pee

Lydia (a little orphan girl) fell asleep in my arms today, which is not unusual, but today when she got up I noticed that my whole lap was covered in pee and a few tiny smears on poop too. That was fun. I washed my pants and they're dry now. Mostly I was just afraid of getting a disease from her. It's a little unnerving sometimes. Realizing thatthere's a pretty good chance that the kids that are orphans lost their parents to HIV or something similar. I was starting to freak out about it a bit today because I totally come in contact with a lot of body fluids, but then the thought came to my head that when Jesus came to earth he spent his time with the Lepors and in poverty, so since I'm following in his ways I'll be kept safe. It's getting easier to understand the little kids. That was pretty hard at first. I'm also getting them to call me aunty. They won't call you by your name. I've figured out that that's considered rude, so not only is it difficult for them to remember your name, but they've probably been told not to do it. So, every time they call "obroni carry me!" I tell them to say aunty please and then I'll respond. So far so good. Despite all the sanitation issues I love working there. Or at least at the end of the day I'm glad I was there.

When I was waiting for Marian to pick me up from the orphanage today I walked down the street and saw a stand of jewlery, so I went to go look at it and bought a beaded bracelet. It is so cool and cost 1 GC (around 1.15). First thing I've actually bought myself. Believe it or not kind of exciting.

I am so in love with the food here now. I am definetely going to have to learn how to cook the food, because I don't think I can bear to leave it forever. The beans (nothing like what you're picturing I can assure you), plantain, stew, rice, kenkey, garry (yes, Marian I know 1/2 this isn't spelled right), pepper. yum.

I let the little girls plait (braid) my hair today and I left it in because it always made me feel so special when I did an older girl's hair and she left it in, but now my hair is a rat's nest. I guess I'll have to wash it tonight. I'm going 2 or 3 days without washing my hair. I'm sure a few ppl just gasped seeing as that's totally not like me, but it works here.

I'm really glad Abbey is rooming with me. I can't imagine now sleeping in a room by myself. Good preparation for college I guess. It's also so nice to have someone to talk to. It's also fun because she just got baptized and has all these questions about our religion and seeing as I love nothing more than to have religous discussions this works out fantasticly for me. My favorite thing is when she's talking to me and then starts to talk in Twi and doesn't even notice till I look at her with a blank look and she starts to laugh. I understand her so well now. And Pa Kojo too (Marian's younger brother that's been staying with us). At first I had the darndest time trying to understand him.

Mom, you'll be happy to know that I've tried to be more help at home playing with the kids, helping with home work, opening the gate, etc. I'm trying to watch and learn how and what to do.

I still can't get over the lizards here. They're everywhere. Just yesterday Sedinam came to me screaming and crying saying that there were lizards in a bucket making noise. So, I went over and sure enough there were two lizards there staring at me. I cracked up and let them go. The kids are so afraid of them. If my brothers were there all they'd do all day is chase them and catch them and make them homes in boxes. I've tried to think of a way to smuggle some on the plane, but I've failed thus far. Dumb terrorists. Now I really have no chance of taking one on. I mean if you can't take a bottle of water on I imagine a lizard no matter how small is no easy feat.

Michael, I don't know if you've bothered to read this, but my mom said you called for me the other day. wow, how are ya? It's been a while. Still like tickle me pink crayons? I can't believe you're in messengers? Is Mrs.B getting desperate? j/k. I didn't know you could sing. drop me a line if you want. Ask Carrie for my email. Can't post it, I'll get a bunch of psychos hunting me down. However I think they'd really have a difficult time finding me. Glad you still remember me. :)

Pa Kojo and I went to buy some credit for my phone the other night and there were ppl selling porridge. Well, muslim porridge. I guess they eat it a lot during Ramadan (which just ended by the way). It's gray, has the consistancy of pudding that's not quite set and tastes the way the herbal section of wild oats smells. I've never tasted such a combination of spices before. It was more fascinating than anything, like nothing I've tasted before. It's made out of millet and an array of spices, the only one I was able to make out was ginger. Intersting. Whenever someone eats in front of you they said "please, you're invited". At first I was like what? I'm invited to what? Then I figured it out. I'm not really a big food sharing type especially here, but when I'm hungry and think it's safe I take a bite. Thus far I haven't gotten sick. A white lady I talked to said I need to soak all the fruits and vegetables I eat in a clorox solution, but I haven't with everything and thus far I'm not sick. I still try to avoid eating a lot of produce, but especially pineapple is just to hard for me to resist.

