Wow it has taken so long to get to an internet, it is crazy between the internet servers and the power being off and everything. We have checked at this cafe in another city three times now and it is finally open, wahoo! Yeah my hair is braided, I did it the second day and it hurt! It only cost bout $10 with everything including the hair to add with it so it is a good experience I guess.

The house that we are staying at is big and nice compared to where I was before, I share a room with two girls, one is Kelsey Parker. We have a fan in there and it's connected to an inside bathroom that actually has a bathtub that we can shower in and a toilet - no running water still but I am excited about what I have. We have a kitchen with a little fridge for our water, a living room with padded seats and a dining table. There are three rooms total, and two bathrooms. Nothing is nice like we have, but the walls are painted bright colors and we have fans so I am happy - except when the power goes off which is basically like every other day and then we are dripping in sweat. The bugs haven't been a problem for me at all - we see lizards ALL the time running around - a few in our house this last week. That is a little creepy. So I still sleep under my bug net. We get bread in the morning and then we have a cook that brings food around 6:30 or 7 every night. It is an adventure what we will get - I like the food though. We actually had hot dogs the other night - just the meat, with plantain. So random.

The sign language has been a lot harder than I ever expected. I really work on that hard all the time but it is a big challenge for me. I was very surprised with how different the signing really is here. I hate to call it "messy" but it is definitely a different "accent" that includes different signs and a different way of signing so understanding is a challenge! It is getting easier each day, but I still have a long way to go. I love love after school finishes around 2 and just talking with the teens about anything or working one on one with someone, but I just don't think teaching a whole class is my thing :)

School starts at 8:05 and the junior high is broken up into prep, 1, 2, & 3 classes. They actually have a schedule with what subject is taught each hour...but this is Ghana and things just don't run on a schedule very well here. We find the majority of the time the kids really don't have a teacher in the front so they have old books and are working on whatever they can. They may have some english or math problems to be worked out on the board. The problem is so often one kid will answer and then they all copy each other's papers, then when you ask if they understand they say yes. Some concepts are HARD to explain in sign language - especially English. In my ASL 301 class last semester we talked about what's called Total Communication which is basically what these kids have learned. It is a way of communicating but isn't a solid language to begin with - then when English is taught it can be SO confusing for the students. Yesterday one class had a math problem that had to do with using a compass, angles, and lenght measurements of a triangle. Then there was a word problem dealing with the cost of bags of beans - it was so hard to explain the concept of finding out how much 6 bags of beans costs when you are given the cost of 10 bags because it is a little abstract - it's not something that they can see right then - it's like imagining these bags of beans and money and it becomes so confusing for them. It's funny because there are a few times that I think "Oh man, I hope that I can remember how to even do this!"

The school has wooden desks, and most of the time the classes will have 6-12 students in there. The blackboard is often chipping and the kids desks are written all over. They have notebooks but when they work on assignments their papers are often scattered everywhere. It's fun to go outside and be with the younger kids who just mob you - hugging and touching and searching you for any sign of skin other than white. Yesterday they were looking at my scalp and were so amazed that it was white too! They love when we bring pictures of family and I am always asked how many brothers and sisters I have or how old my parents are.

Most nights a couple boys from the high school will come come and eat our extra food and talk. I was really intimidated with the signing at first but I think it's so fun now because their signing is easier to understand than the kids. The girls that work in the primary school have a lot of work cut out for them because of how wild the kids can be. They have to teach the basic concepts of numbers, colors, letters - meanwhile keeping the kids interested and still.

The kids really are so happy here and some are so eager to learn. The one thing I hate about the culture is when they beat on each other, or the teachers can beat the kids - it feels so cruel, and yet it's not like we can barge in there and say no that isn't right! So they have punishment, but then most of the time at the J.S.S. it seems like the kids can just wander in and out of the classroom however they please. They are a beautiful people.

It's amazing how I feel like I was really just here last summer, that I never really left. As soon as I got off the plane and smelled Ghana it was like a flood of memories - but I forgot how hot it can get here!

My experience so far is similar but also very different in many ways. I am really loving it. Two months of this......definately different than home!

Beginning my journey

Here I go again!  It's a late night, early morning, sad goodbyes, long flight, and then culture shock.  I am really excited to go back to Ghana again, it will be a different city this time going further north than last year.  I will be working at a Deaf school in Mampong until July 18th at the secondary school, or the Jr. High school aged kids.  It is a little surreal to be leaving without a lot of preparation because I have been to Ghana before.  I am nervous, excited, and curious about my new journey ahead!