Teaching in GhanaTeaching in Ghanahis blog details our day-to-day lives, thoughts and ideas, and observations and challenges during our year at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, West Africa. If you are planning an extended trip, a semester abroad, or are just curious about life Articles
Life Abroad
2007-12-28 18:48:00 We had a chat with one of our friend?s kids who is dead set on going abroad to either Canada or the US to live. He?s under the impression that as soon as one gets off the plane, riches will abound and he?ll become a multi-millionaire over night and be able to send all sorts ... More About: Ideas , Life , Author , Terri , Broad
Working on our French
2007-12-28 10:29:00 Chaque jour, Terri et moi essayons de parler et écrire en français. Il y a beaucoup de temps ici et nous sommes en bon repos, puis nous pouvons prendre le temps d’apprendre et améliorer notre français. Terri aimait bien sa classe de français à UCC, et nous aimons beaucoup nos romans d’enfants. ... More About: Travel , French , Author , Working , Stephen
Palm wine
2007-12-27 10:50:00 After a palm tree falls over (not sure whether it naturally dies or gets knocked over) it is allowed to ferment for four days before they drill a hole in its side and start collecting a beautiful alcoholic liquid they call palm wine. You can actually drink it as it without any type of processing. ... More About: Travel , Food , Wine , Palm , Author
Entering dry season (December weather)
2007-12-27 10:29:00 The weather changed literally over night. Terri was starting to seriously suffer in the heat during the last week of November. The heat and humidity were building steadily, and it was almost impossible for Terri to get a good night’s sleep — it wouldn’t cool down sufficiently for her until about 3am. Then, one night ... More About: Weather , Travel , Season , Author , Stephen
Tarantula in the house
2007-12-26 09:12:00 Stephen had the honour of killing a tarantula in the house (at least it sort of looked like one). It wasn?t super big, only about 3 inches in diameter (with legs), so whacking it wasn?t so bad. The worst are the super juicy bugs that leave splatter all over the place. Nothing?s ... More About: House , Travel , Author , Tarantula , Terri
Joyeux Noel
2007-12-25 14:38:00 Merry Christmas everyone! Stephen and I are spending our first snowless Christmas together. It?s a bit surreal it?s actually Christmas since we didn?t have to listen to a single Christmas carol. We don?t know what to buy without television adverts telling us how to spend!! Without the Christmas shopping frenzy, Christmas ... More About: Travel , Author , Terri , Noel
Merry Christmas!
2007-12-25 14:32:00 I hear there’s quite the white Christmas back home, so I hope everyone is enjoying warm drinks and good company. We miss you and we’ll be home soon…or as soon as the snow melts! Honestly, it doesn’t feel like Christmas here. It sort of snuck up on us out of nowhere. One week ... More About: Travel , Author , Merry Christmas , Stephen
Something is growing in the sink
2007-12-24 08:53:00 When the drain starts to back up in Canada, it’s usually something like hair in the “u-pipe” that needs to be dissolved with chemicals or hit with a plunger to get it unblocked. Here, there is no u-pipe, so what is causing the drain to back up? There is hair collecting in the ... More About: Travel , Author , Growing , Stephen , Some
The meaning of education
2007-12-23 10:43:00 Stephen and I became fairly disappointed once we got comfortable with the school systems here. Before coming, we were told to expect very keen and eager students because education is the path out of poverty. We didn?t find that. We found students hungry for degrees, diplomas, and certifications -? not education. For us, ... More About: Ideas , Education , University , Teaching , Author
Science market
2007-12-23 08:55:00 UCC has an old site (mostly education and administration) and a new site (also known as science because that is the largest building). Off to the side of the Science building is the science market (not sure if that is an official name or even a common name, but it is the name that ... More About: Travel , Food , Photos , Market
Carnivore heaven
2007-12-22 08:02:00 Now that we?ve discovered where to get many of the foods we enjoy, we aren?t suffering from the lack of variety nearly as much as we were when we first got here. Now with my latest discovery of farm fresh meat, carnivores have a lot to be jealous about. For about $5, I ... More About: Travel , Photos , Heaven , Author , Expenses
The world is your toilet
2007-12-22 08:00:00 On our trip in from Accra to Cape Coast, the driver stopped by the side of the road to “pass water”. Terri was confused…both in the expression and the context — why would someone be using the side of the road to pee? Because, the world is your toilet! Up at Kakum National Park, ... More About: Travel , World , Author , Toilet , The World
The corner store
2007-12-21 09:00:00 The corner store we patronize is run by a husband and wife team who told us at the beginning that they are siblings. Their children are often there helping out and never did I feel so old as when they decided that we were like family by calling me ?Auntie Terri?. Suddenly I ... More About: Women , Travel , Rights , Store , Author
Kickbacks and Bribes
2007-12-20 08:58:00 There are some things in life I don?t want to believe and it seems the more I try to ignore them, the bigger the letdown I face. I didn?t want to believe in the culture of kickbacks and bribes, but a few too many experiences have left me faltering in my own self-denial. ... More About: Author , Terri
A pineapple a day keeps the doctor away
2007-12-20 08:51:00 Terri and I are addicted — we feel withdrawal symptoms if we try to go a day without eating a pineapple. No, not just some pineapple, but a whole pineapple between the two of us. It’s actually a very important part of the local diet. As we have mentioned, green and especially raw vegetables ... More About: Travel , Medical , Food , Pineapple , Author
