Africa

Graduation in Ghana!

2006-12-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Since I will be missing my graduation commencement, the college gave us a little going away/graduation ceremony. They presented us with Kente strips that had SOS and CMU weaved into it! It was such a nice gesture! I can't believe that this experience is over. This is most likely the last time I will update my blog from Africa.....since my hubby is coming in less than 24 hours!! Who knows where Dave and I will be in the next 2 weeks! I miss you all. Have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!

Monkey Sanctuary

2006-12-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

After Wli Falls we arrived in the village of the monkeys! These monkeys come into the village and actually interact with the villagers. When we arrived the monkeys were out in the forest so we took a little hike to the monkey hang out. I fed a MONKEY!! I held a banana out and the monkey took it right from me. It was one of the coolest things ever! Of course I had to ask if I could take one home and unfortunately the people believe that the monkeys carry spirits and tell them messages. So the answer was no. Bummer.

Wli Falls

2006-12-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we took a fieltrip to the Volta Region. We arrived at about 11am and began our 45 minute hike into the forest. After 9 bridges we came across a magnificent waterfall! We all immediately stripped down to our bathing suits and jumped into the water. Wow...just because it's Africa doesn't mean that it's supposed to be warm. The water was freezing!! At first it was numbing but after awhile it became refreshing. Our brave little souls gathered up enough courage to stand underneath the waterfall. yes...it hurt. But once again it was worth it! After our refreshing dip we hiked back to the village and finished off our day of excursions.

Deprived village of...

2006-12-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

On Friday we travelled to a village that previously had no education system. With the aid of the SOS Village, they were able to create a primary school for the villagers. The school has 6 teachers and 250 students. It is extremely basic, but atleast they have something. When we arrived we were met by about 30 of the villagers. It was set up as if we were a panel of judges looking straight at the villagers. We were instructed to sit down on the panel and wait for the leader to come. Once the leader of the school arrived we were then introduced to the village elders and their chief. We once again sat down and a women who spoke both English and Twi began the presentation. She informed us of the hardships that the village has encountered over the years. She also spoke to us about how the community has come together to form the school. We then took a tour of the village and then enjoyed some Fanta! It was a very interested and also intimidating day!

2006-11-30T01:48:00.000-08:00

My students have been taking exams all week. Right now my IB1 students are taking their art final. They are given 4 hours to complete a final project. They were given the exam questions 2 weeks ago so that they would have time to prepare. Now it is time for them to show how well they have prepared. This week has been extremely stressful for my students, but they all see a light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow everyone will be able to relax because tomorrow is "Farmers Day" and all of the schools are closed. The Dean from CMU is also coming tomorrow. She is coming to see how the student teaching program is ran in Ghana. Hopefully she will be impressed. Love you all.

2006-11-24T00:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic! Right when dinner was served the power went out. So for a little while we were eating by the light of a candle. The picture above is the reason why it was hard for those of you to hear me on Skype. Allof the kids were so excited to be able to talk to America on the computer! They especially liked Connor and "how cool" he was. There were about 20 kids surrounding me and wow was it HOT! After the internet shut down I played the "Lion King" dvd for the kids. They loved that too! I brought a birthday cake to the college today to celebrate 2 of my students birthdays. It was so much fun to see how excited a simple cake made them! Hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day! Love and miss you all. PS...new pictures under "Kristie's Pictures"

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T00:16:00.000-08:00

Happy happy turkey day! We are all pretty bummed out today...because we have to be at school! Although, we are having a thanskgiving dinner tonight. We were able to convince our cook to let us all choose our one favorite food for our huge feast tonight. The menu includes, meat pies, pasta salad, spaghetti, french fries, spring rolls, coco bread and icecream. Sounds like a traditional thanksgiving dinner! Can anyone guess which food I suggested? I hope that everyone enjoys their thanksgiving dinner and cherishes those family moments...you don't realize how much it means to you until it's not there. Love you all!

2006-11-21T00:57:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to get used to my extensions! Yesterday I did get tangled in my hair while trying to change my clothes and I had to call in some assistance from my roomate...oh the memories. Here in Ghana, playing with the kids at the village has become my most favorite activity to do. It is so wonderful to just go out and play without any toys, just our bodies. We also went to buy some fabric after school. My mission was to buy fabric for all of you that want a dress...it turns out that I am in love with all of the fabric that I bought. SO hear is the deal...I'll get the dresses made and wear them just to make sure that they are quality! Miss and love everyone!

