Today was a day none would envy. I awoke at 5am and spent the entirity of the morning and afternoon at the hospital. After far too much time spent waiting, I was deemed malaria-negative. They ran out of the Typhoid test (different from typhus in that there's more fever and less icky mudbutt problems) but maybe it would have been unnecessary. With a light dose of Tylenol my temperature drops to a healthy 37 degrees Celcius and I feel great. Without it I have a rather persistent headache and general weakness. Perhaps I am experiencing a fleeting illness that should pass before any positive prognosis. Maybe the 18 hours in bed yesterday worked to alleviate my ailments. Whatever may be the case, the doctor still managed to prescribe FIVE medications, none of which I've filled.
Fun Fact: someone with Cholera can expel up to 20 liters of fluids per day that's about FIVE GALLONS! (When you spend the whole day in a hospital you end up doing a little medical reading...)
So Ghana is pretty cool, but it's main function in my life has been to force a deep appreciation for home that did not always exist. I can't wait to go back to school and learn! I've finally found out what miseducation and lack of education really means and it's awful. I asked one young Ghanaian who the president of America was and he responded George Bush. I asked him who was president before him and he said Saddam Hussein. I asked who preceded Saddam and he confidently declared it was Osama Bin Laden. People have told us that slavery was great because it brought blacks to America and Europe that have now become prosperous and rich. I've met people who greeted me warmly because I am white, and thereby, the color of God. Some of the things one sees and hears in Ghana makes one so very happy to be from America. Last night I realized that in working as a host at a small bar in suburban CT 30hr/wk I earn more in two weeks than a teacher here does in a year.
Perhaps it is the daily mangling of the English language or the regular onslaught of similarly jaw-dropping sentiments or maybe just the abundant downtime that is inherent in Ghanaian life, but I find myself reading with a vigor I've never previously experienced. Hemmingway, Grisham, Twain, Irving, Marquez, Koontz, Achebe...basically anything I can get my hands on. My greatest fear is that I will run out of worthwhile literature in the depths of the remote north and be forced to sit idly--the prospect is so frightening that I keep at least five books in my pack at all times.
But don't misconstrue my sentiments for those of the downtrodden. I am a little ill, which always conjures up nostalgic sentiments for home, but nevertheless I am eager to continue my journey. We are still headed for the Muslim north of the country soon and then to Mole National Park where I will be greeted by elephants, monkeys, baboons, crocodiles, warthogs, hippos and more. I'm so stoked you have no idea. There is so much of Ghana I have yet to see and much of the WORK I have set out to accomplished has yet to be touched. All in due time.
For those of you yet unaware of my plans, I am to be coaching soccer and teaching English for a month. After which time I'm off to investigate a seemingly worthwhile charity that I've come across along the banks of the Volta River. They send kids to school and teach their mothers a trade so that the children don't have to hawk goods on the street in order to eat. It seems well-intentioned and desperately needing foreign aid so I hope that my time will be fruitful and I can proceed to fundraise and write grants for them when I return. Back home the director of such an organization would hardly bat an eye at my presence--the respect level of respect that the perceived powers of the obruni can elicit is simply amazing.
For now, my immediate future is yet undecided. I know better than to travel with a fever, even if it can can be mitigated by acetometaphin. Once any and all ailments clear up I will once again be on my way in search of bat caves and waterfalls and mountains and monkeys. Until then I wish you all the best and hope that you remain both healthy and happy.
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