my hands hurt

First of all I would like to say thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has been emailing, mailing, "facebooking" and texting me. It makes me so happy to hear from everyone, and it makes me feel like I'm not that far away! I have alot of wall space so if anyone wants to mail me pictures, drawings, letters whatever I would love it! My address is as follows:
Rebecca Holloway-Nahum (You have to use Rebecca because I don't use Rebi here)
The Salvation Army Clinic
PO Box 14
Wiamoase, Ghana West Africa

Okay, now that I said that I can move on with this blog. So...the last time I updated I don't even remember what I was doing. Things tend to blur together here, so I will just say and do what I can. First of all, Eli and I tried to go see a movie on Wednesday last week and it was a really hilarious experience. For one thing, they told us the movie theater was "really close" to Kejetia, but in reality was like a 30 minute walk. So when we finally get there they are showing one movie "Action Warriors" haha...then these two guys tried to convince us to get come with them to another movie theater. "Come in our car..." then they got pissed when we wouldn't "We are just trying to help, and you are afraid of us..." What I don't understand is, can't they put themselves in our position? If I had gone with every man who has told me to I would have been dead by now. Anyway, we decided to skip the movie so we drank fanta and ate peanuts at her place...hoorah.
So this weekend Rikke, Eli and Liane came to Wiamoase and we had a nice obruni night. We tried to make cocktails but we all ate too much to be able to drink anything...so typical.
So Eli and I went for the "nature walk" behind our house (its seriously like a hike through the rainforest...ya my back yard kicks ass.) She asked me, "What are you happiest about here?"
So I thought about it, and I decided that I am happiest about the idea of me being me, and it being appreciated and valued the way I originally intended it to be. Seriously, I think I spent the last 2 years of my highschool life trying to prove that at least I meant well. Here, my word is just enough. My actions are just enough. Me as a person, is enough.
Yesterday, we started painting the malnutrition unit. And of course, because this is Ghana, it can't be like normal painting. No, no, no this is an adventure.
First of all I have to duel it out with the spiders that have claimed the room as theirs. Like I am seriously surprised that they don't pick up their shoe to crush me. Then we have to 'broom' the walls (dusting is obviously unheard of here.) Then we have to open the paint, which in itself requires my teeth, my feet and a plyer (sp?) So then we are ready to paint. And its great because we have paint rollers, but you know the plastic thing you roll it in to get paint on it? Ya, they don't sell those here, so we have to flip over a little table and use that instead. So we paint. The walls are so porous though, its impossible to just paint them...you have to a little "ramming the paint into every little damn hole on the wall" kind of thing. On top of it all, these rooms have no fans (AC isn't even considered an option) SO whether its 70 degrees or 99 (which is ENTIRELY possible) we paint.
So thats painting in Ghana.
But let me say, that beyond the problems and blisters and the fact that I feel like I get more paint on myself then the walls its really an awesome thing to be doing. I can actually see and feel the work I am doing for others. Like when I am covered in blue, I am covered in blue for a damn good reason. And when I can't walk in the morning cause my back hurts so much, I feel like that has a purpose.
So I get to work in the clinic tomorrow because I painted by myself today, so that will be nice because my blisters opened on my thumb and they are all blue and the paint stings them. The next day we are going to go to Boadi with Samuel to have him give us an estimate to build a new room for the orphanage. Then we are hoping a trotro for 6 hours to Accra (the capital) to spend the weekend being tourists. We might even get to go camping on the beach :) Plus everyone will get to be together again. ICYE kids are the best. Okay I always forget what I want to write, but hopefully everyone will get enough out of this entry (especially you, Mom.)
Love and miss everyone :)