Arrival to Ghana

Here's my first update! I arrived in Ghana on September 6th in the evening. I stayed in Accra with Rebekah and our new friend Cynthia in Accra for several days to transition and I will admit this was very very very hard, but Cynthia and her friends were so loving and delightful! We also got to visit the Accra Temple and that was something very familiar to me that helped me feel secure in this new foreign land.

Then we took a V.I.P bus to Kumasi and caught a taxi (luckily with a driver who was from our destination) to Asamang to meet Mamma Doris! and Mamma Doris is the most darling and faithful women I have ever met. We are under very good protection and care at her home.

The number one thing I feel I have had to think about and manage since I've been here is Culture Shock. This has come mostly from my inability to speak and communicate in the Twi language. It makes me very anxious to think that I could possible enter a situation where I could not communicate. My imagination is a little wild. But! I had an experience that taught me that there is another language I am very comfortable with that the Ghanaians speak that is not English and that is body language!

Having a body is a universal on this earth and I am so glad! I feel that I can easily fall in love with the Ghanaians because I can communicate through dance, movement and the body. The other night a women came to visit with her three children and I spent a good hour stretching with them. They would just mirror my movements! (They would even mimic the sighs and "ah's" that came along with my stretching, so cute!) They even taught me the song that all the little children sing as they flock around us down the street..."Dance like a butterfly, Dance like a butterfly!" haha this made doing the butterfly stretch very meaningful and connective for us.

With culture shock I would like to share one insight that has really helped me cope with the stresses of my first real international culture experience. I have to repeat in my mind the advice my mother gave me when I left. "Don't spend even one moment wishing you weren't there, it's only a short time so make it worth it!"

One of the first mornings I woke up thinking, "How can I do this? Why am I here? What was I thinking? I didn't sign up for this! Especially these emotions!" But then I decided to jump off the hamster wheel of analyzing my emotions and find something that made me happy. And many of you may not be surprised to know that working at the toilet in the guest house and finally getting it to flush was the think that did the trick. Once I got it to flush after about 20 tries I felt so HAPPY!!! IT was the best feeling to master the toilet. So now if ever I feel the effects of culture shock, I just find a toilet to flush (which can be a challenge to find and makes it an accomplishment in itself to find one). It's all about focusing on what makes you happy!