Still quite hot!

Hello all! I am settling into my cottage in Kumasi quite nicely. I'm still adjusting to the time change. The four hour difference isn't horrible, but when 8 am feels more like 4 am, no amount of breakfast could taste as good as sleep feels. It barely takes 2 seconds of my alarm ringing for me to make the decision to enjoy a protein bar for breakfast instead of leaving the comfort of my air conditioned room.   However, tomorrow I will have to wake up to be at the hospital by 9, so I will get to enjoy the hotel's breakfast!

I promised myself that I would brave the Kumasi city streets yesterday. My laptop charger would not fit into one of the 20 adaptors I brought, so I decided it would be a perfect reason to head into town. I approached the front desk of the hotel to ask for directions. There is a very helpful young man who has been at the desk the past two days. He rummaged around, looking for adaptors that the hotel may have had for me to use. Unfortunately, these did not work either, and we decided a new charger would probably be the best. He offered to send someone out to find it for me! I have to admit I'm still taken aback by how helpful everyone is here.  I cringe a bit when anyone here calls me 'madame'. Good God- I am CERTAINLY not a 'madame'! However, I try ignore that uncomfortable twinge and be as appreciative as they are generous. The young man gave me directions into town. I had no idea where to go but I figured I'd at least give it a shot! Thankfully, as I walked along the busy, hot streets another friendly young man stopped me to talk. His name is Ratty, and he is a student and artist in Kumasi. He asked if I would look at his paintings, but I explained tried to explain my situation with the charger and my anxiety about finding a way to use my computer. All of my lectures for the nursing students are on here, and I was going to be lost without having it. Well, Ratty took me under his wing and escorted me into town to a local shop where his friend sells electronics and accessories. It was another busy, dusty street with shops taking up every inch of space. I don't know how anyone finds anything because there is just so much STUFF. His friend was very helpful, and ended up finding me an adaptor that would work. I was so thankful that I didn't have to purchase another expensive charger! They pulled a chair into the maybe 5ftx5ft covered store and let me wait until they made sure the charger fit, charged my laptop, and that the electricity was converting correctly. I was very appreciative as a fried computer would have been about as useful one with no charger. My new friend Ratty walked me back. I said goodbye and thanked him, and promised to come back so he could give me a drum lesson!

I went back to the hotel and enjoyed some delicious chicken kabobs! I wondered if any of them were family to the chickens that frequent the grassy area behind my cottage? At least I know its local and free-range.

After lunch I decided to go for walk and try to take some photos of the town. While snapping a picture I heard some giggling behind me. Four little girls made their way from behind a tree and introduced themselves. They asked if I would play with them, and although I wasn't sure if I really knew how to 'play' anymore, I couldn't say no! The girls ended up being much more interested in my camera. They took pictures of each other and myself for a bit, all giggling as they showed each other the shots they had just taken. But after about 30 minutes the heat began getting to me, and I headed back to the hotel. I looked at the photos when I got back and felt silly for almost crying! How happy I looked! I had forgotten what that eyes closed, noise squished laugh of mine looked like! I was so pleased that I had already found a bit of joy so early in the trip.

Today I ventured to the hospital. Directions were easier to follow this morning, and I think I'm beginning to get an idea of the city's layout. The walk was only about 10 minutes, however the street was much more impoverished than any other I had been down. You must first walk through a large gate where the Army barracks are. A handsome armed guard stood at the gate with a strikingly large machine gun. Well, I'm not positive it was a machine gun. I've only seen about 2 guns in real life. But from war movies and what not I put together that this was some sort of machine gun-ish contraption. I walked through the gate and along buildings with soldiers in their camouflage walking around. How do they stand this heat with all those clothes? The back of my hand is almost permanently attached to my forehead in a sweeping motion, wiping the sweat off of my brow before it stings my eyes. But they stand so composed in their full set of clothes. The hospital is surrounded by a large gate with guards as well. People sit around the gate selling water, fruit. Some are just sitting, leaned up against the hot iron fence. What a walk! It only made me nervous about what I would find inside the 'Accident and Emergency' Department at the Komfo Anoyke Teaching Hospital or KATH.

I am thankful that my contact person urged me to visit the hospital today, before starting tomorrow. I walked inside and immediately forgot all complaints that I once had about my own emergency room. The foyer around the main nurses station had about 20-25 stretchers all over the place in no apparent organized form. I greeted the nurses at the main desk and they showed me where I could find the Charge nurse to introduce myself. He was in the 'triage' room and although nervous to enter and interrupt, the other nurses encouraged me to go ahead in. Inside he was attending to two different patients. There was an older women, very cachectic, lying in one stretcher, and a crying infant in another. There may have been nothing wrong with either of them but I think the newness of all of it threw me off. I wish I could describe how I felt standing there in what we ER nurses call 'controlled chaos'. I wasn't afraid. It was almost more of desperation to give all that I could in these three weeks. Was my lecture strong enough? Was I going to be able to actually contribute to this project? I've only 2 years of experience as an RN under my belt. What if that wasn't enough? I kept the greeting quick, and made my way back to my hotel where I began furiously working on my powerpoint. I've sense spent the day writing and re-writing my lecture, attempting to make it simple but full of as much information as I can squeeze in. Thankfully this first week I will only be in the hospital setting. I can't imagine what I will be able to supervise tomorrow. I'm sure it will take a few days to get adjusted. But I'm glad I'll have the rest of the week to work on my lecture. I can't even begin to think what the next day will hold for me.

