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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

4 weeks!



I’ve been here for a month already, I can hardly believe it! I’m so amazed at how fast time can seem to go. This morning I woke up around 7 to read my scriptures and listen to conference talks. It makes such a difference to me to start my day off with a spiritual reminder. It takes about 40 minutes to get to church because we have to get a taxi to Agona before going to Asamong. It costs us 1.60 each way, which is about 1$. I love going to church even though the lessons are in Twi, the hymns are all sung in English. I accidently burst out laughing today because the conductor was starting us off for a song with the strangest tune. Everyone else was laughing too which made it so much better. The members really focus on getting the words right so sometimes the tune of the song goes out the window. During church I mainly right in my journal and read scriptures. For a couple of weeks I have been writing the pit, peaks, and praises of each day. The pit is anything that upset me, peaks are anything that made my day great, and praises are anything that I am thankful for that day. I only have around one pit a day and it takes a lot to think about it. It’s so much easier for me to think of the peaks throughout the day. I have so many that I fill up about half of a page each day just with my peaks and praises. We went back to Mama Doris house and had bean stew over fried plantains. I led the group meeting this week and focused mainly on how important it is to not be too fixed on the future. Don’t worry about what happens, it all works out in the end. After a wonderful group meeting we watched Pride and Prejudice. We had a fun time assigning characters to each of us and I’m embarrassed to say I was assigned Lydia or Kitty. After the meeting we went out and walked around the courtyard because we were very tired of sitting all day. We all miss going on Sunday walks but those are completely impossible here with kids yelling at us every 10 seconds. We’re all looking forward to going on Sunday walks in peace once we’re back. This Sunday was great just like every other Sunday here. It’s weird to think that I’ll be gone in 9 weeks. It feels like I have only been here a couple weeks. The time I’ve had here has been so unique. I’ve been able to grow in ways I didn’t think possible before. I find myself thinking and wondering about things I wouldn’t normally. I am constantly amazed at the beauty of this earth and The Creator of it. I am so blessed to live on this earth and have trials and experiences.
XOXO
Natalie

Day 27



This morning Jackie and Lauren came over to make French toast before we went to my friend Gladys’ wedding. We were so nervous we were going to miss the wedding and it took forever to get there. Thankfully we had Nimo to help us get there. We didn’t get there until 12:30, but nothing had started. Half of the guests hadn’t even arrived yet. Forgot everything runs on African time. We said hello to Gladys as she was getting ready and she offered us water and just sat with us moments before her wedding. I would have been a wreck but she didn’t seem to mind entertaining almost complete strangers right before her wedding. We sat down and waited for the ceremony to take place. Around 1, like Gladys said, the wedding started. The entire event was so joyous and exciting I wish they were like that everywhere else. The men and women are separated on either side. The men start off the ceremony with a song accompanied by music that comes to the heart of the musicians. We watched different groups of people get up and dance around the bride and groom placing the 1 cedis on the forehead of the bride and groom. After a bit we all got up and joined the group to dance. It is a ceremonial dance where you basically shuffle your feet, bend over a bit, and wave a handkerchief to the beat of the music. Once we got on the dance floor, every camera and phone was out recording us dancing. Then the preacher got up and gave a pretty awkward speech. For 45 minutes he focused on how special Timothy and Gladys were for staying chaste until marriage. He read scriptures and told stories all relating to the pressures from the world to have sex before marriage so it was special that Timothy and Gladys were able to avoid it. We left the wedding around 3:30 and came back to our house to eat watermelon. My Saturdays are usually filled with working out, washing, and coursework so it was nice to get out in the community and spend time with everyone.
XOXO
Natalie

Day 26



This morning I woke up to the delightful sound of rain. I realized that if it’s raining then there wouldn’t be any patients at the clinic, so I waited for the rain to let up before going to the clinic. After a couple hours I went to the taxi station to go to Agona. I needed to check on some coursework and email a few of my professors. I received an email from a friend that totally made my day. I love getting emails and messages from friends and family and hearing all about their lives. Everyone’s lives seem so busy compared to mine. I am living in African Time where 10:00 is more like 10:45. My coursework and the research approval staff was very annoying and left me very frustrated. I came home ready to take a nap but opened my scriptures instead to 2 Nephi 22:2. “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” I absolutely love that scripture and couldn’t help but be so thankful for the gospel and scriptures. I was overcome with the fact that I can put my faith and love in Christ and He will always be there for me. I bummed around for awhile before Cassie got home and we did a workout together. It was so fun to have a workout buddy. About 15 minutes into our workout Kofi came over and did a few with us. I still had a lot of energy afterwards so I played around with Kofi some more. I love that he shows up literally every time I’m having a bad day. For dinner I ate some delicious food Esther gave us then stayed in my room doing coursework and writing in my journal.

