I can't let this go .. I'm on my way

Sorry for the lapse in blog posts. I have been super busy and happy and wonderful and blogging is pretty much the last thing on my mind. Thankfully I have kept up with my journaling so that will definitely be of help when trying to catch ya'll up on my happenings. The past several week have been pretty amazing. I am enjoying some aspects of most of my classes. I am taking- The History & Practice of Islam, Psychology of Religion, Women & Children's Rights and Protections, and Personality and Behavioral Disorders. All of these classes fall under the religion or social work domain and are all at the 300 level.

The past several weeks have been filled with many exciting events including Valentine's Day, Lyndsey's 20th birthday, and a weekend trip to the Volta Region. On Valentine's Day, my friend Casey and I watched The Ugly Truth & Notting Hill(perhaps my favorite romantic comedy of all time- besides Love Actually) while the boys cooked pork shoulder stew. It sounded disgusting, but after dipping a piece of bread into the broth, I determined it was very tasty!

On Tuesday night, Casey was running a fever, so we headed off to the Nyaho clinic to get her checked out. After taking her blood & urine samples( I got to carry them down to the lab- I told Casey that makes us real friends now), they admitted her to the hospital and after a shot in the butt they began to treat her for malaria. Unlike the United States, they did not wait for the lab results to come back before they started treating her. I stayed overnight with her at the hospital and the next morning the doctor came in and told her that she tested negative for malaria- but that did not necessarily mean she did not have it. It was interesting hanging out in the hospital and actually being COLD for once & having access to weird American tv( some 80's films, bones, and friends). That afternoon I left the hospital and headed back to campus. took a long nap and then we all went out for Lyndsey's 20th birthday. We went salsa dancing which was super fun and then we went out to a bar place and had a yummy dinner. I had vegetables, french fries, and a virgin pina colada(healthy right? that was the only vegetarian thing on the menu). Unfortunately, Casey had to stay until Friday-thankfully a bunch of the awesome ISEP kids went to visit her.When I went back on Thursday this taxi guy tried to charge me 10 cedi for the cab sometimes I dislike being an obruni. When they finally let her go - she apparently had a bacterial infection- not malaria .

Last weekend we went to the Volta Region and spent time at Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary where I got to feed a wild monkey:)

After our time at the sanctuary, we headed to WLI falls. It was about a 45 minute hike to the falls. As soon as we arrived, I was in complete awe of GOD and his wondrous creation. The falls were absolutely breathtaking. Standing close to the falls with the wind blowing the mist over my entire body, I was in complete bliss. It was my own personal heaven. I wish I could have stayed there until it got dark, just to hang out by myself. I would love to go back with a picnic and a book and spend my day swimming in the falls, reading, and sitting in awe of my Father.

After our time at the falls, we headed to a place called Virgin Lips(weird name huh.. I immediately texted Alex once I saw the name of the restaurant) for dinner. The place played country music and served Ghanian food. I had yummy jolif rice(extremely spicy but my FAVORITE) and vegetables. We headed to our hotel, where several of us got single rooms which was an awesome treat:) I took a bucket shower, spent some time in the word, and read Eat Pray Love.

The next day we headed to Kente weaving village, where we got to spend some time learning how to weave- and played with several of the local kids!

After our time at the Kente weaving village, we headed back to Accra. Yesterday, Casey and I went and visited the Beacon House orphanage and signed up to start volunteering. Our trips to Kissemahn have left us very disheartened and we are currently praying about the extent to which we can be of service there. While I am certainly not going to stop going, I am praying seriously about whether of not I am supposed to be there for the majority of the semester. The majority of the trip I have tried to have low expectations, but when it came to volunteering at Kissemahn, I think I set myself up for frustration. I had several high expectations for what my time like there would be like. God has definitely challenged Casey and I a lot, and I ask that you would pray for wisdom and discernment as to where we should go. I am headed to the orphanage tomorrow morning for about 4 hours, and hopefully after another week I will be able to decide where I feel the Lord calling me to spend the majority of my semester( and where I would like to do my Odyssey project).

I can't believe that I have already been here 1 month and 3 days!! Time has flown by and while I don't like to think ahead, I already know that going back to Montana for the summer is going to be extremely hard. The friendships that I have made here are already so strong and I know that many of these people will continue to be a major part of my life after I leave Ghana. Last night we had a huge torrential rainstorm(water pouring down the stairs of our hostel and walking around it was extremely deep). A bunch of us hung out in the ISH cafe and as we watched the rain fall, played a game of truth for several hours. It was great to getting to know several of my new friends on such a deeper level- we laughed and some of us almost cried. I can't believe that I have been blessed with such a great group of people to share this experience with!!

