Missing Africa; One Final Blog.

I realize that I didn’t finish up my blog, and a lot of people have been asking me to write up something to bring it to a close. I actually had some stuff written up that I had journalled in the last few days in Ghana as well as on the plane.

It has been a little over a week since I’ve been back and it hasn’t completely sunk in yet. This week has been insane. My plane landed last Sunday, I moved on Monday, and started work on Tuesday. Since then it has been a whirlwind of working fulltime, starting two online courses for school this summer, and seeing as many people as I could since being back.

I am going to start with the things that I love about Africa because these are the things that I immediately missed as soon as I was back in Canada.

-the weather and its ability to make me a VERY brown girl!

-the laid back lifestyle...always late, no schedules

-the children: they are adorable and loving and the PERFECT people to learn Twi from

-the people: they have such big hearts and are SO helpful

-there are goats everywhere. The best is when they are on a leash with a small child taking them for a walk. They wander the town and they all know where they belong and return home at night.

-the market. You can get ANYTHING there and the busy and friendly atmosphere is one I wouldn’t miss for the world.

-FanMilk: frozen chocolate milk in a bag? YUM! We may have eaten too many, but hey, we had to get our calcium from somewhere!

-Music. It is always playing everywhere, and LOUD. In English, in Twi. Azonto. Sokode. They like to switch it up, but it is always there. Doesn’t matter if the shop next door is also playing their music, and it’s very different...crank it up anyway...

-the colours. They are everywhere and they are bright. Shops, houses, vehicles and clothing. Colours and patterns are a must.

-Fabric. They have beautiful fabric here with amazing patterns and colours. Going to church is the best because every man and women is all decked out in their finest fabrics. Beautiful.

-the lack of inhibition. They pick their noses in public, whip their boobs out in public, the crazy man wears no PANTS in public, they will tell you they love you and ask to be your second husband when you say that you already have one.

-they all want to come to Canada with you. Except they think Canada is above them and in Europe...

-there sense of fashion. Or lack there of. Mixing patterns? No problem. Wear what you want because it doesn’t matter. They think you look nice no matter what.

-the self-esteem boost. Because you are white, they automatically think you are beautiful. That’s right, you can drip with sweat, have gigantic frizzy hair from the heat, smell like crap as if 2 showers a day isn’t enough, have huge boils on your face, and wear absolutely no makeup in town with your least favourite and unflattering outfit and you are STILL the obruni in town and all the guys want a piece. Ya baby.

-cooking dinner outside

-being able to buy anything you want on the road from the car because people walk around selling it from their heads

-people selling things from their heads. Talent right there. I’ve seen huge planks of wood, buckets of water, 50lb suitcases, oversized bowls of 150 pawpaw, sewing machines, packs of firewood, a long and giant branch of bamboo extending 7 ft on either side of their head, purses, school books, cases of coke for 2 thirsty Canadians, and more. I’ve seen it all.

-trotros. I love that they are dangerous, I love that there are so many of them, I love that they go fast, I love that they pile the people into them until literally no one else will fit, I love that you can meet so many people from so many different lifestyles on them, I love that these vehicles were never intended to carry people, and I love that you can travel 3 hours for 3 dollars.

-nature: lizards, mountains, palm trees, cassava trees, cocoa beans, rivers, the ocean, beautiful waterfalls

-thunderstorms: when it rains, it pours. African thunderstorms are the best.

-rising with the sun: refreshing, not something I will continue when I am home, but nice to do for 3 ½ months.

-teaching: being able to be a leader and a role model and getting to share something with these women has been wonderful

-being a student: these women have taught me just as much as I have taught them. About patience, about being a strong woman, about being a woman of the Lord, about being confident, and about striving to achieve all of my goals.

-the women: they are amazing and beautiful and loving. They have taught me so much and I miss them more than any of you can imagine. I have already gotten phone calls from a few of them and I wish I could be there to smile and laugh and share with them every day. They are truly a blessing.

-Petra of course: she has been my sidekick through all of this and we now know WAY too much about the other, but it has been great and lots of fun. Thanks, Pet!

-Auntie Joe and Akua and the Biney’s and Awu and Yaa and Kujo and Uncle Ernest and Auntie Julie and Smart and Belinda. They have all done their part to make us feel welcome and at home and for that I will always be appreciative. I am glad to say that I have a pretty large family in Africa.

