I posted pictures!! :) This includes my departure, Kintampo Water Falls, my school class, Mole National Park, The Elders (my besties), etc...
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_czcmCjVbu1SmoxR0s3N1ZCaE0&usp=sharing
Follow that link?!
Monday, June 30, 2014
June 30,
Today is the last day of June for those of you who didn't know ;) That means I have been out for over a month now!! Crazy!! :) This last week was pretty relaxing; I walked to town a few times (4km), worked in the orphanage, met five new volunteers (we have a full house!), and started to learn Twi! That last one is relatively very new, a volunteer and myself decided to pass the time yesterday teaching it to ourselves! We know only a few words... Saturday was the most fun day of the week and the saddest... we said goodbye to two volunteers who had been with me this whole time but later in the day I went proselyting with the missionaries and that made me happy! Man, I seriously am like on a mini mission over here, the missionaries love to bring me with them because everyone likes talking to them when they also have a white girl! Ha...So the five new volunteers came and we had a big meeting/social welcome party for them and while I was eating dinner, (this was last night), I realized I was in a room with all white people and seriously got awkward and had to leave! I went and hung out with the Ghanaians and they were all laughing at me! It was kind of embarrassing...There was also the last world cup match for Ghana this week, it was crazy the guys got super into it, I have a video that will hopefully post! :) I don't have a lot of time to write! Lots of love :)
Love Emily!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
June 24,
I went to Mole National Park on Friday through Sunday!! It was very exciting! :) The rest of the week roughly the same schedule as my other weeks, just going to the orphanage and then homework and relaxing for the rest of the day. Hence I'm really just going to talk about the park! We drove there on Friday afternoon, it was supposed to be a four hour trip but it only took us two and a half... I suppose our driver was speeding? We drove through two police checking points and they motioned us to stop and he just drove straight through... I thought we were going to get arrested, but in the rear view mirror they just looked really angry and and waved their guns menacingly. Any how, that was really nice getting to Mole in such short time! The motel we were staying at is actual within the park and the animals run free range. As we drove into the park we saw baboons and wildebeests sitting right next to the motel! When we got in the staff told us we had to lock our doors at ALL times or else the baboons would come into our rooms and steal our stuff! :) So...Cool...!! The motel had a pool and that entertained us all of Friday night,the water was disgusting with green fungi floating in it and we found a few frogs around the edges! Ha, but the cold water was very relaxing after the bus ride. My roommate and I got into our room late and turned on the lights, she nudged me and pointed and next to my bed was a Scorpion!!! Now we had two normal beds and then a mattress just laying on the ground, which of course was mine, the scorpion was probably 6" from my pillow...We did the only we could, we jumped on her bed and screamed! Nobody heard us...after about thirty minutes of dancing on the bed and hyperventilating we did the next thing we could think of, we sprayed it with 99.8% Deet, the scorpion still didn't move! We looked at each other and started talking, saying maybe it was dead and we just hadn't noticed it earlier. We looked back at the scorpion...and...it was gone! Of course that led to more screaming. :) Long story short, we found it again hiding in my sheets and managed to put a glass cup over it. We got Francis our tour guide and he told us it was a baby scorpion and their poison was very deadly...Go figure...to make us feel better he said it shouldn't have been in our room and it was "just a mistake". That definitely calmed us down, NOT. After that fiasco we decided to push the two beds together and I slept on the very hard crack between them. Although uncomfortable, I felt much more safe sleeping above ground. Saturday morning we woke up and went on a two hour walking safari, it was AWESOME! We got 200' from an elephant and took great pictures! We saw two elephants, antelopes, tree monkeys, baboons, wildebeests, guinea fowl, water buffalo and possibly a crocodile in the water... (we didn't want to get too close to that one!). For the rest of the morning we sunbathed and swam in the pool, I got my first real burn and can barely move my arms; one of the baboons came so close to me I could have touched it, we had a table with all our stuff on it and he walked right up to it, scanned the items and took one of the volunteers pack of cigarettes!! Silly monkey... That afternoon we went on a jeep safari, let me say again...AMAZING... we saw nine more elephants all in a group and they let us get out of the car to take pictures and this time we got 40'-50' near it. :) The est of Saturday we swam and then early Sunday morning we drove back! On the way home we stopped at the market and I bought some boiled Guinea Fowl eggs, oh my goodness...Best Eggs Ever! They were delicious, on the way home we listened to African Gospel music blaring through the speakers, it made the bus ride so much more enjoyable. Yesterday I decided to finally tell the Africans I was sick, (I've been really sick for the last two weeks and haven't said anything :/ ), they made me stay home from work and sleep and take meds. Wow! I should have told them so long ago!! Today I feel much better, goodness my stubbornness almost killed me... In the afternoon I went to the missionaries house and hung out, we had a pie party on their p-day, pretty practical if you ask me! ;) Two of the Elders are leaving so we got pictures and I wrote in their memory books or something like that... I felt better today and went to the orphanage on my shift. The nannies told me they had changed the shift and I was now afternoons this week. It is frustrating that they don't tell me anything, they sent me home and said if I wanted to volunteer to come back this evening or tomorrow evening. I had already made plans for tonight because of my morning shift so now I don't get to go to the orphanage today...bummer. Well that has been the last few days in the life of Tamale! :) Love you all, hope you're enjoying the summer!
