30.06.06
so, i am in hohoe, which has internet, surprisingly! i am not sure i'll be using it much, but it's surprising anyway. this is the best place ever. i want to live here. i am staying in a guest house with two girls from Holland who are amazing, and white, and that always helps. the guest house is run by germans, and i drank real coffee this morning for the first time i have been here. we are in a valley in rainforest-covered mountains, and the view at the breakfast table outside is breathtaking--green, lush mountains, and you can see the waterfall that everyone comes to visit in the distance. the guest house has a washing machine, real coffee, cheese..just all kinds of amazing things. i am so in love and i can see why two germans would want to retire here and run a guest house--it is so beautiful, and white people come here all the time to see the waterfall--it's a tourist attraction. of course there are also ghanians everywhere, but it is so friendly here to foreigners--they are not amazed that your skin is white, and they know better than to ask you for money or chase you down the street. i feel like a tourist but i am so much more comfortable here than i have been in sogakope. it's lovely.
well..a quick update. i might update more when i get back to sogakope on monday.
wednesday i went to accra, got money out, went to the accra zoo and saw lots of monkeys, saw people hawking strange products on the street such as worm medicines, and did some shopping. i went to this crazy market that was a tourist trap and had things like njembe drums and carved masks and batik fabric, all for exorbitant amounts of money. i also got things like bleach and shampoo, and made four copies of my massive 92-page health handbook. it was a good, but really tiring day.
yesterday john came to get me at like 10:00, and we walked, hauling all our luggage, to the guest house several miles away, on roads that were not paved (thus forcing me to carry my bag with wheels). as i was dying a man came and picked us up, and then i met afi and accosica, and i was given the name ama, which is given to someone who was born on saturday. (i don't know what day i was born, but i picked it at random). afi and accosica were totally shocked that i was basically forced to get over the culture shock by myself, without any experience here and all alone as a white. they felt really sorry but they are so great..we talked about all kinds of crazy ghanian things, and of course differences between holland and america, and they make me feel at home..or at least closer to it, and much more comfortable being white. there is strength in numbers. so we talked while we waited for a private tro-tro, because it was a six hour drive up here and there are nine of us in total. afi and accosica are working on building an orphanage and school, and they're working with sister aggie, who came up with us and is a very sweet ghanian woman. so..we spent the six hours in the car, and talked and cringed at the celine dion music together, and they are just so amazing..so they told me about the guest house they are staying at nearby in a town called vli, and how it is western and all of that, and i ended up staying with them and sleeping on a faux-mattress on the floor. but i get real coffee in the morning, so i don't care. last night we got here, and it took forever, but it was cool coming up the mountains--there were hundreds of fireflies everywhere, and it was really surreal.
so..we got to the guest house, and i ate a sandwich for dinner with cheese and tomatoes and lettuce and onions and cucumber and vinagrette, and it was the best thing i think i've ever tasted in my life. the germans are so nice, and the man's name who runs it is Bernard. he has a kitten, and also a cat from the bush--he calls it a China Cat, and i don't know the real name of it, but it is a bush animal with leopard spots but a racoon-like, long tail, and apparently its mother was killed and it was as good as dead, it was so young. i saw a grown one in the accra zoo, and they get pretty big...but he is taking care of it, and it is cute and sweet and not vicious at all, and probably illegal, but i'm in love with it. and it plays with the kitten and it is absolutely adorable, and i am in love. we all took nice showers last night, and got to pee after a six-hour car ride, which was lovely, and though i am sleeping on the floor in a small room with a thin pad for a mattress...it's so lovely. it's sooooo so lovely. the owners have a washing machine that you can use for two bucks. they have cheese, and like i said, i got real coffee this morning--and my breakfast was not just bread, but toast with butter (real butter!!) and jam and honey. omg. so good. and i talked about the view already, but i can't get enough of it, and it is just so great here. i want to stay here forever with my dutch girls.
i had a class today but only got through general health stuff. there was some miscommunication and not many people came today, so i am waiting until sunday when i have my other class to do STI stuff, because they're hoping that lots and lots of people will come. i hate the lack of organization here, but i'm doing my best to bring some good information to these people. i hope it works out.
tomorrow we are going to the waterfall, and the sunday and monday i have classes, and then i guess we leave monday afternoon. that's the plan anyhow. afi is sick today, which is no good, but luckily i brought all kinds of drugs so she should be fine soon. she is staying for two months, but her family is coming in a couple weeks and basically touring ghana together, and so john is thinking that i should accompany them a few places so i can see ghana too. i'm not sure how she would feel about it, but we have become fast friends (we stayed up late last night drinking beer and talking about universities and politics and how crazy ghana is), so we'll see..i might change from being a health instructor to being a tourist for a little while, haha, how fun!
