Best Day Yet

10 February, 2011

Today I woke to the most beautiful singing. It is market day and people are the up early (as in earlier than usual) for the best day of the week. Market day is every six days, so it rotates and I hear it is quite the experience.

Today is also bittersweet because Dr. Nick and Bryn left at 3:30 this morning to go back to the land of daily temperatures not found on an oven. It has been so wonderful having them here for personal reasons but more importantly, they have done heaps of good for the people of Saboba. In the time they were here, they performed 68 surgeries. Impressive.

Though I will be alone now and will miss them, it will be good for me as I have spent much of my time with them. I will learn what it is to depend on God as never before because the option of leaning on the familiar is boarding a plane at this very moment. It has officially begun…

SO, with that being said, I’m ready to start the day. I will do rounds with Dr. Young and possibly work in the lab today if there are no surgeries. There is a case of osteomyolitis in which part of the bone has become infected and died that we will do soon. I am very excited to see this even though it will be gruesome as it involves a hammer and a chisel.

Yesterday I scrubbed in again with Dr. Nick for another hernia removal. He left me partially close the incision yesterday…. Completely inexperienced girl with a sharp needle, mostly unconscious patient… you just have to laugh. Dr. Morris was SO kind to me as he gave his best to instruct me. I’m telling you, this beats any text book or lecture. This is the way I learn. Dr. Young has LOADS of books at the house, which supplements what I see in surgery very nicely. Dr. Nick and Bryn left me with sutures and the appropriate tools behind to practice my stitching. I will rock this part of PA school if it’s the last thing I do.

I wish you could have witnessed the faces of the OR boys yesterday when Dr. Nick and Bryn gave them goodbye gifts- scrub caps made here that Bryn’s seamstress made out of one she had shown her- they are SO talented!!) and shirts of Dr. Nick’s. They absolutely loved them!! We got videos of it, which is great because they were so happy, they danced.

I asked Richard, the nurse anesthetist, if this Is what they usually experience when groups come through. He quickly threw up his hands and said there had never been a group like this before as Dr. Nick and Bryn have made such a sincere effort to befriend each of them. He said we were something special. I think that is so great, and will of course continue deepening our friendship.

I made the mistake of teaching them how to whistle yesterday, so now I hear a “wooWOOO!!” when I walk by. It still catches me off guard and I spin are wondering who just did that, and then I remember I am in Ghana and it’s ok… and that I was the one to taught them that. We always end up laughing. Gosh I love these people.

Off to do rounds with the doctor. There is a six year old little girl brought in late last night with a serious case of typhoid, making a necessary operation impossible. What is even more heart-breaking is that her sweet father just lost his wife weeks ago. It broke Dr. Young’s heart. Please pray for her to heal.

I hope you are well and I can’t tell you how much I love hearing from you all!

P.S. Yesterday I also handwashed all my underwear in a bucket. Welcome to Africa!

Part II (I thoght I posted the first part this morning. Sorry this is long!)

Great day today!!

-I worked in the laboratory today and I cannot tell you how good it felt to be knowledgeable about something and significantly contribute. If any of you are reading from St. Pete’s, you would roll over and die if you saw what they do in that lab. It’s one giant hazard, but they don’t know any better and it works for them. So, in typical Ghana fashion, I went with it and had a great time. I was very grateful for all that I had learned previously because for the first time since I have been here, I almost… kind of knew what I was doing!

New additions to the cast of characters:

   -Nelson and Emery. They are the ones I worked with in the lab today and I know we will be great friends. They were both so thrilled that I was there and could assist them. Nelson and I tagged teamed drawing blood and processing the specs. He would teach me something and would get SO excited when I got it right. Lol- you just can’t be in a bad mood in Ghana. Emery is the first “hopeless romantic” I have met here... I have been waiting for this haha! I have a very anthropological side of me and am always fascinated by relationships in other cultures, but I do not want to get myself into trouble so I have been careful in my investigation. But if someone volunteers information, well hey! Let’s talk! So Emery is 29 and will marry in June to a girl who waited FOUR years to finally yes to his proposal!! And she lives in Accra, which is on a good day, a 14 hour bus ride. He is a very solid Christian guy and is super committed to doing things the right way. I was impressed. He was checking blood smears for malaria, stopped and leaned my direction, and says in hushed tones, “I told her some time ago, that the next time I saw her, I would give her a kiss.” My heart skipped a beat. He was going to see her this weekend!! But I was also confused and couldn’t help but blurt out, “So you have NEVER kissed her??” He looked back into the microscope, “oh no no we have never shared a kiss.”  How precious is that lol?  So today I got to talk of love, long distance relationships and malaria. Can’t beat that.

I worked there all morning, rocking out to Ghana music and then poked my head in to see how the Sistas were doing… Stella and Margaret, the midwives. They are great and have perfect names for their personality and figures lol. They have been very good to me. I have seen 3 of 4 babies born here but I have never been a part of the whole process until today. There was a girl who had just went into the delivery room seconds before I got there, so Stella taught me how to examine and monitor her dilation. The girl was strong, but this was her first baby so she didn’t really know what to do. Good thing for Stella, “DO  NOT CRY!! YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME TO CRY! YOU MUST POOSH!!” I took the more gentle “good job, I really hope you speak English, hand-holding approach. When that little baby came flyin’ out, and we cut his umbilical cord and cleaned him off, I got to hold him. I’m smiling just thinking about it again. What a miracle. He was perfect too. Strong and smooth and happy to be out of the oven. Stella and Maragaret were laughing at me, as were the other two nurses came in because I was so excited. They wanted to take a picture with me and the baby, and luckily I had my camera, and I am so thankful I have those pictures. Dr. Young says it best, “It’s like Christmas with live presents.”

Also, this afternoon I got to experience Market Day. What a fiasco that is!! People are everywhere selling the most random things you can think of- hair dye, suitcases, animal hair, shoes, fabric, veggies, bags, bananas, machetes… it was totally awesome. And what’s more awesome is that I was the ONLY white face in a black sea and I didn’t even notice until my sweet escort, Pastor Jonah, pointed that out. With Bryn and Dr. Nick gone, we went from 5 to 3J Side note- walking through town with Jonah is like walking down town with a celebrity. Everyone knows him and loves him. I told him he was what we call a “really big deal.” He thought that was very funny.

THEN… tonight, I was invited to the worship team’s practice at Pastor Jonah’s church, which was hilarious. One of them wanted me there in hopes that I could teach some piano lessons. So random- but I did have the pleasure of teaching an 18 year old named Enoch, who had never touched a keyboard until tonight, scales in the key of C, D and F. Maybe he’ll be a rock star someday and touch the whole world with his music…

So, it is bed time in Saboba and the closing of the greatest day yet has come. I will be serenaded by singing as a funeral is going on for the next few days. I hope you are all well. Again, I love love love hearing from you all.

I know that a smile and a wave don’t result in a throng of children following you in the U.S, but it still means something. Shad wrote in a back he gave me for my trip that “the shortest distance between two people is a smile.” I could not agree more. Put a little Ghana in your day and try it out as much as you can today and I guarantee, it will bring you joy.

Coming soon… “A Surgical Removal of Pieces of Dead Bone” starring a hammer and a chisel!

Much love to you all.

Sup Chief

I seriously cannot get over how cute these kids are here. I want one.

High: first surgery today with Dr. Morris!! What an honor that was. Bryn, as usual, helped me prep and set things up and then Dr. Morris walked me through patiently and thoroughly. He has primarily been fixing hernias here because that is such a problem here because of their strenuous lifestyle, so I have observed several. This is the IDEAL way to learn hands on. I got to stick my finger through the weakness in the muscle and then got to feel how strong it was after we repaired it. It makes so much more sense now. Dad- I thought of you a lot today during this procedure. All your lectures and nogan thumps about using my head and thinking ahead were very useful.

