Pot of gold!

Well actually it's honey, but it's golden in color! So the fear of the bees, which has prevented me from running on my favorite path has some benefits, as does living in a compound house. Many things in our compound are communal. We all watch each others backs and share when we can. It's a nice set up. If the water is running, people make sure that everyone knows so we can fill up our buckets. If there's something good to watch or listen to, people make sure that everyone is invited. Somethings aren't so good, such as when someone decides to wake up at 5, we all do, because of the need for radio at 5am. Or if people want to stay up late, we all do, because the walls are thin and people sit outside windows to chat. I've really just worked on perfecting the art of sleeping through anything, so far it's going well. ;)

Definitely the pros out weigh the cons, and one such pro happens to be honey! One of the teachers decided to harvest (is that the correct word) the honey from the bee hive attached to the back of our compound (I avoid that corner like the plague). So after many bee stings he got a bucket of honey, which he then just shared with everyone in the compound. One of our friends and fellow teachers knocked on our door one night so we could join in the honey bounty. Everyone brought a bottle to fill with honey and we socialized around the honey pot, even our monkeys joined in the fun. It's really amazing and definitely is a reminder that I'm not in the U.S. anymore. When would anyone in an apartment complex share anything with the whole place without any compensation? Never! I guess people do bring in baked goods maybe to work sometimes, but cookies don't sting you. I'm just absolutely amazed, not to mention happy with honey.

The school term here is coming to a close, although a bit vaguely. No one is really sure when it's ending, just that it's happening soon. Kind of hard to plan a lesson when you don't know how many weeks you have left. What's also strange for me is that the seniors here end school a term early. So instead of having another term with them before their big exam, I only have a few weeks. So JB and I are planning for very different final exams. He only has a term final and I have a cumulative final...eek! These past few weeks I've had a very low turn out of students to my classes and I've talked with a few other teachers about this. However today they finally told me it's because for the last month of classes, I have to create a new schedule with the students for when they want class and to make sure that I'm not conflicting with other classes that got a new schedule. I'm not really sure why they mess up the scheduling, but I definitely have not been confirming in advance when I'm going to be teaching. My students probably thing I"m crazy just showing up like I use to. Ha! Oh Ghana! You're making my life hard and I'm not sure why.

We miss you all state side!!

Running with bees

Four days a week I go for a run on this trail behind our compound. One of the things I love about this trail is that it's usually very unpopulated so I don't feel like I'm the center of attention while I'm running. Usually it's a very nice run; the weather is not hot yet (I run at 6am), the scenery is wonderful, the air smells nice, and it's very calming to just run. Today however was very different. There were more people in the fields, which still isn't very bad since I just wave to them as I run past. Towards the end of the first mile I ran past a tree, only to feel a sting on my back near my shoulders, then through the music of my ipod I hear the buzzing and another sting! A swarm of angry bees!!!! So then I start to scream and run faster, trying to get someone to help me. Although the men in the field can't understand my hysteric screams and just wave at me like I"m crazy. So I sprint down the path with a swarm of bees around my head screaming like a crazy person. If only there was a lake or some body of water to jump in, oh right, I'm in Ghana, in the Northern region during dry season, crap. Eventually after about a quarter mile sprint there were only a few bees still attacking and I got a man from a field to come beat me with a cloth to get rid of them. I definitely could have gone through life without that experience. At least I'm not allergic to bee stings! (cause I probably wouldn't have made it back to my compound to get a shot in time) After the bees left me alone, some man came up to me to tell me that this morning they were smoking the bees in that tree. Who knows why, but he told me I shouldn't run this path for the next few days. Aye Aye capt. No worries there, I believe I'm going to find me a new running path. Ugh.