Gratitude

Alright.. here's a gratitude list that Abbie wrote for her blog.. I helped!! and we both agree on all of them pretty much.. some things are easier to be grateful for living in the city, and others more grateful for living in the country.. haha. Surprisingly, the technology is one that we have less in the city!! Not because its the city, but simply because Josh and I don't have cell phones yet, or access to the internet outside of work. Anyhow.. here it is!

1 Week 2 Days

Certain opportunities in life make you extremely grateful for certain things. This is what we (as the Utah State Seed “obronis” in Ghana) have decided we are grateful for.

1. Milk – good ol’ hometown milk straight (or relatively straight) from the cow. We don’t care if it’s whole milk, 2% or skim, we will never take it for granted again. The only milk you can get here is evaporated milk or UHT (Ultra Heat Treated) milk – not the greatest for drinking or even eating cold cereal with.

2. Cheese – they just don’t have it. Luckily for us, Joey and Emily had heard that it’s non-existent here and they actually brought some. The only problem is that it’s so hot here and the refrigerators aren’t cold enough to keep it “hard”, so eating slices of it is completely out of the question – it can only be used in food where it melts – so that is still something we’re allowed to miss.

3. Brownies, cakes, doughnuts, muffins – ANYTHING with flour in it that is sweet and baked.

4. Ice, slushies, ice cream, popsicles or anything that we would LOVE on a hot, sweaty day. It’s basically unheard of to find something REALLY COLD here.

5. Smooth, dry skin, and really, just DRY! Everything is wet and sticky. Pretty sure we haven’t had a time here where we don’t have a couple drops of sweat somewhere… GROSS! And if that wasn’t enough, the bug spray makes the clammy humid feeling STICKY. YUM!

6. Not having to worry about cultural norms. At some point we’ll figure out the African culture completely… hopefully.

7. A blow dryer and straightener – both of which we COULD use, but do absolutely NO good!

8. Texting… (from Lindsie) – a sign of a social life and an easy time waster.

9. Paved, smooth and working roads. We won’t ever complain about the crack in the road or even the Utah construction anymore.

10. Drinkable tap water – what a luxury!

11. A shower curtain or shower that you can actually stand up in. Our shower has no curtain and the cord to the shower is too short to be able to stand up and reach your head, so you have to crouch.

12. English – American English – (all grammar included) – ‘nuf said

13. Washer and dryer. We actually DO have a washer here, but it leaks like crazy, and then there’s no dryer, so it all has to hang outside until it dries and you have to pray it doesn’t rain while you’re waiting.

14. Snow-capped, rocky mountains. A sign of cool weather.

15. Blending in – we don’t have a prayer!

16. Air conditioning and really, anything that would cool you down. Don’t think I’ve ever been so hot for so long in my life.

17. Power. Consistent, reliable, anytime, cheap power. The last 2 days we have been powerless for who knows how many hours. Today it went out at 10am (while we were at church) and didn’t come back on until after 6pm, and yesterday was about the same story. It was the worst at church though – I’ve never gotten so hot and tired so quickly – those fans are a definite MUST! And anytime it rains or even threatens to rain (which is also quite often) the power also goes off. So basically, you have to take advantage of the power you get.

Anyway, these are just a few of the things we are so grateful to have in our lives. We may not have them right now, but knowing they exist and someday will have them back makes us even more thankful for them.

But no worries – we love it here. It is such a wonderful opportunity for us to be here, and we are grateful for the many things we have been able to learn. We know that God has had a hand in getting us here and know that He will be with us the whole way.

Weekend in Abomosu!

Staying in Abomosu!

Its been a long time since I've written... ( a week I suppose) I'm actually writing on Abbie's computer, and decided to just write about this weekend... so here it is!

