Here and There

About four days after my last post, I got slammed with a massive fever just after teaching lessons for the day. After a day and a half of nausea, chills, fever, and lethargy, I made the trip to the local hospital after some prodding by my host mother. Long story short, I took 18 pills a day for three days and made it out from the depths of malaria. I could venture into the boresome details, but malaria is about as common to the Ghanaian people as strept throat is in an elementary school, so no big deal.

Much more disappointing was that only days later, I had to say my first goodbye to the kids at the orphanage, as I prepared to travel to my new placement at a hospital in the mountain region. I left very downhearted, but I will be visiting the orphanage again on my last month in the country, so that was quite relieving. It was also quite sad to leave my friends and colleagues from the town of HoHoe, who unfortunately, will mostly all be gone when I make my return visit. The friendships I've had in this country are very comfortable and powerful, but extremely powerful. It seems as though all world-traveling volunteers share some personality trait that makes us all get along so well, and I hope that I can see all these amazing people again.

My new town of Mamfe is very nice in the fact that we are perched at just over 3000 ft. above sea-level, which means it is quite a bit cooler in climate. I actually have woken up cold once or twice . . . who woulda thunk it? My new roommates are nearly all british which meant that my fourth of July celebrations were a bit abnormal:

"Come on guys, its the 4th, lets go blow something up!"
"What's the 4th of July?"
"It's when we beat you fools in the war! Here, have a hot dog!"

(I am aware that the 4th of july is actually when we started the war, not ended it, so no one bother correcting me)

Regardless, we have a great ole' time after work each day, and I've developed a Brit-esque inflection to my speech patterns, as well as the worlds "Chaaarleyyyy" and "Cheers." Its also tremendously nice to live with people who I don't work with due to their placements involving building schools, teaching English, and coaching football (soccer). It gives us something to talk about each afternoon. Once again, I'm out of time, but I'll talk to you all soon about my new job, and my recent travels! (This is my disappointing attempt at presenting some amount of jaw-dropping suspense and deafening anticipation)

Hope all is well across the pond

And talk about one heck of a Tour de France . . . I'm almost glad that I can't see all the gruesome crashes.

Happy Father's Day!

Sorry about the belatedness, pops, it only means that Father's day is a three day celebration for me. Thanks so much for supporting this journey, both financially and emotionally, you're the best dad in the world!

Onwards, Life in the the Tropic of Cancer has proved to push me towards new levels of productiveness. Apart from 6 hours of work/day at the orphanage, I've been spending 4 hours each morning (6-10am) making rounds and taking vitals at the ER in the local hospital. The Doctor is very willing to explain the cases I don't quite understand, and he has even asked me for opinions on different cases. I have been here for 3 weeks exactly, and I've read 5 books, as well as covered 200 pages of a chem textbook. It's been so fun, though, even through the sweat and stress of it all!

We recently hiked to Lipke Caves, which was such an amazing experince. It took about 4 hours, and we saw 6 caves. The climbing/hiking was wicked. I start out fairly mellow, with a lot of scenic overlooks and wide open meadows. After a break about halfway up, Another volunteer, myself, and our tour guide all bet a beer on a race to the top. We started out so fast, and I was grinning like a fool due to the sheer madness of it. The three of us were literally blitzing through the African Jungle to the top of a mountain on the Togo/Ghana border. Needless to say, I made America proud and beat the Ghanaian tour guide in his own backyard. His name was also Joseph, and when he got the the top, I told him it was payback for Ghana knocking the U.S. out of the World Cup last summer. (Don't worry mom, I never actually got a beer from either of the losers). It was at this point where we began climbing in the caves. It was quite common to be perched on a 4 cm ledge, 20 meters above the ground, with no ropes, rocks falling all around you due to the other volunteers climbing with us, with bats whipping all around your head. All of this in the near pitch black of a cave. I couldn't believe no one feel. But that's Ghana for you, absolutely no liability or full disclosure of what your about to get into. I swear on my grave that our guide said "small hike" about 3 times before we started. Filthy liar, bringing shame to the name of "Joseph's" all around the world. It was still such a great experience, and I got some great Kodak Moments out of the afternoon.

Well, time's up again, sorry about such a short blog! I'll get a longer/funnier one up soon. Be sure to hug your dad's, and someone hug Fran for me if you see him.

