I’ve been waiting a while to post this since we attended church on Sunday. The line to use the internet is always long, but I finally found a time when the computer was free!
On Sunday we went to a Ghanian church which was an interesting and cultural experience. Let’s just say church here is nothing like the church I attend in the U.S. There’s a lot more movement and singing and dancing. The church began with a lecture from the Bible. They were speaking in Fanti, which is the language mostly spoken in this area, but we had a translator who was translating everything said to us. Continue reading “Attending Church in Ghana”→
On Sunday we left Jerusalem and drove to Ramallah, in the West Bank. I was very excited to arrive at the school with which we have had a strong connection for decades. We arrived in time to attend Meeting for Worship, which gave us a rare opportunity for quiet reflection in the beautiful Meetinghouse in town with members of the meeting and several visiting Friends. We were greeted warmly there by Jean Zaru, Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting and a longtime Palestinian peace activist. While the Meeting is small, its witness and outreach are very large. After meeting, Jean shared some inspiring reflections with us on the importance of recognizing the interrelatedness and interconnectedness of all people. She emphasized that the spiritual basis of peace work is the “indwelling divinity of all people,” or that of God in all persons. This inclusive spirituality is not only a gift for the individual – it gives each of us responsibility to recognize the face of God in every human we meet, and to ensure that their human rights and dignity not be trampled. She pointed out that compassion is found in all religions, and urged us to look for things that unite us and give us a way to act together. “If we know what we are standing on,” she said, it leads us to action. “I commit myself to the otherness of the other.” Continue reading “Ramallah Friends”→
I have no way of creating a content-specific title for this post because there is no one thing that I want to focus on after these past 10 days. First off, I apologize for dropping off the map. It has been for several reasons. We have been in host families, WordPress won’t work properly on my phone, and whenever I theoretically could have borrowed a laptop, I was busy doing once-in-a-lifetime things like enjoying the view of the Old City of Jerusalem from the roof of our hostel with our group.
I have done myself no favor in dropping the blogging ball until now. There has been an unbelievable amount of experiences packed in the last 10 days (Don’t worry though, I have 30 pages of notes and a lifetimes worth of memories). One of the reasons why I chose to go on this trip (even though people thought that because of my family’s connections I could do this type of thing later and may have a better use for my senior project): There’s no way you can duplicate this trip. To have 26 people bouncing from place to place, challenging speakers with tough questions, debating topics on the buses and over meals, all while having copious amounts of fun is an incredible feat that we have all agreed is something we are lucky to have been able to participate in. Continue reading “The Catch Up”→
The food in Ghana is nothing like the food at home. It is not processed and distributed through grocery stores from huge farms like we are used to. Ghanains don’t have the variety we do either, they eat what is in season and there is no concept of “junk” food and “healthy” food. This is something I love about Ghana, how the people are so much more in tune with nature and where their food comes from than we are. In Ghana you would not get chicken and yam, you would get yam and chicken. The starch always comes first and many people leave out the protein all together. We have eaten a ton of rice balls and ground nut soup, fufu, plantains, yam chips, sweet bread, red peppers, boiled boned chicken, and pineapples. All of these meals contain the same staple ingredients: starch (rice, plantains,yam, bread), bean, red peppers, palm oil, and ground nut. The fruit I have had here has been by far the best fruit I have ever had. The bananas are smaller and have much more flavor and the pineapples are much more juicy and sweet. I could eat these fruits forever! It has made me realize how much flavor we lose in the chemically ripened and shipped fruit that we eat at home.
One of my favorite things to do here is go to the market. The market here is not for people who don’t like crowds and over-stimulation. There is so much going on and so many venders crammed together that it becomes a winding labyrinth that is easy to get lost in. Melissa has joked about how awesome a big town market would be to do an amazing race in because the scavenger hunt would be so hard. The market is full of kids, goats, and vendors selling everything from food to light bulbs. In the market, just like everywhere in Ghana, we stand out as the only white people. Most of the kids have never seen a white person before and the adults if any have seen very few. People love to stare, and the kids run up to us shouting “Obroni!”
In Ghana each person has a name associated with the day they were born. Because I am a girl and was born on a Saturday my name is Ama and because I am the eldest twin my other name is Bennie (Ethan is Kakra wich means younger twin). Since there are only seven days a week the market women shout to you random names and when you yell “Ama!” they all go “Eyyy! Ama!”. They are all so fun and enthusiastic and, surprisingly, they don’t try to force you to buy even though they associate white skin with money. The streets of the market are crowded with vendors crammed along the sides, women and men walking with ridiculous loads on their heads, and boys weaving carts of goods through the goats and people. You always have to be on your toes as cars and people will give you a warning shout or honk but that does not mean they will move for you (Jordan almost got hit by a car).
