Random tangents and Animals

Okay, so I am at the internet cafe for the second day in a row! WOah! Computer? Two days in a row? Unthinkable? But I came yesterday and wasn't able to finsih doing everything that I wanted to because it took For-ev-er to upload those few pictures, so I came back today with the second half of the group who hadn't gone yesterday. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the pictures! I have a zillion more but like I said, it takes way to long to post more than a few.

As for Africa...um...well...I STILL LOVE IT OF COURSE!!!

It's getting hard for me to think of what everyone knows and doesn't know about me being here and I feel like I've talked about so much stuff, but at the same time, there are probably a million things that I just go through everday without realizing that its a million times different than home because I am honestly just used to it by now.

Luckily Tay asked me a bunch of questions and it gave me some ideas for things I can add info about:
Animals-- I haven't seen anything crazy. No lions or tigers or bears...OH MY! But everyday I see at least
-100 lizards, of various shapes, sizes and colors;
-frogs;
-1 snake;
-funky bugs;
-centipedes
-millipedes (they literally have like at least a thousand legs! They are about 6-8 inches in length!)
-goats, everywhere;
-dogs, to be honest they kinda scare me here because I don't think people are nice to them and so they don't seem very friendly, nor do I have a desire to find out if they are lacking in disease or not;
-1 cat;
-chickens, everrrywhere;
-roosters, I hear them cock-a-doodle doo all morning plus I hear them while Im teaching in school too. (I always pictured it happened only once or twice in the morning like the cartoons...wrong!)
-Snails, HUGE snails!
-1 monkey, funny because I was just chillen in class, when suddenly a student came in and asked me if I knew what a monkey was. I of course said I did and they asked if we have them in America...haha(they always want to know whether the things they have here are also in America) and I responded that we do, but you don't see many. They told me there is one outside if you wanna see! I was taken aback at first and thought they were yankin my chain or I misunderstood or something, but I understood just fine because I walked out the classroom door and sure enough there was a big baboon thing chillen in the school yard between the JSS and the Primary school. It just ran around until it climbed into a tree and this man just grabbed it out!! Seriously, he just snagged the monkey by the hair on its back and started walkin away with it! The monkey didn't even fight back! It was crazy! Don't worry, I have it all documented on film/pictures because I always have my camera on me.

Oh, and while I am on the topic of my camera, I guess I could mention the fact that it got destroyed... So, I was in class on a Friday or Saturday afternoon because I wasn't teaching, we were all just playing, and I was taking pictures. I was actually filming and the students were signing stories to me while I recorded, but there was one primary kid along with all my JSS students and they ALL want to be in the video. But the younger primary kid noticed when I moved my camera from his story to one of my taller students so he jumped up and swatted my camera. I think he only intended to get it to point back down at him instead of up at another kid, but he jumped and swatted hit so hard that it flew out of my hands and smashed into the ground...yeah...not very fun. But no worries!! The students were so sweet about it afterwards, it was precious. All my older students were apologizing profusely even though it was not their fault...nor was it really anyones fault, except my own for not having the strap on my wrist. And they were trying to tell me that perhaps there is a place in Accra or somewhere I could get it fixed. But I realized that that probably is not a very logistical option for me.
Anywhoo, long story short the camera would turn on but the screen was black and said lens error and the lens would not close.
BUT!! Then! A miracle happened because I have a loving Heavenly Father (who knows how important pictures are to me, especially when I am in a place as cool as Africa) and no my camera lens not only closes, but it half way opens too! haha. AND! If I yank on the lens when it is opening then, it usually opens the rest of the way up and works just fine!! So really, in the end it all worked out just fine, because with a smidge of effort it works well, the only real loss was that now my zoom will never work again. So thank you thank you for your prayers because my one dilemma so far was not even close to horrible!

