I don't miss snow but I miss my friends

It feels weird to be going to the beach in December but I’m going to Busua, Butre, and Akwidaa for several days. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are leaving at 5 am to hop on a tro-tro and go to Madina. From Madina we have to find someone who is going to Kaneshie. From Kaneshie we have to take a bus to Takoradi. From Takoradi we have to take a tro-tro to Agona Junction. From Agona Junction we take a tro-tro to Busua. From Busua, we have to walk along this footpath with our big backpacks, along these cliffs that look out over the ocean, about a mile to Butre. You can’t get to Butre, this tiny beachside village, by car so you have to do it by foot.

I’m trying to get us to this place called that is a grouping of tree houses that are built around several ancient trees and you can sleep in one of them for like 5 cedi’s a night (like $3.50). These girls I met about a month ago told me about it. Each tree house is connected by rope bridges. We’re going to stay there for a couple nights and then we might try and go on to Akwidaa for a few days because there’s this place called Green Turtle Lodge and its on this gorgeous beach and you sleep in straw huts and can see the mama turtles nesting at night.

We had a really fun party for the kids yesterday. It was Corrie’s last day so we had a going away party and we decided to teach them all these games that we grew up playing. We formed teams and I was the captain of the blue team. Despite being naturally unathletic, I’m surprisingly competitive. Sometimes at night we sit on our porch and play Bullshit and I can’t help but cheat. Crystal is always calling Bullshit on me so I don’t have a choice but to cheat. I’m always pulling hidden cards out of my pant leg or bra at the end of the game but I still don’t win. Anyway, I’ve been here longer than the other volunteers so I know which kids are fastest and I purposely chose Kwame Adu and Abom and Abigail. We found these big flour sacks and had a sack race which was hilarious. We played a bunch of other games and we stopped keeping score but I’m pretty confident my team won if you added it all up. Then, just to satisfy my obsession which watching little children waddle, I lined up all the little 3 and 4 year olds and made them have a race. It was the cutest thing ever. Prince was just wearing these gold sneakers, pajama bottoms, and a girls knitted sweater that was open down the front. He was getting so serious about the race and it just funny to see him in all girls clothes and trying to look tough.

It was the most fun I’ve seen all the kids have so far. At the end of it, each kid got a coca-cola bottle and a lollipop and the little ones didn’t know how to drink out of the bottle. Prince, the one who was dressed in girls clothing and the one who is in the video below, was just walking around clinking drinks with everybody.

It ended up being one of those days in which I forget about the flies that are landing on my open cuts and biting the healing flesh and about the fact that everyone here cooks with a red oil that makes me really sick so I’m always a little sick, or the fact that men just come up and tug on my hair because its yellow, or the fact that there are termites eating my bed and everyday I wake up with a new pile of sawdust under it. Instead, I was just really happy to be sitting there watching these two hawks (or vultures maybe... I hope they were vultures) and there was this really cool orange sunset and I was drinking coke with some of the cutest little kids ever.

Side note: I hate that you guys are also having fun without me. Sometimes when I’m in a bad mood and I’m feeling sick and my bites are itching really bad I lay awake and make a mental list of things I miss. Some examples of things I miss are:
- cheese in all its forms (cream cheese, nacho cheese, grilled cheese, etc)
- laying on the couch on Sundays eating buffalo chicken dip and drinking White Russians and pretending to care about football with the boys
- Christine in her bathrobe watching Two and a Half Men and I also fantasize about her homemade salads
- seeing Danielle with her glasses on and also when she makes me french onion soup
- sitting in parks with Liz and eating bread and cheese together
- having blondie cigars with Chloe at the cigar bar (PS Chloe I have some Nigerian music I think you’d like!)
- late night a capella sessions with Shea
- falling asleep to the sound of Mike talking to his XBOX Live friends on his headset
- smashing bottles in the “Smashzone” with Joel and Brad
- going to breakfast at PF Changs with the Paperboy
- sitting on Anne’s back porch and holding her dogs tightly in my lap
- drinking Bud heavy’s at Kim’s little red house
- I miss my mom and dad and my brother and last but not least, my grandma, Trouble.

I've uploaded pictures to facebook so hopefully you can see them. I don't really have the time to upload many to this blog so just check my facebook. I think anyone can see them.

Right now I'm at the Accra mall which is WIERD. We went to a Chinese restaurant and Christmas music was playing and its like 100 degrees out. Feels wierd.

So this week I was pretty busy. I've been trying to get Kwame and William back into their schools. I met with the headmistress at Kwames school who insisted that I write her a formal apology letter before she'll forgive me. I'm not really sure what I'm apologizing for but I wrote a letter to her anyway saying that I'm sorry. Then, I got dressed up and went over to Word of Faith to ask them to let William back into school. They explained their side of the story which actually makes some sense. William was boarding there and since he was being bullied, he kept running away. This was a liability for the school so they brought him back to the orphanage. I explained that he was being bullied and they said "Yes, kids will be kids." So I'm not really sure what to say to that. Anyway, I have another meeting with Pastor John on Friday to discuss it so hopefully they'll take him back as long as he promises to stop running away.

Since I've been doing this thing for William I think he started to get a crush on me which has been slightly awkward. He shows up at our house at all hours and sits on the porch and waits for me to come out. He's 18 and now that I'm getting to know him some more, I think he might have other issues. The other day I told him he was going to have to leave the porch because he was just staring at me while I was trying to get work done and he stared for awhile longer and then left. A little while later he gave me all these torn up pieces of paper and on each one he'd drawn a heart with blood dripping out of it into some sort of goblet and on the heart he wrote "Pierced Heart." So I'm taking it that he's pissed at me. Lastnight the other volunteers went ot the bar and I stayed home since I was sick from the food I ate at lunch. When they came out the gate he was standing in the bushes and when they called his name he turned around and faced a wall and wouldn't turn back around. They told him he'd have to go home and when they went to close the gate he stuck his foot in the way so it wouldn't close all the way. I think that when I talk to Word of Faith I'm going to have to talk to them about some kind of counseling because he definitely needs some more help.

I have bug bites and spider bites that got infected on my legs and they are disgusting! This random lady came up to Crystal, Azar, and I the other day and opened up this little glass bottle of white powder and started dabbing the powder on all our sores. Amazingly, it healed after like one day. I had spent weeks pouring Neosporin on them and nothing was happening. I'm definitely finding this white powder and putting it on from now on.

The past few weeks have been sort of frustrating with the schools here and the hospitals here and the way things work here in general. Its hard to hold a little 3 year old that is boiling with a fever and wait 6 hours at the clinic for her to be seen and then they diagnose her wrong anyway. I was really starting to feel like nothing works and I'm useless. I keep just trying to remind myself that if everything here worked, I wouldn't need to be here.

I really want to say THANK YOU to everyone who threw extra cash into my bank account recently. The extra money will buy meat for the Christmas meal at the orphanage. If I have money left over I'd like to use it to buy treats for the Christmas party too. So now I'll tell you about the meat. I have to buy a goat and have it killed. This has been eating at me for weeks. At least its your dime and not mine that is killing this goat.

The next project that we're going to work on is trying to put a toilet in at the orphanage. This should be interesting since I barely ever remember to flush toilets nevermind ever install one. This should take me..ehh, 6 months. I'm learning as I go.

We have two new kids. Moses and Ezekiel. I'm really psyched about Moses since that's my dads name too. He's 13 and has never been to school. His brother, Ezekiel is probably 8 or 9 and he's cute except that he picked a scab off my knee when I wasn't looking and it really hurt. They were brought in a few days ago because their mother is mentally ill and was planning to poison all her kids and the older sister found out and took them away and brought them to the orphanage. Neither boy has been to school so I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them over the next month to get them ready for school since they start right after the new year.

