Huge Update!

I have so much to say but I want to say right away that I am really sorry for no pictres! Thank you guys for the comments!

First I want to tell you about my family. I have a ton of people living at home but some have left and some will leave soon. Anyway Mama and Papa live have five kids: Evelyn, Emil, Florence, Fred, and Esther. Evelyn lives n Accra and went home two days after  got here. She has a baby named Micheal who is one and a half year old. He was super scared of me at first but then he warmed up to me and it was awesome! Anyway Esther boards at the school so I only get to see her there. Emil doesn't live at home but his wife Mary does. I know. I don't quite understand that either. Florence and Fred live at home but Florence will go back to work in a different town in February. For right now she has been showing me around. Also at home is Irene, a house help, and Foster, one of the youth from the church. Emil's son Richmond lives at home to. He is so cute!

Only Fred and Foster go by these names, though. I am the only one who calls them by their Christian name. They also have an Ewe name and a name for the day of the week they were born on. They wanted to give me one of these names but I had no idea what day of the week I was born on so they looked it up. I am Yowa (Thursday born). Later Evelyn gave me the Ewe name Emefa. It means peace. So some people call me Emefa. Some call me Yowa. And a few call me Mackenzie. When I introduce myself  I say I am Emefa Yowa Mackenzie. Super confusing.

Want to here what I've been eating? well Ill tell you anyway. I mainly eat this stuff called banku. Its like potatoish but it doen't taste that way. and you dip it in this really spicy soup. All their food is very sarchy so I try to eat as much as I can but it really fills me up. I don't think I've eaten meat yet but, honestly I have no idea. I think Florence and Irene slip some in sometimes. Also almost everything is eaten with you hands or hand. You only you your left hand. You eat everything llike that, even rice. So you kind of have to mash it up to hold it right. Florence always laughs at me when I'm eating. Also they all want me to eat a ton! I will be so fat when I come home. Also nobody exercises here. They just dance and say its exercise. ahaha

Alittle more about home here is that, in the house, they speak Ewe. They speak english to me but they are trying very hard to teach me Ewe. And people here shower twice a day. Sometimes three times. We wear flip flops(slippers) when in the home. If my feet get dirty Florence has me wash them off.

Alright I also want to tell you about school! I just started on Monday but wow have I got a lot to say. haha. The campus is probably the same size as Parkway South's but Its made up of about 6 buildings. They are about 3 stories high and the classrooms open to the outside. There is maybe 9 classrooms per building. There ar boarding houses too but I don't go to that part of campus. At school there is just over 1000 kids and all but 100 board. I have my niform which is blue and white. The main differnce is that teachers chose when they want to show up and when they don't feel like it. The first day Ihad all my classes except one because the teacher didn't show up. On the second day, I went to all my first two classes but then my next teacher didn't show up so we went to lunch. After that we found out that the boarding students were in trouble for something so they just called off schoool. It was so weird. So I just hung out with Esther until I went home.

I can't wait to tell you about today in school. It was so painful. I went to my first class and then the next two teachers didn't show up. Then we found out they were all at this meeting. It lasted till the end of the school day! We just sat there the whole day. Well I mean we talked and read and stuff but I thought I would die. school is from 7:30 to 3:40 and classes are about 70 minutes but neither the students or teachers ever get there on time. Also the classrooms are very loud even when the teachers talking, students are talking.

Ho is a very pretty town. There are no trotros here. Only taxis. Florence and Max, an AFS volunteer have been showing me around. I met with their friends, went swimming, and saw traditional things like kente clothe weavers.

Again I would like to point out my realization that I am white. Usually little kids smile and wave when they see me. One time, though, a little girl looked at me and her eyes got really wide. She looked like she was two or three but she trys to save herself and her older sister but running out and pulling her sister. Her sister wanted her to come see me though so she picked he up and put her closer to me. The little girl burst out in tears. I felt so bad!

Lastly I want to talk about my birthday!!! It was awesome! I went out with Florence and Max and another friend, Yowe. They gave me a necklace and bracelet! Very pretty! Then I went home and the whole family was gathered there. We toasted with juice and then they sang and prayed for me. Then we danced!  haha They tryed to teach me to shake my booty  like a Ghanaian but Im ust not very good.

I want to thank you guys soooo much for my letters. They make me laugh and remind me of home! Love you guys! Oh and I've been taking my malaria pills every day! Yay for me! Again I love you guys!