YUM YUM YAMS!

Today was a busy day!! We got up and had a big breakfast again before going to the airport with Akua, where WE GOT OUR BAGS BACK. I don’t know if it’s normal, but it is SUCH a relief and I feel much more comfortable knowing that I have all my stuff again.

Oh, funny story. I got my first proposal at the airport today. Not bad; 3 days in. The man who looked through my bag before giving it back to me said he would move to Canada for me. Petra, being the least stealth she could possibly be, announced loudly that I was single, blowing any lies that I could come up with to refuse. I told him I had no phone and that he would have no way to contact me. Whoops...haha.

We took the tro tro A LOT today. I am getting more comfortable with it, but still completely lost about where I am going. I am directionally challenged to begin with, so that really doesn’t help. We went to Legon bookstore at the University of Ghana, so that was cool to check out. It was also nice to be less of a minority although I am starting to get used to the stares. Everyone is super friendly!!

Next, we went to the Accra Mall. YAY! It is really nice, and even has an Apple Store! (Coulda brought my iPhone Mom :P) We had lunch with Akos again, and got to experience some air conditioning.

We got to watch Mummy Biney do laundry today! I have SO much respect for her for doing laundry for the whole family. Apparently it uses less water, and gets the clothes cleaner than using a machine. She scrubs them in a certain way with soap and water and gets them super clean, and then she has lots of other rinse buckets, and rings them out before hanging them out to dry. It’s a long process; I am going to help her later this week! I am excited; apparently she does laundry about twice a week.

We got home a little later and the boys were excited to see us. Michael and I are really starting to become little buddies and he hugs me every day when he gets home from school. Tonight, Petra and I played ‘Pittsburgh in a Box’ with Michael and Kwadwo...Mom and Dad—isn’t that cool!? ...for those of you who don’t know, that is Monopoly, but just with certain cities. We have Vancouver in a Box at home...

I LOVE YAMS. I can’t believe I have never eaten them before...I ate SO many for supper tonight. Mummy Biney was laughing at me, but she loved it because she is always telling us we are small and should eat lots. She was quite happy to give me more.

We read bedtime stories to the boys tonight too; we found some in our bags that were lost, so they were pretty excited to read some new ones!

OH! AND I SAW MY FIRST LIZARD TODAY!!! We didn’t realize we hadn’t seen any yet until it was running on the gate to our house...apparently we were just blind to them? ...after we saw that one, we saw about 7 more this afternoon!! They are super quick, so I only got one picture. Hope to see more...just not in my room please.....

Our First Tro Tro Ride...and more...

Today was a crazy busy day. It was a lot of fun; we got to go out and see a lot of Accra, but the heat definitely made us exhausted.

The timing of the day and meals are very different here. I will have to try and get used to it. We wake up a lot earlier, around 6/7am, but they don’t eat lunch until around 1:30 or 2 in the afternoon, and supper is around 7pm. There are big gaps between meals that I am not used to, but the food has been really good! This morning we had Wheatrix cereal. It’s this flakey wheat stuff that you mix with hot water and milk and it turns into an oatmeal-type breakfast. I added sugar to make it sweeter and it was yummy. We also had fresh pineapple and baby bananas and fresh bread. It was delicious. And the stories are true, the fruit here is so much more fresh and super sweet!

                The water wasn’t running today, so we had to use buckets to wash up. It’s more difficult, but honestly, I would never complain; it just felt so good to pour cold water over me after sleeping last night! It was a lot hotter today, but I think we are adjusting to it a bit. I was sweating again last night, and Petra was cuddled under a blanket...maybe there is something wrong with me? Haha...

                I got a chance to talk to Mummy Biney more today. She has a business where she makes and sells fruit juice; she sells a lot to the hospital because it is made out of these leaves that have a lot of iron in them. She is so smart, and knows so much; I think she will be a great person for my students to talk to about running their businesses!

