Agdatasia.

Sunday, August 22nd, 2008
Not everything can be sugar-coated. I remember Barb Lee (a sponsor of my SEAS study abroad program last summer) warning me about Africa,"Carly, you will have some of those days. Those days you will feel lonely, sad, far away. But just remember to embrace Africa. Wrap yourself in the culture and soak it up." And Barb, you're right, but yesterday was definitely one of those low days.

Yesterday, we headed back from Ada to Accra, after many long/relaxing/interesting days on a deserted island (our hut, #6, is pictured above, just to give you a little visual). It was a great trip.

While we were waiting for our tro-tro, I met Agdatasia (pictured above). She was so beautiful and loved sitting with me while we waited. We both drew each other pictures and spelled words in the sand, as her sweet, soft voice was sometimes hard to understand. She was the angel in my day. But after leaving Agdatasia, it was just "one of those days..."

Here's the "blog-venting":
(An excerpt from my journal last night)
Today was one of the lowest days so far...
-Haven't pooped in 10 days (don't know if this is blog-appropriate, but it's the truth)
-I have some sort of crazy leg rash
-Didn't get selected to be a National Geographic correspondent (I'll keep taking pictures anyway, Hakuna Matata)
-Talked to Maddie for the first time today on the phone, she sounded sad, so it made me sad
-Collin leaves for school tomorrow and I'm sad I can't be with him to send him off
-Haven't showered in 5 days
-Our pasta wouldn't boil tonight, but after about an hour of trying to boil it on burners that wouldnt heat up, in kitchen #3, it finally boiled (Greg brought Kenz and I chocolate--he's sweet)
-Had a total of 250 calories at most by 7:30pm in the day--not nearly enough
-Felt weak, lack of protein
-Class time-tables STILL aren't up today for 2 of my classes
-Walked around campus endlessly today trying to figure out my class schedule
-The water will be shut off in Accra on Tuesday for 10 straight days (on Ghanaian time, which probably means longer)--no water for showers, toilet flushing, etc.

But you know what, a rainbow always follows the storm, and despite all of that blog-venting, I am LOVING Africa.

God Bless Africa.