May 29, 2012
Welp, I completely forgot about Memorial Day and didn’t
realize it happened until reading Emails at the café today. It made me kind of
sad because I have always loved Memorial Day and going to see Grandma and
Grandpa’s grave. Not to mention the Lake and
BBQ and no work or school that always comes with it. Lovely times. Maybe that
is why I had a hard time yesterday, because my subconscious thought I should be
celebrating a holiday. This morning Jackie and I went to meet a traditional
birth attendant or TB. She was so old and frail looking and she literally
looked exactly like Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas. I swear it was modeled
after her face. She was so excited to meet us and we learned a little bit about
her role in the community for awhile until her son came out and persistently
tried to marry us. I love the marriage proposals they get funnier and more
frequent with each passing day. Speaking of marriage proposals, every time I go
on facebook for a moment at the café there are like 4 new engagements on my
feed. It’s the summer of love I tell ya. The summer of love. I am also in love
over here, with the landscape and the people so thank you world for including
me in the love fest. Tuesdays are so fun because we get to get out of Asamang
and go to the market with the girls and King and it is just a grand old time.
After the café we got lunch, the food that Mama brought us home the other day,
and took it back to Joyce’s (Mama’s sister) bar to sit down and eat and get
pineapple Fanta.
King got a Coke and I have never been more drawn to a drink
before, it looked as good as it does in those commercials with the Polar Bears.
I just laugh at myself sometimes when I realize the position I am in as I try
to get comfortable while typing for hours, like right now. It is a real
struggle with the heat and the lack of soft places to sit down. I swear my
bummy is going to deflate from all the sitting on a hard surface. Constant lack
of comfort is no good. BUT it will make me appreciate those beautiful couches I
have at my house and at school and the memory foam on my bed is going to be my
best friend because I surely do not sleep well here at all. Jackie and I just
laugh at night when we go to lay down, tuck in our mosquito net as tight as can
be to keep out spiders, say our prayers and then begin to listen to a
conference talk and the moment we stay in the same position for too long, our
hips get numb from hitting the board underneath our foam and we desperately try
to find a place where we can lie comfortably. Most of the time we have taken Elder
Wirthlin’s advice and we have just learned to laugh at any adversity. And movie
theater seats would be a dream right about now, I will never complain sitting
in those things again for not being able to sprawl myself out, also I have come
to realize that I LOVE movies. I could watch one every day I think. Jackie and
I are always quoting random movies and it makes us laugh because we think we
are hilarious and then I just want to watch every movie I have ever seen. Love
them. The café was beautiful as always. Being able to sit down and read emails
from my family and friends is beautiful and I am so grateful that we have the
technology to communicate when we are so far away. I think I shed a tear or two
every time because someone or anothers words make me burst with joy and I just
can’t contain it. Cassie and I laugh at how obsessed we are with our families
because we just want to be with them always and think that no one in the world
has a great a family as our own and I feel that’s true, for me. I have the
greatest family in the whole world!!! It rained at the market today so it was a
big mess of mud and people and let me tell you, the only thing worse than the
smell of the dried fish, is the smell of the dried fish when it gets wet. The
whole market was engulfed in that smell and oh my goodness it was all I could
do to not walk around with my hand straight on my nose to plug out that smell.
We walked past the meat place today and I about died. Thankfully I have chosen
to only eat chicken here because it was so gross the way the meat was just laid
out with flies all over and the men were just hacking at hunks of meat with
their machetes. It was certainly no meat department at Costco. But the
beautiful thing is that it works for the people here. They eat the meat and
they, for the most part, stay healthy. Every one has their way of doing things
and I am sure if that is what I grew up on, I would have no problem. Learning
to understand and adapt to a new way of life is so cool. The challenges and
blessings are unmatched with any other experience I could be having right now
and though I do not REALLY love every single
minute…I love every minute of this! I read my scriptures outside as I lied on
the bench today and watched the sky turn from grey to black as the wind picked
up and the rains came a down. I am totally a broken record by now but I felt
like I was glimpsing into heaven watching that transformation. It was
beautiful.
