Concerning elephants and illness

The showers were a lie. The rest was true. There was not enough running water in Mole to actually shower, but there was a pool, which was used plenty. And there were elephants! We had a more expensive room, since our reservation had gone wrong, but I was so happy we got this room! We arrived at night on Friday, so we had to way to look at our surroundings, which gave an incredible surprise the next day. The hotel is elevated above the rest of the park, so you could look miles and miles and miles away, and right underneath the hotel are two water pools where the elephants go. So when I was applying my sunscreen for the day, I suddenly saw an elephant. Berte, one of the other volunteers and with whom I shared a room, came running out of the bathroom when I started yelling "elephants, elephants, elephants!" and we took tons of pictures.

The restaurant also had a quality view over the water pools, and there were more elephants we could see there than from the room - best. breakfast. ever. In the afternoon, we had our first safari, in a jeep. As soon as we spotted elephants, we were allowed to get out of the jeep, and we walked closer - I think we got as close as 50 m! There were antilopes and warthogs (Pumbas! Hakuna matata!) and monkeys as well, so there was plenty to look at and photograph. Besides the 3 elephants we walked to, we saw two other elephants on two other occassions as well. Ahhhh, how I love Africa!

Unfortunately, the hamburger we ate that night did not really agree with us, or rather, we didn't agree with the hamburger. One of us, Anja, got really, really sick, and the rest of us had major intestinal problems as well. So instead of going on foot safari with 6, we went with 4. And let me tell you, foot safaris are so much better than jeep safaris. Antilopes came running past us, we got as close as 10 m away from elephants (they were in the water, and we were standing on a ridge, so they couldn't attack us), warthogs ran away with their tails held high... so beautiful. And you feel really close to nature when you're scampering through it.

Sunday afternoon 3 of us went canooing (the rest was either on the toilet or nauseous or too lazy to get out of the pool), which was fantastic as well. We saw lots of beautiful birds (Matthijs and dad: Paradise Fly Catcher, blue and grey Kingfisher, Bee-eater, Blue "Daika" I think it was called, and some more). The tree hung over the river, and it was so silent around us, except for the noise all the birds and other animals were making. Gosh, I want to go back! I can't express in words how amazing Mole is.

Monday our bus left at 4 in the morning. The bus driver drove like a maniac, while meanwhile radio was on very loud, and tuned in to some kind of sermon. There was a choir singing and a priests preaching vervently, and that combined with the speed of the bus and the absolute total darkness outside of the bus made me feel like I was on a highway to the Afterlife. Fortunately for us, he slowed down after a while.

Tuesday evening I moved in with my host family. They're extremely nice, and made me feel at home, as far as that is possible in a strange country with a strange culture, immediately. They have a 2,5 year old boy who gives me high fives all the time, and their food is amazing, although I do long for lasagna now and then.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I started working at the hospital. This week I work in the Emergency Ward, which sounds so much more exciting than it is. Basically, when I get there, all the patients have been admitted already, and i.v. lines are in, so there's nothing for me to do. I can't even talk with the patients, because most of them only speak Frafra, and I only know 4 or 5 words or something. Today, at one point, none of the 16 beds were taken, so I spent an hour or more making tables in the administration books they use (they don't have computers, so everything needs to be taken down in composition books). The nurses and other medical students are nice, though, so we talk a lot too, and laugh, and they make fun of me, which I try to laugh at too. Monday I'm going to make a schedule for the rest of the 4 weeks I work at the hospital, hopefully the other wards are a little more eventful!

I had a bit of a tough day yesterday, felt homesick for the first time, but some phone calls made me feel better again. I guess it's because for the first time in 2 weeks, I was entirely alone, and there were so many new things to get used to, like working and living in a host family. My host mother understood me, though, or pretended to at least, which also felt good (and after that she took me to the market, so I'm forgiven for crying...), and in the evening they took me out for a drink - they're sweethearts, they really are.

Right now, my host sister is with me in the internet cafe, I just made an email account for her, and she's exploring it and the rest of the Internet. She's kind of shy, but very nice. There's nothing really to make me unhappy here, but because it's so different from what I'm used to I sometimes want to be back to all the conveniences I have at home, and to not think about eating with my right hand, and not crossing my legs, and asking everyone how they're doing and how their night was. But 99% of the time, I'm happy, so don't worry. And I'm still healthy, except for the expected diarrhea. Oh, and I don't have a toilet at my host family's, I have to go to the public toilet, which is a row of holes in the ground surrounded by concrete. And they have maggots, ew!

This weekend I'm going to Sirigu, where 3 other volunteers do activities with girl clubs, and the clubs are 1 year old this week, so there's going to be a big celebration. I'm looking forward to that!

I hope to blog again soon (Monday, or Tuesday, or whenever I have time). Once again:

Love from Ghana, Jonneke

P.S.: Martin, happy belated birthday! I wanted to call you yesterday, but your number is in my other phone. I hope you had an amazing day! I'm bringing a stone with me!
P.P.S.: Matthijs, no malaria yet, and just to clear things up: I talked to you the day AFTER I wrote my earlier post.
P.P.P.S.: For those of you who have read up until here: my Ghanaian number is 0546854446, the country code is +233 if I'm not mistaken.