                Today, we took our first tro tro!!! So exciting! (For those of you who don’t know, a tro tro is a little bus...looks more like long van from back home...and it’s in place of a taxi). Anyways, people PILE into these things; literally pile in, they push the people in until they are right full. The tro tro stops at certain stops and the driver yells out where they are headed. You basically have to run and jump on because they hardly stop, and just keep on driving. It was QUITE the experience.

                Afua had to work, so her friend Akos took us around; she was extremely helpful and very friendly! We took the tro tro to “Circle”, a place in Accra that has a big circle with a fountain. We got our phones and internet figured out today, so it’s nice that I can call home every once in a while.

                We went to “Osu” for lunch and ate at the food court. It was kind of nice to have food from home. They had a chicken, pizza, and ice cream place. I had a good old fashioned breaded, fried chicken sandwich with French fries, which they call “chips” here. AND I HAD A COKE! YUM! So good.

We also went to a really cool fabric store across the road. They had a lot of really nice patterns and fabric that a lot of the women have their dresses and skirts made out of. I will definitely have to go back there!

                We went to a cool art museum at the ‘centre’ and there were neat little shops with dresses, jewellery, and Ghanaian fabric and jerseys! All of the vendors were excited to see ‘white’ people and they kept yelling “Obroni! Obroni!” at us to get us to come into their stalls. (Obroni means ‘fair skinned person’ in Twi). It was really cool to see how badly they wanted us to look at what they were selling, especially when most of them were selling the same things.

                We came home and the little boys weren’t home from school yet, so Petra and I decided to walk back to la Tawala Beach and read a book by the ocean. The breeze, again, felt great! It was nice and relaxing.

For supper, we had pasta (didn’t know they had that here) with the same pepper and onion sauce that was on the rice. Either Mummy made it less spicy for us, or I am getting used to it a bit. Michael and Kwadwo were talking to us about their school during dinner; they were showing us their work and telling us riddles. They are such smart kids! They are so intelligent; they learn English, French and Twi in school!

Well, that’s about it for today...it’s a lot again, but SO MUCH HAPPENS HERE! I will try and put pictures up on Facebook tonight as well! 

We Are Here!!

We arrived safely! I will try and blog today about what has all happened since we left, and then after that I will be more up to date and can fill you in as I go...I apologize in advance, this is going to be a long one; a lot has happened in the past 3 days!

Okay, so January 27^th: We got to the airport in Toronto early, and thank goodness we got there early! Originally we were told we were allowed to take 3 bags that were 50lbs each...I don’t exactly pack light when I travel and all 3 of my bags were, well, more than 10lbs overweight...so after trying to decide which items weren’t necessary, and with the accommodation of a very friendly airport official, I got all of my bags checked. Oh boy.

Petra and I left Toronto at 10pm and the flight went fine. It was long and tiring, but we were both excited, so that definitely helped! It was an 8 hour flight, during the night. I envy anyone who can sleep sitting up, because it is definitely not easy!

It is so strange how quickly the plane went through different time zones, because we boarded the plane at 10pm, and about an hour and a half into the flight, the flight attendants were telling us to shut our blinds on the windows because the sun was going to come up soon! WEIRD!

January 28^th: We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany at 11:30am (German time, so 5:30am back home). Petra and I were both exhausted after travelling all night, and that was definitely making me feel more anxious about arriving in Africa; something about being tired, it makes you miss home...

The airport in Frankfurt isn’t too too big, but the gate number wasn’t on our tickets, so we had to try and find it ourselves. We couldn’t find ‘Accra’ as a destination on any of the boards in the airport, so being stubborn; we decided to walk to find it. BIG mistake. We walked all the way to one end of the airport (following Lufthansa signs) only to realize after calling information for help, that our gate was at the other end. I don’t think I have ever been more tired than I was after walking across that airport knowing that we were boarding our flight in less than 40 minutes! (The added sleepless night on a plane probably didn’t help).

Other than that, this flight was hassle free. We got on our packed little plane; and by packed, I MEAN PACKED. The plane was small, the seats were MUST smaller, and every single seat was filled.

