Bugs (a lot) and electricity (not so much)

As anyone knows who has been reading this blog somewhat regularly, I am thoroughly enjoying Ghana. So much so, in fact, that I am trying to figure out how to hire on for an international assignment with IBM in Ghana. This is especially interesting to note given the fact that this week has been more “normal” than the first two weeks of bliss.

This week has been full of work and life, but it has been punctuated with bugs (a lot of them) and electricity (a lack of it). My first two weeks were the honeymoon period, where everything was perfect. I wasn’t getting eaten by bugs, we had consistent power at work and in the hotel, the hotel internet connection worked well, the food was delicious, the people were gracious, you name it.

Most of that is still true, with a few exceptions. Our internet connection has been flaky but still much better than I expected. I am still enjoying the food and haven’t had any issues getting sick. Ghanaians are still great even though I met a few people who wouldn’t be considered my favorite people (as with any group, some are great and some are not). But the notable changes are to bugs and power.

Maybe killing all those ants over the weekend (in self defense, they were biting me all over and I have the bite marks to prove it) ushered in a week of challenges with bugs for me. After making it 2 weeks with very few bug bites, I now feel like a bug buffet. I’ve been bitten by ants, mosquitoes, and a host of other bugs this week. My body doesn’t react that well to bug bites, so even simple bug bites swell, harden, and itch like crazy. I have cream with me that helps calm the itching and swelling a bit, but my legs are so ugly right now that people have commented on some of the larger bites. Luckily, the ant bite marks are fading (including the one on my arm that was so dark it looked like a mole), but some of the bites are in places that aren’t so acceptable to scratch in public…

Anyway, tonight, I had a new bug experience, aside from the bites. I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom when I saw something move in my closet (which, for the record, is NOT in the bathroom). I walked over to the closet to investigate, thinking there was a mouse or lizard on the wall. What I realized, however, was that it was the largest spider I have ever personally seen. I was caught between trying to take a picture (my camera was within reach), calling for help (late, so screaming for assistance wasn’t an option), and killing it. I don’t usually kill spiders. I let them live in my condo as long as they (1) aren’t poisonous, (2) don’t prance about when I have company, and (3) stay out of my bedroom. But this spider was living in my closet, and I didn’t know what kind of spider it was.

I grabbed my camera and tried to take a picture, but it moved further into my closet. Once it was out of my sight, I decided I better call for help to find out if it was poisonous. Given its size, a bite (even if not lethal) would not have been nice for my body. So I walked over to my phone and begged Nana to come help me. He came right away with a long spider stick (okay, I don’t know what it’s called, but you can see it in this picture):


First, I climbed on a chair to see if the spider had moved to the top of the closet. Then, as Nana was trying to convince me to go to bed so we could deal with it in the morning, we spotted the spider. As a native Ghanaian, he was not near as impressed with the size of it. But to me, any spider whose body is the size of a nickel and whose legs are larger than a silver dollar is large enough that I don’t want to have it living in my room. Nana killed it for me and I tried to take a picture, but it doesn’t do justice because some of its legs are curled up since it’s dead and the body is in the pinchers of the spider stick:


Thanks, Nana, for being my knight in shining armor tonight!

The other notable change this week, aside from bugs, has been power. We had consistent power for the first two weeks, and this week has been more challenging. Sunday, the salon was without power for more than 3 hours and it was hot. Monday, we lost power at AGI for several hours and even Ananda (from India) couldn’t take the heat. Tuesday, I felt like I learned the literal meaning of “jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire” when we lost power for hours at West-West (we finally gave up working in the burning hot office and decided to come back to the hotel, but first we got stuck in a stuffy truck that was even hotter than the office had been). Ananda, Rosa, and I have had plenty of laughs this week about heat and lack of power. But it also makes us appreciate even more when we have consistent power, like we do right now :)

So there’s my week so far. Good work with Multiwall and with West-West. Fun times with the team. Delicious food (including palmnut soup and pina colada soy milk today). A super cute new dress (more on that after Friday). Still loving Ghana. Despite lots of bugs. And not as much electricity as before.

Da yie! (Sweet Dreams!)