Hello loved ones!!
I’m so sorry that I haven’t been able to update my blog
recently. I haven’t had an opportunity
to check out the interwebs for quite some time and honestly I’ve just been
slacking pretty bad.
On a side note; if I owe you an email, I’m really
sorry. You are on my to-do list and I
promise it’ll happen soonish.
SO! I am absolutely
back to 100% after that whole malaria thing, which is really nice! It took about 3 weeks in total, but all is
good now, and I’m happy to be leaving Malaria in my past as just a great story
from that one time when I went to Africa.
Home life: pretty fantastic! There is a new intern living in our house now
and while at first it was a little odd to be sharing my homestay with another
American, Liza and I are now having a fabulous time. We also work together, which means we spend
about a butt-ton of time together, but we share something very special in
common so that makes it significantly easier.
That special thing is sarcasm.
The frequency of crippling laughter has actually left me with regularly
sore abs.
I do have to say however that no
matter my experience with children (lets say 6 years of working with special
needs children) I cannot stand my host brother.
He literally pushed all of my buttons, and … that’s all I’m going to
say. He is 8. I genuinely despise an 8 year old. That’s kinda sad though, so I’m trying really
hard.
Work: also pretty fantastic! I’m doing practically no work in the schools
like was originally planned because the director Claudius (what sort of awesome
name is that?) realized that outside of teaching the secretary how to read and
write (that still cracks me up when I think about it) I tend to be very
organized. Many of you have encountered
my planning and organizing skills or at least been caught up in my planning or
organizing skills in the past, and so you might recall that once you get that
started there is really no stopping it.
So grants, and newsletters, and logos, and spreadsheets, and templates,
and to-do lists, and program reviews, and forms, (these are a few of my
favorite things…) are all being created and it is just going really well. Also.
Yesterday (March 6th) was Ghana’s 55th
independence day so HCI put on a youth ‘Race for Peace’ which was a short race
and some speakers who were promoting peace and tolerance in Ghana’s upcoming
election. Liza and I ran it and it was
pretty hilarious. Just imagine two white
girls and a crowd of about 70 kids and teenage boys running through the streets
yelling, and, well, at least in our case, sweating A LOT. It was fun.
Pictures will come soon.
Traveling! Since I last wrote I’ve done quite a bit of
traveling around Ghana. I went back to
Busua beach (the place with the island) which is about 3 or 4 hours away (depending
on your trotro driver) with a whole bunch of girls and we basically sat on the
beach all day, drank coconuts, swam in the ocean (I LOVE SWIMMING IN THE
OCEAN), read, and listening to music.
Pretty damn fabulous. Again,
pictures will come soon.
More traveling! Margarita and I spent this last weekend
traveling to the Volta region of Ghana to the east about 7 hours (again,
depending on your trotro driver). We
stopped in the capital of Accra for a night first, which was fun and we got to
chat, and wander around, and eat cereal (yeah.
That’s actually really exciting to me these days.) We then managed to get to Volta the next day
where we were staying at a lodge in the rainforest. It was so beautiful. It reminded me of home a lot as it was cooler,
cleaner, the trees were lush, it rained in the afternoons, and it was it was
way less humid so my hair was actually straight for the first time in about 2
months. I also took my first running
water/real shower in over 2 months too.
That was also very exciting to me.
We had a minor accident (calm down.
It wasn’t me, and thanks to some wonderful friends, I was able to handle
it pretty well.) as on our first day Maita took a little tumble and got a cut
on her leg. We were pretty far in the
middle of no where so I took care of it until we could get to a clinic, but
that didn’t stop us from having a wonderful time. People.
I held a monkey. Lots of
monkeys. It was AWEEEEESOME! We also managed to complete that hike that
was cut short by the fall, and then swam under a waterfall in a canyon of a
rainforest in Africa. So… I guess that
was pretty cool too. Maybe.
As my stay here comes to a close
I’m feeling both good and a little weird about going home. While I am (obviously) enjoying my experience
here, and I’m learning and experiencing new and awesome things every day, I am
reassured by the fact that I am ready to go home. I like Ghana, but it is not my home, and
that’s alright. I’m so ready to see all
of you, and to be able to do things like drive my car (Dad, I’m glad to hear
that you’ve been taking Lucille out. I
appreciate that, but please choose better driving music than the grateful dead
next time. Try B.B.King.) eat fresh
veggies safely, exercise, and use reliable internet. I am
however a little curious I guess about reverse culture shock, or the experience
of returning to your own culture after experiencing a culture vastly different
from your own. At this point Ghana not
only seems normal, but I am becoming aware of the fact that my memory of what
is normal in the states is becoming surprisingly hazy. Going to Accra this weekend was a little
shock to my system as it is significantly wealthier than Cape Coast, which I’m
pretty used to now. This made me start
thinking about how my first day in Ghana was in Accra and at the time it was
pretty eye opening. This time it was
almost shockingly wealthy, and I guess westernized, which just isn't any more to me.
Ok, I know I’ve written a ton, and next time I promise I
will update sooner (with photos hopefully, with the help of the internet gods). Miss you all!
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