What I did not expect was the amount of fish sold here. It smells bad and looks unsanitary as people are holding trays of entire fish out in the hot sun. My favorite part of the market and the reason we go there is the fabric. I LOVE Ghanaian clothes. The energetic and crowded market is full of beautiful tapestries and fabrics. In Ghana you buy fabric in yards and then make your clothes from that. Two yards make a dress and they usually go for 5 cedis a yard. Once people choose and buy fabric, people would either make their own clothes or do as we did and call the local tailor to come a measure us. I can’t wait to get my dress back!
In the evening, all of the vendors pack up their goods and take them home or put them back in the shop and lock it back up like a storage container. The amount of work to unload and reload the goods in many of these shops takes entire families hours and the vendors have to do it twice a day. Most of the street vendors (the people without set booths) are children and they often talk to us in their scattered English about where we are from and ask us to buy the water pouches or yam chips they are selling on their heads (the yam chips are so good). What I have learned is that Ghanaian markets are great but exhausting and seeing where people go to buy and barter has taught me a great deal about the culture.
When I last left you, I was about to cook strudel and stuffed cabbage, both which take awhile to make. The stuffed cabbage took awhile because you have to wrap the cabbage around the meat sauce, like so.And then it was carmelized in a pan and then put in a container with cabbage and sauerkraut. And then finally, homemade meat sauce was poured over to look like this.
Believe me, it’s yummier than it looks.
The strudel, on the other hand, takes awhile because you have to make the dough the night before (but you have to do that with the potato knishes, the mocha tarts, and pretty much anything that needs dough). They also turned out delicious… especially the ones I made for myself which had less walnuts and more cinnamon sugar.
The strudel, cut up and ready to eat!
Then yesterday, we made the potato knishes, brisket, and chocolate covered matzah. Potato knishes are dough with an oniony mashed potato in the middle. I came up with the idea to put cheese in with the potatoes, and everyone thought that it definitely added a new dimension to the taste, so we made all four batches with it!
The chocolate covered matzah, on the contrary, is a very quick recipe. In fact, it is so quick that it is a process full of anxiety. You have to make the caramel to the right temperature, and then pour it over the matzah very quickly before putting it in the oven for 3 minutes. And then you have to take it out on time, and then pour chocolate over before putting it back in the oven for a minute. It is very easy to mess up, and we did in fact have to throw out the first batch because the caramel waited too long before having the chocolate added. My mom usually makes four to six batches of it, but we only made two this time. My mom has making this recipe since I was six, at the oldest. It is one of our Passover favorites.
We later cut this up to make a bite-size treat! The last thing we did yesterday was make the brisket, which we just finished today. My mom’s brisket is one of the most difficult things to make because, well there is no recipe. My mom created this dish when she was trying to make a Cajun brisket out of a cookbook. But it was so bitter that my mom added brown sugar, ketchup, and pretty much anything to sweeten it up. But she figured it out and now we have this brisket (which tastes different every time) but it is always delicious.
After that, you would think we would be extremely tired, but today we made matzah ball soup, mocha mini tarts, sour cream coffee cake, and cole slaw. The mocha mini tarts are almost like a souffle, and I am excited to try them for the first time!
Mocha mini tarts!
And the matzah ball soup isn’t yet ready!
We are cooking up a storm to have a huge dinner tonight with all the food we have been making. I am calling it a “Fader,” but I guess you can use your own term for the fake Seder. We are going to have the conglomeration of all the food with my brother, Margo (my sister), my grandparents, my grandmother’s best friend, and my mother. But it sure seems like we have enough food for 30 people. I will let you know how it goes, but we are just going through the list of food we wanted to make at such a fast rate, we will definitely finish by the time my mom and I have to go to our next destination!
Our seven Westtown Exchange students were really excited to come to Spain with the purpose of reinforcing their Spanish language skills and knowledge. We “regret” to inform you that this intellectual exercise of understanding and properly function in the intense Spanish immersion environment has been quickly abandoned, for a most challenging and thrilling pursuit; the pursuit of cultural enlightenment. After experiencing how the local cadence, gestures and accents of the language sound so foreign and illogical in different Spanish cities, (compared to anything that they had experienced in the classroom) they realized that there is “more to language in life… but don’t ask me what!”. Their Westtown language classes had prepared them to speak their minds; however, Andalucía and Cataluña made them realize that, all what they needed to do was Breathe (Respira), Look (Mira) and Listen (Escucha).
Respira…and rejoice! The joy of breathing warm air in Madrid for the first time in too many months was the kindest welcome of the land. No matter how tired and worn out we might have been from our travels, the gift of “breathing it all in” energized us. Each day has had glorious sunny weather, while getting around a new place can also be incredibly frustrating. The arrival to Sevilla felt like an isolating experience for some, and a thrill ride for others. In either case, we began each day gathering in air in our lungs and launching our speedy steps in all directions through the narrow cobblestone streets and alleys of Sevilla. In each Place, we “took it all in”, but could not keep it all to ourselves for long. The day trip to Granada and The Alhambra took all our breath away, and so began our “exchange”.
