Days 28-31

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting & staying

            You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.

    With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky

                 Ready because you’re that kind of guy!

 

It hasn’t been a terribly exciting week except for the fact that I have officially made it a whole month here! When I first decided to go on this adventure it felt like it would never end & that I was going to be gone for a really long time, but now I wish I could just travel the rest of my life! Not that I don’t miss everyone at home, it’s just that traveling is so exciting. Seeing the way other people life & the cultures that make up this world is so fascinating. Africa is a pretty amazing continent, but I want to explore EVERYWHERE. If only I had the money to do that. Hopefully one day :)

Monday was a fairly relaxed day. I had class & then found out that my first package had finally arrived! I had waited a whole month for that thing so my friend Alex came along with me so that I didn’t have to go to a new part of town by myself. We took a tro tro to the post office & almost a full hour later we were at the post office. Ghanaian time is a funny thing. Usually it means they are late to everything!! But on that particular day, they were closing down early. It was about 3:40 & closing time was 4:00 & they wouldn’t give me my package. I was pretty upset at the time considering how long it took to get here & the hour long commute to pick it up so a few others who were there for the same reason argued them with me for about as long as it would have taken them to get me the package but we still all left empty handed.

It stormed all night long on Monday here & it actually woke me up. I never wake up to anything, so that goes to show how forceful the rain is here. Tuesday morning was very cool due to the storm the night before. I was so thankful for this because Monday was about 105° and I don’t think I will ever get used to that kind of heat. Especially with the humidity! At breakfast I met a local guy named Frank who sat down & ate with me. He was really pushing for me to join the international girls soccer team, but I really can’t imagine playing in this heat or finding the time. But he has asked me about it every time I’ve seen him since then so maybe I’ll have to check out practice one of these days. We had drumming class that morning & then I left for an afternoon at the orphanage. When I got there I helped Maxwell & Daniel with their homework for an hour or so & then we got to take the kids about a mile down the road, kids holding my hands & pulling on me the whole way, to a swimming pool & teach them how to swim! I guess 3 years of lifeguarding finally paid off since I never needed any of my skills at Riverside. Someone donated enough money for us to take 7 of them to the pool that afternoon. Many of them had never learned how to swim before so it was a little terrifying at times but it was a good experience in the end. 

 After swimming I went back to campus for one of my night classes. There were bugs everywhere. Literally everywhere, flying all around in the air & crawling all over the floor. I was squishing them all under my shoes because even though I’ve been here a month, it still grossed me out quite a bit. Then in the middle of lecture I noticed lizards crawling up the wall. I was a little bit distracted to say the least.

Wednesday morning I was at the orphanage again. We walk the kids down to the American International School for chapel on Wednesday mornings & it is so much fun! They all dance & sing & play games. The teachers there have so much energy & all the kids get really into it. One of the teachers was from the UK. I could listen to those accents all day so I decided my next big adventure has to be to London. Another teacher told a story from the gospel books & it was actually one that I had never fully understand myself so I learned a good Jesus lesson that day too!

 When we got back to the orphanage the kids had school. I normally teach the older kids but Silas, the little guy that’s almost 2 years old, wanted to be in the classroom that morning. So the director taught the kids & I played with Silas. We painted, I pushed him on the swing, & helped him out with some more 2-year-old toys. When they broke for lunch I went back to campus to complete the complicated process of registering. After running all around campus I think I figured it out, but I guess I’ll just have to see! Then I had a night class & picked up some “tantalizing” mango bread afterwards. It is mainly a biscuit with some mangoes in it, but it’s not spicy, so it’s not bad! I eat so many mangoes here. They are so good! I miss raspberries & strawberries a lot, but the mangoes will do for a few more months :)

This morning I went to the orphanage & taught the morning class. We went over some spelling words & took a math test of the 4 times tables. The kids have been working on a project where they draw a face & then write a little story describing the person they drew. It’s so fun to teach them. They are so excited & eager to learn. I love it when they call me “Miss Kasey” & ask how to spell things & to read their story just because they are proud of what they have written.  When they finished their stories we got to play bingo since the kids have been doing so well lately. After my work was finished there, I grabbed a cab to the tro tro station & gave the post office another shot. It was quite an experience. They needed my ID photocopied so I had to run over to the internet café to get that done & then I had to open the package in front of them so they could sort through all my things, all I really had in there was some shoes, shampoo, bug spray, sunscreen, contact lenses, & some food but they still have to look at all of it. It’s really odd. Then I have to pay them about 30 cedis to take the package home with me. It’s an odd process, but I finally have my things. I spent the afternoon relaxing after all of that. 

This morning one of my cab drivers had a blonde lock of hair hanging from his rear view. I thought it was definitely one of the oddest things I've ever seen until we were at a stoplight & he reached over & began to curl it. That took the prize.

One thing I have noticed here, with Ghana being a developing country, the currency exchange rate can change drastically overnight. When we arrived it was about 2.4 cedis to $1. At one point I saw that it was worth as little as 5 cedis to $1. This is convenient for me when I go to the ATM, but pretty upsetting for the country, though I guess that’s all part of the process.

Tomorrow the kids don’t have school so I will get to hang out with all of them at the orphanage, which I’m really excited about! Over the weekend I am going back to Cape Coast with my friend Brianne. She is from Bozeman, we grew up dancing together so I’m pretty excited to see a familiar face! Love to you all,

Kasey