Away Away Away

Two months goes fast. More than two months... It's hard to believe that a year ago this time I was still finishing up school. As I'm approaching the end of my travels, I'm getting far more contemplative. I've been thinking about how I'm turning 25 in august (that's scary enough) and that I was only 23 when I left for China. My 24th year has somehow been engulfed by all the countries I've been to. Soon I'll be done and I will have to get back to my life. And while I have enjoyed my time immensely and look forward to going to Bolivia, I partly wish I was finished. I feel like the reasons I left have all been addressed, the demons have been battled, the fears overcome, the maturity... well I don't think I'll ever be able to address that problem ;). It's comforting actually. Having overcome a lot of the problems in my personal life, I now find myself thinking more and more about my future career. That's not to say that I wasn't serious or sincere about med school before, but it's much easier to think about my future when I don't have other distractions getting in the way. I think that's why it was difficult getting rejected from med schools. I felt prepared, more so than I have in a long time. But the more I think about it, the more I feel like another year is better for me. I think I've somehow managed to find some real contentment in my life. This coming year will be the most fun I've had since I was young. Medical would have been fun, but I think the stress would have outweighed the enjoyment. Whoever said limbo was a bad place? Let's just hope I can find a job. Any suggestions are welcome.

As for Ghana, I'll miss it... to a degree. With each country I travel to, the less and less attached I become. That's not to say I get less and less out of the experience or immerse myself in the culture less and less. I think I'm just getting stretched a little thin. In China, I made a large number of close friends. Here in Ghana... I don't think there's anyone I'll stay in contact with (aside from my ghanaian family). That could have to do with the social structure in Ghana compared to that of the other countries. It could have to do with the other volunteers here. Or maybe it has to do with me. I had always prided myself on being a loyal caring friend. That quality, however, sometimes resulted in my being hurt, taken advantage of or disregarded. That did not deter me from getting close to people. That was most likely due to loneliness. Being so desperate for friendship can make a person very vulnerable. Perhaps now that I am comfortable in my friendships and content with my life the desperation is gone... and so is the ability to get attached to people. I suppose that's just a part of growing up though, becoming detached, less emotional, jaded. It's strange to think of the things we unknowingly concede. No matter, I'm still going to act like a little kid.

When I leave, my host mother said she would cry and that everyone would be sad. I am their sixth volunteer, so I thought she was just being kind. However, she told me that I am better than all the other volunteers before because I eat whatever she makes, sit with her in the kitchen while she cooks, and play and laugh with my 12, 14 and 17 year old host brothers and sister. She (and some others) call me a simple man. While in America that might be a little offensive, in Ghana is means easy going. The funny thing is that many of the reasons why she likes me so much is why I'm looking forward to coming home. The food is fine and I don't mind spending time with the kids, but I look forward to getting my freedoms and my privacy back. I look forward to decided when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat. I have had a lot of fun with my host siblings, but sometimes they can be draining and downright annoying. I've always been the baby in the family, so I've never really known what it's like to have younger kids around. It's been a good experience I think. While my host sister was on break, she also took care of a 4 and a 5 year old that stayed at our house for about 3 weeks. That was quite a handful, but loads of fun. I've never said I was "good" with kids. I wasn't bad, per se, but I had no talent in dealing with them. I think this has been a great experience and growing opportunity. Hopefully they don't cry too much.

There were some other fun tidbits of Ghanaian life that I have previously forgotten to mention. The tro tros and some other trucks and cars have a lot of German writing on them. I eventually learned that this is because when cars become to old or they fail the emissions tests, they get sent to Ghana. Then the Ghanaians run them until... well until an axle breaks and the car crashes and is totaled. Way to help solve that world pollution problem Germany! Secondly, I saw my favorite t-shirt of all time the other day. While I covered this topic already, I feel that this requires it's own acknowledgment. I've seen shirts of pizza delivery companies, department store spring blowout sales and even Disneyland rides but nothing compares to this shirt. It said "Howard Dean for America". Priceless.

Fastest C-Section EVER

So I'm in a bigger hospital now. Not the big hospital I was supposed to be in, but at least this one does some major operations. Apparently the big hospital in Kumasi (the biggest outside of Accra) has had a falling out with TPA and no longer accepts volunteers. Don't ask me why.

