Well, 1 week from today and I will be on my way home!!! It is actually kind of surreal. I feel like I have been gone forever. I don't know how I will feel to be back in US.
What am I excited for?
Hmmm. Well, obviously to see my family and friends.... but mostly to eat food I like. I would like to take a nice hot shower too. And drive!! I miss driving myself around.
When I arrive, I think I would like to eat at Taco Bell actually. A hardshell, 2-taco kids meal with pintos and cheese. haah. Seriously. However, I have lost quite a bit of weight since being here. Not because I was sick, or not eating... but because I drink a lot of water, walk a lot and I don't snack on stuff and eat when I'm not hungry. That is definately the key. So... when I get home, I will have to follow that trend. I like being smaller, I just don't have any clothes that fit now. :) hehe. Surely, it is healthier for me. I am thinking of joining WW again when I get home just to stay in check. I can't ever get that big again. It wasn't good.
I can't wait to get back to school. I actually miss being there. I miss having a set schedule and keeping busy. Going back to work.... hmmm, I guess I am excited for that too. Many people will be glad to see me back. Especially since they think I am coming back in January!!
What will I miss?
I will definately miss the people in my house. Maa, Mr.Moses, Celestine, Bisong, and Christy. I will dearly miss Annabelle!!! It is fun being in a different place, seeing new things and meeting lots of people. I will miss the kids in the village too. Mostly, just how life is here. I have gotten a bit used to it now, so I will definately miss it.
Started packing...
I have already started packing. I have pretty much given away all the clothes I came here with. They are all entirely too big, and I don't want to carry them back home. Any unnecessary things, I will dash them as well. I pray this time at the airport that my bags are under limit. I don't want to pay $150 USD again!!! I usually have to pack and re-pack at least once, in order to reorganize and shift things to make room.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Kwamang visit this past weekend
This past weekend I traveled to a town called Kwamang. It is about 45 minutes drive from my house in Oyoko. I went to the palace and met the parmount chief of that town. I also visited the cave, which is a tourist type attraction.
The cave is about a 10 minute drive outside of the town. We parked the car on the side of the road, and had to trek into the bush for another 10 minutes or so on foot. Before going to the cave, we had to purchase "schnapps". I know I have talked about Schnapps before... and as tradition goes, to see the chief requires a bottle and going into the cave requires another. We arrived at the cave entrance and our guide, who is called "Fire" said a prayer and poured libation on a rock at the entrance. I don't know what he said as it was all in Twi, but after the prayer he took a shot, and the rest of the group also had to take a shot before entering. Later I found out, that I could have declined, but... I was trying to follow suite. The only light source we have is a flashlight. One flashlight. Fire led the way. Many areas of the cave have low ceilings, so you had to crouch down to pass. There is a small stream that passes through one of the tunnels, and we had to cross that as well. I took many pictures, unfortunately I can't paste them as the internet is taking too long to load the pics today. The entire cave was full of bats. Small bats everywhere hanging from the ceilings and walls. They would fly at your head.... ahhh it was gross. At the opposite end of the cave there is a small spring. I drank the water from it, it was amazing. Tasted just like bottled spring water at home!! haha.
The cave is about a 10 minute drive outside of the town. We parked the car on the side of the road, and had to trek into the bush for another 10 minutes or so on foot. Before going to the cave, we had to purchase "schnapps". I know I have talked about Schnapps before... and as tradition goes, to see the chief requires a bottle and going into the cave requires another. We arrived at the cave entrance and our guide, who is called "Fire" said a prayer and poured libation on a rock at the entrance. I don't know what he said as it was all in Twi, but after the prayer he took a shot, and the rest of the group also had to take a shot before entering. Later I found out, that I could have declined, but... I was trying to follow suite. The only light source we have is a flashlight. One flashlight. Fire led the way. Many areas of the cave have low ceilings, so you had to crouch down to pass. There is a small stream that passes through one of the tunnels, and we had to cross that as well. I took many pictures, unfortunately I can't paste them as the internet is taking too long to load the pics today. The entire cave was full of bats. Small bats everywhere hanging from the ceilings and walls. They would fly at your head.... ahhh it was gross. At the opposite end of the cave there is a small spring. I drank the water from it, it was amazing. Tasted just like bottled spring water at home!! haha.
What have I been up to??
Once again, my apologizes for not writing in such a long while. Per the usual, I have been "busy". haha. So... I will try and recap what has been happening.
Thanksgiving week:
The Eye doctors from German came again for surgeries during the holiday week. One of the dr's would consult patients with Mrs.Esaw all day, the other would be doing surgeries all day. Start time everyday - 6:00am, end time - anytime past 10pm!!! haha. Long long days. I was in charge of consent forms again. I had my own little desk, and registered the patients coming for surgery. It wasn't anything exciting, but it was something to do. In all, I think they consulted over 1,000 patients that week, and had over 120 surgeries?? I don't have the exact figures, but something like that. The dr's have since returned home, and now all the patients are coming back for re-checks. Many of the surgeries were successful, others not so much. Some of the patients are non-compliant with medication and instructions and are not recovering well. Those, are more than should be....
What did I eat Thanksgiving Day?? Well... I did eat turkey. It was actually turkey wings. I had a soup made with agoosi, okra, and vegetable leaves. It is actually my favorite dish here. I ate it with neat fufuo. Very nice. I can't wait to come back and have my real thanksgiving dinner though!!! Especially the stuffing and mashed potatoes!!!!!!!!
