Emails Home

One medium that I did not consider in how I mediated my experience was through my weekly emails home to friends and family.  Just as blog posts or biweekly reflections required for my coursework, knowing that I had to write these emails forced me to keep a certain audience in mind.  I would try and find experiences to share that they could enjoy or relate to.  Here are some general descriptions of subjects that could be found in my emails home.  These were more than just emails.  This was my social network, the link to my world.

Group Email- This was the mass email, ones that I have included on this blog and posted the day that they were sent.  Here I tried to keep it interesting.  I included things that people could possibly relate to, which can be more difficult than not.  Sharing crazy stories, strange sights, and funny billboards and marriage proposals made up the bulk of it.  Even if I was having an off week or a bad day I could not let it show too much.  I was talking to a support group, and I could not let them know I was struggling, especially when some of them were already convinced that I was going to die of typhoid or in some kind of machete fight.

Parents- I could be honest in this one.  If I was struggling, I could let them know.  If I wanted to talk about this experience in the big picture of my life, then it could be found here.  How I was starting to feel less repulsive to marriage, where I was at in my head, where I want to go to grad school, how this will impact me when I get home, etc.  The kinds of things that only parents want to hear about.  I also emailed them when I needed help with London reservations or about getting extra bug spray.  Thank you parentals!

Conclusions

This summer I set out to Ghana with an idea.  An experiment.  A crazy out there theory based project that I struggled to describe in one single sentence.  I wanted to know more about the nature of experience and the authenticity of travel documentation.  It was frustrating to see how European explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and Joseph Conrad had contributed to the stereotype of a “dark continent” of Africa based off of their limited interpretations of their experiences.  As a writer myself, I understand the desire to experience and the need to try to express these experiences as a personal kind of truth.  Still, how often do we consider the nature of how we experience a world foreign to ourselves, or the “truthfulness” or consequential effects of these accounts in regards to their cultural authenticity?  Whether these truths are more “truthful” than what really happened, we could find a copious amount of arguments stemming as far back as Aristotle’s Poetics, but truth was not what I was questioning here.  I was more interested in authenticity.   These questions were the fuel of my project proposal.  A lot has happened since I wrote my objectives, but I have been pleased to see that my project was a success.  Our experiences are indeed significantly subjective based on the way we see the world and the mediums we chose to record it in. 

Email Home- "Goodbye Ghana"

Well, it is here.

I have emptied out my dresser (suitcase) and repacked everything, just
to make sure it all fits again.  To my surprise it does.  Yet, the
most important things I am taking home are not the sort of things I
can smash into my suitcase.

I was almost surprised when I went to Kumasi alone to find that it is
familiar, and dare I say, normal.  I feel safer here than I do in
Provo at night.  The wild chaos of the hawkers and the taxi crossing
that once stopped me dead in my tracks, all of it is just a new and
different reality.  I went on my merry way, did my shopping, enjoyed
the sensation of getting lost but having no strict time constraint to
worry too much about it, and hopped in the tro tro home.  I think we
can get used to anything, I really do.  I have found that naming
things helps a little bit.  The three inch diameter spider that was in
the kitchen for a week I named Bernard, and he stopped scaring me.  In
fact, I was a little upset that Nate squished it.  There is a mouse
living at the other house.  We just ignore it, and it works.  The heat
I once found unbearable is normal, waking up at 5 AM is normal, and
just in time for me to leave.

I did get a chance to go to the bush again with Maggie, doing her
interviews about maternal health.  Their well is broken.  Rachel Morse
donated money anonymously earlier here to fix it.  Of course, it
didn't stay anonymous, and they asked us for more money.  The hard
questions never seem to end, and the answers are much fewer.  Those
women amazed me.  They live too far away to go to the clinic since the
path to the main road is a three hour walk.  Most choose to have their
babies at home and by themselves rather than take a motorbike into
town or deliver on the side of the road.  One woman we meet had 11
children, all born at home and by herself.  When Maggie asked what the
biggest pregnancy concerns are she said sometimes her feet swell and
it makes it more difficult to work.  Work.  That is the biggest
concern?  I am a princess and a pansy.  I will never forget that
village.

I am a whirlwind of emotions.  Reality and time are knocking on the
doorstep of my denial.  I am ready to come home and see the people I
love and miss, but what if the lessons, the memories grow dimmer
because they are not something concrete to stick on a bookshelf to
remember my time in Ghana?  The last few years of my life have been
spent preparing for this short three months, and it is over.  Now
what?

I have no doubt I will always remember and be a little different
because of my wonderful time here in Ghana.  I'm ready to write the
next chapter of my life, trying not to just endure the time until I
make it to India next summer.  Life can be whatever you make it
wherever you are.  I didn't have to come across the world to find
adventure, but I am lucky and glad I did.  No doubt life won't end
just because I step on that plane.

Thank you all for your emails and support.  I will be spending ten
days in England, but I will be home at the end of the month.

Love you all!
Rach

Marriage Proposal:  "Will you manage me?"
Business Name:  God's Time is Best Auto Mechanics

Email Home- "Thank You Tetanus Shots"

Family and Friends, Ma Ha!

       What do you know… another week has flown by.  First things first, I’d
like to give an update on the Charity situation.  I hope I didn’t
sound so heartless in my last email or like I’m trying to overplay the
complications, because they are serious in terms of responsibilities
to my group, the field studies program, and my own research—and that
still doesn’t even include the whole “what is the best thing to do to
help?” question.  Still, this Charity thing has haunted me.  The day
after I emailed you my school friends were walking me home when
Charity, who has been unable to eat since she can’t pay her fees,
shoved a crumbling biscuit in a faded wrapper in my hand before
parting ways.  Why?  Why is she giving me a biscuit?

I talked to my group, to my host mom who works at the school, and
after all that prayed about it and decided that for whatever reason I
needed to pay the $120 for her school fees.  Maybe it is like that
starfish story, I don’t know.  I’m not doing it for the accolades or a
great story for some self-righteous trip or anything like that, and if
there was an anonymous way to do it I would have done that, but it is
out, and I really hope things will work out because I still feel like
I did the right thing.  They have so far.