May 30, 2012
This morning when
I first arrived at the hospital I went in to greet Salid but he was busy with a
TB patient, I sat down to plan out my day and one of the nurses came down and
sat next to me. I noticed he was holding a Watchtower which is the Jehovahs
Witness magazine that sort of mimicks the New Era and Ensign. I recognized it
because Erica did a study on Jehovahs Witnesses in her religious anthropology
class last semester so I saw Watchtowers at our house all the time. We started
talking about it and he asked me where I went to church which led into a Gospel
discussion. He had read the Book of Mormon before and had a lot of questions.
He had a hard time understanding how Joseph Smith got the plates and we got
into a discussion about Heavenly Messengers which led to Heaven and Hell and
the Second Coming talks, it was really cool to talk with him about what I
believed about those concepts and to explain to him how we got the Book of
Mormon and to just testify to him about what it is that I believe. Being at BYU
for the last 3 years I have not had the opportunity to really share what I
believed with anyone who did not understand and believe the same things that I
do so it was really cool to learn about what I would say in that situation and
I think the Lord guided me in my speech because the way I presented ideas and
what I believe was in a way that was better than I feel like I know. Certain
facts or ideas would pop up into my mind so I could tie things in to explain
how Joseph Smith did not just make it all up and it was so fun to talk with
him. It also led me to scheduling an interview with him so I am excited for
that. I did my first observations in a consultation room today. It is much
easier than observing in the ward where there are a ton of other people present
and the interactions whizz right on by though these interactions were all super
speedy too. The doctor averaged about 3 minutes per patient today. There are so
many people in the waiting rooms each day that I assume that is about all there
is time for. I will never complain about waiting 3 hours at the surgeons office
ever again because some of these people wait forever to see the doctor and then
he is with them for 3 minutes and then they are done. That’s really how it is
in America
too though I guess. Being a Doctor would be a hard job. The one I was with
today was so tired and I could tell it was hard for him to see patient after
patient today and we were talking about it and that is what he does all day
every day. It was a good day at the hospital today though, a lot going on and I
had little conversations with a lot of people today in Twi. What I know is very
limited but it is fun to be able to communicate, however so small, with the
people. when I got home and was reading the Book of Mormon I truly had a hard
time putting it down. This morning walking to the hospital all I could think
about was how excited I was to get home so that I could read. Gaining an
appreciation and a love for this book has been so amazing. Because of the
experience I had earlier in the morning I stopped to ponder after my daily
reading and opened up the front cover and read Joseph Smith’s testimony. It is
a beautiful illustration of how he got the plates and how the Lord sent his
messengers to prepare Joseph Smith for the task he was to complete on this
earth. Ry, Emma, Sarah, go read it and really learn to appreciate this book.
The sooner you do, the more you will love and appreciate how your learning will
increase. As Jackie and I were getting ready to prepare our dinner we asked Mama
if she would like to eat with us but she always says no, she likes what she
likes just as we like what we like. She then started talking about Ghanaian
culture and how she needs to take care of us because we are her children and if
she couldn’t afford to take care of us she would not have accepted us into her
house. She buys us food and does so much for us, Jackie and I feel like we are
not giving enough back sometimes but she tells us stories about how much joy
she feels when people know she has obruni children in her house and she jokes
with them saying we are her biological daughters and that our father is white
and she just laughs and laughs because people believe her…I love this woman,
she is a crack up! Man, there are these little bugs that are always crawling
all over me and the computer screen, I will not miss those. I am totally just
thinking about going to sleep right now as I type because I am always so
excited to sleep, even though it is never super well but I love to see what
weird things I dream about because the malaria pills give me the craziest, most
vivid dreams. Last night in my dream I had a smoking hot boyfriend and we were
fighting dementors and other strange creatures together but I was sick so I was
in a hospital bed the whole time and he was just wheeling me around as we
fought the bad guys…I tell you this doxy gives me stranger dreams than I have
ever had before it is so awesome. One thing I have noticed though is that I am
always good at fighting. I think if I had a super power it would just be that I
was a super skilled fighter.
May 31, 2012
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY
MADDIE…For Latvia !!!
