First week of Africa

Day 1
So the plane ride was long but nothing too eventful. A few days before we left, the embassy put a travel alert on Germany because Al Quadi threatened a terrorist attack prior to and after September 27th. Guess what? We flew into Frankfurt on the 26th so I will admit I was extremely worried about that. We get to the security gates in Germany and there are people standing around with machine guns. Yeah, a little freaky. Then they start acting weird after my bag goes through the x-ray machine. They pull me aside and take out my little camping lantern. How unlucky is it that it is on the setting that flashes red light. Yes, sadly those kinds of things happen to me all of the time. They pull me to the side with the people with the machine guns and do a lot of tests to make sure it isn’t a bomb. However after it is cleared nothing more eventful happened except a lot of turbulence flying into Accra. (The capital of Ghana)


Day 2
People kept telling me that Ghanaian people are the nicest and friendliest people you will ever meet. They were not lying. These people are incredibly amazing and nice. The little children will yell yevo yevo!! ( white people, white people) because they are so happy to see someone of a different race and they feel hope because they know we are there to help. My arm is tired from waving continuously J I started my first day of placement ( a school/orphanage) today and it was wonderful… chaotic and extremely disorganized but wonderful. I get there and the lady in the room says teach teach! Teach what? I can’t speak their language and I have no idea what they do and don’t know. And they have NOTHING for me to use. No books, no pencils, no paper, just a chalkboard and chalk. The ages of the children vary from 3-7 and their learning levels are very different. Some know their times tables and others don’t even know how to count 1-10. I felt frustrated , like I was not teaching them anything but I remembered that this culture is different from ours and just being there is helping. We are in this small building that feels like an oven. Some of the kids only are wearing shirts and there is no bathroom. The kids just walk outside when they feel like going to the bathroom and just pull it all out wherever. The kids are amazing, loving and are extremely excited to see me. They don’t even notice that I am freaking out on the inside because I am standing in front of 26 children and have no idea where to even start. They just smile and grab my hand and want to touch my hair (they say… you have the best weave.) So I leave after a few hours feeling more exhausted and overwhelmed than I have ever felt in my life! But all is well because the kids and their sweet smiling faces made me feel like a million bucks!~

So later today we went to the market. It was an incredible and yet another chaotic experience. People are selling anything you could possibly imagine. The fish look like they have been setting out in the sun for 15 days. They are all black and smell awful. There are fruits, fabric, nuts, shoes, underwear etc. I bought some beautiful batik fabric (their form of tye die- I am learning it later so I will let you all know how they do it). You can pay someone to make anything for you out of the fabric (if you would like something let me know your favorite colors and what you would like and I will try my best to get it for u). I am really looking forward to getting dresses, skirts, duffle bags, and purses! So it feels like a million days since I had a cell phone but really it’s only been 2. I finally got a phone so I can make a much needed call to my family. I miss all of you dearly and even though the food is spicy and amazing (chicken, chicken, chicken, rice, rice, rice, oranges, oranges, oranges) it’s already getting a little repetitive. I hope all is well in America and know that I miss you all so much. I am having the time of my life and I love the people not only in the community but also the other people who I stay with. Take care and email me if you get the chance, I will try my best to write back!
Tonight we danced African style. Even though I looked like well… a white person (no offense) it was so much fun and the kids were so eager to teach us their dances.. and laugh at us haha. It kinda reminds me of crumping and the chicken dance but more intense. I will post videos sometime of all of us trying to dance. Then they taught us how to play on the drums. That was also an incredible experience and I would love to take a small one home with me (I am going to look into that). So the men loved my hair and one in particular seemed to like not just my hair lol. He said come here come here I want a picture. He was getting a little too close for comfort- being all huggy and flirty and all the African people thought it was the funniest thing. He wanted several pics including one where he caught me by surprise and picked me up. I felt loved but a little violated.. who knows where those pictures will end up haha. Dan better watch out because these African men have the hots for me and I love Africa so much I just might have to find one and stay here! J Hahaha just kidding just kidding. Then these little girls kept pointing to someone and saying they are calling for you, they are calling for you. I assumed it was a little boy with a crush but I walked over and it was a girl and she said come here. She then said, “Will you please be my friend?”Then all of the other kids were saying the same thing to me It was so sweet and touching.
Every time I travel to third world countries it blows me away that the people own and have nothing but they are so appreciative and friendly. People in America are blessed with so much but so many people are so unhappy and ungrateful. Society tells us that money buys us happiness but obviously from an outsider perspective looking at Africa, MONEY DEFINITELY DOES NOT BUY HAPPINESS. All of them want to come to America because they believe that money flows through the water and we have everything and are so happy. I think they would be extremely disappointed to know that even though we have so much there are many people drowning in unhappiness. These people have a special place in my heart and I will treasure this experience forever. Living the simple life has been an incredible experience and I wish that everyone would have the opportunity to try it out. Anyways, I am heading out. I will keep you all updated. Please continue to pray that I make a difference, stay healthy, have fun, and do what God has planned for me on this trip. Thanks so much, take care and God bless you all! I miss you all so much!