Ancient History
2007-12-19 08:58:00 We like to think that the horrible sins of the past were due to our ancestors of an ancient time who were not yet enlightened. Things like colonialism, segregation, apartheid, etc. When we think about the sun never setting on the British Empire, we generally associate it with the Anne of Green Gables era. We ... More About: Ideas , History , Author , Terri , Ancient
Warped sense of wealth
2007-12-19 08:51:00 In Accra, there is a Western-style specialty store called Koala — it’s where we have gotten our cheese. We mentioned before how some of the prices were quite outrageous — e.g. $10 for cereal, $9 for a Lindt chocolate bar, $18 for Kool Aid mix, $5.5 for canned salmon, $5 for Pringles, etc. We were ... More About: Travel , Sense , Wealth , Author , Expenses
Ghana?s Greenbelt
2007-12-18 16:32:00 Our plan for the holidays is to bum rides with our friends. If you?re going, we?re coming! Yesterday was a return trip to Kumasi. The first trip was good, but this trip was during a dryer part of the season so the road there was dry and dusty. Passing vehicles stir up dust, ... More About: Weather , Travel , Food , Events , Photos
Racism and other uncomfortable issues
2007-12-18 16:25:00 There is a lot of racism against Black people (or whatever term you prefer to use) around the world. They are often referred to as less intelligent (e.g. an explanation of why Blacks could not be head coaches and executives in the NFL) and genetically inferior (e.g. Watson’s latest fiasco). Their cultures are ... More About: Ideas , Issues , Racism , Author , Stephen
Ghanaian chocolate
2007-12-16 14:44:00 Ghana is one of the world’s largest (and best) producers of cocoa beans, but most of the beans are exported to Europe where they are processed into chocolate. Most of the locals can’t afford to buy the chocolate that is made from their premier export — remember, a Lindt bar can cost almost $9 ... More About: Travel , Food , Photos , Chocolate , Author
Something Familiar
2007-12-16 12:51:00 It is funny how vastly different, yet similar places around the world can be. In our search for green vegetables, I came across a local green called ?Kontomire?. I was told that they are the leaves of a popular tuber called ?cocoyam?. I had never heard of either before but I tried ... More About: Travel , Food , Author , Terri , Some
Malaria for the third time
2007-12-15 12:51:00 To put it lightly Malaria sucks. I think we were playing with dice last week when we slept without the mosquito net. Because of the heat, I can?t sleep at night until close to dawn, but Stephen is fast asleep beside me. When I turn on the air conditioner, he can?t sleep due to the ... More About: Travel , Medical , Time , Author , Terri
Paying to pollute
2007-12-15 12:50:00 I don’t know why we moved away from refillable glass bottles in Canada to (at best) recycled plastic bottles, but they still use the glass bottles here in Ghana. It’s nice. A bottled soda will cost as little as 30 cents/peswas, but a canned soda will cost at least 60 peswas. For the non-alcoholic malts ... More About: Travel , Author , Expenses , Stephen
Terri has malaria?again
2007-12-14 17:18:00 That’s it… I’m sending Terri home. She is a danger to herself in this country. She can’t slow down… Between the heat and the pace of life here, she is destroying herself. It’s time to reconsider our situation. Anyways, the key symptom arrived yesterday afternoon — a rare afternoon nap. Suddenly, the neck pains were no ... More About: Travel , Medical , Author , Stephen
The wussy North American women
2007-12-13 18:44:00 So at the risk of this sounding like another gender debate, I am the first to admit that I am a wuss. A female American friend and I have so far had the same adverse reaction to bugs. In fact, Stephen had the duty of ?bug killer? in her chalet the other night. Broom in ... More About: Women , Travel , North , Author
Children?s books
2007-12-12 17:22:00 Stephen has a small collection of children?s books (Freud would have something to say about that) which started with the purchase of a cute Inuit book of fables. He has since decided to expand the collection — he?s weary of (Western) Cinderella-esque fairy tales. We found a few here on campus at the bookstore that ... More About: Travel , Children , Books , Author , Terri
Adjusting the grades
2007-12-12 17:21:00 A professor I once had was famous for giving impossibly hard final exams. Studying as a group, we couldn’t solve a single question from any of the six previous final exams. When someone asked why he gave exams like that, his answer was something like “everyone knows the class average will be a B, so ... More About: University , Teaching , Author , Grades , Stephen
Drainage systems
2007-12-11 17:19:00 When I first got here, I spoke about the need for proper sewer system even more than doctors to cure diseases. Obviously the engineer in me is biased towards infrastructure that would prevent said diseases. There?s definitely a need for players to come together for long term solutions ? i.e. coordinating doctors, engineers, politicians. In ... More About: Travel , Medical , Author , Systems , Terri
Taxis
2007-12-11 12:53:00 Figuring out how the taxis work has not been easy for us. There are so many rules and subtleties that you need to know — otherwise, you are prone to being over charged, or at the least, feeling like you’ve been over charged. The best price for a ride is from the taxi stand. ... More About: Travel , Photos , Author , Expenses , Stephen
Happy Farmer?s Day
More articles from this author:2007-12-10 12:51:00 Friday was Farmer ?s Day in Ghana. Much like our Labour Day, they honour those who toil greatly for their economy. However, instead of giving people a day to parade about showing off the banners of their trade unions, Ghana goes a step further in honouring their farmers. They have awards they give ... More About: Happy , Author , Terri 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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