5 Weeks!!

This morning I woke up from the worst dream yet. This stupid doxy gives me such lucid dreams. I went home in my dream last night like I usually do but this time I woke up actually thinking I was home. I don’t find myself being as homesick as I thought but it’s still hard to be so far away from them without much communication. Our power was still out when I woke up but turned out about 10 minutes before we needed to leave. Our taxi driver was maybe going 45 km the whole way there so we were kind of late to church. It was testimony meeting today so while the members got up and bore their testimonies I read a considerable amount of my scriptures to get caught up on our scripture reading chart. After sacrament meeting some of the leaders asked us to teach young women’s because their teacher didn’t show up. We sat the girls around in a circle and attempted to have a discussion from the For The Strength of The Youth pamphlet about education. I’m not sure if the girls are typically that shy or if it was because of our presence. We had to have a translator for the lesson and even then the girls acted like they had no idea what we were saying. I was able to share some neat personal experiences with the girls. One girl who wants to be a nurse asked me what to do if she comes into contact with an experience in the hospital that might be too much to handle. I gave her my experience of my freak-out over the motorbike accident injury and how I was able to pray to my Heavenly Father and ask Him for strength in the days to come that I might know if I really should be thinking about becoming a Physician Assistant. It wasn’t until then that I realized why I had that experience. We had to fill up another hour with another lesson so we went into talking about family. We each shared what we learned from our parents and siblings and how they have strengthened us. My mother has shown me how to be patient and my dad has taught me how to love everyone around me. My siblings have strengthened me and listened when I was going through a hard time. I learn so much from my family that it is really going to take all of eternity for us to learn all that we need to from each other. We ended a bit early and began walking back to Mama Doris’ house for our group meeting. Our group meeting was lovely just as they always are. Cassie brought The Testaments for us to watch. I have never seen it before and it was so uplifting. Watching the movie really reminded me of how much Jesus Christ suffered for my sins and how important it is for me to make the right choices. I love the chance I have to read the Book of Mormon while I’m here because I can really read it as a story and follow along with all of the different characters. After the movie the girls helped me fix my IRB in hopes that I soon get approved so I can officially start doing interviews.  Mama made us a delicious green leaf stew over rice. We ate every last bite of it. Cassie and I love going over to the house because it’s the one time we get to eat real Ghanaian dishes and we don’t have to do any of the cooking. We played Skip-bo with King and left by 6 so we wouldn’t be home too late again.