Day 3
Today was much better at the school because I was much more prepared. I taught about animals and luckily found some plastic toy animals. We had 25 kids in our class yesterday and 35 today. They keep multiplying and getting younger! There are still a lot of things that shock me about Africa that I find it hard to get used to. Today I asked if I could go to the bathroom at the school. They take me over to a hole in the ground with no privacy. However, the kids don’t even use the hole they just pee anywhere. The girls even pee standing up. We play in their pee, its really unsanitary. They all drink from the same cup out of a bucket with dark dirty water. Regardless of the sanitary conditions the children are so happy and don’t know anything different. I am falling in love with these kids and I already can’t imagine leaving them and I still have 2 months to fall more in love! These children are so innocent and laidback. There is no media to pollute their minds. Their little faces light up every time we walk by. Africa is amazing.

Day 5
Yesterday, I got heat exhaustion and I have only been here for 4 days… how pathetic huh? Dan took me to town and told me that he knew how to get there. He did know how to get there but it was the super long way. We walked for about an hour at the hottest part of the day. I started to feel weird and I took my backpack off and my back was drenched with sweat. (I don’t naturally sweat a lot) and I forgot my water. Well then we tried to locate the short cut and Dan took us down this side street only to get us lost in a strange place. Finally this little girl got us back out to the main road and we just went the long way. By the time we got back I was really sick and had to stay sleeping in bed all night. But everyone here took good care of me and I feel much better today. One thing I take for granted is air conditioning. If you get over heated In Ghana you can’t just walk to the nearest building and get cooled off. You have to walk everywhere and if you get overheated there are no cool places to rest. Even the shade is hot. I also got a drum yesterday which is really cool and I love it! As we were attempting to find our home base everyone would stop us to give us lessons about how to play it. This little boy ran up to us and said can I see your drum. My pathetic natural instinct (and I hate to admit it) was that he was going to steal it but instead he taught us a how to play and gave us Ewe language lessons. People here are so helpful and caring. One of our instructors informed me that they all believe that it is their God given duty to take care of each other. Wouldn't be nice if all people thought that way.

Wednesday September 30, 2009
Today placement was rough again since I was sick yesterday I didn’t really have a formal lesson plan. But I survived and we took a long recess break. They kick the soccer ball barefoot and it makes me cringe every time they kick it or get hit but they are tough. Afterwards we went to the Wli waterfalls. It is the largest waterfall in Western Africa. It is huge and beautiful. Knowing me and my nature to be slightly a daredevil, I jumped at the idea of going under the waterfall (even though Dan told me I might be killed by a log coming over the waterfall and the idea that there might be parasites in the water that can get in my feet). The pressure was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes or breathe and the water pounding on me stung, But it was so worth it to get under it. It was an amazing feeling but I feel like I might have permanent damage to my eardrums because of the water spraying forcefully in my ear lol. Dan and I swam back to shore and everyone that lived here was so intrigued that we knew how to swim. I take a lot for granted I realized…. Well I already knew it but it’s only being reinforced. We then went to an ostrich farm and got to feed them which was pretty neat too. I had no idea those things were so mean and scary looking. The sunset coming back to the home base was breathtaking and overall today was an amazing day. Have a great night, take care. May God bless you! I miss you all! I hope all is well.
Much Love coming from Africa…
Carissa
Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Day 6
I am so frustrated at the lack of structure at my placement and I need a lot of prayers for patience and creativity! The lady that sets in the room falls asleep and the man that stays in the room beats the children with canes. It is almost impossible to teach 35 children ages 2-7 anything because they are all on different learning levels and do not speak English. I have been doing the abcs, 123s, weather, months, expressions, and body parts. I am worried because it is only been one week and I am running out of ideas. With no resources for the children it often feels impossible to be creative. I love these children though and I pray that I can find creative ways to make a huge impact in their lives. These children have touched my heart in so many ways and I adore them. Today this little girl got hurt and it was so frustrating because there was nothing I could do. No bandaids, no ice packs, and a language barrier grr! They told me that everyone here speaks English but they lied.. there are very few people who know it well enough to communicate. So anyways please pray that I can touch these childrens lives with what little I have to work with. I miss you all and I really miss hot showers. I love it here though and can't wait to see what opportunities arise for me next week. I am going to Cape Coast this weekend which is where the slave trade occured. It will be rich in history and I will be sure to fill it in. Until next time... take care. I love you all, thanks for following my blog!

Love Carissa