High I just remembered- Women carry their babies in cloth wrapped to their backs and it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. Bryn and I decided we need to burrow a baby and try this maneuver sometime. Today was our chance!! And it just so happened to be one of THE prettiest, happiest babies I have seen yet. The mother thought it was hilarious we wanted to try this so she helped us tie the baby on and take pictures. It made me so happy. The pictures are so great. I’ll put them up later. You must see them.

Low: I saw two emaciated children today going on rounds with Dr. Young this morning. Basically, everyone here has malaria, typhoid or both and that causes a multitude of secondary problems.

Most Amazing: It is proper to make yourself known in this culture to the local chiefs. Our visits today served as a farewell for Dr. Nick and Bryn and my arrival. I am not really sure how all this works considering there are a billion people with rank and special titles, but today we went to see two top dogs. The first of which is Jonah’s chief, so we got to go to his village (literally down the road from where I’m living). I will never get over how cute I think this kids are!! Which by the way, I think I will start posting on facebook though I tried to avoid that by using my blog. It’s so much quicker and more efficient to use good ol’ fb. I’ll get to that later though…

Anyway- so back to my story. Jonah had to go in and announce that we were there (Dr. Young, Dr. Morris, Bryn and I) and they set up chairs for us where we sat and waited for the chief to make his grand entrance and sit on his special chair. His interpreter told us how glad he was that we are here, so thankful for all Dr. Nick and Bryn have done (almost 70 surgeries in a month’s time!!) and how glad he is I am here. They brought us “minerals” (pop in glass bottles lol- so awesome). The last time Dr. Nick and Bryn did this the chief tried to marry off one of the med students here, so I was warned. I escaped with only a request for my phone number. He was strong and handsome though!;)

We went to a different chief who is a personal friend of the Young’s as well. He was very kind to us and welcomed us to his palace aka round hut larger than all the round huts. He said he was so grateful for the work done by Dr. Nick and Bryn because of how much it helps Dr. Young.

Both chiefs sent us with God’s blessings to us and our family and prayers that we will return. Very cool.

I did have to pinch myself though. As the sun was setting on the African horizon, I had to pinch myself. I just met two African tribal chiefs and sat outside their palaces. Just another day in the office I guess...

For my dear brother Galen’s sake, I will stop;) I agree they are a little long, but there’s just so much that happens in a day here!!

More surgeries tomorrow and I will get to scrub in for some of these as well. You can expect a photo op:) Also, PARTY tomorrow!! We will celebrate Dr. Nick and Bryn’s time here.

P.S. My nurse friend Jacob informed me as soon as he saw me this morning that the little boy from yesterday died shortly after I left yesterday evening. He is with Jesus now.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Sweet little baby

I.

AM.

SO.

HOT!!!!!!!!!!

Today- not the best day of my life. These days happen- I know this, but I still don't like them.

I have been having some trouble finding my place here- more like feeling like I’m not really contributing medically though making lots of friends. I knew I’d feel like that though. If I ever was tempted to not go back to school after taking a year off, which I wasn’t,  but my experience the last five days has provided more motivation than anything yet.

It was just a frustrating day for that reason, so I decided to try and make myself useful after our surgeries today and went over to the female ward. Bryn’s suggestion was to have the midwives, Sister Stella and Margaret (awesome), call me whenever there were deliveries and she would give me a crash course on OB. I really loved this notion so I that’s what I was going to do. There was a baby that was born earlier that day and was in the incubator in the room across the hall. Stella took me in to show me this MAYBE 24 week old baby that could not have been more than two and half pounds. I was a bit perplexed as to why they weren’t doing anything about and where the heck the mother was. Well, this child’s early entry into this world was induced by a clinic in a nearby town that performs “criminal abortions” as they call them here and came to Saboba to deliver.

All this information came at me way too fast.

