asomdwee

So many,many things have happened in the last couple of weeks since our last chance to blog. Of course I am referring to the slave castles, Green Turtle Lodge, spending a week with our host families, and the work project. However great, inspirational, mystifying, fantastic, and emotional those things were, the thing that is sticking out the most in my mind right now is soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it). First off, there was out little pick up game at the J.S.S (Junior Secondary School which is our equivalent to Jr. High) where we lost 3-0. But that is beside the point. The fact of the matter is that I played soccer in Africa! I don’t know about anyone else who played, but I find this so freaking amazing! It was so much fun being able to get out on a pitch again however bad it was (and believe me it was bad–it made Cal’s field look look like a God send) and just play for the love of the game. And the boys we played with were great athletes–they were ready for another 30 minute half when we were all ready to fall down and sleep. Then again, they weren’t the ones who were doing hard labor for five straight days. Today, we decided to attend a soccer match instead of visiting the craft villages, and I’m sooooo happy we did! It’s wild how loyal these people are to their country and their football (you see a Africa Cup billboard every other block)! It just makes me laugh because if I were to wear so much America paraphernalia I’d be called a red-neck back home or asked if I’m from Texas, not that I have anything against red-necks or Texas. But the game was great, even though I think Libya was cheated out of the tie because an offsides wasn’t called on Ghana, and I really wanted to see some PKs. My favorite parts had to have been all of the dancing the group of guys in front of us did. I wish I had recorded some of it! The most exciting thing was watching the players get into it with each other and the refs and then having the police charge out on the field, and then the one Libya player be chased off by an officer! There’s nothing like that in the states or on Fox soccer! I love Ghana!

So within the last five days, so many good and bad things have happened. First off, the bad. The boys’ room was burglarized, which was such a stressful situation for all of us in the group, but we were all impressed with the due process the boys got. Then the key for one of the girls room was lost and it was the only key the hotel had, so we were all stinky and sweaty and tired from that day’s activities and had to bunk in a spare room upstairs with the other girls (minus Ashley and Taylor because they were sick, another bad thing). And everyone knows Lindsay Taylor, right? Right, well, let’s just say that it took a while to get to sleep because of her and the constant yelling from a church service that’d been going on for three nights in a row. But getting to spend the night with almost all the girls in one room was so much fun. Now for the good. The girls found the key!!!! Yay!!!! We found it the next morning and were so happy, and we think that with all the stressful things going on the night before we just overlooked it. Another good thing was that yesterday during our drumming and dancing lessons at SYTO, I was actually able to do it! This is such a big and exciting thing for me because music and I go together like chocolate and sardines; I am seriously the most musically challenged person in the world, right below Starace, haha jk Starace. But the drumming and dancing was so much fun even though there were two different beats we had to learn and then the five different dances to go along to music. And I absolutely loved it when our instructor Edward would say “I love this. I love this!” with his eyes closed when we did something right, on beat and let the music flowed. The only problem I had with the dancing was that I got really hot and stinky and sweaty in our small room.

As for the African food…well, I was adventurous the first time we had any and was one of the three people to try the goat soup. Sooo, when they said goat soup, I was expecting goat meat, but I soon learned that in fact it was just the organs and I ate the intestine. That was really funky feeling because it still had the villi on it but it was like eating squid. However, my new found love in fried plantains, which is even better with red red. My only issue is that we don’t get as much fresh fruit and vegetables as we did in the states, and I’m really worried that it’s going to mess with my digestion.

Seeing the city as we drive around is so surreal. What we see outside our windows seems like a completely different world from the the buildings we go to and the places we see. But the people we’ve met so far have been really nice and welcoming. Even the people on the side of the street will ask for our name and how we are though we don’t buy their goods.

And one more good thing– today I met a Canadian volunteer, and everyone knows how much I love Canada!