I cant help but think about Maddie today because she is celebrating her first
birthday on her mission. Crazy times being 21 I tell ya, it’s a great year! It
is weird not really having the means to communicate with my best friends on
their missions. I can email Carley at least because she has not left yet but I
cannot talk to Maddie and Erica because the computers here wont open up Dear
Elder. It is weird too not being able to tell people at home everything because
I am used to doing that, and I see things all the time that remind me of this
person or that and it is weird to just think it and move on because I cannot talk
about it with that person. Its all just weird. BUUUUT I am so grateful for
Jackie because she is the best gal and we have so much fun together here and
she listens to my stories and rants and raves all the days so we are a great
duo. Today there was a clinical meeting at the hospital and some pharmaceutical
representatives came again to present their new drugs. After the presentation
today they brought out these huge paninis and cold chocolate milk. I could have
died of happiness and I at the first half of that sandwich so fast it was so good
I could hardly stand it. I ran to Jackie so that she could try it too because
oh man it was good. It had really thin pieces of steak in it which is better
than any meat we see here, which we just don’t eat and it was brought from Kumasi where they have pizza
and we are going to go find it. It was just the best. I was going to go watch a
surgery after that but I didn’t end up doing it because the Doctor who invited
me switched shifts with one of the others who ended up doing the surgery for
him. It is cool that I have built a good enough relationship with the Doctors
for one to be comfortable with me watching him perform a surgery. I have
realized that my life is a song. All day everyday there are the randomest songs
popping into my head and I never know where they come from. I want to start
making a list of the songs that pop into my head randomly throughout the day
but I think it would end up being super long. The same thing happens with
movies. Scenes from the most random movies that I haven’t seen in a way long
time pop into my head all day long and I just want to listen to the songs and
watch the movies so bad, I think it happens to me all the days back home too
but it is different when I can go home and watch the movie or hop on youtube
and listen to the song. Its funny how much my life has been influenced by these
technologies though, we don’t really realize these things all the time until we
are removed from them I think. Walking home every day we walk past the same men
playing a sort of mancala game and today we stopped and watched them play as
they tried to explain it to us, it is basically the same but involves a little
more detail that regular mancala.
The old men were being so funny and everyone
here is just a crack up I tell ya.The Azonto craze has spread and even the
adults are now saying ‘Azonto’ as we walk by. I just start moving and shaking
and they laugh their heads off and I keep on movin down the road. Life is just
a party here I tell ya, everyone should come and join!
June 1, 2012
I am such a
grandma here, no offense Gigi. Its only 8 pm but I can hardly keep my eyes
open. I get so tired when I try to type my notes at night here. Being in this
heat seriously wears you out! This morning I went to Wiamoase to teach dance to
kids at the Secondary and Junior High Schools with Cassie and I realized that
some of the best and worst times are in the taxis. Worst because I always think
I am going to get in a crash and die because the taxi drivers are usually nuts
and we don’t have seatbelts, but best because driving through the jungle from
Asamang to Wiamoase is so beautiful. Especially early in the morning when there
is fog rolling through and later at night around dusk…I see some of the most
breath taking scenes as the green is brilliant and the trees have either
HUUUUGE awesome leaves, or they are the really skinny tall tall tall trees with
a flat top that just jet out over the others and honestly I just sit there
breathless because I cant believe I am here. When we arrived at the school the
girls went nuts over me. They were all asking my name, my real name, and
grabbing my arms and hands all over and were just fascinated by my skin. We
danced around with them doing Azonto and I was teaching some of the girls how
to do a pirouette and they were loving it.
