My first few days with my internship

My trip to Accra and first few days in Okagyakrom:

Travelers tip number one!!! Don't ever purposefully stay in Accra if you can help it. It is possibly one of the scariest cities I've ever seen. The unorganized streets, the crazy traffic, the amount of  people, just....everything. The director of NGO I am interning with came to pick me from where the AIR CONDITIONED ford van that dropped me off from cape coast. I stayed in a hotel the first night, which was actually pretty nice, I was just glad to have already taken a bucket bath back in cape coast so I could be prepared for the one I took in Accra haha; the showers usually work but they were just not working that Sunday I guess. I had Ghana's pizza that night with lemon fanta and it was so good. Im glad I got to try it!! Some time when you're here you start to realize after a while that no matter what the little kids will call you obruni (foreigner) but sometimes its even cute when they call you that. Adults not so much. especially when they just talk in front of you knowing you don't understand and laugh at you (when you hear obruni in the conversation). I have to admit it drove me crazy at first, especially since Bernard would never explain what the people said. 

I don't know if I told you, but my Ghanian name is Ifua. In Fante it means I was born on Friday, so when I introduce myself I say my name is Ciara but that they can call me Ifua. I think some Ghanians like that, as in they know I respect their culture and want to embrace it. Speaking of culture, something cool they do when they hand shake here is when you're about to let go you snap. So you slowly let go but instead of completely letting go, you snap with the other persons fingers with yours together. I like it: Random yet friendly, but to be honest I'm terrible. And another culture thing is just how hospitable people here are, it's crazy and to be honest at first kind of difficult for me to just say ok. I'm so independent and for someone to make or buy my meals was a little much, or just that they don't want you to get rained on, or when if you're standing for a second even another woman will get out of her chair for you, or if you're feeling ill you must go to the clinic... Kind of smothering for me, and at first it made me really uncomfortable. Probably one of the hardest things to embrace to be honest. I just like doing things or myself lol. I like to learn!! 

Well I had to stay in Accra for a couple days perusing the city with the director and honestly doing a whole lot of nothing which wasn't as bad as I thought itd be at first. It was nice to just relax and have a good day full of nothing too important. I got a little antsy as the days went on because his car was broken which kinda stunk, but by Wednesday Bernard decided that we would just take a tro tro to Jasikan. I decided to only bring two of my bags because I figured it would get super packed on the tro tro with five bags, and since Bernard was going back to Accra Saturday I assumed he'd bring my bags when he came back next Wednesday with the other intern Hailey. So we woke up around 630-7 AM took a taxi to a huge station, where we grabbed a tro tro to Jasikan. A tro tro by the way is a huge van, think Ford E 250 but they don't have air conditioning, they don't close the door all the way because they open and close it do much for travelers and sometimes people jump to get on them as the tro tro collector yells out the destination. They pack it full and then some if they can. Well since it was still early we just found the right tro tro, gave them our luggage, got on and waited for it to get full. About an hour later we were on our way. Took us about 3-4 hours to get there, not bad. 

The first night Wednesday May 23rd, we went around met a bunch of cousins and aunties and uncles and grandmas, and grandfathers.... and I learned that the town I was to stay in was actually called Okagyakrom, not Jasikan. Fun fact, they speak a dialect called lelimy here. Very very difficult and drives me crazy haha. I have tried to learn a few simple phrases but I honestly sound like an idiot. So I try to avoid talking at all haha. My sleeping quarters is this wonderful little room, with a bed and window, a table, and a wonderful fan haha. It's green so it makes me happy whenever I'm there. The bathroom is a community outside cleaning area for the whole Bediako Site, and it has two outside showers, two toilets but only one works. They're under a roof top BUT AT LEAST ITS SHOWERS WITH WATER PRESSURE!!!! Let's give a minute to thank the makers of water pressure.............................. Haha. Yes water pressure is amazing, there wasn't any in my Cape Coast home. I was in heaven, though the mosquitoes and odd bugs that are around are quite daunting when they're looking right at you. 

