I think there was just a slight difference in the ground nuts from peanuts we're used to, but not much. They tasted almost exactly the same. Sort of like how they had millet instead of corn, just a slightly different type to fit the dry environment. (I was there during the rainy season and it was DRY!)
I went to Ghana with my dad, stepmom, and sister. My dad had traveled there as a volunteer teacher about ten years before that, and he's kept in contact with the one chief he met. He ended up going back several times to help out with the school there (it's a tiny village and the school won't get government funding until it's been running for so many years) and so he was doing that again. (We did some stuff as well, like fixing the desks in the school, but it was mostly my dad doing stuff with the chief.) I think he basically wanted me and my sister to learn more about the world and stop being the prissy princesses our mom raised us to be. I stayed there for a month and I definitely learned a thing or two (or twenty) about the world... I was sixteen then, still in high school. I definitely had a lot less sympathy for some of my friends when they complained about stuff, like my one "friend" (really didn't like her but she had no idea I guess, we were in the same little group though) was complaining that her parents weren't totally paying for her MacBook Pro... I was just like "grow the
**** up, you have the money to get it yourself, you spoiled brat." After seeing people living off of nothing and working their asses off just to have enough to eat, it just boggled me. (Not saying parents helping out financially is bad, just expecting them to cover a luxury when you can get it yourself... I'm completely reliant on my mom right now because of medical stuff, but she isn't responsible for fancy new gadgets...) Bleh, I just have less sympathy for "first world problems" so to speak. (PSH, I've turned into Nezumi...)
Uh, anyway, so that trip was definitely the biggest adventure of my life. We almost got involved with a war between tribes (the chief asked for my dad's help since he excels in war tactics) and I was totally willing to risk my life if it was going to help save more lives in the long run, but my dad was like "you should value your life more!" I was reminded of that when Nezumi says that to Shion about the blood serum... I think the funniest thing about it all was that my dad was super concerned about any of us getting sick, but he got giardia (I think that's now it's spelled) and an eye injury. I felt a little bad from the heat sometimes and sometimes my digestive system was like "what the heck is this??" but otherwise I was TOTALLY fine, at least until we went to Europe. (I had a really hard time in Europe, not so much in Ghana, which is the opposite of what I'd expected.) My sister had a panic attack when we first got to the little village, which we thought was a heat stroke, but I guess she just was freaking out because we had next to no communication with the rest of the world, no cell phones or anything... I think she's deeply afraid of death and so she was making herself crazy thinking of all the ways she might die there. The only time I was particularly scared was when I woke up a donkey on accident in the middle of the night on my way back from the bathroom. (It was a good thing it was AFTER going to the bathroom, hahaha...) My sister was with me and somehow she wasn't freaked out by the super loud donkey having a panicked fit and I was just trying not to scream. I was laughing about it as soon as it was over though. (Oh yeah, the language in Ghana is English, very little French. It was one of the few countries in the area that England tried to colonize.)
As for homelessness, it's pretty bad in every city in the US. Even in Ithaca where I used to live (it's a pretty small city as it is, closer to a large town) there were homeless people. The big problem is that in the US, once you're in poverty, you're pretty much out of luck. The "credit" system here is a confusing mess (which comes from specific credit card practices, paying bills on time, stuff like that)... You don't even start off with good credit, you have to work up to it. It's insanity. You can't even get a new car without good credit. Some of the really shitty used car places have signs outside them that say "no credit? no problem!" And in a lot of places here, you really need a car to have any kind of decent life. Only really organized cities have good public transportation. Even in Albuquerque, where you NEED a car because it's so spaced out, the public buses don't start running soon enough for some of the jobs the people in poverty actually need to get to. And then to get an apartment anywhere, you have to have documents saying you regularly make 3x the amount of rent... So if you don't have a job, you don't get a house, even if you have the money to start. Like I said, once you're in poverty, it's hard to get out... Even the homeless shelters aren't so great, the Salvation Army won't help Muslims or transgender people, sometimes gay people (not positive on that one but I wouldn't be surprised), and I think they're the biggest group in "helping" the homeless. Like if I didn't have anyone helping me out right now, I'd be living in my car. It's basically impossible to get anywhere without help. And without a college degree or some kind of certification, it's hard to get a decent job. The best one I ever got was $10/hour. And then when I was okay enough health-wise, I was working three jobs and splitting the costs of rent with a friend (I actually didn't know him beforehand, he was getting kicked out of his house for being transgender so I just told him to come live with me) and we weren't living in luxury, that was for sure... And on top of that, health insurance isn't available to everyone or even cheap for that matter, and healthcare basically run as a business. And without insurance, one medical can put you in debt for life if it's bad enough. They'll even sneak expenses for other people's treatments in your bill sometimes. It's super messed up... I'm on my mom's insurance until I'm 26, so I have to start figuring that out *cries* and filing for disability is practically impossible. Basically they deny every application the first time (no exaggeration) and then you have to apply again with a lawyer to argue your case. And without an "acceptable" diagnosis, the case won't stand. But to get a diagnosis, you need medical care. To get medical care, you need insurance. Without insurance, you need a lot of money. To get a lot of money, you need to be able to work a lot. To work s lot, you need to not be disabled. ...You see? No one can win. I'm really hesitant to even start that process because once you file for it, you can't add any other new diagnosis to your file. You could have lupus and file, then halfway through the process you could lose half your leg in an accident, but you wouldn't be able to add that to your file. You'd have to give up and start all over. And it takes YEARS... For me, I have diagnoses that won't be covered by disability. I have hypothyroidism, hypermobility, and fibromyalgia. The thing is, I'm pretty sure it's Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but it's so rare (more like missed by doctors) that the doctors I see who CAN diagnose it aren't willing to look into it. Even my physical therapist thinks it's Ehlers-Danlos, she's worked with people who have it and she's sure, but she can't actually diagnose it. That's probably the once shot I have at getting disability, getting that diagnosis. Makes me cry. ;_; But yeah... I was getting at that medical problems will instantly
**** up your life unless someone's helping you out a LOT... So a lot of homeless people are disabled, both mentally and physically. It's really messed up.
Oh man, sorry that got so long... Uh, anyway, I am very thoroughly enjoying my new volumes of No.6 because now I have that kiss scene and the dance scene in print. Now I can cry on them for real.
Okay okay, I gotta stop typing and head to my physical therapy appointment. The weather is getting bad today so I have to drive slower... I think it's going to snow right when I'm getting my groceries and coming back home. (Again, sorry for the long rant, but it's all horribly true.)