Since Tafo Hospital did practically nothing by way of surgery, I plan on spending the last two weeks of my stay here in the operating room. Unfortunately, it's still a little slow. Today, for example, I spent all my time folding gauze. No patients came in. There's also apparently a health workers strike so the amount of surgeries done is decreased for some reason. While it can be slow, I have seen some interesting things. Yesterday I saw a gargantuan hernia repair and two and a half c-sections. I say a half of a c-section because this woman came in needing a cs because of fetal distress, but by the time they got her on the operating table the babies head starting poking out... I guess he didn't want to be a c-section baby. This little bugger was huge too. He weighed about 4 kilos, should consider a career as a linebacker. Unfortunately he was so big that he kind of "split" the mother. She had a female circumcision (I have no idea what that is) and the size of the baby caused tearing. It was a pretty hectic moment when they all realized the baby was coming out.

The other two c-sections I saw were crazy fast. They pride themselves here by saying the baby is born within one minute of the operation. Basically true to their word, within a couple of minutes after the first incision, the baby was out. The whole procedure took around 20minutes (including the sutures) For comparison, the c-sections I saw in India took around an hour, 40 minutes at the shortest. I've come to realize that the main procedure done in the operating room is a c-section. There is an occasional hernia or historectamy, but little else. I can't complain though, the nurse said that by the end, they might let me assist in surgery. How sweet would that be?

As for some other peculiarities that slipped my mind before, I've remember a few... some so strange I don't know how I forgot. Hair is an interesting thing here amongst the ghanaian women. Most have very little hair on their bodies and short hair on top. However, it is not uncommon to come across a very hairy legged woman (which apparently the guys like). While the hairy legs is a little off putting, what's even stranger is the facial. Many women get a small collection of chin hairs that they seem to cultivate and grow as long as they can. It's not enough to call it a beard or really even whiskers, I just call it gross.

Food is always a good source of oddities. They eat snails in Ghana. Not unheard of. It's considered quite the delicacy in France. Ghanaian snails, however, trump French snails ten times over. These guys are massive. I'm talking radioactively mutated to be super snails. They shells are almost the size of conch shells, to give a comparison. The like to tote these around in buckets on their heads selling them to passersby. OH yes, the head thing. It has become so commonplace I almost forgot that no one carries boxes or buckets or really anything on top of their head. Ghanaians carry EVERYTHING on the tops of their heads. The balancing act is an amazing sight to see. Sometimes I want to run over to them and give them a little hip check to see if they can keep it together without dropping anything. I've yet to work up the audacity. That's all for now folks. I'll write again at least once more before I leave. Take care.

Travels, Tombstones, T-Shirts and other Peculiarities

I have finished my travels along the coast and am quite happy to return to Kumasi, not only because of the inordinate amount of mosquito (and other unknown bug) bites I accumulated on the coast or because of the lack of internet, but also because the coast is mostly just pretty beach. Not that I don't enjoy the nice beach every now and again, but I can only spend so long staring at ocean and sand before I get incredibly bored. It was a nice get away, I'll have to admit, but when I travel within a country, I usually like to see something unique the country has too offer. Beaches really don't fill that role. I suppose I should be thankful for the slave castles. Those made the trip more than worth it. As well as the stories I got from the journey.

Most good stories occur when reality borders on the rediculous or when my life is being threatened. Fortunately for you all, I have both! Goats are everywhere in this country. Everywhere! On the way back to Kumasi from the coast, we plowed into one with the tro tro. For some reason I wasn't phased. I wasn't phased when the door fell off my tro tro either. While I was concerned when we had passengers on top of our tro over a dirty/bumpy road, I was a little concerned, but not surprised at all. But all of that takes a back seat to when goats were placed on the top of our tro tro and tied around the waste. Throughout the journey his hooves were clanking on the top of the tro. Sure enough, at one point during the ride, the goat tumbles off the side of the tro and dangles there by the rope for a few minutes before the driver realizes and the tro stops. I couldn't stop laughing. It was priceless.

Tros come in various shapes and sizes... and various rust to actual metal ratios. Several times while riding along the coast I was fortunate enough to get into a tro that was definately more rust than actual metal and the seats weren't really bolted to the floor, so they freely swayed to the whims of the road. Now, I realize that this is a feature that they use in amusement rides and people pay good money for. In this case, my only consolation was that the tro tro was so beat up and old that it's top speed wasn't horrific. So instead of a speeding death trap, it was just a death trap. I often thought of the stories I've heard of when the axel snaps off a tro tro and what's usually left is a heap of twisted metal. You'd think that with all the traveling I've done and all the near death experiences I've had in various vehicles, I would have lost the impending sense of doom by now. And yet it's still that imminent threat of danger that makes the ride that much more exciting.

