Blog Number 11
February 11, 2008

This was by far my favorite weekend since I have been here. I am still absolutely exhausted from the weekend but it was well worth it!

On Friday I ended up going for drinks with a few of the teachers, and then returned home to eat dinner with the family, play a few cards and go to bed early! It was an extremely hot day, and I hadn’t worn sunscreen in a while, so when I returned home, my chest was burnt in a very ugly farmers tan. I had plans for Saturday bright and early and was planning on wearing a cute strapless black dress, but because of the tan I wouldn’t dare!!!

Saturday morning I was boarding a bus at 6:00am to head to the north Volta region to attend the funeral of a woman who I frequently sat in on her class. She teachers class one, so I figured that since I am returning to the states to teach first grade, it would be a great opportunity to compare the two education settings for this grade. So anyways, bright and early I headed to school, a few minutes late, to see the bus being loaded with our food and plenty of drinks for the day. All of the other teachers going (about 35 of us) were all in black traditional clothing and looking beautiful. Because of late arrivers, we ended up not departing the school until 7:05am. Even though it was so early in the morning, there was absolutely no way that I could sit on the bus. Not only was I smushed between two people, but also because the landscape was so beautiful that I couldn’t look away! Between the rolling hills, beautiful rock landscapes, huge towering trees or the small villages that we were passing through, it was absolutely amazing. At one point, we were going through a tunnel of tree’s and the bus started to slow down. I normally would not have thought twice about it, but the front immediately broke into conversation and was peering through the windows. I stood up, to watch the bus slowly passing a clan of baboons all relaxing in the shade of the trees. Unfortunately my camera was tangled at the bottom of my purse so I could not get a picture but it was way cool!! The whole trip was absolutely beautiful. We crossed this huge suspended bridge and looking the sun was at its full peak as it shined onto lake Volta. It really was a very cool trip.
The village was very smart, so when we arrived, we were immediately just outside the church. In this particular village, they had saved the funerals to do them all together so there were five going on at one church, and 6 at each of the other two. Because of this, the village was absolutely packed with people. In fact, we didn’t get a chance to go into the church because we were late and the church was already full. So we sat at a house outside, just outside of the house and eat the lunch of ken key and stew that was prepared by one of the staff from school.
The rest of the afternoon went by pretty quickly. We mostly sat around, talking and in my case, a lot of observing. From reading the death brochure, I found out that the man we were there to mourn has been dead since November 14th. He has been kept in the morgue until the family could afford to have everyone together and to pay for the funeral.
We got home at just after 6:30pm. By then the consolation match of the African cup was going on and Ghana was losing to Ivory Coast, 2 to 1. However, once I was able to watch it, and being the good luck charm that I am for the team, they ended up coming back to win! 4-2!!! It was a great match, and the black stars were awarded the bronze medal from the tournament.
Saturday night, the seamstress who was working on a traditional outfit for me brought my clothes over. The fabric is very cool and I choose a great style. It is a bit big, but it definitely looks nice! I ended up wearing it to church with my host mother on Sunday and I received many complements.

Finally on Sunday I had a bit of a chance to relax before one of the teachers from school called me to come to the Championship match of Egypt vs. Cameroon!! I was so excited!! Our tickets cost 4 cede, which is about $5, and we were sitting right behind one of the goals. Just to be in the stadium was super excited and there was constant singing, dancing, clapping and screaming!! Egypt ended up winning the cup in the end 1-0. There was the closing ceremony and firework!!

So overall, this was an extremely eventful, very Ghanaian, and ridiculously fun weekend!!! I am exhausted starting out this week, but I will have plenty of time to sleep now that the football matches are all over!!!


I hear it is record lows again in Green Bay. So while you are all freezing, I have been sweating like it is my job! It is SO HOT!!!

Miss you all!
☺ Chelsea ☺