Also, my sweet dancing skills are totally paying off! haha. Just kidding, I know Im not the sweetest dancer, but I think the kids have zero expectations for the white people to have any ability to dance whatsoever, so my few moves are incredible to them! :) yay.
They are ALWAYS dancing! You might be surprised because they have no music, nor could they hear music if they wanted to, but you have to understand that they have this internal rhythm inside them, and many of them are truly amazing dancers! So I showed them what I got, or would copy whatever moves they do, and everytime I do they always FREAK OUT! haha. Its so funny because they are so shocked they are always signing (very explosively signing I might add) "YOURE SWEET!" "Where did you learn to dance?!" "You are SO GREAT!" WOAHHHH! haha. Its funny and im not gonna lie, it gives me a little internal boost everytime :)

And once again, time is up! So until next time...Love love you all!

Pictures!

Anyone want some ice cream!? I dont think I have mentioned about
the amount of stuff people carry on their heads. Mostly it is women but I have seen tons of people with anything you can imagine on their head. Also, my favorite is to see a woman with something big on her head, plus a baby tied to her back. I think of American moms who always say, "I wish I had more hands!" and now I think, well, you could have two more if you strapped the baby to your back and put whatever else on your head! haha.

Getting water from the well!




Yay! I finally got the pictures to work. Sorry I dont know how to turn it but I will take what I can get.
<--This is Sylvia!

Fun times in AFRICA!

HELLLLOOOOO Everybody!

This week has FLOWN by! And I have had so much fun, so many learning opportunites, etc. etc. To everyone who is worried about me missing some details- firstly, I tried to make a note in my journal every time something happened which I thought worthy of the blog, and secondly, I have kept THE best journal ever. I seriously and known in the house for how much I write. I have already finished one whole notebook and am on a second-I write SO MUCH!

Okay, so this may be completely unorganized but keep in mind this is just me trying to retell random notes I jotted down so bear with me.

Notes about Ghanaian culture and people:
-They are ALWAYS late. Seriously, we went to a wedding that was supposed to start at 9 and it started close to 1. Also, people in general are just real chill and relaxed and they dont worry about time too much. Today, there was a cultural dance performance and while I was doing night school last night everyone said nine. So I woke up this morning and told everyone that is what they said, so plan on like 11. Of course I still showed up at nine because that is my nature and culture, but sure enough I was right on the ball and it started at 11.
-Kneeling. In class, when I am working with a student one on one, out of habit, I normally kneel next to their desk because it makes me at eye level rather than talking (signing) down to them, and I can see them easier and what not, but for some reason every time I have kneeled down to see them and talk while I am trying to explain a concept or whatever they would tell me not to kneel and move over in their chair so I can sit next to them. Finally one day I asked why and they said kneeling is usually used for punishment, and it all made sense. It is really sweet though that they always make me sit on the chair with them and always move over for me because they want to be comfortable and equal or whatever.
-Rain! Holy moly. I think everyone knows how much I love the rain! Ghana is fantastic for me. It rains BUCKETS let me tell you. I have tried to like video it and what not but it just doesnt do justice. The rain is much better than my shower from a cup. It rains so hard it usually wakes me up at night...and I usually run out and play in it :)
The only problem is that with the rain comes these crazy BUGS! They have four wings and are EVERYWHERE! But then the weird thing is that thier wings fall off and then they crawl around. One night after a big storm there were TONS! yuucky.
The other problem is that today I had my clothes on the line because I washed yesterday and I was at the school and it started raining so I literally sprinted home to move them haha. It was funny...

Note about school:
I flippin' love it! My students are absolutely PHENOMENAL. Holy moly! They seriously have such a strong and sincere desire to learn! They are always wanting to have a lesson or work on math and english even when they dont have to.