I miss miss miss everyone and hope everyone is having fun getting ready for christmas. I think of everyone a lot and I am really hating that I'm missing out on stuff. When I get back I don't want to know about all the fun stuff everyone is doing so don't even tell me.

I love and miss you all. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, too.
xoxoxo

Thanks for all the birthday emails and wall posts, guys. I was so excited to get to the internet cafe today to read them! For my birthday, me and the other volunteers (the 5 others at my house and then 2 from Kasua) went to Cape Coast and stayed at Oasis again. I didn't go swimming this time because I am so terrified of the ocean here and plus I may or may not have seen a sting ray in one of the waves that was crashing. Its likely. Instead, I spent my birthday laying on the beach and signing with my newest friend Julius who is a deaf fisherman and who was so sweet. He knows american sign language and I know some too so we sort of had a conversation for like 2 hours but to be honest I didn't know everything he was saying.

The next morning we rolled out of bed and walked down the beach til we found this hut where this guy that looks just like Bob Marley makes chocolate pancakes for you and you sit there and watch the waves and eat pancakes. I had two banana milkshakes and chocolate pancakes and it was heaven. He kept running out of bananas because we kept ordering banana milkshakes so he would just get on his little blue bike and ride into town to buy more and then he'd come back and make more.

I HAVE TWO PUPPIES. I'm not sure why this wasn't the first sentence of my post. The lady down the street has a dog who gave birth to 2 puppies and they are only a few weeks old so i cant have them completely but I babysit them all the time. She tried to charge me to babysit them but then she decided not to when she saw I gave them baths and gave them flea medicine which was very hard to find around here. I made Azar and Crystal hold the puppies in different poses around the yard while I took pictures. Facebook album coming. They are named Bear (Bear looks like a bear) and White Heat (he's white) but Crystal calls him Jackson. I also have a cat that also belongs to our guard, Abu, but the cat won't let me near it. I'm working on getting a goat but I have to make arrangements for someone to watch it when I leave Africa and I don't trust anyone because they'll just eat it.

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!

A checkpoint. you aren't allowed to take a picture of these guys but I couldn't help it. Oooooh snap!


my front porch

on the tro-tro ride to cape coast


Fishermen bringing in their nets. The one in back goes to the front after a few pulls and they keep working that way and they sing a song as they bring it out.


Scratches from the nails of slaves being dragged from Cape Coast Castle to the slave ships.


Cape Coast and Cape Coast Castle. I'm going here again for my birthday.

This is a video of Prince getting his nose blown by Ma Margaret, the house mother. I love his face afterwards.

Things that have been going on:

One of the boys, Kwame, got kicked out of school because he ditches school and goes begging in the village. Azar got him dressed all nice and ironed his clothes and then we brought him to the headmistress who said that the boy is a "truant" and she will not take him back. Then she turned her chair all the way around and closed her eyes and wouldn't look at us so I took that to mean the meeting was over. Now we have to spend next week trying to find a school somewhere that will let Kwame in. Kwame was found wandering out in the bush by himself for god knows how long. He also was begging in the village because hes always hungry as a result of his worms. We made him lunch the other day and gave him dewormers so hopefully he'll get rid of the parasites.

The Mama Bear came out in me this week. The other day I noticed that William hadn't gone to school and when I asked why he stuttered and said that he'd been expelled. After talking to him for awhile I found out that he had been being bullied at school because he doesn't do well. He finally stood up to the boy who bullies him by writing a letter to the boy. In the letter he said that he just wished he could go home. The little shit that was bullying him gave the letter to their headmaster and the headmaster said to William "You wanna go home? Then go home." And he expelled him. Well I FREAKED out. I'm going to try and go to the school on Monday and use some sugar to try and get William back into school. William wasn't able to explain what happened to the headmaster and why he'd written the letter because he is so painfully shy. He said to me, "Lindsay, it is because I do not perform well that these boys mock me" and I just burst into tears and he was like comforting ME. It breaks my heart because there is no one to protect these kids from so many unfair things. If they don't let him in I don't know what I'm going to do because Word of Faith is a really good school and I don't want him to have to go to the Methodist school.

I discovered a treat here thats sold on the streets and its called Blowfu and its like a donut. I call them blowies and I walk around saying "I'm going out to get a blowie" and then I have myself a good little laugh and go get my blowie.

We have a mango tree in our yard and the other day we sat around and made our own mango juice. Wowie kazowie it was goooooood. (this wowie kazowie reference was for shea coakley and noah)

Chicobaby pissed on me! We threw a party for the orphanage the other day in honor of World Childrens Day (how did I never know this existed?) and Chicobaby fell asleep in my arms and then soaked the front of my dress. Also, I was on the radio!!!!!!!! This guy from the Ghana TV station came and filmed all of us giving speeches and stuff but I don't know if I was on TV or not. BUT, I do know that I was on the radio. I kind of sound like a ditz because I wasn't prepared. I answered some questions about the orphanage and then the guy said, "What are you doing in Ghana" and I said "I love Ghana!!!!" into the microphone and then he just kind of moved away and asked other people questions. Whatevs. I was on the radio at 6 am on Sunday here so I didn't even hear it.

Abu was NOT the one that was trying to get into our house that night. When we checked in the morning, the screen was torn and the chunk of wood we use to barricade the door was punched up on one side so someone did stick their hand through and try and punch the wood off the door. SO I WAS RIGHT. We bought some more locks and put them on the door so I feel much safer now.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm eating fufu tonight while you guys feast on turkey. Im missing a lot of things. I miss: stuffing, cold drinks, hot showers, pedicures, cheese (all kinds), the way Mike sings Battlefield, lettuce wraps from PF Changs, and a proper toilet that flushes on the first try.


Also, happy birthday to me.

Braveheart

People are always telling me that I remind them of Mel Gibson in Braveheart. It’s because I’m so brave. If you know me, you also know that I am not prone to exaggeration, I’m never dramatic, imaginative, or afraid of anything. I’m being sarcastic. However, the following events described REALLY happened and if you don’t believe me you can email crystal at crystal.beauchemin@gmail.com.

So there I was. It was 1 am and I was in my party dress holding a saw. I was wearing a party dress because had I just ran out of clean clothes and I’ve only known my roommates for a month and so I’m not ready for them to see me sleeping naked, yet. So I was sleeping in my party dress.

Let me start from the beginning. I was laying in my bunk bed, wide awake because I had just been up to use the bathroom, when I heard a loud clanging at the back door. It was the sound of someone trying very hard to get in. After about 8 to 10 seconds it stopped. I lay there not moving and not breathing. About 20 seconds later I heard what can only be described as the sound of someone being strangled. In my mind, I was picturing the attackers strangling our poor old guard, Abu. Abu is a solid 90 lbs. and could never defend us against what I was estimating to be 4 to 6 attackers. I’m pretty sure if it came to it, I could even defeat Abu in a physical challenge.

Anyway, moments after the gurgling sound, came the sound of footsteps walking around the house. As someone who was raised on countless episodes of Murder She Wrote as a toddler, I was very aware that this was not the time to just roll over and go to sleep. For about 1 minute I thought about whether to wake someone up and tell them what I’d heard. I decided to say something. “Is anyone else awake?” I whispered. “Yes” said Corrie. I told her what I’d heard and she said she’d heard it too. At that point Crystal heard us talking and got scared and wanted to know what we should do. When I realized everyone else was scared, I started thinking, “Wow this is really happening. This is how it’s going to go down.” I reached for my swiss army knife which I keep under one of the slats of the bed above me. I was shaking so hard and fumbling that I could only get the 2 inch saw out. Corrie said we should get the boys but none of us wanted to leave the room. I couldn’t find my cell phone to call them and instead, I ended up accidentally dumping a ton of coins out onto the floor, which made us all jump. Corrie got up and went and woke the boys. They went out to the front door to check on Abu who was sleeping all cozy on his mat.