Leaving Asamankese was not easy. Auntie Joe was having a hard day and seeing her cry when she said goodbye to us made it impossible to keep my tears inside. Waiting around that morning to leave made my stomach hurt and I didn’t feel like I was going home; I felt like I was leaving my home. Driving with Belinda and Isaac from Asamankese to Accra that morning, it was all that I could do to just soak it all in. I have never stared harder out the window when I was driving. I didn’t want to forget the trees, the mountains, the people, the shops, the children. I didn’t want to forget anything and I didn’t want to leave it behind.

As I look back, I know that Auntie Joe was right; I went to Ghana with a purpose and for a time. I know that I did all that I could to make the most of my time in Asamankese and I loved every minute of it. It was an amazing experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I would do it again in a second. A piece of my heart will always be in Ghana and I will never forget those wonderful people. I hope that although I am gone, they will remember me too and that even though new interns will come and go, none of us is replaceable and we all went there to do something different. We all make our own relationships and we all form our own bonds.

Thank you to everyone who has shared in this experience with me; either by looking at my pictures, reading my blogs, sending me encouraging mail and emails, or just by praying for me. I am thankful to be blessed by so much love and support and I hope that you were able to catch, if but a small glimpse of my love: Asamankese, Ghana. 

MY OH MY, It's May!!

The end is coming way too fast. I am freaking out.

The new interns flew in yesterday so we trotro’d to Accra to meet them at the airport. We met Mary there as well and it was nice to see her there; she brought us brownies and rice krispie squares!!!

We took them to the Accra Mall to get something to eat quick before heading out to Asamankese...the beginning of their trip is so different than ours.

We are happy to see the new interns, but it is weird having them here. It makes our house not feel like home anymore. We are so busy showing them around, telling them things they need to know, teaching them how to get around. It’s tiring. We have to stick it out. I love showing them our town, but at the same time, I don’t want to give it up.

3 months is too short. I have made all these friends, it takes 3 months to get over the language barrier and now when I am finally ready to call this home, it’s time to leave. I almost cried talking to Auntie Joe about it, Yaa is pretending to cry every time she sees us, and everyone in town is asking us when we will leave now that they’ve seen the new obruni’s are in town. It’s sad.

Today we had registration for the new classes and it was so sad that these new women came won’t be with us. It is sad handing all our work over to these girls. I know they are here for a purpose and I know that my time is up, and I AM excited about home but...blaaaaah....

Tomorrow we take them to Cape Coast and see Cape Coast Castle. Beach it in the afternoon. Thursday morning they will go to Kakum and then we will all leave to come back to Asamankese. Friday the new interns will go to Accra with Belinda to learn to use the trotro’s and we get a day to ourselves to pack and say goodbye to everyone, and Saturday we leave. HOLY CRAP. Not ready for this.

4 Sleeps. See you soon, Canada!

The first of the goodbyes...

This is it folks; almost the end.

Thursday we relaxed. We had had a busy few days and we decided to just chill at home for the day. It was weird to not have any plans or anything to plan for!

Petra went to Kujo’s wife’s to fix her dress that didn’t fit and I walked to town and talked with Smart at his work for a couple hours. We actually had a really interesting conversation. We talked about husbands and wives in Ghana. We talked about whether it is common for men to have more than one wife here, how often men get away with abusing their wives here, and how it can be culturally accepted sometimes to beat your children. I asked him his views on that and we talked about what it would be like for people with different cultures to get married; how Ghanaian culture works after you get married. It was really interesting!

Auntie Joe said that I shouldn’t marry a Ghanaian man because they might come to Canada with me but have a wife and kids back home on the side...haha, thanks Auntie Joe.

Friday we went to Accra. If we don’t see them on our very last day, this will be the last time we see the Biney’s. We got there late in the afternoon and it was so much fun to see the boys again. Michael hugged me right away; I’ve missed him a lot!

All the neighbour kids were in the compound and we spent a while outside learning to dance Azonto. The one boy, Junior, is really good at it so the kids all call him the “Azonto Master” but Michael is really bad so they call him the “Azonto Killer” haha.

Then Kwadwo and Michael took their bath and we all watched Madagascar 2. I fell asleep cuddling Michael. I was exhausted! I forgot what it was like living in a small house with 15 people in it again. Very tiring.

The little kids spent an hour fighting about who had girlfriends/boyfriends and trying to figure out their names. Then they started getting embarrassed and started beating each other up. It was funny.  They would whisper the name of who they liked and then get angry at whoever repeated it. Oh to be young again...

We didn’t have water this weekend; makes me thankful for Asamankese. I’d much rather have power outages than be out of water!