One of my favorite parts about the week was “General church” service
for the school.  Everyone comes from every range of faith.  (Oh, and
don’t even worry, it starts at 7, so that involves waking up at five
to get ready and walking there, all you nine o’clock church haters).
This church was something like the best sacrament meeting of my life
and one of my many high school punk rock concerts.  You arrive
exhausted, breathe in the music, abandon your inhibitions, and dance!
I’m the backbench kind of church person.  Long ago, I used to be that
kid who opened my bedroom window to sing for the neighbors, but that
got trampled by a more mature Sunday decorum: Sit Down > Fold your
Arms > and be Quiet.  Happily, that window singing kid resurfaced in
me- reminding me of the days when I didn’t care what I looked
like—which is why I think I needed that meeting, reminding me that the
root of “reverent” is the word “revere.”  Not to discredit our way of
worship, but I can’t help but admire the way these teenagers do it.
Not a person sitting, hands flying in the air, a few wailers, some
fainters, a soloist with a crackling second-hand microphone, a lot of
dancers churning up the crowd, a bongo accompanying the steal drums,
an electric keyboard, everyone wearing white, everyone in their own
world, and not a soul cared that I am no dancer.

Research wise, things are going great.  I might have told you about
the day I did 20 interviews… it is crazy.  Lots of educational crises
at the moment I am wading through, but it has been a great experience.
 The kids are in their finals week equivalent right now, but I love
how they do it.  They drag their desks out of the classroom and spread
out under the trees to take their tests.  How romantic is that?  I set
a few of my friends up with their first email and Facebook accounts,
so we’re all really excited about that, and I’m cooking spaghetti for
them this Sunday as a farewell dinner.  You know, I’m beginning to
think that “good-bye” is the greatest of oxymorons.  There is nothing
“good” to be said about a “bye” in favorable circumstances.  You
travel and meet new friends, people who have permanently changed your
life, burry an irretrievable shard of your heart in the dirt, sulking,
searching yourself, “Why do I have go to back?”  Everyone knows the
likelihood of meeting again, silencing these thoughts because what
could be more dour than an “I’ll never see you again, my dear friend”
parting?  I might prefer silence.

So yes, I am a bit off this week with the close of school coming on.
I find myself withdrawing from my friends and my group, more irritated
than usual when the posts holding up my mosquito net fall in on me in
a dead sleep, or when my homework refuses to disappear, or when I step
on rusty goat poop crusted nails (yeah, that was awesome).  So yes.
Stressed out Rachel is coming back, and I’m not sure how much I can
blame it on the Larium malaria medicine I’m on.  I am still a walking
contradiction.  Maybe I’m not so different after all.  Or, maybe I can
cut myself a break and be okay with being a little sad to say goodbye.
 Or bad-bye.  Or whatever it should be called.  I like the way the
French say it.

Loves,
Rach

Business Name:  The Future is Uncertain Hair Salon
Marriage Proposal:  Broken English this time.  “I want to marriage that.”

PS- anyone have any recommendations for places to go in London?  Never
knew how much I missed a good solid session of Google….

Email Home- "Gmail Lives!"

Hello my people,

       It has been a long time.  I have so much to cover, and I hardly know
where to start.  The beginning, I have heard, isn’t such a bad place.

       Before going on our mid semester retreat I had an amazing focus
group.  I taught the kids how to write a sonnet.  Out of the forty
something kids only one had ever written a poem.  With all the
football excitement (Ghana would be playing the US that night), that
was the theme of our class poem.  It was really fun, and I think they
actually enjoyed it, which is really all that matters.  I am doing
another lesson on limericks today.  As far as research goes, I am
making some really good friends and getting the information I need.  I
feel overwhelmed.  So much to do, so much to learn, and so little
time.  This is the beginning of the end.

       I think the world cup deserves a paragraph.  Watching the Ghana vs US
game was difficult.  Our group was divided between cheering for Ghana
and US.  I had to cheer for the US, but the whole time we were
watching the game I couldn’t help but think of that sonnet my class
wrote.  I wanted us to win, but in the end, I was much more satisfied
that it was Ghana.  It is an African world cup, and it is such a big
deal here.  For the past week when we have told people we are from
America people have said, “Hey!  We scored you!”  I prefer it that
way; otherwise that conversation would have been a lot more awkward.
When Ghana lost though, I’ve got to say it was the most heart breaking
game I have ever watched.  I’m not sure I have ever gotten so into a
match, including our classic BYU vs UofU games.  There was this
penetrating eerie silence that fell over the whole continent that
evening.  Still, the reaction of the people was incredible.  Rachel
Morrison texted her landlord, “Well, that was heartbreaking.”  The
response?  “Do not be sad my dear, God has brought us this far, and we
have done our best.”  This is a very typical Ghanaian commentary on
the loss.  In fact, they even get surprised that we are still upset
about it.  I guess that is fine for something like football, but I am
more impressed when it extends to some more daunting issues… religion,
death, discrimination—you name it.  These people have some serious
patience and perspective that I am trying to tap into.

       And now for the mid semester retreat, what an adventure!  The first
half we spent tro-troing to the middle of nowhere.  Our tro tro out of
Kumasi was interesting.  My pending sickness finally got the better of
me.  I spend 1 of the 4 hours of the bumpy ride leaning out the window
to puke over the side.  At least the view was pleasant.  Nothing but
jungle for miles and miles, it looked like the Lion King come to life.
 We played in a waterfall, canoed down the White Volta looking for
hippos (which was unsuccessful, but I did see a hippo track, a
chameleon, and caught a turtle if that counts for anything) in Bui,
and went to a monkey sanctuary in Fiema.

We couldn’t seem to find a tro tro out of the monkey sanctuary, and
after waiting a few hours a truck pulled up.   It isn’t really
hitchhiking if you have to tip a little bit now, is it?  That is what
I thought.  We piled in and road for an hour or so to our next
destination.  It was absolutely intoxicating, having nothing more than
a bag on my back tying me down.  There was no fuss about what to wear
tomorrow; it is whatever I didn’t wear today.  I haven’t hitchhiked
since Hawaii, and I forgot how liberating it feels.  To not have much
more than a vague direction, “that way,” and some far off destination
as an end goal like a pretext, knowing that the getting there is most
of the fun.  Inconvenience is just a bad synonym for adventure.  To
not always be in a sprint to your next appointment.  To take time to
breath, to laugh for no reason, and to live deliberately.  This is why
I am here.  This is my road.  Call it unconventional,
irresponsibility, or one of my personal favorites, “a phase,” but this
placelessness, this bizarre wanderlust—this is where I find solace.
This is my fix.

