Waterfalls

Well I will try and explain this weekend to you as best as I can.

I decided that after a crazy week in Accra I needed to take a break. A good friend of mine left on Friday night and so me and a few other girls took a trip to the Wli Falls, which is East of Accra in the Volta Region. It is a four and a half hour tro journey and it was pretty decent until a woman got sick all over the tro. I luckily was not hit by the vomit and managed to keep myself on the tro and not jump out the window. Man am I being tested. She spent the rest of the tro ride puking out the window and I spent the rest of the tro ride with my Ipod on full volume shaking trying not to flip out more than I was. I think I did pretty good.
Finally we get to this village called Hohoe and is about 30 minutes away from the Wli Falls. No one is cooperating in helping us find our way to the falls--trying to rip us off or just be crazy. On the tro to the waterfalls I hit my head and cut it open on the top of the tro. Get to waterfalls only to see that the people we were meeting up with (they left 4 hours before us) were not there yet and our phones didn't work so we couldn't find them. Luckily when we got to the waterfall lodge to check in they were there (tro tro problems took them an extra 4 hours).
As we headed out for out 45-minute walk through the rainforest to the falls we realize that there is a school trip there and a million kids (not peaceful at all). At the entrance to the rainforest there is a woman puking her guts out (puke # 2 of the day).

We walk 45 minutes into the rainforest thinking that we are seeing most people coming out but there are still about 100 kids there when we make it. The bats are out and flying everywhere. Even with all of the people it was somehow a serene atmosphere. I can't even explain it but the people faded away and all that was there was this beautiful waterfall in front of us with a rainbow and the rainforest all around us.
We waited about an hour for all the people to leave and hung out in the water for awhile. I got in the water and walked towards where the waterfall met the water below and I have never had a sensation like that. The force of the water and wind was pushing me backwards. It was the most amazing feeling. It knocked me down a few times and I tripped over a few rocks but it was all-good. Then we looked at the time and realized it was going to get dark in about an hour so we should head back. Well as we were walking back it started raining-then thundering-then lightning-then pitch black. We were running through the rainforest in the dark with bats flying everywhere and bugs flying at our face. I was cold because I fell in the water with all my clothes on and the temperature had dropped from the weather. My bug spray got washed off and so I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Finally we made it out of the rainforest but only to discover that the trees no longer blocked the rain and that the power was out.
We tried walking back to the lodge with the light of our phones but I was the only one with flip-flops (forgot my gym shoes). My feet were sinking in the mud and I had to pee so badly that I couldn't walk. I didn't bring enough clothes for the weekend so I had to improvise with a towel. It was too cold outside to shower so I was muddy from my feet all the way up to my knees. Didn't sleep that night and got up the next morning to go to the falls so that we could experience it without all the people but still in the daylight.
While we are eating breakfast it starts pouring again and so we can't go to the falls. It rains all morning and shows not signs of stopping so we got a tro to hohoe so then we could get the 4 1/2 hour tro to Accra. Once in Hohoe it was still pouring rain and we were hungry from lack of food. I bought a loaf of bread and ate the whole thing and we waited for an hour for a tro to fill up so that it would head back to Accra. On our way back from Accra the immigration police stopped us. Keep in mind that we don't carry our passports when we travel in the country because we don't want them to get stolen. I had switched bags so I didn't have my volunteer badge either.
They pulled us 5 Obruni's aside but let everyone else go and told us that if we didn't have our passport or volunteer id that we would not be able to go further. Bettina and I were the two that had neither and the told us that we couldn't go back to Accra until they had our passports. I just started laughing because I didn't even know what to do. Then after 5 minutes the immigration officers start cracking up and tell us that they are joking and to go back and get on the tro.......that was not a funny joke.
Get back to Accra and get lost in Accra. Accra is flooded. Our street is flooded and is now a mud river. Get home to realize that our host family has been gone all day and there is no dinner. What a weekend. But this is what I will say. Despite everything that went wrong I was happy. I was traveling with volunteers I truly enjoyed and I couldn't do anything but laugh. I think one thing I have learned here in Ghana is that if you don't laugh about things that happen you just won't make it through.
Suck it up and keep going. I was faced with cockroaches; throw up, lightning, mud, a cut head, horrible rain yet I was in a good mood. We are going back to the waterfalls a different weekend. We never got to experience the real thing. I will send pictures soon. I am sorry this is so jumbled and not organized. It is basically my thoughts thrown up on a page...... That is all for now! Hope you had a great weekend!! :)

Hard Day

I am not sure if I have had a more discouraging morning since I have been here.

There is a new supervisor at the orphanage. The government moved Auntie Helena to a different area in Ghana. The new supervisor has decided that she doesn't think I am old enough or big enough to work with the older boys. She told me that she doesn't think that I am big enough to be respected. When I told her that I had been working with them for the past two months she laughed in my face and said that it must have been a mistake. I tried telling her that they do respect me and that I am nothing but a good influence on them but she didn't seem to believe me. I literally begged her to let me stay working with them and she told me that unless she talked to the boys and felt that they respected me that I was not allowed to talk with them. Even after talking with them she will have to think about it.