Day 34

Hands down the best day I’ve had yet. I woke up with all the intention in the world to do my laundry because I barely have any clean clothes or sheets but because we stayed up so late last night I couldn’t find the energy to wake up early. I just got ready and headed to the station with Cassie to meet Vicky to go to KUMASI! Seriously my favorite place ever. We first went to Agona and made it there before the other girls so we got in line. The whole back seat was empty in one of them so we got in and saved a couple seats but after about 5 minutes the driver started the car and started to drive off before we started yelling stop stop stop we need to get out! Everyone was laughing at us because we looked so silly yelling get out get out once he started up the car. Right then the other girls came and we all climbed into a second tro tro. We all had plenty of room which is very uncommon. We kept telling Vicky how unusual this is and she should be prepared for a more crowded bus ride home. We spent the next hour talking back and forth about different things with Vicky who I absolutely adore. In Kumasi they dropped us off in shoe village. I had no idea where we were but the people were very friendly directing us in the right way each time. We made it to the bank alive, we had a couple scares and shovings but we made it. Barclays was closed and their ATMs weren’t working so we went to the bank next door. The ATMs show you your balance in cedi, which makes me feel like I actually have money. We went to Okopuku market first. I bought jam, crackers, powder milk, pasta, twix, ramen, and milo. It wasn’t my healthiest trip but this junk food will last me till the end of the month I hope. We left to go to the shopping street and ran into a man named Emmanuel that knew a BYU professor. We talked for a while and he wanted to show us his artwork after we were done shopping. The next hour or two was spent bartering for souvenirs and gifts for friends and family. Lauren bought a gorgeous patchwork backpack that I am so jealous of. Emmanuel patiently waited for us to finish shopping and then showed us all of his paintings, which were really impressive, but definitely the missionary souvenir kind of stuff that makes you wonder why you bought it in the first place. They were all really cool paintings but I didn’t have any use for them in my apartment. Cassie, Jackie, and Lauren were eating them up. The ones they picked out were pretty cool and carefully thought out. I wasn’t too interested until he pulled out his big paintings. He had huge paintings of lions, giraffes, villages, and elephants. I asked if he did custom paintings and he said he would do 2 custom paintings for me of my choice so I paid him for half of it and when I return to Kumasi I’ll get to pick them up. Later we went to an obruni restaurant and we had never seen so many obrunis in one place in a while. They don’t ever seem to care but we always get so excited. We all got the same burger and Vicky got a pizza. Vicky said that we can go to this place again and I’m not opposed to it at all! We were stuffed from our meal and went around the corner where there were a couple more shops. We saw Emmanuel there and thanks to him we made it back to the Tro Tro station where all the madness began. We waited in one line and watched as people began violently pushing their way into the tro tro. Then with only about 10 people in front of us it was our turn to get on the tro tro. Fail number 1. People were throwing elbows and getting pretty violent over getting into the tro tro so we backed off. Then we tried for the second time but the line ran from behind and got into the taxi before we did, fail number 2. It’s funny how particular they are about their spots in line but once the tro tros arrive it doesn’t matter if you’re 1^st or 30^th. We were all pretty ticked off at this point and determined to get on the next one. It began raining but we stayed out in the middle of the market hoping that this will give us a head start while the others are a few feet away taking shelter. Everyone was staring and laughing at us as we tried to stand under Vicky’s umbrella that she so conveniently packed. This time we thought we were going to make it for sure and started to climb into a tro tro but it wasn’t going to Agona. We stood back in the rain and waited even longer this time. We getting drenched and just in time another tro tro came by. Same thing happened and we getting elbowed and punched trying to get on. We saw that the window was open in the back and a very nice man who had watched us attempt to get on the other tro tros told us to throw our bags in through the window. We weren’t sure if our bags were going to guarentee our spot and the door was more crowded than ever. Our only option was the window. Cassie was the first one in. Then it was my turn to climb through and it wasn’t as hard as I thought. Vicky was after me and Lauren literally picked her up and lifted her into the Tro tro. I’m pretty sure this isn’t how we envisioned our nice evening in Kumasi to end. We all made it into the tro tro safely packed like a can of sardines. This particular van should fit 15 but we counted 30 in the van. What an experience. The rest of the way home we didn’t talk much because we were pretty wiped out from our long day. We took a taxi to Wiamoase and said goodbye to Vicky as Cassie and I walked home. It looked like the rain was about to hit Wiamoase so we started walking quickly until we ran into the head master of Okomfo Anokye. He was very nice and friendly, very unlike him. That’s when we realized he was drunk. He invited us to sit down and talk to him over a drink. Cassie got a malta and I ordered a fanta. The conversation was pretty awkward because he asked me on a date and Cassie to go to Kumasi with him alone. We quickly sipped down the rest of our drinks and left right as the rain started to begin. We both had our bags that we didn’t want to get any more wet so we took shelter under a shed with 2 other girls. Once the rain let up we ran back home. It was pretty late by the time we got home but I needed to do my workout so I just did a quick 15 minute workout before making some pasta for dinner. In the middle of making dinner our power went out. My computer was practically dead so I could only pray and hope it would come on in the morning. 