The next day we went to meet a couple of the schools I'd be teaching at, I woke up a little late so we got off to a later start but we went by a clinic and three schools so I was excited about everything!! One of the schools headmistresses even said she'd stop by after church on Sunday to say hi. She's by far one of my favorite people here. I'm so anxious about teaching. I agreed to teach those schools regularly, for the rest of the time I'm here, two days at each school, four classes at each, in health education. I even get to create my own curriculum!!! Seriously this couldn't be a more perfect fit. I love this place. Friday was African Union Day, so all of Africa was holiday. I love this week of relaxing and getting to know the people and the wonderful kids. They make my job and being away from home 1000000000XXXX easier :) I'm so happy about making this choice for this program with the Ladybug Project Inc, and Bediako Youth Aids Foundation... This trip has already been seriously life changing. I can't wait for what these next few months have in store for me!!!!

Keep reading, I'll post about my first work days soon!!!! 

Last days of Pro World

My last weekend with ProWorld in Cape Coast was a lot of fun!! We had dancing and drumming lessons, which were crazy haha. I am no ghanian dancer that's for sure!! The drumming was fun, I wish the Internet was better so I could upload the videos!! They're a riot!! We did good though. The next day we did a volunteer project at an orphanage an hour away. We moved cinder bricks, watches how they make cement, then dug some serious dirtage for the floor of a new building for the orphanage. The kids were so amazing and funny. I hope I get to go back there one day. When people told me that I wold probably come back with adopted kids, I didn't believe them... But I swear if I could've I would've. One of them, his name was Anthony and I fell in love with him. I wanted him to be my son, it was the weirdest feeling. Haha. Idk. -awkward- but when we left I felt like my heart was breaking a little. I just wanted to take him and keep him forever. He showed me the maize they were growing and showed me the garden and a little about the town since everyone else drove down to the orphanage from the building site and I decided to walk with the boys from the orphanage. It was funny because they called me a "hard worker" even though everyone did great!! I just didn't stop to take a break is all. They were great boys though, and I'm going to miss them.... Like I said, I hope I get to visit them soon while I'm in Jasikan. 

I was really excited and yet sad to be ending with Pro World. There were amazing people that I was able to share my two weeks with; those people honestly make me excited about the future for the United States. The heart, passion and intelligence of these people was rewarding to see. Leaving where I was volunteering wasn't difficult, they're great guys but I think I'm just too much of a self thinker to really fit in with there program. HALP is awesome though and I could imagine them being a larger NGO one day that really does substantial work for Cape Coast. Always excited for the possibilities!! I'm just glad to be done haha. 

The hardest part of leaving was leaving my amazing home stay mother and family. They really made my two weeks. I loved every minute. I wish I could post more photos of my last day with them. They were just beautiful people all around. I couldn't have asked for a better match. I love seeing good mothers around the world, the caring ones that devote their lives to creating the best children with discipline, intelligence and heart. Evelyn was truly a gem, I'll even tell you a secret... I cried when I left. Just when it was Evelyn and I, but she just made me feel so warm inside. It's nice when you feel a mothers love. It's seriously a beautiful feeling. My favorite, Charlotte, was crying and tried to be stone face when I left. She is so much like me it's hysterical. She didn't want me to leave but she tried to act tough, I love it. I miss them so much, they were my family. 

Well from the last to the first, I actually took my first bucket bath the day I left. It wasn't bad AT ALL!!! I was honestly dreading it, but the only negative is the cold water and usually the cool water is exactly what you're looking for when you're sweating of the heat. Though I recommend morning baths so the bugs aren't bad and the cool water does feel good haha. Okay well onto my internship now!!! So excited to work with the Ladybug Project and Bediako Youth Aids Foundation now. Jasikan HERE I COME!!!!!

