A List

Throughout the last week, several IVs have been preparing to leave. Today, many have left camp for the last time, headed into Accra and will be on flights tonight heading home. Watching other people leave makes me wonder about how I will feel about leaving camp.

I believe I will miss the following things about living on camp when I leave in December (I'll have to come back and have a look at this list to see if I predicted correctly.):

Little kids running up to give me a bear hug while shouting, "Obruni!"

Listening to music all of the time. Everywhere you go on camp, even on a Sunday, you can hear the music. Hip-Hop, Celine Dion, Ghanian music and the like. I've heard the Back Street Boys and today I heard All-4-One. Gospel music abounds as well.

Hand in hand with the music: I will miss the dancing and the freedom to dance. People dance wherever they please. It is hard not to dance when music is filling the air. The teenie-tiny children even dance and dance well.

Greeting and being greeted by tons of people when walking down the street. People really acknowledge other people here. It is sort of the way I feel when I go to visit Grandma. Once you turn off of I-90 at Sprague, pretty much every single person will wave back at you if you lift a finger in salute. I love it. Similarly, people on camp tend to greet each other warmly.

The oranges. Anytime, any day I can walk out of my house and find an orange for 500 cedis. They peel off the outermost skin of the orange and cut off the very top. Then you drink the juice out of the fruit. The freshest squeezed orange juice ever. When you're done, just pop the orange carcass into the CBW bin nearest you...end of story. But what a beautiful story it is.

Living in a culture where it is acceptable, even desirable for a woman to have curves.

Excitment over a sport that I actually like, football. We are talking serious fans. Also, playing football with the kids and the people from CBW.

Church services with feeling!

Fried plantain and beans. The most comforting, delicious food in the world. I must make it for Joshua and friends when I return.

Interacting on a daily basis with people who have a very different story than my own. The open nature with which people are willing to share their story.

Press Club. Working with the children who will be the next wave of educated, interested Liberians. Yesterday, one press club-er showed up with an independent story in hand. She found the story and worked on a whole paragraph, on her own, and brought it in. That was a very rewarding and exciting moment!

The other IVs.

The list could go on, actually, but I am going to stop for now.

Good Day to All! I hope to post again soon.

Happy Halloween!

A quick post:

Halloween Party was great fun. Chris went as Harry Potter himself. We also had a bumblebee, a cat, a turtle, a greek goddess, a character from the TV show "Prison Break", Betty, Wilma and George W. Bush.

Yesterday, Tori let me sit in on choir auditions at the primary school. That was a wonderful experience.

Drew is coming to the camp today. It will be the last time that I see him before he leaves Ghana.
So many people are leaving today, it is weird. The new people will get here late tonight...our new housemate Simon will be arriving!

I've got to run so that I get to HIV/AIDS outreach in time.

Update

This past week was a strange one. We got back from Accra on Sunday evening and found out that there would be no work on Monday due to the end of Ramadan. Then on Tuesday, we found out that there would be no work because of UN Day. So Monday and Tuesday were very different from normal. It is easy to go stir crazy if you have too much time on camp without working.

Wednesday was back on track, Thursday and Friday were so hot that it was hard to do much of anything. Everyone slows down when it gets really hot. Turns out November and December are some of the hottest months of the year here. Good planning Bree, good planning.

Wednesday night, our whole house went to God's Time Photo Studio and had our picture taken. One of them turned out really, really well. Everyone in the house will get a copy and we are giving one to the international volunteer coordinator as well.

Thursday night, Drew and I prepared an Indian dinner for our house. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. Chick peas, carrots, tomatoes, an amazing curry sauce (that was Drew's doing - I can't cook curry worth anything), potato samosas (bought frozen), rice and steamed naan bread with a choice of red or white wine. Tasty!

Thursday's football (soccer) match was one of the activities that I have enjoyed the most since coming here. I played on the Central Office Team. We played against the CBW Teachers. They wore red uniforms and we wore blue. It is really rare here for women to play football. The girls play kickball and the boys play football. The young girls get really excited to see a woman playing football and it was really cool to be doing something that was empowering for the girls. We played with the men and held our own.