They were 17-20 years old and were
asking all these questions about colleges in America and boyfriends and it was
so fun talking to them. The kids here are so smart. They really value their
education and learning and it is beautiful to see the dedication they have to
their learning and to reaching their goals. After that we went to a hospital
which is an SDA hospital like mine but much much smaller. I was introduced to
every one there and just saw the differences and similarities. Then Cassie and
I went to another school and taught dance but it was younger kids this time and
there were a few boys so we just taught them the Macarena, the Hokey Pokey, and
the Chicken Dance because they would be able to sing the songs and remember the
moves. It was pouring down rain super hard while we were doing that and with
tin roofs it was so loud so we were yelling at the top of our lungs and I lost
my voice by the end. Later in the teachers lounge we had hilarious
conversations with the teachers about dating and American culture and my voice
was super hoarse and Nemo, one of the teachers who is seriously in love with
Cassie, told me I had a romantic voice…I agree through I think hoarse voices
and voices when people are sick are the best! It was a super fun day and then
we met Jackie in Agona because they wanted to go to the café but the light was
out so we just got our favorite fried rice and ate it at Joyce’s bar. For
scripture study tonight we were on Alma
5 and obviously it is a super hearty chapter so I just ate it up. It was all I
could do to not underline every single thing. I love this book so much. I was
really interested in what it says about gaining Salvation because of the talk I
had with the nurse the other day about Heaven and Hell. He really wanted to
know what I believed about the wicked being burned and such but was arguing
that there is a point where the wicked don’t get to change their minds and
repent even if they want to and I had a hard time explaining to him how I
believe that they can repent and change because of God’s mercy and grace but
realized that I don’t know everything about how that works, not even close to
everything and I had to accept that fact. That is how it is with scripture
reading, I can never remember everything I read because there is just too much
but that is why we read the scriptures over and over and over. I am so grateful
that I get to learn and grow every day because there is an endless amount of
knowledge out there and that is the only thing I am going to be able to take
with me after this life.
June 2, 2012
Today was so fun!
The girls, Vickie (a 4’9 British woman who works with Natalie), and I hopped on
a tro tro this morning and headed for Kumasi .
We are all running low on funds so we needed to go to the bank to pull out more
cedi to last us for the next few weeks and we love weekend adventures so off we
went. I love tro tros because I get stuck in the most awkward positions where I
am too tall and my head is hitting the ceiling and the man in front of me is leaning
back against my legs and I just laugh and realize that I can never complain
about driving from Utah to California in a full car again. They pack 30 people
into these vans which I swear are made for 15. We were ready for a challenge
since we did not have King to guide us but we just asked for directions every
once in awhile and we made it to the bank with no problem. After the bank we
went to the obruni market which has all the comforts of home, brands of soap I
recognize, butter, cheese, oreos, ice cream, even dog and cat food. Its just a
regular supermarket and we were so happy to be there. I got some chocolate
milk, saltines, pasta, twix bars and some Ghanaian dark chocolate because we
don’t see that often. I also bought a thing of soap because the bar of soap we
had before to wash our hands always made our hands sticky and we could never
get it all off with the bucket so this is much better. Jackie also found these
ice crème bars that she had in London
and they were soo good! Leaving the market we met a man who knows Professor
Crandall, an Anthropology professor at BYU, who is an artist and he came with
us to walk around this little section which has all the Ghanaian stuff we have
been looking for, like the touristy stuff that we want to take home so we spent
a lot of time looking at everything and we all got some trinkets. Then the man
showed us his paintings and he is incredible. They were all of these beautiful
African scenes and I could hardly even choose because I wanted so many. There
were these huge ones of giraffes and elephants and lions that were so beautiful
I almost dropped 150 cedi for one because I wanted it for my house…until I
remembered that I don’t have a house. So I didn’t buy it. But if I had a house
it would have been a done deal. Maybe one day when I am married and actually
have a place for it I will buy it, or I will just buy it anyway because I love
his work. It is amazing. I bought some smaller ones and I am obsessed with
them, I have such respect for people who are so talented because especially
being here there are so many times where I just want to sit down with an easel
and paints so I can capture the landscape and the splendor of what I am seeing
but I can barely even draw a decent stick figure so that is out of the
question. I just wish that these things could be captured with a camera but
there is no way to capture the things that the human eye can behold. After
buying all our stuff we went to a restaurant that we read about from our travel
guide and there were more white people in there than we even knew existed in
the whole of Africa , it was so fun. They had
burgers and milkshakes and pizzas and Indian food and all kinds of things that
reminded us of home, as the true Americans we are, we all got a huge burger and
man it was good. Vickie got a pizza and though I know that it was not the best
burger in the land, it was definitely the best burger for our tastes
considering the fact that were in Africa .