Thanks for reading :) 

The weekend I could never forget

Friday:

Picture the greenest most beautiful scenery you can imagine, with hills and beautiful mountains in the background and you still wouldn't be able to obtain the majestic view that was the Kakum national park. It was absolutely beautiful. I felt so insignificant in the lands, I've seen plenty of forests but there was something about this park that just screamed beauty. I fell in love with Ghana at that moment and my crappy week suddenly was left in the past. As we went through the canopy walk, I was extremely happy. I love heights. I love being in the air, up high above everything else. It was so beautiful. If you check out my Facebook picture, you can see a few of the shots I took of the canopy and how high it was. The air felt cleaner, I felt freer, I cant explain the feeling. It was just incredible. After the canopy walk we walked onto a nature trail where they explained a lot of the local foods and plants that grew around the park. It was breathtaking. The pictures I took honestly didn't do it justice. 

After that we went to lunch at a local hotel and I had the burger, which is actually really yummy. Usually when we go out I have more American styled food because I get plenty of Ghanian food at home haha. After we were all so exhausted. I stayed awake long enough to notice that the rainy season had definitely come to Ghana because it blew a huge tree branch onto part of the road. we arrived at the ProWorld house, and I meant to leave to go home but instead I passed out on the couch and stayed there until about 5:30. I left the house, home in my mind. Well instead I stopped by the local seamstress to check out some bags. We call her the ProWorld seamstress because she gets most of her business from the volunteers and she really caters to us and gives us way better prices. I wanted just a bag originally but she had some beautiful cloth that I fell in love with, and she suggested a dress with it. Then she'd had another fabric that I saw and I asked if she could make it in a skirt! She said she'd figure it out for me and I was so excited. Then I realized I was just over 45 cedis and I only had 20s on me so I decided to get a bag, three wallets for my sisters back home and some cute jewelry. 60 cedis later I walked away thinking about how beautiful those fabrics were going to look. I was disappointed in myself though because I knew I had to leave Aubra by 6 so that I could go out with a local I met, but I ended up not being able to because I didn't get home until it was already dark and like I said before going out alone is just not smart. Did I mention how much I love USA showers? I have a shower at my house but it's freezing water and even after a long day, I still would rather a scalding pressured shower than a cold, soft shower haha. But I get through it all the same, it's nice if you don't think about how cold it is. That night I had a cute photo shoot with my homestay family. Theyre so cute. I love spending time with them. They remind me of my amazing family back home. So many little kids. Even baby Olivia is precious, though I'll admit her teething gets annoying at time haha. The girls names are Aaquaba, Maud, Charlotte and Olivia. Theyre all under 10 and make me so happy. I tried hard but I totally have a favorite: Little Charlotte is 5 and will go to school in the fall and I just love her. She has an attitude on her but she and I laugh about everything. Aaquaba is the oldest at 10, Maud is 8, and Olivia will be 1 in a week. They remind me of a lot of my childhood haha, so much fun to hang out with but it's always nice to have a room to get away. 

Saturday: 

Well Saturday started out kinda crappy because my taxi driver stole my wallet. There's a story with it but it still annoys me and even though there was about 100 cedis in there that I was going to buy a good mothers day present for my homestay mother, its just money... Haha right??? Plus he probably needed more than I dId. Well onward, Saturday we went to learn about the slave trade that was exported from Ghana through a local place (in my Facebook photos) and we walked without shoes to understand the path that the slaves had to walk, and looked through parts where slaves were traded by their own village chiefs. It was really sad. 

The next place we went was the Castle tour, (back where we had lunch on orientation day). It was interesting and just an emotional day. To this day it's hard to think that people could ever force others to believe that they weren't equal. It gets me so mad just thinking about it, especially when there are people even today that think they're better than others. Gah, well that's life don't sweat the small stuff is what my dad says. So we had lunch at the castle again and this time I had a tuna sandwich that was sooooooo good. I don't like any other fish they have here because usually it has the eyes attached but this one is good. After we went back to the ProWorld house I took forever to upload photos but it was overall successful and before I left to go home a fellow volunteer invited me to go hang out with everyone Sunday at the beach, I was def about that life and agreed!! I left for home and was happy to just relax and hang with my girls. I love hanging out with this family. They are seriously amazing and just so giving. I love this family like crazy. I told my momma that I'd be going to the beach the next day and she just said be careful, hahaha she already knows me so well. 