XOXO
Natalie

Day 25



Today was cleaning day at the clinic. My friends Comfort and Gladys were just beginning to scrub and told me to sit down and watch. I didn’t like the idea of just sitting there while they cleaned around me when I’m perfectly capable of scrubbing the floors. I asked if I could help and they were surprised I knew how to scrub the floors. We were mainly scrubbing to get the white paint up and clean all the dust that had collected. We had such a great time talking and dancing while cleaning the room. It was really hard work and I was so gross and sweaty by the end. It is not an option to be weak in Ghana. You have to be very strong to survive here. Then we grabbed the side tables from different wards and began scrubbing them down. The nurses are so much fun to talk to and are very nice to me. They said that they’ll be on the lookout for any cute obibinis (black men) for me to marry. They all offered their brothers but I declined those. They were telling me that they liked my work ethics even though I could only clean 1 shelf in the time it took them to do 3. I don’t think they expected me to offer to help or know what to do. Once we finished scrubbing out Comfort asked me to accompany her to the marketplace. I ran into the woman that sold plantains to me last week and she told me all about the traditional healers she goes to when she’s pregnant. All of her boys were walking by 7 months all because of the medicine she drank when she was pregnant. I got her information down so I could use her for my research. I love how unexpected my subjects come up. I went home and rested a bit because I had been in the sun most of the day and was getting pretty burnt. Around 5 Cassie and I ventured back into town to go to the market. We got most of what we needed then went over to Nimo’s house. Nimo is a very smart man so our conversations are very intriguing. Today I was thankful for the wonderful opportunities to strengthen my relationship with many people. I am getting more used to living this way and certain tasks aren’t as difficult anymore. Cooking, washing, and cleaning don’t take as long anymore and it’s not as big of a pain anymore. I know that the Lord is watching over me and blessing me constantly with safety and health. The wonderful people of Wiamoase have answered my prayers every single day. My wonderful roommate Cassie is so smart and gives me different ways to think about situations. I am so thankful for the time I have here but still find myself thinking of friends and family often.
XOXO
Natalie

Day 24


         
Today I learned a lot of Twi at the clinic. My friend Kwesi, the lab tech, taught me different phrases and the nurses taught me days of the week and how to count up to 49. I started out in the eye clinic, which wasn’t as exciting as I hoped until one special patient. Mr. Timothy was doing the exams and told me to come look at this man with glaucomas. They have left him with very limited vision. He was told to go to the dispensary to get his drops and medication. He was trying to get there on his own at first until I offered to help him. What a sweet loving man. His name is Owusu and is a 67-year-old cocoa farmer. He is a very shy and amiable man and just the way he smiled at everything I said melted my heart. In a society where disabilities are not favorable it pains me to see him have to go through life struggling. We talked for a while before I walked him to the edge of the clinic while we waited for a taxi. He kept trying to wave down motorbikes so I finally found some patients leaving that we’re going to help him to the station to go back to Bepoase. I got back to the clinic just in time to see a man carrying another man on his back going into the dressing room with leaves wrapped around his knee. I watched the nurses put cardboard under the knee and remove the leaves to reveal a pretty good laceration. The Physician Assistant Isaac and the chief came in to evaluate it. The nurses assembled the right tools and items that would be needed. Isaac cleaned out the cut then got the needle out ready to do stitches. I asked the nurse if he was going to get pain medication before and she just said ‘oh Ama’. I took that as a no and felt so bad for the man. Isaac gave him 2 internal stitches and 2 external before injecting Lidocaine to relieve the pain. About 3 stitches later he was good to go. As I was watching Isaac do stitches I thought how excited I was to be able to do that soon. I know that I made the right decision to switch to P.A. I don’t want to be just passing the gauze pads and cleaning up the excess blood, I want to be right there in the middle of all the action performing procedures and diagnosing. With each day that passes here I get more and more excited for what the future has in store for me. After a long day I came home and took a nap. Cassie’s friend Nimo wanted to show us the neighborhood at night so we went into town and had a really nice time. We went to Mama Vicky’s house where all the teachers meet at night to talk and drink a few beers. A few people were asking about the church and our University but the conversations were mainly about differences between Ghana and America. I was still pretty tired despite my nap so we left around 8:30 and came home to finish up some more coursework.
XOXO
Natalie

