Unfortunately, I have somehow caught a slight cold since Sunday evening, with a headache and a feeling that I'm getting a cold ('very surprising considering the temperatures' :D).
But that will pass.
Today I was with the 'Seniors', who are the 15-16 year olds. However, the class consists of only 6 students and 2 of them were not there today.
It is really impressive how the students and also the teachers can find joy in small things. In the science class, we talked about osmosis and diffusion and to illustrate that, the teacher put a piece of potassium in a water bottle.
The potassium dissolved and spread evenly in the water through the principle of diffusion.
The students and also the teacher, Mr. Alfred, were all very impressed, while in our school, hardly anyone would have found it remarkable.
But here, the teachers just don't have any other options or materials. While we have fully equipped physics, biology, and chemistry rooms in Germany,
the teachers here in Ghana are satisfied with a whiteboard and old textbooks. Worksheets are also nowhere to be found.
During lunch break, I had a little chat with Alfred. Surprisingly, he listed all sorts of German cities for me.
Of course, he knew them because of the football clubs. His favorite team is Bayern Munich because he really likes Lewandowski.
And as it happens, boys or young men here also gather to play 'Fifa'
(provided that they have the financial means to afford an Xbox or something similar).
He also associated Germany directly with beer because during the 2014 World Cup final, there were apparently
a lot of German fans shown on TV with beer mugs. The things football can trigger... :D
By the way, on Sunday we drove past the stadium on the way to the city center, where a game was being played.
According to Alfred, it is very cheap to watch a football match in a stadium here, and sometimes it is even offered for free, which surprised me.
In Ghana, very few people drink alcohol, according to Alfred and James. Many are afraid of losing control or becoming dependent.
For example, James doesn't drink any alcohol and Alfred hardly ever has a beer, and even that is very rare.
They were both very surprised when I told them that in Germany, it's actually normal for many teenagers to go to parties at 16 (or even earlier)
and regularly drink alcohol.
I decided not to tell them about the party hangovers that some experience in Germany...
On the way home, James and I went to one of his friends to have my dress altered a bit, which James' friend tailored for me.
By the way, it is very very very cheap to have custom clothing tailored here. For the fabric, for example, I paid 3.80€ and for the tailoring 4.70€.
You would never get that for that price in Germany.