I got really involved with talking to the team coach, he made me assistant coach for the second half of the game. The game ended in a tie with a questionable penalty kick made in our favor. Everyone had so much fun that CBW has made it a permanent fixture at the end of each month before the leaving ceremony. A ton of kids turned out to watch their teachers play and when the red team scored a goal, a huge mob of kids would rush the field cheering. It was amazing. The CBW motto is: Let the children play. On Thursday, more than ever, I could see how that is such a positive influence in the lives of these kids. So many of them are orphaned or have been through transient, unstable living situations. It was great to see them excited without any strings attached. Nobody was trying to get or give anything, no one was hurt or scared, everybody just had an amazing time.

I got one little boy named Eric to cheer for our team. I would shout and then he would copy me. We have a cheer, it goes like this:

Me: "Go Blue!"
Eric: "Go Blue!"
Me: "Huh!" (guttural sound, possibly made while flexing your abs during martial arts)
Eric: "Huh!"

I'm going to see if I can't work my way into the coaching position by the end of the month. I've actually just started telling people that I'm the coach. It is all in fun of course. Everyone teases everyone else about who will win.

The leaving ceremony was amazing for awhile and then hard for the rest of the time. I don't feel that this leaving ceremony was that representative of how the rest will go. I will wait until next month to give a proper run down.

This weekend, Friday and Saturday anyway, all the IVs (minus Drew) stayed on camp for the wedding of a CBW employee. It was absolutely incredible. I am so glad I was able to attend! The wedding took place in traditional african dress. The bridal party dances down the aisle and the people attending the wedding dance as well. The women of the church get into a conga line and dance around and we joined in! Again, the joy was contagious. It was great to see so many people turn out to support this couple and wish them well. I do love the communal feeling in the camp. People keep an eye out for one another and share their joys and woes. Five international volunteers took part in the ceremony. When it came time for the toasts at the reception, the man representing the groom's family talked about house this wedding was black and white. People brought together, united, rather that divided. All of the IVs that participated were looked just as much a part of the group as anyone else. It was very cool.

That is a run down from the week...

Today, I am going to head to a nearby beach for some fish fillet and possibly ice cream. Tonight is the halloween party at the PECO house ( a NGO that works on camp, but is housed the next village over). I'm going as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. All I have to do is wear my glasses, hold a newspaper upside down, act a little out of it and make false assertions all night.

The Beach Comber

I have just returned from my weekend in Accra. Five of us, Chris, Drew, Hannah, Rachel and I went to stay at the Beach Comber, a hotel located just outside Ghana's capital city. We rented an apartment, which worked out to be about $9/night/person. There were four beds and a couch.

We took off mid-day Friday and got to the hotel around 3:30 or so. Drew arrived seperately after having taking care of some important business in the city. For dinner, we walked the two minute distance to the New Coco Beach Resort which is lovely, but way over our budget for overnight lodging. Dinner was great though. We sat at an outdoor table overlooking the ocean. Stunning. The three of us girls had heard good reviews about the New Coco Beach Resort pizza and indulged accordingly. It was good, but I still miss Dominos! Chris had steak and Drew enjoyed some kind of chicken pasta, I think.

After dinner, we all pretty much crashed. Friday nights are pretty much used for catching up on sleep around here. The apartment had running water and working fans (for the first night anyway) which was great. The fans, in combination with being next to the ocean, is a welcome repreve from the baking heat of the camp.

Saturday morning was laid back. Hannah, Rachel and I ventured (for the first time) on our own into the city. We went to a place called the Cultural Center, which is really a market filled with Africal crafts, fabric and trinkets. I purchased a braclet (supposedly made out of cow horn), a wrap skirt and a silver necklace. The marketplace was pretty intense but very doable. People are very aggressive in trying to hock their wares. It was a lot like China in this respect. The only time I got uncomfortable was when a man pushed my sholder to keep me from returning the item I was looking at to his display table. (If I kept it in my hand it meant that I would like to buy the item or at least it would be more likely that I would end up buying the item.) I told him very firmly not to push me and that I didn't like that at all. He stopped immediately and even got a bit of a sheepish grin on his face. I didn't buy the item.

After the Cultural Center, we headed to the internet cafe, which is where I posted the last two entries. After internet it was on to the Sunshine Salad Bar, a restaurant of renoun among the IVs. Now we know why. Amazing selection and good safe food including meat and leafy greens. We met up with another group of IVs from the camp at the restaurant, which was nice.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel and met up with Chris. Hannah and I went swimming and got seriously bothered by a couple of guys in the pool. Even though they were annoying, their behavior was so ridiculous that I was laughing the entire time. We finished up with dinner a cheaper restaurant across from New Coco and had a classic Ghanian restaurant experience. The place had one menu and most of the items on the menu were not available. Our orders were taken twice and the second time I was told that the item I ordered was not available after all. No big deal though, we are in Africa which means we are easy going. Even though the customer service leaves something to be desired, I do love the laid back attitude that pervades Ghana and the camp.

