Ten Things That Make Me Happy Right Now!

 - Click pictures to enlarge them -
1. Kofi leaping into my arms and giving me a giant hug to welcome me home every night :)

(I'm packing him in my suitcase!)

2. Getting rides with my Uncle Kweku to sewing school. We go on the beach road it's comfier than the tro tro and I get to look out at the ocean and center myself for the day ahead. In school I'm currently working on a baby dress. Sewing school has been on hold for three weeks, though, while I work at the BASICS Vacation Program (another thing that's making me happy). The vacation program is like summer camp for while the kids are on break from school. I'm doing Soccer for Girls in the morning and Mixed Sports (Soccer/Volleyball/Lacrosse) for Boys in the afternoons :)

3. Being surrounded by doers. It's inspiring to know so many people who have put their great ideas into action. My friends Emily, Jeneni, and Lucie started an organization called Our Forgotten Families a few weeks ago and hit the ground running with it. My host brother Desmond has also started a project called 30 Free Websites for NGO's to aid in African development while raising money to fulfill his goal of studying in Scotland next year. At BASICS (where I teach) every staff meeting produces new ideas and leaves me feeling refreshed. We regularly have visitors from universities abroad like USC and NYU, donors (this week I met the family of the former Barclay's bank CEO), as well Ghanaians who inspire the children, such as the vice president's wife and footballers in Europe. Each of these people has taught me a ton.

4. Getting to know new people through my host family's NGO, It Takes a Village. It was founded by one of my family's old exchange students from Montana (Callie, who visited in January). ITV brings 10-20 students from Callie's high school to Ghana for a service trip every year over spring break. We stayed in my host family's home village, Ekumfi Attakwa, and spent the week digging the foundation for teacher's quarters near the village school and doing a few smaller projects. Then we went to an awesome beach for a couple of days to relax. It was weird being around so many other Americans for such a long time, but it was good because it made me think about what things will be like when I get back.

5. Looking forward to summer in DC and starting college. Receiving emails several times a week from UW - Madison makes me excited for all of the wonderful opportunities I'm going to have next year. As my time here starts to wind down (I have just five more weeks), life in America is feeling more and more real everyday.

6. Insanity! One of my biggest recommendations to any exchange student would be to stay disciplined about exercising while abroad. I saw a quote somewhere that said something along the lines of "exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant in the world today." And it's so true! I am on week 4 of the Insanity program, and it is probably the hardest workout I have ever done, but it makes me feel great. It keeps me focused and happy. 

7. My dad coming to visit!!!!! During his two weeks in Ghana we:

• sat on crocodiles
• stayed in mud houses in a teeny tiny village
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  • rode bikes through the bush with boys from the village as they taught us about medicinal plants
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• met a nomadic clan from Burkina Faso that lives pretty much in total isolation 
• bargained hard at markets in Tamale and Bolga
• took looooong, crowded tro tro rides squished between goats and chickens and people and babies

• saw eight elephants up close at Mole National Park (including the oldest one there)

• fed monkeys bananas from our hands at the Boabeng Fiema monkey sanctuary

• made new friends while staying at an orphanage for disabled children

BFFs, seriously :)

• rode horses around Lake Bosumtwe and stayed at an awesome guest house run by a sweet French woman and her rastafamily

• got a history lesson at Cape Coast castle

• relaxed among the rastas at Kokrobite beach
• went to the mosque with Auntie Aba

• taught my class together at BASICS

8. The return of the rainy season. When it rains in Ghana, it pours. At home, we set every bucket we can possibly find outside and then get totally drenched as we transfer water from the small buckets to bigger ones every time they fill up. Then we can dry off and nap or read to the sound of the rain on our roof. At BASICS, we play lots and lots of games...and complete impossible watercolor Obama puzzles :)

9. Having time when the power is off to read good books - Thich Nhat Hanh, Wally Lamb, Gillian Flynn, and Michelle Rhee recently.

10. Liking Ghanaian food! My favorites:

• waakye - a rice and black eyed peas mixture cooked with sorghum leaves. It is served with stew, spaghetti, fish, hard boiled eggs, lettuce or cabbage, and hot pepper sauce. You mix all that together with your hands and eat it out of a giant plantain leaf! (or a bowl if you want to be boring....)

• groundnut soup with omo tuo - A peanut buttery tasting soup (actually made from groundnuts, which are Ghana's version of peanuts) that can be made with fish, chicken, or beef (often a combination) served of short grain rice mashed into balls (that's the omo tuo).

Life is good!