8 hours

2006-11-20T00:36:00.000-08:00

Wow...I have extensions. On Sunday Kaylin and I decided to get a little taste of the African culture...8 hours later I have hair that reaches my waist! While they were braiding my hair I fell asleep. It was a good thing that I had a person on each side of me braiding my hair...it kept my head straight while I slept! It is amazing what the women go through to make their hair look nice. The women do this about once a month. It is a full day of sitting, pulling of hair and sleeping if you're lucky!

2006-11-20T00:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend was full of new adventures! On Friday we went to Nungua (a town about 40km away from Tema) We took the public transportation for about 25 cents. Jason had made a contact in Nungua who is originally from New York. He has been living in Ghana for about 6 years. He came to Ghana to pursuit his passion of being a Jesuit. We arrived at the church and were welcomed in right away. During mass we were introduced to the congregation and were asked to step up to the front of the church and introduce ourselves. It was a wonderful feeling to be so welcomed. After church we ate dinner and had ICECREAM! We arrived back in Tema at around 11 pm. We started our journey on Saturday at 7am. We took a bus to the Volta Lake Region. Lake Volta is one of the largest man made lakes in the world. It is also used to generate electricity and provide inland transportation, and its waters are also used for irrigation and fishing. We were able to enjoy a cruise of the lake that lasted about 5 hours. The scenery was beautiful and extremely desolate. We arrived on an island where we were greeted by many children that "live" on the island. We later found out that the children do not live on the island. They are simply dropped off at the island while their parents do their daily fishing. They were drumming and dancing and asking for money to go to school. During all of the commotion I jumped into the Lake and took a refreshing dip! This weekend was the first relaxing, slow paced exploring of my trip...it was fantastic!

2006-11-14T00:29:00.000-08:00

Here's the picture of the crocodile!!! Thought that everyone would like to see how close I was! HAHA. Today I am going on a fieldtrip with my IG2 students. We are going to an art museum in Accra. I am very excited to see how the museum is laid out. Yesterday was just a regular day of teaching and eating! I am beginning to actually crave rice and red sauce now...I believe that I have been conditioned. Although I still long for a big cheeseburger and FRENCH FRIES with chili and cheese on top. So if anyone can send that meal over for me I will give you 1,000,000 cedis. I am going to try to upload some new pictures to the Kodak gallery, so when you have time check it out! I miss everyone and hope all is going well back home!

Cape Coast

2006-11-13T04:55:00.000-08:00

This weekend we travelled to Cape Coast. Kakum National Park was our first stop! At the park we were able to do the canopy walk! It was one of the most amazing things that I have ever laid eyes on. I was actually a little nervous while crossing from platform to platform!! My stomach became full of butterflies and my feet were like lead. I can't imagine how a person afraid of heights would make it!!! On our way down from the canopy walk we heard monkeys....as I was getting my video camera out everyone saw them...except for me! After the canopy walk we went to the crocodile sanctuary. It was completely different than our sanctuaries! There were no gates or fences to seperate the crocodiles from the people! It was pretty amazing! We then drove down the coast to Elmina Castle. This was a slave exporting castle. It was the most depressing experience. I could not wait to get out of the castle. They put us in the cells that the slaves were kept in and shut the door. It was awful. But in the end I am glad that I experienced the castle and felt that much misery for the slaves that travelled through those gates. It's just another part of the culture that I had to experience.

2006-11-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days have gone by so quickly! Everything that I do here is starting to become natural. The power goes out...oh well. The internet goes down...so I write with a pencil and paper. The laundry doesn't come...so I...nevermind. Things are just becoming more and more familiar and I'm less surprised by things that happen here. I love the feeling of not knowing what time it is and not worrying about missing my favorite tv show. Although I do deeply miss Grey's Anatomy. The kids at the village are still doing great and smiling big everytime I see them! Exams are starting soon at the college so my students have become a bit stressed. I gave a lesson today to help prepare my IG1 students (9th grade). They were extremely receptive and said that the lesson was very beneficial to them. The art supplies have been lost in the mail so we are running out of a lot of supplies...hopefully the supplies will makeit. The school ordered the supplies in MAY! It just makes you think of how lucky our schools in the US really are! I miss everyone and I love to see everyones comments...it makes me feel a bit closer to home! Love you all. PS...I think I have finally figured out how to share all of my pictures...click on the link on the right that says "Kristie Pics".

