Concerning pictures

First: Check the blog post I made just before this one!

Then: Some people asked me about my week at work (on Facebook): it was good. I worked at the OPD (Out Patient Department) and weighed kids the entire day, as well as taking their temperature. When that was too high, I also got to prescribe some paracetamol. Not really incredibly intensive work, it's really something anyone could do, but - there's a but - I felt useful, really useful, for the first time since my work started. Which is a big YAY, I think!

And last but not least: I showered for the first time in 4 weeks today! No more buckets, hopefully, for the rest of my Ghana stay!!! :D

Doing some washing!

Group picture during Safari-ing.

ELEPHANT!!!!

Concerning Paga and parasites

I know, I know, I was supposed to blog more often and what not, but this time I have a legit excuse. Let me tell the story. (Although I don't have that much time, so it'll be a small small story.)

So, Saturday I went to Paga with my host family. We saw the crocodiles, we touched them, sat on them, etc, etc, which was incredibly scary and also felt a little like animal abuse. Pictures - in which I smile with scared eyes - will be online as soon as I'm back home.

We also went to the slave camp, which was surprisingly run by Ghanainans, not Europeans. While it doesn't justify what we did so many years ago, it does put things a little in perspective - Africans themselves apparently maintained slave trade... It was incredibly interesting. We saw the Punishment Rock, the Musical Rock, the Dinner Rock (in which bowls were carved), etc, etc. Paga is a rocky village.

Sunday I stayed home, while the host family went to Wa - after the week in Kids Ward, I needed some time to myself, and I was also tired. So, I did nothing all day, which turned out to be blissfully boring, and recharged my battery.

Until Monday, when I woke up a bit headachy, and during the morning at work I also got a bit stomach achy, and when I biked back to my host family I got a bit rib painy. And since I work(ed) at the hospital, I happened to know that rib pains are a sign of malaria. So to the lab I went, and they took my blood, and they examined it. And it turned out that those d*mned parasites had invaded my red blood cells, and my liver, which caused me to feel a little sick.

I bought some medication, stayed home for a day, felt better, and returned to work. However, I did not have the feeling it was totally gone, but I still had two pills to take, so whatever. After those two pills, though, I started feeling headachy and nauseous and kind of like before again, so on Thursday I once again went to the lab, and they took my blood, and they examined it. And I still had malaria.

I bought new medication, and this time it worked - right now I'm as healthy as can be after a day of traveling.

And just for the record: no one needs to worry. I did not once have a fever, I felt better than if I would have gotten the flu, or a nasty cold. It's just not a pleasant idea that I have (or had, at this point) parasites in my body, but then again, when you're sick, there are bacteria or viruses - not much better. And I'm better now, so if you'd start worrying right now, it would be a waste of your time, to be honest.

Yesterday I spent the majority of my time packing my bags, and doing my last "chores". And today I left my host family (after going to church with them at 6:30, ugh). I'm really going to miss them. I actually cried a little on leaving, can you believe it? (Ella: "... and then I cried!") I gave Bless a ball today, and when he saw it he started screaming, he was SO happy. And the entire family signed a card for me, so cute. But, I'll be able to call them, and I'll definitely do that. They really want to have some pictures, too, so I'll send those too.

I took a tro-tro to Tamale, where I am right now. Tomorrow at 7 we have the bus to Kumasi, and then the real touristy part of my journey can begin! I'm looking forward to it, and also to going back home. It's been a long time since I've seen friends and family, and I want to show them pictures, and tell them stories, and give them my gifts. But, only 2,5 more weeks! Time flies!

As for this blog: I don't know whether I'll be able to update it while traveling. If not, I'll give a brief overview when I'm back home, so you won't miss any of the most important stories.

And now: dinner!

Love from Ghana, as always, Jonneke

Concerning Karimenga and kids

Proof that time flies: this blog. When I left for Ghana, I had the intention to blog AT LEAST once a week, preferably more, not only to annoy you all to death, but also to chronicle this adventure for myself. Anyway, it's been more than a week since I blogged, so far so good for plans in Ghana!

