But despite the heat, Ghana is drawing my affection more and more just from being here. Everyday I meet so many people, each with a different story, and they want to share their experiences! I feel like most people back home it takes a while to show any signs of vulnerability, especially when talking to someone you've just met. Here, however, if you ask someone, "how are you?" You might as well sit down because you'll be there for a while. I love listening to people's stories, background, religion-- everything. And the best part is how willing they are to share.
Work continued on in the same routine for the rest of the week. The biggest variations were just food, outreach location and how many people we see, which ranges from 70 to over 230. Starting today, 4 of our group are at a new clinic called Charity Eye Clinic which is based in Kumasi, about 4 hours north of Accra. We'll be here for about 3 weeks. Judging from the work today it's essentially the same process but different workers.
But Saturday was our fun day because we didn't have to work! Also meaning doing whatever we wanted. My roommate Shelby and I weren't sure how much time we were going to have in Accra because we were both moving to Kumasi, so we really wanted to spend all day downtown exploring this city. Everyone else in our group wanted to go to the beach, which might be been fun but YOIGO (You're Only In Ghana Once) and we could go to a beach anywhere. Naturally we made the smart decision to try to tackle Accra by ourselves. 2 white girls, alone in Accra-- really smart I know. We woke up early and got a driver from the place we were staying to take us to the Accra LDS Temple so we could do a session there. In order to enter a temple you need to have a valid reccommend issued from our church. As we got there though, Shelby realized hers had expired! So she had to wait outside for a couple hours while I did a session. Despite being by myself it was still an amazing experience and I could feel the faith of those around me.
After the temple though, we had a dilemma. We don't know Accra at all. We don't speak Twi. How were we supposed to get around?? It was quite a blessing. Last semester we took a preparation class for this trip and during one class, 2 return missionaries came in to talk to us about Ghanaian culture. As we finished taking pictures at the temple, those same two guys from BYU came up and said hi to us! It was such a miracle! Their flight had just landed and had plans at night but were free for the whole day to just spend in Accra and then asked if we wanted to get lunch and show us around the city. We were able to get the full experience of Accra. They spoke Twi and were able to bargain for us at the market and in taxis, show us around historical parts of the city. Plus they knew these street drummers that gave us a tutorial, and we got really good food that was only a little spicy haha. I highly recommend everything.
Shelby, me and two others from our group named Dallin and Michael arrived in Kumasi yesterday afternoon. While in Accra we were in a little bed and breakfast type of place and boy oh boy do we already miss it. For those of you who have ridden the Tower of Terror, I swear this place we're staying in now is that hotel. It was built sometime in the 40's, everything is out of order and really rustic and gloomy looking. Also it's owned by this 90 year old man that sleeps on a couch in the lobby and I swear we are the only people staying here! But it's okay if I die of a ghost attack or some Juju magic at least you all know the truth. Also we slept here last night and I'm still alive so it should be fine.
Pictures:
1/2. Accra temple
3. A little boy that I might just steal because he was so cute. His name is Nii.
4. Out hotel hallway. This is during the daytime too!! Please send prayers haha
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