Now is about the time I started to feel like an asshole and I began to pray that someone would attack us just so that I wouldn’t look like the jerk who had turned on all the lights and woken up 5 people I barely know. I assured everyone that I was the one that probably frightened the attackers away when I dropped all the coins on the floor. Azar and Matt think that it was Abu just trying to get into the house to turn on the porch lights and that the gurgling sound was probably him just spitting or coughing. About now you’re probably wondering where my machete was in all of this. Ironically, earlier in the day, I had lent Abu my machete because he was going to the field. He thought I was giving it to him and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was only lending it so I just let him keep it. I don’t even use it that much anyway because it makes my arm tired to cut grass at a 45 degree angle like that. I also find it ironic that the man that is supposed to be protecting us is the one that actually scared us by trying to get into the house. Abu, or should I say JUDAS, is not going to be getting any more machete gifts from me.

More pictures!

George studying for his Technology exam


Prince is Chicobaby's brother and he is crazy! The other day he knocked Godwyn the baby flat on his face and Godwyn started crying and I went running over and Prince had that "oh shit" look on his face and he went running down the hall. I thought it was pretty funny so I started chasing him and I got to the bedroom where he had run into but he was no where in sight. I said "Priiiiiiince" outloud in a stern voice and I hear (from under the bed and in an equally stern voice) "Ooooobruniiiiiiiii" (which means White person). The kids don't really call me Lindsay, they just call all of us "Obruoni". I've included the picture I took of Prince after I pulled up the mattress and found him under the bed.


Bernice and Koko


Bizmark getting water at the well in the middle of the orphanage


Justice - who was sick.


Me and Abena


The open sewers where Matt, a volunteer fell into


me eating Banku

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. We were really busy last week and then there was no power at the internet cafe and then we went away for the weekend. We got a few more volunteers living with us so that's been really helpful. We got Matt from California and Corrie from London. Azar also moved in with us because he wasn't really liking living in Frankidua so now there's 6 of us : me, Crystal, Sara, Matt, Corrie, and Azar. The kids are loving having guys at the orphanage to play with because the guys can swing them around and play soccer with them. When I tried to play soccer I got a little too enthusiastic and kicked the ball at their pipe by the well and knocked it off its stand or whatever and the older boys had to fix it.

The past two weeks have been tougher than usual. Mercy and Justice were both very sick one night with horrible fevers so Crystal and I took them to the hospital. We sat at this rural clinic place for 6 hours and didn't see one doctor. There was just one nurse and she was tough and NOT gentle at all. She gave me a suppository to put in Mercy and I kind of looked at her like "I'm not doing this" so she got all mad and made me hold down Mercy while she inserted it into Mercy's little bottom. I've never had to do something like that and I was really rattled afterwards. I felt so guilty for having to hold Mercy down on the bed for it so I bought her a big loaf of bread afterwards and we sat in the waiting room afterwards tearing off chunks of bread and eating it so I think she forgave me. Then the nurse wanted to give her a shot and I had to leave the room for that and Crystal had to hold her during her shot because I couldn't stand hearing her scream. We left the clinic pretty late at night and had to walk up to the main road to try and catch a tro-tro and when we finally got up there, I freaked out because we almost didn't have enough money to get back and I wasn't sure what we would do but I ended up finding coins in my pocket. It wasn't the time to have no money and have to walk back to Dodowa with two feverish orphans on a deserted road.

This past weekend we went to Kokobrite again to Big Milly's. It feels like Jamaica every time we go. Its all Rastafarians and palm trees and Star beers and Bob Marley playing on the stereo and laying on the beach and crazy sunsets. It doesn't suck. We probably aren't going to go back anymore though because some people got mugged on the beach at 2 am one of the nights we were there (they're idiots for being on the beach then anyway considering everyone warns you about the beach) and also, after we went to bed two Rastafarians got into a fight over some woman and one broke a bottle and stabbed the other guy in the stomach. YES, I MISSED IT! I thought you only get bottled in the movies so that it was pretty thrilling to hear the story from one of the guards the next morning. I asked if the police came and everyone laughed at me and said there are no police in Kokobrite and then I asked if the guy went to the hospital and my new friend Edwin (this Rastafarian who once lived in London and wears a shirt that says Pump It Up) laughed and said nobody goes to the hospital. People are hardcore here! I also got a massage in which I was pressured by the lady to get completely nude in a hut with walls missing and that almost everyone in the hotel can see into. She kept asking me why I was so tense and why couldn't I relax and all I could think was "LADY! YOU'VE GOT ME GREASED UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS HAM ON THIS GURNEY AND YOU'RE MASSAGING ME WHILE I'M FULLY NUDE IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE HOTEL. YOU'RE ASS WOULD BE TENSE TOO!"

Yesterday I got really freaked out. This man came into the orphanage and started bowing to Crystal and we had no idea who he was and it turned out to be Mercy's father. He was coming back to take her home. Apparently, Mercy isn't an orphan, her parents are both "not well in the head" (CRAZY) and she was taken away from them. From time to time, Mercy's father comes to try and take her home but he's not allowed to. Mercy went running up to him and was so happy and was like marching all around because she was so happy. Then she realized he was trying to take her and she would have to leave the orphanage and she freaked out. She climbed up my body and was clinging to my neck. Mama Jane, the house mother, tried kicking him out and this whole scene unfolded where he was screaming and Mercy was crying into my neck because she was scared and I was trying to cover Mercy's ears so she couldn't hear what was happening and then the man left to go get the police but the police never came. Mercy clung to my clothing for about 2 hours before I got her to relax by pretending to be having a conversation with the lizard that was a few feet away from us and she finally started to relax and giggle.

This morning, I was walking to the orphanage by myself. This lady came up behind me and was telling me to come to the river with her right away. I couldn't understand anything she was saying but I understood she wanted me to go to the river with her and I thought maybe one of the children was there and was hurt or something so I went with her. At the river she started showing me that the sewage from the orphanage runs straight into the river and then people downriver drink the water. I said I would try and figure something out with Mama Jane. Maybe I can find a plumber here who can fix this because I have no idea what to do about it. Anyway, all of a sudden, she grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me towards her and she said (in perfect English), "You can give me something now" and she started trying to KISS ME ON THE MOUTH. First of all, her breath REAKED of alcohol. Second of all, I kept trying to turn my head so she could like just kiss me on the cheek (I dont know, I was thinking maybe this is a cultural thing that I have to respect, maybe you're supposed to kiss people when you go to the river with them???) but she kept trying to kiss me on the mouth so I sort of like pulled my wrists away from her and started saying "Let's just go back ok? I've really got to get to the orphanage. Thanks for your help" and I like half ran to the orphanage. When I got there, all the older girls were laughing and saying that they saw the whole thing. They said she's like the town nutcase and that she likes to drink and was probably just really drunk.

OH! Also important! On Matt and Corries first night, we took them to the "bar" in our town. Ok to get a good visual, you have to understand that there are open sewers here. This means that along all the roads there about 2 foot wide ditches that you have to jump over whenever you're crossing the street. Well, Matt didn't quite make it and FELL IN THE SEWER! ITS FILLED WITH POOP AND PEE AND PLASTIC BAGS AND ALL KINDS OF DISGUSTING THINGS. I feel really bad but I was laughing so hard that I was crying. When I think about it I start laughing hysterically again. Just now after I typed that I started laughing again and Crystal thought I was crying about something. Anyway, when we got back to the house he had to like soak his skin because I can't even explain to you how gross the sewers are here. It was even on his neck. There was shit on his chin, even. Human shit!

