11. Postcard from Adeiso

February 1, 2007

I finished my teaching post in Adeiso yesterday, it was a little sad to be leaving now that I became familiar with the little town! I will miss my new friend 9-year-old Patrick, but I gave him a pen and made him up some stationery with his initials and explained to him what pen pals are. :)

Here are some pictures from around Adeiso that I have taken, so I hope it gives you the flavor of the place.

One of the streets of Adeiso...

There's a river that runs next to the town, it's so pretty! Those white dots in the distance are flowers on lilypads...

I love how all the shops and stalls have paintings on the front illustrating their services. And the unintentional peeling makes them all look extra-interesting.

Here are the woodcarvers that work across the field from where I was staying. I always hear them working away, chip-chip-chip...

Part of the market that is in town on Monday and Thursday mornings. It's SO busy, and I caused too much o a stir to take many pictures. Here are the fish sellers who were all staring back at me! (I tried not to look too grossed out when the women proudly were showing me their goods)

People just live outside, doing their cooking and housework out in front of their compound or home. So walking around, you get to see everything going on which in America would be considered too private. From bathing or urinating to laundry or cooking. Here's a typical family hanging out at home.

Patrick would play a little video game after school, so here's a shot of him in the living room...

Here's my secondary class doing some figure drawing and 2-point perspective drawing...

Here's my primary class. This is how they act them I pull out the camera. The picture says it all. ;)

Here's a pictures of me preparing canvas for my secondary class to use...

This is a picturee of me and one of my secondary students, Joyce. We're washing out paint brushes in a bucket. It sure was challenging to teach painting with there's no running water, palettes, paper towels, cups, large desks...

I've complained about uncomfortable bathrooms before, but no longer! Here's the urinal at the school: it's not even a hole in the ground, it's an open room with a pile of rocks in the middle. Beat that!

Everyone loves football. There's always a game going on--here are some kids playing next to the Ansah's house.

Lastly, here are pictures of Patrick and I having a bubble blowing competition. It's hard to say who won, because we both did so poorly!! He blew so hard that he spit all his gum out. So I have hime half of mine, leaving us both with insufficient gum to actually blow anything. But here we are trying anyway! Oh, the concentration!

Currently reading: Changes by Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo. Currently listening to on my ipod: Ryan Adams and Moneypenny.