Mood: cool
Hey yall,
Yep, I'm happy to report that I now have a part-time job. I found a job downtown working as a receptionist. I know, it doesn't sound too exciting but it's exactly what I wanted; I wanted a job that would pay good money and allow me to study at the same time. And that's exactly what I got. So I'm happy.... For now at least. This week was my first week and it went very smoothly. It feels like I've been at the company for a long time. During the last two hours of my shift when I'm studying, I just think about where I plan to be in the next two years- getting through nursing school and then securing a job at a hospital first and then moving into public health nursing.
As I sit in the office with it's more than 150 employees, I watch them walk past my desk time and time again. When I look at them they all look like zombies, staring at their watches and hoping the time will pass quickly so that they o home. Every time I see them pass I wonder if they are happy. Yes, they are making big money and buying nice things but are they happy in their soul? If you ask me, they seem to be doing the daily grind, running up and down, stressing at work everyday and sweating the small stuff, I think not. But any way, I just feel sad for them sometimes. Enough about this.
As I've written in the last entry, I'm taking classes over the session and I'm half way finished already. I have just one more week of the anatomy and physiology part 2 class and then the following week I'll start Chemistry 101 and a Psychology course. After all that is done, I'll apply to the program at the University of Maryland's Nursing program. I'm working hard to make sure I get good grades and get into the program.
Other than school and work, life is still the same: unintersting and filled with running around and studying. I need to make more time for a social life to hang out and have fun every once in a while. I think it would balance my life out a little more. It's always good to have balance. I gotta make that happen soon.
In all this business, needless to say, I still miss Ghana A LOT. I always wonder what I would be doing there at this moment if I had decided to extend for a third of fourth year. I really feel like I've made a much more contribution to the lives of others during my two-year service there than I ever have here at home in over 20 years. A couple of weekends ago I called my old colleagues there when I knew they would be having the support group meeting for people living with HIV/AIDS. They were so happy to hear from me and one of my co-workers I was very close to cried while we talked on the phone because she missed me. It was sooo touching. I got to talk to another co-worker, Margarette, who I became close with even though we were both limited in our ability to speak each other's language, it was nice to "talk" to her on the phone. I also talked to a school girl, Tuakom, that I was also close to while there. She's awaiting her junior high school test results to see which high school she'll get into. I plan on help her financially with school once she knows which one she'll be accepted to.
I just wish for one moment I could go back even if just for a day to see the faces of my friends and community members; to ride my bike through the town on the dirt road; to wake up to the beating of the school drum or children running past my house to get to school on time. Ohhh, my Ghana.
But I guess this week I've had my share of "Ghana flashbacks". The other day, I was walking from the metro to the office and a guy called out to me, "Hey lady!" When I turned to look at him, he said, "I love you." I nearly feel on the ground laughing. The only time I've heard someone I don't know tell me they love me was when I was in Ghana. I didn't know that happened here. It was really weird. Then today in the metro station, a guy was walking through the station with two bags on his arms and one on his head. I guess I had become so used to seeing it in Ghana that I didn't even think anything of it until a few minutes later when it registered in my mind that he was a white guy, lol. It was just funny how my perspective has changed. Earlier this week too I almost got caught in the rain without an umbrella. Lucky for me, just outside the metro stop a guy wearing a muslim cap was selling all kinds of things- bags, sunglasses, umbrellas- at a cheap price. Since the clouds were threatening to drop rain I decided to go ahead and buy one. The guy was selling them for only $5. I have no idea why but my Ghanaian skills came into play and I decided to ask him if he could drop the price of the umbrella. The guy couldn't believe his ears. He told me, "Darling, I can't come down off of $5." So I paid him the money. It didn't phase me much that he didn't come down on the price until later when I thought about it. Even if he did reduce the price, how much more could he come down on such a cheap price, lol. It's funny now that I think about it but it came so natural to me when I saw those umbrellas sitting on the table looking CHEAP as hell. Ha ha ha.
Any how. I hope you enjoyed reading this entry. Keep on the look out for the next one.