Spiders are my Friend, Spiders are my Friend…

Anna and I moved into our flat at the Wa School for the Blind on Wednesday. Now when I was 11 years old saying I wanted to go to Africa I really did not realize all of what that entailed. After researching and talking to other people lives in Africa I realized I should start praying for a toilet and at least a well to get water from. I knew that electricity and running water is a great thing to have but for me not so much of a necessity. Sure they are great to have but I knew that the places I was wanted to go probably would not have these things.

Well, God answered my prayers! I have a great flat with a toilet and the well is right next door. It is a little place but it is great. It has a little sitting area with a love seat, desk, chair, and we got a refrigerator. There is a bedroom that has two beds and we have a toilet, shower and sink room. Now we do not have running water but the well is very close and Alice (the school helper) comes every day to help us carry buckets of water to our flat. She carries them on her head but as for Anna and I, we help each other carry one between the two of us. (Water is heavy.) There is electricity but it is expensive so we use the ceiling fan at night when we sleep and use candle light after 6:30pm because by this time it is pitch black outside.

Dinners with Anna can be very are romantic  Often we eat peanut butter and jelly with an apple. We will also have tuna salad with unions, tomatoes and hopefully soon the cucumbers will be good at the market. Once Wa is able to get some gas we will buy a small eye, or stove, so we can cook rice and will be able to have more food. The bread here is really good. Ghanaians really like starch so when you are asked what your favorite meal is, you say rice or potatoes and then the meat (chicken, but sometimes beef) or vegetable.

It is very hot here and very dry. It feels over 100 during the day in the sun. When you step in the shade it gets much cooler and it is bearable to be outside. You do not feel your sweat because it evaporates right away, due to the fact that it is so dry. Around 2 in the afternoon I bet I could crack open an egg and fry it on the cement or I could boil some water for hot chocolate but as much as I love hot chocolate I really would rather drink some water.

They do have popcorn at the market but no kettle corn. I brought some different seasons to put on the popcorn so when we pop it we can make it butter or cheese. But they do have veggies, jewelry and lab kabobs at the market.

As for the wild life in Wa… Well have you every read the book Charlotte’s Web? It is like that but with no fences. Goats, sheep, chickens, some ducks, a few pigs, spiders, oh and lizards (I know there are no lizards in the book but there are some here) all just roam around all over the place. The way you can tell the goats and sheep apart is by the tail. Goats’ tails are up and sheep tails are down and pigs’ tails do not curl here, they are straight. Yeah Wa is pretty much a large farm.

A pig family lives right outside out flat; Anna and I named the little one Wilber. We have a pet lizard in our room that we named Evelyn. There are a lot of Daddy Long Leg Spiders that live with us but we call them Charlotte to make them a little less intimidating. We keep them around because they will eat all the bad bugs that we really do not want in our flat. Spiders are my friend, Spiders are my friend, Charlotte is my friend; I have to remind myself sometimes…