Day 23



Today was amazing. I went to Nana’s shop before going to the clinic to buy donuts for everyone. It’s more like sweet bread and is delicious when hot. I didn’t arrive to the clinic until after prayers so I just tried to find my nurse friends to greet them. I ran into motorbike accident lady with the mangled foot and went into the room with her so she could get her wound re-dressed. It was at least 3 times the size of her other foot and the stitching on it had gaps that allowed for infection. I am so glad that I wasn’t freaked out about it like I was last time. I loved being in the dressing room because that’s where all of the excitement happens. 8 more patients came in within the next 2 hours ranging from scraped knees to nail bed infections. I’ll spare the gory details of each of these cases for the squeamish but I will tell you what I found interesting about the health care here. Pain is not sympathized with. A kid around 8-years-old came in with his knees pretty cut up and needed to get a new dressing on them. First they ripped off the band-aids then started cleaning them with saline water. The nurses kept telling him to stop yelling and then started laughing. When I asked them why they were laughing they said, “Because it says it pains him.” The differences between American and Ghanaian healthcare never cease to surprise me. Afterwards I went to the ward where the injections and weighings were happening for the kids. I watched Nurse Doris do about 80 injections in a couple hours ranging from Polio to Measles. I had to leave early to meet the other girls in Agona for Market day. We first went to the Internet café and sent out emails and blogged. The kid next to me saw me on facebook and I watched him search through pages of Natalie Blakes in order to add me. I normally would have been terrified but that happens all the time here. After we left the café we went to a bar and got pineapple fantas. They are much better than the orange ones I’m used to. We then ventured in the market and I bought avocados, groundnut paste, and some super rad shorts. There’s a guy on the edge of the market that sells shorts straight out of the 80’s and 90’s. He gets ‘new’ shorts every week so I’m excited to see what he’ll have next week. We bought icecream which is actually more like frozen chocolate milk but tasted heavenly because I think icecream is the one thing most of us crave all the time. Our taxi ride home was with a couple of comedians. About 5 minutes into talking to him he asked me to marry him and take him back to America. We said you have to have a lot of cedi to buy a plane ticket to America. He pulled out a HUGE stack of money. It was maybe six inches high. He said I have the money, I just need to marry you so I can go. I said you don’t even know me we’ve only been talking for 1 minute. He said no I do know you, it’s been 3 minutes. Apparently that’s all the time it takes to get to know someone in Ghana. Don’t worry I declined the offer and got a picture instead. I spent the rest of the night writing notes and fell asleep but it wasn’t long before Cassie woke me up in a slight panic. There was a pretty big spider in our room and she couldn’t sleep. After failed attempts to kill it and many screams later, Madam Esther came in to try to kill it but left after she hit it to my side of the room. The spider then had a lizard friend join it turning it into a the beginning of a lovely zoo. We still have no idea what happened to either of them but we’re hoping they both made their way out of room eventually.
XOXO
Natalie

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 22


5.21 Day 22
Today I went to Kumasi with Vicky again and we had a splendid time. There was so much traffic that it took about 2 hours to get there. We went to the post office first so I could mail off my postcards then we went to a couple of banks so Vicky could do some things for the clinic. Then we went to the Abruni market where I saw 2 elders standing outside of it. I talked them for a minute before they had to leave. It was then that I realized how I must look right now. I have my cute D.I. clothes on without make-up and a messy hair-do. It would be a scary sight in America. Anyways, we went into the market and I picked up a couple things before we went back to the car to head back to Wiamoase. We stopped by the same fruit stand 20 minutes away from Kumasi. I bought oranges, a watermelon, and bananas. I spent most of the car ride thinking of meals I can prepare with the food from the Abruni market and it’s getting pretty long! I’ll spend tomorrow at the Agona market trying to think of more recipes to come up with. I got dropped off at home around 2 and made lunch for myself. I did a pretty intense workout with many on-lookers again. I wish I knew what my audience thought about me. The kids just stare giggle at my workouts. With the heat and exercising I’m usually dripping with sweat by the end. I showered and spent the next hour talking to Esther and Matilda. Cassie promised her friend Nemo that she would show up to his church’s event being held at the station. There were so many chairs set up but not too many people. There was a live band and stadium lighting all around the place. Within 30 seconds of arriving I had almost 30 kids pulling and grabbing at me. They were screaming, “How are you Abruni”, “Abruni, what is your name”, and “Where do you come from”. It was such a crazy surreal experience. One little kid came running up to me lifting his arms to be picked up. I’ve seen him in the town lots of times before and found out his name is Najo. He was wearing these dirty old overalls without a shirt. He followed me around the rest of the night until the adults told the kids to stop following us around. We literally couldn’t move without causing a massive swarming of the kids. We sat down and listened to the band play before it started pouring down rain. When it rains in Ghana it RAINS. The band didn’t stop playing but we all sought cover under the side porches. My little friend Najo came running up to me asking me to pick him up. I just held him and rocked him until he fell asleep. It was such a tender moment for me I didn’t ever want to let go of him. I just wanted to hold him and cuddle him the whole night. I’m nowhere near having kids of my own but I started thinking about how important families are. I want to be the best possible mothers for my kids and need to be able to raise them in a loving home filled with the gospel. The choices I make now will affect my future family. I got to hold him for an hour or so before we had to leave. I am amazed at the impact kids have on my life. Their unconditional love is so sweet. I reluctantly handed him off to someone else and walked home. I am so blessed that my parents raised me in a loving home and taught me the standards of the church so that I can pass on the same to my kids. Today was filled with so many eye-opening experiences that I am appreciative for.
XOXO
Natalie
My Friend Najo


