Hello all!
Our war with the roaches is over....and ended with something very Hiroshima and Nagaski ish...
We have stepped in with RAID! And the retreating flanks were slaughtered by our allies of lizards and chickens....
I am trying to post a video documenting the war crimes Conor and I probably have to flee Roachetnam for...that is if there were anyone left in Roachetnam.
We have now established our own polite dictatorship in the roach free, though likely haunted now, outhouse.
In Conquest,
The Jessicat
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Nyive, Cockroaches, Libraries and Leonard McCoy
Ayah!
So much has happened since we've been to Nyive...I don't know how to cram it all in one post in the short time we have here.
Needless to say, we arrived safely to the village where we've been received very warmly. Conor and I have been given a house to share...and Conor was told that it was hers to use whenever she comes back to Nyive. For those of you who don't know Conor, she was made a village elder on her last trip here...this means she has a responsibility to keep returning to the village and working on development. Here, she is called Mama Yayira (partially cause they can't say Conor). They are still working on a Ghanaian name for me. For now they call me Jessi (which is easier than Conor) or Aku (which is the name given to all people born on Wednesday). We're also trying really hard to get the local language down.
Before I say anything else though, Conor and I would like to extend thanks to all the people who helped us get here. So many people have helped us in so many ways....some of them include:
Owm Delali
Sara and Paul Taylor
Sid and Cathy Copeland
Barb Taylor
Christina and Chacko Neroth
Alex Neroth van Vogelpoel
Mike Kokliaris
Marta Samokishyn
St. Michaels' K of C
St. Mary's CWL
St. Mary's K of C
St. Michael's CWL
John Dukelow
Cathy Cox
John and Linda Jansen
Monica and Blaze Taylor
Gloria and Hank Oostenburg
Margaret and Jean Talbot
Joan Taylor
Kendal Freeman
Stephanie Boisvert
Desneiges Seguin
Andre Paris
Chantal Gagne
Francine Quesnel
Daniel Hurtubise
Carol Kuzmochka
Clement Charlebois
Olenka and Peter Galadza
Robert Dale
John Gillions
Carolyn Sharp
Stephen Wojechowski
Antoinetts Bitar
Shalome Swinamer
Denis and Ann Falvey
Constance Cunningham
Emily Chartrand
Asni Mckonmen
Betsabe Chaires
Lynne Leblanc
Stephen Ernst
Natalie and Andrew Baginski
Fabrice Blee
Colleen and Rick
We're sure that there are many more names to add to this list....but since leaving Ottawa, we have been to Halifax, Lunenburg, San Jose, Thamesville, Rondeau, Dubai, Accra, Ho and now Nyive....some names may have gotten lost. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE mention them to me so that I can add them....I will add them as our trip goes along.
Everyone who donated to this project will be pleased to know that Conor and I have met with the NDA, reexamined our estimates and the school, travelled back and forth from Nyive for the past three days to get materials and pay for them and construction needed to finish the building should begin today (or at the latest tomorrow) pictures will follow!
Now...for the Story of the last week...
Our house in Nyive is beautiful to stay in. The temperature is nice and warm. Our only gripe is the bathroom outside. We have no problem with the bathroom until evening falls. We have a problem with creatures of the night that have nightly dance parties in our bathroom who scatter like underage teenyboppers at a rave when we shine the flashlight through the door. We have a problem with cockroaches. Not a cockroach.....many cockroaches....all of them running for the toilet (except one brave one that Conor brained with a flashlight...we think it likes her...she talks about it). We are also not talking about tiny cockroaches. These cockroaches are the size of our fingers, with big beady eyes. These Roaches are SOOOOOOOOOOO big, they have EXPRESSIONS. One of them might be kind of cvute....but there are soooooo many. This has resulted in a dash to get home before dark everynight, as if we're hiding from Buffy the Vampire Slayer villains. It also means that since we're still getting used to the food, we have to brave them anyway. Hence the fiasco of the last few nights...Conor and I taking turns while squatting and bouncing a flashlight around in strobe light fashion while calling out or responding to the lyrics of There Was A Great Big Moose while the other sits on a rock. Needless to say, our relationship has found whole new depths of intimacy.