I'm loving being here and I am pretty positive that I'm spending the rest of my life in and out of Africa, but believe me, I'm missing all of you. I'm also missing cheese and my mom. Liz, you'll like this: One night I woke up but was still half-asleep and I thought I saw a spider on my wrist and I started punching my own wrist and then I realized it was my tattoo and I was like "oh yea, I have this."

Please keep sending me emails with updates on all of your lives. It keeps me sane.

cape coast

MACHETE

-I'm going to attempt to upload pictures later so make sure you check back.

-I bought my machete. It curves at the tip which is cool and very dramatic looking. When I got home from buying it I immediately went to our front yard where the grass is about 3 inches high. I got down on my knees and was hacking at the grass when I heard, "Madam Lindsay?" One of the little boys from the orphanage had been walking by our house and since I had left the front gate open he could see me. I realized that I looked like a maniac. I mostly just walk around the yard slapping plants with it and saying "BURMESE PIRATES! BURMESE PIRATES!" in Rambo's deep voice. The machete works well though and I also bought one for the older boys at the orphanage so they can cut their own firewood instead of buying it. On Sunday I might go with them into the mountain to help since I have a machete.

-I realized that I sounded a bit bossy about donations before. If someone wants to send packages of items to us PLEASE do so! The kids would looooove to get packages of items (maybe packages of hygiene products - mini deoderants, underwear, shampoos and conditioners, lotions, razors etc. for the older kids? They have toothbrushes and stuff but maybe fun girly products? I took Abigail to get pimple cream the other day and she was soo happy. None of them have long hair so don't bother with hairties or barrettes. The older girls are all very self-conscious about their hygiene so that might be a fun project to put together for them. Theres about 10 preteens/teenage girls. Let me know if you're interested.) We also have two babies (Godwyn & Beauty) who could use the basics - baby toys (we have NONE), some rubber bibs (preferably not cloth since its just another thing to wash and I KNOW the house mother, Ma Margaret, won't bother with them) baby wipes, diapers, baby powder or soap, rash cream etc. Also, ANY MEDICAL STUFF. I don't recognize any of the medicines here and honestly, I don't really trust them. They have something here called Blood Tonic and it gives you more blood? This is something they sell in the town pharmacy. WHAT? Cold medicine, fever reducers, tissues, BANDAIDS (we need these desperately because they're hard to come by here).

I'll post the address to send it to in my next post since I don't have the address with me.

Human Sacrifices, Parasites, and Swimming

I went away this weekend and really missed the kids. It was so nice to come back and see them this morning! Godwyn just lights up when he sees me which makes me feel like a million bucks. Even Beauty today came running up to me and lifted her arms for me to pick her up. That’s the most animated I’ve seen Beauty behave so far. Later I have to walk to the market to buy rope and a bucket for the well at the orphanage because the rope snapped and they lost their bucket and they’ve been using a stick to haul up buckets of water. I think I’m going to wrap Godwyn on my back and head into the market in a little while.

Having food at the orphanage has been great. I've spent half the donation money on food for the kids. Food here is much more expensive than I ever anticipated because everything has to be imported. A bag of rice that will last about a week costs gh70 which is 70 cedis or about $40. Thats a lot of money here. They usually use about 2 bags a week because there are 60 mouths. Some of you have asked about sending things and that's really great but I also know its very expensive to send mail here and I would have to pay on my end to even receive packages. Money is really the best bet because I can buy food which is really the main priority here. They have pencils. They have crayons. What they need is food in their tummies. The worst part about going back to the orphanage at night to tuck in the kids is when the smaller ones (2 and 3 year olds) moan and cry and say they are hungry still. Luckily, because of the donations I collected before I left, they've been fed very well for the past few weeks and they don't go to sleep crying! Thank you thank you thank you!

Sorry I haven’t written in awhile, we’ve been really busy and plus I was REALLY sick for a week and couldn't even leave my bed. We got a new volunteer named Sara from Sweden and luckily she sort of took my place because I couldn’t even make it to the orphanage for two days. I have never been that sick before. I had fevers and chills and was vomiting and shaking really bad. Just before I got better I was about to go to the hospital because someone said I might have worms or a parasite. Luckily though, Friday morning I woke up and was totally fine, just exhausted from my fevers. I’ve felt fine since Friday so I don’t think I’m going to go to the hospital because I don’t really want to know if I have a parasite or not because if I find out I do I’m just going to tear into my own stomach with my swiss army knife because I can’t bear the thought of something wriggling around in my intestines. Speaking of knives, today I am going to the market to buy a machete. Just to have for fun. I don’t think I can get it through Customs in the US when I come back so I’m just going to keep it while I’m living here and then give it away when I move back. I have a mental list of things I need to do with my machete (cut the grass, bang on trees, etc). Anyway, sometimes I convince myself that I can feel the parasite slithering around but Beatrice said that’s not possible. So maybe I do or maybe I don’t but all I know is that I’m not sick anymore and that’s good because I was able to go to Cape Coast this weekend which was siiiick.

I’m obsessed with Cape Coast and I’m going back like every other weekend from now on. On Friday we took 3 different tro-tros and it took 6 hours but we made it to Cape Coast and stayed at this place called Oasis Beach Resort which is just a bar on the beach with little straw huts that you sleep in. When we arrived we didn’t have a reservation so they put us in a “dorm” with a bunch of girls from Germany. I didn’t care at all. We slept in bunk beds in this hut on the beach and all shared an outdoor shower but it was fun to use because you just shower in the sunshine which felt nice. So Crystal, Sara and I arrived in the afternoon and then later on these guys I met last weekend and who have been teaching in Frankidua came to Cape Coast to meet up with us. It was so weird because we had met Dale last weekend (an American kid) and so he was coming to meet us and was bringing a friend and when they arrived, his friend was Azar who is the British kid I met when I first got here. Small World!

Anyway, Saturday we all went to Cape Coast Castle which is a castle that was used as a slave fort. Most of the slaves from West Africa were kept at this castle while they waited for the slave ships that would bring them to America. It was horrible. It was also eerie because it was this beautiful white castle on this beautiful pristine beach but the most horrible things happened there. They bring you down in this dungeon and you can still see the finger nail marks on the walls from when people were dragged in there. The door that all the people went through to get on their slave ship is called The Door of No Return and we had to walk through it and it was really chilling.

After the fort we met up with some other girls I had met a few weekends ago and had told to meet us at Oasis. It was really fun because it was Crystal, Sara, me, Dale, Azar, Haley, and Kelsey and we just partied at the beach that night. Sunday we all woke up and lay on the beach. I tried to go swimming and almost died. The waves here are terrifying. They crash so hard and then slam you in the face. One ripped my bathing suit almost all the way off- that’s how powerful they are. One knocked Crystal and Haley over and they couldn’t even get back up, they were just getting dragged around by the wave.

IMPORTANT UPDATES ON MY LIFE:
- I accidentally kicked a baby chick while walking at night. This ruined my night.
- My hair is crazy looking, it’s grown a lot from the African heat and its long and like WHITE blonde. I’m also the tannest I’ve ever been in my life.
- There was a dead goat in front of our house for two days until someone finally moved it.
- In Canada they sometimes spell Jelly with a G, like gelly, and so Crystal tried to give me Aloe Vera Gelly but I wouldn’t use it because it’s spelled wrong. I told her to “gelly the hell out of here with that gelly.” I’ve learned that Canadians do a lot of things weird like put mayonnaise or butter on everything.
- I got a pet while I was in Cape Coast. He’s a white dog that I named Trigger and he has to stay there with his other owner, the security guard at our hotel, but I’ll be visiting him all the time. He tried to attack fisherman who were giving me a hard time on the beach one day when I was walking down it. He’s the most loyal African dog in all the land.
- An awkward thing that happened was that this African man asked to take a picture with me so he gave his girlfriend his camera and made her take all these pictures of him and me. Sometimes I don’t know how to act in situations like that.

