In The Home Stretch! May 29, 2015

We are 42 minutes away from landing in Accra, Ghana! Last night I got a child's meal, because, come on, I'm still a child in an adults body! So, I got chicken nuggets, Mac and cheese, corn, animal crackers, and a water. 

My meal was definitely better than the adult meal! I got more things and the adult meal looked really gross. It was some kind of beef and chicken with pasta in a red sauce. Even my seat neighbor didn't eat much of it! If I didn't get a child meal, I probably would have gone hungry.

I took my medicine (and made sure to take the maximum dose of my sleeping meds) at around 8:00 eastern time (midnight Ghana time) and they kicked in pretty quickly! I was asleep by 1:30 Ghana time.

I was awoken shortly after due to turbulence, and it scared the crap out of me! I was awoken from a sound sleep and literally thought we were crashing! I didn't sleep well after that, because let's face it, sleeping on a plane in economy class is pretty much impossible. On top of that, my travel pillow is in the overhead bin, so I had to use the pillow Delta provided, which deflated (like Tom Brady's balls... Just kidding! Matt don't kill me for saying that...) whenever I layed on it!

I woke up around 7am Ghana time, and my spine hurts SO BAD!!! It feels like I have huge bruises on it. (update, I think it was actually from my backpack, not sleeping) I played a game on the TV screen, but I was so exhausted that it didn't work very well. Then I tried to go pee, but the line was so long, and breakfast was about to be served. So, I went back to my seat. 

I got the child's meal for breakfast, which was a good thing again! I had fruit loops, milk, and a banana, and I ate EVERYTHING (including the banana which I usually hate, but I needed the nutrients). The adult meal was a breakfast sandwich, which didn't look very appetizing at all! It was burned and the cheese was crusty. My seat neighbor only took 3 bites of it and then put it in the trash. They also had little crouton thigs with a cheese spread and a granola bar. My seat neighbor didn't want hers, so she was kind enough to let me have it. It was delicious!!!

Now there is 26 minutes until landing. Yay! Ghana, here I come!

Going... Going... Ghana! May 28, 2015

Today my father and I left the house in Sharon at 11am. We drove to New York City so I could leave from the JFK airport, and the drive went by surprisingly quick! We parked in the short term parking lot at John F. Kennedy Internationl Airport. We were planning on having lunch before I went to the gate, but unfortunately there were no restaurants until after security. We checked my bags at 3:45- one of them weighed 50 pounds and the other weighed 52 pounds. The lady was nice enough not to charge us $100 for two pounds! I hugged my dad goodbye and got into the security line. It took about 15 minutes total to get through security, but it would have taken longer if it was a normal security. This is the second time at JFK that I got lucky with this special security. You don't have to remove your shoes, laptop, or phone from your bags! All you have to do is put them completely full through the scanner and walk through the metal detector... It's SO easy and the line moves pretty quickly! Thank goodness it does because my bags feel like they weigh 2000 pounds! They even left marks on my arms and bruises on my shoulders!

After I got through security, I had to walk past 40 gates to get to my gate! I felt like I was going to keel over and die before I made it to the gate! It took me half an hour to walk from security to my gate, and I was walking pretty quickly. I stood to the side, and waited for them to call Zone 2. My mom called me while I was waiting, and told me that Michele and Kaylee had been trying to FaceTime me. When I was on the phone, I heard the gate attendant say that everyone needed a stamp on their boarding pass, which I didn't have yet. I quickly got off of the phone and went to the desk to get a stamp, and while I was waiting they called my zone to start boarding.

I got in line and got on the plane, and I was still struggling to carry my bags. When I got to my seat, a nice gentleman helped me put my 1000 pound bag in the overhead bin. I didn't even think my backpack would fit under the seat because it was so stuffed! Then I realized that there was someone in my seat. I told them that I was in 35G, and the lady in my seat pulled out her ticket, and it turns out she is in 35E, though I'm pretty sure she already knew that! The lady next to her then sat in my seat and I said again, "I'm in 35G" and she let me into my seat. She is from Ghana, but moved to Virginia 8 years ago!

We were then waiting for the grounds crew to fill up our plane with water. The captain came over the speaker and told us that we were ready to leave.

Not even 2 minutes later, he came over the speaker again and told us that U.S. Customs pulled a passenger from the plane, and that his 5 bags had to be found and removed fr the belly of the plane. It has been over 45 minutes and they have only found 3 out of the 5 bags!