I'm really starting to like it here and can't believe that I'll only be here for about 2 more months. I kind of think I'd like to stay longer, but it just seems it'll be impossible w/college applications and school. We'll see. I guess everything will just figure itself out.

I knew once I got here that when I got home I'd either be totally addicted to traveling or plant my feet on the ground and vow never to leave the USA again. Well, it seems that I'll have to find some line of work that is international because I am still dying to see the rest of the world. In fact I was watching a documentary on the middle east and India (is India part of the middle east or considered part of Asia?) and now I really want to go and spend a few months there. Talk about a fascinating culture. I'm also determined to be multi lingual. English, Spanish, hopefully Twi (i'm working on it, but it sure is different), and many more. It's beginning to seem so limited speaking only one language.

My views are definetely changing and I am really learning so much. I know I've made the right choice by coming here and I'm glad that I did. It will definetely be weird going back to lone peak. I am so not looking forward to going back to the high school seen. bleh.

Hope you're all doing well. Miss ya all.

quick again

I went to the orphanage yesterday and worked for four hours. There is absolutely no structure besides sitting down to color one picture and a nap time where the kids lay on mats on the floor and 1/2 sleep and the other half bug those that aren't. It's really an awful situation there. What the kids really need is structure, love, attention and positive reinforcement. All of which are missing there. I hope to be of some help but with so many kids being kept in such a way it's hard to believe that you're really doing any of them any good. There is another "obroni" (white) there volunteering. She came from Canada for that reason. She's been there for about 2 weeks and has seemed to have gotten the hang of things, so I guess there's hope. Sanitation is really an issue too. kids share water, cups, food, runny noses-it's really pretty nasty. I have to keep myself from thinking about it ( I hold their hands that they wipe and eat with) or I freak out. It should be an intersting experience. Today I met with the administrator at Seffie's old school just a street away. Tomorrow I'll go there for two hours to have a kind of orientation and recieve some materials to read about the school. Then I'll spend two days a week there helping the 1-3 year olds starting next week. I think it'll be rewarding. The administrator was very nice and quite accomadating. I also am getting involved in the church literacy program at the church offices when I go with Marian to work after the orphanage. I'll be binding books and laminating things and putting kits together. That should be fun too. Some days here I think I'd like to stay the whole year and others I think I'd better get a ticket back real soon. I'm glad to be here though. Love you all.

sad sad sad

I visited the orphanage today that I might work at. The moment I walked all the kids ran to me and grabbed onto my legs and hands and asked me to hold them. They're all probably 2-5 years. They are so cute and are so desperate for attention. Apparently they run wild most of the time and it's total chaos there. I can't imagine not having any parents to love you and being just one among 50 kids who are so desperate for attention that anyone walks in the door and begging them for love. poor things.

a quick update

I have 9 minutes to make a post, so it'll be short.
1. Marian is scared I"m going to get malaria, so she had a guy put up a net. I like it, it's kind of like the princess bed you've always dreamed of as a kid. we'll, if you're a girl anyways...
2. The humidity is killing my face. Acne is taking over. I'm kind of freaking out. I swear when I get home I'll never complain about a few zits on my forehead again.
3. After a cold shower everyday in the morning I will never look at hot showers again the same way. At night showers aren't too bad as it's really hot, but in the morning it's still cool, which makes for one cold awakening. (u have to bathe 2x a day because of the humidity and dust)
4. unlimited "free" internet at home will seem like such a luxury.
5. It's really hot
6. The currency change here is really interesting. They changed it this past July and now what was previously 10,000 cedis is now 1 cedi, but they use both old and new currency, which is making it that much more difficult to learn how the money works.
7. The hot boy behind me at school talked to me a lot on Tuesday and said that once he knows me better he'd love to show me around so that I feel more comfortable here. I'm ok with that idea. As long as in a while from now it appears safe...
8. I have 3 minutes left. gotta hurry.
nope, now it's 2 mins. gotta go or i'll lose all of this! miss and love you all!

a quick update