1. I can understand the point of rain dances now. Seriously. We have gone without rain for days now, I hadn't showered since Friday, and when the rain drops started pouring on the tin roof of the school, I literally made all the kids follow me out into the front courtyard and run and dance and flap our arms with joy.
2. You haven't lived until you've laid under the African starry sky.
3. Never will I ever complain about losing power for two hours back home. We have lost power three times since Saturday - I appreciate laptop batteries incredibly!!
4. We waste SO MUCH WATER. Seriously. Why do we flush every time we pee?! Water is so precious and so very few of us have the privilege of using clean water to wash away waste.
5. Dirt doesn't kill you. Spiders don't kill you. Leaving eggs out on the counter instead of the fridge won't kill you. Unrefrigerated cheese won't kill you. And sachets filled with water? They don't kill you either!
6. Any poop is good poop (sorry, but I'm being frank here!)
7.Canada is awesome. I'm serious. As much as I am loving Africa, and learning about a new culture here in Ghana, I am so thankful for my country and the freedom and blessings we have offered to us in our country. I've never felt patriotic until I've left. Today we taught the kids the national anthem for Canada, and my heart just swelled at the words to the song, words I'd heard a thousand times over before, but words that now carry so much meaning to me.
8. Living in a new culture takes a lot of grace, a lot of turning the cheek when they laugh because you said a word wrong, or when they look at you funny because you prefer salad instead of rice and stew, or when they laugh and tell you you have no idea how to do laundry because you rubbed your knuckles raw since you've never washed laundry by hand before. It's a lot of swallowing your pride ... which is a good thing!
9. God is not confined to the boxes we put Him in. He speaks wherever you are, through whatever you're doing, through whoever is around you. He takes brokenness and makes it beautiful. And He is near to us when we are lost, confused, broken ... especially in those times. He is my Home, my Shelter, my Strength.
10. Mosquitoes here don't bite like at home. You don't feel them bite, and most times they don't even itch very much - they just swell into that ugly, familiar bug bite.
11. In Ghana they call avocadoes pears. How interesting - needless to say we were a bit confused when Belinda said she was going to cut us up a pear to eat with dinner.
12. Speaking of food, Pineapples here are so much sweeter than ones at home (they are more acidic). Watermelon is ALWAYS amazing, and mangoes are the best fruit in the entire world. (Also just because it's always hot here doesn't mean that they don't have seasons for fruit - sadly they do. And mango season is finished).
13. It really does make more sense to call soccer 'football'.
14. We are overcharged for everything back home. Taxis. Cell phones. Internet. Food. It's ridiculous.
15. I am so enthralled by all the colour here. Colourful dresses. Red dirt. Green and pink and red buildings. Brightly coloured chickens and roosters that freely roam the streets. I am in love with colour - we need more colour back home.
And that my dear friends, are some life lessons I am learning here in Ghana .. so very thankful for all that I am learning and experiencing!
Love and miss you all!
Angie
I can't wait to see the paintings you create when you come back home....the beauty and colour that will come from your life and from your brush from these wonderful life lessons will be astounding.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing and I love you.
Tracy
Oh Trace! Missing you!! We need to connect on the phone soon.
DeleteLove you!