I can't even express how horrible I am feeling right now. Having someone tell me that I am too small to be respected is a terrible feeling. Especially when I know that the boys do respect me.

I found out yesterday that one of my toddlers Grace has AIDS. She is not being treated.

But even through all of this I have to believe that God is always good.

Someone was wondering what it would be like when I came home and wanted to know how I think I will handle it. I am not going to lie to myself and say that it will be easy. I know that I am going to struggle but I also know that I have people at home who love me and are going to be there to support me. Leaving these kids is going to be next to impossible but I know that I can get through it. I will be so thankful for a real bed and shower. I will be at loss of words and maybe a little frustrated that I can't explain all of this to everyone as well as I can remember it. I am scared to come home but I know that I will be back here at some point.

Even in my hardest moments here in Ghana I have people supporting me. One of my friends and I are going out to lunch today so that he can talk me through this. I am ok. Things will work out. I know that one of my favorite quotes is always true : Everything will be alright in the end; if it is not alright it is not the end.

Lack of Words

So I feel like I need to clarify. While having my parents and Lizz here was harder than I thought it would be it was still amazing and I am so thankful that they were able to come out here and see me. I think that writing that e-mail when I was tired made it sound as if I didn't appreciate them being here which is not true at all.

Being back with the kids has been great, just what I need. A week off really rejuvenated me and gave me a whole new energy. Missing those kids like I did when my parents were there made me regain patience.

The past two days were extremely hot but then last night it rained. No, not just rained, it poured!! I was actually scared by how much it was raining. It is funny how things that wouldn't scare you at home simply scare you because you are in a different place.

I wish I could explain how good everything is here. I feel like lately I have just been at lack of words, which is why I haven't been e-mailing as much. Is there anything you haven't heard about lately that you want to know more about?

Family Visits

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have written but I have been super busy with my family being in.

Having my parents and Lizz (a friend of mine for those of you who don't know) was good but very hard at the same time. I thought that it was going to be a really nice break and showering all the time combined with good quality time. Don't get me wrong there was showering and good quality time spent but a lot of hard things as well.

The jump between my routine and hotel life was very difficult.

The temperature changes to their toll on me- from air conditioning to 105 degree heat it made me feel a little sick.

Finally having a clean body but having to put on my same dirty clothes.

Finally getting western food but feeling sick after each meal because my stomach was not used to the change yet.

Having a nice bed to sleep in but still having the same cockroach dreams.

Being with my parents and Lizz but being in Ghana where I had a life that was put on hold.

It was also the first time I was taking a block of time off from the kids, they weren't too happy. I planned on taking Tuesday-Sunday off but ended up going in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sat. It was too hard to be away from them....can't wait to come home!! :) haha I will be ok after a little bit

We planned on traveling a lot but ended up spending most of our time in Accra and Kokrobite (a beach 45 minutes outside of the city). Traveling was just too much for me. I will travel eventually but I felt overwhelmed by the idea of going all the way out to Cape Coast by tro tro with my parents.

Other random things I got to do while my parents were here:

souvenir shop
wash my clothes in the bathtub of the hotel
show off my tan to some pale obrunis
take a taxi most places (the tro tro's were hard to take with 4 people)
ride a horse down the beach
watch baseball at Champs (a local sports bar)
make a college decision----Northeastern University in Boston

There was a lot of card playing and a lot of winning (on my part). There was a lot of swimming in the pool and laughing. It was great to have my family out here. Today I am feeling more homesick than I have since I got here but I was expecting it. I had an empty house to go home to since my roommates were traveling. I am about to go to a football match to get out and about but I will write again soon. I am a little tired seeing as I have been up since 5am. Love you guys,

It Has Been Awhile

So I wrote an extremely long e-mail and then it just got deleted so I am going to try and remember all that I wanted to say.
Yesterday I took my housemates to the orphanage at night and I had a really hard time with it. After the initial excitement of all the kids seeing me they ignored me and only talked to my roommates. It sounds really selfish but I just want to explain it. I spend every day with these kids; morning until night. IT IS HARD and draining. I see the good bad and the ugly. I get hit, spit on, peed on, pooped on, and kicked.

I have to break up fights and take care of these kids when they are sick and snotting all over my clothing. I have to help them when they are crying non-stop or when they cut their foot on glass. These kids also get angry at me very often. They have such trust issues that the littlest thing can push them over the edge. If one of the boys wants to use my phone and I tell him to wait because my parents are about to call he takes it personally and won't talk to me.Then I get my housemates who get to come and only get the good side of them. They get to get loved on and hugged and then go home and not come back until they want. I stood there alone as the kids swarmed them and I do understand but it was so hard for me.

As I was leaving one of the boys Emmanuel walked up to me and grabbed my hand. He just looked at me and said, "Don't be sad that we weren't talking to you because we know that tomorrow morning you will be here to see us and they will not". That is all that I needed to hear and the funny thing was that I wasn't acting sad or angry. I was still smiling and laughing because no good comes of showing that you are upset when you’re around these kids. But he knew that inside I was feeling down.