Sylvia:
We literally are like BFFE's now haha. She is still incredible. Ever since I met her I have yet to come to school or be hangin out at night for very long before one of the other kids comes up to me and tells me that she is asking for me. (I think she likes me :)) YAY. haha. Also, today was the second time I interpreted for her.
I went to church at the primary/JSS school on Sunday and she asked me to interpret for her. Because even though the whole service is in sign, she cant see it so I gotta help. It was really awesome, I was so happy to help, and it was nice to feel useful and needed too. Also, a note as to church on Sunday. I also got my first legit regular interpreting experience as well. The teacher in charge signs but the preacher does not. The teacher asked me to interpret for him so I went up to the front and interpreted his sermon for all the kids. It was SAWEEET! haha. I dont know why but I wasnt even really nervous...probs because I know how loving and non judgemental they are so I knew they would be okay if I messed up a little or something but I actually think I did well...At least that is what Catherine told me afterwards. She told me she understood everything perfectly and all the kids were paying really close attention so that means they were understanding as well. I was very relieved and excited to know I did a good job.

Oh. And today was the opening of this vocational hair school at our deaf school. It was really really cool actually because the little building is wicked nice and it was donated or supported or something by Loreal and this whole big group of people came to the school to officially "give it" and it was awesome because the kids did a cultural dance performance for them and they had a big assembly then the group gave all the kids free t-shirts and free lunch and they were so PUMPED haha. It was a wicked fun day- because it was a big party all day and because there was no school and everyone was dancing and happy and eating! haha.

Ah well, its that time again. I tried to upload pictures but it wouldnt work...maybe I'll have better luck next time...I hope I am making some kind of sense and everyone is enjoyin the blog.

Love you all!! Thanks for writing me back too, its fun to hear from everyone!!

Week Two

Okay okayyyy! Hey hey everybody!!
Im still here and still loving it!

Im hoping to make a little bit more sense this time than I did last time, but once again im stuck with much to say and only a few minutes on the computer.

A few random facts I forgot to throw in last time:
-The driving here is REDICULOUS! The streets are TINY and there are no sidewalks and the cars are always honking to let people know they're around so people can get out of the road. Its crazy. And funny story...so just now when we were coming to the internet cafe, Lyndsey was gonna put her seatbelt on and the taxi driver said "no, no, dont use the seatbelt, it will "dirtify" your dress" haha. I think its ironic that the driving here is so crazy and I never get to wear a seatbelt. Most times the cars dont even have them. Hopefully I have some angels lookin out for me or I'm a gonner!
-The food is way greasier than you would expect. Its not like Mickey D's greasy, but its greasy. I think they purposely try to make it greasier so people have more fat on em or something, I dont even know. lol.
-No running water is still fine and all, but I decided there is one thing I really don't like about it: doing dishes! It sucks haha. Imagine yucky sponges and greasy plates in one bowl of water that you have to use for all the dishes. There is no way they are legit clean, but I try not to think about it the next day when Im eating again.
-The Obruni thing never gets old! haha. Just now, walking down the street it is still funny because all the little kids want to wave, and even though some adults only speak in Twi, you still know they're talking about you because you hear them say Obruni a bunch in the conversation.

But for now, I think I'll just tell a story and be done...obv, MUCH more has happened, but hopefully I will get to talk to people when im home and whatev and can fill in on more details then...for now...Sylvia.

I was hanging out one night in the mess hall with all the kids. It was Friday night and they had a movie in because that's there "fun" for the weekend. It didnt seem very fun because there were no subtitles and they are all deaf, but they were still diggin' it I guess. Well, Im hanging out and I look to the door and notice a girl with a stick indicating she is blind. There was no one around her, so I decided to walk over and meet her, perhaps see if she needed help or something. I walk over to her and a little boy signs to me "blind" and since she was at the school I assumed she was deaf as well. I touched her arm to indicate my presence and she immidiately was a little happier as she started signing. "Your name" She put her hands in mine and she felt my movements as I signed back, "my name Suzy" and told her my sign name as well. We had a very nice chat and I couldn't help but fight back tears as I looked into her blank eyes, moving my hands in hers and realizing what I was experiencing for that moment. She can neither see nor hear, yet she can communicate. And she is smart too!! I lead her into the room with the rest of the kids and I spend most of the night with my hand on her knee incase she wanted to talk... At one point she started asking me about Ghanaian food I had tried and then tried to explain some kind of American food. She signed "chocolate" and "mix" and somehow thought I understood and spelled into her hand: "T-R-A-I-L-M-I-X" as i finished her face LIT UP! She was smiling and was so excited I knew what she was talking about. She told me a volunteer from a year or two ago had let her try some and she LOVES it. I told her I have some at the house and I would bring it to her. She was So thrilled! Haha. It makes me laugh just thinkin about how pumped she was for it. Anywhoo, Sunday night I visited again and brought her a big bag of trailmix. She was so excited!! She thanked me profusely and signed "god bless you! I love you!" haha. oh man she's cute. Well, needless to say I think she likes me now because everyday that I am at school I have one of the little kids run up to me and let me know that sylvia is asking for me. I love her, and every time I interact with her I feel of her innocent spirit and my love and respect for her grows everyday.

