Learning Curve

This week was pretty rough! It was my first week completely settled into a daily living routine. I chose to do the home stay instead of living in the dorms. I want to know as much about the culture here and believe this is the best way to do so. So just like a rollercoaster, I locked myself in and am going through the ups and downs with no way to turn back.
The pros of Homestay:

• I have my own room and bathroom. (Great R&R time)
• I come home to a wonderful family who is loving and supportive
• I have 4 other international students living with me
• I get breakfast and dinner provided for me
• I have some friends that live fairly close to me 

Red Red (Beans & Plantains)

The cons of Homestay:

• I am a 45 minute walk away from campus (on dirt road next to open sewage might I add)
• The food definitely takes some adjusting to
• My room is like a sauna in the Sahara
• No Internet!

Its close, but this list makes it clear the pros outweigh the cons. Moreover, this list shows me that my obstacles in the homestay are more physical rather than the mental. These same obstacles carry over into everyday life in Ghana. I have truly enjoyed the people, culture, and way of life that Ghanaians have. But the heat, taxis ( ill explain later), bugs, air, Heat, open sewage, food and HEAT is what is making the physical experience so hard. It is so difficult to the point where these physical obstacles have become my mental battle. 

So why is the physical battle your mental battle Jordan? 

Well reader, it is because I must endure the physical pains to get to the spiritual gains; but the pains strain my brain making it hard to appreciate the gains. 

Soup with Fufu

You see the smell of open sewage is absolutely disgusting. To walk past it everyday destroys my appetite. Once I regain my appetite, I find myself eating food that smells exactly the same no matter what the dish is (no offense Mami your food is amazing).  And the food at school and on the street is a whole other story. I question the open market health code violations since the food's cooked  with the unique ingredient of the dirt between the woman's finger nails. If the open market has a health code, then what in the world sort of code do the people on the street cook by?  Cars blow fumes in my face as they play cat and mouse with me on the road. Taxis make a game out of honking at you to get your attention and kick up dirt as they pass. People trying to make a hard days work end up working my last nerve selling me anything under the sun. Yea...so it began to take a toll on me. 

So instead of thanking the Lord and praying in thankfulness, I was praying in questions and growing angry for the answers I didnt find. The anger made me frustrated. The frustration made me fatigued. Then the fatigue made me too tired to pray and read. So I sat........

And walked...and ignored, and only did what made me feel good. Days felt like weeks because of all the adjustments I made in a day. 

But luckily God blessed me with an Angel on this Earth who sent me a scripture (Joshua 4:1-9) that reminded me the path I walk on has red footsteps to guide me... I wasn't seeing red footsteps anymore. So I prayed when I was tired, read myself to sleep, and thanked God as I wiped the dirty sweat from my brow every morning. Now I see red footsteps again. 

Legon Campus Library

Mami (My Amazing Host Mother)