Merry Christmas to Me!

I'm pretty sure I found the only Dr. Pepper in all of Ghana!

My Heart

I am not sure how much longer my heart can take living in Ghana.  

Yesterday I had one of the best days of my entire life but also a pretty tough day.  

Please, just make sure never to take family for granted.

I'll post more about it later.

Just a Few Reasons Why I Love Africa

I'll Take Her!

This little girl's mother and father have a shop near the home I was staying at in Accra.  

As I've mentioned before, people here work so hard and for so many hours so a lot of time, they just sleep at their shop.

Over the 40 days that I've passed by their shop, I've had the chance to watch this little girl grow. 

The day I took these photo's she kept laughing which made her momma and her daddy laugh too.  Of course I had no idea why they were laughing because they were speaking Twi but momma could see that I was a bit confused.

Here is her momma resting.

She told me that her little girl wants to come live with me.  

So, every time her parents would say, "Ok, go with the obruni then"  she would just giggle.

I told her parents I would gladly take her back to America with me...

...but they love her smile just as much as I do and would never want to let her out of their sight!

LOOK AT HER!!!!!

BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PRINCESS!

African Monkey?

I wanted to check out a few shops in an area called The Pitt.  It's much like the Art Center that I visited when I first arrived in Ghana where the salespeople are pulling you every which way to sale you their "original" art work.

Well, when I got to one man's shop, Abdul, he offered me a chance to see his monkey....

I told him I didn't know there were monkey's in Accra.  He told me he brought this one from the jungle to raise.  

Okay, I'll check him out.  

I see pictures of people holding monkeys in Africa all of the time!

Right.

Okay, so the man really does have a monkey and it wasn't some sales speech to get me to buy something from him...

The man, Abdul, told me to give the monkey a banana and he will come to me.

Yep, he came to me but only to attack me for the stupid banana and then he ran behind the tree as if I attacked him!

He was pretty proud of himself for stealing the banana!

Abdul assured me the monkey is nice and to try again to hand him a banana.

Attacked again!

I don't care if I EVER see that African Monkey again!

 Look who ended up with the banana!

I ended up with a rash on my arm for 2 weeks from his scratch!

Then to top it all off, Abdul asked me for money to pay for the banana's I gave the monkey!!!!!!!

Never trust a monkey on a leash or his owner!

Not My Wasatch but He'll Do

Most Ghanaians don't even know what the beautiful creature of a pug is.  

However, I found a man who can appreciate the beauty in all of God's creations.

Little Jazz made my day more than I could ever explain!

Happy Sweeping!

I've learned a new way to sweep!

Water

I realized just today that not having running water isn't abnormal for me.  I thought about getting into the shower but wondered if I had enough water in my bucket to take a shower.  

My water...

I realized this is not how I was raised but I don't even think twice about having to use a bucket to bathe anymore.  I actually started to think about how odd it will be for me to take a shower with warm/hot water actually dripping from a faucet above my head.  I am not sure I want that.  I know this will change once I arrive home but as for now, I enjoy working (physically) for my basic needs.  

I also started to realize why it can be so difficult for missionaries to be "okay" with returning home to all of our amazing gadgets and blessings we have been given in America by our forefathers sacrifices.

I've taken the smallest things for granted.

I realize this more and more each day I spend in Ghana.

Just a Few

As I walk down the streets of Accra, I experience things that I would never experience in America.  

I think about them often and thought I would share a few of them.

A few phrases made here:

"You're invited" rather than, "would you like a bite?"

"Shop" rather than "store" (I need to stop at the bookshop.)

"Pain" rather than "hurt" (My head is paining me.)

"How do you find _ _ _ _" rather than "How do you like _ _ _ _" or "What do you think of _ _ _ _"  (How do you find Ghana?)

"Flash" me rather than "Call" me.  This has been a bit odd for me when someone tells me to flash them.

"You say" rather than "what did you say" or just plain "What" or "pardon me?"

"See you on your way" rather than "I'll walk you out.".  However, the Ghanaians actually walk you down the street rather than just to their door.

"I'm coming" rather than "I'll be right back"

The traffic signs say, "Overspeeding kills" rather than, "Speeding kills".  This explains a lot about the traffic here.

"Small" vs "short" (Let's stay just small." rather than "Let's stay just for a short while.")

I saw a billboard today that stated, "New Homes starting at $32,000".  Keep in mind that $32,000 is in the Ghanaian Cedi which is far less than the American $.


Gas is $1.50 per gallon.  I can still remember when gas was $1.50 in America.


A package (six bars) of Dove soap here is about $35 USD.


Most women wear beads around their waists.  They receive the beads when they are babies and never stop wearing them.  The original fathers of the country started this tradition because it symbolizes a woman's healthy body.  It truly is so cute to see a little baby girl crawling around with nothing on but the beads around her waist.  I know this sounds strange but it symbolizes so much here.  It may be something that needs to be experienced to fully understand.


Cell phones here are never on silent or vibrate.  It can be a bit annoying but its the Ghana way.


I hardly ever see public display of affection.  This includes holding hands or kissing goodbye.


I see stickers on vehicles that end with an "'s" but the "'s" is so tiny.  At first I thought they didn't leave enough room on the sticker to add the "s" so they just made it tiny but I realized this maybe the way they intend it to be.  It's pretty funny.


Anything and everything is placed in a small plastic black bag.  Even if I were to buy a small pack of gum.  When I let the checker know that I don't need a bag they always ask me if I am sure and give me an odd look.  The black bags and the bags that hold drinking water for the locals are what I see all over the ground.


I rarely hear someone say, "goodbye" when they are finishing a phone call.  It appears that they just hang up.  They'll be in the middle of a conversation but then all of a sudden they put the phone down and go on about their day.  At first I figured they lost their phone connection but over time I've realized I was wrong.

These are just a few of the observations I have had while here in Ghana that I've found interesting.  There are far more that I will share as time goes on.  

I learn so much daily about the difference in our cultures and I am not sure how I will feel once I return to America.  

There is so much that I absolutely love about the culture here.  

I hope I can continue with a few of them once I return home.

And Lights Out!

Happens all of the time; daily basically.  

No electricity and no one knows when it will come back on.  

There is no reason to call the power company because its just part of the life in Ghana!  

I love it!