Things that go "bump" in the night and Jean's first shower!

Coleson and I met up with the LDS missionaries in town last night when it was dark… let me give you a image of what town is like… I thought I was going to die! There were people EVERYWHERE! There were stands everywhere selling everything. The ground was uneven and dirty and the streets seem to have no order… the traffic on the streets seem to have to have no order as well, the drivers just do whatever they want and there are people running across the road and dodging cars and selling things in the middle of the street. Women and men walked around with fruit and nuts in huge baskets perfectly balanced on their heads, it was crazy. I was THE ONLY WHITE WOMAN I saw. And the only white men were Coleson and the two missionaries. The four of us were not ignored anywhere we went… all eyes were on us and everyone called out to us to buy things from them. People were yelling at the boys to “give me your sister” and “she your wife?” or to me “be my Valentine” (since yesterday was valentines day).  The Elders walked on either side of me and I felt protected but I would not let go of my money in my pocket haha and didn’t make much eye contact with anyone. Not everyone is like that though… most people here love white people, ESPECIALLY the kids… every time kids smile and want to hug us every time they see us. I lost my iPhone 5 charger in Germany (along with my Excedrine, I don’t want to talk about it) so they helped me buy one of those… which was impossible since no one here has heard of the stupid iPhone 5… we bought me a Ghana cell phone for 35 Cedi which is $17.50 US dollars… pretty sweet. So I will be able to make a few phone calls while I’m here and be in contact with the other volunteers. We are in the city of Kasoa and daily the power goes out. When we were in the heart of the market, with people shuffling all around us at 8pm it went black… everything… not light anywhere… I wanted to scream but refrained. Luckily the missionaries were in white shirts and Coleson was in yellow so I could see them and just stood really close…. we tried walking around but it was really no use. A few minutes later some generators kicked in and we had a few lights to get by. We got back to the house via Taxi that was .50 Cidi (25 cents) and in the black Coleson and I found the volunteer house… my heart still has not stopped pounding… oh… it is also 90 degrees while this is all happening and I’m groggy from not having sleep… images were appearing in my head that should not be there… ugh. (I also watched Taken 2 on the plane… not a smart idea)

When we finally got back to the volunteer house the power was still not on and since I have been here there has been no running water.. they say the water will not work for another 4 months… so all our water comes from sandwich size baggies. I had to take my first shower in the dark with no water at 11pm in the heat.. haha, it was fantastic! I was literally laughing. I hung my flashlight on the out of use shower head and filled a bucket with baggies of drinking water… splashed myself with cup after cup of water… no chance on actually feeling clean… but I was able to get the tomato stew off that had cooked on me all day! Coming out of the shower I immediately felt dirty again from the humidity and heat and the power was still off so the fans were not working.. all of the volunteers were together around the table in the dining room dripping sweat and sharing stories… it is great though because no one complains, we just laugh about it… we all know it is worth it because of the work we are doing with the kids. The experiences we are having here are just making great stories to tell for when we get back home.

I can’t wait to go back to the orphanage today!!! Those sweet little faces seriously do make it all worth it.

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