We stayed at many places of all degrees of shady, but we had a blast
and bonded as a group, even in the most disgusting accommodations.
I’m glad we did that first though, because I’m pretty sure that it
wouldn’t have been such a fond memory if we had done Cape Coast first.
 Maggie, my field facilitator, is the daughter of the mission
president in Cape Coast, so we were able to stay at the mission home
for our three days there.  I can’t even tell you how nice our stay
was.  We had air conditioning, and clean sheets!  I think I forgot how
good a hot shower feels, or the texture of my skin when it is not
saturated in bug spray.  They treated us so well, and we were so
grateful to eat yogurt, corn flakes, pizza, and even bacon for a few
meals!  It was evident that this princess land would definitely make
the transition back into “reality” a little difficult, but I think it
got us all a little bit more excited for home.  We had a great stay
there.  The slave castles were terrible and humbling, the beach
familiar and friendly, and the canopy rope bridge walk at Kakun was
something you would see straight out of a movie.

But the time came to go home.  Home, what a peculiar word.  By home we
meant of course Wiamoase, but even Kumasi had a strange flavor of
familiarity… Yet when we got back eight hours later I quickly became
irritated.  We were deeper into the rainy season.  There were 100 bug
corpses that had found their final resting place in my bed (we cleaned
up 7 dustpans worth of dead ants out of our room alone the next day).
I plugged my nose as I hesitantly jumped into the cold bucket shower
again, and the old insecurities and frustrations with our projects
were there waiting for us.

So what does this all mean?  To miss you, my people, is a given, but
I’ve come to find that I miss hamburgers and those hot showers.  A
sink that I can drink out of.  And so home I will return, in the
bitter sweetness of it all.  I am so happy with my experience thus
far.  If I can get what I need research and wise, keep up on my
fieldwork, and learn all that I still can, then I will be more than
happy getting off the plane and resuming my old life as a slightly
different, more conscious, hopefully better, Rachel.

Business name: “Victoria’s Secret Fast food”
Marriage proposal:  “I like this one,” Pointing at me like a desirable
new watch or shirt.  “Give her to me.”

And the Internet is being really bad, so if I do not respond to
personal emails this week, I will get to them as soon as I can.  :)

Email Home- "Howdy Ya'll"

Hello everyone,

       Wow, it is hard to believe that a week has already flown by.  I feel
like I just wrote, and I’m struggling to think of anything new to
really write about.  This weekend I buried myself in homework from my
course contracts that I have been magically wishing away, so a lot of
my time has been spent reading or typing away at different homework
assignments.  Not the most fun or interesting thing in the world, but
it feels good to get some stuff done.  It also made me realize how
plaguing my perfectionism is, and maybe even more so than my anxiety,
so there is one more of the many things I am looking forward to
working on.

       Sunday was probably the most interesting day of the week.  On our way
back from church it started down pouring, and our taxi driver gave us
all quite the scare.  We almost had three head on collisions with
other crazy taxi drivers and a tro tro, nearly hit a bike, and drove
off the road twice.  I know a lot of people sending me off gave me
“don’t die” wishes like I’d be abducted or get some kind of tropical
disease (and really, I think I was in more danger in Provo Utah with
rape hill and swine flu), but the real danger I believe is in the
transportation system.  We talked to Emanuel, Esther’s son, about it
later that night.  He laughed and laughed, agreed that most taxi
drivers seem to be numb to the fear of death, and that there are
certain drivers that try to get you from Kumasi to Accra in two hours,
which is half the normal time.  In Twi they have a name for them.  The
literal translation is “Have you said farewell to your family?”  I
think I will avoid those.

       Sunday we also took out my braids.  Yes.  We.  It took five of us to
get them out in about two hours.  I guess that is what happens when
you have fifty pounds of nylon melted together, strangling your hair.
It feels good to have it out, and it looks just the same as before I
put the purple extensions in.  It was fun.  I think I will get them
done at least once more before I come home (to the delight and horror
to the spectrum of you).  That is how you know you are loved though.
I’ve decided I have an amazing group.  We are all really ambitious
about our projects, and even though we are all very different and have
such different interests, we compliment each other well.  It is always
nice finding friends that I can be my odd self around and still feel
loved for it.  My only complaint is that they never tell me when I
have zits.  Luckily some of the girls at school are letting me know
when I have “mosquito bites” on my face.

       Project wise, things are going well.  After doing constant
observations I finally found a class that taught literature for one
day.  I’m also working on building a lot of relationships with some of
the students, with some of Okasan’s advice, asking about themselves
and trying to establish that friendship and rapport before shoving my
research down their throats.  So far it is working wonders.

       And just a mini accomplishment, I carried my water all by myself down
the hill from the square on my head without dropping it.  I know.  I
can’t carry a refrigerator yet, but maybe with enough practice…. It
seems like a much more efficacious way of lifting things in general.

       Next week we are having our mid semester retreat.  We are going to
monkey sanctuary, where we may or may not actually see monkeys, but
then we are going up to Cape Coast to see the slave castles and the
ocean.  Not that it is sanitary to swim in, but my heart leaps a
little bit when I think of even seeing it again.  Needless to say, we
are all very excited for the tourist break in our experience.  We’ve
also been planning a little bit of what we are doing in London as
well.  It made me giddy.  To think that I will be watching a play at
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, sitting in the pub C.S. Lewis lectured
in, or walking the gardens where Virginia Woolf contemplated, it is
really so surreal!  Have I told you I am staying with friends at
Cambridge University?  If not, there you have it; I’m thrilled.

       Oh!  And Ghana plays the US in the world cup on Saturday.  This could
make for an interesting time.  I am very conflicted.