The mother thought the baby was dead as was the plan, but she had no interest in seeing it even when she was informed the baby was still alive. I do not want to portray the nurses and midwives did not care- one of my favorites Jacob, a tall and kind boy, was deeply saddened and stood in the room with me for a while. But I have not seen anything like this before. In the States, that baby may have had a fighting chance in a newborn ICU for weeks on end, but not here. Death was imminent. This child would never know a mother’s loving touch, so I picked it up out of the incubator and held its cold, frail little body as close to me as I could. Its fingers wrapped around my thumb, so tiny that the four fingers were only big enough to enclose my thumbnail and slightly beyond.

I shed my first tears today in Saboba. I felt pain so deep and yet it is only a fraction of what God feels. Anger, sadness, injustice and confusion all at once. I started praying, for what I don’t know. Perhaps a miracle.

It was a boy.

On a lighter note, I really do enjoy the OR gang as we have had many good conversations. We have so much to learn from one another. They ask about America, PA school, family and somehow I got on my anti-obesity kick. They don’t really have that problem here so this was of particular interest to them. It was very amusing. However, I am sad for these boys… I say boys but they are men. Richard is 37 and looks 27 and the others are 25-32. They look like boys and are sweet like them. They are so smart and there “higher education” is so faulty here. If someone would just teach them… Oh I wish I knew more!! Alex (another favorite as he dances all the time) told Bryn he wants to know everything in her head before she leaves.

Pastor Jonah came over tonight and we had our second lesson this evening, which went quite well! He is just brilliant. I cannot believe his contextual grasp on English. He explains things very thoroughly to me and is so patient- key when learning an African tribal language:)

I know I have said this before, but I can say enough good things about Dr. Morris and Bryn. They are wonderful and really a phenomenal team. They do so much for these people and are so kind to them. I think I have seen enough hernias to do them myself… not really, but they are difficult to understand from a surgical repair perspective, so Bryn has kindly drawn me some pictures. On that note, I am very glad that people here have no shame when it comes to their bodies so they are never embarrassed, which makes me not embarrassed thus maintaining the “I know exactly what I’m doing because I’ve seen this a million times look.” Turn your head and cough... I get it now.

A lizard just ran across the wall...

Dr. Nick and I took a lovely stroll down the streets of Saboba this even. Bryn, bless her heart, was exhausted and went to bed early. We walk in the mornings and the evenings. It is the best thing for us physically and emotionally. There is hundreds of little hands waving, white teeth flashing, and the cutest laughs you have ever heard that follow us wherever we go.. It’s so rejuvenating.

Bedtime again. I hope you all had enjoyable Super Bowl parties and maybe missed me a little:)

Pray for strength and wisdom. Saboba is an interesting place.

Much love

To Togo and Back

February 5, 2011

Ahh… the sound of Saboba by night. It is good. It is fairly late, so don’t hear children anymore, but there are animals, birds mostly, that I cannot identify and the occasional motorcycle. Galen, I think you every time I see one (which is all the time). Your chances of wrecking on one here are about 1000 times higher as they are such crazy drivers! I had to laugh this morning going to the hospital because right next to “no parking” sign there are a bunch of motorcycles parked every which way.

Today was a very good day. Dr. Nick, Bryn and I walked to Togo and back this morning on our walk. I think that has a nice ring to it. It sounds much better than we walked to the river and back. Wouldn’t you agree? Most of Ghana, at least in the north, is separated from Togo buy the river not from our house. We wave to everyone we see and that has brought us nothing but joy. A boy going to school directed us to the river where we saw women washing clothes and men fishing in these killer canoes. I need to get myself into one of those things. On our way back, there were a group of children, about six of them all younger than five or six whom we had greeted on our way there, dancing around and laughing so hard at themselves. It was the funniest thing. We joined in, and I couldn’t help but pick up one of the littlest ones. It was so much fun. It reminded me of a home video (I love home videos) we have of the boys when they were four-ish jumping up and down giggling in our living room until their pants fell off. They would make the other one laugh so hard, and when their pants hit the ground, they would pull them back up and do it all over again. Hilarious.