3 Weeks!



I’ve made it 3 weeks here! Sometimes it feels like months and others it feels like only a few days. This morning our friends Nemo and Mamaya were in the same taxi going to Agona with us. We got talking to Nemo about American clothing standards compared to Ghanaian clothes. I asked him he thought my running shorts were too short to wear in public. He said that it doesn’t matter if we think they’re too short or not. In small towns like this people are going to talk no matter what. If you think it’s wrong don’t wear them but it doesn’t matter if anyone else does. Don’t worry about people judging you because people are always going to talk and that’ll never change. So don’t worry about changing for someone else if you’re comfortable with yourself. Seriously the life lessons I learn here are amazing. Church was fantastic. We spent an actual 3 hours because we finally had Relief Society. I spent most of sacrament reading my scriptures and got more caught up. We went back to Mama Doris’ house and had spinach stew over rice. Cassie and I love eating over there because we don’t have to cook it and it’s really yummy food. During lunch we had our meeting. Jackie ran it and it was absolutely amazing. We talked about
-learning to live with uncertainty.
-Progress can be backwards or standing still. Both are still progress as long as you recognize those actions.
-As long as I continue what I’m doing I don’t need to know what my reason for being here is.
-Surrender to having control over things.
We are all struggling over the same feelings of figuring out why we’re here and not doing enough. I read a quote from D. Todd Christofferson and that got us talking about how we want to bring quotes or scriptures that we like to the next meeting. During the meeting Jackie also mentioned not wasting moments thinking about home when you could be occupying your time thinking about something here. I know it seems so simple but when she said don’t waste moments versus don’t waste A single moment; it made it so much more powerful. I thought it was a bad idea to not waste a SINGLE moment thinking about home because they mean so much to me. However, when you do that so often you lose multiple moments thinking about that and soon you’re wasting your whole day with moments like that. I’ve been here three weeks already and only have 10 more left. It’s time to make every moment count. After the meeting we watched Phantom of the Opera. I’ve never watched that movie the whole way through and it’s so good! The music is hauntingly beautiful. Mama had dinner ready for us at 6 and we were still so full from lunch we didn’t eat that much. It was getting dark so we left around 6:30. I had a weird experience in the taxi because I took myself out of the scene for a moment and realized that I was in Africa. I am traveling abroad and experiencing another world of mysteries. It’s crazy that this moment has come true and I’m not soaking up every single minute of it. I realize I need to take a second to myself sometimes and I’ve been a pretty good job at balancing that. I came home and wrote a couple postcards. As I was writing the postcards I realized that I take the fact that I can call my friends and family whenever I want at home for granted. I realized how amazing our world of technology has become. I can tweet, facebook, text, e-mail, call, or skype friends. I don’t hate being totally disconnected because sometimes it’s nice not to have all those distractions. However, if you use the technology in moderation it can be such a blessing.

XOXO Natalie
PS exactly 10 more weeks!

