A Day in the Life of Alison in Agogo

Many people have requested to have a play by play of my typical day here. Unfortunately everyday seems to be very different or unexpected. However, we received our time table for this semester and I think I am finally going to have a schedule ( I love schedules and planned events!). So this “Day in the Life of Alison is Ghana” is my first day in my new schedule. Hope you enjoy!

Tuesday October 28, 2008
4:30am
Through my open windows I hear my favorite rooster begin to crow (there are many different chickens and roosters outside- some crow at 1am or 5am, but this guy has a distinct crow and time schedule) and the first sounds of sweeping hit my ears (every morning at 4:30 people in nearby houses head outside to sweep off their porches, dirt driveways, and yard).

5:38am
I finally get out of bed after snoozing 3 times and hit the shower (sometimes I shower at night) or hit the bucket since the water isn’t running. I have to boil water in our electric kettle and then mix in colder water to keep from burning my skin and then I get all cleaned up. I get dressed, brush my teeth with bottled water in a coffee mug.



6:08am
I walk up the dirt road on campus to chapel for devotional, which is held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings at 6:15am. All of the students attend and sometimes they are the ones leading the sermon, which I find really interesting. It is usually only a 15-minute program, but today a staff member named Nicholas has a rousing sermon that went a few minutes later. After the closing there is an announcement from Ma and we are dismissed. The staff shakes hands outside and say, “Good morning” or “ Maakye” (sounds like “marching” because the ky makes the “ch” sounds ) to each other.



6:50am
Back home and ready for breakfast. This morning I am having some ProNutro (a mixture of a chocolate vitamin filled “cereal” with Silk soy milk, and a side of crackers and cashew butter on top. Ma also has come by to have tea with us while we have breakfast. We show her what we have done with our kitchen.

8:07am
I pack up my computer, camera, and water and head to the Teacher Resource Center. On the way a four-year-old child waves and says, “Oburni”- which means white person. This is the name we are called throughout every small town in Ghana by young and old alike. It isn’t meant to be rude, it is just a way to say “Hello- you”. Here I plug in my computer and beginning playing music, today I play The Good Life. We both review are lesson plan for the day, clean up around the room, and start creating new TLM’s for next weeks classes (puzzles, foldables, and pop up books).
9:00am
I run home to get my Twi dictionary and on the trip I see my favorite child in all of Ghana- Porche. She spent two weeks yelling, “Orburni” as we walked by each day. We would smile and wave to her. On the past Thursday she saw me after being gone for about a week and yelled “Orburni” and ran full speed from about 20 meters away and hugged my knees and looked up and smiled at me. This three year old is the sweetest thing in Ghana- by far.

9:33am
Our students arrive and we have a getting to know you session, create name tags, review what TLM’s are, and create rules for the semester. The girls have a lot of fun creating their nametags and seem excited about the things we will be doing this year.

10:40am
I return a call from the IFESH and find out that the packages I sent three weeks before I left the USA (so it has taken them about 7 weeks) have finally arrived in Ghana! I will pick them up in Accra next Wednesday. We clean up from out lesson and I head over to the Internet place in Agogo, but it is closed as usual. So I head home to meet Betsy.

11:15am
Betsy and I eat lunch. Usually we have lunch with Josephine at noon, but today we have leftovers from many meals to pick from. I have spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a cabbage salad with carrots, green peppers, and tomatoes. As Betsy and I sit in our living room having dinner we talk about how our lesson went and decided to walk into town to buy water and phone cards.



11:45am
Betsy and I walk to town. Two school girls stop to ask our names, an often occurrence, and we take a second to stop and look at the mountains that are in plain view of the road we walk to town on. It is beautiful here. We buy our phone cards and return home for a break before our next class.



2:07pm
Our second class of the day comes and we do the same as the class before. We have to borrow 10 chairs from the class next door because we don’t have enough seating for our students- ever. I wonder what we are going to do on the days that both of our classes need the chairs. The girls in this session, 2A, are some of the ones we have gotten the closest too. It was fun to finally have a class with them, because they have come buy at least 4 times asking when classes would start. It is nice to be around people eager to learn.

3:35pm
We want to go to Kononogo to the Internet, but it is about to start pouring, so we head home just in time for the down pour.