Friday night I was able to catch Abbie on facebook, and she told me Stephen Abu (the son of the family she is staying with) was driving up from Accra to Abomosu to visit his parents! This created an awesome opportunity for Josh and I to get a ride up with him and visit with the other Utah State interns. These guys have a slightly different project than us. Josh and I are working with Kingsbridge, and acting as their interns; basically just doing whatever they want us to. These interns (Spencer and Joey, and their wives Abbie and Emily) are staying in a village, and have basically just been assigned to find ways to help business here, and have some money to dispense the way they best see fit.

The drive up was really nice because we drove with Stephen, his brother in law and sister, and their two kids, along with one other student here from Canada working with autism. We were able to practice some of our Twi and have it corrected by people who speak Twi as their main language. Everyone we are working with in Accra are Ga, so they speak Ga, Twi, and English. However, because Twi is more like a second language to them, they cannot correct our Twi very well, the way that Stephen’s family can. Helping us with specific pronunciations, etc.

Also the drive is beautiful… more what you think of with Africa. Mountains and large trees, mostly palm-like trees. We’re driving through the jungle.. well, sort of. It was beautiful though, and no picture I could take would do it justice. There were many little communities along the way, very small, and much more primitive than Accra or Abomosu. They were really cool to see, I want to maybe visit one someday. It sounds like they’re farming communities.

Being here has been fun, the village is so much different than Accra! Farms, trees, lots of goats everywhere, and all the children here saying “obroni!” (which means white). In Accra I haven’t been called much of anything by people, and we’re always in the car so we don’t interact so much with people. Here they walk everywhere, and each corner children are saying “obroni, obroni coco!” (coco meaning fair.. so.. very white J ).

We went to church here, it is all spoken in English and Twi. People talk slower in church, and so I could actually understand some of the words they were speaking when they would talk in Twi! There was a little girl that came and sat on my lap for most of the meeting (she’s become friends with Emily), and she enjoyed exploring my hair, face, hands, necklace, and arms. She discovered a mole on my arm which I think confused here a lot. Its dark, just like her, but it’s just a little dark spot on my very white body. She tried pinching it, like trying to squish a bug on my arm, she tried wiping it off, etc. It was funny to watch. The only bad news was that the power was off for 2 hours of church. With no fans running.. Ghana is very very hot. We were all dying in there. It was interesting to listen to them talk about savings, budgets, and including both the husband and wife in money planning.

We walked down to the river, down all these little paths past people’s houses. We walked through the farm owned by the Abu’s (the family they’re living with) and even got to talk to someone about a business/loan opportunity. He runs a concrete brick business up here, and needs a loan to buy the supplies to make the rest of his bricks to fulfill an order. We visited his business and discussed his past loans and plans for the future. I’m hoping we can connect him with Kingsbridge, but it looks like a rough match.

Josh and I were supposed to go home today, and just take a cho-cho (taxi-ish service) but we waited too long and missed any good opportunities to leave. Now we’re here for another night! So its time for another night of playing card games. Last night included some jolly ranchers and granola bars – which were met with much delight. Lol. Much more than is really warranted. We’ve only been here a week and already American food is a treasure. We talked about brownies last night (I have a mix at home) and how we will make them sometime. Then today for Joey and Emily’s anniversary, the couple missionaries brought some over! Brownies are good stuff..

Big Religion. Big Companies.

Well, its quarter to 1 here in Accra, and I just got off the phone with my family. I’m sure my mother would be disheartened to know that this, this is the time I get the bug to write. Talking with my family highlighted even more how much I have not written for this week.

