Day two at school

Today was cleaning day at the school, so the children had the desks outside and were wiping them off when we arrived. I wanted to get some pictures of this kind of activity, but the minute you turn a camera on the children they stop what they are doing and ham it up, and other children try to crowd into the frame. I was able to alleviate this problem somewhat by pointing the camera in a direction I wasn’t going to photograph while I set the zoom, and only turning to take the picture when it was ready and I could do it quickly.

The girls surrounded me not long after I arrived and wanted me to do the Downtown Baby song with them again. I taught them another move at the end. If I teach one new move a day, we should have the song finished by the time I leave here. They had asked me yesterday if I would write the words out for them, and I did, so they could copy it. I am hoping to have a laminated copy made in Accra, for the wall of the classroom. .

I was much more comfortable in the classroom today, and the teacher opened up to me a bit more as well, asking questions and telling me about the school and class structure. During break, the girls immediately surrounded me again, and we played until a boy came to tell me I was wanted in the school. He led me to a classroom that held three teachers, chatting to each other, and I explained the child told me they wanted me. They said it was a mistake, they were asking for someone else, but we started up a conversation and they were very interested in what my life was like in America. They were fascinated to learn that my husband did much of the cooking and grocering, and that he brought me tea and rubbed my feet at the end of the day. I asked them if they were married and they all said no, but then I told the one male teacher there that now he would know how to make a good husband, and they all had a good laugh.

After lunch we went to the Akosombo market to buy fabric to have dresses made. It wasn’t a market day, so all the stalls weren’t open, but it still had quite a bit going on, with many people and taxi’s coming and going. The fabrics were incredible! So many beautiful patterns!