3:55pm
We reward ourselves with an afternoon movie- “Three Kings” using my laptop computer with a 13-inch screen. We lay our yoga mats on the floor and place cushions on top followed by sheets. We get tons of snacks and cold water and have a fantastic time feeding out faces.

6:15pm
Time to spray down in “Peaceful Sleep” bug spray. Usually I would get in my workout gear and put on our yoga DVD, but since we ate so much we feel like lying around longer. So we put in “New World”. I took an intermission of more cabbage salad.
Usually we go to dinner a Ma’s house and get fed a great meal from Josephine.

7:28pm
Kwesi calls and we find out that we will be going to the Cocoa Farm tomorrow with Charlie from the World Cocoa Foundation.

7:40pm
We finish the New World and after we discuss how the story matches the historical events. Betsy is a big lover of history. We also compare and contrast Pocahontas’s trip to England, to our trip to Africa. In many ways people here look at us as something very different. It is a great conversation.

8:45pm
After brushing my teeth and getting in pj’s I put on more “Peaceful Sleep” and I climb into bed and tuck my mosquito net in around my mattress. I try to get comfortable and pretend it isn’t hot. We have all of the windows of the house open (they have screens) so I have started to sleep with my bedroom door open. It seems to help keep my room much cooler and I end up using my sheet. I use to not even use a sheet over me because of how hot I was- even with my ceiling fan on.

9:00pm
I’m fast asleep and ready for what the next day will bring.

Weekend in Accra Oct 18-22

Betsy and I were taken to Konongo, the town 30 minutes away with internet, to catch a trotro to Accra around 8:30am on Saturday, Oct 18. The trip was pretty good- although once you arrive in Accra from the way of Kumasi (the main road we were on takes you to Kumasi) you get stuck in the WORST traffic. A woman from LA says that Accra is worst then LA , and I am from Atlanta- and I think it is worst then Atlanta rush hour. The reason being that you aren’t on a paved road where people pretend there are lanes for about 5-10 miles. Which is funny because you are paved all the way there and from there- just not at this silly point in the trip. People pass on the sides and cut others off, it is horrible. The reason it is so crazy at this point is because they are building a new road, but it never seems to be being worked on when I have passed. I will be patient.

As soon at our trotro dropped us off we caught a cab to the Accra Mall. Yes, it was a bit cheesy of us, but it was nice to get to Shoprite (grocery store with appliances) and Game (like Target). I found vegan chocolate bars, ginger biscuits (their name for cookies), peanut butter, jam, measuring spoons, measuring cups, a pillow that wasn’t lumpy (seriously- the pillows everywhere here are SOOOOOO different), cereal, crackers, new knives, Tupperware, and A TOASTER OVEN!!! However the toaster oven was 64 Ghana Cedis! My heart was breaking as I passed it by. I REALLY want a toaster oven to make cookies. I plan to keep looking and try the markets for a better deal.

So after shopping we arrived at the Pink Hostel, where we and other IFESH people planned to stay, we threw our things down and found FAST- yes I said it- FAST Internet. It was heaven. Then we were off to a restaurant/bar called Champs. It was nice to see other expats that were from all over. I met South Africans, Nigerians, Irish, Scottish, and a guy from Stone Mountain, Georgia. How nice. After dinner with other IFESH people I met up with Betsy at Champs for my favorite------KARAOKE! I was in heaven as I stood on stage singing Young MC’s Bust a Move with the MC for the night. Since I was the first to go, and I played “Price is Right” early, I received a whole bag of “prizes”. I won a t-shirt, a six-pack of beer (wasted on me since I don’t drink), a bottle opener, a notepad, and a jar of Heinz ketchup. I had a great time.

On Sunday, Jessie, Betsy and I headed to the beach for a day in the sun. Here is a picture of my avocado sandwich and chips (or fries). Yum!

Then we went back to Champs that night, again, for American movie night. I stayed for the fajitas with veggies, guacamole, and beans, but left before the movie since it was a scary movie and their had been a young kid following around the restaurant- I didn’t need any nightmares so I turned in early.

Monday my doctor appointment got moved to Tuesday so I just wondered around Osu, a part of Accra where there are many places to shop and eat, until Jesse and Betsy met up after their trip to the embassy. We had lunch at Ryan’s Irish Pub. It took a while to find it, but it was worth getting lost and paying for a cab. I had another avocado sandwich and humus. The sandwich was good, but the humus was off. The lightly of this beautiful and expensive place was the bathroom. It was beautiful! And worked! After lunch we spend too much money buying random stuff and then heading back to Champs for dinner. The waiter brought Jesse and Betsy their usual drinks (witch was special since it is a large and busy place and we had only been their twice). I had the server surprise me with a soda of his choosing. Bad idea. He brought me soda water- I really dislike soda water, but pretended to like it because I felt bad.