Gym Tan Laundry, Day 20



I woke up early so I could do my exercising before the sun got too hot. I only did 30 minutes again because I’m really feeling it from Thursday’s workout. My favorite neighborhood boys came over and worked out with me for the last 5 minutes imitating my every move. They got the push-ups down pretty well but when they started imitating my stretches it was pretty comical. I joined Matilda and washed my clothes with her. The clouds were black so we went under the porch right in time before the rain came. I bummed around most of the day not doing anything in particular. Matilda taught me how to make Banku, which is surprisingly vey easy to make. All it consists of is corn dough and cassava dough. She used a metal pot filled with salt water on top of a fire-pit and mixed everything together. It’s not that tasty by itself but you are supposed to eat it with soups or stews. We talked about Ghanaian culture and listened to her backstreet boys CD. I’m so lucky to have Matilda living with us. She’s a 25-year-old teacher from Kumasi. She speaks English very well and is always teaching us how to do things properly around the house. She always has her girlfriends over so it feels more of a sorority house sometimes. I am getting so sick of the starchy food around here I hope I can get creative and prepare other meals without rice, pasta, or bread soon.
My new gym!

Day 19



Today at the clinic I started in the malnutrition ward and observed the four patients that were admitted. Things got pretty slow so I began to write up interview questions until I ran into Enock. He is a student at the University of Accra studying to be a clinical psychologist. He gave me so much insight for my research. His son was at the clinic for malnutrition issues. We talked for a couple hours before I packed up to leave. Vicky is a godsend and let me borrow Friends seasons 2-10. Sometimes things get pretty slow so it’s nice to do something besides read around here. I saw Matilda and her friend in town and walked home with her. We bought these yummy chocolate graham cracker cookies. I came home and watched 4 episodes of friends while I ate lunch. I then worked out but I was still so sore from yesterdays so I only did 30 minutes worth. It was dark by the time I finished my workout so I ate bean stew and went in for the night. I watched 2 more episodes of friends and read my scriptures until I fell asleep.

Day 18



This morning I went to work at the clinic and realized how amazingly slow it was. There were probably 20 patients in the whole facility. I spent most the day talking to Comfort and the other nurses. Then a woman came in on the back of a motorcycle with her foot bandaged up around an old shirt. The nurses told me to go in and watch them dress the wound. Her husband put her on his back until she got into the Dr’s office. She put her foot down leaving bloody footprints everywhere. They unwrapped the foot and it wasn’t pretty. I’ll spare any one who is squeamish and won’t share any more details but it made me sick to my stomach looking at it, literally. I’ve never been bothered by blood or injuries before but this one was pretty bad. I was anxious to get home and relax. I ate lunch and recorded my notes from the day before doing a workout from my Nike Training Center App on my phone. I love this app. It has so many workouts on it that I don’t know if I’ll even be able to do all of them before I leave. Most of the workouts just require small weights or a medicine ball. When I’m working out I usually have an audience of kids looking at me like I’m crazy. I’m sure I do look crazy running around the small courtyard and using a stone I cleaned off for a weight. I showered, read a few chapters of Pushed, and got ready for bed. 

Day 17 Birthday Girl!



Today was better than I could have imagined. My mom gave Cassie a homemade Birthday sign like the ones she makes at home to hang up on our door. I love my mom for always thinking of little things like that. Today was hard not thinking about what I would be doing at home right now and all the sweets I would be divulging on. I walked out and lots of the town people I don’t know wished me a Happy Birthday. I went to the clinic and the whole staff sang me Happy Birthday and gave me a cross-stich that said Ghana on it. At the clinic I spent most of it just talking with the other nurses. I let them braid my hair while they took a million pictures of me on their phone. A few of the nurses walked me home and bought me mangos for my birthday. The town was really quiet because they had to shut power off to the city from 9-7. I could not have been happier about loosing electricity because that meant that my friend couldn’t have announced the party and they won’t have electricity to power everything. I’m so happy they were willing to throw the party for me but it would have been way too much for me to handle. I went home and took a little nap before I heard Cassie and 8 little kids singing happy birthday to me from outside the gate. They knew it was my birthday and followed her all the way home from the school to sing to me. The kids here always put a smile on my face. Then around 5 Jackie, Lauren, and King came over and the real fun began. We still didn’t have electricity so we played some fun card games and cooked by flashlight. The crepes were AMAZING. I could have eaten 10 of them. We brought out nutella, peanut butter, jam, and bananas to put on the crepes. King didn’t like them too much but Matilda LOVED them. She wants us to make them for her again. I brought out the Oreos I bought at the Abruni market yesterday for our dessert even though the crepes were sugary enough. We haven’t had that much sugar for a really long time so we were acting a little crazy. Then I opened the present from my thoughtful and creative momma. She made me a Texas pillowcase with an African print border. Madam Esther gave me some Milo and delicious crackers as a gift. We did dishes and then I got a surprise call from my parents! It’s so nice to hear their voices and talk to them. It feels weird to be 20 years old. In my short 20 years the Lord in more ways than I can count has blessed me. I have the best family anyone could ask for and best friends I consider as sisters. These past 20 years have been incredible but the best are yet to come. I’m excited for the adventures the Lord has planned for my next 20 years. Thank you to everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday. This birthday was unforgettable.
XOXO
Natalie