I figured I should write about my adventures at a university, M.U.C.G.’s. I actually don’t remember at all what it stands for, but I’m sure its Methodist something. It is a private Methodist university, and they teach all kinds of subjects – psychology, history, business, technology, etc. Mannasseh attended another branch of this same school for his college experience, and wanted us to meet with one of their vice principals. Again, this was one of those great times where I got to be in my ‘education’ element. I know what questions to ask, and how to relate to the people better. Even more so when the school’s have that religious touch (something nearly everything here has). Actually, I think I’ll use that tangent for a moment, because its important in understanding Ghana. There are many many religions here. Most are Christian, but I swear I’ve never seen so many churches in my life – and that’s not just due to being raised in Utah. There are the churches you would expect, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian (affectionately called “the Presby”), but also the Lighthouse church, Assembly of God, and then churches with Christian sounding phrases for names. (I can’t even think of any off hand.. though driving to work I’ll easily see a dozen of them.) In addition to their churches, their shops are all named after gospel words or ideas. The “love and joy store”, “Jesus Loves you Salon”, “In God we Trust” seamstress shop, “In His Hands” something or another shop… everything is focused back toward religion. And if not directly toward religion it has the word joy, love, happiness, or peace in it. Even the main radio station is called “Love FM”. Despite all of the religion around though, I have not heard many people speak specifically of their religion. I’m sure this is in part because I’m working with a business where I want to know about your financial standing, and financial goals.. but I’m not sure how widely discussed religion is.

In addition to having religious and ‘feel good’ names of everything, the politics here are very.. nice. There have been 2 small political ‘scandals’ while I’ve been here. The first was that someone compared the President to a chimpanzee. The second was that a famous rapper in the music awards made a comment that “more people listen to me than to the President”. Both remarks were met with at least half hour talk shows on the radio, people calling and texting in, frustrated that someone would be so low and rude to say such a thing about the President. Comments like “we need to sanitize our political talk” are coming out of the radio, and I just can’t believe it. Obama would be thrilled if that were all the worse he was being called by media personnel throughout the country. They have a lot of respect for free speech as well, but suggest that, you don’t need to be disrespectful about it.

Also, oil is a big new industry here. Oil companies are moving in and the people are getting nervous. Will oil actually bring money to the country? Is it creating a rich group in the center of poor villages? One radio comment was about the oil spill going on currently in the Gulf of Mexico (they are also very international about their news) and that there could be harmful effects if the oil company is too big to care about its people. A caller suggested that whomever comes in should have some list of traits.. probably only 4 requirements, but one of those 4 was that they should be God fearing. How interesting that it is such a high priority. In the US someone would laugh at hearing such a statement made with such sincerity. Here, it is part of life.

Another big company made a big step in Ghana. Google is creating a translator option into Twi. This has people excited here. Google, a huge, powerful company, cares about them. Cares about adding their language to the internet. The radio MP was pretty impressed. Google is also very smart about coming to Ghana  Last night there was a story about a 4 year old girl who has cancer in her eyes.. She has had one surgery before removing one of her eyes, and now without another surgery is not expected to live out the month. A program had been made talking with doctors, her family, etc. and shared over the radio to try and raise money. The amount needed was 3,000 Ghana Cedis. (pronounced “seedys”). This is about.. 2,200 US Dollars. Google paid the full amount, and then all the money the family raised in addition could help for past medical bills. So, for $2,200 Google has established itself as a company that cares about the individual lives of the ‘regular people’ that they serve. Big hit. Very smart.

Alright Mom, you were right. Now I should go to bed.  I’ll write about M.U.C.G.’s tomorrow. Goodnight all.

Picture at work - visiting Daniel, a man who does susu. To the right are Manasseh - the CEO and my host, and Ivy.

So Much to Tell

Anyone worried I wouldn't have enough to eat here? Well, worry no more. Breakfast alone comes on 3-4 plates and includes 4 pieces of braed, and some combination of hot dogs and beans, a malt-type oatmeal, fresh fruit, eggs, and salad. More than I can eat, that much is certain! I have now officially cleared my plate once! and that is because it was on the table and I was actually able to serve myself... ;) Josh (my internship partner) was able to clear his plate once when it was served to us - and the response was a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Elizabeth, the mother of the house, an an exclaimation that "now we are getting somewhere!" The food so far has been good, and since there is no way I can eat it all, I can be slightly choosy about what dishes I finish. (For those who are laughing at me eating hot dogs and beans in the mornings, I do not feel bad about not touching those at all...) Dinner has been rice with some meat an vegetables on top in a spicy tomato sauce. Also, chicken and french fries. The family serves us dinner in the front room, brings us our plates, and leave. Josh and I are left ot eat by ourselves most of the time (yesterday for lunch, Mannaseh ate with us.) We're not sure when or where they usually eat instead, but we rarely see anyone at that time, unless they come to ask if we are alright. I'm pretty sure I haven't been asked if I'm alright so many times a day as I am here... it is a constant question. In fact, I've been asked it 5 times while sitting here so far this morning at work. Sitting here typing away, or pausing, or waiting for something to load, I am asked, are you ok?