We fell asleep to the sound of planes in the sky taking off. That’ll be us in a week from today. One week, Saturday May 5^th at 9pm out plane takes off from Accra. Where has the time gone!?

Tomorrow is our last day alone and we will go to Auntie Joe’s church for the last time. Monday morning we are meeting the new interns at the airport and we will have a full house...and have to babysit for a week. It will be busy and it will go fast. I will be home before I know it; I’ll be starting my crazy, busy summer and I will definitely miss the relaxing schedule of Africa. 

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!

GRADUATION DAY.

What can I say about this day...wow...it was busy, exciting, stressful, happy, sad, and amazing all at the same time.

We had quite a bit to do today so we woke up early. Good thing too, because even though we were on a schedule, Ghanaians don’t care. Leave everything until last minute, it’s okay, no rush...YES. RUSH!

We had to go over to Kujo’s wife’s in the morning, drop off some gifts, pick up some dresses, give her some things that were meant for Kujo but since he was gone he wouldn’t be at graduation. Then we had to go to the bank to change some money. We had to do some photocopying quickly and then get back home to finish other arrangements.

We had to wrap presents, sign certificates and get some final things ready to take the school. We piled the drinks with ice-blocks into coolers, picked up the small cakes that we ordered and called Isaac to help cart it all down the school with his taxi. We borrowed an extra 20 chairs from Auntie Joe and stuck them in the back of the taxi too.

I was NOT wearing bandaids in all the pictures today, so I piled on as much makeup as I could onto the front sore and it disappeared for the most part. The swelling has gone all the way down, it just has the sore left. So it wasn’t too hard to cover. The farther back one I had to leave the bandaid on still, but I wore my hair down to cover it and a big earring so that you didn’t see it as easily.

At 2:15, everything was completely ready and all we had to do was put up some streamers inside the school. We got there, and remember how I mentioned that the men came to put the ceiling up in the school yesterday? Ya...they didn’t finish, nor did they clean anything up. Their work benches, all the long pieces of ceiling tile were still stacked in the school. All the packaging from it was scattered everywhere, the whole place was dusty and the men were nowhere to be found. Disaster.

this is what it looked like 40 minutes before grad was supposed to start

 Again, Africa is all about adjusting to the situation, we decided to completely sweep the compound at the school and have it outside. This was actually ideal today: it had poured rain all morning so it was nice and cool out, the sun wasn’t shining hard on us and for the most part it looked like it was going to be done raining. We had the beautiful mountains in the background and the rainforest all around us...why NOT have the graduation outside?

So we put on our lovely kaba and slits, and we set up the chairs and the tables. We set up the area for the students to display their alphabet books and other work books, and we set up a place for the facilitators to sit.

My Kaba and Slit

The children from the village came for the graduation and they were even all dressed up! It was adorable.

 In good Ghanaian fashion, the women slowly trickled in until about 4 o’clock (supposed to start at 3pm) and then everyone was there except Cynthia. That had me a little nervous since she was exactly 50% of my business class, but we started without her for the sake of everyone else who had been...more on time. Smart came to support us and I gave him my camera, which I am SO glad I did; he took so many great pictures and took videos of the ceremony too! (THANK YOU SMART!)

My Business students and I

The ladies sang “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.” Then my level one students came to the front and recited two bible passages by heart and sang “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” Petra’s level two students came up and each recited a bible passage and then read something from their story books. EXACTLY when it was my business class’ turn, Cynthia arrived. Right on time, better late than never I guess. They recited a bible passage together and each read a little piece about what they had learned about business and why the level two literacy ladies should join the business class next time. They all did such a great job.

Singing Blessed be the Name of the Lord

We gave them each a certificate for their work, a Canadian flag sticker, and a Canadian flag pin. They said they were “true Canadians.” It was cute. We also gave the facilitators their gifts. We got them each 2 yards of fabric so that they can go and make a dress or a shirt and some nice pen sets.

Then the students surprised us! They had ANOTHER kaba and slit made for each of us!!! In Kente cloth; truly African. It was so nice of them and we weren’t expecting it at all. Mine fits perfectly, but Petra couldn’t get her bottom on. It was hilarious, Belinda was yanking it to get it up but it wouldn’t go past her butt. Belinda was giggling and jumping up and down to try and get it on. We will just take it to Kujo’s wife to have it taken out for her. They are beautiful!