We did four surgeries today, all hernias. Though they are quite common in men but not as much in women, we did two of each to do, and by we, I mean Dr. Nick and Bryn:) I just watched and then helped with some post-op clean up. Forgive the forwardness, but Ghanaians have no problem with their bodies exposed, so when I walked into the OR today, there was a man with a GINORMOUS hernia strapped to the table naked and very much awake. The operation begins after making the area as sterile as possible and start cutting away. Dr. Nick and Bryn have noticed that these surgeries have been much more difficult here because they work so hard and everything is so tight in there it is hard to separate the hernia sack away from the um… body:) I’ll be courteous of non-bio people who don’t and those of you who really don’t want to know more than that.

Fun fact: there are no narcotics in the hospital right now. All you robust, manly men reading this, I am wondering if you could consciously lie still while you have your groin cut open and have your insides pulled out? I’m smiling just thinking about the looks on your faces. They are so tough. It blows my mind. Nothing fazes these people.

I had a great nap this afternoon under my mosquito net that makes me feel like I’m in a princess bed. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things here. Weird I know. Sarah- I know I will use yours when I travel but this one was already set up:)

Dr. Morris, Bryn and I went for a walk tonight after dinner, and it was such a heart-warming experience. It’s the simplest things that make people happy here. Again, we wave to everyone because you get the best reactions out of people. Some of the children call us “Father” because the Catholic priests were here early on and were the only white people they knew. It’s funny, Dr. Nick and Bryn have treated the people here with such kindness, which is something I don’t think they are quite used to from their experience with white people so we find people who know us all the time when we go out.

Oh! I forgot to introduce new cast members! The OR guys. They are HILARIOUS. They are so kind to us and so much fun. They are mostly in their mid-twenties and older, so I am still the young pup.

Alex- I love this guy. He dances all the time, so we get along quite well. Naturally.

Moses 1-  he’s tall and holds his hands way up in the air to give me high fives and loves that I don’t have to jump.

Moses 2- he’s short and is just starting too, but he knows way more than me though. We will be good friends. 

Fidelis-he’s one the nurses in the female ward. He’s very sharp-looking, VERY kind and would bend over backwards to help you. Bryn left a pen yesterday while she was working on some charts and we saw him tonight on our walk. He pulled the pen out of his pocket and gave it back to Bryn. She of course didn’t know she had even left it and we were all so impressed with his thoughtfulness. He’s basically a Ghanaian Pete Markison for all you Carroll peeps haha.

The best part of today, other than the laughing kids and our walk tonight (haha) was Pastor Jonah’s visit. I mentioned to you earlier he was going to help me with my language, and he came over at 8 tonight to get started. This is serious. We will meet at 8 whenever he does not have a church service. He is so sweet to me and is a very good teacher. He will say things and then we will right them out. They have a slightly different alphabet than us so it is interesting. For instance, in Konkomba, four backwards c’s with a space in the middle is a “waa” sound. It’s fascinating, and I am so thankful for him. He is the neatest guy and very handsome. Handsome or beautiful here means that not only do you look well, but that you also look happy. True beauty acknowledged… what a concept. Our first hernia patient, the really huge difficult one, was a stranger that came in from Nowhere, Ghana, and Jonah and his wife took him in and is recovery at their compound (a group of huts grouped together). That is beautiful.  

Ok bed time. I’m not connected to the internet now, so it will be morning by the time I post this.

I am doing well and am adjusting to the heat- thank God. I like it here and absolutely love these people. They will be my saving grace when things get hard. Thank you for reading this and for your prayers.

Love you all.

Toto, we are SO not in Kansas anymore...

