Bonjour Dakar!

I am spending my last week in Africa with a friend in Dakar, Senegal.  Dakar is the capital of Senegal and is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Africa and has the distinction of being the westernmost city on the African mainland.  Because of its location, Dakar has developed into one of the most important ports in Africa for trans-Atlantic and European trade.  The population is estimated at about 2.45 million people.  Dakar was a French colony so the people speak French as well as local languages, which is making traveling around the city interesting as I try to pull the little French I can remember out of my brain.

The modern feel of the city has surprised both Julia and I.  Dakar is actually a very wealthy city with over 1/3 of the population making more than the average American per year.  This can be seen in cars they drive, the fancy restaurants around the city, and the products that are being sold in the mall and grocery stores.    

Yesterday we arrived at 2am so we slept for part of the day and then went and bought groceries and had a mini tour of the city by a missionary that lives here.  I think I am defiantly experiencing some reverse culture shock, the entire day was very overwhelming.  The city is amazing and although there are still some parts that are clearly Africa, it feels like a western city.  There are actually lanes on the streets and people follow rules driving.  I was absolutely amazed at the things that could be found here in Dakar.  We went to an American import grocery store were both Julia and I were shocked about what you could find.  There was a whole isle of American candy and snack food, not to mention syrup, pancake mixes, Manwich, Olive Garden pasta sauce, American brand juice, etc!  It seemed like the entire day all I kept saying was “Julia!  Look at this; I can’t believe they have this here!”  We ate lunch in a mall food court which looked like any food court in America; I was amazed I was still in Africa.  So much more development, advancement, and wealth than you see in Ghana (even in the capital of Ghana). 

Today we visited the Le Monument de la Renaissance Africaine.  It is a large monument which stands 49 meters high (3 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty) and sits on top of a 100 meter hill so it is easily visible no matter where you are in the city.  It was finished in 2010 at the expense of 27 million US dollars.  There is much criticism of the monument especially surrounding the cost in a country and region of the world that is so economically depressed.  In addition, many objected to the fact that although it is suppose to show African pride and represent the new Africa after independence that it was designed by a Romanian architect and built in North Korea, a communist country with no freedom.  The local imams (Muslim leaders) objected to the statue since it depicted a half naked male and female figure.  Overall the statue is pretty impressive, although not that pretty.  We climbed 189 steps to reach the top of the hill and from there had a nice view of the city.  We then when up a tiny elevator and looked out over the city from the head of the man. 

Julia and I then visited the most western point of Africa and had crepes in a little restaurant where we surprisingly enjoyed free WiFi and a semi-ocean view.   I think that we will plan to visit this site again for dinner some night and watch the sun set over the Atlantic!

On the western most tip of Africa with the Atlantic ocean in the background!

Good-Bye BMC!

It has been over a year since I first arrived in Nalerigu and at the Baptist Medical Centre.  Today as I leave I cannot really describe what I am feeling.  It is bitter sweat . . . I am excited to go home and see my family and eat Chinese food, but I am feeling like I left so much work undone.  I am sad to say good-bye to people I have become so close to over the last year.

As this date has neared, I was starting to get trouble from some of the staff about leaving.  They would ask why I was going home and at first I told them I was going home to get a job and they would look at me funny and tell me I already had a job here at the BMC.  It was hard to explain that I needed a job that could pay my loans, etc.  Then Chief John (our X-ray and lab Tech) told me there were only two reasons people could return to the states.  One: To receive more training that they could then return and utilize at the BMC.  Two: To get married.  After that I have been telling everyone that the reason I was returning to the states was to get married.  That answer was much more satisfying to the Ghanaians and they would answer back, "Oh yes you need to get married and then bring your husband and child back to Nalerigu!"  (The fact that you get married implies that you will quickly have a child after.)

As I reflect back on the good, the bad, and the ugly of my year here in Ghana and drive away from the BMC for the last time for who knows how long I know that I will defiantly miss this place and these people and I am already yearning to come back.  Below are a few of things that I will and will not miss!

Things I WILL NOT miss:

1)  The constant drumming coming from town can drive one a bit nuts, especially at night when you are trying to fall asleep.  It is like living in a drum circle. 

2) Waking up to the Muslim call to prayer at four in the morning is not my favorite thing in the world, especially because I am really not a morning person.  Over the year, I have gotten used to it and usually I can turn over and fall back to sleep.    

3) Everything in Africa comes in seasons and that includes the bugs and other small animals.  Each season brought some new creature that always seemed worse than the last.  Beatles, scorpions, snails, spiky large caterpillars, termites, fire ants, earwigs, snakes, tarantulas, a super large and really fast spider that I have never been quick enough to kill, these giant worms, bush rats, and geckos to name a few have all made my stay here interesting.    