Sunday: 

Well Sunday was mothers day, and though I didn't get Evelyn anything because I still didn't have money to I made her breakfast while the girls were off at church. After, I left to go to Abura to go to hang out with the fellow volunteers until we left to go to the beach. They're a brilliant bunch and it makes me proud to know that there is still a group of dedicated intelligent individuals who care about the world in my generation. Well we all met Ang's homestay family and Hannah's as well up on the PRT. The PRT is the "party roof top" no really it is. It's this section above a concrete stand that goes all over Ang's house and has a bench, a few chairs and an area for a bonfire if needed. It's actually pretty cool, and you can see the streets of Abura from it. We waited, and waited, and waited some more for the boys and Tarra's homestay family to arrive then we left in a taxi with out Sam, Brown and all the other guys, I guess they had a lot of work to do for the PRT since there was to be a party that night. 

We went to Mables Table which is right on the beach, and meant to have a quick lunch then head over to the Elmina beach but we took forever to order, then Tarras family took forever to come sit, and then the boys took hours to even arrive. Like I said they were getting a tent for the PRT, but we were still upset because we wanted to be back earlier, but we all just kept going with the flow anyway. We had a good time and I got to know Sam and the boys a lot better. They're a good group. We all took taxis back and Sam was nice enough to take me straight to my house since it was on the way, but by himself so no one else had to pay for me. I got out and promised Id go to the PRT later! 

I arrived home to my beautiful sisters jumping on me and giving me hugs and kisses. Haha you would think I hadn't seen them in forever, I have to admit its one of the best part of coming home to this house. We made dinner together for mothers day, but I didn't eat which was sad because she made fufu and I still have yet to have fufu!! I made eggs for myself so I could get ready to go to the PRT. The neighbor was nice enough to find me a ride straight to the PRT house via his bible study friends. Everyone is seriously so friendly here: A reminder that humanity is still giving I suppose. It was nice to ride in a car that had air conditioning too hah. Well I arrived at the PRT after dark so I knew I had to lay on the bug spray and before I knew it things were in full swing and we were all dancing and having a blast. I became official camera lady after I was getting too sweaty haha. We all were having a good time, but it was getting late for me (around 1030 and I knew I had to be up early so I left and Brown was nice enough to take me in a drop taxi right to my door and even paid for it. Like I said that group was really nice. 

Overall a wonderful weekend!! So happy to be in Ghana :) they have amazing hospitality here!! 

My first days... In hell or heaven??

Heaven



Saturday :)

Saturday was simple, I arrived in Ghana safely and had to go through the simplest customs process. They saw my yellow vaccination card so I went past the big rush then stood in line for a couple minutes to turn in a slip explaining where I'd be staying while I was here then went through to the baggage claim. 20 minutes later I had my five bags in tow, walking with fellow ProWorld volunteers going to meet Brooke the volunteer coordinator. We left the airport in a tro tro (a van style vehicle, no air conditioning) and we were off into the streets of Accra; with food items and water being sold right on the streets on people's heads. Old and young, women and children were everywhere selling items from cold treats like FanIce and distilled water in plastic packets to plantain chips and fried doughnuts. It was all delicious!! I fell asleep on the ride home, luckily too considering the drive took about 4 and a half hours to Cape Coast.we arrived at the ProWorld main house and met a couple volunteers that already arrived. All of us ate some great dinner: joloff rice, chicken, and some fresh fresh pineapple. Wish I would've thought to take pictures of all the food but since my iPad can't upload photos, check out the pictures on Facebook!! I went to bed around 7 pm Saturday, considering that's 3 pm where I'm from I must've been exhausted haha.

