I'm going to write briefly about Elisabeth because 1) I told her I would, and 2) I am very grateful to have her as my roommate for a number of reasons. Elisabeth is small in size, possibly weighing under 100 lbs. She makes me feel tall because she is only 4'9 and a half, but don't let her size fool you. She is one mean bitch. She will not hesitate to call you out or kick your ass, and I find that admirable (unless she does that to me). Lizzy is very talented. Never having taken African Dance before, she was chosen to perform with Kojo's dance troupe, and we were all blown away. Not only was she fantastic, she had malaria at the time! Do you know what malaria does to you? Me neither, I didn't paid much attention in Boylan's Microbio lecture. Anyways... it's been a blessing having to share a room with an angry lesbian. For Valentine's Day, she gave me a jar of peanuts and said, "These are the only nuts you need in your life!" which is a total lie but she meant well haha. All I have to say is NYU in Ghana did something right when they assigned Lizzy as my roommate. Everything here is wonderful. The people, places, food, classes, weather, etc etc. One must wonder why anyone would need to be in a relationship when he or she has jollof and FanYogo. Somedays are really good, and of course there are the days where I just don't have the patience that is much needed. At times, I hate going to Osu because merchants will see my pale skin (which is tanning nicely) and assume that I have money and want to buy all their goods. I like people, but sometimes I just want to be left alone. Luckily, I've learned all the Twi that I will ever need to learn ("I'm Ghanaian," "Stop! I don't like what you are doing!" and "I'll kill you").
Pale skin is a hot commodity here. A lot of times, kids will come up to me and touch me to see if I'm real. When they see that I am indeed human, they'll giggle and run away.
I'm kinda hopping all over the place here. On Thursday, I finally began my volunteer work at the Osu Children's Home (an orphanage). When I saw how simple the application process was, I was furious at NYU for not setting the appointment earlier and at myself for not asking them to. Anyways, it was an interesting experience-- one that left me more heartbroken than hopeful. The orphanage lacks staff, facilities, and supplies. Even more disconcerting was the lack of love and compassion from the staff members. This one little girl had the saddest look on her face, and she was kind of just left alone. It makes me so sad to think that many of these kids will not get the affection they need, probably because of the health risk it might pose. The artists of Accra just collaborated in this exhibit that tackles the issue of stigmatization of people living with AIDS, but I'm just not sure in certain situations (such as at the orphanage) if being cautious can be mistaken for stigmatizing.
I've been thinking a lot about the person I am and the person I want to be. I haven't made any definite conclusions yet, but in terms of what I want to do here in Ghana as well as wherever I go I have decided to follow this piece of advice from Principle Shapiro ("Our Children Are Dying"): Give until you are tired. Give until you can't give anymore.