Saturday night, Drew, Hannah and I headed out to paint the town red. We started at about 9pm and didn't get back home until 6am! We spent some time in an Irish Pub in Africa drinking Tequila, visited a posh bar with suede lounge chairs, hit a bar called Hemigway's which doubled as a electronic casino (no gambling for us though) and then went dancing at two different night clubs. I had a great time. Hannah and Drew are great fun and we made it back in one piece. Even through lack of sleep today has been fine.

It sounds as though the entire CBW organization will be off work tomorrow in honor of the end of Ramadan.

Upcoming: Drew and I cook an Indian dinner for GH#1, GH#1 gets a "family" portrait at God's Time Photo Studio, Thursday's football match and my first leaving ceremony, Drew's last weekend in Ghana and the CBW wedding event of the year!

Schedule

Monday:
7 am - Empty Bins w/Chris
9 am - Meet HIV/AIDS team for teaching in a local school
11 am - Press Club
2 pm - Reading Tutoring
3:10 pm - Labeling books in the Library
7 pm - Info Share meeting

Tuesday:
7 am - Empty Bins w/Chris
9 am - HIV/AIDS Outreach
12 pm - Afternoon to do research for science projects and grants, help Administrative assistant with any excess tasks, make science posters and prep for upcoming Press Club, Debate Team, HIV/AIDS and Tutoring.

Wednesday:
7 am - Empty Bins w/Chris
9 am - HIV/AIDS Outreach
2 pm - Reading Tutoring
3:10 pm - Labeling Books in the Library

Thursday:
7 am - Empty Bins w/Chris
9 am - HIV/AIDS Outreach
12:15 pm - Teaching for HIV/AIDS at local school
1 pm - Afternoon to do research for science projects and grants, help Administrative assistant with any excess tasks, make science posters and prep for upcoming Press Club, Debate Team, HIV/AIDS and Tutoring.

Friday:
7 am - Empty Bins w/Chris
9 am - HIV/AIDS Meeting

This schedule is not complete in that it doesn't reflect the gaps throughout the day or the time spent planning for upcoming events/workshops or curriculum in the evenings. I do have more free time than I was expecting, but it can be really nice because you can pick up odd jobs here and there. Variety is the spice of life so I'm keeping it spicy! Also, down time can be essential to sanity.

Rain: Part 2

And now, the rest of the story.

Rewind to last weekend. Xofa Eco Village was a bit of a trek. We went to Accra, fought our way across the city and found a spot on a trou-trou. The second trou-trou dropped us off at Boso. A small, small town 5km from Xofa. We hiked the 5k into Xofa, which was stunning. I have pictures and I will post them when I get a chance. I got to see a bird that had a beak like a Tucan, but shorter, crazy ants and an African scorpion. Marsha, I got a photo of a butterfly for you and can't wait for you to see it! I'm talking real tropical forest. Incredible. Literally three minutes after our arrival a huge storm came in. Eco village means extremely one with nature. A combination of eco village and rain means massive amounts of bugs in the cement and stone huts. Massive amounts.

May I just say that I am pro-nature. I am for the existence of wildlife. I want to help preserve the environment so that our ecosystem with all of its food chains and oxygen production can continue. I like animals, I like people and I love beautiful places. I just don't want to be smack dab in the middle of it. No millipedes in my bedroom or spiders dropping on the dinner table. Scorpions are fine, but may they stay far away from me. When we got to the village they had three beers in stock. That was rough for our group. A few of the normal staff members were dealing with a death in the family so a couple of the activities we were interested in doing on Saturday weren't available. The food was good, but took forever to prepare. Given the insects, lack of mosquito netting, shortage of beverages and lack of activities, we decided to take off.