What have I been doing past week? The male ward proved to be a little more boring than expected, at a certain moment we had 5 patients, and 10 staff members, so two staff members were appointed 1 patient to take care of the entire day. Unfortunately for me, my patient left at 9:30 to have an ultrasound of his abdomen made, and only returned at 1:15 - 15 minutes before handing over to the afternoon nurses. I hate doing nothing while I'm supposedly "working", so this was quite a test of my patience. I withstood it pretty well, though, don't worry. And whenever things threatened to get really, really boring, there was always the need for Kuse among nurses, and I was the ever-eager volunteer to get the Kuse (pronounced as Co-see), which meant half an hour of other surroundings than concrete walls and the smell of pee around me. I made a good friend there, though, and they taught me some things, so it wasn't as negative as I now make it out to be.

Friday we said goodbye to two of the volunteers, with a dinner at Swap's, which meant pizza! I really like the food at my hostfamily's, but sometimes I also want some Western food, and pizza is perfect for that.

The next day, Saturday, Berte and I went to Karimenga. Two weeks ago an eco-tourism project opened there, and we were one of the first guests. Everything did not yet go as smooth as it could, since we're talking about Ghanaians and a BIG project, but in a way that made it all the more fun to be there. I don't have a traditional home at my host family, so now I finally had the chance to sleep in a tradition hut. The huts were built in a circle, and in the compound created like that, there was also a thatch-roofed building, with chairs, which I sat under and in almost the entire Saturday afternoon. We also had a short demonstration of basket weaving, which is a lot harder than I thought. AND they taught us how to make rice balls, and since my hostmother is going to teach me how to make Groundnut Soup, I'll be able to eat that back in the Netherlands. Yay! You're invited - as the Ghanaians love to say (they're always disappointed I actually like the food, because they love nothing more than laughing at a Solemia). That "night" (more like evening, since I went to bed at 10) we sat on the flat roof of the reception, cup of tea in our hands, looking up at the gorgeous starry sky - for me, that's the ultimate holiday feeling: seeing the milky way.

The following morning we had a Herbal Tour by bicycle, which was very interesting. The most interesting part was seeing another community, though. They have a whole different lifestyle, more like nomads, and they look completely different, too (except for the skin color, but I don't think white Ghanaians exist). AND they had a couple of newborn babies, they were super cute.

Getting back to Bolga on a Sunday proved to be a little harder than expected, but after we called a taxi, we managed to get back pretty soon. However much I feel the need to be away from my hostfamily sometimes, I really do want to go back after some traveling as well. My hostbrother has really warmed up to me (at first I was scary), and now he continuously comes up to my room, to ask "Auntie, Auntie! Play ball?"

This Monday I started work at the Kids Ward, which is pretty tough. I've been on the brink of tears several times, and would probably have cried if there weren't several handfuls of Ghanaians around me, who don't really understand crying. There was one little boy, not much more than a skeleton. 1,5 years old, and he only weighed 5,5 kg. There's another boy, 6 years old, everyday more malnourished, and sicker, after he had an intestinal perforation from typhoid fever. Then there's the girl today, who died before the IV line could be passed. Or what about the twins, whose mother is continuously busy to soothe one of the other, and who probably have TB? But there are heartwarming moment as well: the boy with a broken arm, who always starts to smile as soon as he sees me. The girl who recovered from malaria, and who sang for me today. The baby I thought was going to die for sure, but who seems to be getting better. The little boy who started making little baby sounds of joy everytime he saw me.

It's both so much harder and so much more gratifying to work here.

This week I also had the chance to show someone what I'd been doing these past weeks. Berte stayed two nights at my hostfamily, and on Tuesday she came with me to the hospital. Absolutely forbidden in the Netherlands, and apparently also in Ghana, but in the end the Medical Director didn't have a problem with it. Huh? But it was nice to show someone, because now at least one person really knows what it's like to work at Bolga Regional Hospital.

And as of now, I'm the only Meet Africa volunteer still in Bolga. But, I also only have 10 more days here - why is it going by this quickly? This weekend, I'm taking my host family to Paga, to the Crocodile Ponds, and I'll try to help a bit more at home, since I haven't really had time for that yet (and if I have, such as in the afternoons, most family members are sleeping...).

