I'm back in Atlanta! My flight back was a perfect ending to a great trip. During my flight from Ghana to NYC, the Black Stars were playing the Yanks. The pilot updated us at every goal and our plane erupted in cheer everytime Ghana score; a guy on the flight managed to bring on board a vuvuzela (large air horns at the World Cup) and it made it all the better! As we were about to land, the pilot notified us that Ghana had beat the U.S. and it was a cool ending to my Ghana trip to have everyone on board cheering for Ghana.
One of my favorite things about Ghanaians is that they appreciate little things. As we landed, most people on board started clapping. As I thought about how I just flew 8000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean while sitting in a chair, I too joined in clapping!
I'm glad to be back at home in Atlanta and I'm very thankful for the great trip I had to Ghana. Let's go Black Stars!!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Out of Africa
I'll be leaving Ghana and returning to the U.S. tomorrow morning. I will be over the Atlantic, halfway between Ghana and U.S., during the World Cup match. I have both jerseys packed in my bag, we will see which jersey I have on when I get off the plane!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Days of Our Lives in Ghana
Here is what a normal day in Ghana (if there is such a thing) looks like for Lael and I.
5:00 a.m.: The first rooster crows, wakes me up, I grunt for a minute and go back to sleep.
6:00 a.m.: Random loud noises start to occur on our hall. Sometimes it is African soap peras, othertimes english lessons (I think) and also one of the rooms is being renovated near us so we hear glass breaking and cement pounding (why it starts so early, I have no idea).
6:30 a.m.: I get out of bed.
Breakfast: On a good day, we go to the mall or the canteen next door. I usually get a spanish omlette with toast. Lael always gets something caffineated and something sweet.
Transportation: It takes us 2 hours each day to get to Korle Bu Hospital, so we walk outside our hostel and catch a trotro.
A trotro is a bus that carries up to 25 people at a time. It costs anywhere from 20 cents to $1 to ride. It usually takes us about 90 cents for our 2 hour cross town trip. Also, it is safer and more reliable that Marta!
Once we get to Korle Bu, we get down to work. We spend the day looking for charts and convincing docs and nurses to let us look through charts. The hospital has been a neat experience, it is very different than what we see in the States.
We try to finish work around 3 so we can avoid traffic and eat a late lunch. Our staple food location is Barcelos. Barcelos is like Ghana Chick-Fil-A. We always get the chicken and chips and I always get a soda (the soft drinks here are awesome, they are made from pure sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup).
We also love the Very Peri sauce at Barcelos!
At night time we often go to Osu. Osu is like the Buckhead of Accra. We'll go there for dinner and drinks. The funny thing is that we eat Chinese A LOT!! There are Chinese restaurants everywhere and they are pretty cheap for the most part! They are also the safest place to eat vegetables. I literally have eaten more fried rice in Africa than I have at home or in China!
Recently we've been watching the world cup everyday! Before the World Cup, we would go out to jazz concerts and other events around the city.
There is no twilight (sunset) period here in Ghana. It goes from light to dark in about 30 minutes or so. It is usually dark around 6:30 and street/city life is a lot slower once the sun goes down. I usually hit the sack around 10 and look forward to hearing the rooster crow.
5:00 a.m.: The first rooster crows, wakes me up, I grunt for a minute and go back to sleep.
6:00 a.m.: Random loud noises start to occur on our hall. Sometimes it is African soap peras, othertimes english lessons (I think) and also one of the rooms is being renovated near us so we hear glass breaking and cement pounding (why it starts so early, I have no idea).
6:30 a.m.: I get out of bed.
Breakfast: On a good day, we go to the mall or the canteen next door. I usually get a spanish omlette with toast. Lael always gets something caffineated and something sweet.
Transportation: It takes us 2 hours each day to get to Korle Bu Hospital, so we walk outside our hostel and catch a trotro.
A trotro is a bus that carries up to 25 people at a time. It costs anywhere from 20 cents to $1 to ride. It usually takes us about 90 cents for our 2 hour cross town trip. Also, it is safer and more reliable that Marta!
Once we get to Korle Bu, we get down to work. We spend the day looking for charts and convincing docs and nurses to let us look through charts. The hospital has been a neat experience, it is very different than what we see in the States.
We try to finish work around 3 so we can avoid traffic and eat a late lunch. Our staple food location is Barcelos. Barcelos is like Ghana Chick-Fil-A. We always get the chicken and chips and I always get a soda (the soft drinks here are awesome, they are made from pure sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup).
We also love the Very Peri sauce at Barcelos!
At night time we often go to Osu. Osu is like the Buckhead of Accra. We'll go there for dinner and drinks. The funny thing is that we eat Chinese A LOT!! There are Chinese restaurants everywhere and they are pretty cheap for the most part! They are also the safest place to eat vegetables. I literally have eaten more fried rice in Africa than I have at home or in China!
Recently we've been watching the world cup everyday! Before the World Cup, we would go out to jazz concerts and other events around the city.
There is no twilight (sunset) period here in Ghana. It goes from light to dark in about 30 minutes or so. It is usually dark around 6:30 and street/city life is a lot slower once the sun goes down. I usually hit the sack around 10 and look forward to hearing the rooster crow.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Research Update
Quick Update: We finished our research at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital last week and today we finised our work at 37 Military Hospital. We have gathered a good amount of data from the two hospitals and will be analyzing the information once we get back to the states.
In addition, we have identified research needs and communicated with the right people to setup a larger research project for next year.
Mission Accomplished!!
We will be traveling the rest of our time here. I will be flying back to Atlanta on June 26th.
In addition, we have identified research needs and communicated with the right people to setup a larger research project for next year.
Mission Accomplished!!
We will be traveling the rest of our time here. I will be flying back to Atlanta on June 26th.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Ghana Ghana
We're on our way to watch the Ghana v. Australia match! The whole country shuts down during the game. Ghana Ghana!
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