It’s hot. My skin is sticky and I think I’m going to take one of those mid-day cold showers to cool off.
It’s always hot like this after a day of rain in Ghana. I’ve now been here for three months. I’ve had good days and bad days, but overall I am very happy that I chose to study abroad in such an interesting and culturally rich land.
Because of my dad’s career, I had a rather nomadic childhood, moving from place to place every six months. At the time, I hated how much we traveled. I wished that we could just live in one town and not have to move around all the time.
As a 20-year-old aspiring journalist, I can’t get enough of traveling. It’s funny how the things you hate about your life as a child become the things you cherish the most as an adult.
My longing to live in a third world country one day was born in the jungles of Belize when I was 17. I went there for one week of mission work and fell in love with the laid-back ways of the people there.
When I began entertaining the idea of studying abroad in college, I flipped through a pamphlet listing all of the places ISEP has to offer.
There were numerous universities in Europe and other places such as Fiji and Australia.
As soon as I saw Ghana on the list, I knew that was where I wanted to go. I’m glad I made that decision. This experience has taught me a lot about myself and who I am.
I’ve learned to think with my head and also with my heart. I’ve learned how to “rough it” and how to draw water out of a shallow well at night. I’ve also learned that people are the same everywhere and that our differences are only skin deep.
I have one month left in Ghana, and I have to say, I will be sad to leave here. I have met many friends and interesting people over the last few months, and it will be hard to say goodbye to them all.
I think it will be hardest to say goodbye to the children at the Peace and Love orphanage. Those kids have worked their way into my heart and I’m sure I will shed a few tears when I walk down that dusty street away from the orphanage for the last time.
I’m hoping to come back sometime over the next couple of years to do some volunteer work at the orphanages in the area.
With the fundraiser being mostly over, I’ve been spending most of my free time purchasing items that the orphanage needs.
On Friday, I had a fan installed in the nursery. I will be meeting with the electrician on Thursday to go into Accra and purchase four more fans that he will install.
I’m also working on getting a plumber to come in and fix the faucets in the bathroom. The remainder of the money will be used to purchase frozen vegetables and other nutritious foods (they have a deep freezer), as well as books and toys.
I would like to thank everyone who donated to the Peace and Love fundraiser. If you missed it, it isn’t too late. You can still mail in checks. Just check out my blog for more details (www.kimberfoli.blogspot.com) or drop me an e-mail (overmyhead333@yahoo.com).
I will continue to update my blog and upload pictures to it for the next month, so be sure to check it out if you’re curious about what I’ve been doing over here.

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