Also, Dale was telling me this weekend that up where he was living, in the Volta region, the government is having a hard time with the tribes there. Apparently, every time a chief dies, there have to be a couple human sacrifices so that those humans can cross over and help the chief. Not too far away from him, there have been 3 human sacrifices in 3 months. These aren't people that go willingly, they are people in the tribe who are kidnapped from their beds in the middle of the night and beheaded. Apparently its a big problem because the government can't change the traditions of these tribes. When he was telling me this at the bar, a local was nodding his head and I asked him if he knew about it and he said that its a very common problem and that it happened only a couple months ago down the main road from where we were staying. The government is trying to encourage the tribes to sacrifice cows instead. Anyway, Dale, Azar, Crystal and I are all going to try to set something up after Ghana. We were talking about all moving to South America for a bit to work or teach there, possibly in Bolivia.

I'm not at the internet cafe. I'm using my internet stick so if you've sent me any emails, I'll be able to email you back later when I go to the cafe. I promise I'm not ignoring anybody's emails! Miss you guys. Don't forget my birthday is November 26th and that you should all have a Lindsay Remembrance Day. Maybe pour some champagne and do a toast, I dont know, it's really up to you guys I guess. Just some things I thought of that you could put in your toast: Lindsay is Gods gift to earth, you're better for having known her, and you miss her charm, beauty, and grace. Totally up to you how you celebrate my birthday. Be sure to send me birthday emails since you can't call me. If I don't receive an email from you.... than we were never friends and I now own a machete so you better get good with your God.

Some pictures from my life lately. A picture of Godwyn, a picture of the treehouse we slept in at Kokobrite Beach, a picture of the courtyard at the orphanage. Those cauldrons aren't Halloween decorations, we actually use those to cook all the meals.

I'm in Ashaley Botwe now. Yesterday we went to Madina and bought a TON of food for the orphanage. I bought about a months worth of food for 60 kids so I'm pretty pleased about that. Then we hitch hiked back into Madina later and unbelievably, I was able to get us all the way to Ashaley Botwe just by walking with our giant backpacks. A guy named Charles helped us and a guy named Pastor Frank. Everyone is so helpful here. Tonight we're going out to a bar in Accra and tomorrow we're going back to Labadi Beach for the day. Then this guy Eric is going to drive us back to Dodowa on Monday. We're supposed to be getting some more volunteers on Monday so that's exciting since Crystal and I have pretty much talked about everything two people can possibly talk about. Miss you guys. Hope everyone has a good Halloween and I'm sorry that I can't be there this year with my little blue dinosaur costume again. I know how good I looked dancing in it last year.

Beauty and the Beast

We got a new little girl named Beauty yesterday. Shes about 2 years old. Her mother left when she was about a month old and her aunt was taking care of her but just decided she didn't want her so she left her out in the bush to die. Apparently this happens a lot and this is what the story is for most of the kids at the orphanage. People in her village found her and gave her to the police who gave her to us. She doesn't cry or smile, she just stares wide-eyed at everything. I bathed her, put a diaper on her, and got her to laugh yesterday which was good. Already she seems happier because shes being fed and getting attention. She curls right up to me so its hard for me to leave her.

I on the other hand feel like a beast lately. At first I was feeling pretty hot here because my skin is like amazing from all the sweating and sun I get. I wanted to bottle some Africa to bring home with me because I've been glowing and feeling really strong. Also I've been eating so well here that I was feeling pretty healthy. Now, I'm pretty sick and haven't had an appetite for the past two days. I've had to force myself to eat rice and drink water. I have head to toe heat rash and I'm covered in all types of insect bites. I only came into town to get Beauty some dresses since she came to the orphanage in only a shirt. Then I'm going home to lay down for a few hours.

In the last two days I've encountered a lizard in our hallway. A mouse in the hallway. A frog in my shower. Then this morning I went to the bathroom and a scorpion was on the back of the door. I screamed and got Crystal who smashed it with a plank of wood which we use to barricade our front door. When we came back from the orphanage an army of small black ants were eating it. One of the ants bit me which was annoying too. Pretty soon I'm going to lose my mind and go Rambo on these insects and start killing everything in sight.

I think I'll be in a better mood when I feel better, have had a shower, and have spent some time with Beauty.

I don't have time to write a novel but here are some updates on my life this past week:

- Went to Kokobrite Beach to a beachfront hotel called Big Milly's Backyard. Google it, its so cool. It was a lot of fun until I realized I left half my money back in Dodowa. I could only afford to pay for the hotel (only about $15 a night) and for the taxi that got me there, then I ran out of money. I didn't really cry, I just had a brief panic attack. Luckily Crystal and I pooled the money together that we did have and that allowed us to buy 1 big water bottle each to last us the weekend and 1 piece of jewelery. We decided that we would save money by not eating while we were there and also by having other people buy us drinks. I ended up getting kind of sick at the hotel and had a really bad fever one night so I probably could have used some food but I was okay. We went to this really cool beachside bar and we were the only two white people and the only two girls. The upside is that we didn't pay for a single drink. The downside is that at one point there was a fight between two Nigerians and thats when Crystal and I decided to go back to our room. Apparently one of those Nigerians found me on Facebook and today I got a Facebook message from him that said "Hello. I met you at Kokobrite. You have blond hair and you were drinking a Star beer. Your friend is from Canada. I will see you again. SAM" Oh, Africa.

-Got lost going back to Dodowa and taxi drivers were trying to rip us off left and right and then yelling at us. Found an American couple who explained to us how to get home which made me feel so much better. Exchanged numbers with them, they're both 25, and might go back to Kokobrite with them another weekend.

-Got back to Dodowa really late sunday night and was exhausted but decided to go over and tuck in the kids. When we got there George told us that Kwame was in the hospital - he'd fainted from Malaria at school on Friday. Even though it was dark, George, Crystal and I walked into town and found 1 of the 2 taxis that exist there and the taxi driver drove us to the hospital to see Kwame. Kwame is the one who helps me serve breakfast each morning, wipes dirt off me whenever I'm dirty which is most of the time, and always, always, always, when he gets his daily porridge, looks at me and says "You are invited" which means I can have some of his porridge. Of course I never eat any, what kind of person do you think I am? So today after I got the kids to school I went and bought an orange soda and a bag of Obama biscuits (cookies with Obamas face on them. Only in Africa) and brought them to Kwame. When he got them he looked like he'd just gotten 20 Christmas presents. He covered his face because he was so happy and then he said "God Bless you, thank you so much!" He kept saying "God Bless you" H