Despite the malaria pills and having to get used to the food, the food itself tastes WONDERFUL!!! I love it! Its tasty goodness! I am less of a fan of some of the drinks they give us...they want to give us something special so they give us beer (which I don't like) or Malta (Guiness with no alcohol). I would kill for a pepsi on those ocasions. I am also not a fan of okra, which makes everything thick and slimy. According to Conor, there isn't a word for the goo in Okra but slime. It doesn't taste bad..its just very slimy....I'm gonna get used to it. But yes, food is overall WONDERFUL!
Leonard McCoy you ask? Well...It started with the new Startrek movie...if you haven't seen it, he was my favourite character. If you are a fan of the original series, that will do as well. Then the trotros...where it really started. With all our trips to Ho this week, we've been using them quite a bit. A Trotro is a car. It leaves Nyive whenever it fills up, so there is no set schedule. A trotro is a car that has seen many hard days and bouncy roads. It is rusted out, never has seatbelts (though you can see clips or bolts from years long past where a seatbelt may have one day been). It has no shocks and hopefully has breaks. It runs on stickshift so it jerks alot and occasionally makes uncomfortable banging sounds. Occasionally there is a feeling of being in a glass bottom boat, but there is no glass in the bottom, and seeing fish is more interesting than seeing the road. There is a windshield however...........and nothing to stop you from going through it.
This is not so bad in one of the back seats, but as we're guests, people keep trying to insist we sit in the front seat (which is supposed to be the most comfortable and nice). This has resulted in me feeling uneasy and pointing out all the terrible ways that we could die, including the liquification of our spinal cord as we go through the windshield. I discovered that I sounded a lot like Leonard McCoy...and thus adapted my complaints to his lingo. "Its worse than that! Its' interior is gone!". Leonard McCoy has since moved in to other parts of ourlives, including the war with roaches. "I'm a DOCTOR, not an exterminator!" (Roaches).
While taking a shower out of my bucket, I was thinking of Leonard McCoy and wanting to look up stats and absurd trivia about him....I,ve become a McCoy fangirl.....which is even weirder level then trekkie....any otakus reading this blog know what I mean. Aya!
Needless to say, I am attempting to find a picture of him to put up in our room. He's kind of become a patron centering point.
Anyhow...Its time to finsih up. Hopefully I can post pictures of the up and coming library soon!
Also! See www.ghanalibrary.blogspot.com for Conor's blog.
Bye!
Love,
The Jessicat
So much has happened since we've been to Nyive...I don't know how to cram it all in one post in the short time we have here.
Needless to say, we arrived safely to the village where we've been received very warmly. Conor and I have been given a house to share...and Conor was told that it was hers to use whenever she comes back to Nyive. For those of you who don't know Conor, she was made a village elder on her last trip here...this means she has a responsibility to keep returning to the village and working on development. Here, she is called Mama Yayira (partially cause they can't say Conor). They are still working on a Ghanaian name for me. For now they call me Jessi (which is easier than Conor) or Aku (which is the name given to all people born on Wednesday). We're also trying really hard to get the local language down.
Before I say anything else though, Conor and I would like to extend thanks to all the people who helped us get here. So many people have helped us in so many ways....some of them include:
Owm Delali
Sara and Paul Taylor
Sid and Cathy Copeland
Barb Taylor
Christina and Chacko Neroth
Alex Neroth van Vogelpoel
Mike Kokliaris
Marta Samokishyn
St. Michaels' K of C
St. Mary's CWL
St. Mary's K of C
St. Michael's CWL
John Dukelow
Cathy Cox
John and Linda Jansen
Monica and Blaze Taylor
Gloria and Hank Oostenburg
Margaret and Jean Talbot
Joan Taylor
Kendal Freeman
Stephanie Boisvert
Desneiges Seguin
Andre Paris
Chantal Gagne
Francine Quesnel
Daniel Hurtubise
Carol Kuzmochka
Clement Charlebois
Olenka and Peter Galadza
Robert Dale
John Gillions
Carolyn Sharp
Stephen Wojechowski
Antoinetts Bitar
Shalome Swinamer
Denis and Ann Falvey
Constance Cunningham
Emily Chartrand
Asni Mckonmen
Betsabe Chaires
Lynne Leblanc
Stephen Ernst
Natalie and Andrew Baginski
Fabrice Blee
Colleen and Rick
Tom Watson
We're sure that there are many more names to add to this list....but since leaving Ottawa, we have been to Halifax, Lunenburg, San Jose, Thamesville, Rondeau, Dubai, Accra, Ho and now Nyive....some names may have gotten lost. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE mention them to me so that I can add them....I will add them as our trip goes along.