        I am a little saddened that I am not there for the flood of family
birthdays this summer though.  For those of you out there, I wish you
happy birthdays and my love.  I’ll be thinking of you, and calling
when I can.  Again, thank you for all of the support.  I wouldn’t be
here without you.

       Loves Rach

Marriage proposal of the week:  “Marry me.  What is your name?”
Business name of the week: “Patience Beauty Salon”

Email Home- "Once Upon A Time"

Hello Everyone!

This keyboard is terrible, so forgive the spelling and lack of spacing
when it comes up.  This week has been another good one.  Let me just
fill you in on the high lights.  Before that, I am feeling much better
now.  I think the parasite is gone or whatever it was, and thus far no
one else has been struck with Malaria, so that is happy for everyone.

I had my first eating a dinner I hated experience.  For Danielle's
Birthday Akua made her dinner.  It was banko in groundnut soup, but
the catch is the fish.  She gave me a bowl of this stuff that had the
consistency of play dough with the taste of sour milk, and the object
is to dip the dough into the sauce with the floating fish (eye balls
and bones included), and then swallow it without chewing.  Needless to
say, it was a struggle.  I tried to pretend it was a pot pie,cookie
dough, chicken noodle.... anything.  I think I now have a confirmation
that God never wanted me to serve a mission.  I threw up and had to
swallow it back down.  The natives kept telling us to "Eat,EAT!" and
"Finish it all!"  The World Cup saved us though.  Since Ghana was
playing, Rachel Morris made a run for it with our bowls and dumped the
rest of it over the fence. It was a miracle.  I told the group that if
anyone mentions that my birthday is next month I will kill them.

Another thing I am loving this week is the rainy season.  I have never
seen so much rain in my life.  It just dumps like a lake without
warning.  We filled up two 50 gallon barrels of water in half an hour,
which was good,because our water was shut off for a week, and without
rain water we have to haul buckets in from the next town.  Even though
I am getting much better at carrying things on my head, it was a
blessing.  You cannot even hear each other when you are talking across
the table in one of these storms.  No one complains though, it is a
sanctuary from the constant heat.

I'm getting better at laundry as well.  Even though some of the
romance is going away when I keep cutting my own hands with my finger
nails, and have to take a break so I don't get blood in the whites, I
am working up a great endurance for ringing out the clothes.  Me and
Rachel Morrison did everyone's laundry in three hours,which is pretty
impressive considering how long it took before.

I also had the opportunity to attend another part of a funeral
celebration.  This time we went to Mampong (which is where Craig was,
was it not?) for a seventh day party after the death to raise money
for the actual funeral.  We met a man named Jones there who helped us
get around, and with him was a colorful man who claimed to be his
"brother."  Everyone is everyones brother,so I"mnot sure of the actual
relationship, but I was a little surprised to find that as we were
greeting the elders I was holding his hand and not Jones.  Hand
holding is what you do to show friendship here, even boys hold hands
with each other, but I didn't even notice that I picked up a new one.
Then, out of nowhere, he kissed me!  It was about an inch miss of my
lips, and when I had a minute to recover he kissed my ear.  I grabbed
Rachel's hand and we all sat down to wait for the Fanta rounds.  I
turned to Maggie.

"Maggie, is this a kissing culture?"
"Um.. No."
"Oh...."
"Did he kiss you!?"
"I don't know....."

And then we sat like that for forty five minutes.  I dodged his
marriage proposals with my language barrier excuse by replying, "oh
yes, yes, I love Ghana!  It is very beautiful here."  It seemed to
work.  We are supposed to go hiking with Jones on Wednesday, but if I
see his friend again that is not going to happen.  Anyways, that was
an adventure.  We all laughed and laughed the whole way home.

As far as my project goes, it is going.  Talking to Okasan made me
realize that I need to build relationships first with people before I
jump to the research part of it.  I remember learning about building
rapport, but doing it is another matter.  I have met a few groups of
girls at the secondary school just talking, and I think I am going to
go to their church tomorrow (except they make me sing and dance?
Yikes!), and I will hopefully see them today when I try to have
another focus group.  I feel better about things, but I am trying to
work on my expectations.

Thanks again for all the love and support, and for all the fathers out
there, have a happy fathers day!  I'm excited to call home.

Loves Rach

Favorite Marriage Proposal of the Week (not mine, but my favorite):
"You are Mormon?  That is perfect.  I am Muslim.  We are the same.  We
have the same people.  We can marry."
Favorite Business Name:  "Blood of Jesus Electricals"

Email Home- "Ma Haa (Good Afternoon)"

Hello everybody!

Wow this week has been amazing, one of the best yet.  I don't have a
lot of time to write and who knows when the power will go out randomly
(I've been to the internet cafe twice just today to try and write this
letter), but here is the jist!

First, thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes!  I had one of
the best birthdays in my life on Monday.  Maggie woke up early to make
me pancakes (which is an all time luxury) in our sticky frying pan
that is warped in about seven dimensions.  I got a semicircle pancake,
which was a miracle.  My friends at school were adoranble.  They gave
me a bag of hot chocolate like stuff and a can of sardeins!  This was
the best thing they could have given me.  They know I hate fish, and
if they can tease me that means we really are friends now.  I had no
banku dinner celebrations, but Maggie yet again surprised me with a
confetti cake (smuggled in from home) cooked to perfection in a pot.
We put our mosquitto coil candle on top of it for me to blow it out,
and the rest of the group got me fanyogo (closest thing to icecream
they have here.)  Oh if that wasn't enough, they gave me a ton of nice
presents!  Nate got me a beautiful piece of kente cloth (hand woven
here for the royalty) that will make me a nice little bright colored
scarf when I am on my scooter in the freezing cold this winter, Rachel
Morrison made me a birthday crown out of post its and field note
paper, as well as a nice card (which is always all I want if you know
me well enough), and I got a whole bunch of buscuits and an off brand
version of frosted flakes!  It was euphoric.  I made a fun list of
goals to accomplish in the next year that I will try to post up on my
blog if I get a chance.  The only thing that could have made it better
was you people being here with me.

