Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Lights, Please Come Back On

I have been in Ghana for one week and two days. I have already had the opportunity to experience three power outages. Oh what a joy!

The first occurred my very first night here when Emanuel, my host brother, was showing me around town. It was only about 7:30 pm, but already dark. It gets dark early here. We were just walking down the roadside when everything went black. Somehow we could still see though. I can’t really remember if only a section of town went out or if we could just see from the moon and car lights. Luckily, it only lasted about 10 minutes.

The second happened in the middle of the night. I woke up because my ceiling fan, which makes a slight humming noise in addition to being my only source of cool air, went off. I was slightly confused. At first I thought someone came into my room and turned it off…but no one was in there. I tried to switch on the light and when it didn’t come on I realized what happened. So what could I do? Nothing. Except for crawl back into my hot bed and fall back asleep.

The third happened last night. Again, my ceiling fan went off and woke me up. I realized what it was right away this time and just turned over and fell back asleep. Back in my room this afternoon the power is still out. The first couple times it returned pretty quick.

I have no idea what is causing the power outages. There are no storms. Whatever it is, I hope they get it fixed soon. My room is like a sauna! 

Thursday, June 24, 2010

hello I am obruni.

Well folks, I’m in Africa. And sadly, I cannot find my camera cord. I could have sworn I brought it, but alas, it is not to be found among my belongings. So my blog plans are somewhat shattered. I guess I will just have to be descriptive.

I have been here for almost 5 days. I arrived on Sunday night and met my host family. Lizzy is the mom, the dad is out of town on business, and she has four children living here. Eunice (I don’t see much of her, she works all day), Emanuel (they pronounce it “e-mahn-o”, but I could have sworn the first day he told me it was Emanuel…) is 15, Calvin is 8, and Princess is 6. They’re all way cute. Then there is also Cobbie, who is 10. He is Lizzy’s nephew, his parents could not take care of him and so he is living with Lizzy. Lizzy agreed to take care of him, but school costs here in Ghana and she could not afford to send him to school. Another volunteer a few years back (Lizzy hosts many) decided to pay for Cobbie to go to school, and so she has been doing so ever since.

Lizzy owns a little tiny shop/restaurant thing which I usually hang out at after school and read and eat and watch the world cup. Its very close to the house.

Everything here is so different than America. Want to run to the grocery store to get something? Or the convenience store? No can do; they do not exist. You have to know exactly what you want and exactly where to go to get it. It was quite a hassle just to buy me a towel! We started out for it one day, and Lizzy had to go back the next to find me one. Good thing I planned well and brought everything else I need…expect a stinkin camera cord…

There is no a/c anywhere that I have been yet here, except at a really nice hotel that we stopped at on the way from the airport (yes Mom and Todd, that is the one we’ll be staying at when you come).  Its not too bad though, I am used to the heat. My room had a fan and that keeps me cool.

The school I work at, Uniqueen Kindergarten, also does not have a/c. Heck, it hardly has doors and windows. It is very very small, just two open rooms. They make do with what they have, though. I am very impressed. And the children are so adorable. They call teachers “Auntie” instead of Miss, and so I am “Auntie Katie.”

Children also call all white people “obruni” (pronounced o-brune-ee). So multiple times a day as I am walking down the street children shout “obruni! obruni!” at me. Then they get really happy if I say hi and ask then how they are (to which everyone here replies, “fine thank you, and you?)

I suppose this is a long enough post. More on the school and my life later! I love you and miss you all!!! 

Thursday, June 3, 2010

it started with a car ride

memorial day weekend. what does that mean to a byu student? an entire DAY off of school. a cause for celebration and road trips. hey, we take what we can get with no spring break.

this is how it went down. half of the group (sarah, matt, jeff, and will) went up on thursday night, and the rest of us (me, rob, and leslie) followed on friday.


6 hours, lots of music, lots of chats, and lots of coloring.

Oh, and don't forget, lots of....dinosaurs?



Hello Idaho!


the start of a great weekend. 
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