Speaking of family members, I don't think I ever really explained who lives on my compound! I have a host father, Michael, and host mother, Christiana, and a host brother, Bless (he's almost 3). Then there's Eunice, I don't really know how she's related, but she's of my age. Then we have Mayveece (or however it's written) and her husband (I think, I don't see him around often) and her daughter, Balinda. My grandmother also lives on the compound, she loves teaching me Frafra and laughing at me when I don't understand her, and Winnifred, who I believe is my host mother's sister. That's it. Oh, since a week we also have Thanks, the dog, who's extremely cute and always happy to see me, but also has the nasty habit of pooping and peeing in front of my door - deja-vu to last summer? Balinda was extremely scared of me at first, but now she loves to be picked up by me, and she comes running to me when Thanks chases her - both Bless and Balinda are terrified by him; "He bite, he bite!" "Did he ever bite you?" "No, but he bite! He bite you too!" My family expects me to rest, a lot, so I have enough privacy, and whenever I feel like it, I come out of my room, to play ball, or maybe help some with sweeping the floor of the compound, or wash my clothes, or whatever. I hate doing laundry here, everytime I rub the knuckles on my fingers open. Oh well, I guess I'll come back stronger and tougher.

Speaking of that, it's amazing how I adjust to life here. I had expected to miss a lot more, but at the moment, I only miss a decent toilet. Bucket showers are OK, the heat is doable, no AC needed, sleeping without a pillow is not bad, either. Drinking water from a tap, instead of out of plastic bags (with sometimes disgusting tasting water inside)? Nah, not that much. I had half a stroopwafel last weekend, and it was the best tasting stroopwafel I ever had, so being deprived of some of the things we think of as normal is actually not all that bad. And you get so much back for it. The warmth of Ghanaian people, the way they always want to help you, greeting everyone you meet, stranger or not... I'm not yet ready to leave! Fortunately I have 4 more weeks - in exactly 4 weeks, I'll be home...!

Anyway, let's make an end to this, I've been talking for way too long. I hope all of you are doing well, I can't wait to hear all YOUR stories when I'm back.

Love from Ghana, Jonneke

P.S.: Els, you'll manage perfectly fine on your own, and in 4 weeks I can assist you where needed.
P.P.S.: Matthijs, I bought the fabric! I hope you like it! I'll drop it off at the tailor today or tomorrow, depending on whether she's still open.

Concerning a lot

I had this really cool title for this blog, "Concerning falls and female ward" and then it turned into "Concerning falls, female ward, Soultrain and shrines" but then that didn't even cover everything I have to say, so hence the above title (haha, in the hospital they ALWAYS write "so hence the above diagnosis" in their reports).

Anyway, remember how I told you I was going to the market to buy some fabric and blablabla? Well, I didn't. I mean, I went to the market, but as soon as I entered the market, I had the misfortune to put my foot on a slope with loose sand, and I stumbled, and stumbled some more, and ended up on the ground. Bruised hip, bloody elbow and ankle, and grazed hands. Ouch. So, instead of the market, we raced home to disinfect everything, and I have to say, everything is healing well. The wound on my ankle became a little infected (instead of red, it was white from all the pus), but other than that, it's looking fine. The scabs on my elbow are actually falling off already! It did put me off for a couple of days, though. It hurt, and I was really afraid of infection, and I just wanted to be home for a while. I wasn't homesick, or anything, but it would've been more convenient to be in the Netherlands.

Speaking of being afraid of infection, I almost fainted. I was helping with taking care of a woman's foot, who had a wound on exactly the same place as my ankle-wound, and it looked really nasty, and all of a sudden I wondered, "Is this room always so dark?" but then I noticed black spots in front of my eyes, and then I decided it would be better to sit down. As soon as I sat down, I got cold all over, and I started sweating, and for some odd reason I thought I had malaria. But then the cold feeling stopped, and I realized that there was no malaria or something else to be afraid of - I was plainly busy fainting. Fortunately I didn't, that would've been embarassing.

