Day 23: Laundry--Asenemaso

Just when Mike and I thought we would never teach the students anything, they actually learned something! They remembered the two main characters of Charlotte's Web and the setting of the book! We were pleasantly shocked. It's amazing how quickly two hours of teaching goes by. We only introduced nine vocabulary words and played hangman with them (and we didn't even finish the game). The words are very simple: ax, runt, litter, barn, farm, pen, stool, straw, and manure. But it's certainly enough for them to handle. We still haven't even started reading the book (hopefully we'll get there tomorrow). In order to encourage the kids to participate more in class, Mike and I implemented a new reward plan. For certain participation, we give them stickers to stick on their name tag. When they get ten stickers, they get to pick a beanie baby out of the 100 that I brought. Once they heard that, they all paid attention and were eager to answer the questions.

Me, Diana, Kate, and Amanda are starting to believe that we got the best housing situation. Charles and his wife have five children: Afreria (age 11), the twins Senior and Junior (age 10), Koby (age five), and Kofi (age two). We are really experiencing life a typical African family. Charles is absent most of the day, so he's rarely with his family. Auntie s pends her time tending the house. I don't even think she shops for food because Charles came back with it today. Amanda and I washed our clothes with the family today. It's very interesting how laundry is done here: starting at age seven, every member of the family does their own laundry together. Even though it takes so much longer than machine washing, it's very communal and inclusive.

We had rice bowls tonight. Big, softball-sized balls of sticky rice with salmon and a spicy sauce, with oranges on the side. The oranges threw us off: their skin is forest green . I found it disappointing that meals aren't family-orientated. Me and the girls ate together, but the family didn't sit down to eat, they simply ate on their own individual accord. I think that's why a lot of Westerners don't like Ghanaian food: it's meant to supply nutrient first and flavor second.