Most of the people we have talked to understand English, but we hae a hardr time understanding them. We can figure it out most of the time, but I feel so bad when I don't understand! The family is teaching us some Twi (pronounced 'tree', the predominant language in Accra, along with Ga), but they say the words quickly and Josh and I have to be a quick study. I'm finding myself trying to recognize words in Twi, and after they repeat it about 3 times I realize they were speaking English the whole time! And Spanish keeps interrupting! My confidence in Spanish is soaring as I realize all the things I can say in Spanish when I am trying to speak something in Twi. It isn't always displacing what I am trying to learn, but I find myself thinking in Spanish frequently, and have responded "no se que dice!" (I don't know what you're saying) several times to Josh. (I think my brain just likes to console itself, it feels smart when I can at least answer in Spanish, even though it isn't getting Twi.) (Alan - I am conjugating!)

The house I am staying at is very nice. All the floors are tiled, with high ceilings, a fan and air conditioner in each room. I sleep with the air conditioner on, and it feels like I"m at home - cool and dry. Only when I step outside my bedroom door in the mornings to I remember I'm living in a sauna. It's not especially hot outside, it is really just the humidity that gets you - and that's what hits me right when I step outside of my room, or out of the car, or an air conditioned building. It feels like stepping into a bathroom right after someone got out of the shower - with the mirror all fogged up. The humidity is enough that even the locals carry around handkerchiefs to wipe their foreheads (a point that makes me feel better about feeling so hot.)

The family I'm staying with is very nice as well. Mannaseh (I will probably change how I spell his name all the time) and Elizabeth, and their two children Ann and Andy. Ann (3-4 years old) has become my buddy pretty quickly - after a few initial hours of silence - but isn't used to sharing anything with her little brother. (She is a pro at sounding like she's crying when she's really not, and can be a stubborn little kid.) Andy is just under a year and is very cute. I don't see him as much - he is usually wrapped up on his mother's back, (yes everyone does that here) or is tucked away taking a nap or something.

As for the people here, it is fun to drive or walk around and wave at all the kids. They totally light up and usually wave or say hello back when either Josh or I say hi. A little boy actually stopped in his tracks and just stared at me as I walked past, and kept walking. Josh told me yesterday a guy on his bike was staring at me, enough that Josh was just waiting for him to totally biff it on his bike (which didn't happen, and I didn't even notice this entire incident.) The people are very nice, and I haven't noticed anyone who just stares, though most people look. Its the little kids that can't help it. I love seeing the kids though, because even those who may be bashful or shy just can't help but crack a smile.

We are also asked decently often if we have been to Ghana before. When we reply no, they seem pretty surprised, and then when they learn neither of us have been to Africa before at all, they are even more surprised. For us, Africa is a cool place that you don't really think about visiting as a tourist, unless you're doing something particularly exotic. But here, Africa is a most practical place to come.

Monday at the office Junior took Josh and I for a walk around the market just outside of the office. They ar emostly selling foods - all kinds of food. Others sell shoes, bags, or shirts. We stopped and talke dot a few business owners hwo have loans with Kingsbridge. One in particular is butcher. He has several pens of chickens, and slaughters cows as well. We had the privilege of seeing a butchered cow in pieces on the table. It was in a room with burlap fabric hanging over the open spaces/windows, with slots in the fabric. The place was totally covered in flies, and is a testament to why I have been tld to avoid eating meat while here. Unfortunately, our hosts do not agree. They tell us that the meat is safe, and that we should not worry about it. We have trusted it when Elizabeth has made it for us, but have definiely been reminded to be careful.