I did NOT faint when I was holding someone's broken leg. The lower part of her lower leg was independently movable of the upper part of the lower leg. Let me tell you, holding something like that is the weirdest feeling, possibly ever. But, I stood my ground, held it, while trying not to move the two parts too much. No fainting whatsoever. I felt very big and grown up, and finally like I was doing some good.

One of the nurses at the Female Ward had invited me to a wedding of one of her family members. Berte and I decided to go, and I'm happy I did. So much dancing and singing, and that all under the roof of a church. "Let's dance for the Lord!" and yay, there we went again! Unfortunately, the sermon after that, about marriage (apparently, it's ordained by God, but fortunately it's also for sexual pleasure and friendship), lasted 45 minutes, and we were very hungry, so we left after that, and didn't see the marriage vows. Oh well, it was an experience to remember - I didn't know church could be this fun!

That same day, Saturday, I and the other Dutch volunteers decided to go out, to the one and only "niteclub" in Bolga - the Soultrain. 90% consisted of boys, all toohappy to grind into you, not really my cup of tea, but it was something I would not have wanted to miss. Out in Ghana! The only drinks they served were beer and Smirnoff, and I think most of the Ghanaians were drunk after 2 beer... losers. I went to bed at the astounding time of 1:30 in the morning. And I'm not being sarcastic (OK, a little), because normally I go to bed at 9, at the most 10. That's because I get up early, but also because life in Ghana is very tiring; although apparently, it could also be a side effect of the Lariam.

Sunday we went to Tongo, a little village situated in a stunning hill country, where they also have a shrine, which you're only allowed to enter when topless. We first visited the Chief's house/palace. We talked with him, or rather, he talked to us, about Ghana, and Tongo, and himself, and then were shown around his confusing compound. It's a maze, really, but what do you expect, he has 17 wives and there are around 350 people living in his house (I don't know if extended family is also involved, otherwise I feel sorry for those wives - SO many children!). The walk to the shrine was a little more challenging than expected, and since I was still afraid to fall after my market disaster, I unfortunately did not make it to the shrine. So, no topless adventures for me. Apparently I didn't miss much, but I was still a little mad at myself for being such a pussy.

Yesterday - Monday - I started work at the Male Ward. Since there was not much to do, one of the nurses wanted to go to the Maternity Ward to look at babies, and she took me with her. We were being shown around by the "prof", when all of a sudden there was a Labour Alarm - there was a baby coming! We all hurried to the delivery room, where within 20 minutes time, I witnessed two births - two girls. For one woman, it was her first, and after seeing her pain, I think I'm going to wait a little longer for my own kid. OK, OK, the materials aren't what they are in Europe, and we have painkillers, but still. She didn't know how to push, or wasn't able to anymore, because of exhaustion, so one of the doctors pressed on the belly, and he basically pushed the baby out with his hands. Ouch. The other woman had to go off her bed, since the linen had fallen off, and while she was standing next to her bed, she got a contraction again, and while she was kneeling or something (it all went very quick) the baby was born right there on the ground. Fortunately, both baby girls survived. It was so exhilirating to watch!

As soon as we got back to the Male Ward, I also witnessed my first death. An old man started choking, and even though they started CPR and they used a suction machine, it didn't make a difference, and he died shortly after. I don't believe he was in much distress, though, and I don't think he had a lot of pain, so that's good.

Today we had a rather uneventful day. In the last 2 hours we had some more admissions, so I got to take vital signs and help with some other things, but it wasn't as exciting as yesterday. Oh well, that's life at the hospital, I guess. And life in Ghana, most days are uneventful here. I mean, yesterday I spent the morning mostly watching TV, because there was nothing to do (there was a really interesting snake documentary, Matthijs). The births and death happened after 12.

Anyway, I have the feeling I'm being way too brief about everything I'm telling you about, but if I were to write down everything, then I'd be spending a day behind the computer. At least now you have an idea of what's going on.

As for the spiders: it rained again, there are more to watch. Also, in the Male Ward, the ceilings are covered in spiders. Yuck. But, I'm managing, and rarely afraid anymore.

Love you all, and for those who miss me: almost halfway! Time flies by when you're having fun!

