Mom's thoughts after her visit

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So, as you probably know, my parents came to visit a few weeks ago. Since they've been home, my mom wrote down a few thoughts she wanted to share, so I let her post them here on my blog. I plan to post a blog of my own soon, it's just been a little hectic lately studying for finals... well that... and just being lazy lol. alright well i hope all is well with everyone back in the States! love and miss you all!
=p



Mom's thoughts:

Okay, we are back from our visit to Ghana and I have a few thoughts Lauren is allowing me to share on her blog.

First of all, who is that girl over there and what did she do with my daughter? The girl we were with is wise and confident and capable of finding herself around in a foreign land with strange food and scary water and a transportation system that is terribly confusing and intimidating. So where is that girl who can’t even make her own dentist appointment? Seriously, the experience was surreal in that Lauren became the parent and we the children. She told us where we were going and took charge of getting us there. She dealt with the hotel people, our driver, the waiters and you should see that girl haggle!


I want to say right here that Shane Smith is a saint. I declare him so. He watches after Lauren, listens to her wining and does everything humanly possible to keep her safe and happy. As the person who used to take on that roll, I know what that takes. I know she could have, but I wonder how she would have survived if he was not there with her. It is very good that they have each other to depend upon. It makes everything just a little bit easier and many things actually enjoyable. My hat’s off to Shane and I am so happy that he spent the week with us.


And you remember Lauren, right? A girly girl. She is never really into discomfort. She is the one who would be in the air conditioning when everybody else was outside. And exercise? Walking instead of riding? Not so much.


Now, let me describe the conditions she is living in. (Most of what she has written is understated.) The dorm (ISH) room is really quite comparable in size to her room at Duquesne. It has a closet, shelves; no dresser, however. But the kicker is there is no AC. Windows that open on opposites sides of her room and a ceiling fan. (But then the power goes out regularly but unexpectedly.) That’s it. And there is always dust - everywhere - coming in the windows and being tracked in on your feet. Bed sheets are always sticky and dirty. Everything you touch is gritty. It’s a lot like camping in a concrete cabin.


Then there’s the showers and restroom. Not bad as communal restrooms go - except for two small items: (1) no hot water, ever (2) no water at all, quite frequently. Again, that is tolerable, except think about the fact that it is hot, muggy, little ventilation and - how can I say . . . people are sick all the time . . . get the picture? Not pretty.


I can’t over-emphasize the heat. And you are constantly exhausted, hot, sweaty, dirty and miserable. Everything takes so much energy! When you consider doing something, you must plan: Do we have water? How far away is it? Can we walk or is it so hot we should take a taxi? Is there a safe place to eat? Do we have enough cash (cedi)? How is the traffic? How long will it take? Will we be back before dark? . . . Just a lot to think about and you need a certain amount of luck for everything to work out!


I have to tell you about the traffic and riding in a taxi. Since the traffic laws are really only suggestions, the ride can be rather disturbing. The horn is a critical part of the driving etiquette. The drivers have a language of their own using various beeping patterns. Beeps can mean “look out,” “go ahead,” “I’m coming through,” “can I cut in?,” . . . I never saw it used in anger and I don’t think they even know about road rage. The traffic patterns look like organized chaos. They are really pretty polite and everything works. We never saw an accident.


There is one huge advantage in the city that we have not seen here in the US - particularly here not here in Shrewsbury! That is they literally have what I call Ollie’s on legs. When you are driving through the city, you are bombarded by peddlers at every stop. You can buy anything from men’s cufflinks, chewing gum, breath mints, toothbrushes, etc. to fresh water, fruit, vegetables, peanuts and bakery goods to toilet paper, toilet seats, sneakers, dress shirts . . . it is truly amazing. And fun to watch. These people carry all this stuff on their heads and simply walk between the lines of traffic offering their wears. It is a little disconcerting when business is slow and they stop and just stare at you through the window without moving. Traffic lights can be very long!


I’d like to tell you about the food, but I am ashamed to say that we didn’t really eat Ghanaian food. You see, we were planning to be there for one week. My major concern was to not be sick for the whole week, so I was very careful about what I ate. Lauren took us to western style restaurants. The few things I did taste were spicy and very good. I was also very aware that we could not drink the water - you can’t have ice in your drink and you have to worry about your salad because the lettuce was rinsed in water! And is that last item that got me. We were eating dinner in the Novatel (which is a beautiful hotel and conference center) and I was enjoying my salad. It was the general consensus of our family that I was probably safe in a world class place like this. “Oh Mom, they probably use filtered water here!” just to quote one comment (from you-know-who). Well, without giving details, suffice it to say, I have reason to believe the salad was not washed in filtered water.


I should not leave out the really amazing stuff we saw in Ghana. It is a beautiful place. I took as many pictures of the trees as I did of the animals when we were on the safari. They are uniquely shaped (they say that is because of the way the elephants eat the lower leaves and branches) and very tall and full. Did I mention that we saw elephant in the wild? They were just lumbering along eating leaves and trying to get away from us. Lauren already wrote about the canopy walk. Can’t say enough about that! And the beaches are everything you could hope for - clean, clear, warm water and beautiful sand and lots of sun.


There is so much more. We had so much fun. There was playing cards in the hotel room every night, finding the iguana in the hotel bathroom (after Lauren squished his head by accident behind the door. Poor guy. Thanks, Shane, for rescuing us!), monkeys stealing toast off breakfast tables, the broken gas line of our driver’s car, the hour-and-a-half ride on the washboard dirt road, ant hills the size of a very large bush, wart hogs, beautiful fabrics and African art, custom made clothes . . .


Thanks, Lauren and Shane, for hosting us and making this trip possible - literally. We are so glad we came. I hope you enjoyed our time there. Sorry about leaving you with those colds and sore throats! You are going to have to get used to air conditioning again.
-Mary Anne

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