Love ya,
Love Emily :)
Thursday, June 19, 2014
June 19,
I finally went to the orphanage!! Yay :) The first few times were awful it took me almost a week to acclimate to the custom and culture of how the nannies treat the children. Now... I love it! There are eight kids all under the age of 1 and 1/2. Most of them are beginning walkers and teethers...so much fun! I've first and foremost learned to get used to crying and stinky diapers. We use use cloth diapers and because I am the new one I get to clean all the diapers! No matter how poor I am I will never, ever buy cloth diapers. It is a good work experience, but never. The kids each have their own cute unique personalities! We have two twin girls who always wake up first and are really adventurous. They like to climb a lot! And then we have a sweet girl named Amina and she has the cutest smile oh my goodness... And then Rayon who is a clown and giggles in his sleep. Then we have two premature babies who are 6 weeks old now and adorable, both boys. They both had to go to the hospital last week and are on meds, I don't know what for but I'm hoping they get better! And then we have a baby who is 3 months old his name is Jusef and he is so lazy it's unbelievable and then another boy who crawls everywhere and I swear I'm going to lose him one of these times... Any who that is the orphanage situation! I usually have a morning shift from 7:30 to 1! This entire week as a whole has not been very eventful, more just laid back and relaxing. Not a bad thing if you ask me. :) Tomorrow I leave for Mole National Park which I am very excited about! On Saturday I went proselyting with the missionaries ALL day, it as super fun but around eight we stopped at a house and the lady offered us dinner. (In Ghana it is realy rude to not accept food.) So... of course we said yes, but as soon as she left the Elders kind of started freaking out and saying oh no... Apparently this lady had a famous dish she always made for them and it was one of the worst meals they had eaten in Ghana and for their entire mission! I started freaking out! She brought the dinner out and we ate it on the front lawn while her family ate inside. To say it was uniquely flavored would be an understatement. The only way I can describe this food would be raw bread dough with lime or some kind of strong citrus and then you rip that dough and dip it in a spinach -greens- soup-... The problem is the dough part was so nasty we had to swallow it whole and it felt like slugs going down our throats! To get us to all eat it, I made it a competition so to make things worse we were wll eating it really fast... Let's just say when I got home I was really, really sick! Most the food here is delicious, word of advise though, never eat tsert! Monday night we had the Ghana vs. USA game!! Town was crazy!! Every single street vendor was selling Ghana apparel which made things difficult as I was trying to find something US... I got on TV though! A guy was wrapped in a Ghana flag and a News broadcaster was taping him and asking him questions about the game and I went behind him and smiled into the camera! Yeah... Ghana has made me pretty rebellious ;) Anyhow, the game went well... Obviously we won... We watched the game with a lot of other Ghanaians in the front room. Fred our coordinator was there and a few times when the US was doing well the Ghanaian would say something in Dagbani and in English Fred would say, "No, this is just a game the Americans are our friends!" Ha oh man... Unfortunately a rain storm came in the last eight minutes right after the Ghana goal so we didn't get to see the ending as our entire power went out. I think that lessened the blow because it took a few minutes after the game was finished for us to even know we had won and they had lost! Great times. The rain here is crazy! We are starting to move into the rainy season so things are cooling down a bit which is great! But, with rain comes puddles which produces more mosquitos! Fun days... :) Although I realize I am in Africa I can't grasp the concept I am actually IN Africa... this still seems like a hardworking vacation for me in a cultural city that's not that far from home! Ha.. I wonder when it will sink in? Well I am excited for the weekend!! Tomorrow the girls school is having a cultural dance for us and we have to wear Ghanaian clothes so I really need to go shopping!