XOXO
Natalie

Day 33

This morning after rounds I followed Abiba into the dressing room and only did a handful of dressings before it was time for us clean up. We took the trash out to the awful pit again. We went back into the dressing room to finish up cleaning and I got the chance to find out more about Abiba. We sat there making cotton balls out of a big sheet of cotton and folding gauze ads while I learned that she is one of six kids and has a boyfriend that she’ll probably marry. She is Muslim and her dad has 2 wives. While we were talking a girl around 14 came in with a gash on her left leg from a cutlass. I watched as they put 5 stitches in her knee without any anesthesia. I stood at her head holding her hand and at times holding her down from flailing around because of the pain. Once we cleaned up from the mess we went to antenatal to do vitals but there were already enough hands so I finished my book and made more notes. I wanted to sit in on the Chief’s consultations because he and Isaac are very different in methods. Isaac is more modern in his methods because he is right out of PA school but the Chief has to be up in his 70s at least so his methods are a little more old school. I was only there for about 30 minutes before he sent me home because it was about to rain and he didn’t want me to get caught in it. Well that was a bad idea because probably the second I left the clinic it started pouring. I first ran into about 40 school kids with about 30 more running to greet me. I knew I needed to get going before it got worse but it only took about 30 seconds before it turned into almost flood like rain. The sewers were getting pretty full already and everything was muddy. Afo and a couple other kids held my hand was we were walking home in the pouring rain. Everyone who saw me kept yelling brah (come) but I really like the rain and wanted to keep walking in it. I am actually glad I didn’t take shelter somewhere because it rained for about 3 hours straight without any let up. Who knows where I would have been trapped. I didn’t realize how wet my books had gotten and my notebook was totally ruined. I laid out my books and tried to get a few pages dry while I made eggs in a basket for myself. I tried to take a quick nap while it was quiet but Cassie came home with Lauren so I got up. Jackie was already in Agona and we all thought it would be nice to go and check our emails and have an extra day in the Internet Café. On the taxi ride over Jackie called and said the power was out in Agona too so we just got our ‘fast-food’ and drank cokes at the bar. The power came on while we were at the bar and we were hoping that meant power was back in Wiamoase too because it’s already hot enough with our small ceiling fan going. Once we returned I was able to do another great workout. Whenever I did exercises on my back I just looked up and saw the beautiful full moon above me. I sat there for 20 minutes after my workout amazed at the beauty that surrounds me. This earth that we get to live on is truly a wonder of beauty. As I am getting more used to everything around me I even start to look past the beautiful hills that surround me but if I take a second to stop and look it takes my breath away. Some parts of the village look like Jurassic park so beautiful and untouched. I was so at peace thinking about all of this until 30 bugs decided it would be a good idea to attack me at the same time, some landing in my mouth and nose. Needless to say I got up pretty quickly and went to take a shower. Cassie and I were pretty beat from our days and both said we were going to go to bed really early but one thing led to another and we were up talking until almost 12! We both couldn’t believe how much we’ve learned about others and ourselves since being here. We are both very excited for what the next 2 months hold for us!

XOXO

Natalie

Day 32

I started my day at the clinic of with rounds with the nurses, Isaac, and the Chief. One girl in there is about 15 with a snake bite that made her right leg swell to almost double of her left. It looks better than the last time I saw it but still not a pretty sight. I followed one of the nurses, Auntie Rose, into the dressing room to do more observations.  The chief was in charge of most of the dressings today and even did a couple of the minor scrapes and cuts. He used hydrogen peroxide and his antibiotic powder on all of the patients and the silver nitrate on a select few. The next patient was a diabetic patient with gangrene that I’ve seen several times but only for dressings. Today she came in to get her second toe amputated. The chief told me to get comfortable because it’s going to be a long day. They prepped the room for her and injected about 15 ml of lidocaine into her foot. She had her big toe amputated a few days ago but now her other toes are getting gangrene also. The doctor said a prayer before the surgery which I thought was very neat. I am sure that a lot of doctors say prayers in their head before each surgery but here they get to say them out loud with the nurses. After he removed the toe quite aggressively I might add, he said a prayer of thanks and left. I kept thinking how cool this opportunity is where I get to watch stitches done on a daily basis and toe amputations only a few feet away.  I stuck around to help my friends Abiba and Auntie Rose clean up the dressing room because we were done for the day. Abiba told me she had to throw away the trash and I was curious to see what they do with their trash here so I went with. We walked to a pit behind the Ante-Natal clinic where Abiba just chucked the trash into the middle of the hole. I have seen the things that go into the trash so I didn’t even want to begin to think about what else was in there. The worst part for me was seeing the goats and chickens grazing around the pit. I couldn’t bring myself to get any closer to the pit because I wasn’t sure exactly what I would be able to see close up. I bought a couple donuts for the other nurses and I to share as we talked. I spent the next couple of hours in Isaac’s office and taking more notes. My walk home was the typical walk avoiding every drunk man in love me, talking to school kids, and running from the little kids with mangos all over their hands as they try to pinch my obruni skin. I made lunch, worked out, and spent the rest of the evening doing more of my coursework.