We decided head for a nice hotel in the city of Ho, about 30km from Boso. We had to hike out of the Eco Village to get to Asikuma, a mid-size transportation station, where we could catch a trou-trou to Ho. Let me just say, in case you didn't already figure it out, I am not a hiker. No sir. This hike was extremely rigorous (esp. for the likes of me), but it was amazing. We were walking through the bush, through soggy wetlands, at one point even removed our shoes to walk through shin deep standing water. The bush opened up into a clearing and we found ourselves standing in the middle of a remote African village. Mud huts and the whole thing. It was absolutely amazing! We walked through the village and hit the hill. The hill was steep and came at the very end of our trek. The pathway up the hill was an old road, now reduced to a walkway of broken pavement, completely covered by a canopy of leaves. It was so beautiful. So beautiful that it almost distracted me from the physical pain I was having. I was breathing hard, dragging myself up the walkway. At the end, I was drenched in sweat. We all smelled gross and felt gross but it was wonderful. I will never forget that hike. I am so glad that I went.

When we got to Ho, we booked three rooms in the Freedom Hotel. The suite had, get this, hot water! The other two rooms were cheaper and shared a toilet with the whole floor. We each took a turn showering in the suite and spent a relaxing evening eating, drinking, chatting and eventually watching Love Actually on the television in the suite. TV! The hotel had a pool as well, which we enjoyed on Sunday.

Hannah got sick on the way home. May I just say that a 3 hour trou-trou ride is not the best when one is feeling sick. Poor thing. She handled herself like a champ though and we managed to get home in one piece. At one point, the trou-trou was made to stop at an immigration check point. All six of us were in the back of the crowded trou-trou and the immigration officers ordered the white people, (just us six) off the bus. Annie, the experienced traveler in our midst, suggested that we get off only two at a time. She and I were sharing a seat so I got up with her. Annie is extremely strong both in mind and spirit, but she is really small physically. In this country, I am huge. Tall and with some weight to boot. Malnutrition doesn't lend itself to growth and I am bigger than many of the people here, men included. So I figured Annie and I would make a good team if the guards wanted a bribe, which is the general consensus. She could make the agreement and I could lend some physical presence. None of us had our passports, so there wasn't much they could have done anyway. Annie and I had climbed our way down to the middle of the bus when the officers changed their minds and let the trou-trou pass. There were a couple more police stops along the way, but they were no big deal, the trou-trou driver and caller handled the situation.

On our way into Accra, I saw a mob of people on the side of the road. I asked Annie what was going on and she told me not to look. I kept asking what was going on and looking. She told me a couple more times not to look and then she told me that a man was being stoned on the side of the road. In Accra, if your bag is stolen, you shouldn't yell "thief!" because the person who stole your bag could get stoned to death by a mob. Annie has seen this before, in other parts of Africa. That was a very strange, almost surreal, upsetting experience. But what can I do? Turn around and not look. That's the best I've got for now. When Annie says "Don't look", don't look.

Last week, Annie and I started the tradition of going out for a drink on Sunday night, since it can be a bit difficult to come back to camp. This Sunday, Drew, Annie and I went to AB's bar. It is by far my favorite bar location on camp. It is away from the main road, it is really close to Guest House #1 and they play good music. Even better than Sunday night was Monday night. All of GH#1, plus the guys from GH#2 and some local volunteers turned out. I had my first experience dancing in Africa! I had such a great time. I'm not as good a dancer as the people that I've seen dance on camp. But I can hold my own, which is a cool discovery. I love to dance and find it to be an excellent outlet, especially when I am stressed out. Monday was a hard day, so dancing was the perfect remedy.

Monday was hard because of a few different reasons:
1) It was my first time teaching in a school where they allow corporal punishment. Hearing a kid crying and screaming because they are being switched is not good for my heart or mind. I don't think it is good for the kid either.
2) I've been having to deal with some unexpected obstacles, which I will not disclose at the moment.
3) The teacher I've been working with suggested that rather than creating the science posters myself, I should just give him the poster paper I bought and he would get his artist friend to make them.

Anyway, last Monday day = hard, last Monday night = awesome.

Yesterday, (Thursday) I had a really weird experience. I decided, (rather bravely) to go to the primary school even though it was raining really, really hard. I love it, as I indicated before and was quite enjoying my trek until I discovered that I wouldn't be able to make it to the school.

The way was flooded, so I didn't want to risk walking through mid-shin to knee deep water. The bathroom situation on camp is strained so the flood water is decidedly dodgy. Urine and people/chicken/duck/cat/dog poo, food, garbage and any number of other gross things are in the flood water. I was going to head back to Guest House #2 when I came across an area of the camp that was flooding. People's houses were filling with water, maybe about a foot? (I'm bad with measurements, it could easily have been less than a foot! Enough water to make furniture float, but a bit more than necessary). Anyway a lady was wailing and people were trying to help her empty out her house. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out if I could help without intruding in an unwelcome way. (This was a silly concern, people are generally very community oriented, but it is so strange to be so obviously an outsider that it does make me take extra care with my public actions). It was really, really strange.