- My typical day goes like this:
5:45 AM Wake up, brush my teeth
6:00-8:00 AM Get to orphanage. Begin bathing the smaller ones, brushing their teeth, getting them dressed, and serving them their porridge. Then walking them to school. Mercy loves school and marches/runs all the way there. Abena and Irin want to be carried but I dont have enough arms for all of them so they scream and cry and throw themselves down in the dirt and refuse to get up.
8:00-9:30 Go back to the orphanage and clean up breakfast, sweep the dirt floor (I haven't figured out why we do that because we are just sweeping the dirt around in circles but I do it anyway) and play for a little while with the kids who don't go to school (they say they are the "slow ones") like Daniel and Koko and then the baby Godwyn.
9:30-2:30 Free time to go to read/sleep/walk around/HAND-wash my clothes/take a shower/etc. Crystal and I have a daily tradition now of going over to the internet cafe and using the internet if its working and then going next door to the bar to have a Coke with Jacoby who likes to dance for us and propose to us. Beatrice our cook makes us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast we usually have bread with some egg and this stuff called Milo but I call it African Crack because it tastes like hot chocolate and I drink a ton of it. I'm pretty sure its used to fatten up African children and its probably not best that I drink it like that but its soo good. Then I usually have a ton of energy and I walk all around the village saying hello to everyone.
2:30-6 Play with the kids at the orphanage (usually they are playing with the dirt, some old nails, sticks, rocks, spoons, a deflated tire, or metal cans. I thought this was a stereotype of poor orphanages but no, they actually play with these things), clean up their wounds and try to bandage them even though they're aren't any bandaids here. Sometimes we go with the older boys to the soccer field and watch them play soccer. Lastnight we did that and as I was sitting there I looked up and we were sitting under this mango tree, watching these kids who were AWESOME at soccer, and there was a beautiful orange sunset.
6-7:30 Eat our dinner at our house
7:30-9:00 Back to the orphanage to say goodnight, rock babies to sleep, hang out with the older kids.

The orphanage is about a 3 minute walk down this dirt path through a grove of plantain or banana trees (I'm not sure which). Today Abena and Juliet poked their head through my fence so I let them in, gave them some of my left over lunch, gave them CLEAN water bags (we drink water out of plastic bags here, not out of plastic water bottles. You tear the corner of the bag with your teeth and suck out the water.) then I painted their nails. Now I know that for the next several months I'm going to have kids popping their heads through my fence so they can get water and manicures.

Every single night I am EXHAUSTED but I go to sleep smiling. I'm getting your emails and they make me ecstatic. Keep filling me in on home life. I'll try to post pictures soon but I dont think its a possiblity at the hut here since the computer is from like 1995 but I have an internet stick for my laptop and it takes forever but I might be able to upload some soon. I think you can google-earth my village - Dodowa. Love you all.

We finally got running water back at the house but still dont
have electricity so could someone please tell my sister jenny that i will love her forever because i dont know what i would do without my lantern!? I dont
even recognize myself sometimes. Yesterday Crystal and I put on our
bathingsuits (it was raining) and went to the well, got water, and
stood in our front yard (its gated so no one can see us) and took
showers with the rain and buckets of water. I was surprisingly clean
afterwards. Yesterday we walked over to this shack where a woman in the village does peoples hair. I asked her to do two french braids but she started to do cornrows which was weird and thankfully crystal showed her how to do french braids. Now
I dont have to wash my hair so soon, although she poured olive oil on
my head which was annoying since i had just rain-showered. also,
while we were sitting there getting our hair braided two chickens came
into the shack and started fighting. Bizarre. This weekend Crystal
and I are getting on a tro-tro (they are unmarked vans that drive
around picking people up, kind of like hitch hiking) and going to
Kokobrite Beach to a place called Big Millys House. It's like a
rastafarian hang-out I guess on this beautiful little beach. Its
pronounced Koko-breetay. Apparently they have a bar on the beach and
they party all night on the beach and theres lots of backpackers and
people like that so it'll be nice to get a shower and some soda since I mostly drink water.
Yesterday a man came up onto our porch bleeding and our guard tried to kick him out but i was like "wait hes hurt" so i ran to my room and got my first aid kit with
antibiotics and bandaids and got him water and ibprofen and let him
sleep for awhile on our porch. he didnt speak english so i dont know
how he got hurt but blood was pouring from his face. I actually didnt
touch his face but gave him the stuff to put it on himself. Every
night i save some of my food and give it to our guard because he
sleeps there all night outside on our porch. He doesnt speak english and I think I freaked him out when i started spraying him with bugspray. I want to like let him
sleep in one of the empty rooms at least inside the house.
I just realized I havent said much about the orphanage. It is so depressing.
Godwyn the baby poops on the floor and sits in it and nobody cleans it
up. Today it was on his hands. This one little girl keeps getting
sick because she wont use the outhouses and so she holds it all in so
i'm going start taking her to use the bathroom at the school.
Lastnight I went after dinner to tuck them in and they all just sit
outside in their courtyard and the older kids fight, sing, talk while
the little ones fall asleep in the dirt. When they are asleep I bring them to their rooms where they sleep on straw mats on the floor. Lastnight i rocked 3 little
babies to sleep which felt nice since they never get held. They just
fall asleep after a minute of you holding them. Mercy is the cutest,
shes three and she is a sass! She yells at the younger ones and when
they cry she stomps her foot and says "shaaaame, shaaame, shaaame!"
its so cute. Today I also saw some boys getting caned at the school.
They hit them on the back of the legs with a stick. It looked hard but
not too hard since the kids were laughing afterward. Still, it was
hard to see. Well, I wont be able to write til next week since I'm
leaving for the beach tomorrow afternoon but ill probably get a chance
on monday. Today we are going to the high school to visit George, the
18 year old, on his lunchbreak to hang out with him. Last night he
told me how he really wants to go to the university someday and wants
to be a doctor and was showing me all his outdated textbooks. It
broke my heart. Hes being sponsored right now but maybe not forever.
I'd really like to have some 5th grade or 6th grade level books sent
here for him. The older ones love to read and all they have is 1 book of bible stories and a book about photosynthesis which is totally wrong and outdated. They have both books memorized. The children keep all their belongings in unlabeled
plastic bags and so all they own in this entire world is whats in
their plastic bag. I want to go get plastic bins or drawers for them
to keep their things in since they all steal from eachother and lose
their stuff.
The other day, Crystal and I walked over to the village "cafe" where they serve cold cokes. We sat down and the village drunk asked if he could dance for us so he
started doing splits and poking himself in the face and doing all
these crazy dance moves like popping his eyes out of their sockets. His name is Jacoby and we left when he started asking me to marry him and saying he was going to kill himself when I said No, then he reached out and started stroking my shin while I was sitting there so i chugged my coke and we left. Every single day here some really unusual things happen. Like, since we have no electricity I cant see very well at night so it was a few minutes before I realized I was offering a plate of food to a bag of rice lastnight. I thought it was our guard huddled in a corner and i was like "Ete sen, didi, didi?" and then I realized it was a bag of rice. Crystal and I were like dying laughing.

Please excuse my horrible grammar and typing in this post but I dont have a lot of time and half the keys on this keyboard are messed up. I'll post pictures with my own computer soon since there doesnt seem to be the possiblity on these old computers here.

Things I plan to buy soon: lots of food, cupboards for their belongings, some more toys, books, possibly a television since they have a Dvd player but no Dvds or TV, some clean sheets and towels since all 70 kids share one towel, etc. I also have to get Godwyn some cloth diapers. It's too hard to have disposable ones here. Ma, the house mother just puts him in new clothes everytime he goes potty. I've seen him in 50 different outfits.

Love you all!

Pictures take forever to upload and I don't have much time so I downloaded one from my day on the beach and one from my hike up to Wli Falls, the tallest waterfall in West Africa. I've only been here 4 days so far and I feel like I've been here a month because your days are so long. Now that I've traveled a little bit around I'm really excited to start working at the orphanage. It's just me and Crystal for the first two weeks but Eddie said some people are coming in early November and he'll probably drop them off at Dodowa. My mom says you can Youtube "Dodowa" and see some videos of the orphanage. I'm going to try to look this week at them but if you're curious, look them up! Last night I went to the movies to see The Other Guys. In Africa. It was so weird to go to the movies here. Anyway, Eddie said that I should have access to the internet while at the village although it may be spotty so I may actually be able to post pretty often. I miss everyone but I am really having an amazing time. Immigration only approved me to live here for 2 months so I have to go talk to them about extending my visa for longer. Someone said I can just live here illegally for awhile and then pay a fine of like $30. I'm wishing I could stay here forever though.