My new Kaba and Slit from the students

Then Auntie Joe and Auntie Julie surprised us with more gifts! They got us scarves that say “Welcome to Ghana” on them. They are super nice and bright colours! I love them! We are so blessed.

Auntie Joe, myself, Petra and Auntie Julie

All the women wanted to take pictures with us and it was such a fun day! I honestly can’t believe that this is the last day with them. We will see them at registration again on Tuesday with the new interns, but this was OUR last day with them; they last time that they are just our students. It is bittersweet. I am so proud of all of them for their dedication and energy that they have poured into learning and coming out to classes every Tuesday and Wednesday, but I am sad to leave them. I really hope and encourage all of them to continue learning and to be the women that God has intended them to be! 

If you wanna lose your gut, lie on your belly...

Yesterday was busy. We had to run errands to prepare for graduation, arrange for the printing of all the exams and figure out the order for the graduation ceremony that will take place tomorrow afternoon. We had people to invite, drinks to buy, food to arrange, decorations to figure out. It was exhausting. But it was most definitely for a rewarding purpose.

My face improved a tiny bit. The infection started to come out, which again, sorry that is disgusting. But it is a good thing; means it’s getting better. My face is a little less puffy and less sore for sure, but still looks disgusting.

Smart came over in the evening and brought me ice cream and movies and music to make me feel better. It was sweet of him. He taught Petra and I with Belinda to dance Azonto and Sokode and it was nice to just hang out with people our age for the evening.

This morning was just as busy. We had to pick up all the stuff we printed, wrap some of the gifts for the facilitators and arrange the certificates for tomorrow.

Auntie Joe is very busy arranging for the new interns and Auntie Mary and her nieces to come and is cleaning like crazy. She also has a big funeral the day that we leave that she is preparing for since there are about 30 of her family members coming to stay at her compound. She is planning like a mad woman.

Funny quote from her today: We asked her how she got her stomach so flat since she has had 5 children and she said, “ohh, I don’t want to look fat like all these people over there. (Pointing to absolutely nowhere). So I lie flat on my stomach to make it flat and I eat little little. Those people, they take medication to get sooo plump and look fat but I want to look good and I want to live long so I am healthy.”

Putting the ceiling into the school

This afternoon we had exams. (Belinda helped me put bandaids all over my face to cover the gross parts and I was good to go. Here’s hoping I can go without them tomorrow since a professional photographer is coming to grad). 

all "bandaided" up

All of our ladies showed up which was just wonderful!! There were boys putting the ceiling up in the school today, so we couldn’t have the exam inside. We moved all of the tables and chairs outside on the veranda and had the test there. Africa is all about being able to adjust yourself to the situation haha.

They promised us that they would be done and have it cleaned up by tomorrow for the graduation. Fingers crossed!!! It looks really good though!!

  

New Ceiling!!

All of the women did SO good on their exams! I am so proud of them. A couple of them even got perfect. It was wonderful to see how dedicated they have been through this whole process and how much energy they pour into learning.

writing their exams outside the school

Auntie Mary, Kwadwo peed on the front porch of your school today. His mom, Emelia is in my class and she just threw sand over it. Lovely ain’t it?

Kwadwo

Jacqueline, one of my level one students gave me a beautiful Ghana bracelet with the Ghanaian flag and wooden beads to say thank you. It is so nice!

On the way home from class, Jacqueline and I speak French.  I teach her English in class and she helps me practice my French on the way home. It is a perfect arrangement. She asked me how I got the cut on my knee and I explained my little mishap with the monkey in Busua Beach. She laughed and then asked if I had seen the monkey at the neighbours yet...WHAT!? Ladies and Gentlemen, there has been a monkey living down the road from us for 3 months and we didn’t even know about it!! The kids pick it up and hit it and throw it around...it doesn’t bite them...only me I guess...

MONKEY

Pray for us and all the women as they prepare for graduation tonight. They will be practicing their readings and songs, memorizing their bible verses, and inviting some of their families. They may be nervous tomorrow so please keep that in mind as you pray for them as well. For some of them, it may be the last time we see them which is kind of sad; it just shows how close we really are to the end and that is a little bit scary at times. These women have all weaved their way into my heart in a different way and I will definitely be sad to leave them.

Sokode-de-de, Sokode-de-de...

Okay, let’s recap the last few days...

Wednesday was our last literacy class with the women. That is crazy to me, time has gone so quickly. We reviewed with the women to prepare for their final exam that they will write on Tuesday so that they can graduate on Wednesday.

