Differences

Obviously Ghana and the United States are not the same. In fact they are very, very different from one another. One difference is how much I love water here versus when I am in the United States. Maybe this has to do with the fact that we walk everywhere in the blazing heat. But this is not just any water, it is bagged water. Yes, all water is in little square bags. Each bag has 500 ml and you just rip a whole in a corner to drink. At first I was very surprised by the bagged water, however, after thinking about it bagged water makes a lot of sense.

The driving is always very different in foreign countries and that is no different here. Today as we took a ride in a taxi we found ourselves wondering if it would be safer to be walking on the side of the road, which we normally do, or riding in the taxis and other various transportation on the road. I am still a little undecided on this. I am not sure why, but it seems the driving ability always declines in other countries. Maybe it just seems more orderly on Main Street in Logan. Maybe I just don’t understand all the rules of the road here in Ghana. I just need to realize that just because there is a pothole there is no need to slow down. I am amazed that there are not more popped tires here as I somehow managed to pop two of mine on the freeway in the middle of Montana with no potholes.

The last difference that I would mention is the friendliness of the individuals. Everyone is so nice to us and to each other. I feel like in Utah you just don’t say hi to people you don’t know. Here everyone says hello to us and asks us how we are doing. But maybe that is just because we are white. So when I come home don’t be alarmed if I start talking to everyone.

Ashley P! 

African Hair

Yesterday, Rachel and I decided since we were living in Africa we need to get our hair done like some African women. My hair is now longer than it has ever been in my life and completely braided. It took like six hours and the ladies that did it for us spoke no English at all. But boy was it quite the experience.

For those of you that know me at all know that I love my hair. I know that it does not always look super amazing, but I try my hardest to keep it looking nice. But hair is very difficult to keep hair looking nice in all this heat and humidity. So braids seem to be a very reasonable solution.

Part of the process. 

Okay, but get this. We are sitting there just getting our hair braided and all of a sudden they pull out this flame. They basically ran every braid through the flame. I tried to ask them if it would damage my hair before, but I am not real sure they understood what I was asking them. But I just hoped that they wouldn’t do anything that they knew would damage my hair. So here is to hoping that my hair is not completely ruined when I take the braids out!

The flame! 

So far I have enjoyed having my hair braided, but I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. After they added all the new hair in my hair is much thicker than normal. I can barely even get my hand all the way around the pony tail. So I will probably just put it on the top of my head like every day. I am enjoying Africa everyday more and more!

All done! 

Ashley P! 

Sky View?!?! Say what?!?!

So you will never guess what I say today in the middle of nowhere, Africa. That’s right I saw the Sky View logo. I was like what is this?!?! But the school that we taught some business lessons in today had the Sky View logo painted on the side and I think is called the Sky View World Joy School maybe. It was pretty crazy to see something from home, in no joke the middle of nowhere.

I obviously had to document this craziness so I took a couple pictures. It may be true that I used to not like Sky View very much as they are the main rival as Mountain Crest, but it was almost surprisely nice to see something that reminded me of home. So here are some pictures of the school and also some of beautiful scenery I got to see on my 7 km walk today!

Ashley P! 

Obroni!

Everywhere we go people shout “obroni, obroni, obroni!!” Haha it’s like the greatest thing ever. That is about the only thing I know in Twi. Twi is the main language that they speak here in Abomosu. If any of you know me at all I am absolutely horrible at learning other languages. I took French for four years and still can’t say a thing. I am trying my hardest to pick some things up, but I think this heat is killing all of my brain cells.

The other new different thing that I experience on a daily basis is water in a bag. There is no bottled water here; instead all water is in 500 ml bags. It actually seems to be a great idea, as all the water you drink needs to be cleaned first. The bags are much easier to dispose of, versus a bottle.

There is just a little update on daily life here in Africa. Tomorrow, we are going to start teaching some of our business lessons. This morning we were able to go to a local school and assist with some teaching there.

Ashley P! 

For Reals?

Okay, I know I know I already posted today. But there are just some things in life that you have to post about! So get this today I road in a taxi with 12 yes 12 other people in it!! Haha it was so crazy!!  It was actually a little scary at first as I was the only person really in the taxi then all of a sudden the guy picked up tons of people. He just kept calling me white man then he was like o white women. I am pretty sure the driver knew no english and he was not very old either. In the back seat we had eight people  Let’s just say there was no personal space on that right. But I did get to hold the cutest little African child ever! When I get back to the states I am going to see how many people I can pack into my colbalt! It is going to be a party!

We got pictures with the sign that goes to our village that we are staying in. I haven’t taken very many pictures yet, but I home to start taking lots of them. I want to have this trip documented. So here are some pictures from today.

Home

Also it is really dusty here obviously. I just had to take a picture of how disgusting my feet were when I got back today! So here that is.

Ashley p! 

African Life

Not real sure why I named this blog post African life, as so far I don’t know a whole lot about the African life style. As far as I can tell it is real laid back which is fine with me. There is absolutely no stress here and it is the greatest thing in the world.

Yesterday, we took a little walk around Abomosu the village that we are staying in. All the people stared at us lots since we are the only white people in the whole village besides a few missionaries. It is pretty crazy being in the minority after being in the majority all my life.

We don’t have lots of plans for today yet, which is fine with me as we have lots of time here, so I am not worried about missing out on too much. I think I will read some more books today! I think that I will read lots of books while I am here so if anyone has any good suggestions let me know! I am kind of obsessed with love stories at the moment so send them my way!! Thanks!

Ashley P! 

Accra, Ghana

Well, I am now a sweating mess sitting in Ghana. Just to prove I am still alive I have taken a picture that you can see below. Please don’t judge as I have been traveling for over thirty hours straight and have finally reached the 80 degree weather and humidity. So greetings from Ghana!

So Beautiful! 

I am not sure what the game plan is from here on out, but I am happy to just go with the flow. I think that tomorrow we are going to journey out to the village we will be staying in, but hopefully first we can go to the mall! I love shopping and I especially love shopping in different countries! No worries I will probably update this blog lots, as I don’t have lots of people to talk to here yet.

Ashley P!