Monday night in Bolga
Hi all,
Ah, so thankful for an extremely restful day. I was so near my breaking point last night. We Americans are so weak (for the most part) when it comes to not only the physical expectations of northern Ghana, but also the emotional expectations! Things happen that make my heart start to beat like crazy (stress) and my Ghanaian friends are like, "Oh! No problem! It is all fine. Just take it slow." And, almost all the time they are right.
I find that I have to give myself over to Ghana while I am here. Forget being American. Forget being a worrier. Forget the comforts of home. Get down to basics. Did you eat today? Did you stay alive? Okay then! Thank God! I'm so lucky for it! And it's true. We just never have to live that way in America. We are so spoiled that we don't realize how spoiled we are!
In America I complain because my feet hurt terribly (plantar's faciitis). Here, I'm sure my feet still hurt, but everything else hurts too so I don't feel my feet, in particular. And I don't have time to think about everything else hurting, because I'm too busy just trying to put one foot in front of the other. Water. Food. Moving air (if you are lucky). Those are priorities. Hurting feet? Who has time to think about that?!
Tomorrow we are supposed to go visit our friends the crocodiles in Paga! I still haven't decided if I should touch the croc. Will make that decision when I am there. It is also market day here tomorrow, so we will visit the Bolga market scene and hopefully come away with some one of a kind treasures for our families to remember this place by.
The hotel here is an oasis in an otherwise very difficult (for we weak Americans) place. Is there parts of the wall chipping off? Sure. Are there lizards and ants and other "friends?" Yep. But there is also electricity, and running water, and a fan to keep the air moving, and even air conditioners to keep the temps cooler than outside (although except for my smaller room, not as cool as we would keep things in America). If I walked into this place in America I would call it a bad name and walk back out. Here, I am so thankful. This place has everything we NEED and a whole bunch that we WANT! Wow! We are spoiled, eh?! [Sorry, I can't help typing with a bit of a Ghanaian flare when I'm here. I even start thinking in Ghanaian English after a few days.]
So that's it. Monday night from Ghana. Nothing too adventurous or note-worthy, but after a day FULL of adventures and note-worthy stories yesterday, I'm so very thankful for an uneventful day! I've written so many witty blog posts in my mind since I got here, but tonight isn't the night for them.
Love to all,
Anita
3 comments:
Tirzah says "Auntie Anita is where? In Ghana?" YES!
I can totally relate to the: one foot in front of the other, did I eat, am I alive? I can't go 20 minutes without some kind of snack when I am at home, but 2-3 liters of water all day and then finally food at night. That's the way Ghana works for me :-)
It's a lot of work to do work in all that heat.
May the shade of the trees be with you!
Lots o love
Kami
Love hearing about your adventures! Here's to hoping all of the "friends" in your room are small enough not to be too scary (like the rats in our thatched roof- It was a beautiful place though!). I wish you much moving air in your journey and much smoothness!
Fabu
So enjoying your posts Anita! Taevy is pretty excited about you going to the croc place...............you should "play with " the crocs just for her! We are continuing to pray for your health, safety, and successful time in Ghana, knowing God is so faithful! It is so easy indeed to take so much for granted in the USA when so much is available and "expected". Our time in Cambodia, Vietnam and Liberia, along with the breakdowns of basics in our home have all added to our gratitude for the basics here at home, and serve as reminders to thank God daily for our many blessings and to pray that those basic blessings (clean water, enough electricity to get the work done...etc) be made available to everyone. Pretty used to picking bugs out of food stuff (Louisiana living...) don't mind lizards coming to call, used to mice, but not a fan of rats in any shape or form, live or for sale roasted on a stick either!!
Samren asked why we had 5 1-gallon jugs of water lined up in the bathroom. Explained that not taking water for granted thing. Outages happen here and they are no fun!
Ok I had my one whole hot cup of coffee...back to business!
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