Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 8:01am
Hello Friends,
Thank
you all so very much for your support and letters and everything this
past week. It has been a crazy couple of days but things are getting
easier and more comfortable and I am grateful for that. We are still
trying to get settled and figure out internet usage. This is from an
internet cafe on campus so it will be somewhat short until I can get my
laptop info worked out with adaptors and all that.
First
observations: hot and humid, of course; very hazy all the time - lots of
smoke from burning garbage, exhaust, other stuff I don't know about;
green but dry and crunchy, not lush right now; tropical trees with
cactus here too, an odd combo it seems but maybe not; lots of birds
-white egrets in the grass, loud obnoxious infuriating crows that look
like overgrown magpies with the white and might be magpies - I loathe
them!! Lizards around that scurry about and hide when you come by; some
bugs but not too many that I've seen - saw a large green moth that was
pretty but I'll leave the closer examining to my nephew Jonas; some
scraggly goats all over; people everywhere, especially in town on the
sides of the roads selling everything - Hannah Montana posters being an
unfortunate item, in my opinion; they like country music here and call
it 'countryside' music; I've also heard lots of other types of American
music along with local music; food has been good - chicken, rice,
bananas, pineapple, eggs and toast, with lots more I haven't tried yet.
I've had yellow rice, which was more reddish-orange and fried rice, both
good. I'm trying to do new stuff in moderation so as to try and prevent
a complete blast to my system. No problems with that yet. Water usage
for showers and sinks is sporadic but bottled water is readily available
so that's great. Did I mention it was hot? Not unbearable with a breeze
but still kind of stuffy. I imagine the rains will freshen it all up
when they come in a few months.
I have 3 new friends from
Grand Valley University in Grand Rapids, MI, who arrived last night.
Hooray for American faces and new friends!!! Patrick, Regina, and
Jessica are their names and the 2 ladies are in the room next to mine.
We hung out and talked for a few hours last night and that was fun. They
have done some traveling before too, so that will help with the
adjustment. They are really nice and friendly and helpful. Students come
here regularly from their college so they had some help from previous
students and that's great since we really had no idea the kinds of
things we might need to bring or what which is frustrating but something
to work through. It sure helps having people to hang out with and
figure this country out with, or try to anyway. :)
What
else . . . its loud!! Sleeping has been difficult with all the noise
outside - traffic, loud music, wretched magpies, people talking and
such, and who knows what else. Earplugs help some but those nasty birds
seem to shriek right through them. Bah!! And since the students are
arriving this week the noise is only going to go up and up!! Fun for me.
LOL!! There will be about 19 international students and I don't know if
I'll end up with a roommate or not. There seems to be some confusion
about that, at least on my part. All the other students are coming this
week, too. And being 4 white people, we garner a lot of attention, as
you can maybe imagine. I've seen 2 other white people in town and that's
it. Hard to take pictures discreetly when everyone is staring at you.
haha! Oh well.
I walked to the beach one day which was a
somewhat long and hot walk but the beach is very pretty, lined with palm
trees and sandy beaches, albeit with some trash around as that is
inescapable. There are lots of shells along the beach which I imagine
I'll get quite a collection. We weren't there very long but it was nice
to see. Water looked ok but I didn't feel the need to go in nor did I
know if it would be safe.
Town is crowded with shacks and
people everywhere. I haven't been there much so I don't have a good feel
for it yet. The campus is large and very spread out and confusing thus
far. I can find some things and not others but I'll get that down pretty
soon I'm sure. There are lots of shops and things on campus for most
anything I think, we just have to figure out where everything is. The
people have been very helpful but its nice to be able to do things on
our own, too, since they are busy and we don't want to have to rely on
them for everything. That is very confining and limiting and its good
for us to learn. They have fairly strong accents and we all seem to have
slightly different names here. Mine sounds more like Catrin than
Catherine, which is ok but I need to pay better attention to know when
they are talking to me. So far, everyone has been very helpful,
especially with the CIE office - they are the ones who have been helping
us and such. Jerry, I met Joseph Sefenu and he was very very excited to
hear who I was to to hear from you through me. He spoke very highly of
you and your wife. It was nice to meet him and I'll get to the rest of
the names when I can.
I'll be washing my own clothes, at
least for now, which requires a bucket and soap and possibly laundry
lines and clips, as well as patience and practice. I can get these
things here, well the physical objects anyway, and I'll have to work on
the others too. The food servings are very big and would last me all day
so I'm not terribly concerned about having to 'cook' yet, though the
girls have a hotplate and a pot now so we can use that and will do some
of these things together. Lunch on 2 different days was about 5 cedis
which is about maybe $3.50US and is a pretty good price for such large
portions.
I have taken some photos but not too many yet as
I'm trying to get a feel for what is appropriate and acceptable here.
When I get my laptop set up or figure out the computers in the library, I
will share them with you. I have access to facebook and email on my
phone which is really great but limits how I can respond easily so
please be patient with me as I try and respond to your questions and
emails. I will try and relay as much info in these big notes so I'm
getting as much info to you as possible without having to repeat myself
too much. Please feel free to send messages and ask whatever questions
you like. I'm happy to get the letters and answer your questions as I'm
able.
I don't pretend that this is an easy transition,
because its certainly not easy being away from anything and everything
that is familiar to you, but I do hope it will get easier as it has
already and I hope to feel quite at home very soon. Leaving the US in DC
was more emotional than I thought it'd be which I attribute mainly to
not knowing when I might get to talk to any of you again or be in easy
contact and the next few days were fairly difficult being somewhat out
of communication so I am very grateful to be figuring this all out now.
That isn't to say that I won't be coming home when my time is up so
don't worry about that. Also, the wedding propositions have been
decidedly absent thus far so you can relax about that, at least for now.
;) LOL!! I like it just fine here, even with the bugs, strange food,
heat, noisy birds, garbage everywhere, all of it. The people more than
make up for all of that and I look forward to meeting more of them. They
are very friendly and hospitable and gracious and beautiful!!! I'm sure
it is a beautiful country and I am anxious to see more if it. I am
rather independent, as you might have noticed - HA!! and so having to
count on other people for everything is somewhat exhausting though
necessary, but I can't wait to be able to do things on my own more
easily.
There are multiple churches of all denominations
and styles here, many on campus, and I look forward to seeing what they
are like. I think they will be alot of fun to attend. The names for many
things here, like taxis, hair salons, all kinds of things often have
names like 'God is great. .. " or "Jesus is good. . . " things like
that which I find interesting. I'll show some photos when I can.
Well,
I think that should sustain you and me for a while, no? :) Again, once I
get my laptop so its usable here, I will do more typing there and just
be able to upload without having to sit here and think about everything
all at once. My deepest and sincerest thanks to all of you as I'm quite
certain I wouldn't be doing this or nearly as well without your love,
support, encouragement, and prayers. Talk to you soon. Take care and God
bless!! MEDASI!!! (thank you)
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