Everyone who donated to this project will be pleased to know that Conor and I have met with the NDA, reexamined our estimates and the school, travelled back and forth from Nyive for the past three days to get materials and pay for them and construction needed to finish the building should begin today (or at the latest tomorrow) pictures will follow!
Now...for the Story of the last week...
Our house in Nyive is beautiful to stay in. The temperature is nice and warm. Our only gripe is the bathroom outside. We have no problem with the bathroom until evening falls. We have a problem with creatures of the night that have nightly dance parties in our bathroom who scatter like underage teenyboppers at a rave when we shine the flashlight through the door. We have a problem with cockroaches. Not a cockroach.....many cockroaches....all of them running for the toilet (except one brave one that Conor brained with a flashlight...we think it likes her...she talks about it). We are also not talking about tiny cockroaches. These cockroaches are the size of our fingers, with big beady eyes. These Roaches are SOOOOOOOOOOO big, they have EXPRESSIONS. One of them might be kind of cvute....but there are soooooo many. This has resulted in a dash to get home before dark everynight, as if we're hiding from Buffy the Vampire Slayer villains. It also means that since we're still getting used to the food, we have to brave them anyway. Hence the fiasco of the last few nights...Conor and I taking turns while squatting and bouncing a flashlight around in strobe light fashion while calling out or responding to the lyrics of There Was A Great Big Moose while the other sits on a rock. Needless to say, our relationship has found whole new depths of intimacy.
Despite the malaria pills and having to get used to the food, the food itself tastes WONDERFUL!!! I love it! Its tasty goodness! I am less of a fan of some of the drinks they give us...they want to give us something special so they give us beer (which I don't like) or Malta (Guiness with no alcohol). I would kill for a pepsi on those ocasions. I am also not a fan of okra, which makes everything thick and slimy. According to Conor, there isn't a word for the goo in Okra but slime. It doesn't taste bad..its just very slimy....I'm gonna get used to it. But yes, food is overall WONDERFUL!
Leonard McCoy you ask? Well...It started with the new Startrek movie...if you haven't seen it, he was my favourite character. If you are a fan of the original series, that will do as well. Then the trotros...where it really started. With all our trips to Ho this week, we've been using them quite a bit. A Trotro is a car. It leaves Nyive whenever it fills up, so there is no set schedule. A trotro is a car that has seen many hard days and bouncy roads. It is rusted out, never has seatbelts (though you can see clips or bolts from years long past where a seatbelt may have one day been). It has no shocks and hopefully has breaks. It runs on stickshift so it jerks alot and occasionally makes uncomfortable banging sounds. Occasionally there is a feeling of being in a glass bottom boat, but there is no glass in the bottom, and seeing fish is more interesting than seeing the road. There is a windshield however...........and nothing to stop you from going through it.
This is not so bad in one of the back seats, but as we're guests, people keep trying to insist we sit in the front seat (which is supposed to be the most comfortable and nice). This has resulted in me feeling uneasy and pointing out all the terrible ways that we could die, including the liquification of our spinal cord as we go through the windshield. I discovered that I sounded a lot like Leonard McCoy...and thus adapted my complaints to his lingo. "Its worse than that! Its' interior is gone!". Leonard McCoy has since moved in to other parts of ourlives, including the war with roaches. "I'm a DOCTOR, not an exterminator!" (Roaches).
While taking a shower out of my bucket, I was thinking of Leonard McCoy and wanting to look up stats and absurd trivia about him....I,ve become a McCoy fangirl.....which is even weirder level then trekkie....any otakus reading this blog know what I mean. Aya!
Needless to say, I am attempting to find a picture of him to put up in our room. He's kind of become a patron centering point.
Anyhow...Its time to finsih up. Hopefully I can post pictures of the up and coming library soon!
Also! See www.ghanalibrary.blogspot.com for Conor's blog.
Bye!
Love,
The Jessicat
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Dubai, fast food flirtations and marriage proposals
Gah!
I was intending on writing everything here that I wrote in my journal...but I thik my journal is going to be a little more detailed.
Conor and I departed on our Emirates flight. At first, it seemed like the most luxurious plane we had ever been on (and I guess it still is) but the glamour wears off fairly thoroughly after sitting in it for 13 hours.
We didn't sleep the whole way to Dubai.