4) I have always been a bit of a tom boy and back home it is rare to see me in a dress or a skirt.  Here I have worn a skirt to work every day because it is culturally inappropriate for a woman to wear pants.  Although, I have come to appreciate wearing skirts a bit more (and will probably wear them more in the future), I cannot wait to get home and put on a pair of slacks for work.

5) Market is an interesting cultural experience, but having to buy your food from there is exhausting. I am so ready to be able to head to a grocery store whenever I want (market is every three days here) and not have to worry about bartering for my food.

6) The lack of entertainment . . . Although we have played some riveting games of Pictionary and Monopoly Deal, there is not much to do here in the Gu.  What I really cannot wait to do is go to a movie theatre. 

7) My twin bed . . . I have not slept in a twin bed since I don’t know when and I am constantly almost falling out at night when I roll over!

8) Feeling disconnected from the world . . . I am a bit of a news junky.  I used turn on the television as soon as I was home to a news station and let it play, in the car I listened to NPR, and at work between cases you would often find me on the internet reading article from some news outlet.  Here it is often days before I get the chance to check the internet for news, I feel like I am always playing catch up on the worlds current events.

9) Burning my trash!  I can’t wait to just be able to leave my trash at my curb to become someone else’s problem!

10) The heat and constant sweat coming from parts of my body that I never knew could sweat!

Things I WILL miss:

1)  Although I do not enjoy being woken up at night for emergencies, I have come to love the walk to and from the hospital at night.  The campus is calm and quiet, and although I know that my attention should be focused on the ground watching for snakes, I find myself always staring up at the sky where there are more stars than I have ever seen before.

2)  I have met some incredible people here that have given up the comforts of a western life to serve the poor of Northern Ghana.  The short term volunteers that have come and gone have all been wonderful to meet and work with at the hospital.  But it is the long term missionaries who over the year I have built relationships with that I will truly miss.  T and Julia Welch, Bart, Jane Anne, and Elizabeth Gibbs, The Coppola Family (Mark, Lynn, Sarah Grace and Elizabeth), The Hewitt Family (Earl, Mona, Emily, Abby, and Benton), and The Coram Family (Michael, Julie, Taylor, and Noah).  

3)  Wearing flip flops to work everyday . . . there is defiantly nothing better than that.  I was thinking the other day how I have actually not worn real shoes for almost whole year.

4) Being outside . . . Even when you are indoors here in Africa the way the windows are made it is very open to the outside.  Basically there is just a screen with some open slabs of glass.  Being here is a lot like how it was in back in college, I walk or ride my bike everywhere and as I go I appreciate the chance to be outside.  At home, I used to spend my whole day in the depths of the hospital and often never saw the sun (especially in the winter) because there are no windows in the operating rooms or ER rooms and patient’s curtains are often pulled tightly shut.  Going to lunch here is not running through a building down to the cafeteria, but a 5 minute walk across the campus, under flowering trees and blue skies.  I go from ward to ward though open air hallways and between operating cases I enjoy sitting in the theatre break room which is just enclosed by screens. 

5)  Rice balls and ground nut stew . . . yummy goodness in a bowl.  I was taught by a Ghanaian friend how to make the dish so I am hoping I will be able to find the proper ingredients in America!

6)  The patients . . . Although at times they can be incredible frustrating, for the most part they are kind and thankful for the care they have received.  They are poor humble people that when it really comes down to it, they are just trying to get by and survive the day.  Their smiles are incredibly large and beautiful (even the toothless ones) and I have enjoyed working with them throughout the year.  Laughing with them, mourning loss with them, and most importantly seeing the sick get well.  The most awesome thing has been to see patients walk into clinic after they had been so sick in the hospital.  There have been some that I truthfully did not think would survive and I just prayed they would not die.  Seeing those people in clinic always reminded me why I was here and why I was called to become a physician in the first place.  

7) The easy pace of life here in the Gu.  Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly busy at the hospital, but when the work day is done or the weekends are here, the pace of life is slower here.  There is no rushing around to appointments or engagements.   

8) Having a personal watch guard . . .  any time of night when I would come home he would jump up and walk over to make sure I got into my house okay.  It made me feel safe to know that he was around. 

9) The friendly greeting you get from friends and strangers alike.  Along this line I think I will actually miss hearing the children yell at me “Saminga Hello,” because that greeting is always accompanied by excited waving children with great smiles.