After Champs we went to Vienna City (there is also one in Kumasi that Jessie and I went to) to play pool and drink fruity drinks, It was well worth the 4 cedi cover charge.

Tuesday I went to the doctor which was so much faster in the states that they saw me early and got be out before it was even my appointment time. After the appointment I walked a few miles to the Vegan stand I saw on my first trip to Accra. I got their at around 10:30am and found out that she usually doesn’t get there until 11:30am. I waited until 12:30pm and finally she arrived. She felt so bad, but I was so ready for a totally vegan meal made by a vegan. It was so yummy and worth the wait. I was hoping for some sweets, but she only had juices instead. I ate my meal there on a patio with a tent off the side of the road and then walked back to the hotel with a bunch of goodies for dinner later.


The next time I am in town I plan to go to her restaurant, which I didn’t know existed. I meet back up with the girls at Ryan’s Pub after lunch and then we went on a hunt to get funny bracelets made. Since Jessie, Betsy and I are white, in town the children and adults will say- “Oburni” which is Twi for white person. It cracks me up. I feel like a celebrity because kids yell and wave as I pass by. So we got matching bracelets that say “Oburni”.


The guy making the bracelets didn’t get why it was funny, but it makes me smile. After a day of shopping I let the girls get dinner out while I retreated to the hotel room for a hot shower (I love hot water by the way) and my vegan leftovers. She fixed me:
two juices-which were too much ginger for me to handle-but good
a burger- which had the best bun ever, but the tofu “burger” wasn’t really a burger”
a samosa- YUMMMM it was the best by far, not traditional, but really tasty
a tofu kebab- onion and tofu in a currish power- pretty good
All and all it was pretty good. I was so happy to have a complete vegan meal from a vegan place. She was very pleasant and I think anymore going to Ghana should give her place on Ring Road a try.

Wednesday morning came and Betsy and I had to say goodbye to Jessie. It was sad, because none of us wanted the weekend to end.


Betsy and I tried to go back to Champs one last time, but it was closed so we settled for the restaurant attached to Champs called the Paloma. It was very nice. I just had a coke, since I don’t eat much when I travel. We had the chance to take the STC bus back to Konongo which was five cedis more, but to me so worth every cedi. The bus was air conditioned, our bags were put underneath, there were movies, and I had two seats to myself. I listed to my ipod (really Kevin’s ipod- thanks!) and chilled out all the way home. Part of me was sad to leave the city again, but then I was excited to get back to my home and my new family- Ma and Josephine. Ma even called me on the way home. It is nice to be missed.

Go Back and Check it out!

I have just gone back to old blogs and added pictures. They are start back when I moved to Agogo- so go check them out.

Shout out to the Foodies Out There!

Above is a picture of Gloria, on the left, and Josephine, on the right. Gloria is the sweetest girl that calls us for dinner each day. Josephine is my mom/cook/language coach/friend. She takes the time to tell us about every dish and is going to show me how to make some of them on my own. I love her.

Here are some pictures of the yummy foods I have been eating over the past weeks. I wish I had more documentation of the foods I have eaten, because I have been eating so well.

Below I have a stew that Josephine prepared and yams. We eat a lot of yams here so I included a picture of a cocoa yam plant.

Here I have another meal Josephine made= white rice, tomato sauce, oranges (that tastes like a mixture of oranges, lemons, and grapefruit) and a salad.

Below is my favorite that Josephine makes- Red Red!

Above is “Bless”ed Bread and Betsy. It is sugar bread and very good.

Last but not least I have my first homemade Avocado sandwich with Vegenaise! Since the fridge works is was nice and cool and yummy. I ate it with butter bread. Yummy! I also learned that avocados are called plums here and egg plants are called garden eggs. Very interesting.

Sorry- but this is not the last blog I will do about food. I already have countless more pictures of the yummy things I am eating- so I hope you don't get too bored.