Love, Emily
I finally went to the orphanage!! Yay :) The first few times were awful it took me almost a week to acclimate to the custom and culture of how the nannies treat the children. Now... I love it! There are eight kids all under the age of 1 and 1/2. Most of them are beginning walkers and teethers...so much fun! I've first and foremost learned to get used to crying and stinky diapers. We use use cloth diapers and because I am the new one I get to clean all the diapers! No matter how poor I am I will never, ever buy cloth diapers. It is a good work experience, but never. The kids each have their own cute unique personalities! We have two twin girls who always wake up first and are really adventurous. They like to climb a lot! And then we have a sweet girl named Amina and she has the cutest smile oh my goodness... And then Rayon who is a clown and giggles in his sleep. Then we have two premature babies who are 6 weeks old now and adorable, both boys. They both had to go to the hospital last week and are on meds, I don't know what for but I'm hoping they get better! And then we have a baby who is 3 months old his name is Jusef and he is so lazy it's unbelievable and then another boy who crawls everywhere and I swear I'm going to lose him one of these times... Any who that is the orphanage situation! I usually have a morning shift from 7:30 to 1! This entire week as a whole has not been very eventful, more just laid back and relaxing. Not a bad thing if you ask me. :) Tomorrow I leave for Mole National Park which I am very excited about! On Saturday I went proselyting with the missionaries ALL day, it as super fun but around eight we stopped at a house and the lady offered us dinner. (In Ghana it is realy rude to not accept food.) So... of course we said yes, but as soon as she left the Elders kind of started freaking out and saying oh no... Apparently this lady had a famous dish she always made for them and it was one of the worst meals they had eaten in Ghana and for their entire mission! I started freaking out! She brought the dinner out and we ate it on the front lawn while her family ate inside. To say it was uniquely flavored would be an understatement. The only way I can describe this food would be raw bread dough with lime or some kind of strong citrus and then you rip that dough and dip it in a spinach -greens- soup-... The problem is the dough part was so nasty we had to swallow it whole and it felt like slugs going down our throats! To get us to all eat it, I made it a competition so to make things worse we were wll eating it really fast... Let's just say when I got home I was really, really sick! Most the food here is delicious, word of advise though, never eat tsert! Monday night we had the Ghana vs. USA game!! Town was crazy!! Every single street vendor was selling Ghana apparel which made things difficult as I was trying to find something US... I got on TV though! A guy was wrapped in a Ghana flag and a News broadcaster was taping him and asking him questions about the game and I went behind him and smiled into the camera! Yeah... Ghana has made me pretty rebellious ;) Anyhow, the game went well... Obviously we won... We watched the game with a lot of other Ghanaians in the front room. Fred our coordinator was there and a few times when the US was doing well the Ghanaian would say something in Dagbani and in English Fred would say, "No, this is just a game the Americans are our friends!" Ha oh man... Unfortunately a rain storm came in the last eight minutes right after the Ghana goal so we didn't get to see the ending as our entire power went out. I think that lessened the blow because it took a few minutes after the game was finished for us to even know we had won and they had lost! Great times. The rain here is crazy! We are starting to move into the rainy season so things are cooling down a bit which is great! But, with rain comes puddles which produces more mosquitos! Fun days... :) Although I realize I am in Africa I can't grasp the concept I am actually IN Africa... this still seems like a hardworking vacation for me in a cultural city that's not that far from home! Ha.. I wonder when it will sink in? Well I am excited for the weekend!! Tomorrow the girls school is having a cultural dance for us and we have to wear Ghanaian clothes so I really need to go shopping!