Aside from transportation, there are a large variety of other perculiar things to see in Ghana. Funerals are abig part of Ghanaian culture. They are quite similar to weddings in the sense that there is a huge crowd, musical entertainment, food and formal invitation. It is always an open casket ceremony and the tombstone is always large and ornated and frequently has a portrait of the person being laid to rest. I had thought of this as a great respect for the dead, but then I noticed at this cemetary I pass by to work every day that taxi drivers, tro tro drivers, and other laborers often take their breaks in the cemetary and stretch out across the tombstones. It's a shaded area, so I imagine it's quite cool and it's better than sleeping on the ground.

While people speak "english" here, the complete understanding or context of things escapes them. T-shirts are a great form of expression (I should know, all mine have cartoon characters and superheroes on them). Of the various T-shirts I've seen being warn by ghanaians are: Kiss me I'm Blonde, Hold my beer while I kiss your girlfriend, and fcuk (French Connection United Kingdom) like a bunny to name of a few. I would be surprised if they actually knew what the shirt was saying. Aside from the gratuitious ones, there is also a random assortment from old pizza hut deliver shirt to U. Wisconsin lacrosse. I think many people have relatives in the States and want any shirt from the US, no matter what it says.

There are other oddities that are escaping me at the moment. I'll think on it and post them next time. Two weeks from today I fly out and arrive at home for a few days before I depart again for Bolivia for one month. Traveling is wonderful, but I can feel it starting to drain me a little, and I even have a three month break in the middle. I hope everyone at home is well and are highly anticipating the fast approaching summer. Take care everyone.

I'm getting fat...

So Ghanaians eat a lot... A LOT. I don't know what people are talking about when they mention starving africans because it's not hear. Well... that's not entirely true. The northern part of the country is pretty destitute and they are often in need of nourishment, but the rest of the country is relatively well fed. Especially the large women. The food is also very heavy and starchy. They eat the casava root more than anything else. It's similar to potatoes. The most "ghanaian" dish would probably be fufu which is casava and plantain mashed together. They get this large wooden morter and massive branch with a flattened end to pound the fufu. Pounder goes in a rhythmic fashion while another person places pieces of casava and plantain below. I can't believe there aren't more broken fingers. I asked my host mother if she had ever gotten her finger smashed and she gave me a look a extreme incredulity. Fortunately ghanaians are very rhythmically gifted people, so the fufu pounder generally has good tempo. My host family gave me a shot at it and I was actually quite good. My rhythm is ok but sometimes I would stop because I was afraid I would hit her fingers. They would then think I was tired and someone else would take over. Ghanaians think white people are pretty soft and weak. In my case, that's not entirely untrue... but I can take care of myself ok. The fufu itself goes through a strange transformation because it's pounded so much it eventually turns into a really goopy playdoh type substance. You then eat it (with fingers of course) and dip it into a soup, usually chicken soup at my house, but an be other types.

Aside from the starchiness and heaviness of the food. It's not bad. Sometimes a little spicey, but nice and flavorful. Although it is getting a little old. It's either a heavy starchy food or rice. On top of that, my host mother feeds me way way way way more than I could ever eat. The first week I would eat myself till I was about to burst and still have hald a plate of food left. She would then insist I keep eating despite how much I implored her. So I would eat more, till the point where I would almost vomit, and there would still be a mound of food left. I'm used to the large portions now and my stomach has stretched to accomodate the large quanitities of food going down, but every meal is still a struggle. Everyone also knows that I'm a pretty slow eater, so meal time for me tends to last quite awhile.

My favorite food would be, of course, street food. There are these barbequed sausages you can get with this powdery pepper mixture on top. Reminds me a little of the skewers I got in china. I've been eating a lot of the sausages lately because I've been traveling. I left Kumasi friday morning for Cape Coast. The main attractions at Cape Coast are the slave castles. The most famous is the portugese castle built in the late fifteenth century and is the largest slave castle in all of africa. Quite a sobering sight. They also had a bit of a museum and a guided tour. A bit of a downer, but well worth the time. We spent a few days there each night going to a bar where they played music so loud a conversation was impossible, but that's the case at any bar in ghana. It's a very loud country, although the ghanaians still manage to communicate with each other while speaking at a normal volume. Must be an acquired skill. We are now at Axim Beach which is just a little bit of a nice beach get away. We'll spend two days here then head off to Green turtle lodge not far away. I'm not too sure what's there, but people say it's paradise. We'll see. I'll try and post again soon. Finding internet is no easy task, and it's usually painfully slow. Take care everyone.