Personal Wish List

Many people have been asking if I wanted or needed anything. I seriously don’t need much- I have the basics. But if you guys are dieing to send me a care package here is a long list of things I miss/ want. Please don’t feel like you have to send me a thing, but some people were wondering (Mrs. Crider, Jen, Jill, Grandma, etc).

• DVD’s – any workout videos (we do yoga or Pilates every night), any of The Office, It is Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Arrested Development, or ANY (really ANY) other movies or TV shows you think I would enjoy. (we don’t have a TV so we watch them on my computer- and there is a lot of down town in Agogo)
• Vegan Snacks- cookies, brownies, the chewy bars that are vanilla and cashew, tings, etc
• Letters- I got my FIRST POSTCARD from WILL EVANS- it made my day. I was so happy to get his cheesy LA postcard- so THANKS Will! My new BFF.

I am not going to publish my address, but if you need it email me.

Thank you in advanced.

A wish list for the Teacher Resource Center is coming soon. I need to finish my work inventory to assess my school and students needs.

Starting Work in Agogo

Last week, Ma, my principal, and Papa, the assistant principal and chaplain, have been taking use to various places to meet people. This week Betsy and I have been much more busy with the Teacher Resource Center. Here is a picture from the Teacher Resource Center where we will be holding classes on creating Teacher Learning Materials (TLMs) and hosting workshops for teachers in the community on various topics. Betsy and I set out to create an inventory of all of the items in the Resource Center on an Excel document (thanks for the idea Jessie). So between logging in books we would move a few things around. The IFESH volunteer before us, Erica, had done a fantastic job with the place- so not much was changed.

Since the World Cocoa Foundation is one of our partners were are asked to think of how we can use available resources to create TLM’s. I can’t wait to see what great things we think to create.

This week we also got a chance to visit another Cocoa Farm in a town around 30 minutes from Agogo. Agogo Presbyterian Training College has partnered with woman in the community to create a soap making business. It is very interesting. Betsy and I will be working with these woman to find funding to finance another building for them to expand the operation. Here I have a picture of the woman boiling the soda created from the filtered water from cocoa husk ash. The boiling takes about four days. It is a very long and interesting process. We plan to see more of the process next week.

Above Papa, the assistant principal, is exiting the soap making building. Papa hopes that we can build another building this year. Wish us luck!

Also- "A Day in the Life of Alison is Agogo" is going to be coming soon!

Kumasi Visits

Since I have been in Ghana I have visited Kumasi, the second largest city, twice. The first time I traveled to Kumasi with my principal to get things for our house. Last weekend I went to Kumasi with Jessie, from IFESH, and we were there for hot water, A/C, internet, and western food. Both trips were fun so here are some pictures from these visits.

These are pictures of a busy street in Kumasi- one of the many busy streets on Saturday market day. These were taken from inside our van.

We have a picture of the city which is densely populated and has a lot to offer.

The picture of the clothes line was the view from Jessie and my fourth floor hotel room at the Fousaa Hotel.

While in Kumasi with Jessie, we went to three internet café’s, ate “pizza” twice, visited the Vienna Pub- that had a 4 Ghana Cedi (the Ghana currency) cover charge???, and stopped at countless shops to browse. It was a nice change of pace from the rural ness of Agogo.

No Internet makes it hard to have a blog

Sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog as much as I had hoped. It is really hard getting to the internet and when I do it is terribly slow. I spent two hours at an internet cafe in Kumasi this weekend, but only got the chance to check and answer only six emails. I also am having a hard time upload my pictures to photo bucket, because there are so many I want to upload. I hope to have time this coming weekend in Accra to get a great blog or two done.

Well- the house is shaping up- we have running water again (we were out for around 5 days), our fridge is fixed, the stove top has been replaced, and we are having some shelves build by a local carpenter. Tomorrow I am going to town to get my first two new dress that were made by a tailor named George. I can't wait. I have found that I really don't like wearing pants hear, because it is hot and most woman where long skirts. I also have only worn my jeans two days. I can't believe it either (my friends know that is all I wear). I have been having an easy time staying vegan here, because a woman named Josphine cooks amazing vegan Ghanaian meals for Besty and I. I am really lucky.

Things I miss- Internet, the Office (TV show), Target, my car, my friends, my family, and Lola. But I am not homesick yet- give me a few more weeks and we will see.

Agogo- Home Sweet Home- MORE PICTURES!