On a more saddening note, I am finding that certain things are more
heavy on my mind.  What it means to be a woman (here, and everywhere I
have come to realize), what it feels like to be hungry, these sorts of
things that I knew I would be finding but struggle to put in terms of
correctness to avoid international development taboo terms and all...
but yeah.  There is a girl at school named Charity (the dark irony of
that name), who cannot pay her school fees.  She gets caned almost
everyday because of it, isn't allowed to eat, and won't be able to
take the examinations next week.  What she owes?  About sixty US
dollars.  One shift for me at Noodles and Company.  It breaks my
heart, but I can't give it to her, not now, not yet.  I keep going
through ways to secretly send her the money (like the mail system
could do that) or find out her address or something, but in vain.  How
can I pay for her fees and not the other fourth of the school in the
same circumstances?  How do I give Akwasi a biscuit when he begs for
one and not the two hundred other ones?  I have a responsibility to my
group to not be showy with money, with the groups to come, and in the
long run I have to figure out if there is anything I can do long term
that will help, really help, and then there is the question of
qualifications and a whole storm of other difficulties.  I'm convinced
that these difficult questions might be my life long persuit.  But
what can I do right now, this very instant?  When I go home me and
Maggie are going to volunteer in a rape crisis center that she
volunteers at, and I'm joing the students of international development
club when I get home to try and learn what I need to do to get there,
but it is hard being patient about some things.  So yes, a lot of
things on the mind right now.

Brigher note.  Research is also going really well.  This week I have
spent as much time as possible in the school.  Yesterday I did 20
interviews!  I was shocked to find I still had a voice this morning,
and I have so many new friends and information for my project.  They
have their examinations this next week, so school coming to and end
feels like everything is over, but I am just looking forward to having
those two weeks to go wandering with my camera through the village.

Love you all, and I hope you are having a great week!
Rach

Business sign:  NPP (Ashanti political party) "So far, so good"
Proposal:  "Hello my wife..."

PS- If you plan on seeing me the first week I am home, consider the
following options for going out to eat:  hamburgers, cheeseburgers,
bacon burgers, cafe rio, breakfast buritos from Betos, little caesars,
and did I mentioned Wendys?  Yes.  Hamburgers are good.

Email Home- "After a power outage, a riot, and two failed internet cafes, I am writing...."

Hello my people!

       I hope everyone is doing well.  It seems the time has come to have my
share of some of the joys of sickness.  I refused to go to the clinic
for a few days, but when I couldn’t finish my run this morning Chase
and Rachel Morris threatened to throw me over their shoulders and
carry me there, so reluctantly, I followed.

       There are two possible things to be diagnosed with at the clinic,
complicated and uncomplicated malaria.  Seeing that I know I have
neither, I was kind of frustrated when the doctor wrote me down for
“uncomplicated” even though I don’t have a fever, and he only asked me
a total of two questions.  I left the clinic with a goody bag full of
random pills for various things.  Luckily Nate is in pre med and is
helping me figure it out.  But have no fear, we think it is just a
parasite or a hormone imbalance with Larium, so I’m on an antibiotic
and will be better in no time.  Rachel even called her dad at home,
who is a doctor, and he reassured us that I’m totally fine.  I’m
feeling better already.

       On a more positive note, my project is coming along well.  I think…
I’m certainly getting mixed messages about the attitudes towards
literature education.  On one side, no one reads at home, no one is
allowed to take their textbook home, and no one knows what a metaphor
is, and on the other, I found sections in their textbooks on
Shakespeare, Beowulf, and selections of Achebe, who is the father of
African literature.  I think the research part will be really
interesting when I build enough rapport to start doing interviews and
figure out what is really going on here.  I think some of the teachers
at the secondary school will be potential friends.  I am trying to set
daily goals to at least go out and walk around in the community.  It
kind of scares me how easy it is to get stuck in the four walls of
this compound.  I can be safe here.  I don’t have to speak Twi.  I
don’t have to be confused.  It is a little place to hide in my
mosquito net.  I definitely don’t want to get into the habit of coming
back here all of the time, and so I am walking the town trying to meet
people.  This whole being sick thing though is pretty inconvenient
though.

       I also had the opportunity to attend my first funeral.  They are
always held on the first weekend of the month, and Jima assured us
that there is always a funeral, and people always die.  It was more
like a giant neighborhood party.  Everyone was there in their red and
black clothes, and it has such a different feeling.  That is how I
want to go.  I like that they celebrate life, eat, drink, and dance in
memory of that person.  Funerals are a very big deal here, and it was
definitely something that I was not used to.  Sometimes it is fun to
get into those moments where I am literally clueless.  Me and Rachel
Morris were the first ones to arrive, and we asked a woman to show us
what to do.  Turns out we were at the wrong funeral, we donated way
too much money to the family, and then we started going up to the
speakers with the DJ and he asked for our names.  We were worried we
were expected to give a speech or something.  No one else was doing
what we were doing, and to be honest I’m still not really sure what
happened!  We just each other’s hands and tried not to freak out too
much.  It would be much better if I knew the language.  It ended
though, and we went and bowed to the elders and shook their hands.  It
is pretty humbling, I feel like a child.  People clap for me when I
say something right, and everyone is anxious to help us learn as much
as we can.

       The world cup has also been quite the event here.  I didn’t realize
how cool it would be to be in Africa for it, but it has been
fantastic.  Everyone is rallied up, and it is so cool to gather around
the one TV on the block, shoulder to shoulder with the natives,
cheering on South Africa, praying that the power does not go out.  I
wish America was more into football with the rest of the world, but at
least we are in it!  I have my hopes that we will beat England. J

       Also, we have two birthdays for Danielle and Chase coming up on
Sunday and Monday.  Deborah, our neighbor, attempted to show us how to
make a cake (see if you can make a cake without an oven, eh?).  It was
interesting, but I’m not sure if we will try to attempt it.  I’m going
to pick up some of the cake batter I saw at the white mans market, and
maybe we will just end up having a chocolate stew.  I’m excited
though!  It is reason to celebrate.  I’m still having a wonderful
time, and I’m excited to keep learning.