Kumasi (Sunday)

2006-11-07T03:48:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we woke up early and enjoyed our breakfast. We then drove to the Ashanti Palace where we were given a tour of the inside of the palace. It was quite interesting to hear about all of the history behind the Ashanti people. It just makes this experience all the more interesting. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside of the museum. After the museum we then went to another cultural center to have another tour of the King's belongings and such. After all of the tours were done we then went to Lake Bosumtwi, the largest natural lake in Ghana, is about 32 kilometres southeast of Kumasi. The Ashantis believe that the souls of their dead come to the lake to say goodbye to god called Twi. One theory says that the huge meteorite formed the lake. Another says that it is the crater of an extinct volcano. I was able to swim in the lake and it was the most refreshing part of the day! We then made our way back to Tema, which took about 7 hours.

Kumasi (Saturday)

2006-11-07T02:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend we travelled in an air conditioned van up North to Kumasi. The ride took about 6 hours each way. We ended up leaving Saturday morning at 7:30. On the way we stopped in a small town to eat lunch. We also went ontop of a mountain and overlooked the town...it was beautiful! On top of this mountain they also have a hang gliding company. It costs only $2 and you soar through the air for about 2 hours!! Talk about a cheap rush! Unfortunately we did not have time to partake in the hang gliding. After lunch we drove for about 2 more hours and arrived in another small village where Kente cloth was first made! We were able to watch the locals create the kente cloth and I also had the opportunity to give it a try! Now I'm just trying to figure out how I can fit a kente cloth loom in my suitcase! We also bought some Kente cloth at a reasonable price. After the Kente cloth stop we went to a wood carving market unfortunately for only about 15 minutes! But I managed to buy myself a nice big drum for only $35. Once again...unsure how I am going to get it back to the US! We then made it to our hotel where we had AC, TV & HOT WATER!!

Professional Soccer Player

2006-11-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I played in the championship soccer game for the girls vocational center. I was able to meet with the principal (which is a great privalege) He shook my hand at center field and said "A white lady! You must be a professional football player. How much are they paying you?" It was hilarious! After the game we had a ceremony to hand out the cups to the winning teams. He again mentioned the "white lady" and said how pleased he was to see that I had stepped up and joined the team with no doubts in my mind. He then told the girls to think about how much courage that took of me and how they could learn something from me. It was one of the best feelings I have ever had! My team didn't win the game, but we had fun playing!

$3 Dress!!!!

2006-11-02T01:17:00.000-08:00

So that's me in my brand new, custom made African dress! I bought the fabric at the Community 1 market for about $2. Then I went to this tiny little shop that from the outside just looks like a "corner" store. Surprise surprise....they are a general store and also a dressmaking shop! The women that run the shop are so wonderful! They took my measurements and gave me suggestions on what kind of style I should have made. It only took 4 days to make my dress. Another wonderul thing about these ladies is that they made me a little purse with the leftover material! They put a zipper on it and lined it too! What a wonderful country...wouldn't get that in America! So of course this weekend I have to go and buy some more fabric! If anyone wants a dress, shirt or purse made just give me your measurements and the nice ladies will take care of it! Also...if anyone wants to be able to talk to me you can go onto skype.com and register for an account (for free) and then look me up (ksaterstad). All of the calling is free and all that you need is a microphone and speakers! What would we do without technology??!! Miss you all but not the weather. PS...check out the links on the right hand side of this page (Jason's Blog, CMU in Ghana & Momma Dush's pics) they are some of the websites that the people I came with created!

New teacher

2006-11-01T03:07:00.000-08:00

So...last night I found out that the SOS College has hired a new art teacher! I am very excited about this because now I will be able to see how people actually teach art in Africa! Now I believe that I will get even more from this experience. Last night we didn't do much of anything except go to the store for some phone cards and to the pharmacy for Julie. She has a crazy looking rash on her arm and we're not sure what it's from, but we do know that it is spreading a bit. She'll be alright though...she's our Momma Dush! We've nominated her as our Mother here because she just has that quality. Every house has a Mom so we figure that we should too. All of the kids in the village call me Auntie Kristie...it's adorable! I'm so glad that the group that I came with is full of friendly, understanding, and most of all fun people! It really helps when you have great people surrounding you!

Happy Halloween!!