The sights and sounds around me are fascinating. I see so many beautiful African people. I am one of less than 10 white people on the flight!

I hear English and another language (I'm guessing Twi) being spoken. I hear the lady to my left singing a song in that language. I can't wait until I'm in Ghana to see and hear even more new things!

It is now 6:26, when we were supposed to leave for Ghana at 5:05. I hope IVHQ is tracking my flight since we will definitely be arriving late. 

They just passed out immigration forms. 

We are finally leaving! I'll write later today!

Goodbye to Miss Kaylee for 11 weeks...

Ummm... I leave three days from today? What is Happening?!

This past weekend I went camping with my fiancé, mother, and her friend for Memorial Day weekend. My sister and my niece, Kaylee, were supposed to come camping too, but unfortunately they weren't able to come. Today I am saying goodbye to my niece for 11 weeks, and I am extremely sad. My niece is my world and it is going to be so hard to be away from her for that long. I'm sure that I will make some new friends at the orphanage that will remind me of Kaylee, and they will be my niece in spirit!

To My Love, Kaylee Lynn:

Nay Nay is leaving to go to Ghana to help some kids that need some love. I am going to miss you so much, but I will be thinking of you everyday while I'm gone. Maybe someday when you're older, you can come back to Ghana with me and meet my new friends! I'm sure they would love you and that you would learn a lot. If you miss me, just give the pillow I gave you a big squeeze and I will feel your love all the way in Africa. I love you so much baby girl, and I will never forget about you. 

Love you so much,

Nay Nay

Ten Days... Pink, Pink, Pink, Pink!!!

Pink is the Color of Love!

My mother, Jenna, and I got our placement for our Ghana trip yesterday! We are placed in the Pink Program (IVHQ has different colors for each program) which is in Dodowa, Ghana, Africa! We are so excited because this is the program we requested and we couldn't be more thrilled about being able to be in this program! 

The orphanage that we will be working in is called Potter's Village. It is about a 5 minute walk from our volunteer house, which is not bad at all! Other programs you have to pay to take a trotro to and from the orphanage every day. It adds up, so we are very lucky! There are about 90 children living at Potter's Village, ranging from the age of 1 all the way to young adults. 

The volunteer house, my home for 9 weeks, is actually not too bad. There are 3 bedrooms with bunk beds in them, a living room area, a bathroom (without running water... bucket flushing and bucket showers for the win!) with two toilets and a shower, a dining area, and a kitchen. We do not have to cook for ourselves, as we have a cook living on site! The difference from living at home to living in Ghana is a drastic one, and will take some getting used to. But, I will make the best of it, and it will be rewarding living like the Ghanians do!

Click here to see a video of what the volunteer house looks like (it has been updated a bit since this video was made).

I am SO EXCITED to be in Ghana, but I am also very nervous. I am nervous about missing my family and my fiancè, Matt. I'm nervous about being in a foreign country all alone. I am nervous about getting malaria or another sickness. I am nervous that I will not like it there, and I will be very homesick. I am nervous about being hit on by multiple Ghanian men (I read in my Ghana guide book that Ghanian men love to hit on white or "obruni" women and will profess their love for them and propose). I am nervous about not getting along with the other volunteers and there being drama there. I am nervous about not liking the food, and being hungry the whole time because of it. I am nervous about not liking the water sachets and having to spend a ton of money on bottled water. I am nervous about getting lost while traveling. I am nervous that the kids wont like me. I am nervous about having to get up so early to bathe and feed the children, that I will be asleep by 8pm.

No matter how nervous I am about all of these things, I am even more excited to have the opportunity to make a difference in these orphan's lives! I am excited to meet the children. I am excited to be loved by so many kids at once. I am excited to make friendships that will last a lifetime with other volunteers. I am excited to learn how to be on my own. I am excited to learn about the culture and history of Ghana. I am excited to try new foods. I am excited to travel to places that I have never been. I am excited to go to Mole National Park and possibly to see elephants! I am excited to see if I have the strength to be on my own for 6 weeks. I am excited to go to the markets. I'm excited to experience church in Ghana, even though I am not very religious. I'm excited to have clothes made just for me, from cloth that I pick out. I am excited to possibly have a drum made for me (thanks Jenna for the awesome idea!). I am excited to be able to experience this with my mom. I am excited to be able to live like the Ghanians do, so that I can be grateful for everything we have in America.

T minus 10 days until my life is changed forever!