I have been able to skype with several of you, but would love to see more of your shining faces. I usually skype late at night, because of the time difference, so please let me know if you want to set up a time!! I love you all!

peace,

kate

51 Books in 2011

So, one of my goals for this year was to read 50 books in 2011. Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a book when the new year started so I decided to do 51 since there was an overlap. So here are the books, I have read thus far. I would highly recommend all of them.

1. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green * the overlap book

2. Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

5. Sex God by Rob Bell

6. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson

7. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson

8. The Irresistible Revolution by. Shane Claibourne

9. Paper Towns by John Green

10.Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller * my 2nd read through

11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

12.Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

13. Eat, Pray, Love *2nd read through

14. Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

15. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

16. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen

17. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

18.Crazy Love by Francis Chan

19. Stones into Schools by Greg Mortensen

20. The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer

21. Radical by David Platt

22. Light in August by William Faulkner

23. All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown

Currently reading The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver & Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

Much love,

k

We need good friends to do good things:)

As I write this, the sky behind my back is almost completely black. The soundtrack of this blog is a combination of Regina Spektor & the pounding of the rain on the roof. This friends, is my first rainstorm in Ghana & I am currently tempted to run outside and play in the rain. Unfortunately, I must get to work on my Odyssey proposal & try to be somewhat productive. However, as soon as this school stuff is over, I will be outside jumping in puddles and playing with all of my fellow ISEP students in the rain. One of my favorite smells in the entire world is the smell of rain. As the scent of rain wafts in through the open window, I feel that something is right with the world again. Rain or any precipitation for that matter is one of the few things in the world that makes me feel completely at home. I am not a sunny weather kind of girl. My ideal day would most certainly be nestled inside my house, curled up with a cup of tea & a good book, watching the snow (or rain) fall outside. I certainly appreciate the sun- after all it is much more delightful to hike & camp in the sunshiny weather, but nothing will every make me feel at home as much as snow (or rain) does. I only wish I had my rain boots.

My first day at Kissemahn was absolutely amazing. Casey and I took a tro tro going the wrong way so it took us an extra 10 peswas and 10 minutes to get there. Fortunately, we did not make the same mistake on the way back. As soon as I stepped off the tro tro a little girl in a colorful sweater walked up to me, whispered obruni (the twi word for foreigner), and grabbed my legs in a giant bear hug. It was hard not to burst into tears on spot. Unfortunately she was not of the students we would be teaching. She was on her way to school with her mom and sisters. Casey got a big hug too, and then Eric met us to walk us to school. When we arrived at the school the kids were brushing their teeth, but as soon as they were finished they ran up and grabbed our arms to lead us to the schoolroom. We began the day by introducing ourselves to the kids and attempting to learn each of their names. They sang us a welcome song and then we got to working on our counting. Casey and I worked with the youngest group of children. Since we were thrown in to the class, we had to make up everything on the spot, which was fun, yet challenging. We are thinking of making some sort of lesson plan for next time. Thank goodness we came up with lots of different ways to practice our counting and writing our numbers. The kids were all SOO cute and fun, however, it was probably the most exhausting two hours of my life. It was difficult trying to keep all of the kids in their seats and paying attention. I don’t know how many times Casey and I said, “ Hey guys let’s not hit each other!” or “ Let’s all pay attention to Auntie Kate (or Auntie Casey).” My new motto for class is hugs not hitting!

At noon we had an hour and half break and Casey and I walked into the office and sat down on the couch and dozed off for a couple of minutes. We had lunch from a stand across the street, but since we vegetarians we ate just rice. I couldn’t eat all of mine so I let the kids finish it. One of the boys literally took the whole section of spicy chili sauce and put the entire thing in his mouth. This sauce is so spicy that if I did that I would most certainly throw up.

The afternoon was devoted to working on our ABCS. This section of the day was a lot better than the morning. I knew most of the kid’s names so I could call on them individually. Casey and I both took turns coming up with ways to work on our ABCS with the kids. Towards the end of the day I read the kids The Cat in the Hat. Casey followed up with Peter Pan & a book about space. For the last thirty minutes of the day all of the kids came together and a guy named Fire led all of the kids in music. It was so wonderful to hear all of the kids singing!! One of the songs that said “we need good friends to do good things" was absolutely incredible. Another song, talked about their love of Africa and used the phrase “Africa is a peaceful place.” I pray that by the time these kids are grown up it will be.

Our day at Kissemahn was absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait to go back next week!

GHANA week two!