I'm assuming most of you have seen "The Proposal" with my girl Sandra and Ryan Reynolds. Recall the scene where she is informed that she has to go back to Canada and loose everything because her visa had expired. She oh so cleverly informs them that will not be happening as she is recently engaged to Mr. Reynolds. Though shocked and stunned, eyes suddenly widening to golf balls, he goes with it. "Yes, we are indeed um... engaged."
THAT is me. I am Ryan.
Upon arriving to Saboba after a wonderful plane ride with a very kind Ghanaian man, the best breakfast sandwhich I ever had in Tamale, and a WILD ride on an unkept dirt road from Bob (Dr. Young's husband and Mark Twain look-alike) to Saboba, I was given an instant taste of what the next 3 months of my life are going to look like.
Time out: I can not tell you how grateful I am to have Dr. Morris and Bryn here. They are amazing people and I am so blessed to have their help in adjusting. Time in.
Bryn was giving me a quick tour and then we were going to meet Dr. Nick at the market. The hospital, I can not explain because it is nothing like you have seen before. We peek behind a curtain to find one of the nurses, midwife Stella, delivering a baby who is seconds away from crowning.
So in my first half hour in Saboba, I have this soon to be mom's fingers wrapped around my own, making my fingers look whiter than they already are, as she pushes to bring life to her baby. However, the baby did not cry. Reader's digest: Bryn saved this baby girl's life today and I watched the whole darn thing. May I remind you that this was suppose to be a quick tour? After Bryn's handiwork, we find that there is a woman with a hernia (not common) followed by redressing a snake bite. And to think, this is nothing...
Key players you need to know:
Pastor Jonah is very close with the Youngs and he is gong to help me learn Konkomba. We start tomorrow.  He has such a passion and motivation to learn. He STARTED elementary school at 22 and is now a very educated man.
Richard is the coolest. He's a nurse anethsetist (sp??) and has exptremely good english. Bryn and I went to the market with him today. He will be a good friend.
I LOVE the kids!! They are everywhere. I can hear them singing outside even now and even though they should be at home:)
I must go. I am sooo tired and this internet here is so slow, so I am sorry but it would take me years to download a picture:(
Tomorrow we have three surgeries, so I will meet all the OR guys, all of whom Dr. Nick and Bryn love.
Love you all.

Day 1: Success

This suppose to be at the end!! Daibi's paintings

Daibi

First, a quick recap of my journey to Accra:

-Barely made it on the plane in BILLIINGS due to an exorbitant amount of people which the locals say is not the norm. To alleviate the tension I was starting to feel from the long lines and having to say goodbye to my nervous parents, a scene from “The Office” I just watched came to me... Dwight “delivers” a butter-coated watermelon baby in order give Michael practice coaching through labor which Michael, of course, drops. Hilarious.  

-I watched “Life As We Know It” from Salt Lake to New York and discovered Delta has an impressive musical and TV selection, which includes but is not limited to… GLEE!!

-Before I left New York, Gavin gave me the best pep talk I’ve ever had in my life.  I’ll never forget that. Galen had written me a letter “for the plane” and pulled that out after I got off the phone with Gavin, which continued my first and only sobbing streak of the trip. It’s probably my favorite thing I have ever read.

-NYC to Accra

As I was walking to my gate, I wondered what kind of people fly to Ghana, other than Ghanaian people, who are very good-looking people group. There was a guy in the gate area that should have been in a perfume ad with that handsome suit and handsome face. I’d photograph!!

Other than that, there were some humanitarian-esque looking people, some all-natural European girls who were apparently best friends with two Asian girls a few seats down from me. Such good friends they stayed up all night laughing and talking and taking pictures with bright flashes. Precious it was… just precious.

Needless to say, I did not sleep a wink the entire flight. I was too fidgety and uncomfortable and irritated with the Eurasian sorority in seats F-H. Honestly…

-Accra

The sight of Ghana from the air was so surreal that I had a chorus of sweet little Ghanaian children singing in the movie I was scripting in my head.

 I arrived in this sweltering pit at 8:08 this morning, got my luggage and set out to find the person holding my name tag. I was looking so intently that I had completely overlooked Jimmy, the Jimmy Johnson look-alike, on the way down the ramp out the airport. Dr. Jean’s network is impressive. There’s good people here and things work together nicely. We left the airport and went back to the guest house which is ran by Jimmy and his wife. Once I had regrouped and reduced my body temp down a few notches, I decided to make the best of this day I had in Accra. I wanted to walk along the African Atlantic coast in the worst way so I took a cab , hailed a taxi if you will, and did just that. Driving in foreign countries is an experience all on its own. There are vendors with HUGE crates balanced perfectly on their head lined up between lanes of traffic shouting “deals” to you, shoving every item you can think of up to your window. It’s nuts.

