Finals (12/9)

Today is the first day of end of term exams. One term nearly out of the way, 5 more and I'm back in the US. Today the kids have English and ICT.

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In case I didnt say before, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is the new computer course that they are introducing into the JHS schools.

Oh also, my course load has changed several times, but I finished this term teaching Math to form 2 and 3, and ICT to form 3.
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I'm actually fairly confident of how my Form 3's will do on the BECE for ICT. Bubu has a laptop and I've used it a few times for practicals. Like I explained to Bubu and our headmaster, Seidu, (We always just call him "Head") I can lecture all I want, but the practical time on the computers will be the make or break. The challenge is that they have not been teaching ICT here (out of laziness) and now they found out it's examinable. So I have 1 1/2 terms to teach 3 years of ICT. I think with my knowledge of computers and an actual laptop to use we can pull it off. Let's see how they do today, that'll be the first test.


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Thoughts:

It's funny what happens when you live in a country that slowly becomes totally detached from certain aspects of "real life". Part of the human nostalgia wants it back, and marketing experts see an excellent opportunity to make some money off of that curious feeling. The funny thing is that when you grow up in this petting zoo and the imitations are all you know, you get it all backwards when you see the real thing.

Let me take you through my discovery. It started in Kukurantumi when we were training. I was laying in bed and heard the emphatic cry of a rooster announcing that he was awake (and so the rest of the world should be too). I thought "Wow! That sounds EXACTLY like the sound clips you hear on the pull string toys as a kid!"


In Diare I saw my first donkeys and when they started their HEE- HAW ...HEEEE....HAWWWWW I thought "No way, that's EXACTLY like the clips in cartoons and movies!"

Riding to Julie's site we passed a magnificently huge tree. It had a massive base as long as an 18 wheeler and looked more than 200 feet tall. The branches went up at strange angles and the light coming from behind gave it a beautiful silhouette. My first thought was the uncanny resemblance to the "Tree of life" at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Tree near Voggu

Disney's Tree of Life

Many nights on my ride home from the cell phone recharge stand to the teacher's quarters I'm alone on the highway. I pass the street lights near the central junction for my town and haven't yet gotten to the lights near the school. In this gap between, I ride through pure darkness and some nights when it's a cloudless sky it seriously takes my breath away. The road is flat and goes on seemingly forever. Above me is a blanket of pitch black with a touch of purple. In it, millions of glowing whitish blue points, all shining from distances farther than we can fully comprehend. This one spot in the road seems to surrender to it all, and every time it knocks me back. It follows the road off to infinity and it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It's like riding a bike through a huge planetarium.

On the way to Adayilli with Fidaus we passed a pond of water to our right. Around it were small grasses and behind was a shelf of clay and rock that would have served well for hippos or some other animal to lay before going for a dip. My immediate thought? "This looks like a watering hole from Miami Metro-Zoo".

And the realization that had slowly been building for months finally materialized.

Do you see the backwards logic here?

Here I am surrounded by nature on a day to day basis, and every time: what is my instant, no thinking, knee jerk reaction? I have been so indoctrinated with wonderful imitations of nature that when I see the real thing I think "This is JUST like the imitation!"

Haha how backwards is that? These imitations were made to bring the outside world home, but if that's all you know your brain gets it reversed. Instead of seeing a mock-up and appreciating the craftsmanship in cloning nature, I see the natural manifestation of the stars and think "This is like riding through a planetarium."

Haha, man, if I'm not domesticated I don't know what is. But I guess that's kind of the point of this trip, no? To see the real thing. To leave the bubble and appreciate the things that inspired some to imitate; not just the recreations themselves. It's humbling but it's been a fun discovery.

Seriously though, on a full moon night here, the moon is so bright you can walk no problem with no flashlight. It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it. It's like perpetual twilight. The incredible thing is the purple hue on everything. It's a pale violet light washing all over. It looks surreal, literally lighting the whole night.

It's exactly like the night scenes they show in movies or video games ;)