This is definitely when I started feeling more nervous; we were finally an obvious minority and the comfort of home was completely gone, but I was still excited!!

We flew over the Sahara Desert and there was the most beautiful sunset! The colours were green and orange and it was gorgeous! (Yes Mom, I got a picture for you).

We landed in Accra (the capital city of Ghana for those of you who don’t know) on time, at 7:55pm Ghana time. There is a 5 hour difference, so it was 2:55 in the afternoon, back home. As soon as I walked off the plane, I instantly felt the humidity! Everything was damp, and my hair was instantly frizzy.

...if anyone knows me well back home, you know that if it is wet, or it is humid out, my hair is big, poofy, extremely curly and a frizzy mess. Take that and multiply it by 100, and that is what my hair looks like today! Haha...

Anyways, it was 25 degrees Celsius, and Ghanaian people were getting off the plane in puffy winter jackets!! I was dying in a tshirt!!

We lost 3 of our bags in transit, which is too bad. Supposedly we will go back to the airport on Monday evening and see if they have come in? Hope so...Petra and I each got one of ours though, so it will tide us over for a bit. Although, all I have are my running shoes, all my sandals are in my other bag, so I look a little ridiculous at the moment.

Akua picked us up from the airport and brought us to our host family in Accra. By the time we got to the house it was about 10pm, so it is safe to say that we were done for the day. Mummy Biney, the mother of the family we are staying with was so loving and welcoming, and Serwa, her daughter will be showing us around for the week along with Akua, to help us get adjusted. Two little boys that live with us, Michael (Mummy’s grandson) and Kwadwo (Mummy’s son) are the sweetest, but Michael has already stolen my heart. They are 8 and 9, and the most adorable boys you will meet!

Petra and I have a bunk bed in our room which we are sharing with Mummy Biney’s mother, Grammy. She is a tiny, sweet woman who doesn’t know any English, but she is so loving and tries to talk to us; I wish I could speak with her!

It may have been because I was over tired, but the homesickness set in that night. We both went to bed around 11pm, dripping of sweat and VERY hot.

                January 29^th (today): So today we woke up at 1pm in the afternoon. We slept 13 ½ needed hours! The family let us sleep through church and said that we definitely needed our rest. It was so good to sleep lying down after being on those planes!

Our host family said it was cold last night...I definitely do not concur. As gross as this is, I woke up dripping in sweat and we definitely didn’t need blankets last night!

Serwa (who we call Afua sometimes? I am still confused about that one...Mel, if you are reading this, maybe you can explain?), anyways, we came in and showed us how to use the shower, which was a tiny trickle of water, when the water is flowing. Apparently it stops flowing quite often. I have never been so thankful for a cold shower in my life! It was definitely worth the struggle of keeping my mouth shut so that the water didn’t get in.

We had rice, chicken with a spicy chicken sauce on top of it for lunch. I am DEFINITELY going to need to get used to spicy food...and be more adventurous with eating different foods, but it was really good! Just REALLY spicy! OH. And water bottles have become my new best friend. I drink them ALL day long. I am just not used to the heat haha.

We spent the afternoon getting to know Mummy Biney. She has incredible stories, and a very strong faith!! She kept talking about how God was always there for her, even though she doesn’t have a lot, and it’s pretty amazing! We have so much that we take for granted, and all she talked about was that God was so good. Definitely gives you something to think about.

The song “Jesus, take the wheel” by Carrie Underwood came on the radio today. In English. Gave a nice taste of home. Was very funny hearing little Michael belt out the words; it was comforting because it is exactly what my little brother does when it comes on the radio J

Michael and Kwadwo took us to the beach today. Tawala Beach Resort. Their house is literally a 5 minute walk from the ocean. It was pretty, but definitely interesting to see the beach and then see piles of garbage behind us. There was a giant pig and her piglets walking around! Definitely not the same as beaches back home, but the ocean is BEAUTIFUL!! This beach wasn’t one for swimming (although it took all of me not to jump right in), it was rocky and the sand slopped downward into the water. The breeze felt fantastic!

