Day 38

Last night it rained a pretty good amount leaving the air nice and cool, which meant the kids would be out in their sweaters and jackets. As I was walking to the clinic I ran into Kofi wearing the best hipster sweater ever. Seeing some of the clothes worn here crack me up. Today wasn’t very eventful but fun nonetheless. I spent the first part of the morning talking to Vicky. She really is the best mom away from home I could ask for. I told her about how concerned I was last night about my brother’s surgery and she was so sympathetic. We sometimes use each other to get things off our chest and vent. It can be lonely being so far away from family but it’s something we’ve all experienced at one time or another. There wasn’t much for me to do so I went to the labor ward and just read my book. There were 2 women in there expected to give birth today and the OB said I could watch if I stuck around long enough. Jackie texted me around 10 and said they were in Agona getting their hair braided and I could come whenever. I really needed to finish my research details so I left for Agona because I figured there’s going to be 100 other births I’ll be able to observe. When I got there we realized the power was still out from yesterday so the Internet Café wouldn’t be open. I sat and watched as Jackie got her hair braided with fake hair braided in. Her hair is normally to her shoulders and they were braiding the hair almost down to her belly button. We sat and talked for hours but Jackie’s hair was nowhere near finished so Lauren and I grabbed lunch from the other fried rice lady again. This time it was 5 times hotter than yesterday’s. We were starving so we ate it as fast as we could but I really couldn’t feel my lips or the inside of my mouth this time. Lauren thankfully had crackers to soak up the spice again because this time we didn’t have drinks to wash down the spice. Once I got semi-normal feeling back in my mouth Lauren and I walked to the Internet Café to check to see if maybe he was running the generator again. Thankfully we heard the sweet sound of the generator again. I spent another hour or so fixing my research project and messaging back friends. I never have enough time on Tuesday to write as much as I want to so I usually have to rush. I was able to really read some of the emails I got yesterday and realized I have the coolest friends and family ever. I laughed out loud again at the same stuff and saw another 100 wedding albums posted all over facebook. Summer really is wedding season at BYU. I went back to the hair salon once I finished and they were barely finishing Jackie’s hair after almost 5 hours! It looks kinda Rasta and so crazy I’m considering doing it, but it won’t be for another couple of weeks. Anyone else curious to see how ridiculous I would look? I know I am. Jackie and I went with one of Jackie’s friend Phyllis so she could introduce her to her seamstress so we could get skirts made. I have been waiting for weeks to go to her and get my skirts made this was definitely the highlight of my day. As we walked through the side streets of Agona we made a maze to the seamstress house. It is just like all of the other houses here with the rooms all surrounding a square common area. We removed our shoes and went into the seamstress room. Her name is Mammy Kate and she is probably the coolest person you’ll ever meet. The first thing I see is her long braids with big clear beads in them, making noise every time she moves. She was wearing a handkerchief dress of a million colors over shredded jeggings and lace tights underneath. Just seeing how artsy she was let me know she must be an excellent seamstress. She showed us the gorgeous dress she was making for her daughter with layers and layers of ruffled fabric. Her room was pretty small with the bed taking up most of the room. She had a large Brother sewing machine against the window and a cabinet full of fabric. Jackie and I gave her our fabric and told her how we wanted each one. I got 2 skirts and hopefully they turn out the way I imagine them! Getting custom designed clothes is the coolest feeling in the whole world and only paying around 7 dollars makes it that much more satisfying. We got back to the salon and Lauren’s hair wasn’t quite finished and King was off work so he gave us a tour of the neighborhood of Agona. Once Lauren was done getting her hair braided we all went home. Once I got home I put on my workout gear as Cassie was waking up from her nap. She wanted to join me so I let her pick the workout that day and we did a simple 30-minute before making dinner. We don’t cook meals together very often so it was nice to spend most of the night with Cassie. We put groundnut paste with onions and green bell pepper over rice and added a few seasonings to make one of the better meals we’ve made here. I will admit that I’ll never be able to cook as well as the Ghanaians but I am trying. Today was such a nice relaxing day, filled with friends and fun.

XOXO

Natalie