LONG POST with random babbling by me sorry!

This weekend was Spent in the volta region. It was such a beautiful area and it was fun to get to see the area where the health care center is. We took an STC bus to Hohoe but for some reason I was just miserable. Then I lost/got my ipod stolen which was unfortunate, but I am sure that whoever has it needs it more than me. I know that I am very lucky just to have been able to have had an ipod. Its hard to get to upset about material object here when so many people are lacking basic needs, let alone luxuries. So after that slightly upsetting event we went to a bar called Virgin lips. Which would be a hilarious name anywhere, but every other store name in Ghana has God or Jesus in the name. haha. But anyway, we sat and talked which was fun. Again we had a queen/king sized bed and fiit the 3 of us in. We woke up early and got the most delicious egg sandwhiches ever. Then we got a tro tro “cab”, which was basically 6 ppl shoved into a falling apart taxi to Wli falls. We got a guide and we started our hike to see the falls. We decided to take the hard hike and see the upper and lower falls. Little did we know how hard it was going to be. I have never sweat so much in my life. And I was covered in dirt since I fell several times. It was worth it though. As we got close to the upper falls the sound was crazy. Then we started to feel mist and wind. When we could see the falls it if there were a helicopter overtop of the water. It was spraying out so hard and all the plants surrounding the area were blown over. Since we were soaked anyway, shane Katie and I got in. So fun. But then we had to hike down. Shannigans. It was way hard and my shoes kept coming apart and my knee hurt, but it was beautiful. The second falls were taller but not as forceful. Right as we finished our 4 our hike it started to rain. We went to a nearby hotel that had food and sat down. We were talking about our plans for the next day when a group at the next table came over. They were also planning to go to Mt. Afadajo (the highest point in Ghana) and were wondering if we went to share a tro tro since those are at times hard to find to that place. Another girl, Sarah, who was from Oxford and doing an internship in Accra came over and decided to join. So the next morning we all met up around 7 am. We found a tro tro, however it was the sketchiest tro tro I have ever seen in my life. Seriously, the roof was so low I kept almost hitting my head on the bumps. I think the best part though was that the gas tank was inside the car behind the drivers seat and the engine was between the drivers seat and the passenger seat. Also we periodically stopped and got water from ditches or puddles along the road and poured it on the engine since it was overheating. Luckily we made it there alive haha. We hiked the mountain which was a much easier hike, but very beautiful. One of the girls in the group we met really struggled with the climb so we went very slow. When we got to the top it was beautiful. We could see a ton of the Volta region, the volta lake, and we could see Togo! So cool!

Sunday night we arrived by tro tro to Tafi atome, a monkey sanctuary. We each paid 14 cedis for our own room, dinner, a guided monkey tour, and breakfast. A pretty sweet deal. When we got there they told us they were out of water and needed to order some but that the showers should be working shortly. Not to much later we saw women walking buy with giant bowls of water on their head. They were filling them across the using a water pump and then walking them over. Than a man was taking the water bucket by bucket up a ladder to pour it into a tank. I felt grateful for every drop of water we used! Before dinner we decided to go on a walk and not only did we meet up with adorable children who loved touching our skin and say hi, but we saw monkeys!! Then we had dinner in the Chiefs house. They had made rice and there was a tomatoe ish sause with hardboiled eggs. IT was really good and not too spicy! I finished my book at night and went to bed very early. We met at 6 am to go on our monkey tour. We had bananas and we got to feed the cute little monkeys. It was so cool to see them play and to have them eat the banana out of your hand. Sometimes they fought over it and there little hands would grab yours to use as a support. I can’t even count how many monkeys we saw. After the end of the tour we decided we didn’t want to pay for a taxi back to the junction, so we walked. It was 5 kilometers, but it was so hot! When we arrived we got a tro tro to Ho, where we were planning to just chill and then take the STC bus back Tuesday morning. But when we got there, I was just like, hey why don’t we just take a tro tro back today? So we hung out for a little, got lunch, and then found a really nice air conditioned tro tro. We went to shoprite and got some food, and I got an ipod shuffle to keep me going. I really need music in my life. Especially with all these long bus rides! We got home and made rice crispy treats!!! So exiting and our tuna-curry-vegetable salad. So good especially with shoprite bread. Katie and I watched some one tree hill and then went to bed.

So yesterday I got my hair braided. I look so African. Especially because I am way tan. But don’t worry, I know I’m married so I won’t accept any of these . A woman who works at the front desk of our hostel did it for Katie and I. We tro tro’d to a place near her house. But our tro tro broke down part way there! When we finally got another tro tro and got to the station. We tried to call her, but of course seeing that its Ghana, the cell phone network was down. So we just chilled for a while until we could finally contact her. We went to her family’s house and we started the process. She started to weave in the extra hair, but I could tell it was going to take a really long time. After about 3 hours we weren’t even halfway done, but we stopped for a lunch break. None other than kenke (a weird corn dough thing) and fish (bones, scales, eyes and all). It was all I could do to swallow and not gag. I barely made it through till I could escape to the bathroom and throw up. Haha, don’t worry I ate a ton later. It took another 3 and half hours to finish my hair. It hurt like hell, but it looked really cool. I was so exhausted and antsy, but we still had Katie’s hair to do. I got to play with a bunch of kids during her hair and that was really fun. It didn’t finish until 10:30. Came home and ate dinner. So good.

Life here brings so many questions to mind. About poverty. About what a good life is. About development work. I have so many questions about what the right thing to do is and who is to blame for all the problems in the world. If any one is. I have had a chance to read a lot of intellectual books like The End of Poverty and Shame of the Nation. The latter talks about the severe racial inequality in American Schools. It was sickening, I am ashamed of the part I play in keeping minorities segregated. This book made me even more angry at President Bush than I already was. And I especially hate how much his policies have contributed to discrimination—No Child Left Behind was a perfect way to make sure that poor minority children would indeed be left behind and more than that, it ensured that rich white people wouldn’t have to deal with them. What is wrong with our country? People here in Ghana think America is the best country in the world and would love to come. It makes me sad to realize that statistics for African Americans and other minorities show that the education they receive in the US is much less than failing. The drop out rates are through the rough. The buildings are decrepit. And the numbers don’t lie. As a country we spend thousands upon thousands of dollars less per child on minority students. And the sad thing is I think that maybe people want it that way. If we provide horrible education opportunities for minorities many will stay trapped in the poverty trap they are in and won’t move into the “white world.” Things have to change.

Classes are easy here but interesting to see what is talked about and the norms are for students here. It still baffles my mind that there is such a lack of books. It is impossible for students to compete outside of Ghana when they can’t get books. Elon just seems crazy right now. Everyone has lap tops. We buy hundreds of dollars worth of books ever semester! Humanity is very much the same everywhere but at the same time so different. Everyone loves, laughs, has pain, has curiosities and questions, gets sick, has relationships…but there is so much not the same in the lifestyles we live. It makes me sad to think about how quickly I will likely assimilate back into American culture and lifestyle. I wish I could say that I would constantly be grateful for my hot showers, books, paved roads…but those things are just expected in the US. And probably after a few weeks of excitement and confusion about being back, it will be almost as if I didn’t leave. But I really want to fight that. I have to. I have to make sure that I remember what I have seen and experienced, and more than remember change. Be the Change you want to see in the world, right?