Before/After
I finally arrived in Agogo Thursday, Oct 2nd. My principal, Grace (we call her ma) assitant principal, Daniel, and their driver,Fred, picked Besty and I up from Accra. We drove to Agogo through many towns of the Eastern Region, which is Grace's orignal home.

We arrived at our home around 5pm (17:00 miltary time). It is a nice home on the college campus and we share the same yard as our principal to our right, and assitant principal, to our left. The house is very cute. It has a large livingroom with a ceiling fan and large windows, two large bedrooms with fans and windows, a cute kitchen, a large shower, and a toliet. We have running water, although currently it is out, and power, which has only been off once. We are getting a new stove top put in tomorrow, and are soon going to have an oven and a fridge.

Until then our principal has had us over for every meal. This amazing cook's name is Josephine. She has made me Jollof rice and Red Red. She also promises me that she is going to teach me to cook. I can't wait. I am also trying my best to learn Twi- the main language here beside English.

I do not have internet in Agogo, so Betsy, my fantastic roomate, and I have traveled to a near by town of Konongo (spelling?) for 1 Ghana Cedi (GH$1) to get to an Internet cafe'. We have been on the computer of an hour now and plan to add 30 minutes to the clock. As for pictures- I'm not sure when those will be posted since I usually do that from my own computer and their is no wireless internet here.

Well- until I have more time...take care everyone!

Kitchen- it is much cleaner now

My room on laudry day before I got my net put up.

My trash can full of water- this is where I get water for everything when the water goes out. I love running water!

IFESH Ghana Buddies

I have told you about my group, IFESH, and now I am going to tell you a bit about my group her in Ghana. First up are Stella and Kwesi. They are in charge of the IFESH Ghana Office in Accra. They are warm people and very helpful.

Here we have Cynthia. She is teaching Financial Markets in a college in Accra. She is from Florida. She is an extremely knowledgeable lady who can crack you up with her amazingly honest facial expressions.

Next is Pamela. She has been mistaken for my mom on a few accounts. I don’t know if she likes it, but I do. She is originally from South Africa, but went to school in England. She now lives in New Jersey in a historic and haunted house. She is a world traveler and went to Cote d’Ivorie two years ago. She loves to run every morning- I hate/love her for this. One day I will be more like her. She is teaching English in a college in Fiapre-Sunyani.

Shukriyyah has been placed a teacher training college in Jasikan in the Volta Region. She is a feisty woman that has written her own vegetarian soul food cookbook. She has a great amount of energy.

Jessie and Karen are next. Jessie was my roommate when I went through training in Phoenix. Karen was originally suppose to go to Namibia, but we are so happy she is in Ghana instead. They have both been placed in Bechem to work at the teacher training college there. Jessie is from Washington state and Karen is from NY. They are both really down to earth and funny as all get out. I enjoy texting them throughout the day.

Amiyana and Martha also serve as my other mothers. Amiyana is a New Yorker that now lives in Cleveland and Martha is a yoga instructor from LA. They both have great spirits and have taken me under their wings. They are in Berekum Training College working with teachers. I know they will do great.

In Sefwi Wiawso we have Amber and Maxine who are both from NY. Maxine is a wise woman who is great with motivational support. I love being around her. Amber has the biggest heart and bubbly personality. Together they will be great for the training college there.

Last, but not least is my crazy redhead roommate Besty. She has the best laugh, is obsessed with wicker/matching our decor, loves Nescafe, hates mornings, loves Malawi (where she was originally placed), and is from North Carolina. Thank God for Besty or I may have already lost my mind.

Cocoa Farm Trip

The trip to Tettah Quasha Cocoa Farm was very exciting. Here our guide showed us around the first cocoa farm in all of Ghana. Ghana is responsible for producing the second most cocoa in the world. The country that gives the most is Cote D’Ivoire next door.


Below we have a picture of our guide showing us a cocoa pod opened up. It was interesting to see how slimmy it is inside. We also got the chance to taste the outside of a cocoa bean before it is dried. The "slimmy" placenta was sweet, but Betsy face doesn't tell you that.

After they take the beans out of the cocoa pod they place them on leaves of surrounding trees (plantain trees) and cover them to ferment. The come back from time to time to stir them and them leave them covered by these leaves until it is time to dry them.
Here is how the dry the beans. It was interesting to learn the process and I know that I am not doing it justice in this journal entry. The guide gave much more info. When I get more time on the Internet perhaps I will add on a few more things.