Day 31

This morning I didn’t leave for the clinic until 8:30 and went straight to the dressing room. Chief came in moments after I did and started doing a lot of the dressings. There were pretty minor things in there but the coolest thing was the silver nitrate he uses. It’s a blue stone of silver nitrate that stops infection or something that he uses on a few of the patients. I see him use it especially on a lot of the patients that waited a long time to come into the clinic. One boy came in with a wound that he’s had for almost 6 months now. It’s a good 6x3 gash on his ankle. He dumped hydrogen peroxide on it and rubbed the silver nitrate on it leaving it a weird green color. I spent a couple of hours in there seeing a lot of different injuries from a baby with burns over most of her body and large wounds left untreated for weeks. After I finished in the dressing room I went into consultations with the Physician Assistant Isaac. It was so cool being in there with him. My job was to record patient name, number, hometown, sex, age, and diagnosis. Most of the cases are uncomplicated malaria but Isaac teaches me so much with each case. He taught me what you look for when doing superficial and deep palpitations. The stomach is divided into 9 regions so when you are palpating each section you have to remember which organs are in each to determine the diagnosis. Next he told me to look at the sclera and conjunctiva to diagnose malaria and jaundice. In between patients we had time to talk. Isaac is a huge movie fan and asked me to bring my movies so that he could watch some more American movies. He asked me what I knew about Chris Brown, Rihanna, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Celine Dion, the Marines, and a million other celebrities. He knew more than I did for most of the celebrities. He left around 1 and I was in his office with nothing to do so I got out my Hunger Games book and began reading. I love the books and don’t want to rush through them too quickly because they’re a nice read when I’m bored. It was around 2 when Isaac came back so I said my goodbyes and walked home. I ate my lunch while watching episodes of Friends. Then I began reading some coursework for my Women’s Health Course that was really fascinating. My mind was blown about how much fashion and celebrities have shaped who women are today. Teenagers were defined by marketing companies and many health issues are involved with fashion. The rest of the material is just as interesting and I can’t wait to read through all of it. When Cassie came home she told me that there was a missed call on the phone and it was from my family! I called them back and talked to my dad for a while. He had good news to share with me and wanted to call to tell me all about it. I was so happy to hear from him and talk with him for a little bit. About 10 minutes later I got a call back and it was Katie and Steven. They just called to say hi and ask me a million different questions. They asked me to speak a little Twi for them and we talked about everything going on back at home and new things with me in Ghana. I love talking to my family hearing their voices. I didn’t realize how blessed I am to be able to call them whenever I want back at home. I am even more blessed with the family I have and our relationships with each other. I can’t wait until we’re all reunited again. It doesn’t happen very often with Audrey and I away at school so even though its crazy most of the time I’m glad to be at home.

