August 4, 2009: Funny Things Happen

Sometimes things happen that make you laugh. Having a good laugh in the morning can really make the day go well. Try it. Wake up and read something that makes you laugh and see how much different your day goes.

I have been having a few rough days. Internally I have not felt good and I have developed a small sore inside my mouth that pains me when I eat anything! I got it from eating so much of the hot spices here. The spices burned the inside of my mouth and left a small ulcer like sore. I had to pay 12 cidi for some orajel! WOW talk about expensive. But with pain like this I did not mind. I have not been able to enjoy eating and talking for the past few days..two things yall know I love to do.

Here are some funny things that may help you begin your day well.

1. My friend Keziah sent me a wonderful care package. She put in underwear, socks, gushers (my fav.), sour patch kids, deodorant, ramen noodles, pepto bismal, anit diarrhea medicine, anti itch medicine, little debbie cakes, and a bunch of other stuff that made me smile. So I decided to share a pack or two of the ramen noodles with Joel. I gave them to Joel before I went to bed for the evening. On the outside of the package it says Chicken. So he got the chicken flavored one. The next morning sola Mae asked me why I had given Joel some old chicken. I said I did not give him any old chicken I gave him some noodles. She said oh...well Joel took a bite out of the noodles and spit them out thinking that it was a biscuit with chicken in it. FML

2. So when we were traveling on the trip to the western region we went to a very small village. This village had about 100 people in it max. They lived off of farming coco, plantains and yams. We arrived there and met the queen mother who greeted us with open arms. They did not speak English or Twi but Sechwe. You know how sometimes you say yes even when you do not understand what you are being asked. You say yes partly because you want to make it seem like you know what is going on. Well...that came back to haunt me. Just yesterday we got a call from one of the city councilmen letting me know that he was almost in Accra to meet me..Justin. Mind you, Accra is about a 7 hour drive from the nearest city they are located near. When asked why he was coming to meet me he said he was bringing the child that I said I would take. Apparently, in my saying yes I confirmed that I would adopt one of the children and take him back to America with me to raise him as my son. FML

3. Peeing on the side of the road is very common in Ghana. People just stop whip it out and let it run. Men and women do this. In my opinion it is very disgusting and contributes to Ghana's problem with sanitation. In my opinion, Ghana's number one problem is sanitation. If they improve sanitation they can really move to help prevent disease and sickness due to major health problems. Well anyway, one evening at around dusk I was walking back home. I decided to walk because there was a lot of traffic and I did not want to sit in traffic for an hour to go 10 min down the road. The walk was about 20 min and so I began my trek with every intention of making it home so that I could use the rest room. Finally I gave up, I could not hold the pee in any more, I had to go. I think the juice I drank earlier was heavy concentrated and overworked my kidneys. Anyway, because humans are contradicting I decided to stop and pee on the side of the road like most Ghanaian men would do. I walked just off the main road, I whipped it out and began to pee. Moments later another man comes up beside me whips his out looks at mine and says "nice penis". I won't pee in public again. FML


I hope that this makes your day a lot better. Sometimes a good laugh can really go far. These stories are real and are about real people. Please folks, do not try these at home.

I am off to a day of learning about AIDS and Malaria in Africa. until next time...please find a bathroom.