Sunday :)

Orientation into Cape Coast, Ghana was easy. We learned about the safety and health procedures with ProWorld and just standard measures to take into account when going about the city. Good stuff. Lawrence, (a ProWorld Coordinator) then took us out on the city and it was a little crazy. Trying to get a taxi by yourself as an obruni (foreigner/white person) is difficult because taxi drivers want to over charge. And since 1 USD is about 1.89 Ghana Cedi, I'd still like to get my monies worth. But we made it and learned a lot about the city of Cape Coast and how to get around. We went to lunch at a place called the Castle. I didn't think I was going too foreign with the club sandwich, well the Ghanian club sandwich includes fish, egg, green pepper and onion... delicious but different, at least it came with French fries or as the menus here call "chips". After that we came back for a Fante lesson, a dialect spoken in Cape Coast. I was a little disappointed only because I was hoping for Twi or Ewe but I guess by the time I end my life in Ghana I will know 2-3 dialects of Ghana. There are so many but at least I'm starting somewhere. After, our homestay families came to pick us up. Turns out the family that cooked dinner Saturday was my home stay family!!! Good news for good food and great kids for me :) Ghana is just beautiful, from it's beaches to its people. Everyone is so friendly and wants to say hi. I'd even venture today that it's better than the U.S in regards to actual hospitality if not overall safety.

Monday :)

Monday was a good day. Simple but exhausting. I woke up around 6:30 am to a crying baby; baby Olivia is teething. Since I didnt think I had to start getting ready until 8ish I just lounged around in my bed. It was a lot hotter than I expected at night, but I was just happy to have a comfy bed at all. My homestay mother then received a call around 7:15 from Brooke (ProWorld Coordinator) that she would be in front of my house in 15 minutes so I had to go get ready. I ran around, found something appropriate to wear, brushed my teeth and found my lunch in a little canister already on the table waiting for me. From UCC old site (Yes FM station) we took the taxi (no air conditioning ever)to Abura taxi station (same town Prozworld office is in too) then took a cab to Aktokyir. Brooke took me and Laurie (a ProWorld HALP intern) to the volunteer office at HALP, Health and Life Protection Foundation. We waited for a bit until the asst coordinator arrived then went to a very small room, which turned out to be the office but it was effective none the less. We had an interesting morning discussion with the Ghanian HALP volunteers while we waited for the organization Director Emmanuel, he didn't arrive until 1:45 pm and we had been at the office since 8 am. Well... Welcome to Ghanian time. Haha. We discussed and went over a few things, then went home around 5:30. I was glad we left around then because no matter who you are running around at night time is just dangerous, especially where I live because there's a HHUUUUUUGGGEE STTEEEEEPPP hill that I have to walk up and down everyday. Remember that hill our parents said they had to walk 3 miles uphill both ways?? Welcome to my daily commute to my project office. Got home, took a shower, and went to bed without dinner. Easier that way anyway considering she made a fish dish that did. It look appetizing at all with a side called yams.

The start of Hell :(

Tuesday

Welcome mother natures gift, a nasty stomach ache, screaming baby alarm at 5:30 and the start of terrible mosquito bites. So as I was already going to be late to my project office because it took me 20 minutes to get a taxi to Abura, but I woke up not feeling well at all but I pushed on, took the 15 minute walk down my steep hill, flagged down a million taxis looking for one that was going to Abura, ran to meet up with Spencer and Laurie at an internet cafe and went to the office. Possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of my life finding out its the time of month and have the asst director go find me pads at a local stand in the Aktokyir village....awkward.... Well then as I felt like giving up, Laurie told me to not give up and keep going on. Yay motivation :) so we went on where Spencer taught the Ghanian HALP volunteers, Ben & Stix, planning and implementation and a tiny bit about nutrition. We left as Emmanuel arrived, to go to Fante lessons with Lawrence at the ProWorld house. Then had a meal at "One Africa" which is a beach side restaurant in Elmina, not far from where I live actually. My house is right next to the cape coast University. I was so miserable with pain I couldn't even enjoy my Mac & cheese with hot sauce, but I got some great beach shots (as seen on Facebook for all my FB friends out there). A drop tro tro to my house and a couple hours later I'm falling asleep and the miserable day is finally over. I was ble to unfreeze my bank account so I could withdraw money from the Barclay bank here with withdraws from a visa card without service fees or extra charges which is very nice :) plus I finished a great book called Xenocide, from the Ender's Game Quartet.