I saw a lady struggling to lift a water logged mattress out of the house so I helped her. I was walking around in shin deep flood water, in sandles, momentarily worried about the cuts on my feet and the gaping wound on my knee. Hopefully, I won't have gotten jiggers, but what are you going to do? You help. I was helping to bail water out of two front porches and grabbing a sack of garbage to stack along the porch to help slow the water coming in. After everything died down a bit, this lady (the one who had been wailing) looked at me and said, "You see. Do you see how we African refugees suffer? We are suffering." I said, "Yes." She nodded her head.

My adrenaline was pumping during this experience. I wasn't sure how to leave after the rain had died down and there wasn't anything left to do. I ended up introducing myself to a man standing near me and asking his name. I asked what zone of the camp I was in (Zone 8), shook his hand, told him that I was with CBW. He said that I would be able empathize with their situation, said I was welcome there anytime and thanks for helping out. I said to all of the people standing around that I was so sorry. Then I left.

When I got back to the guest houses, I was basically in that weird shocky state the comes on after your adrenaline has been pumping. No one that I tried to talk to really seemed to understand why the experience had been so shocking and emotional. I so missed Joshua because he knows me well enough that I don't have to explain myself perfectly for him to understand why I would get upset at something like this and that my being upset was perfectly legitimate.

Rain

Last night it rained in a way that I have not seen. I went outside because I could not help myself. I was completely soaked in a few seconds. Most people stayed under cover or indoors, but there were some little kids running around. It felt amazing. When I went back to the house I convinced two of my housemates to come out and play in the lovely weather. It was so refreshing to feel a bit chilly.

When I was a little girl and I was staying at my Dad's house in August, sometimes it would rain. Laura would tell me to run and get my swimsuit on and she and I would stand outside in the wet. When I went to Western the first time it rained I changed clothes, grabbed a friend and went to play in the rain. In Rochester, I had an amazing walk home from work last summer in the middle of a storm, laughing to myself. So now...I've played in the rain in Africa.

I'm leaving tomorrow for the weekend. It looks like it will be about six of us in our group this time. Much more manageable than 16. We are going to check out a wildlife monkey sanctuary near Ho. I think it is on the southern tip of Lake Volta for those of you who are interested. We are going to stay at Xofa, an eco lodge. www.xofa.org

For now I must go. More when I get back from my weekend off camp.

Giving Thanks &

The electricity (or current) has been really consistent lately. I know I am jinxing everything. I will surely be reading by candlelight tonight as a result of this comment. It feels so good to sit underneath the fan at the internet cafe. The heat of the African sun is amazing.

I would like to thank my friend Marsha for her donations to the camp. She sent me to Africa with a suitcase full of educational supplies for the school about which people are very, very excited. The other IVs have and will be able to utilize these workbooks and flashcards for a long time to come. Also, thanks to Planned Parenthood (and Marsha for delivery), I was able to donate some supplies to the HIV/AIDS team for distribution during outreach. They are a big hit. I have also come to understand that Marsha has gone out of her way to check in with Joshua and make sure everything is fine. Marsha, I've been seeing so many butterflies and I always think of the conservatory!

Another friend, Judy, gave me a fan that her partner's sister made. It looks like a Chinese fan, except that it is made out of Tyvek and this really heavy duty plastic so that it is extremely durable. It has come in handy so many times I can hardly count.

Absolutely everyone who has been sending kind e-mails, comments or kind thoughts my way. They are all appreciated. I know that I've said it before, but I will continue to say it anyway, "Thank you!"

I have been lucky enough to be placed in volunteer housing with some of the most interesting and chill people...I am loving my housemates a lot.

This afternoon I went outside to find Drew drawing the name of a little boy that lives across the way from us, in the dirt. A few kids had gathered around and were reading the name. This little boy has captured my heart from the beginning. He is curious, smart and has a smile that lights up your day no matter what has happened. I stepped out of the house and looked over at him. We smiled at each other and then he came running over to me. I picked him up and we shared another grin before heading back to Drew. That kiddo makes my day.

