Today, Curry and Heidi from Signs of Hope International left for Ghana. 3 down 4 to go! Last night I called Curry about some last minute things. He has been there many times and it was at his invitation and the invitation of the schools that we are fortunate enough to be part of this amazing experience! I was asking him about packing swimsuits and rain gear. Yes talk about two ends of a spectrum. The packing list we received from SOHI mentioned both. He said there is not a body of water that he would recommend getting into. As far as rain, he said, WHEN it rains it is still 90 degrees so jackets aren’t necessary. I told him that I had been looking up different travel sites that talked about Ghana and I saw some pictures of very large lizards. He laughed and said on one of his past trips a lizard gave birth on their front door and there were baby lizards everywhere! Then he said “Do you like spiders?” He actually sounded serious. I hardly dared to ask him, “Why?”
“There are spiders as big as your fist. They come out every night, the same spiders. You start recognizing them and naming them after a couple of nights. And you’ll wonder hmmm, where is that one?” I could hardly answer. I think I managed a very weak, “Oh good!”
Leah’s skirts arrived yesterday and then I found a great skirt in her closet… yeah, I didn’t think to look there. Luckily Old Navy is having a huge sale. 50% off the sale price! This trip brought to you by Old Navy, Ziplocks and Ebay Actually this trip is brought to you by real live Signing Time fans!! Every time I see that the Chip In meter has another contributor, I am so touched by YOUR generosity!
I only posted the Chip In donation meters 2 weeks ago and so far 51 people have donated raising more than $2,145. We have hit the 50% mark of the final leg! You can visit the Chip In page and see the messages some have left. You have kept me busy sending out “Thank you!†messages to each of our Signing Time friends. And I mean it “Thank you!â€
If you were one of the many who almost Chipped In over the past few weeks… maybe you clicked but got distracted, or planned to do it later, there is no time like the present. Chip In now and I might even name a fist sized spider after you!!!
Robi left for Africa today. Curry and Heidi leave tomorrow. They are all going in advance to have meetings and take care of some of the business aspects and formalities so that we can hit the ground running when we arrive.
I asked Curry, how we are going to get from the airport to Mampong, a one and a half hour drive. He said he will be picking us up in the Deaf School’s bus, if it is running. Why am I having flashbacks of “The God’s Must Be Crazy?” I can’t imagine it will be hard to spot us at the airport. Just look for a group of 5 sun-deprived Utahns… very pale:) It helps that Aaron is 6′ 5″ and sun-deprived. When we lived in CA and Leah was 2 years-old, I was always amazed that people would stop us in the store and say “Wow! Your daughter is SO WHITE! I have NEVER seen a child so WHITE!” I am not kidding, it was like a running joke. I don’t think you could get away making that comment about any color other than white though and I don’t suggest trying.
The flight from JFK to Accra is about 12 hours. I would love some suggestions of things to keep Alex and Leah interested and happy for 12 hours. I think our ipods last about 3 hours each. My laptop (if I bring it) will last close to 3 hours, ooh 3 hours of backgammon;). I know there will be movies, sleep, food and snacks… but 12 hours in the air? I picked up the 3rd Traveling Pants book for Leah as a surprise… she will devour it in an hour or two. I should have picked up the 4th as well… there is still time.
Yesterday Aaron and Leah completed their shots! Today I am ordering 15 family pictures at Costco. I am making copies of our passports. (You keep the copy on you at all times, rather than keeping the real thing – except for when you are at the airport, you better have the real thing). I will pick up 400 Signing Time temporary tattoos for the school kids. Doing wash and then spraying our clothes with insect repellant. Do you think I should spray then pack or pack then spray when we arrive in Ghana? I just don’t know.
A few days ago I checked weather.com for Accra Ghana. I was stunned to see highs of 91 and lows of 77 with 100% humidity. I don’t think I will be wearing my Signing Time sweater while we are there. We are basically going to live in a sauna for 10 days. Feel free to check out weather.com while we are traveling. You can see what time it is in Ghana. Ghana is 7 hours ahead of Utah.