Day 16


Best day yet? Today I ran into DJ Daniel’s friend and told him I don’t want any announcements made. He said he would pass the message along which I doubt happened but he was more sober than I’ve ever seen Daniel so there was a small chance of hope this party won’t happen. I made it to the clinic around 8 so Vicky, Abraham, and I could go to Kumasi together. I’m getting used to riding in bumpy tro-tros and run down taxis so riding in the nice health clinic car was very fabulous. Vicky and I talked pretty much the whole way to Kumasi mainly about the differences we have found since being here in Ghana. Our first stop was for these bags of crackers that you can buy in bulk. They taste like butter club crackers. We continued talking the whole time while I tried to look around me at everything going on but it’s so hard when you have to focus on not falling in the sewer or tripping over people. Then Vicky brought me to Heaven. This store is nicknamed the Abruni market because its where the white people go for groceries. There was nutella, Oreos, sun chips, dr. pepper, butter, and cheese. I got loads of stuff that should last me awhile. We went down the road and I bought a gift for my little brother and postcards to send to friends and family. (If you want one send me your address!) We then went to a fruit stand about 20 minutes away and I bought bananas. Eight cost only 1 cedi but they’re also only about 5 inches big. Vicky and I continued to talk most of the way home about a number of things before they dropped me off at my house. I dropped off my stuff and made sure that the girls were still in Agona at the Internet Café. They told me they’re going to bring King and Mama Doris over so we can make crepes for my birthday dinner tomorrow! I am so excited to have them over and have a small party. I spent almost 3 hours emailing professors, reading the funniest messages from my best friends, and chatting with Audrey and other friends on Facebook. It makes me sad when I have to leave the café because I know I won’t have contact with them for another week but the stories keep me laughing for the rest of the week. I am definitely out of the honeymoon phase but still loving my time here. I’m learning so much about the culture and myself while I’m here. We made fried plantains for dinner and went to bed pretty early.
Also Happy Birthday to the best older sister ever! Have a great 22nd Birthday in D.C. Audrey, I Love you!
XOXO
Natalie

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Little Things



Recently I have noticed the little things in life that matter. I realized how much I took for granted in life. My living situation right now is very close to camping with the exception of spotty electricity and running water. You don’t realize what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone” has never been more evident in my life. On Saturday I did my weekly washing. I have never been more thankful for washing machines and dryers. It took me around 2 hours to wash and hang my small pile of clothes. Preparing any type of food is a chore, not to mention the time spent bartering at the market and figuring out what food is available. Here in the Wiamoase region the roads are all gravel and filled with potholes. Thinking back on it, I find it silly that I complained about construction and traffic. I am able to drive around smooth paved roads where traffic patterns are followed and enforced. At home I am so blessed to have clean running water around me all the time. The Lord has blessed me in ways I don’t even realize. In Wiamoase majority of the people have never experienced the technological advances that I have available at the tips of my fingers. Yet generally they seem happy and satisfied with their situation. What we have sacrificed for our development is stark. Not everyone wants to develop the way America has. We feel sorry for the under developed countries because we think they lack so much. But what are they lacking? I’m aware that there are people in under developed countries dying from starvation everyday but there are so many other towns where they get by with what they have. They use the resources around them and survive. They may lack our washing machines, healthcare advances, and TVs but we lack the personal connections with others when we become obsessed with our technology. We take our health care, education, government, and houses for granted. If anything we complain about most things. We must remember that although under developed countries may lack the luxury items we have, it does not mean that they wish they had all of the machines crowding up their house and lives. I have this unique opportunity to experience another culture that many Americans won’t ever have. Already I have learned to keep things in perspective, be grateful for what I have, and recognize some of the more important things in life.