Our second full week in Ghana was filled with the start of classes. I am currently taking four 300 level courses in Islam, Personality & Behavioral Disorders, Women & Children’s Rights & Protections, and the Psychology of Religion. I tried to take a dance class but they wouldn’t let me audit it the entire semester, so I was forced to drop it. This past weekend was filled with relaxation and fun. On Friday night a bunch of us hung out and watched The Tourist in the TV room at ISH. As I was walking up the stairs to the third floor I fell up the stairs-this would be the start of my weekend of falling. The next day Lyndsey and I walked to the IPO to try to get a good enough connection to Skype our parents. As we were leaving the IPO, my foot fell asleep and I literally fell over in front of about 10 Ghanaians. It was a very awkward fall because I fell sideways instead of backward or forward. Lyndsey couldn’t stop laughing and I am sure that all of the Ghanaians in the room thought I was pretty stupid. Way to go, Kate.

After my fall, we went back to ISH, took showers, and took the shuttle to our Welcome Durbar. It was an event held for all of the International Students. We had performances by a local group and several of the students and we ate a lot of really good food. Since coming to Africa, I have been following a vegetarian diet to try to allow my sensitive stomach to acclimate to the spice in all of the food. The problem is that I love all of the food and the spice my stomach however, does not. Red meat and fish always makes me sick at home, so I am going to try to avoid them. Hopefully I will get up the nerve to try chicken sometime this week.

After the welcome Durbur, a bunch of ISEP students went to stock up on some food at the night market and then we all hung out at ISH. I called it an early night because I had been having difficulty sleeping for a couple of days. Sunday was filled with some great time in the word, a lot of reading, and a “girl’s night out.” Lyndsey, Julie, Sarah, Caitlyn, and I all ventured out to Frankie’s – a place the guidebook said was good- which served a combination of Ghanaian, American, and Falafel. On the way there several guys came up to our taxi and stuck their hands in side the car to stroke Sarah’s hair and one of them grabbed my arm and scared me really bad. One of the guys grabbed Lyndsey’s and tried to kiss it. Over and over they told us they loved all of us. While I have had several marriage proposals and comments that I am “looking good” or “gorgeous” (let me tell you- I am neither of those things- as I am sweating all the time and wearing grubby clothes), this was my first experience with anyone actually grabbing my arm or touching anyone around me.

Last week Lyndsey and I got told we were looking good in our shorts and t-shirts and then some guy came up to us and asked us for our number or facebook names- did he know us? No. He just wanted to “be our friend.” Later on that same guy was driving and pulled over and got out of the car to ask us where we were going and if we wanted a ride. Then he wanted to know where we lived and what room we were in. We lied and told him ISH 2. Such is the life of a white American in Ghana. Luckily we have met several nice Ghanaians who make up for the few creepy ones.

At Frankie’s we all split a vegetarian pizza, which was one of the best pizzas I have ever had. Then we split really cheap dessert- a coffee cake that tasted a bit like tiramisu & almond torte from a bakery beneath the restaurant. Thankfully the taxi ride home was less eventual- although Rihanna’s Umbrella came on so there was definitely some singing going on that the taxi driver did not necessarily appreciate.

This morning I woke up and did laundry early. Here we have to wash everything by hand so it is best to get up early before it is extremely hot and get all the laundry done. Then I walked with Lyndsey to the dance department where I sadly had to drop my class, and then I walked over to the IPO hoping to send some e-mails out to the International Programs office, the guy in charge of my internship this summer, and to surf the net for job opportunities this summer. Unfortunately about 5 minutes after I got there, I experienced my first Ghanaian power outage. As I write this the power is still out (I am typing on a word document), and surprisingly I am not freaking out. I think that God has been giving me a lot of grace over the past two and half weeks. Thus far whenever something unexpected happens, I haven’t had a negative reaction. I have just brushed it off and moved on with my day. Everyone who knows me will tell you that when things stop working or can’t get done right away or plans change, I tend to freak out and get extremely frustrated. PTL (praise the Lord) this has not happened yet. It is only because of his grace and awesomeness that I have been so laid back here.

Tonight I am planning on working out for an hour & then going to a play with some friends. Tomorrow is my first day teaching at Kissemahn and I am beyond excited!! Casey and I are leaving ISH at around 8:50 just to make sure we catch the right tro tro to get there. I am so excited to get to meet all of the kids (I met some last Thursday when they came to school) and begin what I know will be a life changing experience. I really hope to learn a lot from these kids and I hope that by the end of my 3 ½ months here I will leave part of my heart behind with them. I know that these kids will become like family over these next few months and I am so excited to see all that God is going to do in our lives as we hang out together.

Please pray for this time at Kissemahn that I might be filled with patience and love for each and every child that I come in contact with & that God will use me in the ways that he sees fit. I know from my last experience in Guinea that they are going to teach me more than I could give to them, but I pray that I would be able to be the hands and feet of the mystery of Christ to each and every one that I come in contact with there, as well as here at UG.