It's really really really hot

I've got an hour to kill before I board my flight from Accra to Kumasi, and I squeezed everything I brought into my one large suitcase. I bit the bullet and payed the baggage over weight fees because after lugging around two checked bags and a large carry-on on the first leg of my trip I realized that $25 is well worth my sanity. So now I'm all I'm left with is my purse, a bottle of water, and my laptop. I've always loathed the idea of blogging. I romanticized this idea that I would be sitting outside in the morning or at night by a fire curled up with a journal. Internet blogging is for 'techies' and after a year of ownership I can still barely figure out how to charge my macbook. However, I want to share my trip with friends and family. And I am far to lazy to construct individual emails. So here it goes...

I left Atlanta with a huge pain in my chest Wednesday night. I sat curled up on my couch watching an episode of 'Girls' on HBO with Asher and Ashley. If you haven't seen or heard much about the show it's a fabulously crude and hilariously relatable comedy/drama on HBO about a group of 23-24 year old girls who are best friends in NYC. Far from the ladies of Sex in the City, it gives me a sense of comfort in knowing that my angst-y quarter-life "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?" crisis is pretty typical of my generation. The end of the episode we watched Wednesday night had two of the main characters dancing around their bedroom to a song called"Dancing On My Own". It's hard to describe the ending in a way that conjures the same emotions we were feeling that night sitting on the couch about to say goodbye. But after the credits rolled we hugged and cried, and I had to leave my two 'limbs' to head to the airport. 

I didn't allow my mom to come to the airport. I knew how proud she was but I also knew that she was going to be an emotional wreck and I didn't want to get on the plane with that last sight of her.  My dad and I drove alone to the airport, listening to the sweet mix-cd 'my limbs' made for me. I said goodbye to my dad which was terrifying. I was walking through security and immediately I started to wonder why I was doing this alone. Was this a good idea? Could I really take 5 weeks without my best friends and family? But oh well, it was too late! 

The flights were painful. I can never really sleep sitting up with a total stranger's elbow so close to mine. However, I sat by a wonderful Saudi Arabian macro-biologist on the way to Amsterdam. He was in the US at a conference for antibiotic resistance. On the flight from Amsterdam to Accra I sat by an older gentleman, a native Ghanian, who was working in Amsterdam but coming home to visit his two daughters in Kumasi. Both of his daughters are nurses, and we exchanged contact information so that we may all have lunch or dinner once I get settled. There were about twenty 13-15 year old's on the flight to Accra from Great Britain. They were coming to Ghana for some type of service project on their holiday. There was also very beautiful Ghanian woman about my age who sat to the left of me on another row. She spent the ENTIRE 6 1/2 hour plane ride doing her hair and makeup. Seriously.The only break she took was about 45 minutes where she read a few chapters from '50 Shades of Gray'. It's nice to know that some things will be exactly the same as back home! hah!

When I arrived in Accra I started to unravel a bit. I dressed appropriately for the arctic temperatures of the airplane, but as soon as I walked off the plane, the 90-something degree heat had me baking in my clothes. The airport was chaotic, and I quickly realized that yes, I am a 24 year old female alone in another country, on another continent, at night. Too many people were trying to have me let them carry my bag, or pay them an exorbitant amount of money to 'help' me get through customs. Sweaty, exhausted, and frustrated I finally got a cab to my hotel.I know that I my yoga pants, nikes and old sorority t-shirt don't exactly scream worldly. And my small stature and blonde hair don't help my cause.  But part of this trip for me is about independence, and that quick moment of feeling defeated put me in 'defense mode'. But I left the cab driver in good spirits again and stepped into my beautiful hotel to get some much needed sleep.

This morning I woke up with determination. I CAN and WILL maneuver this airport! I took the hotel shuttle back across the street to the hotel and found my way to the check-in line. Thankfully, the staff for 540 Airlines were nothing but helpful. An absolutely beautiful woman helped me figure out my flight, and made sure that I understood where to go and when to board. When you first check-in there is an air conditioned tent where you sit and wait before you can go through security. I suppose the area to wait for the domestic planes is very small, so they have people wait in this area. 

Once I went through security I waited in another holding place before the lovely woman from earlier came out with a megaphone and called us all to board a shuttle which took us to the plane. It was a small plane, but the ride was short (45 minutes). They gave us some very strange ginger cookies and orange Fanta as a snack! Ghana was turning out to be pretty great! The airplane literally lands right in front of the sliding glass doors of the Kumasi airport. I grabbed my extremely heavy 3 bags smashed into 1 and found my ride. 

And now I'm in Kumasi! The city is incredible. The streets are packed with cars. It appears as if there are no real traffic lanes.  Cars are just packed into the street every which way trying to move forward. There are lots of pedestrians, and a constant honking sound coming from irritated drivers having to slow down. I can't tell if half of the buildings are falling down or in the process of being built. It's hot, and the streets are covered in a dust/dirt mixture. But oh my god- the vegetation is beautiful. Everything is so green and lush. The city seems more laid back than my very brief experience with Accra. So far, I think I'm really going to enjoy this place. My hotel is very nice. There are lots of trees and grass, and I can hear birds instead of cars which is a plus. The view from my back window is of a nice grassy area where a clothesline sits with white linen sheets stretched out. There are also lizards everywhere. I'm pretty sure that one crawled across my foot earlier, but I was much too tired to address that possibility. Overall I'm very happy. It was a struggle getting here, but I feel safe and very comfortable now. All anyone said of Ghanians before my trip was how kind and helpful they are. NOW I see what everyone is talking about. What a lovely country that I will be spending the next month getting to know!