After a large burger and milkshake, we had to head to the tro tro so we would
get home before dark so our painting man lead us back to the tro tro station
and we got in line. It is the most confusing, yet hysterical thing to witness
the madness at this place. African time is so real, 9:00 could really mean 10,
or 11:30 even and the people are so patient waiting for taxis to fill and there
is so much sitting around here so it seems like everyone should just take their
turns in the tro tros…not the case. There are perfect lines when people are
waiting and they get mad at each other if someone cuts in line but the moment
the tro tro pulls up it is a mad dash to get in and the people at the back of
the line disregard that there was a line at all so sometimes if those at the
front ran slower, they would not get a spot on the tro tro because everyone
else runs and pushes and dives in and you have to be aggressive or you will
never get on. When the first tro tro came we didn’t even try because we were at
the back of the line but for the second one we tried because we realized we had
to do something if we were going to get on, there is no semblance of order to
this though the people pretend there is when they are in line. We ran and tried
to get on but Vickie was the only one who made it through the door because she
is so small and the rest of us were unsuccessful as the whole back of the line
swung around and somehow made it in front of us. When the third one came we had
been waiting for about an hour and a half and even stood in the rain while
everyone else hid under the overhang because we were determined to get on.
It
rolled up and there was no way we were going to push through the door so seeing
that the back row was empty we started to throw our bags in the window and we
all hopped up on the tire and climbed through the window. Having an audience as
we always do, there was applause when the last of us climbed through. A real
experience I tell ya. Once again, driving back, as uncomfortable as I was, I
just took in every sight around me and was left breathless at the splendor of
this place. Everywhere I look there is something intriguing or something
beautiful and I cannot even describe the way the landscape makes me feel, it
cannot be captured by photographs or words. I am just so grateful that I have
been able to appreciate the beauty of this place and to recognize it in every
moment. It is incredible.
Driving through I was thinking about all the people I saw.
There were people all over, everywhere. I started thinking about the creation
and how it all started with Adam and Eve. Now the world is inhabited on almost
every surface with human beings. Our hearts all beat the same and our minds all
have the same capacities and though there are so many differences from place to
place, culture to culture, we are all the same. Everyone is just trying to
survive and you go about your day doing what you know best. The way the world
is set up is amazing in itself and it amazes me to think about the millions of
people everywhere going through the same emotions in entirely different places
and circumstances. Heavenly Father has blessed each and every one of us with a
unique experience that is completely our own. We are all here as human beings
but no two people will ever live the same lives. How incredible is it that
there is one thing on this earth that is completely our own! That is what makes
us all so different while we are all so alike. I feel so blessed to be having
the experiences that I am having and I love my Heavenly Father for granting me
the unique experiences which teach me in the ways that I need to be taught.
June 3, 2012
Sundays, as
always, are truly wonderful. Fasting is hard here though and we have to drink
water or else we will die. During Sacrament Meeting today I just read and sang
hymns about the Sacrament the whole time to myself and it was beautiful to
ponder and think about Christ for the whole hour. Maddie, in one of her emails
home, wrote a beautiful thought about dedicating that whole hour to Him and I
can truly say that it is worth every minute of thought. I was in my own world
completely so when the Branch President got up and said “We’d like to invite
Sister Akua to give the closing prayer” at the end of the meeting I didn’t even
hear. Jackie had to nudge me and tell me to go up because I was in the zone. I
love the people in this humble little branch. They love the Gospel so much, you
can feel it. I was talking with one of the Young Women aged girls after
Sacrament and she mentioned that her teacher had not come today so I said that
I would teach. They were learning about the principles in the For Strength of
Youth pamphlet and were on Education. Turns out it is not as easy as I thought.
