Zebilla ♥️💛💚

    Eliza, Kim and I got up early to work out before breakfast. It is fun to already have some friends to work out with and stay motivated. There was a dead cockroach in my shower, and Eliza so kindly came and removed it for me before I had to shower. I could have done it myself…. but she offered. Even after my very cold shower I could not stop sweating. 

We all met for breakfast upstairs. We each got a roll, a fried egg, and baked beans. Together they made a pretty tasty sandwich! Some of us had bought mangos, and we also had those cut up for breakfast. The mangos were delicious! After breakfast we brought all of our suitcases out and Auyuba loaded them all on top of the van. The amount of luggage that he had to get up there made it a very impressive feat.

After all of the suitcases had been strapped down, we headed back to the Tamale airport. Two more fellows were arriving that morning. Luckily we also had a car because the van was completely packed. We picked up Kristen and Yvette, and they road in the car with Monty, one of our team leads. We were headed to Zebilla, but it is a really long drive so we stopped first in Bolgatanga. The estimated time to Bolga (what everyone calls Bolgatanga) was an hour and a half. It actually took us a little more than three hours to get to Bolga, so of course I had to stop to go to the bathroom. Luckily we were passing a gas station, and a few other girls also decided to go. The bathroom had cement block walls, and a little cement ledge in the floor, and then just a hole. We all were prepared with tissue and hand sanitizer, and then piled back into the van for the rest of the trip.

Eliza, and I had been sitting with another fellow named Lemora and we were having the best conversations. Eliza is a wealth of knowledge about science and animals, and Lemora is so sweet and kind. At one point Eliza was dozing in the middle and Lemora pointed out a termite home to me. Eliza popped straight up and said “About termites…” and gave us a number of facts about termites. Eliza is from Australia, and Lemora’s dad was in the military so she has lived all over the world. We talked about so many different topics and ideas. It was such a nice ride!

About an hour later we got to Bolga and stopped at Mama’s Place. It was a tiny little house that was a hotel. There were a few rooms surrounding a living room, dining room and kitchen. We had lunch here and it felt just like eating with your family at a holiday party. They had prepared rice jollof and salad for us. It was absolutely delicious, and we had watermelon, pineapple and mango afterwards. While we waited the group who was staying in the rooms came in. They were from a church and were on a service trip. They had a number of doctors and other people from various church positions. They were very nice, and one lady even got Lemora, one of our fellows tape because she had broken her toe. While we ate and hung out at Mama’s Monty took Janet to Afrikids hospital because she kept feeling worse and worse. When we finished eating two men, Mandela and Isaac, from Afrikids spoke to us about Afrikids mission. It sounded like Afrikids was doing a lot of amazing work. We will get to see some of their projects after we finish working in Zebilla.

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When Janet and Monty got back we piled back in the van to head for Zebilla. When we got close Katie, Keely and Monty our team leads had Auyuba stop at a little grocer so everyone could grab snacks. Everyone spread out to grab some snacks. I brought a ton of snack bars with me so I just got a small package of cookies for when I craved some chocolate, and a small pack of ginger cookies in case my stomach got upset. For the last leg of the trip a bunch of us had great conversations about books we love and shows we watch. I added a lot of things to my “to read” list! About an hour out from our stop the roads got really crazy. The road would go from very poorly paved to dirt, and back. The holes, were not holes like we would ever see on a public road in the US. They weren’t pot holes, they were border line craters. Drivers go back and forth to different sides of the road to avoid the holes, and it seems like the biggest vehicle just gets the right of way. Auyuba did an excellent job of navigating, and we safely arrived at hotel Amazin.

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After putting my things in my lovely room, with a giant bed, working AC, and clean bathroom, I walked back out to the entrance area. The hotel is surrounded by a fence and gate, and right outside of the gate are two pavilions where people come to sit and eat. As soon as I walked out some of the neighborhood kids ran over. They wanted to “snap” or take pictures on my phone, and one of the kids, Aaron loved my pictures from the plane. A few gently poked my tattoo and one even asked if I had done it myself. They were really sweet and respectful kids. I hung out with them until it was time to go in for dinner. We had a delicious dinner of noodles with vegetables (a lot like Lo Mein with thin noodles), and fried plantains. I think fried plantains is my new favorite dish. After dinner we all went to sit outside. The people working at the hotel played music and we stayed outside playing cards and chatting. Some of the teachers from the program last year came to visit. It was such a wonderful night and I am so excited to keep getting to know the people here. I think I love Zebilla!