There is absolutely nothing like bathing in the remnants of a tropical storm. Especially after coming home from a nice, hard, invigorating bike ride. I sit here writing this email fresh from a shower in the rain, which I almost screwed up — if I had waited a few minutes longer, I would have had to find a bucket of water to rinse off.
Tonight is the first time it’s really rained in about two weeks. We’re approaching the end of the rainy season, and right now we’re getting whatever rain is left from the Atlantic storm season. Seikwa is pretty far inland, but one of the odd things about Ghanaian weather is that we actually get more rain here than they do in Accra. Personally, I don’t mind it; the more it rains, the less water I have to haul.
This week has been interesting and boring at the same time. School is in
session, but classes really haven’t started yet. The first week in
Ghanaian senior high schools is dedicated to putting the school grounds
in order, so the students spend the day “weeding” (cutting the grass by
hand with a machete), sweeping out the classrooms, hauling water to the
student residences that don’t have running water.
The form one students (think high school freshmen) aren’t in school yet,
either. They wait to see their BECE scores before they report to senior
high school, but because there is no such thing as a postal address
here, and most people don’t have post office boxes, they have to go to
their old junior high schools to find out whether they are permitted to
advance to senior high school.
Thus, I have no students. At least not the form ones.
As a result, I have been spending the majority of my time working on the
school computers, riding my bike in the countryside, going for long
walks, running, or working in my house. Today’s bike ride was especially beautiful; I need to remember to take my camera on these rides. Like I’ve said before, words can’t do justice to the things I see out in the bush.
Well, that’s about all I’ve got. Take care, stay classy, and don’t forget to write.