Love you all and hope you are well!
Rachel

Marriage Proposal of the Week:  “I love you.  Please, let us get
married and go to America.”
Favorite Business Name (two to make up for last week): “Crap for Jesus
(I think they meant clap for Jesus…) and “Beware Friends Fashion
Center.”

Email Home- "Ma Che (Good Morning)"

Hello everyone!

Well, another week here in Wiamoase.  I sure am having a great time.
I do feel bad if my last email gave off a vibe of everyone being
impoverished and miserable.  I'd just like to say that the people here
are also really happy, and have a whole lot to offer as well, and I
love learning about that.

Okay, I made a bullet list, I'm just going to go through really fast
before the "lights go out" as they call it.  Aka no more power.  I got
a dress made!  I love it very much.  I went and picked out some
fabric, they eye balled me, and then I went and picked it up.  I can't
breathe in it very well, but I feel like a woman again.  Some of the
girls cracked and busted out some of their makeup they are saving for
London.  One of these days I might give in.  But my dress makes me
feel pretty, and I'm excited to wear it to church!

Also, my creative writing lessons are not exactly working out.  It's
all part of the research experience I guess though, right?  I checked
out the Jr. High yesterday and I actually found a literature class!
When I was copying down the schedule I copied down the letters L-I-T,
hardly daring to put them together, and when I was confirmed in my
suspicion I leaped for joy.  I sat in and observed it.  Interesting,
that is for sure.  I have ten thousand questions for the one question
I came out here asking.  What are the attitudes of learning English
and written expression?

Funny times for the week, I went to the market right when the primary
school was coming out.  I was swarmed with a bunch of bouncing kids
yelling "obruni obruni!."  No one was with me, and I actually got a
little panicy.  There were two on each arm, and when I looked back,
there were kids as far as the eye can see.  They sure are cute.  All
of them.  So much fun.

Also our good time of good health looks like it is over.  Nate got a
parasite, and he has lost 15 lbs already.  I have been being a mommy,
buying him Coke to settle his stomach, making sure he takes his
medicine with bread, etc.  He acts like such a tough guy I hardly know
what to do with him, or know when he is actually feeling okay.
Reminds me of Okasan a little bit!  Chase has a fever today, and so we
think it is Malaria, and Danielle had us scared yesterday with a
headache (another symptom), but the rest of us are okay so far!  We
are willing to hope for the best, but we have the medication on hand
to catch it ASAP so it will only last a few days.  We are taken care
of, no worries.

Oh, and we found a snake at the other house.  Danielle, not having her
glasses in, thought it was a rope and almost kicked it, before Akua,
their landlord, came out and started screaming.  I guess it is one of
the most posinous snakes in Africa.  Everyone started screaming and a
guy came running down the lane in the dark to see what was going on.
He got a fufu pounding stick and just started mashing it.  We were
debating whether that knight in shinning armor treatment would happen
in Provo?  It is unsettled haha.

I have also learned some hymns in Twi.  They are really something.
Most of them have something about shaking your butt that god gave you
in them.  I'm thinking I will try singing that in sacrament meeting
when I get back, maybe they won't give me an insane calling anymore
haha.  But they are so fun, really!  I can't wait to try out a few
churches here and get a feel for the culture.  They say that Ghana is
like a big BYU campus.  Everyone is friendly, and everyone wants to
talk religion.  (Or so the temple workers told us.)

Also, we have not meet the chief yet!  A little odd.  Maybe it is not
as important as I thought.  We were a little stressed.  We do have a
funeral to attend today though.  The boys are dressed up in what looks
like pretty printed sheets and the girls are all wearing red and
black.  It's supposed to be more like a party though.  It will be
interesting to come it to my paradigm.

Also, I feel bad that I have missed like 3 graduations and a
wedding... Send everyone my love and congratulations if you see them.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  Love and miss you!
Rach

Email Home- "Somewhere 5 Degrees off the Equator"

Hello everybody!

            Well, I’m not quite sure I remember everything that I wrote last week, so if I repeat anything, just smile and nod.  I think the honeymoon stage of my culture shock is pretty much over, but now the quality of the good days is just that much better.  I have not gotten sick yet, even though we ate rice with rocks in it last week (blessings on the food have a whole new meaning to me now).  I think I’ll just go through some of the details.

            I finally ran out of my 15 lb sashe water pack.  It is a brand called B20, but we all call it “BO” because it has the hose water taste.  I was very excited to purchase a new pack of a different sort.  I decided on a bag called “Emanuel.”  I should have figured with a shady name like that I was doomed to disappointment.  It is the only sashe brand worse than BO.  Oh well.  Another week or so and it will be gone.  It is amazing what your body can do when you have no other choice.  Food wise too.  I think I eat bread and oranges all day.  And even when you don’t like food, you have to finish all of it.  You can’t just not.  Especially with phrases like “eat your dinner, there are starving children in Africa” looming in the back of our minds. 

Lets see.  Oh!  We had our first day of church.  Maybe I am a little biased because I have never been to a branch opposed to a ward, but it was not quite the experience I anticipated.  Outside of the church there are babies with yellowing eyes like iodine and chipping bare feet.  The children inside are not much different.  A hand-me-down dress (of a few generations), a torn pair of jeans, a bleach stained shirt, and a once white dress with a missing sleeve is a typical sampling of their Sunday best.  The mothers too.  A tie-dyed skirt with a mismatched blouse with some English saying that no one pretends to understands.  Half of the men wear child sized Christmas ties, the other half cannot properly tie them, and perhaps that is because they know something that we at home do not.  Something that we may have forgot.  Hard to say.  Relief Society was the lowest part for me though.  We had a lesson from an expired manual on Chastity on modesty.  I shared the only spare book with a pregnant girl who looked about fifteen next to me.  We had to explain what chastity meant.  It does not really translate culturally.  Someone needs to get these guys an updated book, that is for sure.  We read, then reread random segments of the lesson.  No one could really understand.  And I didn’t want them to.  Then a Bible bashing woman came to interrupt the meeting, and it was over.