Day 15

Today I woke up in a bad mood just thinking about how I don’t think I can do 11 more weeks of this. I slowly got ready for work and headed out around 7:15. I ran into my buddy Kofi and changed my mood immediately. His eyes got huge as he yelled Ama and jumped into my arms to give me the biggest hug ever. It changed the way I was feeling for the rest of the day. We played with his little soccer ball up the hill to the school. Then Afo and his sister held my hand as we walked to their school together. In just half an hour the Lord showed me twice that He is watching over me and He loves me. As I walked into the staff meeting this morning the captain was discussing something in Twi as usual at the staff. Afterwards Vicky came up and told me that she loves having discussions with me because most of the conversations are in broken English or Twi. She’s been here for almost a year so I’m definitely going to use her so she can help me survive here for my short 3 months. The clinic was SLOW. It was a rainy day again so that meant no patients. Three new girls came in from nursing school to do their clinicals for 5 months. They came in the OPD around 10 and told me they would be assisting me all day today. When it was really slow I read my book Pushed by Jennifer Block. It’s an interesting book about the modern realizations of labor and childbirth. Although I think it is completely biased towards completely physiological births and against any use of medicine, it’s a good read. I am reading it for my Women’s health class that I’m taking while here in Ghana. The coursework for the class is very interesting so I’m excited to start it. As I was leaving the clinic Vicky asked me to accompany her to Kumasi tomorrow and I’m so excited to spend most of tomorrow with her! The teenage boys in town asked Cassie and I to come and learn how to dance with them at 4 but Cassie was too busy so I left by myself. On my way I ran into our friend Kwame Samuel that told me his daughter could teach me. He told the bartender next door to put on a good record so we could dance. The girls taught me so many great moves. I  made quite the scene because before I knew it I had an audience of people watching me dance. I told Kwame that I want to do something like this for my birthday party and things sort of got out of control from there. He asked the bartender if we could use the patio for a party on Wednesday and he said it was fine but then he wanted to go into town to tell someone about the party. Later I realized it was  DJ that gives announcements over the radio. I don’t think I realized the magnitude of what would happen if they actually announce it over the radio so I hope I see him tomorrow to tell him not to announce it. I went to the youth group around 7. I watched them play games, learned some Twi, danced, played some instruments, got harassed by the boys, and took pictures. I’m excited to spend tomorrow with Vicky and hope I still get to go to the Internet café before it closes.  

XOXO
Ama
My friends Afo (blue) and Kofi (orange)

2 weeks! MOTHER'S DAY


I have made it two weeks here! Each day passes by so slowly here but somehow I’ve been here two weeks already. Some days I feel like I have been here for months and others just a couple days. This morning was mother’s day so we gave Esther the bag my mom made for her and a mother’s day card. I put on my new African dress and went to church in Asamong. The branch is tiny. We meet in a run down old building with about 75 chairs set up even though the ward membership is around 30 including the babies. I walked in to the calming sound of hymns. Something about the familiarity and routine of church made it so special. Today we watched the Sunday Morning session of General Conference. The translator spoke over each speaker but if I listened close enough I could hear it all in English. After Uchtdorf’s talk the power went out so the branch president improvised and gave a lesson on Elder’s and High Priest’s duties. He taught in Twi for about 20 minutes before the power went on and we continued the session. After church we walked back to Mama Doris’ house and ate yams and bean stew. We then had our meeting until it turned into story time for 4 hours. We talked about so many things. It was nice to enjoy the other girls company and take a break from work and the frustrations that come along with living in Africa. It began to thunder so we walked to the station so we didn’t have a repeat of last week’s experience of running in the rain. I got to talk to my family around 8. It was amazing hearing their voices. My parents are busier than ever trying to keep up with Katie and Steven’s schedules. Katie is excited about going to prom with her friend soon and poor Steven has to get ACL surgery that takes him out of LAX for the year. He’s tough so I’m sure he’ll bounce back faster than expected. It was hard to say goodbye to them because I just wanted to talk all night long. I’m excited to share more of my stories once I’m home and show everyone what an awesome place Ghana is.