It has been raining on and off today which has been pretty nice. It cools down a bit while it is raining. Tonight I am to go to dinner with my housemate to a local woman's house. Annie says that she is a great cook, so I'm looking forward to that. I am also going to be going to a local bar tonight with the other volunteers for some sort of a welcome get together for us newbies. That should be fine as well.

Doxycycline is the bane of my existence. It makes me nauseous every morning, especially if I take the pill before eating a ton of food and drinking a ton of water. I stopped taking it for a few days after I felt nauseous for an entire day, but I'm afraid of Malaria so I've started again. I've gone off of a few foods though as a result and now rely heavily on peanut butter for protein. I know it isn't the best, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Annie, Eeke and I went into Accra yesterday to withdraw money from the bank, buy some supplies for the school, get food for a house dinner and use the lightening fast internet. Accra is very busy and there are people everywhere. It definately feels like a city, but it is strange because it lacks the massive high rises that I normally associate with a city.

I'm soaking up all of the accents and sayings of the people I've been living with. The other day Rachel said, "Stop saying quite! You say it all the time now!" I don't mean too...but I can't help it. You should hear the bizarre mix of english in that house with an aussie, a brit, a north Irish girl, a dutch girl raised in africa and a mid-westerner with a burgeoning scottish accent. Mix in a Pacific Northwest/Western New Yorker with a Western New York/Coloradian (Is that what you call people from Colorado?) and there you go.

I should sign off for now. I'm still working out my schedule for the shape of my week...more news on the actual work I am doing when I figure it out.

Last thing: Neal, who is -in kind- one of my favorite people, wrote the following in reference to my last post: "I can definitely picture you having said inner dialogue, and I'm glad your interlocutor was convincing!" I chuckled out loud at the internet cafe in Accra when I read this. Thanks for the good cheer Neal! It is a precious.

Accra

Internet cafes in Accra are most excellent. More later, for now I'll just use my newly mixed up English and say, "Cheers!"

Feeling Better

I am happy, (very, very happy) to report that I am feeling much better. I knew that I would freak out at some point after my arrival, my freak out just lasted longer than I was expecting. I can tell you the exact moment that I stopped being upset.

After posting my last entry, I was quite upset. I walked back to the house and was grateful to find Annie there. Everyone else was gone at a CBW party so we had some one on one time. Annie has so much experience traveling and she has an uncanny ability to tell things like they are. I cried and told her what was going on with me. The talk that she and I had lent a lot of perspective to my situation. By the end of the conversation, I thought that I was doing much better.

Then I decided to make some phone calls. I left messages for Leia and Joshua. Then I did what many people do when they are away from home and feeling upset. I called my Mom. As soon as she asked me how things were going, I started to cry. She and I spoke for 16 minutes. She was very encouraging and said some really nice things. When we got off the phone I was walking back to guest house #1 and the light bulb went on in my head. Seriously, it was like someone snapped their fingers and it occured to me: Get a grip, Bree. (I do actually have inner dialogue like this on certain occasions), crying and moaning on about how hard things are does absolutely nothing to make things better.

Now, just like that, I feel back to normal. Thank goodness, because the first week here was really rough. Just in time for my realization was the weekend.

Sidenote: [Thursday also proved interesting because I got to do some African cooking with some ladies who live on the camp and made strides towards making a new friend. Drew lives in our house, (the lone male among us...poor guy), and I had not spent any time with him prior to Thursday. We sat down on the front porch for a while on Thursday and talked about the camp, religion and politics. This is the first time that I've had a conversation like this since I have been to camp and I was extremely glad to discover another person who was interested in discussing topics that matter to me.]

This weekend our entire group when to Winneba. We stayed at a place called the Lagoon Lodge. It was beautiful. Nice beds and...(wait for it) running water! The rooms (which we shared, two people to a room) cost approx$12.50 per night. We stayed for two nights, so my portion of the room bill was $12.50. Crazy. A little slice of paradise yea but 5 minutes from a beautiful sandy beach. There is a fishing villiage near by so when you stand on this beach on a nice day, you see African fishing boats. I have always had a bit of a fascination with the ocean. I love to stand in the water and watch the horizon. I could happily do this for hours at a time.

One result of the tumult of feelings that I have been having is that I haven't really had the realization that I am in Africa. It is very different here, but that awestruck feeling about being half way around the world has been missing. The beach brought it home for me. Those boats were so beautiful. I love the ocean. I am in Africa.

