So far I have been absolutely loving it here. Things are very different here than in the U.S. but in all the best ways. Everyone, the volunteers and Ghanaians, is so nice and friendly. When I first arrived at the house I was greeted by all the volunteers and a whole bunch of Ghanaian kids who live in our neighborhood. At the time of my arrival I was pretty flustered with the overwhelming amount of Ghana I was getting but as soon as one of the kids grabbed my hand and asked for my name, I knew this was going to be a good month. So far my prediction will come true, I have been having so much fun!
I have been blogging on a separate personal blog due to technical difficulties since I've been here so I decided to just post my last post about what I have been this weekend to Monday:
I tried to upload a bunch of pics but I'm having troubles at the internet cafe. I will make sure to figure it out the next time I blog!
This is what has happened since I last Blogged:
Saturday - We took a 7 hour tro tro ride to the Cape Coast. We took one tro tro to Accra, the capital of Ghana, then waited for the next tro tro (for 2 hours) to take us to the Cape Coast. In total, a brutal 7 hour trip. Once we arrived at the Cape Coast, though, we dropped our things at the guest house (which had running water past 7 pm! and a real bed!) and went to the slave castle. It was really interesting and extremely depressing but it started to rain in the middle of the tour. After the tour, we shopped for a bit and as we decided to head home, the rain turned into a downpour. We decided to hide under a hut outside of the shops to wait out the rain. THEN a bunch of the Ghanaian workers gathered to play the drums. It was so magical. Then I decided to go dance in the rain. Once a few other volunteers joined me, everyone joined and it became a huge dance drum jam party!! It was the best thing... EVER. We then walked home in the rain because we were soked from dancing and stopped at this bar called the Peace Ghetto. We were all in such a good mood and the people at the Peace Ghetto were so nice. It was the perfect ending to the most magical night :)
Sunday - We woke up made early to go the rain forest and take a canopy walk. It was incredible how high up we were. I have a butt load of pictures that I will upload to show you all. it was very fun. Then we took another 7 hour tro tro trip back home. It was brutal yet again. But we had a really nice meal under the stars when we returned to Ho :)
Monday (Today) - We didn't have the eye clinic today so we went to an elementary school and helped build a building. We carried mud bricks on our heads! Like the people that sell stuff on the streets! I felt like a Ghanaian. Then we hung out with the kids and they gave us a beautiful dance/drum show. They were so talented and energetic. I loved it, it was yet again very magical. My teacher from school, Billbob Brown, and fellow dance majors would have been so proud :) I will upload photos from that too!
This is what has happened since I last Blogged:
Saturday - We took a 7 hour tro tro ride to the Cape Coast. We took one tro tro to Accra, the capital of Ghana, then waited for the next tro tro (for 2 hours) to take us to the Cape Coast. In total, a brutal 7 hour trip. Once we arrived at the Cape Coast, though, we dropped our things at the guest house (which had running water past 7 pm! and a real bed!) and went to the slave castle. It was really interesting and extremely depressing but it started to rain in the middle of the tour. After the tour, we shopped for a bit and as we decided to head home, the rain turned into a downpour. We decided to hide under a hut outside of the shops to wait out the rain. THEN a bunch of the Ghanaian workers gathered to play the drums. It was so magical. Then I decided to go dance in the rain. Once a few other volunteers joined me, everyone joined and it became a huge dance drum jam party!! It was the best thing... EVER. We then walked home in the rain because we were soked from dancing and stopped at this bar called the Peace Ghetto. We were all in such a good mood and the people at the Peace Ghetto were so nice. It was the perfect ending to the most magical night :)
Sunday - We woke up made early to go the rain forest and take a canopy walk. It was incredible how high up we were. I have a butt load of pictures that I will upload to show you all. it was very fun. Then we took another 7 hour tro tro trip back home. It was brutal yet again. But we had a really nice meal under the stars when we returned to Ho :)
Monday (Today) - We didn't have the eye clinic today so we went to an elementary school and helped build a building. We carried mud bricks on our heads! Like the people that sell stuff on the streets! I felt like a Ghanaian. Then we hung out with the kids and they gave us a beautiful dance/drum show. They were so talented and energetic. I loved it, it was yet again very magical. My teacher from school, Billbob Brown, and fellow dance majors would have been so proud :) I will upload photos from that too!
I will definitely upload the photos I have from this past weekend. We saw some pretty incredible things that I know everyone will enjoy :)
Today (Tuesday) I went to the eye care clinic for the first time! All of the volunteers had separate jobs: Nicole and Sae were taking the blood pressure and registration of the patients, Anna and Deanna were giving out the medication, and I was thrilled to assist Innocence, the optometrist who performs the eye tests on the Ghanaians. He was very patient with me as I was getting the hang of the form each patient fills out and the basic eye test. Once I was familiar with the test and the form, he showed me what the different types of eye diseases looked like (like cataracts and glaucoma). Hopefully with more days at the clinic I will be able to unofficially diagnose the eye diseases we are working with!
Hopefully this weekend we will be seeing ELEPHANTS! It may take 23 hours on tro tros, the most uncomfortable beat up vans ever created, to get there but I know it will be soooooo worth it :)
Alright, I will post more soon cuz I have crazy adventures all the time here. Cheers.
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