Signawama (or however it's written), Jonneke

P.S.: My Frafra name at home: Ayenema and at the hospital either Akulkpocka or Ayempocka. Hehe.

Concerning Sirigu and spiders

I told you I'd try writing again Monday or Tuesday, and I did, but the internet was too slow yesterday. It's still slow today, but not as slow, but too slow for putting up some pictures, I'm afraid. So I'll just talk.

Saturday I went to Sirigu, to 3 other volunteers, who volunteer at the Young Virgins Club. It sounds a little fishy, in my opinion, but the cause is very good. See, if you get pregnant as a teenager, you do not really have a future anymore, as far as it goes for school, and university, and having success in life. So they urge young boys and girls to stay virgins until they are really ready, until they've gone to school. Which I think is good, for Ghana, and for those children. The YVC had their inauguration this weekend, and we went to celebrate it with them. I had expected it to be a lot more like a party, but it ended up with there being a lot of speeches, half of them in Frafra. The children had a march, which I personally found a little scary - with their uniforms on, and them marching to someone's command, it felt like I was watching child soldiers or something. They also had a play, which I missed for the first half, since I went with Gerda to pick up our dinner. First time in my life I had goat! It was very tasty, kind of like lamb, but then spicier or something.

Walking back to the house I was staying at was the best part of the day. It was "dark", with a full moon and stars shining on us, and the Virgins were walking with us. At a certain point, two of them grabbed my hand, and we walked like that for a long time, them asking questions, telling me I was one of their best friends, rehearsing the volunteers' names and ages... It made my heart swell. They were so happy with us, and that made me happy with them and happy with Ghana and happy with life. So special.

On Sunday we went to the market in Bolga, where I bought more fabric, for another dress I'm having made here. I also went to the grinding mill with Patience, my host-cousin, to grind groundnuts, for soup. The nuts go in, and groundnut paste, kind of like peanut butter comes out. We ate the soup with rice balls yesterday, and let me tell you, it's delicious.

Then, the spiders. Every morning and evening, when I take a shower, the first thing I do when I walk in is check where all the spiders are. There's a big one in the corner, another big one on one of the beams, and several smaller ones. I know where they are, and I stay away from them. The problem with the rainy season, though, is that everytime when it rains, more spiders enter the shower, and my bedroom. So there are more spiders to watch everytime I shower. It's the same in my bedroom, and I'm terrified I'll one day put on a shirt and a big spider comes crawling out. It's quite a source of stress for my otherwise pretty stressless life here.

Because even at work the stress is minimal. I really do not know what to do most of the time, because the other nurses and medical students aren't doing anything either. They now let me administer some medications, which is fun to do, but other than that there's nothing much to do around here. Only one or two patients speak English, and they find it pretty weird if I start talking to them all of a sudden. So I entertain myself with talking to my collegues, but most of those conversations end with them asking me for help - they want to come to the Netherlands to study, maybe I can do something for them? There's really no way for me to tell which people genuinely want to be friends with me, and which people talk to me because I might be able to do something for them. Oh well, the conversations are still fun, so I shouldn't complain, should I?

Right now I'm in Bolga, because I had to extent my visa for 2 days (I stay in Ghana for 62 days, and my visa is for 60 days...). Gerda and I will go to the market after this - more fabrics to buy, but this time not for me.

As for the telephone question: I get off work at 2, after that you're free to call me, most of the time I lunch alone, anyway. Ghana time is 2 hours earlier than Holland time, that's also nice to know, I think.

I really want to tell you more about the people here, about my host family, and everyday things, but that'll have to wait 'til next time! Know that I miss all of you, but I do not yet want to leave. Elsje, I miss you too, and at the moment it doesn't make me feel bad that you miss me, so mom has no reason to be mad at you - if she is. I also bought part of your birthday present today!

Greetings from Ghana, this time with a lovely temperature, Jonneke

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.

Concerning firsts

First of, these are the first stories that are getting out of Ghana into the world. My simcard only started working yesterday, so I was able to talk to my mom for a total of 10 minutes, my dad for 1 and Mirella and Kim for 5 or something. Which is way too little to tell all that I have to say.