Take care

The Eugmot Foundation

. . . is the Orpphanage where I will be working through June. I spent my first week teaching class 2, primarily the subjects of mathematics and science (Big surprise?). School lasts from 8:15 to 2:15, and the children get a break for breakfast and lunch. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am for my schooling. All six classes are taught outside (In 90+ degree weather) underneath 20'x70' tin roof. This means that not only am I required to keep the full attention of all the 10 year olds in my class, but I also must keep kids in different classes from distracting the children in my class. And, I have to speak loud enough for all the kids my class to hear, but not too loud, because I'd be talking over the teachers of the other classes. I have to keep all the kids' exercise books with me each night, because if we leave it with the kids, they will use it as toilet paper. To be quite honest, the conditions are a nightmare, but we're all doing the best we can. It ever rained last week, and we all had to squeeze inside the small orphanage building, where we all sat to wait out the storm in the dark (because the power also went out).

I worked with the kids for 2 days on the subtraction of 3 digit numbers, which they had been working on for quite some time, and they seemed to truly understand the exercises. We then moved on to multiplication, which none of the kids had ever practiced before. By friday, about 3/4 of the class could perform simple multiplication equations, so I already feel accomplished that when I leave, I will have done something worthwhile for these children. It's such a liberating feeling, actually DOING something in my life. In science, we spent the whole week covering the measurement of length, mass, volume, and time. I'm such a physics nerd, so I loved it! Towards the end of each class, I made up a game for the kids where we make animal noises (For instance, and monkey and a lion), then decide which one has more mass. It's so fun to watch!

Down time here is largely spent sweating. Sweating while running each morning, sweating during breakfast, sweating while studying organic chemistry and reading novels--you get the picture. But do get the opprotunity to travel on the weekends, as well as take off towards some afternoon adventure. Last thursday, the 5 of us drove and hour to Wli falls, where we got to hike a gnarly mountain and see/swim in Ghana's largest waterfall. Its almost 200 feet high! The beauty of it was just absolutely wicked. ACtually, the beauty of most of the country is incredible. I often look out the window from our taxi each morning on the way to work and swear that I'm in Hawaii--with the subtle yet steep mountains surrounding our village and the unnumbered shades of green staring back at me.

Hope all is well, I'll try and post again soon!

Accross the Pond

I have made it safely to Ghana, after many hours sleepless flights, non-airconditioned rooms, and an inordinate amount of time squished into 30 year old, 12-passenger vans with 17 people in them. And I must say, "It's bloody brilliant mate!" Africa is actually quite beautiful, due to the current spring season and the presence of subtle mountains surrounding our town. I am in a tiny village of HoHoe, which can be crossed in a mere 30 minute walk. I am currently working in the Eugemot Orphanage, spending time with 63 children, 7 fulltime employees, and 4 other volunteers. I came to work for the care project, which involves cleaning, feeding, and entertaining the children. However, upon my arrival, my supervisor told me I would observe the chiildren's classes on my first day of work, then teach for the rest of the month. I was very taken aback by this change of plans (I've never taught before!), but after watching the first class, the request became evident. Even though I am unqualified to teach math, grammar, and science, I am much more knowledgeable on all the subjects than the local, paid, Ghanian teachers. My stay has thus become a true test of resourcefulness, and I can only hope to succeed in this new task. I can say with fervor that we are truly lucky to have the live that we have, and I will share more about this as soon as possible, but my internet time is already about to run out! NExt post I will do my best to include pictures, but keep these children in your thoughts, and love the life you are given!

Miss you all!

A Fortune

"Sometimes traveling to a new place can lead to a great transformation"

Thousands of Americans glance at similar age-old adages everyday, as they munch away at a dry cookie and sign a receipt before leaving their local Asian cuisine restaurant. However, this fortune, gifted to me by my mother, sticks out. As we walked out of our favorite Peiwei last week, this proverb has been digested and stored in my mind much more efficiently than the egg noodles, broccoli, and honey chicken that was already on its way through my stomach.

This fortune has repeatedly resurfaced in my daily thoughts since, and I can only hope that my upcoming journey results in a great transformation. College has heaved a whole new realm of responsibilities on my shoulders, and now that our government has declared me an adult due to my age, it's time for the final step towards maturity. I can only hope that my experiences in an entirely different country, with unfamiliar faces, and unknown challenges can lead to this process. I can't thank all of you enough for helping me get to this point in my life. Both the quantity of financial gifts and immense words of encouragement have been incredibly humbling, and I'm honored to know all of you. All of YOU made this possible, and my biggest hope for this trip is to make all of YOU proud by working eagerly and efficiently by providing an extra pair of helping hands where they are needed most.

But the first facet of this journey is horrific: how can I make this mountain of folded laundry, coloring books, amenities, medicine, and textbooks fit into such a comparitively tiny suitcase. If any of you have any secret of how to cheat physics, I'd be delighted to hear!

Thanks for reading and come back often! The next one will be more funny, I promise.

Take care