Wednesday

Wednesday didn't have to be difficult but of course Round 3 with baby Olivia's alarm cries and the pain I'm in didn't make for a great start. Welcome to Ghana haha. Well I went to meet up with everyone at Abura around 8 am then we all took a taxi to a Catholic school in Elmina and taught hand washing and nutrition to about 8-9 year olds. Not as effective considering they spoke Ewe, our translator spoke Fante and we only speak English but we made it work and I got some great pictures. Then we went to Oasis for lunch and discussed our frustrations with HALP and their problem with communication. Wednesday was painful but boring, at Oasis I had a burger with bacon that was undercooked and apparently did not agree with my tummy. I went to Abura after for a bit to buy a phone and then to town to TiGo to buy a modem for my iPad. I was so happy to find out they could cut the chip to fit into my iPad, a relief of the pain I had been in. But it made me homesick 10 times worse because suddenly I was teased with the possibility of keeping in touch with my friends and family more but when I got home the connection was inconsistent and didn't work most of the time or t least long enough to Skype people. But the good news of the day was that iMessage on iPads connects to iPhones and iPads making it ridiculously easy to keep in touch with my friends who have iPads and iPhones!!! Which fortunately for me most of my closest friends do :) the devastating part was after walking from the ProWorld office I witnessed one of the scariest sites: watching a man crash his speeding scooter into a car then doing many flips in the air, land really rough, see him try to get up to pray and see him fall. See men carry him into a taxi going towards town, and his foot is gushing blood. It just shook me to my core. I didn't feel safe anymore. Everything was suddenly a danger :( I just wanted to go home and sleep. No dinner, no playing with the girls; just testing my iPads crappy Internet connection and going to bed.

Thursday

Thursday I woke up an absolute mess, sick and just not feeling well at all. I stayed home from work needing every second I could next to the toilet. I was terribly homesick too. I just wanted to be home, in my air conditioning, with my car to drive and with my million pillows to comfort me. Not a good day.

Welcome to Ghana... I guess

Going to Ghana. Ez Pz, right? Wrong.

Holy smokes: you would think trying to get into a foreign country would just give you a nice introduction to life's trials, well it doesn't, it's not very nice at all. Especially going to a place as far away as Ghana.

It started with a crazy beginning as one of best friend's, Madison, was amazing and generous enough to take me across the state of Florida from Fort Myers to Miami. As it happened to be my sisters birthday, after having a nice appetizer with me at Fridays, they spent my last day in America with their mother at stir crazy and I went to work with Madison moving my stuff from Fort Myers into my fathers apartment in Boca Raton then packing my bags for Africa.


Five heavy but relatively small bags later, my father Madison and I went to Ale House in Boca to discuss life. I miss him already, my father has a wisdom seldom could ever actually obtain; he does not judge or expect explanations, he has learned to take people as they are. More than a hard worker, a true calculated risk taker. If you ever want to understand real braveryand wisdom, listen to my father and his stories.


Well onwards, my night began when Madison decided upon a hotel close to the airport so I could just take a shuttle from the hotel to the airport since international travel explains to be there 3 hours before hand and my flight was at 7. Too bad I wasn't logical enough to know that airports don't open until 5 am. Well... My second mistake was thinking that I could do anything without having her by my side to be my eyes when mine were too tired to catch the details, such as leaving my phone on the shuttle, carrying a computer that was not going to work in Africa, and not condensing my five bags into something smaller. Well as I realized too late about my phone, I had my wonderful father save me even from miles away; terrified and tired I couldnt figure out how to get my phone back without technology at my fingertips. As I was already devastated to find much of my Ghana funds to be depleted due to more luggage fees ($368) I felt stripped of innovation when the computer wouldn't connect to the Internet. I called my father crying, asking him what should to do. He helped me solve the problem almost immediately. He called the Holiday Inn Express and connected th driver to the operator and told me to call holiday inn operator to see if I could figure something out. By Gods true grace I was saved when the operator explained that if I could manage getting out of the terminal to get my phone at the drop off they'd have it. My hopes were slightly crumbled when I realized my flight was set to leave in 30 minutes. How was I supposed to run from the very back of the terminal to the front of the airport and get through security once again with my two large bags? Well again, God was watching over me and blessed me with a wonderful Delta representative who "checked my luggage" while I was running for my phone. I don't think I've ever run so fast for something so insignificant in my life, but I was too scared to survive 11 hours at JFK without some form of communication with the people I love along the way.