While my goodbye from Holland was very teary, my stay in Ghana so far hasn't been at all. I arrived in Accra at 9:30 in the evening, and was greeted by warm air. We had a small dinner at Vic's, the woman who came to pick us up, and went to sleep. First night under a mosquito net! In the heat!

The next day we spent walking around Accra, which seems like an incredibly crowded place, but so African. We went to two markets, saw lots and lots and lots of beautiful fabric (mom, I'll buy a LOT the day before I leave!), and even more chickens and goats and dead, dried fish and pork feet and living crabs and toothpaste. Vic walked us through in a hurry, though, so I wasn't really able to see a lot of it, but the smell was pretty memorable. In the afternoon we went to the beach, where we had lunch (burgers! And fresh pine apple juice!) and walked around in the sea. The sea was too wild for real swimming, and also a little too dirty - there were horses on the beach, and their poo was everywhere in the water. At some point it started to rain, and I managed to get goose bumps, I was that cold! How I long for that right now!

After another hot, but better managable night (probably because I was so, so tired), we had to get up really early to go to the bus station. We were supposed to take the 8 o'clock bus, but there wasn't room for our luggage, so we had to wait for the 9 o'clock bus. And after that... 13 hours of driving driving driving. Ghana is incredibly beautiful, though, so I was able to really enjoy the scenery. And the bus was airconditioned, also a major plus point. I knew the south of Ghana was really green and rainforesty, but I hadn't expected the north to be this green. It's the rainy season, that's why. The green, which is incredibly green, only gets greener because of the contrast with the red earth.

Also an interesting part I noticed during the bus journey: Ghanaians like to praise God, a lot. Imagine this: half of an advertisement used to say "In God we trust", with the other half saying "Stop here for your refreshments, Coca Cola". Or a shop called "God is Good Cosmetics" - interpretable in two ways.

When we got to Tamale, there was some confusion.The person supposed to pick us up wasn't there, but there were a lot of boys wanting to be our taxi-driver. We told everyone, stupid as we are, that we were with Meet Africa, and 5 minutes later a guy showed up saying he was from Meet Africa. But he couldn't identify himself, and he was already off with our luggage. We followed him, and fortunately he was indeed from Meet Africa, but it was quite odd. After 13 hours of traveling, though, we couldn't be bothered to make a fuss, and just went to sleep.

The next day, we spent some time in Tamale, going to the local volunteer restaurant, and trying to get our simcards to work. No luck, but it was getting dark (it gets dark really early here) so we went back to the house. We went to the herbal garden of the matriarch of the family, and later on had dinner with her - apparently we had pleased her in some way or another. The Ghanaian food however - we had TZ with a soup called "Indian Spinach" - was not that amazing, I guess I just have to get used to it.

And after that, the more primitive way of living started setting in. Up until then, I had been able to shower under a REAL shower, sleep in relatively cold rooms, travel in airconditioned buses. But boy, the tro-tro is a whole other story. We were cramped together in the back of a sweltering hot little bus, with our bags on our laps and in between our legs. When we were driving, it was still pretty doable, but as soon as the bus stopped moving, the tro-tro got really hot, and really full and pretty unbearable. Fortunately, we could get out after 3 hours (halfway we had dropped off Anne, whose host family lives on the way to Bolga), only to be greeted by a hotter climate than Tamale's and Accra's combined. We went to the Meet Africa office, had a meeting there (everyone got to vent their frustrations, so it was quite a shock for Berte and me - was it really that bad in the host family and in the work place?) and then went to an employee's house. I enjoyed my first bucket shower there, and believe me, when you're sweaty all over and have dust clinging to you in the weirdest places, it's the most refreshing thing you've ever had. We had a meal of Western spaghetti, and loads of water - I don't think I ever drank this much in my life!

Last night was probably the hottest night of my life, I actually woke up while I was wiping the sweat off my face and arms and legs and blaaaah! I'm not a really good sweater, so for me to sweat this much... well, you can imagine the heat. The night was made even more restless because just before we went to sleep, we saw the biggest, most scary spider I've ever seen. It looked like a flattened crab or something, spikes included. So I kept waking up thinking I felt something sit on me or something. Just something I have to get used to, I guess, cause there are plenty of spiders around Bolga, apparently.