Love, Emily
Monday, June 9, 2014
June 9,
Hey, well it has been awhile. We did a lot last week. Every morning I taught English at the school and in the evening I either went to town, the village or the orphanage. On Wednesday we went to Jonas and Jonathon's house (they are some christian missionaries of the lighthouse church, both from Germany), Jonas made a rice dinner that was so delicious!! Most Ghanaian food is not my favorite but this was good... We stayed there for a few hours and just talked and played a card game, it was a good relaxing day for me! On Thursday we went to Kintampo Water Falls. It was sooo fun. The bus ride was three and a half hours though so kind of long. On the way there we stopped in a small town on the bank of a river and payed to get a canoe ride. The canoes were handmade, long and narrow. We fit 7 people in each canoe. They told us there were very few crocodiles in the river and not to worry. Ha. So of course I didn't worry at all... Not! The entire time I was bargaining with God to take another one of the volunteers and not me! Luckily we didn't end up seeing any crocs... The waterfall was made of three tiers on the base where all the water flowed into a river/creek we could actually swim. So we swam under the waterfall and could sit in a little cove between the rocks and the water. It was amazing! As we were getting ready to leave a group of High School kids came to the falls and started asking to get pictures with all the girls... Fred, our coordinator, explained since we were so far up north many of the guys hadn't seen white girls before and it was pretty much like being at the zoo and wanting a picture with a monkey. So we took pictures for about thirty minutes it was kind of awkward because they would pose so some of the pictures looked like engagement pictures other than the fact we were in swimsuits and didn't know each other. A few of the guys tried to kiss us, cause who wouldn't want a picture kissing a monkey right? We thought it was really weird and just ya... so we left. On Friday there was a huge party for the volunteers leaving on Saturday the entire girls school sang and danced and gave them gifts to thank them for teaching. The whole thing lasted about two hours. It was fun to see the culture come out of the girls. The dancing includes a lot of butt bumping where you dance in a circle and then bump and then choose someone else do a circle and then bump... You get really dizzy after awhile. Friday night everyone went out to say their goodbyes to the departing volunteers. Throughout the week we had already been to three bars and I don't particularly enjoy being the only sober one just sitting there, hence Friday night I opted out. They all got back home around 4 in the morning...really...really...drunk.... I wanted to be all motherly and yell at them for being all irresponsible, but instead I just slept more. None of them really woke up until about 2 and then they had dreadful hangovers. They were all talking about how much money they had wasted and how much they threw up and then they asked me why I didn't want to drink with them...Hahahaha. Watching them after every bar experience just makes me want to never ever drink. The volunteers here are really great though, we get along well and they teach me nifty card games that are impossible intricate and difficult to understand, but fun all the same. Yesterday I went to church and met the members of the branch. I think there are only ten members, one branch president and then four missionaries. By the end of the meeting there were about twenty people and I think most were just investigators. I met three of the four missionaries they are from Boise, ID; Denver, CO; and Nigeria. They are all really fun and I felt quite at home there. On Wednesday this week we have a gospel study night I hope I'll be able to go to. It turns out two of the people in Fred's house are actually talking to the missionaries. I don't think they are taking official lessons but hey, progress right? Everyone here is so nice and I'm slowly learning Dagbani, I can say good morning, thank you, and good afternoon. It is a very tricky language though. Teaching at the girls schools is a little bit hard for me because I have been teaching grammar... my worst subject... it has truthfully helped me appreciate teachers more! We ran out of running water yesterday so now we are using a tank. We get one bucket of water to shower and then you have a smaller cup to pour over you so you pretty much get wet, put on soap, and then pour the rest of the water out... it's a weird method but it works. Yesterday I also did my laundry and I have callus's from wringing out the clothes! We went to a western restaurant for lunch yesterday and I got a hamburger and fries...They were divine! I sincerely miss american food so much... I have had two dreams of just the food... Yum. So yeah that burger was so good and I made myself some fry sauce too... It was heavenly. I was so full I didn't want to eat dinner. Everyone else felt the same, but it is rude not to eat meals when someone prepares them for you so we all ate a bowl of soup and a ton of fruit!! I laid down last night thinking I might throw up and woke up the same. I can never eat that much again! Phew. On the way home from the restaurant we had a crazy taxi driver!! I thought I was going to die! The people here are suicidal when they drive, there were a few times we almost hit pedestrians and he definitely ran like ten stop signs..Ah the culture here is so fun :) I'm starting to get used to everything though, we've only been to the large orphanage with 26 kids twice. I got assigned to the smaller one today, it has 7 children. I start tomorrow and actually got a schedule and everything. My shift is from 7 until 12. School ends at 1 so I wonder if I will even be teaching anymore. I find out later today. This week should be fun!