Today I rationed out all of our food that we are bringing to Africa. We have dinners “catered” each night – I can’t wait to report on what they make for us. From what I hear it is mush and spicy stuff and always a hard boiled egg. Breakfast and lunch are up to us. I guess the easiest way to describe packing for this trip is to imagine a game. In this game you can’t bring chocolate or anything that will melt. You can’t bring anything that you don’t mind eating even if it is smashed to bits. You can’t bring anything that might pop or explode under pressure, turbulence and general baggage handling. Only bring things you are sure you want to eat even if they are warm. Bring small packaging, but not too small if it has extra wrappers. Think Skittles, not Starburst. Bring things that don’t require refrigeration… remember if the power is on for 20 hours, it will soon be off for 20 hours.
I had bought some dried apricots and dried blueberries as well as a huge bag of trail mix with dried fruit in it, but I realized the fruit will probably plump up in 100% humidity and end up moldy. I will return those tomorrow. Besides we can eat fruit there, as long as it has a thick rind that is cut off. We can eat bread there as well. We packed peanut butter and tuna fish and beef jerky as our main protein. I laid the food out for each person and then put 2 days worth of food in a gallon ziplock bag. That way we can grab a ziplock and toss it in our backpack every couple of days.
We can’t eat a lot of things. No vegetables unless thoroughly cooked. No thin skinned fruits. From what I have read it is best to consider all water polluted unless it is bottled and brought in from somewhere else like Europe. SO I am thinking no fish:) Most people can’t afford meat. It’s sort of like Survivor Ghana – but only for 10 days.
I found 3 skirts for Leah and 2 for me on ebay. Walmart had t-shirts for $2.50. I have 4 dark blue shirts and 4 bright blue shirts. When you see the pictures and it looks like I only have 2 shirts, just know I actually have a fresh one each day. Curry from SOHI suggested a shirt a day rather than doing laundry (BUT remember we don’t want to look like we have 10 different shirts). Our laundry would be done by hand by the girls (me and Leah) some locals would come show us how to do it, which by all accounts means scrubbing until your hands blister. In the humidity your clothes take 3 days to dry. While drying, bugs land and lay eggs, so you have to iron everything before wearing to kill the bugs and eggs.
Since we are there over a weekend, we will be able to travel. Now, Ghana is not safari Africa with lions, it is more rainforest Africa with monkeys. We will visit Kakum National Park When we travel we will be staying at a botel. Say hotel but with a “B”. You may be asking what is a botel? Well it’s a hotel over water and the best part is there are crocodiles in the water. (of COURSE there are!)
Remember when I suggested you ought to donate just to see what happens next… yeah that was before I knew we were sleeping over crocodiles…. LOL If you haven’t Chipped In already, what are you waiting for???
I am officially in the lead having received 6 shots total. 2 shots on Friday and 4 yesterday and I started my Typhoid series last night.
I went to the doctor to make sure that whatever sickness I have had since before Christmas does not need to medication. The bottom line: I am just fine:-) I am sure you are all happy to hear! (LOL) Since I had already paid my co-pay, why make another appointment for shots. I got 4 more shots and geez!!! that tetanus hurts today. I could hardly wash my hair in the shower! I’ve been playing Boxing on the Wii in hopes of getting it to move on through more quickly.
The funny thing is this. After my shots they sent me to the lab to have blood drawn (so I may be MORE in the lead than I am giving myself credit for) Don’t you think those blood test results might look a little odd? “Well Ms. Coleman it appears you have a touch of yellow fever, a dab of tetanus, just a splash of measles, mumps and rubella as well as a slight case of meningitis and hep A + B – no wonder you haven’t been feeling well! It’s a wonder you’re still alive!”
Two weeks from today we are going to be on the plane! I have been stressing out because I have been sick since the week before Christmas. It’s been one thing after another.
Aaron, Derek, Alex and Leah all started their typhoid medication last night. I didn’t start because I am going to see the doctor today and see if I need an antibiotic for what ever it is I already have. I can’t take the typhoid meds and be on an antibiotic at the same time. PLUS we start our malaria medication the day we leave. Can I effectively manage all of this??? Yes, I can:-)
(Oh, if you are not seeing any donations on Chipin, you just need to empty your cache. Keep on Chipping In!)
Actually this trip is brought to you by real live Signing Time fans!! Every time I see that the Chip In meter has another contributor, I am so touched by YOUR generosity!