Coconuts, scorpions, and refridgerators

One and a half weeks left... I feel like this trip has just flown by, but I also feel like I have so much time left! I am really going to miss all the kids and the other volunteers and all the people I've met in Nkwanta... it's amazing the connections you can build with people over such a short period of time.

I don't even know why I come to the internet anymore- the only thing I'm ever able to do is update my blog. Facebook never lets me comment or update anything or do anything because this internet is just horrible! It's so frustrating to not be able to respond to people's comments and e-mails. You can e-mail me at my hotmail address also (wyld3cg@hotmail.com) and I will be able to respond there.

I'm getting very tan! Still not used to the heat though- I'm sweating constantly, it's so uncomfortable, but it's nice to know you have a guaranteed hot sunny day ahead of you! It's also nice to not have to care how you look or worry about doing your hair or putting on makeup everyday, and no one else cares or notices either.

Yesterday was Monday, which is market day here in Nkwanta. I spent the majority of the day outside in the sun at the market, buying food for the orphans for the upcoming week, and some little things here and there for myself. Bought some oranges- I've been craving them like crazy! Also got some fabric that I need to take to Esther, the seamstress, so she can make me some clothes. I think I'm going to wait to buy souveniers until I get back to Accra before I catch my flight home so that I can go to the cultural market, where there will be more things that I can buy for friends and family. The stuff here isn't really souvenier type stuff... it's mostly food and necessity items. There are no vegetables here either- I can't wait to have a big salad when I get home! This morning for breakfast we had the usual, tomato and onion omelettes with pineapple. Last night for dinner was yam porridge, which is my favorite meal here- very yummy! I don't much care for the authentic Ghanaian dishes like FuFu... I just can't get past the texture enough to be able to eat it.

Bought some coconuts for the kids at the market yesterday, oh man was that an event. "Oh please! Me! Me! I didn't get! Megan! Oh please! Give to me please Megan!" Little hands just everywhere and you don't know whos hand belongs to who and who got and who didn't get. Everything starts out in a line but that quickly falls apart.

Johnny (orphanage coordinator) got bitten by a scorpion yesterday! I didn't even know they existed here, but apparently so. I haven't seen one, thank god! He went to the hospital after putting garlic on it to draw out the poison, and is in some pain but he will be fine. Still around and talking a mile a minute without breathing so everything is normal.

Another volunteer, Charlotte, leaves tomorrow morning- we'll be down to 5. Then I'm next, but when I go, more will come since it will be the beginning of a new month.

OH! We got a refridgerator today!!! It's so very exciting to be able to have cold water now!!! We still don't have a light in our bedroom, the bathroom, or the shower, but oh well- we have a fridge. It's a start!

It's going to be weird coming back to civilization after a month of living a life like this in a place like this... but I'm sure it will be easy to fall back into old habits, which is something I'm not sure if I want to do or not. But now that I've had this experience and seen these things for myself, it will stay with me forever and I know change some things about the way I view the world and help me to be a better person in my own life.

I had a dream that I missed Thanksgiving while I was out here and didn't get to have my Thanksgiving dinner. Glad that didn't really happen. My dreams here are so strange. Must be the heat.

Update next time!