Petra and I also picked up our Kaba and Slit’s Wednesday. They are beautiful. Pictures to come (we are wearing them to graduation)!

Thursday morning, Petra and I left bright and early for Busua Beach. We were allowed one more weekend vacation before we went home, so we picked our favourite place, crossed our fingers for good weather, and set off for the super long trotro ride to the best beach in the world for one last tan.

It takes a really long time and it will definitely make it seem not worth the ride at all, but here goes:

-Take a 2 hr trotro ride to Accra

-Take a 4 hr trotro ride to Takoradi

-Take a 40 min trotor ride to Agona

-take a 15 min taxi ride to Busua.

All for one day at the beach.

Friday morning I woke up with a swollen face and hard infection underneath my skin. Sounds disgusting right? Looked exactly how it sounds...and hurt about 3 times as much. I was at the beach though, so couldn’t really do anything about it. I recruited a couple of girls from the town that spoke decent English to show me where I could buy some Aloe Vera rub to put on it until I got home. That pulled a bit of the infection out, but I didn’t have Tyelonol with me for the pain, so I didn’t sleep at all the entire weekend.

Friday evening we went for dinner at the Alaskan Beach Resort and they have a nice monkey on a leash there...or so I thought...I went to take a picture of it and it wasn’t looking at me. So I yelled at it. It didn’t like that and lept up, grabbed and clawed my leg and then proceeded to bite my knee. Guess that’s why it was on a leash? Folks, learn from me, do NOT provoke a monkey. It wasn’t tooooo bad of a bite, but it hurt, and freaked me out for a split second...and bled.

This is the monkey; right before he bit me and right after I yelled at him

Saturday we made our long way back to Asamankese. When I got back in the compound, my face was gigantic and all I wanted was some painkillers to I looked at Auntie Joe, gave her half a wave and then marched right by her to go inside and drug myself.

No such luck. She noticed, and right away assumed that a man hit me. Nope, just have retarded skin...She said, “that place, Busua Beach, it is NOT good for you. It gives you pomples.” “No, Auntie Joe, it gives me pimples, and these aren’t pimples. My face is MASSIVE!”

Me, being stupid, picked at them like crazy, figuring that the infection in the inside just needed to come out and then it’d be fine. Again, no such luck. I was in so much pain I almost puked. Lovely eh?

Belinda took me to the pharmacy in town and for 5 cedis (which is like $3.50ish CAN) I got my antibiotics for the next 5 days. I have to take 2 pills, 3 times a day. I think that’s a little extreme, but if it will shrink my face back to normal, I am down. I also got this face cream called FunBact but everyone always calls it FanBat...weird...but it seems to be pulling the infection out in combination with the 3 times a day that Belinda soaks my face with steaming hot salt water...they are taking good care of me. And I am a suck I have realized.

Belinda, soaking me with boiling salt water until I puke

I told the guy at the pharmacy that if these drugs killed me, I would come after him. He looked surprised first, then a little worried, and then he laughed. I am not sure if he thought I was serious or not, but at the time when I said it, I think I sounded pissed because I was in so much pain. I also miiiight have snapped at the cab driver and told him to stop looking at my face when he gave me a quizzical look...pain makes me grumpy I have realized...I was just embarrassed.

this is from this morning (Sunday). It was double the size yesterday evening

This morning I didn’t have to go to church. Auntie Joe wouldn’t let me actually....she told me I looked yucky and that people would laugh at me. Super nice eh? No, but it’s true. I did look gross and puffy and people WERE laughing at me.

Belinda and I bonded over doing laundry and Rihanna playing the background. She helped me do ALL of my laundry. I packed all my clothes except a few in my bags already now so that I only have to wash a few pieces of clothing. Most of what I left out I am not taking back home with me so that I can make it dirty and then NOT have to wash it...smart ehhh?

I also cleaned my entire room to prepare for the new girls to come and for us leaving since this week and next will be super busy.

Junior and Kate

This is Junior, rockin the new Jets tshirt I gave him

I had my last business class today. Anita brought her two kids, Junior and Kate, and Cynthia brought her son, Sharon. Uncle Ernest stopped by to visit AND, this is exciting, he took the day off from elections to come to graduation on Wednesday!! YAY! SO happy.

I also got all my favourite African songs on my computer now too. Azonto, Sokode. Oh the joy.

13 sleeps til home time. Auntie Mary comes in a week from today, the new interns come in a week from tomorrow. This is nuts.