Ok. I really feel like I scared everyone with my last post, but I just wanted to infuse some of how I was feeling at the time into the blog. I think that I will continue to have ups and downs as time goes on, but I do think that the worst of the emotional roller coasters (culture shock) may be over. Knock on wood.

More later, for now I need to go. Again, thank you so much for the encourageing words. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel.

Happy Birthday Leia!

A quick moment to say "Happy Birthyday" to my sister Leia! I hope you've had a nice day! : ) I'm thinking of you and wishing you the best!!!

It has come to my attention via an e-mail from my good friend Bekka, that I am not really including much emotional details in the blog. I seem to stick mainly to what I observe or do and not how I feel about what is going on around me. So...

I am having a rather difficult time right now and am sort of wondering a) why I came here and b) why I opted to stay for 3 months. It is hard to say for certain, but I am 99% sure that I will return to the states after my month stint.

Another volunteer here works for a refugee resettlement organization that works with many Africans. She said that the Liberians on the camp are much better off than many other refugees in Africa and around the world. I am grateful that she is here and that she has the knowledge that she does, otherwise I would have totally missed out on this perspective.

Basically, it is difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that many, many people are worse off than this. Granted there are certain creature comforts (like the internet) that are available on the camp, but there are a lot of hardships as well. People live in tiny houses with outdoor toilets that they built themselves. Some of the little kids running around have distended bellies because they go without food on a regular basis. Many, most if not all, Liberians have a horrible story of violence in their lives. The war in Liberia which lasted on and off for at least 10 years left people in ruin. People are willing to share their stories, I think it is part of healing. A man lost his wife, a woman excaped the massacre of almost her entire immediate family by one hour. People used to be forced to fight or die.

Corporal punishment is the standard method for disiplaning children which can amout to beating children. I saw a man beating up a boy hitting him with an open palm and kicking him on the ground. I saw this on my first day here, so I've had this image and the fact that I did not/could not do anything about it haunting me since I first arrived. We are told that we are not to intervene in such circumstances because it will not make a difference. It will only aggrevate the situation for the child later or at the very least make it more difficult for international volunteers to make a difference in the community in the future. I've heard other stories of this and seen a teacher following a crying student back into the school with a switch.

While I understand the reasons that we are not supposed to intervene, it is horrible and I think to some level immoral not to do anything in a situation like that. This incident has messed me up and I think exacerbated the roller coaster ride that is my emotional state.

It is more difficult than I thought it would be to be away from Joshua. I know that that sounds weird or mean, but I think he might agree about his expectations for my period away as well. I thought that I would be able to do well by focusing on the work. However, after living here for a short time I begin to see that this will probably not be the case. Everything is extremely relaxed. Time is a whole different concept here. I was expecting to encounter excited volunteers, thrilled with the work that they've been doing. What I find is that most of the volunteers here seem quite disillusioned. I must try to become more positive lest I quickly fall into a despair which consists of watching the time crawl by and x-ing out the days on the calendar.

I can't believe that I am going through all of this stuff without my best friend. Right now, mainly, I want to go home.

I'm wondering by what chance I was dropped into a life of luxury and health. There has never been a period in my life when I did not know that someone loved me. I have four amazing parents and four wonderful syblings. I have an amazing family of friends. I am wondering why I wasn't born in a war torn country...why my life has been so much easier than the lives of most of the world's population.

As one final note I would like to thank everyone for all of the encouraging comments. It helps me a great deal.

We shall see...

Toto, Have You Seen Kansas?

After my last post, I returned to my home and had a very rough evening.

Yesterday was much better and today has been better still. I feel as though I'm really beginning to settle in. My malaria pill makes me a bit nauseous right after I take it but I think that I have discovered how to minimize its negative effects.

Sleeping has still been coming easily to me, (knock on wood) and the toilet issues have been resolved. I'm even getting down the best strategy for a bucket shower. I draw a bucket of water and stick my head in it. This helps to conserve water and allows my hair to get really wet.

Alright on to more interesting things...

Victoria, the house #1 cook, is amazing. Breakfast consists largly of fresh, (that's right I said fresh) pineapple, poridge and hard boiled eggs or fried. Lunch changes daily based on a rotating 6 day menu. So far we've had delicious angle hair pasta and cabagge stew with rice. The same spices used in both dishes. Fresh bread is brought to the house daily. It doesn't taste like any bread I've had before and it is quite good. It actually has a bit of a citrus taste to it and looks like a long skinny hoggie roll. We fend for ourselves at dinner, constructing sandwiches out of veggies (brought daily) and boiled egg. We could also go to a restaurant, but all of us are trying to be good and conserve both money and food by eating in at night.