 Walking down the stairs I muttered a frustrated prayer.  Why do I come from a land where the chapel benches are cushy, and a piano is always there to accompany?  Is the God of love also the same wherever you go?  I got my answer.  The children came pouring out and greeted all of us.  They gave us hugs, kissed our checks, and combed through our hair.  The girls I met were teaching me hand-slapping games.  No translator needed.  We laughed and laughed.  I was smiling so much my cheeks ached that night.  God is the same no matter where you go. 

This is going to be a long email I am realizing.  Maybe it is just stuff that I need to work through.  I also met another little kid who really touched me.  I’m not really the maternal type (or so I thought) but these kids are beautiful!  This little boy is named Akwasi.  If you check out my blog obrunithroughghana.blogspot.com, there are pictures of him in a turquoise torn short.  Getting my camera out again was a great fix.  Akwasi lives right behind me, and I’m sure you will be seeing more of him. 

My project is also going really well.  As of yesterday that is.  I met a little girl named Esther who is very interested in learning how to read and write poetry.  She is a general art student, and since the school does not teach literature, we are all getting together at noon on Saturday where I can teach my very first lesson!  It was so amazing, teaching her about similes and a metaphors, while she read aloud the native language parts of the poem we read together.  Really really touching.  She took me to lunch with her, and I had my first eating with my hands opportunity.  She held my hand (sign of friendship here, even the guys all hold hands) and taught me how to eat out of the same bowl as her, which is the traditional way.  I was pretty shy about it at first.  I scooped up some food, and then turned it over in my left hand.  I forgot that the left hand is not supposed to be used (it is a dirty hand) and I got a fair scolding for it.  We all had a good laugh, I got some good food, and then when it was over, Esther wiped off my face with her hand like I was a child.  And I felt like a child.  Everyday when I get on that yellow bus for school I feel like I am attending Kindergarten for the first time again. 

And for the grand finale…. I got my hair braided last night!  It took three hours of pulling, wincing, and squirming, and then a few surprises tacked on the end.  Apparently after they braid in the hair extensions (which are black and purple… hehe) they torch your hair.  I had no idea what they were doing at first, and all of my friends were off doing their own thing.  I starting doing a little high pitched panic “uh…guys!?” call, and Chase came running out with a camera, while Maggie talked me through it.  So yeah.  They torch the fly away hairs to seal it off.  Good to know…Just when I thought I reached the end, they started boiling water to put on my head.  No burnage here, but I guess that is the step that makes you hair soft.  But alas, it is done!  It feels so nice to get it out of my face, but it is really really heavy.  It took a TON of hair too.  They had never seen so much hair before.  I already have three headfulls of hair, but my ponytail is about a fist and a half thick.  I now look like a video game character.  The best part?  It cost me ten dollars.  When I got my hair black and purple last summer it cost me 80.  Love it.  Well… maybe I’ll save that thought until I see what my hair looks like when the braids come out.  I can’t get them wet either.  No washing.  Mmmmmm….

If you made it to the end, congratulations!  Thanks again for your prayers, love, and support.  Missing you all!

Rach/Shelley/Aqua

Oh, and for my proposal of the week!  “I marry you… for free.”  How romantic. 
Weekly favorite business name?  "National Health Insurance Scheme"

Email Home- "Greetings From Ghana!"

Hello Everybody!

I am in much better spirits since I last wrote.  I feel bad, that morning was the day that I woke up going "what... have....I...done."  Things are very happy now.  I'll just kind of go through and start listing.  There is so much!  It is so overwhelming!

Okay, for starters, I am safe.  Alive.  And well.  Our living conditions sure are different, but that is a good thing.  Esther (our landlady) has a niece named Christiana that comes over and helps us cook and teaches us the ropes.  She cooks us dinner Mon-Thursday, so tonight we are on our own, which could be interesting.  This morning we tried to cook oatmeal... which turned out rather... interesting...

Okay, and this is just kind of funny to me, but we drink water out of little bags of water called saches.  I bought a brand that tastes like warm summer hose water.  Not my favorite flavor.  Anyways, you just bite a corner off and have at it.  I have managed to spill mine on several occasions, including squirting it in mine, and the person next to me on the tro tro's eyes.  Everyone likes to sit next to me.

Food is good.  I was scared at first.  There is nothing familiar about it.  No chips.  No oreos.  No chocolate bars.  No Noodles and Company.  Even the bread is weird.  But the bread grew on me, and I found some fried dough that is naturally bad for me, but it tastes good, so I am good to go on snacks.  Maybe I might even learn to cook.  Gain the patience to cook.  Yes.  This could be a very good thing.

Oh and do we have bugs.  Not just any bugs though.  These are straight up biology text book bugs.  The first night there was a black spider the size of my palm outside of my room.  It was disgusting.  I keep looking for it everywhere I turn in the house now.  But yeah.  I am getting better at squishing them.  And Nate, one of the boys with me, is really nice about taking care of them. 

We do have electricity, but only about 10 percent of the time.  So far, we have only had it for one night.  No fans.  And my favorite part?  No water.  Granted we don't really use the water for anything but showering, and bucket showers are fine, but Esther had an obruni (white man) flushing toilet instaleld for us.  We are all very worried and unhappy about this.  First of all, this is not a typical toilet.  No toilet paper can be flushed down.  But if you have no water, you have to try to flush it with buckets of rain water.  It works maybe 1 out of 5 times.  I quite enjoy the hole in the ground.  It is fast.  Reliable.  And I know exactly what I will get back from it.  No surprises.  Needless to say, my bathroom phobia is also going away.

Another interesting thing here is everyone wakes up at 5, and goes to bed super early.  We have been averaging about 9 PM bedtime.  It is the only time in the day when it is cool though, so everyone is up and ready.  I'm not sure I have ever been okay about waking up so early.  We have roosters that start going off at 3 and 4ish though, so that hour of sleep does not count.  A few of us have started exercising in the mornings.  Running and such.  Today was yoga, and it was quite nice.  I might get more into that when I get home.  Maybe I might learn to relax. :)  (PS, Okasan and Daddy that positive thinking journal is turning out great!  Thank you again!)

