2 Days!!

In less than 48 hours I will be on a plane headed to Ghana, West Africa. It still hasn't hit me that I will be in Ghana in less than 72 hours. I feel like this is just a weird dream that I am going to wake up to at any minute. I have been busy these past few days running errands and getting a few loose ends tied up. I finally got my VISA back and I'm almost done packing! I could not do any of it without the help of my amazing mama that came out last week to help me! Even with the countless frustrating moments trying to find things for my trip my mom hasn't complained once about driving all over Utah county to get things. But if one more store tells me they don't have the converters or adapters I need, I might lose it. My mom made an adorable bag for my host mom to take to the market. She is also the coolest best mom ever for emailing friends and family to put together a scrapbook for me to take. I am so grateful for everyone who helped contribute to it. I honestly teared up with all the love y'all showed me! I am really going to miss my family and friends while I'm in Ghana for three months but I'll have new ones there. This opportunity I have is one of a kind and I could not be more blessed. The Lord definitely showed me His hand in my life these past few weeks.

Almost done packing!

Went to dinner with the cousins, sister, and mom!

I can't wait to be reunited with my sweet family in August!

Miss you guys already!!

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” 

– Bill Bryson

SPORTS

I love sports.

I love going to sporting events to cheer on the players. 

I hope that while in Ghana we get to go to some while we're there.

It would be really awesome to see the difference and similarities in sports between Ghana and the United States. Ghana's favorite sport is soccer. One of my favorite sports is baseball. The usual response is "Baseball?! No one likes to watch baseball.." Except for this girl and her whole family. We Blake's LOVE baseball and going to baseball games. I went to two of the three BYU baseball game to cheer on the team in their victory over LMU. I decided it was appropriate to post a video I found about Baseball in Ghana. 

Can you believe this video?! They didn't even discover baseball until the 1980's! Baseball has been in America since the 1800's and I'm so glad about it. I hope we get to see a variety of sports while we're in Ghana. There are so many things to experience while I'm there and I hope to be able to scratch the surface on a bunch of different things from weddings to sporting events. 

Traditional Medicine

Professor Ewurammy Addy from the University of Ghana wrote the book Traditional Medicine in Ghana. She statedIn Ghana, traditional health care is a holistic one that integrates the people's ethics, religious, morals and cultural values. Many Ghanaians believe that an individual's health is linked to the metaphysical and supernatural world, with Odomakoma(the creator), abosum (the deities and divinities) and ancestral spirits. Naturally, with such beliefs, diseases have spiritual dimension among many Ghanaians. In Ghana, as in most African countries, it is estimated that more than 60% of the population uses Traditional medicine in many instances to help meet some of the primary health care needs. As a result many people use both orthodox and traditional medicine treatments depending on what is wrong with them at a point in time. In fact it would be accurate to say that more than 90% of the population in Ghana has used some form of traditional medicine at one point in their life. 

Some medicine in popular demand in the traditional medicine area have different names such as:

Living Bitters- Colon Cleansing

Madam Catherine- Blood purifier

Alafia Bitters, Karafi Bitters, Adutwumwaa Bitters- blood cleansers

Mighty Power- a blood cleanser

Swedish Bitters- A high blood pressure and Cholesterol controller

The article I read is supporting the use of traditional medicine compared to modern "westernized" medicine. The author explained that a lot of the western medicine have too many complications ranging from migraines to death. The traditional medicine is not harmful but is shown to be the most beneficial according to some Ghanaians. I am not siding with either story, mainly because I have never experienced the use of traditional medicine on myself or on others. I am excited to go to Ghana and be introduced to this new world. Understanding why traditional healers do what they do and why a mother would choose them is a huge part to my research. It seems to me that a lot of Ghanaian mothers chose to go to a traditional healer because they are sure that the healer will understand their belief systems and will not impose on that. I'm not trying to imply that a doctor would impose any treatments on a child that his or her parents wouldn't want but to some parents the suggestion of a treatment could be offensive. This is definitely one part of my research (if not all of it) that I won't be able to fully understand until I am face to face to the traditional healers and patients. 

23 days!!!

The article can be read here. 

STICKERS

I was talking to Adriana from our Prep class who had the opportunity to visit Ghana with some friends a couple years ago. Adriana is a gem. We walked together only for a short time and I got so much information from her. She stayed with friends in Accra and gave me their names and contact information so if we ever need anything they said they would be more than happy to help. It never hurts to have too many contacts in a country where you don't know anyone. She volunteered at an orphanage while she was there and told me that when I do my intern there that I should bring stickers. Adriana kept telling me BRING STICKERS! The kids go crazy over stickers. She said not to bring something that would belong to one child because they don't have anything. They sleep on different beds every night and don't even have diapers sometimes. Anything you bring has to be communal. 

Stickers. 

Who would have thought that something so simple as that would bring so much joy to a child. I went home after our talk and looked at all the stuff I had in my room. I don't need 90% of it and yet I find myself wanting more. I instantly became overwhelmed with the fact that I am so blessed. I have been through trials in my life that have seemed like it was going to be the end of the world. In retrospect, sometimes I may have overreacted to my problems when all I needed to do was look around and see that I am blessed with my loving family, caring friends, financial stability, and an opportunity to attend a University. I was very humbled when I thought of kids around the world that go without so much. I can't wait to go to Ghana and experience the culture thoroughly. On days that I am struggling to remember why I am there I hope I'll have the opportunity to show up to the Orphanage and put my thoughts back into place. I love kids. They are always so happy and most will show you what it's like to be unconditionally loved. As a future NICU nurse I have a special place in my heart for infants and little kids. I hope to have tons of little ones of my own one day and know the joy that kids bring to life. While in Ghana I want to try and give them everything that I can to them but I know that what I receive from them will never balance out. The lessons I will learn about myself and others will be unmeasurable in my short three month trip. 

Journal 20

Culture Shock

What an interesting topic. Today in class we discussed the different ways we can experience culture shock and how to deal with it. When I think of shock, I instantly think of someone going into shock due to a traumatic injury or loss of blood. Those both practically paralyze the individual and happens generally pretty quickly. The shock will wear off after proper medical treatment unlike CULTURE shock. Culture shock is more of like a roller coaster ride. Some days I will be able to accept everything around me and love life, other days I know that I am going to crave familiarity. At times I may feel like I am paralyzed and not able to do anything that day and I have learned that that's ok. I did a little bit of research and found an awesome article on the four phases of culture shock

1. Honeymoon Phase. Occurring within the first couple weeks of travel. Everything is perfect and so interesting. Curiosity is found in the new food, local's habits, and pace of life. However this stage eventually ends…

2. Negotiation Phase. Differences between the old and new culture create anxiety. Feelings of anger and frustration start to arise. Differences in language, hygiene, and food are the main reasons for this phase. Feelings of home-sickness and loneliness will occur.

3. Adjustment Phase. I may not ever experience this phase as it usually occurs after 6 months of the new life. However, this phase one knows what to expect in different situations and many things are becoming habit and familiar. The culture begins to make sense and once again things become easier to manage. 

4. Mastery Phase. Although this does not mean full conversion, but they individual has a bi-culturism way of living. 

I kind of felt like I was writing down symptoms for a disease! By understanding what is absolutely going to happen to me while I am in Ghana will allow me to sort of chill out and go with the flow. I want to wake up every morning with the thought that this is a brand new day, I am in Ghana Africa, I won't be here for too long (even when it feels like an eternity), and I am experiencing this right now and there aren't any re-dos. 

Only 27 more days!