Also HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Here’s to the most amazing person I know, my mom. I don’t know what I would do without my mom. She is one amazing super woman. She is patient, creative, kind, caring, and full of love. She always thinks of the little things and is always the practical one. She has the ability to see things from a different perspective and be reasonable. She has dedicated her whole life to serving others and taught her kids to do the same. She is hands down the most creative woman you’ll ever meet. With a pile of random material I can guarantee you she can have some sort of game or craft concocted in no time. Every Saturday night as kids we would have a co-op where parents would trade off watching all of the kids while the other parents went out on a date. Our house was always the favorite because my mom would have the best snacks and coolest games to play. I don’t think I realized how much work my mom put into these Saturday nights until much later. On one rainy day she put a plastic bin full of rice and threw in toys and measuring cups which kept us occupied for hours. My mom also was amazing at cooking every single night. We rarely went out because my mom always had something ready for us so we could eat our family dinners. Even recently my mom was the biggest help getting me ready for my trip to Africa. She helped me day after day with my one million errands. She is also the most thoughtful person and collected letters and notes from friends and family and compiled a scrapbook for me to take. It has notes from my elementary teachers and old friends all wishing me luck in Ghana. I have read it so many times already. Her family means more than anything to her and she always made sure we spent enough time together. I don’t remember hearing my mom even complain once about how much work it is to be a mother. She definitely makes it look easy. I don’t think I thank her enough for the hard work and sacrifices she made to raise four kids. I love you mom! Thank you for everything you do and continue to do for me! Love you!
XOXO Ama 


Day 13



This morning might have been the busiest morning yet. Normally I only wake up for a few minutes while the roosters cluck and goats bleat but this morning kids were screaming, goats bleating, roosters clucking, chicks chirping, women sweeping, radios on full volume, and pots clanking. Normally I would be very annoyed but here it comes with the territory. The phrase T.I.A. comes in handy during situations like this. Despite not being able to fall asleep last night until 1, I woke up at 6:45 with so much energy. I worked out in the patio for 2 hours. I have a Nike Fitness Traning App on my iPhone that I completely forgot about. It has the best workouts ever but for most of them you need a medicine ball. I really want to do the full workout so I grabbed a big stone from the garden and have been using that for my weights. It probably doesn’t weigh more than 5 pounds but it works! After my workout I stayed outside and began from the beginning of The Hunger Games again. I’m resisting the urge to finish it all today. I then began my wash. I have never been more thankful for washing machines in my life. It took me close to 2 hours to wash my sheets, clothes, and towels. It’s physically exhausting especially because I was in the sun doing it. I don’t do it exactly the way they want me to, which takes much longer, so I do it when no ones looking to avoid the extra hour of washing. I have never been more grateful for AC, washing machines, dryers, microwaves, ovens, stoves, fridges, Wi-Fi, toilets, showers, running water, electricity, and cars. It’s amazing how much I have taken for granted. This does not even begin to list the amazing inventions that have simplified my life and made it so comfortable. I didn’t realize how grateful I was for these items until I didn’t have them anymore. The saying “you don’t know what you have till it’s gone” is a HUGE theme of this crazy adventure. I am amazed at how happy the people of Wiamoase are without any of these technological advances. I realize that they’ve never experienced them before so they don’t know what they’re missing. I hope I will never forget this lesson that I have learned here. Mainly it’s don’t take things for granted. I would do so much for a bowl of cereal with milk in an air-conditioned room. It’s the small things in life that mean the most. I am thankful that I do have a stove and fridge for personal use and a mosquito net to keep me safe at night. I am glad that The Mormon church has made it’s way to Asamong so that it is so easily accessible. Tomorrow is General Conference for West Africa!

Day 12


Today was very slow at the clinic today because of the rain. We are in the rainy season right now so it rains almost every night but this was the first time it rained during the day since I’ve been here. The lab tech Mr. Timotay asked me if I wanted to watch him do tests so I went around the wards and watched him draw blood from different patients. It’s a little more aggressive than I’m used to because they collect blood from the vein in the hand. The lab is a small room no bigger than 10x8. He sits at a table against the far wall and pricks the patients one by one and puts their blood on a glass sample and piece of paper that he later uses to figure out HB level. Mr. Timotay puts the blood stained paper behind a color wheel to decide which level the patient is at. They also use a hematocrit centrifuge machine to test if the patient is pregnant or for malaria. A majority of the patients were coming in for malaria testing I believe. On the window side there is a long table where the lab assistant works recording results and analyzing the blood through a microscope. The blood is cleaned in a sink with a special dye then wiped with the same gauze pad. There is a wooden box with a light bulb that flashes a bit to dry and clean the glass slides. I left the clinic around 2 but before I could make it home about 15 school kids were asking me to give them my watch, shoes, backpack, water bottle, and everything else. Madame Esther told me that these kids don’t actually want anything you have they just like that a white person gave it to them. The rest of the day I just recorded my observations from the clinic and took a nap. The doxy gives me a constant dull headache so I can’t wait until I can stop taking these.

XOXO
Natalie