Hello!

Hello!
My name is Autumn Buzzell and I live and work in Ghana, West Africa with City of Refuge Ministries. Here, I run our school, Faith Roots International Academy, and get to be a part in rescuing and the healing of children who have been trafficked into the fishing trade, orphaned, abandoned, and those who just need a little extra loving. What an amazing gift this life is!

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Going a little buggy!

So, rainy season here is so far a pretty interesting experience. The days and nights are cooler, but when the sun comes out, it is extremely hot. When it rains, it pours and thunders and lightening and we almost always lose power (which pretty much happens every day lately). My room floods, I guess as a result of the wind picking up the roofing and allowing some water cascades to enter inside the room.

But, one of the most interesting parts of rainy season is the BUGS! We have these bugs here (I think they are termites or somehow related to them) and they come out after a big rain. They gather around any light and that means if my room light is on, they try to find ways to sneak inside--even if my windows are closed. They have four wings and their body is kinda like a little worm, though they do have legs.

Well, these creatures are just crazy. Their wings fall off so easily and with the THOUSANDS that gather around our outside lights, we are guaranteed to have a few fly into the bedroom and into the living room. The other day, Edwin thought it was so awesome to go chasing after them with his flipflop. I encouraged it as I hate the little things freak me out. They would fly into my room and hit the ceiling fan, their wings would fall off, and they'd be floundering on the floor just long enough for Edwin to come and smash him with his shoe (which was actually Portia's shoes that she'd left in my room--sorry Portia!). He probably caught 15 or so before it was bedtime and the lights were turned off and that meant no more bugs.

Last night was REDICULOUS though. I had my windows closed, so I only had a few come into my room, but the living room was getting filled with them and Nosa was running around trying to shut the windows and Justice and Edwin were running around trying to catch all the bugs. So, I decided to check outside. There were seriously THOUSANDS flying all around our outside light. Then, Atta, our security guard, pulled me over to see them all flying around our front security light. It was crazy. There were so many of these bugs!!!

This morning, on our walk to school, the whole road was covered with the wings of these bugs. And this afternoon when I was doing laundry, there was seriously handfuls of wings laying all over the ground, floating into my laundry bucket, getting on my newly cleaned clothes. It was out of control!

Worst of all, the Ghanaians (and apparently Nigerians too because John and Miracle have both commented on this) eat these bugs. They set out buckets of water under the lights to catch the bugs that get too close or lose their wings, then the next day--pluck the wings and fry them up some bugs. Micheal said I should try it, but I kindly said, "No, thank you!".

Besides the bugs, today was filled with anticipation for my mom coming. I think she had a bit of a hectic morning as she got a speeding ticket on the way to the airport and then had issues with an overbooked flight. She got on though and it winging her way to Washington D.C. as we speak. Can't wait to see her tomorrow! Hoping that she doesn't have quite the bug problem that I've had the past few weeks...we'll see what this rain does!

1 comment:

  1. Ack the bugs sound overwhelming. But... so happy your Mom will be there with you!

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