I have been spending a lot of time at the pitch (the football field). The boys have been on a funny school schedule because they were finishing up their final exams and so they would take me to their school (next to the pitch) and introduce me to all of their friends. Seth always jokes around with me by saying everyone in Labodi (part of Accra I live in) knows Claire. I really have made a lot of friends here, which is a good feeling.

My friend David works at the pitch because he is a manager of a football club. His co-manager, Rama, has convinced me to play for their girls football team. I told him that I am very bad at football but he just laughed and said don't be embarrassed most of the girls are not very good and I'll teach you. He is a really nice guy but I don't think he realizes what he has just gotten himself into.

Leaving the orphanage for a full week is going to be hard. I am so excited for my parents and Lizz to come but it will be challenging to take that much time away from the kids. Everything else is good. I am not sure when I will write next because my family comes Sunday!!!!

Where I Need to Be

So I have been thinking lately about how strange it is here. I have developed a life here. I have my friends, places I hang out, and my own routine. It is such a good feeling to be so independent. You are forced to figure things out and if you don't then you just deal with it. I am loving it here and am learning a lot about myself.

I have been trying soooo hard to separate myself from the other volunteers because then it will be one less thing I have to say goodbye to but I can't do it anymore. I am just getting along with some of them so well. Whatever happens happens and I am not going to worry about the future and saying goodbye.

This is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I need to be doing something new and exciting. University is going to be focused on cultural studies and photography so that I can use that in some way to do this.

I don't have much else to say. Things are the same and that is good. I am growing and learning. I thought I knew a lot before I came here but I was wrong. 1 week until my parents come! I know that I made the right decision coming here. I am where I need to be for both myself and these children. I am ready for whatever life has in store for me.

Cut Knees and Urine Feet

I know that it has been quite awhile since I have written but I will shoot a short one out right now.

I love my two new roommates. They are both British and very down to earth. Their names are Hayley and Khadija. We really get along and I am a little nervous about getting a fourth roommate next week because right now things are sooo great. I am sure it will be good there is just that nervous tension before you meet them.

There have been a lot of new volunteers coming and I have been getting along with them a lot more than I did with the previous ones. Not that I didn't enjoy the other ones but these volunteers treat me as a peer vs. the youngest volunteer of the bunch. I have been spending some time with this volunteer named Charlotte and last night when we met up she walked up to me and started screaming. This whole time we have been hanging out she thought I was about 23 and she had just found out that I am 17. It was a pretty funny reaction and everyone was laughing pretty hard. It is a different dynamic with these new volunteers. A good dynamic though.

The orphanage is good. I have still been spending my days there. Yesterday I didn't have the best day. A little baby was standing over my feet in the morning and she let loose and urinated all over my feet (so attractive...the smell of urine). Then in the afternoon I was feeling pretty sick cause I hadn't been drinking enough water and so I went to go by a sachet from the little boys house. As I was walking back I fell down the stairs and face planted into the ground. I cut up me knees pretty badly. I walked back to where we were playing Monopoly and I had mud and blood all over my knees and I was too exhausted to bother cleaning them but one of the boys ran off and came back with some paper towels and cleaned my cuts for me (so sweet). This morning when I went in Moses was walking to school and he ran up to me to see how my knees were doing.

Other than that nothing is really new. Life is good. God is good. 1 Week until my parents and Lizz come. I can't wait!! I think I might be catching a cold from one of the toddlers.......I hope not!!! That's all for now.

You're Invited

Hello there,

So I am all alone with no housemates. Well.....until tonight.

This morning I went to the orphanage by myself without Claire and it was weird. She started there at the same time I did so it was strange to be going by myself with all the crazy little toddlers.

This morning they were actually fairly calm. I love the feeling of walking in the gates and having little children run at your legs grinning ear to ear. You know that you are wanted.

I helped one of the Aunties wash clothing this morning. She was laughing at me because I am a lot slower than her. There was something about scrubbing dirty clothes of little children that was very serene. It seems crazy but it was nice.

Oh yeah!!! It poured rain yesterday. I haven't seen it rain that hard since I was in El Salvador last summer. It was just sheets of water pouring from the sky. All the windows in my room were open so the layers of dust were then turned into layers of mud. Gross!

I got my room cleaned for the first time in six weeks today. My sleeping has been getting a lot better.

We have a new toddler at the toddler house. His name is Kofi. He cries too much.

The little boy Samuel that I told you about last week has been getting a lot better. He has made some friends with the boys and it is nice to see them treat him with respect.

The new thing for all of the boys to do is offer me their food. They always say..... You're invited. That basically means that I have to come and take at least one bite of food from their plate. They eat with their hands and my hands are always so dirty so I feel gross but I eat still because it is rude to decline.

I am loving every minute here. Still learning names but I think I probably have around 70-80 names down. I don't know how you teachers do it!!!!!!

I eat too much rice. This is all I have to say for now.