Well I have survived two whole days in Ghana!! It feels like I have been here for so much longer! Yes, I still love it! Today was such an interesting day. So much happened I feel like! So the day started out with an interesting breakfast!! It was omelets and pineapple which was amazing if I might say! The omelets or whatever they were tasted okay! We then had some free time. Most people wanted to take a snooze but I figured how many times am I going to be in Africa who has time to sleep. So six of us decided to walk around and become more familiar with our surroundings. Well I ended up in one of my favorite places I am sure most of you can guess the HOSPITAL!! Right up my alley right? We wanted to see how they ran things and what not we also wanted to see if there was anything we could do to help. We went to the Pediatric area. They were very excited to see us and almost acted like they expected us. There was one girl with me who graduates from nursing school in December and so we were both excited to jump in and do what we could. They pretty much would have let us do anything we wanted without proving that we had any schooling whatsoever. They asked us to do IV’s but to bad I have never done them before! One day I will come back and will be able to do them, but I got to go room to room and take vitals. They had one thermometer and that is about it. There were five small and hot rooms. I started in a room full of little tiny babies. It was good to feel back at home. It made me really miss my job and all of the wonderful woman that I work with. I was really surprised that they actually had bulbie lights (sorry I don’t know how to spell that word). I had to take there temperature, pulse, and respirations. They only had one thermometer and to clean it you would wipe in off with a cotton ball and that is it. I would then take it to the next patient and then the next. I am sure germs were passing left and right. Then I would take a radial pulse on little infants which was very hard but that is how she told me to do it so I just did my best. I totally wish I had a stethoscope. I then did respirations. They even trusted me to chart. The second and third rooms were filled with infants with malaria, very sad deal. Most of them had a really high temperature and looked miserable. Every single child except one or two had there mother with them but no father. I am sure that they were working. There was once resident and one doctor working the floor and then they had 3 nurses. The nurses wore cute little white dresses and some of them had the hats just like the olden days. I only had time to do three rooms. Can I just tell you I am so glad that I got this experience? I absolutely love children and loved helping anyone I possibly can especially with medical purposes. It made me so grateful to live in America and to have the knowledge and equipment that we have. To know that if I get sick I am in good hands. I am just hoping that we can go back and maybe I can make a visit to L&D!
So I then had a very interesting experience at the beach ha it was the best and totally overwhelming. So our instructor had to go pick up more kids from the airport and so she just told us where the beach was and warned us that people would swarm us and try to sell things. Well I totally was thinking that she was exaggerating a little bit but she was no joke. The moment we got there everybody started welcoming us to Ghana and started showing us jewelry, pictures, drums, more jewelry, chocolate, drinks, cigarettes, horse rides, you name it I saw it!! Very overwhelming!! So the first guy who came up to me was named Kofi (now mom you may want to sit down for this, gege you too!!) he told me how he was trying to go to law school and needed money so that he could provide for his future family and feed himself. Yes very sad story! Well he talked me into some Jewelry and then he just kept talking to me and telling me a little about there country and about Obama coming. Then he left and then came back again. He told me he liked me a lot and that I had a great smile. He then started telling me we needed to be friends. We got talking again he was actually really funny but had BO so bad! He said that maybe if I stayed in Ghana for 5 years I would turn black and wouldn’t be so dang white. He gave me an African name which is Ajowa (ajewwa is how you say it) it has something to do with the day I was born. He then told me we were one love ha ha I was dying. He asked me if I wanted to go walk on the beach (now don’t you all freak out I have seen taken and I am very smart so no stress!! If I wanted to get aids or get pregnant I would have gone, but I don’t think that is the best idea. ) I told him I should stay with my group. He said you are in Ghana and need to be happy you can be happy if you come with me ha ha!! He also gave me a bracelet that his grandmother gave him and he told me we were one love and I can trust him. He told me his cousin married a white girl and they met on the beach we were at ha ha!! I think he thinks were destined to get married. So anyways that is my new found crush so hilarious!! Hey I can’t find any decent boys in America so why not bring an American home ha ha j/k j/k!! I never thought I was going to get rid of him but thankfully I did and all is well! Don’t worry there are pictures of him!! The whole beach experience was great but I don’t think I want to go back. It was so overwhelming they wouldn’t leave us alone. Even when you said NO a thousand times they just kept begging. I was really nice at first but then I had to get firm and really tell them no!! I will get better at this! After the beach we went and had dinner. I got Chicken Nuggets ha! I was too nervous to try anything else! I will also get braver.
So that is my Day #2 in Ghana! It is a different world out here for sure! On this great Independence Day I am sure grateful to live in America. We are so blessed. If you all only knew and realized how blessed we truly are. I wonder if we would act differently. I hope that you all had an amazing 4th I sure missed ya!!