When we got home, the boys did mine and Petra’s hair. Imagine that frizzy hair of mine, and add a 9 year old boy putting 7 ponytails and brushing it out...YIKES. It was a lot of fun though!

(Melissa, they miss you a lot, and Michael loves me already; he keeps touching my hair and my arms, and I think it’s because I look a lot like you Mel, but I’ll take it. I have a new friend already). We played basketball with the boys and some neighbour kids too this evening.

Other tidbits I’ve learned:

-people whip through the streets so quickly in their cars here. They honk when they turn corners to let people know so that they have a fair warning

-appearance is a huge thing here; the women wear cool dresses at home to help with the heat, but when they leave they are wearing long, heavy dresses, or jeans (WAY too hot in this weather), and really nice clothes.

-its considered cold here right now, especially since there were thunderstorms yesterday...its 30 degrees haha

-it gets dark by 6:30 pm, at least around this time of year

-I’ve learned some new words in twi (the language that they speak here); Michael is teaching me:

                -Akwaaba means Welcome

                -w hot esee means “how are you?” and in response, you say, “EyE, which sounds like aya”

                -I’ve learned other ones that I cannot write out yet. I will let you know when I learn...

-they don’t drink milk or eat cheese here, just evaporated milk. Sometimes they get processed cheese, and they call it Kraft Cheese too!

Tomorrow we are supposed to do banking and get phones and internet stuff figured out. And hopefully get our bags back from the airport!

Thanks for continued prayers and thoughts. I will try blog more often so that they aren’t so painfully long. Maybe read this one in more than one sitting? I will put pictures on Facebook soon! 

First Taste of Ghanaian Culture

This morning I had the opportunity to go to my Professor, Mary Ashun’s church in Oakville; it was my first taste of a real Ghanaian church service. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it, but it was amazing. It was exciting to experience the dancing and clapping, and the smiles that never left the faces of everyone worshiping there. Some of the boys in the church even performed a dance for us; it was adorable! The people were so welcoming and I could see how genuinely excited they were for us to be there!

Melissa, the intern who went to Ghana this past semester, talked about the experience she had and about all that she had learned. She connected her experience with that of Mother Theresa, demonstrating that following God’s call is not always going to be easy, and there will be times when you feel afraid and lonely. The important thing to remember is that God is always here for us; He will never leave us and will never give us more than we can handle.

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deut 31:8

            Melissa’s testimony was so encouraging for me to hear as I am preparing to leave in the next couple days, (so Mel, if you are reading this, thank you). I know that there will be times when I wonder why I am so far from home, or why I am away from my family or why God called me all the way to Ghana. The encouragement and prayers of everyone back home will keep me going, knowing that I have the support of so many people, and most importantly the support of a God who loves me and will never leave me.

My dad was actually able to come with me today. He is thinking of visiting near the end of my time in Ghana and it was really cool for him to get a taste of what a church service there might be like too.

            The elders of the church prayed for Petra and I for safety and encouragement as we leave this Friday, and it felt so good to know that these people, who don’t even know us personally, were thinking and praying for us as well.

I feel so blessed to have so many people that love and support me as I go out on this journey across the world, and I just want to say thank you for keeping me in your prayers!

First Time Blogger

      This is my first time ever having a blog, and that makes me a little nervous. I have never been fantastic at writing, but this is a good way to share with everyone back home, my trip to Ghana. I will most likely just ramble, and type my thoughts as they come. I suppose it won't result in the best writing, but maybe my stories will be more real that way. 


     I am glad that this can be a way to explain what I am up to, and share my experiences with you...(It's also a good way to avoid telling the same stories over and over again)...I hope that as you read about my adventures, you can live  my experience vicariously and keep Petra and I in your thoughts and prayers throughout the next 3 months.