“I have seen so many good deeds - people helped, lives improved - because someone cared. Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place.”

-Rosalynn Carter

P.s. I found a good area where I can skype so if you want to set up a skype date let me know:) I would love to see you all:)

a prayer..

Dear God,

Logically I know you exist…

I know that the way of Christ is the only true way to live

However, lately I have not felt you .. I haven’t really felt much of anything.. and I am frustrated…


I am no longer amazed by your grace.. I no longer marvel at your story ..

I don’t feel empty. I don’t feel happy. I don’t really feel much of anything.

I have been reading the bible more & trying to improve my prayer life..

I have been amazed at the life that shane claibourne has.. and I most certainly want to have a spirit like his..

I want to be passionately in love with you, my Savior.. I want to give my all to you.. I want to marvel each day at this life.. I want to be completely consumed by you..


I want to not only know that I must have compassion for others.. but to actually feel that compassion.. to feel that sorrow.. to feel that joy.. I want to be your hands and feet because I have to.. not just because I know that I should

I don’t want to be walking aimlessly through life.. I want to be alive and awake.. I want to feel everything..


Shake me up…

Awaken me from my slumber..

Help me to feel again

Help me to be amazed by your grace.. by your sacrifice…



Let me not forget to tremble….


You can have all this world just give me Jesus…

That’s all I want God.. just Jesus…

Perhaps my weakness right now is that I lack wonder .. I am praying for these feelings to return…. Greater than they have ever been…

Please pray…


Has anyone ever felt like this? Stagnant… longing to feel healed.. to feel his grace..

I hate this feeling.. it is worse than depression.. it is the feeling that you are missing something…

Missing the passion you once had.. the compassion you once had..

I feel that maybe this current problem is caused by the fact that life is good..

I don’t really feel the need for God… which I hate.. sometimes it drives me insane..


I want to be weak.. because when I am weak.. there He is..


Lord, bring to light my weaknesses so that I might find you there..

I want to be weak so that you can consume me with your perfect love..











Drown me in you…

Akwaaba, Ghana

I finally have a functioning, but very slow internet modem!!!

YEAH!!

This means that I will hopefully be able to blog at least once a week over the next three and half months.

My first week and half in Ghana has been absolutely incredible!! It has flown by so incredibly fast & I feel so blessed to be here experiencing Ghana with so many wonderful people.

Our first days here in Ghana have been filled with sweat soaked clothing, dusty red feet, water from the bottle, cold showers, trips to Cape Coast castle & Kakum National Park for the rain forest walk, the Ghanaian beach, vegetarian eating in a foreign country, doxy & b-12 induced stomach aches, mosquito bitten legs(over 20 bites on my left leg below the knee- thank the Lord they are starting to heal), dancing and clapping in church services, orientation lectures, fan ice(an amazing creamy treat) nights, mango, cooking meals in the ISH kitchen as a group, eating at Tasty Treats way too much, Twi, African dance classes, realizing the thousands of ways to cook plantains & which style we like to eat, lots & lots of rice, hanging out with our wonderful student guides, trips to the market, our first rides on tro tros, lots of group games & conversation, lots of great reading, the start of classes, and so much more.

Before coming here I was frightened that I would not love Ghana the way that I fell in love with Guinea. While these two nations are certainly different, I feel that Ghana has definitely started to capture my heart in a different way than Guinea. Ghana is a predominantly Christian nation & the majority of my ISEP group are people who are passionate about their faith. These next three and a half months( I can't believe it is less than 4 months already) will most certainly be filled with bible study(the girls are going to start doing one on Wednesday nights- I am so excited to have a community group here in Ghana:)), community, conversation, a lot of sweating, laughter, tears, volunteer work, and growth. Since being here my prayer life has improved dramatically and I have had more time to read a lot of the bible. Currently I am reading a Psalm & Proverb a day along with a chapter of Isaiah in the morning and a chapter of Romans at night. I am also reading a chapter of the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claibourne every day. If you have not read this book I suggest you check it out immediately. I read half of it a while ago, but stopped in the middle of it because of a trip. I restarted the book and six chapters in to I can say I have been challenged beyond my wildest dreams. God is doing some amazing things in my heart already & I can definitely see a revolution happening in my own spirit.

I want this time in Ghana to be one filled with spiritual discovery & service to those around me. I want to learn how to better love people & how to better glorify Christ in all that I do. Since I have been here my attitude about things has changed pretty dramatically and some of my actions have changed dramatically. It is amazing to me what God has done in a week & a half- I can't imagine what he will do over these next 3 1/2 months.

peace,

kate