Love Emily :)
Hey, well it has been awhile. We did a lot last week. Every morning I taught English at the school and in the evening I either went to town, the village or the orphanage. On Wednesday we went to Jonas and Jonathon's house (they are some christian missionaries of the lighthouse church, both from Germany), Jonas made a rice dinner that was so delicious!! Most Ghanaian food is not my favorite but this was good... We stayed there for a few hours and just talked and played a card game, it was a good relaxing day for me! On Thursday we went to Kintampo Water Falls. It was sooo fun. The bus ride was three and a half hours though so kind of long. On the way there we stopped in a small town on the bank of a river and payed to get a canoe ride. The canoes were handmade, long and narrow. We fit 7 people in each canoe. They told us there were very few crocodiles in the river and not to worry. Ha. So of course I didn't worry at all... Not! The entire time I was bargaining with God to take another one of the volunteers and not me! Luckily we didn't end up seeing any crocs... The waterfall was made of three tiers on the base where all the water flowed into a river/creek we could actually swim. So we swam under the waterfall and could sit in a little cove between the rocks and the water. It was amazing! As we were getting ready to leave a group of High School kids came to the falls and started asking to get pictures with all the girls... Fred, our coordinator, explained since we were so far up north many of the guys hadn't seen white girls before and it was pretty much like being at the zoo and wanting a picture with a monkey. So we took pictures for about thirty minutes it was kind of awkward because they would pose so some of the pictures looked like engagement pictures other than the fact we were in swimsuits and didn't know each other. A few of the guys tried to kiss us, cause who wouldn't want a picture kissing a monkey right? We thought it was really weird and just ya... so we left. On Friday there was a huge party for the volunteers leaving on Saturday the entire girls school sang and danced and gave them gifts to thank them for teaching. The whole thing lasted about two hours. It was fun to see the culture come out of the girls. The dancing includes a lot of butt bumping where you dance in a circle and then bump and then choose someone else do a circle and then bump... You get really dizzy after awhile. Friday night everyone went out to say their goodbyes to the departing volunteers. Throughout the week we had already been to three bars and I don't particularly enjoy being the only sober one just sitting there, hence Friday night I opted out. They all got back home around 4 in the morning...really...really...drunk.... I wanted to be all motherly and yell at them for being all irresponsible, but instead I just slept more. None of them really woke up until about 2 and then they had dreadful hangovers. They were all talking about how much money they had wasted and how much they threw up and then they asked me why I didn't want to drink with them...Hahahaha. Watching them after every bar experience just makes me want to never ever drink. The volunteers here are really great though, we get along well and they teach me nifty card games that are impossible intricate and difficult to understand, but fun all the same. Yesterday I went to church and met the members of the branch. I think there are only ten members, one branch president and then four missionaries. By the end of the meeting there were about twenty people and I think most were just investigators. I met three of the four missionaries they are from Boise, ID; Denver, CO; and Nigeria. They are all really fun and I felt quite at home there. On Wednesday this week we have a gospel study night I hope I'll be able to go to. It turns out two of the people in Fred's house are actually talking to the missionaries. I don't think they are taking official lessons but hey, progress right? Everyone here is so nice and I'm slowly learning Dagbani, I can say good morning, thank you, and good afternoon. It is a very tricky language though. Teaching at the girls schools is a little bit hard for me because I have been teaching grammar... my worst subject... it has truthfully helped me appreciate teachers more! We ran out of running water yesterday so now we are using a tank. We get one bucket of water to shower and then you have a smaller cup to pour over you so you pretty much get wet, put on soap, and then pour the rest of the water out... it's a weird method but it works. Yesterday I also did my laundry and I have callus's from wringing out the clothes! We went to a western restaurant for lunch yesterday and I got a hamburger and fries...They were divine! I sincerely miss american food so much... I have had two dreams of just the food... Yum. So yeah that burger was so good and I made myself some fry sauce too... It was heavenly. I was so full I didn't want to eat dinner. Everyone else felt the same, but it is rude not to eat meals when someone prepares them for you so we all ate a bowl of soup and a ton of fruit!! I laid down last night thinking I might throw up and woke up the same. I can never eat that much again! Phew. On the way home from the restaurant we had a crazy taxi driver!! I thought I was going to die! The people here are suicidal when they drive, there were a few times we almost hit pedestrians and he definitely ran like ten stop signs..Ah the culture here is so fun :) I'm starting to get used to everything though, we've only been to the large orphanage with 26 kids twice. I got assigned to the smaller one today, it has 7 children. I start tomorrow and actually got a schedule and everything. My shift is from 7 until 12. School ends at 1 so I wonder if I will even be teaching anymore. I find out later today. This week should be fun!