Today we explored Bolga a bit, were shown the most important things in town, such as the bank, the restaurant everyone goes to (Swap) and of course the internet cafe. We also cycled by my host family - my host father speaks English, I have electricity, and it's 5 minutes away from the hospital. My host grandma started teaching me Frafra (the local language) immediately, and I hope to pick up some more in the 5 weeks I'll stay there. I have no clue whether I have a real toilet or a corn field, though, but I'll survive both.

On Friday I'm going on my first sightseeing event: Mole National Park. Elephants! Swimming pool!Monkeys! Shower! Real toilet! Birds! Butterflies! I'm excited. Because I leave for Mole on Friday, Berte and I decided to go to our host families on Monday instead of tomorrow. I'll start working in the hospital on Tuesday. We're going this weekend because the other volunteers already here are going together, and we wanted to join them - otherwise we'd be alone during the weekend, and why not go to Mole when we have the chance to go?

Anyway, my computer time is almost up. I'll try to give a more detailed description of happenings around here the next time, but for now, I hope to have updated you enough!

Love from Ghana, Jonneke

Concerning nerves

2 days from now, I’ll be up in the air, flying to an unknown country in an unknown continent - to me, anyway.

Ghana.

And I’ll stay there for 2 months.

So, naturally, I’ve been kind of nervous for the past couple of days. I’ve been keeping myself busy, organizing this, packing that, buying that one thing I might possibly need but probably won’t use. Just to avoid sitting still, because the moment I sit still, my stomach turns, and my heart rate seems to double, and the only thing I can think is, “why on earth did I want this in the first place?” Fortunately though, there are also moments when I sit and stare and sigh and wish I was already there. Because boy, this is going to be the biggest adventure in my life!

Right now, I have (almost) everything I need, and the only thing left to do is pack my bag. Considering I have already dumped most of the future contents of the bag in the said bag, this won’t be too much of a problem. And I have all of tomorrow to do it. So I should be fine.

Friday I’ll have quite an enormous goodbye committee: my mom, dad, brother and sister, aunt and cousins, grandma, and Mirella will be there. My plane leaves at 2 pm, and I’ll land in Accra in the evening. The next day will be spent in Accra, buying my Ghanaian sim-card, and booking for my bus ride to Tamale the next day. I’ll spend Worldcup Finale Day on a 12 to 14 hour bus ride, but mom and dad promised they’d keep me informed of everything soccer-related - and who knows, maybe some smart Ghanaian will bring a radio on the bus with him/her... I’ll spend the night in Tamale, and then hop on a tro-tro to Bolgatanga that Monday, where I’ll have 2 introduction days before I move in with my host family. I know my host family’s father’s name, Zaare Michael Akanvibe, but nothing about them besides that. Do they have electricity? How many wives does he have? How many host brothers and sister will I have? How does their food taste? Will they let me join Ghanaian life easily, or do I really have to fight before I get to haul any water home? Do they speak English, or Frafra, or some other exotic Ghanaian language? Will I get to carry a baby on my back? Will they teach me Ghanaian songs? Will they catch spiders for me whenever (which is always) I’m afraid to catch them myself?

And what about the hospital? What do they want from me? What can I expect? What can I mean to the patients, anyway? Will I get very frustrated, or will I accept the way healthcare works in Ghana? Will the doctors like me? How are the nurses - do they want to teach me things? Will I be able to witness a surgery? A birth? How will I deal with all the dying?

And the country! What will I be able to see of it? Will I see elephants? Will I understand Ghanaian English? Will I get lost? Are the spitting cobras really as numerous as my brother makes them out to be? How am I going to deal with all the waiting I supposedly will do? Will I get malaria? I won’t have to worry about one thing, at least: no matter what, I’ll get diarrhea.

So many questions, and none of them will be answered until I’m there. So, I’m biding my time ‘til Friday, at some moments stomach-churningly nervous, at others more excited than I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve been looking forward to Friday ever since I got accepted to medical school, and I’m going to make this a summer to remember. For forever.

See you in Ghana!