Laundry this week was also one of the highlights of my week.  It is such a humbling experience, and so intimate.  It is one of the perks that got lost with the modernization of the washing machine.  It takes a few hours to do everything, but you have so much time to sit and talk.  They are so careful with water usage too.  The whole batch of clothes only took two buckets of water.  When we were finished, Christiana actually mopped up the spilled water from the concrete and drained it into the flowers.  They have big buckets that pick up the rain water and everything.  No water goes wasted here.  (Do you remember that lectura in Spanish Roberto?  yeah.  These things happen!)

Lets see.  I got a mosquito net.  But it keeps falling in and knocking me on the head at night, so that is fun.  It is blue, as well as the walls, so everything is this neon cobalt color.  I really like it.  There are so many bright colors here.  I cannot wait until I am comfortable enough to get my camera out.

Also, my research is coming along nicely.  Well.  Relitavely.  Yesterday was my first day at the secondary school.  There are 2,000 students there.  Hardly what I was expecting.  I felt like Brittany Spears or something.  Everyone swarmed us.  Stared at us.  Turned on the fans for us when we came in.  Touched our skin, felt my hair.  It was crazy!  I have had to change my name to Shelley at the school too, because no one can say Rachel, and the other girl working there is named Rachel.  It is odd trying to change your name.  I keep forgetting.  Anyways.  The school rooms were very interesting.  Teachers can cane their kids here, which is different.  And the desks look like little antique desks that you would fine in the pioneer village at Lagoon.  It was such a great experience.  I can't wait to get to know the teachers better and start teaching creative writing.  To make the celebrity day even worse, on my walk home three kids came up to me and asked for my autograph.  Then, each grabbed my hand and kissed it.  How does this even happen, that some nobody can come over here and be the biggest thing in town?  It is kind of weird for someone who does not like attention, but yeah.  Intersting.  I think i expected more hostility or something, especially with Cape Coast and those monstrous slave castles just miles down the road.  People are not like that here though.  I feel very safe, and I am sure this will be a great experience for me.

Thank you for your love, emails, and support.  I love and miss you all!
Rach

Oh, and I have had my first proposal, which was eventful. 

Email Home- "Update!"

Hello Everybody!\

wow i hardly know where to start. this keyboard is really weird so please ignore the spelling and punctuation stuff.  we have been staying in kumasi for the last two nights.  it has the biggest market in west africa in it that we are checking out before we head for wiamoase, the village we are actually staying at.

lets see.  our hotel was rather ineresting.  i figured out that i really am a bit of a princess.  the bed sheets were stained brown and yellow, and in one place, red whcih was awesome.  my sheets were ripped in half, but i didn't use them anyways.  yikes.  it is so hot here.  it feels like that feeling when you just get outo f the gym or done runing but you can never escape it.  sweat just falls down your body all day long and you just get used to it i guess.  i lay in bed for hours and hours before i finally fal asleep, and then a rooster always ges up at 3;45 each morning hahaha.  it will be nice being in wiamoase, that is for sure.  oh, and even though they had flushing toilets none of tem actually flushed, so it just stunk up everything.  then there was the guy jerking off with the door open that i got to see....

but! on the good side, i am really loving the oportunity to get to know my group.  we are all so different but it has been fun learning from each other about each other.  yesterday we just sat around during the hot part of hte day and talked, napped, chilled, and it was so different than what i am used to.  i guess there are a few of us in the group who are hoping to learn how to relax from this experience.  that woldbe nice for everyone i am sure haha.

while i remember, thank you so so so much for the massage okasan.  i think it definaely helped me in general for this whole week in transition.  love you so much. :-)

so lets see.... the taxis are interesting.  they always charge us more, but what can you do.  so now we fit all 7 of us in, and that is all kinds of interesting for breaking down social barriers.  today we are ridding a tro tro, whcih is basically a hollowed out van wehre they stick as many people and goats in as possible and just go.  haha, so yeah.  that will be fun.

it does not look like i am getting a phone today.  but i did get my sim card so i will for sure be able to call next sunday.  i'm thinking probababnly about the same time as yesterday?  it sure was nice talking to you guys.  i love and miss you all, and i feel like there is so much to tell.  i can't wait till i can settle in and gather up my thuoghts so that i can better express them too you.  just know that i am safe and will be the whole time i am here, and that i love you all.

loves,
rachel

Email Home- No Subject Line

Hi Okasan! 

I'm just here at the airport waiting for the rest of us to get here.  Last night I slept for 14 hours straight and would have kept it up had my people not woken me up to head to the market.  We are staying in a hotel tonight in Accra and then we will take a bus to Wiamoase in the morning.  People here are really nice and friendly.  It is so hot though.  And the drivers!  I swear I watched cars come an inch away from my side about 4 times... Maybe coming back I won't freak out when other people drive?

So tomorrow (I hope) I am buying a SIM card so i can have minutes and such of my own.  I'm still not sure how many minutes I can get for a few CD, but I know it is a lot cheaper than calling from America so I should probably set up a "call at this time this day" system.  What are your thoughts?

Another fun thing.  White people are only found at the airport, so when you are hailing taxis they like to charge "the obruni tax" (white mans tax).  Lucky for us Kwasi (the guy who was teaching us Twi last semester) told us how to haggle down to what it was normally (about 70 cents a person on average). 

Better go before my minutes run out, or the power goes out (has in the last hour twice....).  I'll update you as soon as I can.  Especially about this whole meeting the chief thing?  Our landlady is supposed to be couching us on that etiquite though.  For basics, no left hand usage, bring gifts, and don't cross your legs.  So we'll see if I get ostracized and have to go a town over haha. 
I love you all and miss you.  I hope all is well at home. 

Also, I don't have Sarah's email, I think I lost it in London.  Would you mind sending that my way?  Or she can email me with questions for her project that I can answer for her.

Love you all!
Rach

Email Home- "London"

Hi Okasan!

Just wanted to let you know I lived through the second of my four plane rides.  I am starting to get paranoid that my passport looks different than everyone else and that I smell like a zoo.  I knew you would appreciate that part.  I hope you have a great day at work.  Kick Samantha in the butt, and tell those people to get your desk order through or I'll kick them in the butt too.

How did Braxton do in his surgery?  Wish Pam luck, and I hope you are able to do something fun for your anniversary today!

Love you,
Rachel