anyway..i am taking lots of pictures. it is so amazingly beautiful..i wish you could all come here and see it. it's not at all like sogakope, and it's friendly, and they have western things here! enough to still be ghanian, but to make you feel kind of normal. anyway..have a good weekend, and i love you all, and i hope you are having as much fun as i am.
well..a quick update. i might update more when i get back to sogakope on monday.
wednesday i went to accra, got money out, went to the accra zoo and saw lots of monkeys, saw people hawking strange products on the street such as worm medicines, and did some shopping. i went to this crazy market that was a tourist trap and had things like njembe drums and carved masks and batik fabric, all for exorbitant amounts of money. i also got things like bleach and shampoo, and made four copies of my massive 92-page health handbook. it was a good, but really tiring day.
yesterday john came to get me at like 10:00, and we walked, hauling all our luggage, to the guest house several miles away, on roads that were not paved (thus forcing me to carry my bag with wheels). as i was dying a man came and picked us up, and then i met afi and accosica, and i was given the name ama, which is given to someone who was born on saturday. (i don't know what day i was born, but i picked it at random). afi and accosica were totally shocked that i was basically forced to get over the culture shock by myself, without any experience here and all alone as a white. they felt really sorry but they are so great..we talked about all kinds of crazy ghanian things, and of course differences between holland and america, and they make me feel at home..or at least closer to it, and much more comfortable being white. there is strength in numbers. so we talked while we waited for a private tro-tro, because it was a six hour drive up here and there are nine of us in total. afi and accosica are working on building an orphanage and school, and they're working with sister aggie, who came up with us and is a very sweet ghanian woman. so..we spent the six hours in the car, and talked and cringed at the celine dion music together, and they are just so amazing..so they told me about the guest house they are staying at nearby in a town called vli, and how it is western and all of that, and i ended up staying with them and sleeping on a faux-mattress on the floor. but i get real coffee in the morning, so i don't care. last night we got here, and it took forever, but it was cool coming up the mountains--there were hundreds of fireflies everywhere, and it was really surreal.
so..we got to the guest house, and i ate a sandwich for dinner with cheese and tomatoes and lettuce and onions and cucumber and vinagrette, and it was the best thing i think i've ever tasted in my life. the germans are so nice, and the man's name who runs it is Bernard. he has a kitten, and also a cat from the bush--he calls it a China Cat, and i don't know the real name of it, but it is a bush animal with leopard spots but a racoon-like, long tail, and apparently its mother was killed and it was as good as dead, it was so young. i saw a grown one in the accra zoo, and they get pretty big...but he is taking care of it, and it is cute and sweet and not vicious at all, and probably illegal, but i'm in love with it. and it plays with the kitten and it is absolutely adorable, and i am in love. we all took nice showers last night, and got to pee after a six-hour car ride, which was lovely, and though i am sleeping on the floor in a small room with a thin pad for a mattress...it's so lovely. it's sooooo so lovely. the owners have a washing machine that you can use for two bucks. they have cheese, and like i said, i got real coffee this morning--and my breakfast was not just bread, but toast with butter (real butter!!) and jam and honey. omg. so good. and i talked about the view already, but i can't get enough of it, and it is just so great here. i want to stay here forever with my dutch girls.
i had a class today but only got through general health stuff. there was some miscommunication and not many people came today, so i am waiting until sunday when i have my other class to do STI stuff, because they're hoping that lots and lots of people will come. i hate the lack of organization here, but i'm doing my best to bring some good information to these people. i hope it works out.
tomorrow we are going to the waterfall, and the sunday and monday i have classes, and then i guess we leave monday afternoon. that's the plan anyhow. afi is sick today, which is no good, but luckily i brought all kinds of drugs so she should be fine soon. she is staying for two months, but her family is coming in a couple weeks and basically touring ghana together, and so john is thinking that i should accompany them a few places so i can see ghana too. i'm not sure how she would feel about it, but we have become fast friends (we stayed up late last night drinking beer and talking about universities and politics and how crazy ghana is), so we'll see..i might change from being a health instructor to being a tourist for a little while, haha, how fun!
anyway..i am taking lots of pictures. it is so amazingly beautiful..i wish you could all come here and see it. it's not at all like sogakope, and it's friendly, and they have western things here! enough to still be ghanian, but to make you feel kind of normal. anyway..have a good weekend, and i love you all, and i hope you are having as much fun as i am.