July 6, 2013
You must be on the
edge of your seat wondering how STARS turned out and what I've been up to these
last few months!
STARS went great.
It was at the end of May and, if you remember, I had just
come back from America. I definitely was not back in my Ghana groove and thanks
goodness it wasn't my job to interact with people cause I was in rare
form. I was surprised at how long it
took me to feel back at home here. Leaving the second time was almost harder
than leaving the first. Saying goodbye the second time was terrible. I came
back feeling almost as awkward and out of sorts as when I first got here. Thank
the lord that time has passed. I found my groove and now I feel right at home
lol.
Back to STARS. It went awesome. I spent all my time taking
pictures and interviewing people. Hopefully us media people got enough footage
we can make a super video for sponsors and whoever else.
JUNE:
I don’t think you guys know this, but I have spent the
majority of my time, since April, being infected at one time or another. It
started when I fell at a wedding (in my defense there was rubble everywhere)
and I busted my knee open. I’m pretty sure some heeby geeby got in there and
started messing around with my immune system. My system isn't really up to par
anyway, what with having to constantly fight off foreign African germs, so when
this thing attacked it wreaked havoc . Unfortunately for everyone involved, it
decided to make its presence known by creating boils on my poor shin, right
below my busted knee.
This is the first time, in my entire life, that I have had
to deal with boils. They are these huge, red, painful, swollen things that
literally pop up overnight and start draining infectious goo at some point. The
first one made my ankle swell huge so the PCMO (Peace Corps doctors) put me on
antibiotics and sent me home. 10 days later another came. Again, my leg swelled
up huge and I was put on antibiotics, kept a few days, and then sent home. During my stay they took some blood to look
for unusual things and nothing was found.
Then, I was headed to America and two
popped up right as I was stepping off the plane. On the same leg. Below the
knee.
I had every intention of going to the doctor when I was in
America, but when I pursued how to get PC to pay for it, there was a ton of
work involved and I only had a few days left in America (not enough time to
get, what sounded like a ton, of paperwork done). I figured I would just get it
thoroughly checked out when I got back to Ghana.
So then I get back to Ghana and the boils disappeared for a
while. My mom was nice enough to provide me with tons of vitamins to help my
body deal, so I’m sure that helped. Then, in the beginning of June I had
another one emerge….. out of nowhere.
I spent over a week in June at the med office fighting off
this infection (turns out it was unrelated and my body just is having a hard
time fighting off infections that like to show their ugly heads as boils) and
getting my mid-service medical check-up. I'm healthy enough, except for this
boil issue. I haven’t had infectious issues since June and lets hope it stays
that way. This is not something I want to deal with.
At the end of June I went to media training for about a
week. It was so awesome! I learned how to edit videos, take videos, do things
with pictures, and I signed up to help out on some upcoming projects. My first
big assignment (after STARS where I wasn't really sure what I was doing) is
Operation Smile.
Operation Smile provides free dental surgery (mostly dealing
with cleft palates) to third world countries. My job will be doing interviews
and collecting as much footage and photos as I can in 10 days. I am so excited!
Not only do I get to participate in amazing service, but I get to sit in during
surgeries doing something I am really starting to love. I CANNOT wait to get
started and see the finished project.
Another thing I haven’t mentioned……. I've been in Ghana a
year. I know, hard to believe I'm basically half done with my service. Ghana
has gotten its fufu covered claws in me and created a soft spot in my heart for
it. When I was in America, there were things I really, truly missed about
Ghana. Not to mention the people here. They have turned into my family away
from family. It was a small taste of what’s going to happen to me in another
year when it’s time to go forever, and I am not looking forward to it.
So what’s in store for the future? I have Operation Smile coming
up in the middle of July. The third term (meaning the end of the school year)
comes to a close in August. I don’t have many plans after Op Smile, besides
teaching and keeping up with my herbs (that’s right kids, I’m basically a
farmer!). Today I might make some pickles (I’m also a chef!) and wander around
my back yard J.
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