So what’s really awesome about goats is how they form these little gangs. Like all goats about the same age are automatically friends, and you see little packs of baby goats scampering together, climbing on elevated surfaces together, freaking out together. The only thing that’s better than baby goats is the 6 baby kittens I currently have in my house. And cheese.
Little blind alien-baby kittens
That’s right! My cat had her babies. Six of them. Six little fluffy nuggets of cuteness with absolutely no sense of balance. That is one of the many things that has occured over the past 2 months during which i completely neglected my blog. And most other forms of communication. I’ll give a quick bullet summary to fill in the gaps:
– Paid a visit to the infamous “Topless Shrine” in the village next to mine. The Cheif there has 18 wives and 376 children not counting those below the age of 5. Busy man.
No...that's not a village. That's just the Chief's house.
– Found a woman near me who knows how to cook burritos and cake. Ate all.
– Went to the Thanksgiving celebration at the ambassador’s house in Accra, where I promptly got sick and was unable to enjoy any of the festivites. After a full night of vomiting i decided I should still force down an entire plate of Thanksgiving feast. Bad idea.
– Harmattan (aka the Northeast Trade Winds) arrived and now it’s actually cold enough to sleep with a sheet covering me. Pure bliss.
– “Successfully” completed term one. My students averaged 40 on their final exams, but apparently that’s considered a decent score here! I gave them stickers if they passed…with a 40. Seems wrong.
– Watched my cat give birth to 6 kittens. Alien babies.
– Watched my cat eat all the after-birth after having 6 kittens. Ate all.
– Watched little blind kittens attempt to move. So cute.
– My sister came. We found a drink named reds and drank it. Because we’re redheads. We also befriended a crazy dutch couple who had monkey-bite scars on their legs. Pure bliss.
– Celebrated Christmas and New Years. Received Cheez-its, goldfish, sriracha and mac and cheese as gifts (among other non-edible things). Ate all.
– My brother and sister-in-law came. We saw a 3 day-old baby, ate rabbit (which I still maintain is the best meat in the world) and met a really cool guy named Samed. Pure bliss again.
– Went to another Peace Corps training session at a hotel with AC, and A POOL, and HOT WATER! I learned cool things like how to apply for grants and how to wood carve, screen print and do local pottery. But mostly I SWAM and SLEPT IN AC! So decadent.
Annnnd now I believe we’re up to date! I’m currently back at school, in the second week of second term. My schedule has changed this term so now I’m only teaching 6 classes (instead of the previous 12) and I’m starting a Vocational Club after school with some of the older kids. I’m excited about this change because I’m starting to focus in my efforts towards one thing that I think will really benefit my school and students. Hopefully 2012 will be a productive year for me! I’m still struggling against that common PCV feeling that I haven’t done anything worthwhile yet. Although to get over that feeling I’ll have to do things like reduce the amount of time I play with my kittens….. who are currently climbing on, and falling off of a cardboard box i put in the middle of my floor.
2012 is also an election year here in Ghana, so the debates are getting heated. Not that that’s very different from normal conversations here. Ghanaians can sound like they’re angry and yelling even if they’re discussing the weather.
“AIE CHARLIE, IT’S SOMEHOW COLD TODAY. I’M SUFFERING!”
“OHHH, THE HARMATTAN HAS NOW ARRIVED. IT’S TOOOO MUCH!”
Just a typical, yelled conversation complaining about the (quite pleasant) 75 degree weather of Harmattan. Although I’ll admit, even I wear sweatshirts during the day now. Unfortunately my efforts to train my kittens to puddle around me at night and keep me warm have been unfruitful thus far.
I’m definitely missing out some things but I’ll try to be better about my blog now that school is back in session and I’m in a routine again. At this moment my priority is to find a vehicle with which to eat my sriracha. Please comment and ask questions if you want to know anything!
Lauren's Ghana Blog 