A Different Kind of Spiritual Experience

I feel a little bit like Jesus here. Now before you all start running around screaming blasphemy or heresy, let me add a little disclaimer. I am not in any way, actually, literally, saying that I am some kind of deity or supernatural in any way. I am also not mocking religion at all. OK, so now that that is all clear, let me go on to explain.

1. I finally understand why washing some one's feet was a huge deal in Biblical times. Yo feet get NASTY. And I say that with a total Ebonics accent. Try combining sandals, red dirt, and the start of the dry season. We are talking about dust city. It gets so bad that I cannot tell if I got a tan or am just that dirty. Yeah, no joke. I have to take a shower before I get to excited. "Oooh yeah, nice glow. Oh wait, nope, ah damn, just a little extra dirty today." It is also kinda funny because my feet are a little tanner than the rest of me because I wear flip flops but sometimes wear pants. So it is legitimately hard to tell. That will go on the list of top 5 unique experiences of Ghana.

So anyways, back on topic, I would kill to have someone offer to wash my feet. It would be glOOOrious. But no one wants to because it's gross.

2. There are animals EV-ER-Y-WHERE. It is not an uncommon occurrence to see goats, chickens, whatever kind of farm animal walking around like they own this place. Yesterday I had to wait for a ram to cross the path so I could keep walking. I feel like if I needed to borrow a mule to ride into Jerusalem, it wouldn't be that hard. Man possessed by demons? I might not be able to cast them out, but I sure could find a herd of pigs for someone else to cast 'em into.

3. I glow in the dark. Well, comparatively at least. I am so freakin' albino pale here that you can spot the halo of WHITE that is me from a mile away. Everyone here has natural camouflage in the dark, but me? No hiding. Nope. Worst player at hide & seek ever. German spotlight? Not even gonna try.

4. People stop me on the street to ask if I will give them medicine, money, kiss their babies, or autograph something. People even take pictures. They run ahead and announce where I am going. It is like being Jake Gyllenhall in an all girls Catholic middle school.

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Another reason I used this title is because I am reading a book I found in Molly's room about this woman who goes to India on a search for self-discovery in an Ashram and studies with a Guru. It's really cool. She talks about all these mystical experiences where she travels through the light and finds her inner energy and the divine within herself. Pretty crack-pot-esque, but very similar to the trippy dreams I am having from my Mefloquine. A word of advice: Do not take this drug if you already get nightmares. You will flip. Everyone I have talked to says the same things about this particular malaria medication. You will dream that everyone you know dies in some horrific manner that changes only slightly by night. It's pretty freaky. It is not for the faint of heart. But some of the dreams are what I would imagine taking LSD would be like. Psychadelic and NUTS. So it's like experimenting with drugs, but totally legal. I don't think I will ever try LSD. Mefloquine is quite enough.

Thanks for all the comments you guys! I miss you very much!!!

-Haley