Mira! The Andalusian region is built on top of layer upon layer of rocky land and historic buildings. Each layer conveys a story of great importance in the history of mankind, from early human civilizations, the Roman and Islamic Empires, the Christian Reconquista to the seat of the colonial expeditions to America until present day. In essence, we witnessed a bountiful panoramic view of history that can only be summarized by this visual exhortation.
Escucha. Each day consists of a fast-paced list of guided sightseeing activities. One student shared that it was hard to process all the information he was receiving just by listening during this trip. “I don’t know what is important and what is worth ignoring!” I’m sure memory and time will sort it all out. We do not need to hold on to so much in order to enjoy where we are. It is during the pauses and quiet times between each activity that we find the sounds of “Place” and share informally the wisdom learned with each other. A quick glance, a sigh, a grimace, a giggle…we do not need to pick a language on these instances. We all pull back and let our ears listen, letting our minds “understand” each word spoken from the physical aspects of the place. In the Alhambra, the soft flow of water in the garden fountains of the palace led us to explore all the rooms in the castle. In Cordoba, the tight alleys and streets of the Judería echoed, bouncing our words back to us in defiant confusion. In the last few days, as we begin our stay in Barcelona, we are deciphering the coexistence of the Catalan and Spanish (“Castilian”) language spoken in this region. Had we not learned at this point to “breathe and look” for clues of context and the interlocutor’s sense of urgency, our minds would have reached la “locura”!
As we begin the last part of our trip, we are truly grateful for the wonderful hospitality and exceptional accommodations that the Aula Ecola Europea’s host families have provided for our students here in Barcelona. We look forward to Aula’s exchange student visit, when we will have the opportunity to return the attentions, host them warmly (Think Spring!) and show them the fascinating air, views and sounds that Westtown has to offer.
Today was hot. That pretty much sums up the morning. I started reading The Magic Treehouse with a group of sixth graders, which was exciting, but I ended the school day sweating and exhausted as we walked back to the house from school. Afterwards, we went back to do our community project: making bricks. (I call it making bricks but according to Kwesi it is really building a house.)
The brick-making process involves a lot of what seems like moving a huge pile of dirt. Then moving it again. Then spreading the pile out. Then piling it back up again and moving it a few more feet to the left. Somewhere in between these moves we add a bag of cement and a few buckets of water to make a mixture of wet dirt/cement. This gets packed into a mold, put on the ground in a row and left to dry. It’s hard to see much difference, such as walls and a roof rising off the ground, but seeing thirty blocks in neat rows on the ground sure does give me a sense of accomplishment. This is how the new classroom building was started, and that won’t be falling down anytime soon.
It’s been just over a week since our group arrived here in Ghana. I keep thinking about blogging, but honestly I don’t know what to write. If only blogging was a thing ten years ago when Kwesi and I lived here and everything was new to me. I wonder how my experience would have been knowing what we know now. For one, I would know the foods I like, or don’t. Kwesi and I look back on that year with a smile and laugh. Don’t get me wrong, it was H-A-R-D, but we’re able to look back at it now and feel accomplished. Continue reading “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”→
Returning to the museum after a weekend downtown with some of my friends made for a definite change of pace and sleep schedule, but today and Monday still managed to keep me on my toes. Yesterday was spent dealing with several boxes of small mammalian carnivore fossils that had been found but unprocessed in the mid-nineties. There were a few skulls in startlingly good condition, but for the most part we had a lot of repair work to do. So, that looks like my week.
Fun fact: getting those two pieces consolidated took most of my morning, or at least what of it I spent actually working.
That wasn’t all that much time, though, since tomorrow will be opening day for a new temporary exhibit on biomechanics. Definitely a very different scene than fossils, but one that’s also very cool. We spent our lunch break at a staff-only lecture with the curator, after which my manager gave me and the other intern an hour off to go through it before it opened to the public. The exhibit operated under less of an assumption that we knew anything about biomechanics than the lecture, which was good, since my understanding of that field is very low, but they were both really interesting.
Once again, the blogging computer has been in short supply, but here goes:
We’ve settled into a routine now in Ghana. We wake up and eat a relaxed breakfast of bread slices with pancakes, oatmeal, or toast in the living room. Any time between 8 and 8:30 the Heritage bus comes to pick us up and take us to school. For the first three periods of school I am in the library helping kids read. There is one boy, Michael, who I’ve been working a lot with. He is in 7th grade, but is much older than the rest of the boys in his class and can’t get through a page of Cat in the Hat without help. I have to shoo his friends away to stop them from whispering the answers in his ear, and I wonder what will happen when I’m not there. Continue reading “Ghana day 10”→
Westtown Senior Projects' Blog 