Orphanage

The road to my orphanage in Nkwanta is flooded so they've reassigned me to an orphanage in Dodowa, not too far outside Accra. I go there today with a girl Crystal. I'm really excited. It's a small village but it has a market and it will be easy to travel around on the weekends. I've had a great weekend. An English lady named Diane, a girl Nora from Finland, Simon from New Zealand, and Melora from Germany and I all went to the Wli Falls. We drove 5 hours to Wli Falls, spent 2 hours there, and then drove 6 hours back. Longest car ride! Hopefully I can get some internet soon and update more about the orphanage. This place is beautiful. The people are so friendly, there are amazing sunsets, beautiful dresses, and amazing skies at night.

surreal

Who speaks limited Twi, has eaten fish mixed with scrambled egg, and hasn't cried once today? THIS GUY.

Tonight I sat around drinking whiskey with 5 Ghanian guys and a guy Azal from Iran and a guy Simon from New Zealand. Simon is leaving soon but he was here for awhile and was backpacking before. He's been like a big brother even though hes the same age. He keeps people off of me because the men really like to grab my hair. I don't know how much I can write and for how long but I have so much to write about! I have only been here two days so far but I cannot even begin to explain how much I have seen. Today I was in a car accident and it was so exciting! Azal and I were coming from the beach (where I sat all day on the beach under a palm tree drinking Coke and playing Mancala - a game played with seeds with 3 Rastafarian guys. One was named Ratty. At one point I looked around and said "lindsay, you are by yourself in Africa and you have already made 3 Rastafarian friends. SUCCESS!) and anyway, our car slammed into another car and our taxi driver was screaming in Twi. Oh, also, a guy with a paddle with nails driven through it was walks up and down the street banging peoples tires and you have to swerve to miss him. I've seen him twice. I guess hes crazy. There are guys on all the street corners with berets and AK47's and they stop you at night. I haven't been stopped but Azal was.
When I arrived, it was kind of hard. Nobody showed up at the airport to pick me up. I got hustled by some guy who convinced me that I owed him money and for some reason, I think because at that point I was surrounded by guys, I gave in and gave him money. I know. I'm already much better though at this. Eddie, the coordinator, finally came after I called him with someone elses cellphone. He's really nice. After he dropped me off at the house I'm staying at (for now) he left. I went inside and there were 5 big guys sitting around watching TV, some action movie with Robert DeNiro as Henry Tuttle? I dont know, I only saw the credits, I was mostly staring at the men. Nobody said anything to me so I put down my bags and sat on the floor with them and watched the movie. Then someone gave me some water. Later, a guy named Evonce came and took me into the market to get stuff. Everyone thinks I'm German and they all want to touch my hair. People just come up and yank it. Today Evonce chased a guy all the way down the beach about it.
Random things - goats everywhere. chickens in my front yard. tomorrow we are going to the Wli Falls with Simon and Azal, both my age, and some girls from Finland and Germany. I'm the only American. I have pictures but I dont know how much time I have I'll try to post them later after the Falls. Also a guy is sewing me a dress because he likes me which is really nice and he said he'd bring it over tomorrow night. Last night we had no power so we sat around with candles and stuff.
I've been here two days and have already had an amazing experience. Everyone here is nice but it is very different. I bought a Ghanian cell phone but the minutes thing confuses me so I'm not really calling anyone. Post comments here so I can see what you guys say since I won't be talking to you guys for awhile. Mom and Dad, if you're reading this I love you and I will try to call you soon. I'm safe and happy. I'll try to write soon and post pics.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I can't express enough how grateful I am for the influx of donations I've received over the last few months. I've raised over $1700 donations for the orphanage! I received over $1000 in donations after I sent out that request letter and then raised another $700 at my tag sale. Thanks for buying all my junk!
You can really stretch a dollar in Ghana so I will be able to do AMAZING things for the children. I do not plan on merely handing over the cash to the overseer of the orphanage; I instead intend to purchase necessities along the way (medical supplies, food, new mattresses, etc.) as I see fit, while I'm living there.
People I haven't seen in years came out of the woodwork to donate. This was so special to me - parents of my friends, neighbors I've never met, strangers at the tag sale, even my dad's dentist donated 80 children's toothbrushes! It really goes to show that there is so much good in the world and that everyone should really believe in the goodness of people's hearts. I am so lucky to know each of you and want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your support.

I leave tomorrow afternoon, fly 10 hours, and arrive in Accra in the morning. The village is 3 hours from the nearest ATM so I have to bring all the cash with me to the village. I am hiding the cash (it's over $1000, i'll take more out when I can get to an ATM) in a zippered pocket I sewed into the inside of my pants. Yes, I know this will be awkward when I go to buy something but I've been warned so many times about pickpockets and bandits on jungle roads that I'm not taking any chances. I believe in the goodness of people but I also know that the reality is people get robbed so I'm guarding that money with my thighs.
Along with the cash, I'm also bringing donations such as the toothbrushes, crayons, colored pencils, markers, big jugs of Purell, medicines, soaps, balloons, beads, books, glow sticks, sillyband bracelets, chalkboard paint, chalk, candy, and more.

Please email me while I'm there! linds.richards@gmail.com. I'm buying a phone there but email is probably a better bet.

Packing

God's Eye Orphanage - thanks to a previous volunteer!

Nkwanta, Ghana

Before I begin, I'd like for you to just close your eyes while I paint you a picture...It's a cold and rainy October day and I am sitting in my parents basement. I am wearing frayed jean shorts, a blue tank top, and a casually unbuttoned denim button-down collared shirt that I took from my mom because I was cold this morning. I am underneath a giant down-comforter and have been rubbing a nail file on my face - an exfoliating tip I invented myself and you may feel free to copy. I am staring at a poster across the room and thinking about buying a scented candle for the basement when DING! An email has popped up in my inbox.

Yes, I am painting a picture of someone who really does not have their act together. A twenty-something loser. You are probably reeling with questions: Why is she wearing shorts? Why is she wearing denim on denim? Why isn't she at work? Why is she in her parents basement? What's the email about? Why is she telling me to close my eyes - how can I read this if my eyes are closed?

The answer to most of those questions is that I am staying with my parents for the next 9 days until I leave for Ghana. My last day of work was on Friday and then I came home to CT to have some down-time and to start packing.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE EMAIL WAS ABOUT MY ORPHANAGE PLACEMENT!

I'll be at the God's Eye Orphanage in the village of Nkwanta. It's about a 6 hour drive from the capital, Accra, and a 3 hour drive from the nearest ATM. Nkwanta is a small and pretty remote village but there is a market and supposedly a few different places to eat and drink. It's in the Volta region, which borders the country of Togo (don't ask me, I had never even heard of it until now) and is close to a monkey sanctuary (BINGO!), a game reserve (warthogs, water buffalo, but no elephants - I already checked) and some famous waterfalls. I plan on trying to make a few trips on the weekends such as Mole National Park (an armed guide walks you around the park so you can see elephants, baboons, etc.) and the Wli waterfalls. I'm actually pretty pleased about the remoteness of Nkwanta - It means I can wear these Teva-looking shoes that Susan bought me and nobody will judge me. Anyway, I arrive in Accra at 7:30 AM on the 14th, spend the night in Accra, and then someone will drive me up to Nkwanta the next day and drop me off.