Ghana!!

Holy Moly! So much to say and so little time! One Cedi for one hour on the computer. He might have ripped us off but I was so desperate I took what I could get. First of all, I love my life!
But getting on the internet is way more challenging than expected because the cyber cafe in Mampong, where I live, is shut down, so we have to take a taxi to Akrapong. But! the first two times we took that taxi ride, the cyber cafe decided not to be open. (They don't really stick to times and schedules much here). So, needless to say I was pumped to finally get an opportunity to write.

First-
Plane ride was fine. It was only 9.5 hours in the air but we sat on the runway for two hours in JFK before takeoff. Upon arrival, the door to the plane opened and OH MY OH MY the heat and humidity was crazy. I think Im used to it now. Im just always hot and wet. haha. But at least Im always happy too!

Second-
Our house is pretty nice. I was happy to know that I have a read toilet to sit my little bum bum on, however, without running water I have to make sure I have some water from the well to dump in and some baby wipes for the lack of faucet. Also, the whole "bucket" shower business I got goin on is kind of awesome. :) Really, I use much less water than my mother would expect. Only about half a bucket. I just dunk my head in and then use a cup to rinse after soapin up. Theres no better feel the pourin a cup of water on your head after sweatin you brains out all day. OH boy! I love it I love it!!! Also, more often than not, we have no electricity. Its not so bad, except for the fact that we all use a visual language and it is kinda hard to sign in the dark. It takes a lot of focus. Oh. PS, one of the volunteers named Charity is deaf, she and Lyndsey are my roommates so were all always using sign language. Even if we voice at the same time, we still sign.
Its also hard because some of the High school students visit us at night and its hard to communicate in the dark but we all whip out our flashlights and make do. (Thanks for thinking of that Jimmy!!)

Oh! Also, it gets dark here SO EARLY. Seriously, it starts to get dimmer by like 4 and at 6 its completely dark!
-Good in the sense of temperature reduction
-Bad in the sense of darkness w.o electricity.

Third
The food is great! I think I can keep my title as the "least picky eater in the world" because I am so pumped to try anything new and so far even the crazy wierd Ghanaian food has been super!

Fourth
My guns are gonna be BIG when I come back because we always have to get water from the well outside. And it is a legit well, not a pump. You have a bucket on a string and thats it. I wish I could upload pictures but the computers here are wicked old school. sorry.

Fifth
On Sunday we went to the Deaf Church that the students run, because we didn't know were in Accra to go and find the LDS church. But I think we will try and go there this Sunday. But going to the church at the school is incredible to say the least. They ALL where ALL white! Its like their "Sunday dress" They don't have much, but they keep their whites nice and clean to wear on Sunday. The church is in the mess hall of the school and its completely run by the students. They are awesome. Even though I didn't necessarily agree with everrrryything, I could still feel how love these people are by their Father in Heaven. They have such a strong desire to do whats right, and they have such an innocence in their eyes it is truly beautiful to see.