When I got to the hotel I thought Jimmy’s wife had said to go to because of the beach access, I quickly found myself walking a quick jaunt down the street to the correct hotel with the beach “La Pleasure.” I can hardly say that without laughing. I had to pay 2 cedis (~$1.50) just to walk on the beach.  It felt SO GOOD to stick my feet in cold water. I stood there, breathing in the cool air blowing from the sea.  I closed my eyes and smiled because THIS was awesome. And that’s when I heard someone yelling at me… again. The first time was a guy on a real-live stick horse- not exactly the gallant white steed I pictured galloping down the shoreline on. I was going to pay him anyway just so he could give that thing a hamburger. Oy. But the voice that broke my bonding moment with the sea breeze was a young artist named Daibi. I was going to dodge him like I did stick-horse guy, but he started to unroll his canvas paintings, scooping a handful of sand on to each corner so I could see his work. He wanted me to take a piece of his art back to the States to showcase his work to “my people”. I got that he clearly wanted my money, but I really actually liked his work.

Small canvas in hand, I walked off the beach with a smile. So maybe I shouldn’t have given, but this painting has a story now, and I like that.

Now, to get back to where I came from… I had asked the cab driver on the way to the beach how to tell my next driver how to get back (smart right?) but when I told driver 2 what driver 1 said, he had no idea what that meant. Good thing Jimmy had given me a business card with a map on the back! Nope. Still not really sure where it is. People don’t locate things by street names here, so I was really of no help. Long and boring story short, it took FOREVER to get back and this poor guy had to stop a million times, showing people my map and no one knew. Finally, we had come across something familiar and I knew how to get back from there because I am aware of my surroundings at all times and always look to see if someone is following me (Gavin’s request). The guest house has a big ol’ Dallas Cowboy star on it (not kidding) on the front gate because Jimmy is from Texas!!

The good part about this long afternoon was that I got to see lots of places in Accra. So fascinating.

The bad part about this long afternoon was that I felt so bad (which I shouldn’t have) about sending this guy on a wild goose chase and gave him way too much money and felt like such an idiot when I told the people at the guest house how much I paid him. I legitimately got scammed and didn’t even know it and on top of getting scammed, I gave him more than because I felt bad!! At dinner tonight, I had the pleasure of sharing the table with some really phenomenal people who have spent lots of time in Africa, and they all shared their stories about how they’ve all been jipped. When in Rome.. I mean, Africa…

Ok I need to sleep. I skipped last night and I just got really tired, so forgive me if some parts don’t make since. And no, I’m not writing this much every day, but I had nothing but time tonight:)

6 am flight and then a short drive to my final destination: Saboba AKA THE OVEN!! Lord help me...

Here today. Ghana tomorrow!

I know it's cheesy, but you must understand I have been waiting for months to be able to say that:)
I am fully aware I am so blinded my own excitement right now. I am also fully aware there will be things I will miss terribly: ESPN, my friend Krista's debut on "Minute to Win It" airing February 9th, and comfort food being a few things. I KNOW that list will grow exponentially, probably within the first day! But as for now, I am resting in dreams that God has placed in my heart. It's a good place to be.
Until then, I'm going to founder myself on American food and thoroughly enjoy it... that's why I had THREE pieces of cinnamon swirl toast for breakfast this morning and also why I'm having the biggest slab of hearty, American beef tonight for dinner. I'm also entertaining the idea of sitting outside in the snow in my swimming suit to embrace the cold as I will be entering temperatures only found on an oven.
I'm posting this video just so we can all laugh, though I might cry, at the differences between my home now and the one I will have for the next 3 months...

                January 27, 2011- Sunset over Heart Mountain

See you in Ghana!