2006-10-31T02:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween everyone! I am going to miss all of the wonderful costumes this year. I brought a little bit of Halloween to Africa by passing out candy today. Luckily it's almost all gone, otherwise I'd be forced to eat it all. Last night we all bought watermelons and decided that we just had to make a jack-o-lantern. Watermelons are much easier to carve than a pumpkin is. I think from now on we should just all carve watermelons. For my pumkin I decided to carve some Adinkra symbols around the watermelon and then on the other side make a classic jack-o-lantern face. It turned out pretty good! School is going good. The kids are very independent, self motivated and extremely talented. The staff is also very helpful. I have also volunteered to be the assistant coach for the girls basketball team. They meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school. We'll see how everything goes.

2006-10-30T04:44:00.000-08:00

The internet has been down so I'm going to sum up the weekend with one post. On Saturday we woke up very early and met our tour guide at the gate of the village. We were on the road and on our way to take a tour of Accra and the surrounding areas...when all of a sudden the tire exploded. FUntimes. We were on the side of the highway, hot hot sun beating down on us for about 1 hour. They had to send another bus to come and get us. So that put us a little behind. But no worries. We ended up touring the University of Ghana, the hospital, and then the cultural center. The cultural center was amazing! There was so much to look at that I have to go back atleast 3 more times to really see everything. I bought some purses and fabric for a very reasonable price! Next time I am going to buy a drum, my friend bought one for 200,000 cedis (~$20) So if anyone wants one let me know and I will just have to ship it back to you somehow. After the market we went to visit the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. He was an amazing man that did so much for Ghana. I also found out that my principal is his daughter and my cooperating teacher is his grandaughter! It was a wonderful day as well as exhausting!

2006-10-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

Tpday was amazing! I didn't have any school so I took the opportunity to explore and have some fun. I joined the girls soccer team at the vocational school in the village...I'm getting a uniform next week!!! I had so much fun playing with the girls and it is so different from our sports! The girls are not that competitive...it's more about fun! I was sweating my brains off, but atleast I get a uniform! After that we went to the market and bought some fabric. The fabric was soooo cheap! I am getting a dress made for about $5! Tomorrow we are going to Accra (the capital), I expect it to be extremely chaotic and crowded...we will see how it goes! I love you all and miss all of you already!

Sore Hands

2006-10-26T03:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I only had 2 classes. It was a pretty relaxing day. Today I had one class in the morning with 10 students and then after snack time I have another class with only one student! Busy...I know. So I have volunteered my services over at the basic school in the village. They have a really nice art room and are excited to have some extra helping hands.

Last night I decided to play with the children at the village. They were all doing hand games and I decided to try it out. I was shaking my bum and doing some crazy dancing to the games! Half of the time I couldn't understand what they rhyme was so I just listened and did the moves! It was so much fun. One of the other girls in my group captured it on video! It was weird to see that they have some of the same hand games as we do, just with different sayings! I then decided to teach them a little American hand game that they didn't know, Ms. Mary Mac! The kids caught on so quick it was amazing. I guess with no tv the kids have to use their bodies more often to have fun!

Holy cow!

2006-10-25T02:38:00.000-07:00

The internet has been down for the past few days so I wasn't able to do my blog! So as most of you know I was told that I will be teaching the art classes at the SOS College. Oh what a shocker!!! The art classes are everyday except for Friday's and my mentor is only here for 1 hour per week! SO I am completely running the show! The school is fantastic and the kids are extremely independent. The education here is vigourous and they are expected to be on top of their game at ALL times.

So far today...I have had 1 art class with only one student. I have also had some of my art students from yesterday come in to cut a piece of my hair for a chemistry experiment. It's probably not that often that they get to compare the different types of hair!!

Day 2

2006-10-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today was a very relaxing day. School was closed for a holiday so we all took a car ride and explored Tema and also Accra. The streets were packed with people selling things and going about their business. We pretty much did a drive by of everything so that we could just get a taste of what it is like. This Saturday we are going to venture out into the Accra and do some hard core shopping! I also found out today that I will be teaching highschool art instead of science!! I was able to see the classroom today and the artwork is amazing! I can't wait to get started tomorrow!

I made it!

2006-10-22T14:40:00.001-07:00

I have arrived in Africa! The plane ride was extremely long, but well worth it! There are 8 people travelling with me so it is nice to always have someone there with you. We are staying at the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Village in Tema, Ghana. It is a village that embraces family. There are 180 children that live in the village. For every 9 children there is 1 adult that the children call either Mother or Daddy. 600 children attend the SOS Schools. These schools include the Primary, Basic and the college (highschoool). The children all speak English but many of them speak other languages too! The children are so full of energy. Today I played football, soccer and around the world with the kids! What a wonderful place to be!