Akwaaba to Ghana!

I AM IN AFRICA!!!!!!!

It's almost as if I have to pinch myself every day to remember that this is real life-- that this is really me in my body, and that this is really me (in my body) in Africa!  This has been a dream for as long as I can remember.  I built up to this moment by learning about various African cultures, studying the map of the continent, watching movies connected to Africa, studying the music and dances of various tribes and peoples, looking up pictures, talking to anyone willing about Africa, etc.  It truly fills my heart to finally be here!!

Let's backtrack for a second though and go over the highlights from the travels here:

• Number of flights:  6
• Friends Made:  A Ugandan young man who was the first to welcome us to Africa (he was traveling home from a trip to China); Bilson Bright from Ghana who was traveling to be a student representative at a conference in Rwanda (about 26 yrs old); Sister Christetta, a Catholic nun from Zambia who loved visiting with us in the Kigali airport and made a little dance video with us!  (She has been studying at a university in Uganda, and she was traveling home for a break.)
• Greatest Adventure:  We had to camp out in the Kigali (Rwanda) Airport for 10+ hours.  During that time, we confused nearly all the workers with our strange flight plans so they didn't know what to do about finding our luggage (since we were switching airlines) and boarding passes for the next flight!  About an hour before boarding time, they successfully brought us our boarding passes, and they had located one of our two pieces of luggage.  Yay!  We are stilling trying to figure out what happened to the second piece of luggage, but we are still grateful for the help and patience of the workers in the Kigali airport.  I think we became the most well-known travelers in the airport by the time we left, haha. 
• Strangest Thing:  The large stuffed teddy bear in the Qatar Airport.  I mean really... Why??

These first few days in Ghana have been a delight!  Since internet is quite slow and unpredictable here, I will sum up the first four days as best as I can.  Also, pictures are having a veeeery difficult time being uploaded-- I will try to share them later, because they really are so cool :)  Here it goes!

Day 1:  Wednesday, June 6th

• We arrived around lunchtime and made it through customs quite easily!  After finding Becky Rogers (the woman we're staying with) and Brian (a Ghanaian who works for Becky), we took what they call the STC bus from Accra to Kumasi.  It was an amazing ride!  I loved seeing the vibrant colors all around me, people carrying LARGE baskets on theirs heads to sell things from, hearing the sound of Twi (the language) being shared poetically... my senses were alive and well as I tried to take in my surroundings!
• The bus had an assistant or guide of some sort who gave a MARVELOUS speech about how to survive our journey on the bus, complete with a sermon about how to use the toilet / wash room.  Perhaps I will be able to share a little recording we captured of her speech when I return home, haha.
• During the drive to Kumasi, I experienced my very first rainstorm in Africa!!  I looooooved it!  I could hardly believe how green the world was around me already, and having the rain mixed in was simply magical.  
• We made it to the home in Kumasi well after dark... Perhaps around 7 or 8 PM.  We met more of Becky's family:  her husband Tom, and the kids Josh, Thomas, Chamane and Miriam (Mimi for short.)  They have just the youngest four of their 10 children living here (although they had another who just left on a mission for India!)  Also living here are Brian and Nana, and their new baby, as well as Nana's "mother", Joyce, and her little boy.  (Joyce is Nana's aunt, but she is also her mother since she raised her.  By Ghanaian tradition, Joyce came to live with Nana to help for a bit with the arrival of the new baby.  Joyce came about a week before the baby was born, and she will be leaving in about a week or so.)  
• Before going to sleep, we enjoyed our first water bags here :)  

Day 2:  Thursday, June 7th

• We visited the Ashanti palace where we received a tour and learned about the history of the Ashanti Kingdom / Asante people in the last few hundred years.  The palace grounds had many peacocks roaming around, and an amazing tree that we enjoyed playing in!  
• After lunch, Becky took us to meet a few of the women we will be helping to expand their businesses.
• Helena Appiah -- She's the Relief Society President here in the Daaban Ward (the area we're living in), and she has a small sewing business.  B and I are excited to have her sew a few articles of clothing for us :)  Her husband (Francis) is the Elders Quorum President, and they have three children:  Vida, Hannah, and Francis.
• Monica-- She's an investigator (the missionaries have been working with her a lot), and she is possibly going to open a small hair cutting business out of her home.  She has two children:  Godwin and Blessing.
• Georgina-- She is also a member, although her husband is not.  They have 7 sons-- a set of twins are the youngest :)   The three youngest come to church:  Samuel, and the twins:  Junior and Senior.  What great names for twins!  haha.  Anyway, she owns a small store out of her house.  She has treats, little foods, soap, and so on.   

Day 3:  Friday, June 8th

• We visited a couple of the women again to go over business plans.
• After lunch, we took a trotro/ tro tro (a large van used to transport large numbers of people, which we have nicknamed Twinkie's based on their appearance) to the market.  The market was a fascinating place!  Everything is so packed together, and the streets and alleyways are swarming with people.  Helena and her daughter Hannah led us on our trip.  Since it was Hannah's birthday that day, we enjoyed surprising her and her mother with a gift of fabric so that they can make some clothes for the girls!  It will be Vida's birthday on Monday, so the timing is perfect!   
• The children in our neighborhood are learning our names :)  There is a lady who run's a fruit stand right next to our home, and her children love calling out to us.

Day 4:  Saturday, June 9th

• Once of the projects we will work on here is Literacy Classes.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has produced a wonderful pamphlet to help people become more literate.  Today, we went to our first Literacy Class with Becky and Helena.  It was an introductory class for a woman named Janet, a member of the Church here.  On Tuesday, we will start the official class with her, Sister Pats, and a couple other people in the area.  I'm looking forward to it!
• After the Literacy Class, some of the women took us on a tour of the neighborhood where we saw homes built on and around large rocks.   Imagine laaaaaarge boulders.  It was like the Primary song:  The wise man built his house upon the rock.  It was incredible to see how the people had created these unique living space.
• The rest of our day was spent on a glorious adventure in one of the forests here-- the Bobiri Forest Reserve.  Helena's kids (Hannah, Francis and Vida) came with us!  In the forest they have a butterfly sanctuary, so we saw hundreds of butterflies pollinating and flying around!  A man and his family live there, and he took us on a walk through the forest.  As we walked, he taught us about the trees (my favorite being the Three Sisters Tree), including any medical or spiritual purposes for the trees.  We saw large centipedes, a crazy big spider, beautiful moss, shoots, large mushrooms, and I noted the four main layers of the rain forest:  Emergent, Canopy, Understory, Forest Floor.  (Utah 3rd Grade Social Studies Curriculum.  Wow, I am such a teacher nerd!)  Ecosystems.  Cool.  But really, the forest was an incredible place to be!  I would happily return there every day if I could.  Although I admit, I didn't love the bugs, haha.  We were told that there are plenty of snakes there as well, although they tend to avoid humans as much as possible out of fear.
• Our car broke down, so we spent an extra couple hours in the forest waiting for it to be fixed.  The man who led our tour took his motor bike into the closest village to get a new battery, and he brought one of the village men back with him to help install it.  Even though this could have been a stressful situation, everyone remained calmed and enjoyed the extra time in the forest.  Being there offered a great opportunity to reflect and play.  We even made a little dance video :)

It has only been four days, but it feels like I've been here for much longer-- in a good way.  I think a part of my soul has been residing here, waiting to be found, and I know that I will leave a piece of my heart when I go.

Let's all cross our fingers that I will have some good internet connection soon so that I can share some pictures!!

Best wishes!