Sixth
Monday was our first day at the schools. I am working at the JSS, which is the Junior high, but the primary school is right there with it. It is SO AWESOME!! The kids all run to you and hug you and you are just getting pulled in a million different directions because they all want to see you and know your name and tell you their name. Oh wow, its hard to describe. They always look at our nails and hair and skin and birthmarks; they want to see in your mouth and under your nails. Its funny because we are just SO different to them. But at the same time I think they really want to find things about us that are the same as them. I think that they look under our nails because both we and they have white under there and its like they finally found a similarity. haha. The JSS kids are wonderful. On our very first day we said we would just observe but there were teachers missing and so Shea and I just kinda hopped in!
We played name games first to get ot know each other and then we taught them an English lesson. I was a little nervous at first, but I just kinda got an idea and ran with it. We talked about verbs first. Then we talked about endings like: I will play, versus I am playing, versus I played. So I had them stand up and dance. I say "you will dance" then have them start: "You are now dancing" then stop: "you danced" Its kinda hard to explain plus you have to picture this all happening with a class of deaf students and everyone is signing but its phenomenal either way. I love it I love it I love it. I still can't say it enough.

Also, Seventh
Everyone who sees us walking around says "OBRUNI" "OBRUNI!" (it means white person in Twi) They are always happy to see us and we learned a little Twi and they get excited when we use it, but many people know English as well. Its so wierd, its like we are celebrities or something because people want pictures, or they just wave and smile, children all run and jump and they say "momma, look OBRUNI!!!" haha. Its awesome.

Oh! AND the sign language is not ASL like I thought. Although it is very similar and we do well understanding each other, there is a legit other language known as GSL, Ghanaian Sign Language and I am trying my best to learn the differences because it makes teaching easier.
Ok, AH, my Cedi is running out and I gotta go!


All in all, I can sum it up by saying:
My hands have never been dirtier,
My hair has never been messier,
My face has never been sweatier,
But I have never been happier!!!!

Africa is AH-MAZ-ING!!!
MUCH LOVE FROM GHANA!!

NY, CONN, JFK...GHANA

Im in Connecticut at the moment.  Another stop of the way is done...YAY!  I am with my friend Lyndsey who is going to Ghana with me.  I am pumped to be here tonight because even though it means I had to say goodbye to the fam one day early, it also means tomorrow will probs be less stressful because JFK is much closer from here.  PLUS, now I have a friend to freak out with.  Not like a bad freak out, just a "Holy Moly, Great Excitement Batman!" type of freak out because it is the night before we leave.  Anywhoo, Im just rambling again because I'm still wishing I had something legitimate to write.  Ah well, just felt like giving an update because my last stop is JFK tomorrow and then I finally arrive at the final destination, which particular destination I have been waiting to arrive at ever since OCTOBER when I found out I was going.  That's 7 months of knowing I'm going, waiting to go, wanting to go...etc.  Can we say "Anticipation?"

ONE day 'til I board a plane to Ghana

Malaria and Strawberry Poptarts

I have never been so excited to take medication! Well, to be honest I'm kind of excited and a little bit nervous. Today I had to start taking doxycycline, the malaria medication; and on the one hand I'm a little nervous because I don't want it to make me nauseous or loopy, but on the other hand I am wicked pumped because this means it is only ONE WEEK until I am in Africa! AH! SO PUMPED! :)
I just don't exactly know what to expect because I have never really taken medication, especially for a long period of time, so hopefully it's all good.

Well, not much exciting yet because I am still in New York...but I have gotten most of my packing done! I have a lot of food in my suitcase now.
This is what I will be eating for lunch for two months:

• powerbars
• balance bars
• chewy bars
• rice krispies treats
• wheat thins
• tuna
• peanut butter
• strawberry poptarts

I don't even like strawberry poptarts very much, but I bought them because Camden and I had some secret plans for them; then I realized that I still had the space and the weight capacity to put them in my suitcase, so I did. Maybe they will grow on me. But more likely, I am expecting to get desperate enough to love them.

7 Days 'til I board a plane to Ghana!