PTA Meeting

I went to my first ever PTA meeting this afternoon. I definitely didn't think that my first PTA meeting would be when I was 20. Or that it would be in Ghana.

Since I've never been to a PTA meeting before, I don't have much to compare it to, but I imagine that this meeting was very different from PTA meetings in the U.S. The main difference, I think, is that this meeting was less of a discussion between parents and teachers than the school telling parents things and then the parents disagreeing. The entire meeting was in Twi so I didn't understand much, but from what I could tell, the parents didn't really support any of the issues that the administration/teachers were bringing up. What it all came down to was money. The school was asking that parents pay a little more and parents were saying that they pay enough as it is. At least that much, I'm assuming, isn't too different from what goes on at PTA meetings in the U.S.

The entire meeting lasted for about two and a half hours and, by the end, I was thoroughly lost. The conversation went from increasing school fees to changing uniforms to final examinations and I had absolutely no idea when they moved from one topic to the other. Though they did throw in a word or two of English here and there, so I have at least that much to be thankful for.

Speaking of being thankful, I wasn't aware until today that Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday. For weeks, I've been under the impression that it was on the 29th. I guess the 4th Thursday in November isn't always the last Thursday. Duly noted. I'm excited for Thanksgiving though. I'm going to Ben's house on Friday (it's easier if we celebrate on the weekend since there obviously isn't a Thanksgiving Break here) and I think we're going to have a fairly traditional Thanksgiving dinner. And, by that, I mean he told me that there's going to be turkey. Frankly, for someone that routinely eats rice instead of mashed potatoes and broccoli stir-fry instead of green bean casserole, turkey is all I really need to consider it a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. The only thing that'll be missing is watching the Lions play. Though, from the way this season is going for them, I can't say I'll miss it too much. I'm just glad I'm not on campus today after their loss to Green Bay. My Packers fans friends wouldn't let me hear the end of it (hi Abby).