Half of the girls did not understand English well and the other half would not
answer any question asked. Natalie, Jackie, Cassie and I just started taking
turns presenting thoughts and posing questions as the girl I spoke to
translated and we ended up spending most of the two hours just going around in
a circle and reading paragraphs from the pamphlet and discussing what we could
do to strengthen that or what we could learn from it etc. We only lasted an
hour and a half before we did not know what else to say because the girls would
not really participate but I think it went well considering. It was fun to see
the girls because one was just 15 and she is an only child and her parents are
not members but she learned about the church from a friend and got baptized and
comes every Sunday and was asking us how she could get her family to do FHE
with her even though her mother and father are not members. She was so sweet
and just knows how good the Gospel makes her feel, I admire members like that
so much because being faithful while growing up with a family invested in the
Gospel is even hard so I cant imagine doing it on my own. When we got back to
Mama’s we had our group meeting and then watched the Testaments. Watching it
this time with such a better understanding of the Book of Mormon so far made me
appreciate the movie even more than I have before and we were looking in Third
Nephi trying to figure out which characters matched up with who and such while
we were watching. It is a beautiful movie. The testimony of Christ is something
that I cannot deny and I know that the tears people cry in the movie when
Christ is atoning for our sins and dying on the cross are real, my tears sure
were real. I could feel how much He loves me and I know that if I was the only
person ever created, He still would have atoned for me just as he did for the
whole world. The Atonement is so personal, I can feel it. The portrayal of
Christ’s miracles are so beautiful and the depictions are so vivid that the
feeling you get while watching them testifies that those miracles really did
happen and that Christ did suffer and die for us. We were all just crying and
laughing after because we love it so much. Walking Cassie and Natalie to the
taxi later we were all so happy and hyper, which we always are when we are
together and everybody out on the street was just making us dance and laugh and
sing and it was so fun. When we walked by a group of people at their store they
were talking to us in Twi and Cassie just went off blubbering in jibberish and
luckily the people were laughing because I was literally on the ground dying
because it was so funny. She kills me. Walking back home from the taxi after
dropping them off Jackie and I were just in a state of bliss. I was so
incredibly happy in that 10 minute walk and I could not help but smile so big
at everyone and everything. Being here in Ghana has been truly amazing so far
and I cannot believe the growth that I have experienced while I have been here.
June 4, 2012
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADEN BOY!!! I lit the gas stove by myself this morning which Jackie and
I usually do together whenever we have to cook and the wind blew in right as I
lit the match so the flame flew back to my hand and burned the hair right off
of the back of my thumb. It was way cool, only because I didn’t get burned but
now I am kind of terrified to light it on my own. Despite it being a Monday,
today was great. I was very productive at the hospital and I conducted my first
interview so I was stoked. One of the security guards who tries to teach me Twi
all the time came up to me this morning saying something about bananas and I
was confused so he left and came back a little later with this huge bag of
bananas and I was so excited. A week or so ago, he randomly asked if I liked
bananas and I made the mistake of saying yes, anything people find out you like
they will buy for you. Its so kind but I always feel so undeserving and I don’t
know how to thank them properly but its just the culture. I ran down to show
Jackie and we both ate one and they tasted just like home, we were told these
kind of bananas are ‘Western bananas’ because they are brought over and
planted. The Ghana
bananas are tiny little guys and plantain is very different from both. Taste is
all similar but these tasted exactly like those Im used to. I did some
observation in the consulting room and then went to eat a rock bun and a banana
with Jackie for lunch until my interview. I was super nervous because I really
didn’t know what exactly I was going to ask but I wrote out some questions
hoping they would illicit responses that would give me good data and I rolled
with it. It went well and it was way fun to just sit down and talk with someone
as opposed to just observing to get data all the time. His phone went off
during it because he gets texts with the stats for the economy and the Dollar
to Cedi exchange rate today was 1.9. Almost double. I wish I had been in Kumasi today because that works out beautifully in my
favor but it is really unfortunate for Ghana , their money is depreciating
in value. After the interview he walked Jackie and I home. Phyllis had brought
Jackie and I plantain chips today as well so we bought some chocolate powder on
the way home so we could make choco banana smoothies and we also made mango
guacamole to eat with our plantain chips and it was worlds best snack.
We
really wish we had ice or something to make the smoothies cold but they are
still good. It was a lovely day. Now here I sit after writing field notes for
two hours, I am already burnt out from trying to write 5 pages a day. it is so
hard but also rewarding for the information that it forces you to recall from
the day. My scripture reading today was awesome as usual. I love love love it!
It is interesting to see how reading at this pace makes me have so many more
questions about the deeper doctrine than I have ever had before from my own
personal reading. I really wish I had my Bible and LDS.org and other things
here because I have so many questions that I just cant find answers to and
Jackie and I can only do so much with our little Book of Mormons that don’t
even have the D&C or Pearl of Great Price so I am limited with my
cross-referencing and clarification. Buuut it is cool to understand so many
other things in a way that I never have before.
Ghana bananas, the small ones...Western bananas...and bananas growing!
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