Ghana looks a lot like the portrayal of Rwanda in the movie Hotel Rwanda. Red dirt roads with the occassional goat, dog, or chickens in the street, and lots of small shops everywhere. The roads here are horrible. In the capital they are paved and nice, but just outside the capital, even the highway is only a dirt road. Apparently the government contracted out paving the highway to the Chinese, and they are very very slow. The contract began about 4 years ago. Because of all the dirt roads, a 20 minute drive will take well over an hour. We drove out far enough away from home to hit a paved road, and I felt like we were driving pretty fast, especially considering all the people around. I looked over at the spedometer, and we were only going 25 mph!! Transportation can be a major problem, and it simply takes forever to get from point A to B, regardless of the actual distance covered. I wonder how much money these guys could be saving if only the roads were good and paved. Even only the highway or major roads. Aside from being difficult to drive on, the roads typically have some garbage in them. Mostly small black plastic sacks that hae been wakled into the ground, if not water bottles and wrappers. The streets are totally lined with people selling their wares. Everywhere people are selling something. I wonder where it all comes from, because no one seems to be growing or making this stuff, just selling it day after day on the streets.

Haha, I pulled out Swedish fish tonight to eat while watching the beginning of a movie. I gave some to Ann, the little girl. She decided she didn't like them. So instead of eating them she took them out of the little baggie I had them in and passed them out back and forth to Josh and I.

The family we are staying with also seems surprised at how little we watch TV. Most of the time it is on no one is really watching it. They're not talking or anything else per say, but there is no connection to what is happening on the screen and it can be turned off at any moment. We explained that we don't really have much TV while up at school. A lot of what is playing though is very international. We watched part of a European soccer game with Ghanaian commentators, and get a lot of international news. There are a lot of Nigerian movies and TV shows.

Good Parts of the Flight

The flight.. was an adventure. If you want to read about it, its in the post just below this one. But if you only want the good news, the highlights of the flight so to speak, here they are.

Met a missionary headed to the Accra, Ghana MTC. Saw 2 other Elders doing the same thing. First missionary I met actually did some missionary work in the airport.. though it wasn't looking very promising.. the man he was talking to seemed annoyed and upset..

Met a little 5 year old boy - Joshua. This was while waiting for the bus. (2 hours.) His parents are from Ghana, but he has never visited it, and is very excited. We did all kinds of good luck things to get the bus to come.. danced, crossed our fingers, pretended to throw salt over our shoulder..

Even the next morning at the airport we were buddies. He watched my stuff for me when I left to get breakfast. ;)

Our frustration with Delta brought our little flight of people together. At the airport in the morning we all recognized each other and said hello in the halls and shops. Felt like a little community, and was pretty funny.

Flew first class on a very long flight. After sleeping for several hours, I talked a lot with my neighbor. A man named Kofi. (A traditional name here for boys born on Friday. Not everyone follows this tradition, but it is decently common.) He has been living in the United States for awhile. He came here for college, bachelors and master's degree, and has been working. Now he is moving home to Ghana, hopefully permanently. We talked about religion and the Book of Mormon, and the church for a bit over 2 hours. It went very very well, and I really enjoyed talking to him. He didn't want to take my copy of the Book of Mormon - it has a note in the front - but promised to accept the next one he saw, and I believe him. I also have his phone number and email address, and will make sure that he gets one personally from me ;)

After discussing the Book of Mormon we talked on many other topics. He also taught me a few words in Twi, which was great.

The last happy thing : we landed!!! We finally got here. :)

How to Get to Accra

I learned that getting to Ghana is much more difficult than it would seem.. after buying plane tickets, getting a visa, being immunized for everything people can think of, finding my passport, packing for a 3 month stint in a foreign country, and getting to the airport on time.. how difficult could it be?
Here is my experience:

Salt Lake City : Flight is cancelled due to volcanic ash.

Salt Lake City: After 2 hours of searching, flight is rescheduled for Wednesday night at 1 am.