Tomorrow will be super busy. We have to completely prepare for graduation. The exams are Tuesday and grad is Wednesday. Fri/Sat we go to Accra to say goodbye to the Biney’s, Monday we pick up the interns from the airport and then begins our last week here. It will go fast, I am sure of it.

Au Revoir. 

Auntie Joe: Advice 102

Today was very overcast so I got to wear pants all day long!!! Big shocker. It was lovely. I miss wearing pants and hoodies.

This morning I got up and went to buy some bofroot for breakfast. I was sitting with Auntie Essie and Belinda, waiting for them to cook when a whole bunch of the kids from the village came over and sat down with us. One of the girls, she must have been around 9 years old had a 2 month old baby on her back. I asked if I could hold him and they just handed him right over. His name is Calvin. He didn’t cry at all and wasn’t scared of me like a lot of the babies are; most scream at the sight of an obruni. I handed Calvin back to the little girl and she grabbed his arm, swung him up on her back and tied him place with her fabric...I am not so sure how good that is for a little tiny baby’s arm to be swung up like that, but the kids just cling to their backs and are almost stuck there like a magnet. I am bringing some 2yrd pieces of fabric back since a couple people were interested in seeing how the kids are tied onto their backs.

The power went off around 9am today and didn’t go back on until about 4:30pm. The fans were all off, so being outside was much cooler. Plus, being overcast and about to rain, it was super nice out today. Ironic because that kind of weather at home is considered crappy, but here it is warmly welcomed.  I read my book a lot today and then got my lessons ready for class later on.

While we were sitting outside, Auntie Joe came up to us and wanted to talk. We started talking about raising kids and discipline as a parent. It ended up being a 3 hour conversation all about her family. She said that it is so important to show your kids to be well behaved and have good discipline because you are their role model and they will follow you.

She says that if you bring forth (get knocked up), then your kids will see that and THEY will bring forth when they are young too and then their children won’t be educated and they will bring forth early too.

She said when her children were growing up and old enough to go to work, she would call them to make sure they were actually at work....EVERYDAY! Sounds a little bit drastic right? Get this, she also asked to talk to their boss each day to make sure that they weren’t lying to her and that they were actually at work. She always knew where they were and always made sure they weren’t lazy.

She said it was important for men to learn to cook, and even if they are bad at it, as their wife you have to praise them for it because they tried to do something on their own. She also added that someday you will make something that tastes like crap too and your husband will eat it anyway because he loves you, so you have to return the favour.

Next she came to naming your children. She has 5 kids:

-Her first born is Juliette. She said she looked through baby-name books and since Juliette was born in September, and lots of people’s names in September started with J, and Joan of Arc is good and strong, she picked Juliette....ya, I’m not sure how that one makes sense either...Juliette lives with her husband and children in Italy.

-Next is Kingsley. He is the first boy, so he needs to be the ‘king’ of the household since the father is dead. I actually kind of like this name for a boy. He lives with his wife and daughter in Chicago.

-Next is Mavis. Apparently that doesn’t mean anything, but she is her last born.
-Then there is Isaac. She said that Isaac means humble and since they already have a strong girl and a king, they need a humble man. He just got married this past December and lives in Takoradi (here in Ghana) with his wife.

-Then comes Sampson. Auntie Joe said that if anyone comes to harm his brothers and sisters, Sampson would stand at the gate and say, “NO! I AM STRONG. YOU WILL NOT HURT THEM.” (Since Sampson is a strong name). She also acted this out by raising her arms up and spreading her legs out to demonstrate blocking anyone trying to get in the gate. He is almost done his undergrad in pharmaceuticals in Accra.

-Then comes me, because Auntie Joe said that she would adopt me. She also said that I should come back and visit Ghana for good, marry a Ghanaian man and then I can be a part of her family forever. How sweet.

She then proceeded to show us LOTS of pictures of her family. She also tried to get us to watch a 2 hour video of Isaac’s wedding and engagement parties, but we thankfully escaped that once...thank you power outages?!

I REALLY want to video tape one of these conversations sometime so you can experience what kind of language she uses. It’s SUPER entertaining.

Class today went really well. There were no facilitators today; Kujo is gone now, Uncle Ernest has been gone for 3 weeks (he also works for the government and has to regulate the voting process going on right now), and Auntie Julie was traveling. It was just Petra and I.

We did review for the exam that we have a week from today, tomorrow we will do the same, and then next week is it! Exams and Graduation. We are almost done, folks. This is crazy.

Here’s hoping the power stays on for the rest of the evening so we have fans for sleeping...