produce directly to Accra through the Volta Region, using Damanko Bridge. The main source of water is pipe borne from a mechanized bore hole and electricity supply is from the national grid. The main festivals are the "Yam" and "Guinea Corn" festivals.

The School:
Kpandai Senior High School was established in January 1991 with the advent of the Educational Reforms of 1985. The school runs three programs- Agriculuture, Business, and General Arts. Kpandai Senior High School needs accommodation to attract more qualified teaching staff. It is a day school with hostel facilities and with an enrollment of about 815. The source of water is pipe borne and electricity supply is from the national grid.

Accommodation:
The accommodation is a bungalow about half a kilometer from the school, which will not be shared. There is a toilet and bath facility attached to the bungalow. The source of water is pipe borne and electricity supply is from the national grid."

Very exciting! My location is in the Northern region, though on the very edge in the eastern part, right near Lake Volta, bordering the Volta Region (Ghana has 10 regions in total). I am pretty remote from other volunteers, though I am sure we will find a way to travel and see each other. I was thrilled to read that my housing accommodation will not be within the school compound! I now have the best of both worlds- teaching at a higher level and living within the community. I am told that is somewhat rare. I am also happy to hear that I supposedly will have pipe borne water and electricity. Not everyone is so lucky. Who knows if that will actually be the case when I arrive. Even if it is not, and I am without those things, I will cope just fine. My VQ host did not have running water, and it was easy to adapt. That's what I'm here for- to learn how to deal without those things.

I am also very excited that my site language will be Twi. I feel like I am just beginning to get a grasp of it. It is the most commonly spoken language in Ghana, and it is necessary for any travel. I was nervous to work on a second language, ultimately becoming passable in 2 instead of a master of 1. I hope now that I will be able to increase my skills and become somewhat fluent.

And also, my host family speaks Twi! Yes, last night I met my host family and spent the first night in my new room. So far I am enjoying myself very much. They live in Suhyen (pronounced sue-shin), a small community outside of Kukurantumi, on the way to Kofaridua (the district capitol, where I have found the internet! pronounced kofa-ridge-ooh-uh) My host mother and host father are very nice, though still a bit shy. Their English is not bad. The host mother owns this housing unit, which actually has 4 apartments. The tenants all share one yard, and seem very much like a single large family. Between the "house" there is 12 children! It is like I live with a football team! It is wonderful. The children are great. They range from 1 year to 14. All day today I played football and this clap/jump game, had a dance party, and got out the frisbee. I interact mostly with the children. I think my host parents are pleased that I am entertaining them. When I walk, I literally have 5 children per hand. They are constantly fighting about who gets to hold my hand. I have not taken any pictures here yet, but I will post some soon once I do. There is so much to tell about what it is like living here now. I suppose the most exciting thing is that it (finally) feels like I am no longer on vacation- I have my own room. I am no longer bunking with someone, living out of a suitcase. Once I have spent some more time here, I will be able to process my thoughts in a better way and then I will write about it.

I should also remark that I at last am eating Ghanaian food. The first 2 weeks was fried chicken and rice. Every day. Lunch and dinner. I repeat, every day. If I never eat fried chicken again in my life I will be a happy person. Luckily, my homestay mother is a wonderful cook. They give me so much food! My stomach is still adjusting to the food (and the heat), so I am not able to eat much. Last night they made me fufu and chicken stew. This morning I had an egg sandwich (so good) and for lunch I had kontomire stew (the leaf of the coco yam). The kontomire is by far my favorite Ghanaian dish so far. Although, fried plantains and beans are pretty tasty as well. I have yet to use any silverware. I think I would get laughed at if I did. It's apart of the culture, and I am trying to integrate as well as I can. It is fun. I just am very careful to wear dark clothing at mealtime (because there are not enough Tide sticks in the country to keep my white shirts clean). Ah, mealtime seems to be every few hours. They cannot stop feeding me! I often am turning down food. In Ghana, and probably Africa in general, food never goes to waste. When I am finished the children will eat my food. There will always be someone to eat it. It is very taboo to throw out food. Also, note that I say "I ate." I do not eat with the family. They serve me my food separately, often in my room or in the kitchen. I am told that is quite normal, and that it will take awhile to be able to eat with the family. They typically eat outside, sitting at a bench sharing one large pot of stew and fufu or banku. It's all apart of the adventure I guess. Food here is so much fun! It is such an experience to eat stew with your hands. Haha.

Tonight I went into New Tafo (a few towns over) to watch the Black Star match with some fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees, aka my people) and PCVRFs (I am catching on to the acronyms- are you?). They won! It was lots of fun. We watched it at a "spot," which is a bar. Ugh, we were fending off marriage proposals and sleezy men who wanted to come home with us most of the evening, either to our homes here or to America. Another typical evening in Ghana- the spectacle of the whole goddam town. In our well-travelled spots it is not so much a problem, but as soon as you step out of home it can be very discomforting. My friend decided that she would never want to be a celebrity! It's true, because everyone (EVERYONE) wants to talk to you, or just stare at you. Not because you are interesting, but because you are white. Even on the tro, sometimes you hear, "Oh look, the obruni said 'how much'," "Oh look, the obruni just yawned," "The obruni is looking out the window," "The obruni just scratched a mosquito bite," etc etc. It gets old after awhile. For some, it is just that we are new to the village, or for the children they do not know better. With the others though, it is just annoying. I try to be nice, moreso than most of the others, because I want to understand. But it wares, and I am not a show. I am starting to say (in my Ghanaian English), "Do I look like a television? Is this a show?" My most popular Twi phrases are, "Yemfre me obroni, yefre me Megan" (My name is not obruni, my name is Megan) or "Obibini!" (Black person!). The latter one usually gets a laugh.

Tomorrow morning our education training begins. We will spend the next 2 weeks observing teachers and forming lessons, ultimately teaching our own lessons to a Ghanaian class.

Oh, one last interesting thing. As many of you know, Portland is full of Michiganders. I figured by moving to Ghana I would escape that. But, of course, our group has 2 of them. The funny thing is, one of them (Meg) was friends with some of my Michigan friends (Vinh, Ben, Sarah, etc) before they moved to Portland! In fact, she lived with Ben's girlfriend until just recently! What a ridiculously small world. Those Michiganders, watch out for them, they are seriously taking over the world.

I hope you are all doing well. I would love to receive letters from home! I promise I will write back. Cheers!