ben, amanda, and i are in cote d'ivoire. traveling is quite a challenge when you don't speak the language. everything i have tried to communicate since monday has been mediated thru small small french speaking ben, amanda's portuguese, and my twi. it's wild.
i really dig it here save the language barrier. i want to learn french! there are kiosks everywhere to drink coffee or red wine and chain smoke, the cuisine is bomb (though totally not celiac disease friendly), the beaches are epic, and the men leave us alone for the most part.
we are staying at a little gem in abijan called 5 :5, just east ot treichville. it's directly on the sea. we came here after 1 night in butre beach's ghana spirit ala mousquito dome for 1 (that all 3 of us snuggled into. serious.), and 2 nights with new friends in assinie.
more to come on that adventure later...
we are a dynamite trio and i love traveling in our little family unit.
but i am majorly homesick for san fran, the midwest, and ghana all at once. my heart is split in 3 this holiday season. strange feeling.
i send so much love, smiles, and kisses from ivory coast!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
chaley!
happy thanksgiving! slightly belated, but this is Ghana Man Time (GMT). reasons for my tardiness include: 1) final exams - i am now FINISHED! 2) 5 nights of performing Etuo Atu Bare - epic, wonderful, fun 3) and a few nights stay in the hospital with my third battle with malaria - and i'm sorryoo, but Ghanaian nurses are really mean.
this run with malaria was the worst of the worst. i was treated for my +1 parasite load (a lot for a foreigner) with quinimax, which is lethal. i lost my hearing, couldn't walk, vomitted on most the people i know, etc, etc. i feel like a grew some hair on my chest though. i'm a survivor of course. i will say it made me painfully homesick for family in the most vulnerable sense. i cried a lot. like a little baby. it was like all the missing a had been avoiding came to head all at once pouring and gushing out of me. this is not to say that my friends here weren't amazing, because they really stepped up to the challenge. especially amanda who fought tooth and nail for me at the clinic that i was taken good care of. i had plenty of visitors, check up calls, and follow up care from my GH family. i felt more empathy and compassion from friends than i've ever felt, but there's really nothing like a nana's touch. and my goodness did was i missing my nana.
now that my exams are finished, i will be moving into my temp housing situation with my sweet stephany (my dance TA). she lives in a bungalow on campus, so amanda and i will be perching there til february. mama stephy to the rescue. in the coming weeks i'll be traveling to cote d'ivoire with amanda and benjamin, turning 25 on the 29th, and making my way north to burkina faso with my wifey at the beginning of the new year. i have an itch to travel to the surrounding countries and need to do so before my internship begins in january.
i have secured an internship with korle bu teaching hospital in the pediatric HIV clinic. i'm excited to get back into direct services, though i know it will be painfully hard to tug on the heart strings. i haven't commited to a return date as of yet, but it will likely be spring/summer before i make my way back to the states.
my friend gabbie is leaving for home today and i'm buggin. she's the first of the cali girls to leave that i'm close with and it's hit hard. i'm starting to panic about amanda's impending departure (in 2 months, mind you) so i'm tripping.
i can't believe it's december and i'm sweating my brains out in the heat as xmas tunes blare from every direction. i was in town a few days ago eating kenkey at a spot when feliz navidad came on. it was one of the more confusing moments of my life. i will be sad to be away from home, but excited to experience holiday celebrations in a new place.
the elections are still lagging on here in ghana. everything has been peaceful, but there have been voting glitches throughout the country. i hope that whatever happens, they keep the peace and make a smooth transition to the new administration. ditto that to the US.
it's time to take gabbie to the airport. sniff. more updates to come.
xo.
this run with malaria was the worst of the worst. i was treated for my +1 parasite load (a lot for a foreigner) with quinimax, which is lethal. i lost my hearing, couldn't walk, vomitted on most the people i know, etc, etc. i feel like a grew some hair on my chest though. i'm a survivor of course. i will say it made me painfully homesick for family in the most vulnerable sense. i cried a lot. like a little baby. it was like all the missing a had been avoiding came to head all at once pouring and gushing out of me. this is not to say that my friends here weren't amazing, because they really stepped up to the challenge. especially amanda who fought tooth and nail for me at the clinic that i was taken good care of. i had plenty of visitors, check up calls, and follow up care from my GH family. i felt more empathy and compassion from friends than i've ever felt, but there's really nothing like a nana's touch. and my goodness did was i missing my nana.
now that my exams are finished, i will be moving into my temp housing situation with my sweet stephany (my dance TA). she lives in a bungalow on campus, so amanda and i will be perching there til february. mama stephy to the rescue. in the coming weeks i'll be traveling to cote d'ivoire with amanda and benjamin, turning 25 on the 29th, and making my way north to burkina faso with my wifey at the beginning of the new year. i have an itch to travel to the surrounding countries and need to do so before my internship begins in january.
i have secured an internship with korle bu teaching hospital in the pediatric HIV clinic. i'm excited to get back into direct services, though i know it will be painfully hard to tug on the heart strings. i haven't commited to a return date as of yet, but it will likely be spring/summer before i make my way back to the states.
my friend gabbie is leaving for home today and i'm buggin. she's the first of the cali girls to leave that i'm close with and it's hit hard. i'm starting to panic about amanda's impending departure (in 2 months, mind you) so i'm tripping.
i can't believe it's december and i'm sweating my brains out in the heat as xmas tunes blare from every direction. i was in town a few days ago eating kenkey at a spot when feliz navidad came on. it was one of the more confusing moments of my life. i will be sad to be away from home, but excited to experience holiday celebrations in a new place.
the elections are still lagging on here in ghana. everything has been peaceful, but there have been voting glitches throughout the country. i hope that whatever happens, they keep the peace and make a smooth transition to the new administration. ditto that to the US.
it's time to take gabbie to the airport. sniff. more updates to come.
xo.
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