Monday was the first day of school, which was nervewracking but okay at the same time. The students did a cute little opening ceremony consisting of multiple dances, and poems. Meeting our buddies was scary at first but our nerves were settled when most of them embraced us with open arms, the rest being nervous. After a few rounds of the hokey cokey it was as if we had known our buddies forever. Dancing with the children was an experience to say the least mainly because our cultures are so different, including our dance moves. We taught them a few of our moves including the mexican wave and the dab.
After all of the faffing about, we finally got to work on our project. Sanding was a chore but it was a task made entertaining by the primary school kids that would not leave us alone no matter how hard we tried. The base coat came next after endless hours of boring sandpaper. It would have been a simple task back in the UK but under the blistering heat and surrounded by loud children, it was rough going. Lunch was tuna and salad which was fine. Back at the hostel, dinner revealed itself to be, oh wait yet again, rice and some sort of curry sauce. After the predicable dinner, we made plans for the mural and played with the local village kids, naming one character in particular with glowing white eyes, crazy caroline, who took a shine to bricks and our heads.
Tuesday was a new day so it had to better, right? And it was. We had pancakes, nutella and mango for breakfast which went down well among the group. The walk to school was as long and as hot as ever. We all gave our buddies our gifts which mostly consisted of shortbread and football tshirts. They were all very grateful and gave us braclets and broaches as a present in return. Painting commenced right away as we desperatly tried to finish the base coats evenly. We all discovered vanilla FanIce that day which is a favourite among us as we made the link between McDonalds milkshakes and the ice cream. A quick break of football followed by an intense game of volley ball, we were escorted home by the school kids which was nice. Dinner was the usual, rice and a sauce of some kind accompanied by plantain, a savory bannana. Calamity struck as Rayans nose began to bleed for the fith time, so that sent him on a trek to the local hospital, luckily around the corner. Turns out it was just a nose bleed not a brain bleed so he was okay.
Wednesday came around with eggy bread and ketchup. Getting to school we arrived to the sound of drums and singing which was lively and interesting. We then finished the base coats and was only there for two hours before we all craved a FanIce. We all went to the market and bought fabric for our tailored clothes which cost quite a bit. We drove thirty minutes to Elmina where we visited an old slave fort. It was interesting but i had a stronge urge to say sorry even though we all know we did nothing wrong. All in all it has been a good three days and we look forward to the banter that is yet to come.
Your loving daughters, who do not miss you at all,
Molly and Imogen
