The only white chick in town, aka "oberoni"

Today was amazing! I'm not sure where to begin. Arrived at the school around 9:30 am this morning. Met with the head teacher and got a tour of the school, which goes from daycare all the way through high school. It is a very big school. The classrooms I will be in will mostly be the preschool/preK classrooms. There are 2 of them, with at least 50 students in each class. I will be observing this week, then teaching letter sounds next week (maybe even this week). The children at this age are just learning English, so the teachers speak Fante and English. I was learning Fante right along with them! I was joking with the teachers that I was a kindergarten student, too! 😊.  I did teach the two classes one of the songs I remember from the girls' preschool days (Open, Shut Them). It has cute hand motions, so they liked that. I've been jotting down all the other songs I can remember so I can continue teaching them. I love teaching them the songs, that's my favorite thing!

The kids were so adorable and very well behaved. They were obviously very excited and curious about me, but did a great job paying attention to the lesson after they were scolded to stop staring at me! Haha! During the lunch break, I went out into the yard and started high-fiving some of the little ones. Well, that's all It took for a huge mob to form around me! They all wanted a high five or to shake my hand. The head teacher said the upper level classes (the equivalent of grades 1-12), were not told that I was coming, which is why they were so surprised to see me and very excited to get a glimpse. I asked the teacher if I was the first white person some of them have seen, and she said yes. Hope I didn't disappoint! Lol! After this mob scene, I went back into the office to eat. The office door opens out into the main breezeway, so all the kids kept peeking in or going to the bathroom, which was next to the office. A group of kids was standing at the doorway watching me, so I started making funny faces at them, which they found hilarious. I also was blowing kisses at them, which, they found hilarious, too. They started mimicking me, so by the end of the day, I was receiving a lot of blown kisses 😀. I was asked by several children if I would be their friend. So sweet!

I also heard the term "oberoni" a lot today. It means "white person", but it's not meant to be offensive. And I was given a heads up that this would happen, so I was not surprised. As I was sitting on the front balcony this afternoon after school, a lot of little kids were walking by the gate calling out "oberoni" and waving at me. Then they would giggle and run past when I would wave back. And they would also say "bye! bye!" I have video of it that I will post when I can. At this point, I'm not sure if I will be able to post pics until I return. I'm still working on it though.

It was a long day, and I was very tired when I was brought home in the afternoon. It's been hard falling asleep because so many thoughts are going through my mind at night. A lot of things to process. I feel like my brain is working overtime. It's been helpful to write this blog, but there is so much more to say and think about, it's just been hard to put into comprehension. For example, although everyone has been so kind and welcoming, it's been a little awkward and uncomfortable for me. I am not a very outgoing person when in new situations, so I'm very much outside of my comfort zone here. Throw in the fact that I'm the only white person around--so I am sort of a walking circus curiosity--and you've got a situation that I'd normally run from. However, one of the reasons why I wanted to come here was to get out of that comfort zone and expand my life in ways that are only obtained by pushing yourself beyond where your life is comfortable. It's like when you are working out to gain muscle--change only happens if you push yourself beyond what is comfortable and lift heavier weights. You can't expect to gain muscle if the weights you are lifting stay the same. You can't grow with the status quo. (Did I just make up a new saying? "You can't grow with the status quo" sounds very catchy. If that's not a thing, it should be). Anyhow, sometimes discomfort is the only way to grow.

There is so much more I want to write about, but I am tired. I'm going to try to quiet my brain now and get some sleep.

One of the kindergarten classrooms. 

View from the head teacher's office...all of the children wanted a look at the "oberoni"

Blowing kisses