Moving Day

The big day has arrived, moving day. I have spent the last month looking for the “perfect” place to move to. I did not find this place, but a room opened up at one of the cheaper guesthouses in town. And so I’m moving. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to retain my health while living in the bush, but my body is starting to feel like it’s being pushed. I also am really missing electricity, and the ability to be productive after sundown. However, I am also sad to be leaving. I’m not moving that far away, it’s only about a 12 minute bike ride, but it really is like moving to a whole new world in some regards.

Things I will miss about Sam’s place:

• Daily conversations with Sam
• Sam’s mother’s cooking
• The neighbour kids
• The bike ride to/from work through farms
• Sunsets over the maize fields

Things I am looking forward to experiencing at my new place:

• Running water (shower!) and a toilet
• New neighbours and friends
• Working at night if I need/want to
• Cooking for myself
• Being closer to town/work
• Not being woken up roosters and goats

Although I am every excited to have my own place, I am very thankful for the opportunity I had to live with a family, and experience rural life. It probably made my initial adjustment period to living in Ghana a little harder and longer, but I think it helped to build my understanding of and appreciation for the people who live here and face the challenges of inadequate water, sanitation and food on a daily basis. I have also learned to have faith in my abilities to adapt to new circumstances.

So, time for another tour:

Below: (L) My bed, and more importantly, a ceiling fan above the bed! (R) My dresser and mirror.

  

Left: Desk, which doubles as my pantry. I seem to only have one working outlet in the place, but one is really all I need!

 

 

 

 

 

Below: (L) My clothes closet, for the things I want to hang. (R) My housewarming present to self. An electric iron! I’ve never been so excited to iron. Strange how the things we hate become something to be excited about.

Below: (L) The closet. (R) MY BATHROOM!!!! YAY!!!

  

My new place has no cooking facilities, but I am lucky to have Adam, the Peace Corps volunteer in town, staying a few doors down. He’s built himself a nice little kitchen, and has opened it to me to use as much as I please. Yay!

Below, the first meal I cooked myself: vegetables that were cooked just enough to sterilize them and gari with lime and ginger. 

My Bike: I would also like to introduce you to my bike, Silver Spiney, aka Mr. Spiney. He is amazing. At first I was skeptical of his abilities to handle the roughed-up Ghanaian dirt roads, but he seems to be capable of many things despite being of urban, Asian-esque blood. The roads here, especially after a rain storm, are worthy of a proper mountain bike, however, Mr. Spiney’s resilience continues to amaze me. One important trick I’ve learned is that when you see a water-filled crater, do not slow do. If possible, gain speed and coast through as fast as possible. If you slow down and try to carefully navigate through, you will sink into the soil and tip, often landing with one foot in the puddle. This is then followed by immediate thoughts of Guniea worms and other parasites!

Ghanaians sometimes look at me funny as I seem to ride a lot faster than they do. I think, however, if you’re on a bike, it’s for efficiency, and so I try to be efficient. I’ve also learned how to jump curbs on it, again, getting a few strange looks, but alas. I still struggle, however, to ride it wearing long skirts, and sometimes end up hiking it up and/or riding the bike slowly/properly. I’m a little better than I used to be, but still have a long way to go. In speaking with my friend Becky today about it (met her on the road from market, she was riding wearing a long skirt while riding her bike), she says that you just get used to it. I hope so.