So as I dashed in and out of people at MIA airport from terminal 15 to the very front by the outside drop off, I was constantly thinking about time. I waited patiently by the Delta drop off for 10 minutes, cringing every time a bus passed that was not the holiday inn expresses until it finally arrived, phone in tow. I could never explain to you the relief that came over me; suddenly everything was okay. I knew it would turn out ok. I ran to security, went through the whole ordeal one more time, with no luggage and sprinted to my terminal where I was the very last one to board but the amazing Delta representative kept my luggage by the desk. I boarded, cried like a baby in gratitude to my father and God, then fell asleep on a practically deserted flight to JFK.

I arrived in JFK slightly refreshed and called my grandma to let her know I was all right. But of course my need for technology resurfaced so I tried the computer again, the wifi wasn't working. Or maybe it wouldn't connect to the computer, whatever the reason was I wasn't having it and neither was my grandma. She gave me a few tips on what to do then I went to work, asking where I could figure this out with free wifi. I would like to brag for a second that even though a representative told me that a specific Restaurant would give me wifi I found it by usingthe force... Haha no really I stand by that truly, considering JFK is huge and I had no idea where I was going; I just kept moving forward. I found the wifi spot and started working on trying to figure out what was going on with the computer. It finally connected so I thought all was jn the clear; well it wasn't. THE COMPUTER CRASHED ON ME. Right at the airport, hours before I was to leave for Ghana where much of my research would be using a computer. It was no comforting, but as Walt Disney said, we must keep moving forward if we are to ever figure it out. Of course my grandma was freraking out after I told her the computer crashed; I don't think she was ever really calm from the moment I told her I was leaving for Africa, but I suppose that's a story only she could tell. Well I decided that I was going to wallow in my misery of having no computer by having a drink at the Chili's; there just so happened to be a phone help service through Delta that told me where my flight was to depart from finally. (I had no idea where I was departing from until that very moment, as the flight was so late the computers didn't even have an update for a departure to Accra.


Well after my ridiculously strong margarita and a salad, I took a small nap outside the gate; only o wake up to many missed text messages from my father expressing his wishes for me to call him. So I called. Along side my grandma, he was trying to figure out a way for me to get a computer; I'm not sure I could've survived this trip without them. With the help of the Delta representatives, I managed to receive a boarding pass and was encouraged to go to a local best buy in order to obtain a device. This is where I came into my very first IPad thanks to my grandma, father and left ove Ghana money. I came back with plenty of time to spare, and after thanking the representatives profusely set off to the correct gate and waited patiently for my flight. I tried to figure it out but I telnet wasn't connecting, and I didn't have an Apple ID to connect to in order to download applications. Thankfully God sent me another angel in the form of Elizabeth Rich who I met in line to get my red stamp on my boarding pass. We talked and I found out she was from Michighan, thereforen I instantly trusted her. Well from then life was easier, I had a friend to share my experience with and a funny story to tell. She gave me access to the Internet and I gave her a temporary companion to feel safe with. The same Delta representative even came over to check how I was doing and "helped" me find a mor comfortable seat next to a window, in the back, free of crying children, right next to Elizabeth. I am not sure why God blessed me so on this day, but he did and I will forever be grateful because on this day I came into a better relationship with my father, a nifty new iPad, a friend and a comfortable ride to Africa. Every single moment was worth it. Even missing The Avengers movie, since Delta relayed the message that it would be coming to their screens come August (aka when I would be arriving back into the United Statets).


Now that was just getting there.. Imagine now what my first couple hours, let alone first few days were like.

Welcome to Gone to Ghana.