I can’t believe that my time here is already halfway
finished. It has gone by way faster than I ever anticipated, but I’m glad that
I’m only at the halfway mark. I believe it was about 19 weeks that I’d here,
around 130 days, and now I just have 9 and a half short weeks left to go. I
guess that means I better hurry up & make sure I get everything out of the
experience possible.
Friday morning I had yet another package at the post office.
It was a cool morning (for once) after it stormed all night so I walked across
campus to get my package slip, grabbed a cup of coffee, & made my way to
the post office. It was another 4-hour trip but it was car accident free &
in the end I got a nice care package from my mom. I got some more granola &
protein bars which I am so thankful for because I don’t know what I would do if
I ran out of those. She also sent me clothes & candy. I think it just might
be the first candy I’ve had since being here besides the packs of fruit mentos
I get occasionally. I normally have a huge sweet tooth so I’m not even sure how
I made it that long. She also sent me some anti-itch cream, which is so awesome
for my mosquito bites. They are vicious little bugs. At one point I counted 35
bites just from my knees down to my feet. That afternoon we set out for a
weekend trip. We spent it a little “resort” area at the beach. We were at
Kokrobite and stayed in a bungalow type of house for a couple days for one of
my friends’ birthdays. We had a pretty good dinner that night & then
watched the drumming & dancing show. It was amazing! The dancing was very
cool and they did some crazy acrobatics too. They did tricks with fire and all
kinds of crazy stuff.
After the show we talked to one of the dancers who had a
little baby boy. He let us hold him and asked if we would adopt him and take
him back to the states with us. It’s so sad to me that they would want to give
their little angels to total strangers just so there kid can grow up in
America. The states may have more opportunity but I think Africa has more
happiness.
Saturday morning we started off with breakfast. The
restaurant there had actual brewed coffee! And it smelled so good. The instant
stuff doesn’t have the same scent. I could have sat there with that cup all day
just to keep smelling it. That makes me sound like a total freak, but I have
some good memories attached to coffee so I guess that’s why I love it so much.
When I was growing up I’d always wake up early & have a cup of coffee with
my parents while my dad read the paper & my mom watched the Today Show.
It’s such a simple thing, but I guess I miss my mornings with them now that I’m
all grown up & don’t live with them anymore. It’s hard to justify why I
drink hot coffee here when it’s a million degrees outside but every time I do I
think of my grandma & grandpa sitting on the dock at the lake in the middle
of August around 2 or 3 in the afternoon with scorching temperatures drinking a
giant mug full of hot coffee. I’ve always thought that was so weird but now I’m
doing it too. I guess my family just loves our coffee :)
That afternoon we didn’t do much. There were some little
stands on the beach selling clothes & jewelry so I did a little gift
shopping for my cousins & just hung out on the beach reading another book
for most of the day. That night there was some reggae music on the beach and a
huge crowd came out for that so we danced along with everyone else. It was dark
but I saw a girl that looked very familiar so I started walking towards her
& turns out it was my friend Brianne from back home! Such a small world
that I’d run into another Bozeman person all the way in Ghana but pretty cool
at the same time.
Sunday morning we got up, had some more breakfast with more
coffee, & made our way back to the hostel. I took a nap & worked on my second
ever Ghanaian homework assignment. I got a “tantalizing” vegetable curry for
dinner from Auntie Louise & it was actually pretty good! Not even spicy.
The one at the kitchen in the hostel has some spice to it but I’ve really been
trying to broaden my meal choices here so I’ve been getting that for dinner
every couple of days. Maybe by the end of the trip I’ll be able to finish it
without chugging water after every bite.
Monday was rainy all day & it was amazing. It was
finally cool and I loved it so much. Walking to class in the mud was another
story, but the rain itself was great. Growing up in Montana I am used to
dodging patches of ice and keeping my balance when I have to walk on them, but
I didn’t expect that I’d have to maintain this same balance here in Africa. We
don’t have sidewalks here, just dirt paths, so when it rains that all turns to
mud and it can be really difficult to walk on if you’re not careful. Luckily I
made it all the way to class & back without slipping. Class was another
interesting couple of hours. We were learning about getting careers after
college so we learned about writing resumes & job interviews. In the US
most of us have been doing these things since we were in high school so it’s
kind of crazy to be sitting in a classroom where you’re the only one who’s ever
had a real job before. My favorite part was that when she explaining job
interviews, she gave us this piece of advice: “keep your cool.” It was written
up on the board & everything. I laughed at this a little on the inside but
I guess it’s probably decent advice in the end. I did some more work for my
homework assignment that night & then went to bed early.
Yesterday I got up at 6:45, which is sleeping in for me
here, finished my homework & registered for my fall semester back at MSU.
Then I got some dinner & got ready for class. I had to turn in my homework
assignment and that was a whole adventure in itself. Printing in the library
here is definitely not a simple process. It took me 20 minutes just to find a
printer that worked. Everyone literally moves at snail pace here so when I was
in a huge rush to get it all printed out & to class on time, they weren’t
much help. I rushed over to my class after it finally printed only to arrive in
a classroom where there was not yet a professor. Once he finally did show up
everyone literally pushed and shoved their way to turn in their paper. You’d
think that the first 10 people to turn in their papers got a million bucks by
the way they were trying to get theirs turned in.
This morning I took the kids to chapel & then we had
class. I taught the younger ones again today, going over a little math &
writing letters. When they broke for lunch I took a cab to a little café/bakery
type of place one of my friends told me about. I got a sandwich & some
coffee and began reading another one of my books. Before I knew it I had wasted
a whole afternoon there & finished another book. It seems too easy to get
lost in these fictitious worlds, but I love it. By then it was around the time I
normally eat dinner & I spotted some cupcakes in the bakery. I grabbed one
& ate it for dinner. It’s not a normal dinner but I don’t see a lot of
sweets around here so I guess I make a meal out of them when I do. After I ate
I found a little bookstore & walked around it for a little while. They had
a lot of books but I only recognized 2 authors in the whole store: Tony Robbins
& Nicholas Sparks. I didn’t buy anything and then I decided to navigate
myself back to campus by walking. I saw the top of the library so I just
started walking towards it & eventually found my way back. It’s pretty cool
when you realize you can get around in a foreign country, a whole new
continent, 7,000 miles away from home all by yourself. I remember being a huge
mix of emotions the day that I left. I was happy but sad & excited but
terrified. Now I don’t really feel much. I’m happy here, but that’s really all.
I’m just here & I’m enjoying every moment of it. I listened to whatever
random songs my iPod played as I walked back breathing in the smell that Africa
has (which is honestly not a very good one, although I’ll probably miss it one
day) & I caught myself dancing as I walked. Then I wondered if I’d ever be
able to listen to music like a normal person. Whenever I listen to music I hear
it in movement. I always picture some dance in my head & I can’t help it. I
don’t know if this is just a dancer thing or if everyone listens this way.
Anyways, now I have to make my way to the night class I don’t feel like going
to. Love to you all,
Kasey
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