Eariler today I tried to call Joshua and was able to speak to him for one minute and thirteen seconds before the call cut out. It cost 4,000 cedis which is approx. 45 cents US. It was worth it!

Today we finished up orientation. We also had to sign up for the projects we would like to work on. After two weeks we will re-evaluate our schedule and decide if we want to change anything. Around 7am I will go around camp and empty garbage bins. At 9am I will go with the HIV/AIDS Outreach team to talk with people around camp about HIV. At 12:30pm I will work with a 6th grade english or science class until approx. 5pm. At 5pm I will teach a one hour computer class to grown ups. This is a full schedule and I imagine that I will end up scaling back a bit in a couple of weeks. For now it will allow me to get a good idea of four different departments. We shall see.

Tonight is a British Pub Quiz developed by a couple of IVs (International Volunteers) which will be held at a bar called "Holiday Feeling". We are all going to go.

My house consists of 7 people. A woman from England, a woman from Northern Ireland, an american man who's been living in Scotland for the last several years, a woman with dutch parents who grew up in Africa but finished her last two years of high school in Holland, another american woman who lives in Colorado and my roomate Hannah, from Australia. All in all quite a varied bunch. I really like all of my housemates so far and the vibe in our house is lovely as well. We have some pet mice and a resident spider of large porportion in the bathroom. I think I've decided to name the spider and keep him around. I am told that he sticks to the walls. He is very shy with humans and there are no bugs in the restroom.

I believe that several of us volunteers are going to Winneba for the weekend. We are renting rooms at a lovely hotel for about $6/person/night. It is right near a lovely beach. I'm pretty excited. I'll be taking my first trou-trou ride...more on that after I return.

In the meantime, I have accomplished a lot in the past couple of hours. I just purchased fabric and gave it to a taylor. He is going to make me a skirt for 40,000 cedis which is about $4.50. The fabric I purchased was 20,000 cedis so all in all the project is going to cost approx. $7.00.

Two funny things happened today:

1) I went to buy some flip flops but the shoe size is in the British fashion. When I told the lady that I was American (meaning to imply that I needed a shoes size translation) she directed me to bigger sandals.

2) The taylor first told me the skirt would be 50,000 cedis. I asked the taylor if, when I came to pick up the skirt, he could take it out (or in) for me if necessary. While I was talking to him he got this kind of funny knowing look on his face. Then I asked him how much it would be he said 40,000 cedis. I think he thought I was haggling with him.

My time is almost up at the computer cafe...must run!

Akwaaba

Akwaaba means that you are welcome. This word is all over the Accra airport. I've arrived!

The flight was fine and I met some nice passangers on my way. The camp is really interesting. Rows and rows of houses and stores. I'll post some pictures when I get my camera out. Since the first of the month is a Sunday our first day on camp is a vacation day. I exchanged my cash for cedis, went to a restaurant that makes a wonderful egg sandwich and found the internet cafe! There are two other new volunteers living in House #1 as well as a bushel of experienced volunteers. I haven't met the veterans but the other newbies are really very cool.

I attended a church service this morning at an Assembly of God church on the camp. An amazing experience! Bright colors as the women dress up in really nice African robes. Singing and dancing, the joy is contagious.

So far, I've taken a bucket shower (which was very refreshing!), slept under a mesquito net, (which is quite lovely-just pretend your in a little fort), eaten shortbread (our Sunday rations) and used a bucket flush toilet...uh, more on that later. Why oh why is it so hard to remember not the throw the toilet paper in the toilet. All in all I'm off to a good start.

The weather here today has been really nice. Cool with a nice breeze. I spoken with a couple of Liberians about the temperature today and they are cold! This leads me to believe that coming back to Rochester in the middle of winter will be quite rough. This is the last month of the rainy season and right now I can hear the downpour that started after we made it to the cafe.

Tomorrow is our first of two days of orientation. I am looking forward to finding out what I will be doing while I am here. I'm also looking forward to getting to work.

Stay tuned...next up: I have no idea. But I do have a teaser about Wednesday night activities, when an all star Liberian team (from the camp) takes on a Ghanaian team in a round of football! The Liberians are going to win, I can feel it!