Salt Lake City : Fly out.

Atlanta Airport : 2 hours of sleep. 4 hours of waiting. Meet a girl from Texas also going to Accra.

Atlanta : Fly first class. Fed huge lunch on a 2 hour flight. Happy.

New York : Meet missionary going to Ghana. Meet more girls from Texas going to Ghana.

New York : Sit on the plane for an hour at the terminal.

New York : Taxi out, wait for over an hour while they decide a backup system is failling.

New York : Take us back to the terminal, and don't tell us anything.

New York : Find a new terminal to wait at. Get food vouchers.

New York : Give us another flight time to leave. 11:15 pm. Current time 6:15 pm.

New York : Wait 5 hours at the terminal. At 11:30, they tell us the plane has been rescheduled for 8 am. Begin cursing Delta.

New York : Get hotel vouchers. Wait 2 hours for hotel shuttle to come. Curse Delta more.

New York : Get to the hotel. 39 rooms available - more than 80 people. 50 people without rooms.

New York : Wait another hour for the next bus. Meet very upset music people from Berkley.

New York : Get to new hotel. Front of the line. Offer my room to any others who won't get a room.

New York : Get to room, shower. Get to bed at 3:45 am. Curse Delta a lot.

New York : Get up at 4:45 to catch the 5:30 shuttle airport. Half hour of sleep, stupid Delta.

New York : Almost don't get through security because our ticket is listed for the previous day.

New York : Get on plane on time.

New York : Wait on the plane an extra hour for the third pilot. Delta.. after all this.. you can't get us out on time??

New York : Take off. Fly first class because of volcanic ash on Monday.

Accra, Ghana : Arrive. Met by 3 wonderful guys who recognized us, and attacked us with hugs and handshakes.


Long story short: Curse Delta. Long delays. No sleep. Good ending.

Volcanic Ash Detours

Well, I'm happy to say that, though I would not yet have landed in Ghana... I have not even departed. Thank you volcanic ash! Getting to the airport was uneventful, but getting the kiosk to process my boarding pass resulted only in saying that the kiosk was having some kind of malfunction. This led us to talking with one of the employees who, upon learning that my flight was to Amsterdam, asked if we would be contented with a vacation somewhere else instead - perhaps Germany. Unfortunately, Amsterdam was only a stepping stone to Ghana; and Germany would not be able to fulfill this same purpose.

Going over to the counter to re-book our flights, several options were mentioned. Each option leaving at least 12 hours after the preceding option. 2 hours later I'm booked to leave Wednesday night just before 1 am.

Now I have nearly 3 full days to enjoy the United States.

Alright, its the night before I leave, I should have butterflies, be stressed or nervous, packing furiously, realizing I had questions no one previously knew existed, eating that precious food I won't have for 3 months, or enjoying my boyfriend's arms for those last few hours right?

Instead I'm relaxing on the couch, wondering if I should eventually make my way back downstairs to finish up that last little bit of packing. Not really nervous or worried at the moment, though I was earlier today. Really, its just too surreal, there's no way I'm taking a plane to the other side of the world, ha, funny. My family is going to play some games tonight, so that should be fun, a nice way to enjoy the evening. The bean game, family classic. Probably 'Survivor' finale after; at least that's what will be playing upstairs when I finally decide to make it back downstairs and try to pack along some brownie mix.

Trying to visit people, read "The Travels of a T-shirt", and almost done with my apparently extensive shopping list..

I finally got my last shots yesterday, just in time to start taking my anti-malarial pills!

Hello world of anyone who has the interest, bravery, or boredom that brings them to my blogging page. I'm starting this page to document my travels, beginning in Accra, Ghana. I'm leaving a week from tomorrow. It's still pretty unbelievable and unreal, but it's beginning to become more real. The length of a summer, the differences in culture, and distance from anyone I know are beginning to come into focus.

I have some more shopping and visiting with friends and family until I leave. Otherwise.. bring it on. The summer in Ghana awaits.