Arriving in Dubai, there was no tourism information whatsoever...The closest we got to findig any was a sort of tourist map that we stole from a fancy 4 star hotel and I bell hop unable or too uncomfortalbe to answer our questions. Since there was no tourism information, we had to go where we were told at first. We were quickly ushered into a gigantic mall. Normally, I might have enjoyed this, but Radioshack and the GAP in Dubai is only as interesting as it is in Canada...or anywhere else.
We tried to walk elsewhere, but its not a very walking friendly city...they want you to drive. So we took our map and asked a taxi driver to take us to the gold souk. This is just a big area with a thousand jewellery stores (which was far more interesting than the mall), but none of the places for food that we were looking for. We ended up back at the mall, ate a large and scrumptious meal and encountered fast food flirtation. This concept may get its own post at a later date.
We went bck to the airport, planning to sleep...instead there was icecream, more fast food flirtation and wandering around. Apparently Dubai's duty free has won awards?
I slept the whole way from Dubai to Accra. We made it to Ho...we still haven't got to the village. From here, it is a half hour drive. We had a restless nigh, whcih would have been made better by the fan working, and awoke very early, very thirsty. We had an adventure getting water, had marriage proposals and are now going to eat breakfast.
Ciao for now!
-The Jessicat
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Arrivals
Not in Africa, but in the Canada place we know and love.
I've been in Ontario for a week now. I picked Conor up at the airport on Friday and we spent the May-2-4 Weekend out in Rondeau. It was freezing much of the time, but the weather and the sunsets were beautiful.
After a few days of relaxation, we began to Value Village and pick up the last of our odds and ends. We are also bringing along a book about Ewan McGregor motorcycling around Africa. Kie! Fortunately or unfortunately, the local people will likely be uninterested in adding it to their library.
And so we leave tonight!
We spent last night packing everything up and today unpacking it and repacking it. We've also done menial, but important, last miute errand type things.
A major plus to the day is that my mom let the younger kids stay home from school today. Unfortunately, between Conor and I wrapping up some last minute things and my siblings drifting to the computer and xbox, I'm not spending as much time with them as I would like.
So...I'm going to get to that...
-The Jessicat
I've been in Ontario for a week now. I picked Conor up at the airport on Friday and we spent the May-2-4 Weekend out in Rondeau. It was freezing much of the time, but the weather and the sunsets were beautiful.
After a few days of relaxation, we began to Value Village and pick up the last of our odds and ends. We are also bringing along a book about Ewan McGregor motorcycling around Africa. Kie! Fortunately or unfortunately, the local people will likely be uninterested in adding it to their library.
And so we leave tonight!
We spent last night packing everything up and today unpacking it and repacking it. We've also done menial, but important, last miute errand type things.
A major plus to the day is that my mom let the younger kids stay home from school today. Unfortunately, between Conor and I wrapping up some last minute things and my siblings drifting to the computer and xbox, I'm not spending as much time with them as I would like.
So...I'm going to get to that...
-The Jessicat
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Preparations Part 2
The next part of my journey is actually making it home to see my family. This is an example of me trying to get into the habit of blogging...I have about 2 minutes until my flight...so I guess this will be short.
For the record, my time in California rocked!
k...they are calling people on to my flight now.
Ciao for now...
-The Jessicat
For the record, my time in California rocked!
k...they are calling people on to my flight now.
Ciao for now...
-The Jessicat
Monday, May 11, 2009
Preparations
Alrighty....
So my current location is Sunnyvale, California, where I am preparing for our trip, working out lease stuff so that we have a place to live in September but most of all decompressing from the end of the school year.
Conor and I leave for Ghana in just 9 days!! Before then we have to pack, complete my driver's license, run around to airports, see as many friends and family as possible, send out many emails and notes and generally complete the "chicken with the head cut off" metaphor.
Something special about today? Oh! I took my first dose of malaria medication today....we'll see how that goes.
So my current location is Sunnyvale, California, where I am preparing for our trip, working out lease stuff so that we have a place to live in September but most of all decompressing from the end of the school year.
Conor and I leave for Ghana in just 9 days!! Before then we have to pack, complete my driver's license, run around to airports, see as many friends and family as possible, send out many emails and notes and generally complete the "chicken with the head cut off" metaphor.
Something special about today? Oh! I took my first dose of malaria medication today....we'll see how that goes.
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