XOXO

Natlalie 

Day 30

Today is Agona market day! I quickly finished up my notes and emails and got into a taxi for Agona. The other girls were already there when I got there so I hopped onto a computer and did everything I needed to do. I got an email from one of my best friends from High School that totally made my day. I have so many plans for when I am back in Houston for a couple of weeks I don’t think it’ll be physically possible to do everything I want to do and eat as much as I want to. I emailed a few professors and friends and got an email from my dad that cracked me up. My siblings are keeping things very interesting around the house. Steven has been busy making sure his room is just as clean as his friends’ and Katie is throwing parties and telling my parents last minute like she usually does. Typical Katie and Steven. Once we were done in the café King took us to a ‘fast-food’ place that served rice, cole-slaw, and chicken. Mama brought it home for Jackie and Lauren last week and they haven’t been able to stop talking about it since. So once we had our food we went down to the bar to get fantas and eat our food. They weren’t joking. The food was so good I’m pretty sure we’re going to eat it every time we’re in Agona. It was the most western we’ve felt since being here. We were sitting around a table eating our ‘fast-food’ with utensils and drinking soda. Mama Doris’ family owns the bar so we always see Nana there or some other family member. King’s Uncle was in there and he told us he was a shoemaker that could make us Tom like shoes out of the beautiful Kenti cloth. We see people weaving the cloth everywhere so once we find the cloth we like we’ll bring it to him so he can make them for us. We finished up and made our way to the market. We didn’t get very far before it started raining. Ghanaians HATE rain. Everyone runs for cover like they’re made of sugar. King had a ‘hide-out’ that we could stay in until the rain let up. Once it did we finished getting groceries and headed over to the corner of the market where they sell fabric. I promised one man last week that I would come back and look at his fabrics once I had more money to spend. He has decent prices for his fabric and a pretty good selection of them. I bought three yards for 15 cedi (8 USD) that I plan to make into a pencil skirt. Then while the other girls were looking at these really cool mats to buy I went a couple stalls down and found even better fabric. The woman was about 70 and didn’t understand anything I was saying but her son helped translate for me. She had really nice prints that could be worn in the states and this gorgeous fabric called ‘Amelia’ for SUPER CHEAP. I’m talking 1.50 cedi a yard. That’s like 80 cents a yard for gorgeous fabric. I bought 4 yards of one of them and Cassie bought a few yards of similar fabric. I might come home with suitcases full of just fabric if I’m not careful! The other girls needed to buy yams so they left Cassie and I to venture in the clothing area of the market. We looked at the jerseys and shorts but nothing caught our eye so we went looking for the other girls but couldn’t find them so we ended up getting lost. I felt like a little kid in a grocery store and just kept thinking that we needed to stay put. So Cassie and I waited by this stand selling bowls made out of dried up watermelon shells. In Northern Ghana they dry watermelons out and treat them so you can use them as a bowl. After a while King found us and brought us to Jackie and Lauren where they were eating fan-milks. It’s frozen chocolate milk in a bag and the closest thing to ice-cream here. We each bought one and separated to go home.

XOXO

Natalie

Day 29

This morning I went to the clinic and went straight to pediatrics. Ever since I have been here there has been a little six year old boy named Tojik living as an in patient for malnutrition. This morning was the first I have seen him running around and laughing. I’m so happy to see him looking healthy and hopefully he’ll leave soon. He came in with a very big belly and face, signs of Kwashiorkor. I sat there and observed and got caught up on my notes from the previous couple of days. I went searching for things to do or nurses to talk to but I couldn’t find anyone. I didn’t see many patients at all and a lot of the staff wasn’t there either. I found my friends Monica and Doris sitting at the Eye clinic making signs for visiting hours. I helped them make the signs and post them around the clinic. It was finally time to close so I came home and made some lunch for myself. Cassie was already home so we talked for a while before I did my workout. I had one of the best workouts today. I used my Nike Training Center app and picked a couple workouts and it totaled up to 45 minutes. I downed about 4 bags of water during and after my workout. I took a shower and then helped Cassie with dinner. We wanted to attempt Pad-Thai like Jackie and Lauren. We bought groundnut paste at the market a few days ago and wanted to try to cook something for real tonight. We put onion, coconut, groundnut paste, and red pepper spice over spaghetti. It wasn’t as flavorful as we would have hoped but next time we’ll add different spices to it. Even though I am constantly thinking about all the food I can’t have here, I know that I am really going to miss all of this natural food I have at the tips of my finger. Everything I eat is so raw and delicious. I get to see the food being taken off the trucks straight from the farm to be sold in the market. The foods I’m going to miss the most are avocados as big as my hand, fresh pineapple, mangoes, and the eggs. More than the food, I’m going to miss the market day experiences. I am going to miss walking up and down the dirt roads while people yell my name to come and buy their food. The grocery store will be so boring. We should put someone in each aisle that will convince you their food is better than the other aisle’s food. The grocery store would make a profit and it would make the grocery store so much more fun. It’s a win-win. But seriously, I have made so many friends in the market I can’t stand the thought of having to say goodbye to them forever.

XOXO

Natalie