Love Emily :)
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
June 2
June 2,
We went to the Girls School today, they are very organized and neat. Because of the culture it has been a little hard for me. They hit the girls with sticks if they misbehave which kind of harms the whole teaching/learning process. We then went to the village, they have a school there as well. All the kids were adorable and I had a different child holding onto every single one of my fingers. One of the kids is soooo sweet. I don't even know. Oh my goodness I want to just take him back to Idaho with me, he is really shy but has the cutest smile and as soon as he sees me he wont leave my side until I leave! It is adorable!!Then we wrapped babies to our backs with cloth and we walked around like that..it is so smart! I am definitely holding my kid like that when I'm older! When you walk the baby falls asleep to your steps! Smart huh? Sp yeah, I am in love with the village!! We then went into town and went to a bar, where all the volunteers drank for an hour. After that we went to dinner and went out to a club where they then drank more..ya ghanians love to drink and the volunteers haha.The food is pretty good, I havent gotten sick yet! yay :)
We went to the Girls School today, they are very organized and neat. Because of the culture it has been a little hard for me. They hit the girls with sticks if they misbehave which kind of harms the whole teaching/learning process. We then went to the village, they have a school there as well. All the kids were adorable and I had a different child holding onto every single one of my fingers. One of the kids is soooo sweet. I don't even know. Oh my goodness I want to just take him back to Idaho with me, he is really shy but has the cutest smile and as soon as he sees me he wont leave my side until I leave! It is adorable!!Then we wrapped babies to our backs with cloth and we walked around like that..it is so smart! I am definitely holding my kid like that when I'm older! When you walk the baby falls asleep to your steps! Smart huh? Sp yeah, I am in love with the village!! We then went into town and went to a bar, where all the volunteers drank for an hour. After that we went to dinner and went out to a club where they then drank more..ya ghanians love to drink and the volunteers haha.The food is pretty good, I havent gotten sick yet! yay :)
June 1,
Well it's now late evening of the 1st day in Tamale. Was it what I expected? Yes and no... some things are better than I expected and others worse. Short run down? Wow! So we got off our plane in Tamale and drove through town and some village communities. We had the choice to stay at a host family or go to Freds (the coordinators) most of the volunteers live with Fred so I thought it would be good not to be alone so I chose Freds. I'm rooming with a german and girl from Colorado. It is such a cool house, the rooms all open up to the center where a ginormous mango tree ism just imagine a square of rooms all opening up to a tree..its kind of great :) His house is nicknamed the community because so many people come to just talk with us. It is so hot I don't even know how I'm going to survive!! Ahh well it's been a long day!
Well it's now late evening of the 1st day in Tamale. Was it what I expected? Yes and no... some things are better than I expected and others worse. Short run down? Wow! So we got off our plane in Tamale and drove through town and some village communities. We had the choice to stay at a host family or go to Freds (the coordinators) most of the volunteers live with Fred so I thought it would be good not to be alone so I chose Freds. I'm rooming with a german and girl from Colorado. It is such a cool house, the rooms all open up to the center where a ginormous mango tree ism just imagine a square of rooms all opening up to a tree..its kind of great :) His house is nicknamed the community because so many people come to just talk with us. It is so hot I don't even know how I'm going to survive!! Ahh well it's been a long day!
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