February 9th
Last night was the easiest night by far for sleeping at the House. No one cried or coughed, Co-Joe didn’t pee or poop until 5 and then Ester didn’t wake any of the kids up or started beating them. Around 5 though we got up and started to fetch water because we were completely out. So it was pitch dark and carrying water. I got a little wet. We then had the kids bathe, brush their teeth and make their beds. I fed Co-Joe and bathed him this morning. He is such a cute baby. After, Theresea left to walk the kids down but I stayed a little after to help with the other kids with Annika. I then left to walk the rest of the kids. Getting home, it was a little before 8 and Mrs. Incoom was not yet awake, so I cooked my own oats and ate that.
By 8 I was leaving and getting on a tro-tro to Cape Coast. There, while I was waiting, I hung out with the kids waiting for the bus until I left. I then took a taxi for 50 pesewas this time… expensive… to the Hospital. It was quick. It only took an hour to get the results, get my vitals, and then wait and meet with the doctor. I feel good and back to normal because of time but the lab results also showed no growth because it was a culture test or something like that. He said, if it happens again, to just come back, which I will. I then left and took another expensive taxi and decided to go buy something.
I then bought some mini donuts holes, bought some soy milk and juice because only drinking water has started to get a little boring, so I will drink juice every now and then. I then bought some yarn so I could start making bracelets here. I then bought potatoes, 2 kilos worth, to cook for my family. I will cook fries, maybe mashed potatoes or really anything that I can do without wasting too much gas.
I then took a tro-tro where, of course, I met someone that helped me awhile ago and he was so friendly, as usual. It gets a little tiring having everyone want to be your friend, but I still like it. And then it was interesting. I saw a young girl and an old women today, at separate times, that … I forgot the name… but you are born without any pigments so your hair is white and your skin is white. But anyways, I saw two people that had all the black features of Ghana, except white skin. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to be in their shoes. To be born from black parents and come out white. Some would call it witch craft maybe, the kids pick on you, people take advantage of you. The list could go on and on. But it was different, because their skin was almost like tanned from the sun but not how I tan. It was actually quite a beautiful skin color. I then got home and the door was locked again.
I dropped my stuff off at Elvis’s place and headed up to the clinic for two hours and took vitals. After, I went back, ate fried yam and headed to the House. It was a nonstop day as usual. We brought about 10 kids to the clinic to see if the rash they had was chicken pox. It was not. Christy had some weird rash and they give her a shot for it in the bum and the rest of the kids had heat rash because the house it to hot at night and they do not have a fan. It is so frustrating that the kids are in so much that they can’t sleep at night because the heat rash hurts because they don’t have a fan. So I am going to talk to Elvis about it. Also, Co-Joe hasn’t been brought to the clinic in awhile because Elvis hadn’t informed anyone that we needed to bring hom for his immunizations. So he will hopefully get his Yellow Fever and Measles this Friday, permitting if Elvis is free to do so.
I then came home and showered off. It felt so good to get off all the dirt. Oh and at the House, before we left, this guy dressed like an American gangster, sorry to be so rude and blunt about it, but he had the gold chains and hankie around his head with a hat to the side, came up to Annika and started hitting on her. She pulled the whole “I only speak German” which made me laugh. But I was starting to get uncomfortable, and I could see she was too so I stepped in and had a very cold shoulder to him as I greeted him. He then proceeded to hit on me saying “We are one, we are one. You are very nice girl. Very nice girl.” But he didn’t mean you are kind, he had an inflection in his voice on the word “nice.” So I just stopped paying attention, and he left. The kids then started to laugh, and so did we.
For tonight, Annika and Theresea invited Elvis to dinner and then invited me to come. So we will go to Cape Coast tonight ,and I also plan on talking to Elvis as well. I am just so busy and so is he that I am having a hard time talking to him now. But I must try harder because Ester hit Junior today. Junior came up to Annika and explained that he was playing with the football too close to the fire where she was cooking that she got mad and grabbed his skin above his left nipple and twisted it. He said it hurt, and I looked at it. On own skin, it would have been red and glassy and almost a bad Indian burn. For him, his skin was glassy enough that you could see where she pinched him from across the yard as he played football with the kids. So I was so angry about that but I cannot talk to Ester because she doesn’t understand English. I have to talk to Elvis. So it has to stop. Well, I hope that I well be able to talk to Elvis tonight though.
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