Living in my parents basement means I'm surrounded by boxes of memorabilia. Yesterday I found an old diary of mine from when I was 10. Judging from the randomness of each statement in my diary, how my parents did not know I had ADD just goes to show how much they neglected me as a child. I literally wrote,

"Dear Diary, How are you? Oh, I guess that's a stupid question. Anyway, today I'm going ice-skating at Wonderland of Ice with the Allens. Did you know that the universal language is kindness? Gotta go put on my sk8zzz! love, Lindsay"

Today I learned that the people in Nkwanta speak Twi so obviously I'll just be really kind but I'm going to have to get a dictionary and try and learn some basic phrases I'd like to know, such as "Where is the bus station?" "Can I have food?" and "May I pet your animals?"


Basic facts I know so far about what my life will be like living there:

- I'll be living in a volunteer house with a few other volunteers and the local women bring us our meals

- there is no running water at the house

- I will have to haul water up from the river so I can take "bucket baths" (I am unsure as to whether I get inside a big bucket or just dump a bucket over my head but so far this is what I've been fixated on most since I got my placement)

- Where I'll be living, I will have electricity but due to power cuts, it may often be off.

-I will have access to the internet but it is VERY unreliable and slow. I think I'll be buying a cellphone there but I don't know if I'll ever have service. I think I can use a phone in a neighboring village. (Which reminds me, I won't have my 203-906-4195 number until I move back here so I'm letting my dad use my phone while I'm living there. Don't drunk-dial Mose, he's really sweet)


Basic facts about the orphanage:

-there are 80 children at the orphanage and the average age of the children is 6

-the children get their water for bathing from a local river (10 min walk) but do have one tap from which they can drink semi-clean running water

-there are no tables at all at the orphanage and the children sleep on straw mats on the floor with little protection from wind and rain

-my chores will mainly consist of cooking, bathing and dressing the children, serving food, washing clothes, and whenever possible, teaching at the school


I'm really excited and just want to say thank you to all of you who donated - from what I've learned so far, I'll be able to do some really great things with your donations and I will try and post as often as possible. The above pictures are just pictures I found on the internet in regards to Nkwanta. The picture of the children is on a road in Nkwanta. The picture of the elephant is an actual picture of an elephant at Mole National Park who wandered into the hotel that I plan to stay at. If this happened when I was there I would die of happiness. The other picture is of the Wli Falls which I plan to hike to and swim in.

Donations For Make Benefit the Glorious Nation of Ghana

I’ve sent a letter out this week to friends and family requesting monetary donations for the orphanage. From speaking to returned volunteers, I found out that many of the children in the orphanages eat rice or a paste mix for their meals, sleep on soiled mattresses or just on concrete floors, wear underwear or t-shirts but rarely both, and don’t have access to the medicines they often need. While I won’t know exactly what is the most needed until I’m there, I’ve learned that some of the past volunteers used donations to pay for electricity, plumbing, new mattresses, mosquito nets (as Malaria is rampant there), food, school fees, and medical bills for the children. I would love to be able to bring bags and bags of toys and clothing, but realistically, I would have to spend a small fortune on the luggage. It makes more sense to deposit donations into a checking account from which I can withdraw money to buy supplies, food, clothing, toys, etc, in Ghana. By purchasing these items there, I’m also supporting their economy.

Please make checks payable to:

Lindsay Richards
201 B South Trail
Stratford, CT 06614

*I no longer live at Eden Street so please don't send donations there. I'm living in the North End in Boston for the month before I leave but donations will be safer if sent to my parents address (above). If you send a cash donation, please include your name so I can send you a thank you!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at linds.richards@gmail.com

I fly out on October 13th, but Susan can still deposit checks throughout my time there!

SHOTS

I got some of my immunization shots yesterday. Despite what Mike Sullivan might have told you, I don't have Rabies. He likes to tell strangers that I do, but I don't. He also thinks my name is Lindsay Retards, but it's not. Anyway, I opted not to get the Rabies shot even though my doctor strongly recommended it. While I do plan to hold and stroke and try to kiss lots of baby animals in Africa, I don't think I'll get rabies and if I do, it will have been worth it because it means I died having touched an animal. However, $650 later, I had been stabbed 4 times over in the arms. I got yellow fever, polio, meningitis, and something else, but I don't remember what. I also got a prescription for malaria tablets. A side effect of the tablets is that I'll probably have crazy dreams. Sounds good.

Susan came with me because I came home to CT and went to Bridgeport Hospital for the shots. A male nurse gave me the shots and I commented that he did it so quickly that they hadn't really hurt. Susan chose at that moment to chime in and say "Ohhhh yea, you wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am'ed her!" I kind of laughed nervously and mumbled, "No...no...you didn't. She doesn't know what that means.."

The travel doctor at the hospital gave me an hour long lecture on safety in Africa. She said things like, "wear socks with your sandals" (Uh, ISH DON'T THINK SO! I rather get malaria and die then be caught dead with socks and sandals). I stopped paying attention after awhile and was pretending to take notes. However, I did hear her say that pornography is prohibited in Ghana. I started to think about that instead and then decided that this should be written down in my "pretend notes." Basically the only thing I'd written down was that porn was prohibited. After her lecture she asked to see my notes to make sure I'd spelled the name of the water-purification tablets correctly. I had to show her my notes. She kind of looked at them for a second and then stopped talking and said "Okay, well, time for the vaccines." FAIL.

Anyway, I may be riddled with mental illnesses but at least I'll never have malaria, yellow fever, polio, meningitis, and the other thing.

A little less than 3 months to go!

It's Official

"It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you,
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do,
I bless the rains down in Africa,
Gonna take some time to do the things we never have" - Toto

If you are unfamiliar with this song than you don't know me because it is one of my favorite songs and I have some pretty sick dance moves that I invented just for this song. I usually request this song at parties and then make my friends form a circle around me and watch me dance. They don't mind. It's by the 80's band Toto for Godsake! To see the sizzling hot guys in this band, watch this: "Africa" by Toto (Live in Amsterdam)

Today I confirmed my place in the orphanage program with International Volunteer HQ! I start my assignment October 15th. I'm thrilled but I'm also terrified - I'm leaving my job, moving out of my apartment, selling anything I own, leaving behind friends, family, and boyfriend, and using every cent I have to move to West Africa. While my stomach is churning with fear, my heart is pounding with excitement! I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and spaz out about it.

I had been doing months of research and had originally wanted to go to Bagamoyo, Tanzania. Bagamoyo is a small beach city on the coast, and translated, means "lay down your heart." The inner emo in me began to obsess over Bagamoyo. In all reality though, Tanzania was too expensive to go to. Then, I settled on Rwanda. Then, on Kenya. While Kenya is a beautiful country, the northern region is still technically a war zone and there has been various bursts of violence around Nairobi. My parents sent me daily emails with links to articles about the violence in Kenya or links to government websites that warned against visiting Kenya. My mother said I would have to dye my hair brown so I didn't stand out so much and travel in groups. I finally took their hints and gave up on Kenya when I read an article in National Geographic Traveler in which the author was describing the time he was driving through Kenya this year and armed bandits hijacked their car. This does not mean I wont go to Kenya someday, but my parents are right - for my first living abroad experience, and for the sake of Susan's blood pressure, I will go to Ghana, which can use my help but isn't as menacing as some of the other places I chose. My dream is to come back from Ghana, save up again, and then leave next July to teach for a year with WorldTeach in the Marshall Islands (in eastern Micronesia).

There really isn't much to say until I go but from time to time I will update you on my progress and preparations. This blog is really for those of you that care that I'm even gone and especially for those of you that donate things for the children or sponsor me! Look where your money is going!

Linds