10th March

Sooo I'm starting to feel like if I were to leave tomorrow this experience would have already been a highlight of my life. My goals in coming here, to help people who've been dealt a lot less than me and to experience a different way have life, have been more than fulfilled.

As promised, I'll start with filling everyone in on S.D.A. hospital - where I work three days a week. As a few people who've been to Africa warned me, healthcare here has much more lenient rules. Even though all my coworkers are aware that i am not a nurse, they expect me to learn how to function as one. Sooo I'm being taught how to set up IV's, give injections etc... This was at first scary but now I'm kind of excited to get good at all of it. The first time I watched someone giving an IV I did get dizzy... which was disappointing. I didn't feel grossed out but for some reason my body decided to drain all the blood from my head and I had to lay down for a while. Bleh. It was frustrating but I'm glad it happened now and not two years into nursing school. Since then I've been fine, but I'm worried it will happen again when I have to do it for myself.

There is also much much lesss attention given to keeping things sterile, or even clean. It has made me question all the paranoia about this in the US cause it doesn't yet seem like it harms anyone. I'm hoping I don't pick up too many bad habits for when I am a nurse in the states though. As for the people I'm working with, they're wonderful and very, very curious about hospitals in the US.

Another thing I want to share, is how absolutely wonderful my host family is. I am so glad that I chose to stay with a family instead of with other volunteers. I made this decision because I thought it would allow me to be more immersed in the culture, but the biggest benefit so far has actually been their emotional support, and the safe haven that their home as become for me. Because everything is still so foreign, my days are exhausting, and the Dadson's(my host family) made me feel comfortable from the beginning, so I am always looking forward to getting home at night. To tell you more about them, there is Mariama(mother), David(father), and kids David(13) and Sandra(9)...

David sr works for the electricity company here and so their home, car, internet connection, utilities and furniture is all directly provided by his company - talk about pressure to keep your job... He is very kind but pretty aloof when he gets home from work. I don't think his english is very strong, and women tend to play a traditional role here- taking care of cooking, cleaning and anything kid related, so I think I kind of fall under Mariama's umbrella of responsibilities.

Mariama is my favorite. She is one of those people who you can just tell is good natured when you first meet them. I could even kind of tell from over the phone. I feel comfortable going to her with anything, and I am so grateful to have someone here that can be that for me. Last night she had me fry the fish for dinner - bones, scales, head, eyes and all - and it was nerve racking but fun because Sandra and David helped me along. We also went on a reallyyy long walk together, because she takes them twice a week to try and get healthier. I'm excited to spend more and more time with her over the next few months.

Sandra loves to be around me. She teaches me clapping games, like miss mary mac type thing, whenever my hands are free. Her pronunciation of english is very poor, so i have to ask her to repeat things alll the time, but that doesn't stop her from talking to me. Sometimes her clingyness gets tiring, but she'll leave me alone if I tell her.

David has got a quiet confidence going on that I really like. And he's very protective of me, which I think is sweet. When I was washing the dishes he told me to leave the blender and the knives for him because he didn't want me to get hurt, and when he was showing me around the neighborhood he would pull me over when a car was coming and tell people who were marveling at me for my white skin to leave us alone - 'chalama' in dagbani. He loves football(soccer) and computer games and he reminds me of Paul.

They also have an older daughter, Dorin, but she is at boarding school so I have not met her.

Ahh I can't believe how much there is still to say after typing for so long. Times up again.
Tamale isnt much bigger than HF and i like that about it:-)

<33thanks for all the comments and love