Last week:
I was at the hospital all last week helping Maa in the consulting room and doing statistics. It is amazing how many people have eye problems!! And how so many of them have eye problems, because of other underlying health issues. For instance, diabetes and hypertension. There are entirely too many people with both of these diseases. Unfortunately, the eyes are affected very much with both of these conditions. So... it is not until they have a problem with their sight that they seek treatment. That is when we find out they also have high BP. To fix the eye problem now depends on fixing the BP problem. All of which depend on money and the patients compliance to treatment! Ahhh. Sometimes I sit in that consultation room and I go crazy thinking about the risks these people play by not taking their meds. Some people have learned the hard way so to speak.... they have lost one eye to glaucoma already... they were warned to take care of the remaining eye and to NEVER go without meds... they did. Now... they are blind. And there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. Tough luck.
Thanksgiving week:
The Eye doctors from German came again for surgeries during the holiday week. One of the dr's would consult patients with Mrs.Esaw all day, the other would be doing surgeries all day. Start time everyday - 6:00am, end time - anytime past 10pm!!! haha. Long long days. I was in charge of consent forms again. I had my own little desk, and registered the patients coming for surgery. It wasn't anything exciting, but it was something to do. In all, I think they consulted over 1,000 patients that week, and had over 120 surgeries?? I don't have the exact figures, but something like that. The dr's have since returned home, and now all the patients are coming back for re-checks. Many of the surgeries were successful, others not so much. Some of the patients are non-compliant with medication and instructions and are not recovering well. Those, are more than should be....
What did I eat Thanksgiving Day?? Well... I did eat turkey. It was actually turkey wings. I had a soup made with agoosi, okra, and vegetable leaves. It is actually my favorite dish here. I ate it with neat fufuo. Very nice. I can't wait to come back and have my real thanksgiving dinner though!!! Especially the stuffing and mashed potatoes!!!!!!!!
Last week:
I was at the hospital all last week helping Maa in the consulting room and doing statistics. It is amazing how many people have eye problems!! And how so many of them have eye problems, because of other underlying health issues. For instance, diabetes and hypertension. There are entirely too many people with both of these diseases. Unfortunately, the eyes are affected very much with both of these conditions. So... it is not until they have a problem with their sight that they seek treatment. That is when we find out they also have high BP. To fix the eye problem now depends on fixing the BP problem. All of which depend on money and the patients compliance to treatment! Ahhh. Sometimes I sit in that consultation room and I go crazy thinking about the risks these people play by not taking their meds. Some people have learned the hard way so to speak.... they have lost one eye to glaucoma already... they were warned to take care of the remaining eye and to NEVER go without meds... they did. Now... they are blind. And there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. Tough luck.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Diamond Dealers
We visited a town... I don't recall the name... but about 20 minutes from Akwatia. They are well known as a diamond dealer village. Along the streets are usually a few men sitting at a desk with some small equipment, just hanging out. They are actually diamond buyers. This guy is some type of dealer/buyer or something and he was selecting out the different grades of diamond according to color. Grade I is clear, Grade II is a bit yellow, and so on. Once we got out of the car, we were nearly swarmed by people asking us what we were looking for. They knew we were surely there for diamonds... they just wanted to know what color, grade and carrot weight. Once that info has been established, a wide selection of people will come out of no where for you to view their diamonds so that you may buy. The whole situation was a bit scary. So.... we saw what we wanted to see and left. I actually held a 2 carrot (sp?) diamond in my hand. Nice.... it was in raw form and had yet to be polished or shape but it was still pretty amazing. I have more pics of the places where they mine the diamonds... but you can see those when I get home!! :)
Gold mines part II
This is taken inside the "office" on the gold mine site. The scale is used to measure the gold so the buyer can pay the workers based on the weight that they mined. The guy on the other side is using a magnet surrounded by a tissue paper to seperate the gold pieces from the black dust/sand particles. Very simple procedure... but very important as the buyer doesn't want to pay more than he has to!!! About 15 minutes after this pic was taken, there was horrible terrenchial downpour. The gold buyer even closed up his scales as he said when the gold gets wet it weighs more... haha. Can't have that!! We were stuck in the office, with a leaky roof for at least 1/2 hour. We then proceeded to trek back to the car. It was probably one of the most adventurous/worst/funniest times of my life. Just picture this....
Treking through a muddy gold mine field wearing size 42 wellington (aka rubber) boots when you are suppose to wear 38. My calves are big... so the boot was tight on my calves, and loose in the foot. I was getting stuck in mud, and because the boot was too big... I couldn't pull myself out of the mud. At one time I had a guy on each arm and one behind me holding me by my belt loops!! haha. I didn't fall... but my pants were really muddy when I got back. My boots also had holes in them. It was funny... but also very tiring. My heart goes out to the people who work in the mines everyday and trek up and down those steep, muddy trails. It's downright dangerous!!
Gold Mines in Eastern Region
The pic on the left is of one of the pits that have been excavated. The soil is then collected and taken to a smaller area... like the pic on the right. The people stand inside of the pond/ditch type enclosure up to their waist and sift through the soil looking for the gold. The small silver bowl on the board near the woman is what she has collected so far. The bowl will then be heated over some coals so the water evaporates and only the gold pieces remain. After a days work, the gold is taken to an "office" onsite and is sold to the dealer. The amount paid to the gold miners is very small compared to the profit the gold dealer will receive when he resells it. Either way, the people walk away with several hundreds of cedi's on a good day. So... it's no wonder soooo many people trek very far out into the mining areas and sift for gold all day. A continuation of this story will follow later today.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Maa, Me & Al-haji
I hope I spelled his name right.... this is Al-haji, our tailor. He is a nice Muslim guy who stays in "Zongo" in Effiduase. He did the dresses Maa and I are wearing. He does good work, he just doesn't speak too much English. Zongo is the name they give an area in a village/town that is predominately a Muslim community/neighborhood. Most bigger towns have a zongo area. So... no matter where you go, the Zongo area will always be full of Muslims -mostly people from the Northern region of Ghana are Muslim. Just an FYI. :)
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