Journal Post #15

Thank Goodness It's Friday!

In college this has become one of my all time favorite lines. The weekend can not come sooner. Even though I still have papers to write, tests to take, and books to read, the fact that knowing it's the weekend makes everything so much better. I have been in and out of meetings with professors about my Field Study or for my major Athletic Training. Let me tell you I am exhausted from all this running around! However, the weather has been HEAVENLY. I spent all day yesterday out in the sun and plan on doing the same today. Ahhh the good life :) 

We spent wednesday's class out in the grass in the beautiful sunshine and I could tell everyone walking around was jealous they wish they had a class this cool that allowed them to have it outside. It was such an awesome class. We heard from everyone who has been to Ghana before and their first week there. I started to think about how my first week in Ghana will be like and if there is anything I can do now to prepare myself for the crazy adventure ahead. And after thinking for a really long time I realized there is honestly nothing I can do. I am going to experience culture shock. It's inevitable and the sooner I realize that, the sooner I can be ok with everything going on around me in Africa. I have always been pretty good at rolling with the flow but I can totally see how someone would be freaked out in unfamiliar settings with strangers and not knowing where you'll be going all the time. They asked us to plan out our first week in class and mine sort of looked like this

Day 1: Absolutely nothing. We'll be in Accra just getting over our jet lag and probably sleeping for most of the day which is okay with me!

Day 2: We'll make the drive to Wiamoase where we'll be spending the next 90 days! I get to meet my host family and explore the town a bit. 

Day 3-5 Go to the market, introduce myself to people in the town, explore the city, and spend a lot of time with my host family getting to know them.

Day 6 Go to the orphanage where I will do my Internship. Interview a couple of ladies around the town and see if any adjustments need to be made.

Day 7 Church! My 7th day will be a Sunday so I'll see what our Sundays will be like but I hope it involves a nice "family" dinner with a lot of relaxing time. 

I realize that I don't even think about my research project until the 6th day and there is a reason for that. I don't want to overwhelm myself with first trying to get acquainted with everything around me and also worrying about getting my project done. I want to ease up on the research before I go full throttle into it.

P.S. I got my passport a couple days ago and am ready to go!! I can't believe we're leaving in 44 days. It seems like yesterday I got accepted to go. I still feel like I have absolutely NO idea what I'm doing but excited still.