exhausted!!!!

I am so exhausted and its only 2:52 in the afternoon! I had class at 7:30 this morning and i wanted to make sure i got there early since our first assignment was due at 7:30am sharp the professor said.  I got there and ofcourse like almost always the seats up close are all taken or people are saving them, so i just pulled up a plastic chair up front on the side and sat there...a few minutes later a girl sitting in the middle hissed to me (thats what they do here to get your attention). She was pointing to the desk next to her that she had been saving.  This was really nice and i ended up getting a good seat! I really need to get to class earlier but its so hard when its at that hour! So, everyone is passing over their assignment for the class reps to collect when all of the sudden the professor is pointing to me trying to get my attention. I didn't notice but the girl sitting next to me did, he said dont pass mine in, to bring it up to him after class.  I was a little confused as to why I had to do this but I just did as he asked, and of course im the ONLY international student in this class of about probably 500+ students, so by this time if you didn't know who the obruni in the class was, you did now!!  When class was over i attempted to make my way up to the front of class, which is a challenge let me tell you...there are WAYYY too many people and desks crowded so close together. As im getting up to the front i notice the professor leaving, and i couldn't do anything because i was stuck in the crowd! I was freaking out because he had been very serious about turning in the assignment on time when he assigned it.  Luckily the class rep spotted me and grabbed me to take me to the professor who was outside with a bunch of students around him at his car.  He asked if i could come to his office at 10 but i couldnt since i have my internship from 10-12, so he said come after.


I went in to the hospital and waited for a really long time for the doctors to come from the ward to the office. I probably should have just gone to the ward first but i ended up sitting in the office chatting with the nurse Lilian who is so sweet, i love her! Finally after an hour, Dr. Tetteh came, the other doctor was out for some reason.  Lilian had called in patients before the doctor came in so she could get their temperature, etc. and one little boy named Solomon i really took a liking too...he was kind of a little trouble maker, getting in to a bunch of things, but i didn't think much of it other than he's just a little boy and thats what they do! He took a liking to me and came up and sat on me.  After, Lilian told me that he has epilepsy and his parents cannot afford the medication to keep him under control. He no longer goes to school because he doesn't pay attention.  This made me sad as he was such a sweet little boy!  He has brain damage which explains why he doesn't listen very well and tends to get into things a lot.  Each time he came back in to see the doctor, he would come right to me and stand in between my legs or lay his head in my lap.  From what i was told, they do not have the national health insurance and the cost for one bottle of the medication is 250 ghana cedis (~$160) which lasts about 23 days and then he needs another one.  This is quite expensive, and i guess the doctor and some others contributed to buy one bottle for him, but they are trying to get the family to register with the health insurance as it would be worth it due to the cost of the medication. 

I left the hospital and went directly to my professor's office...well not quite exactly...i didn't know where the building was so after asking several people i eventually met a guy who was going there as well and walked me to the building.  I waited for ONE HOUR for my professor since he had gone out on a "break".  When he finally got there, he told me he didn't want to take my assignment after class when there was a bunch of students around him at his car because he didn't want them all to think/ complain that i was getting "special treatment".  (As if calling me out in front of the entire class to tell me to turn it in directly to him didn't already make them think this!) Anyway, he was again really really persistent on making it clear to me that if i needed any help at all to come to him or to the TA...that i could come any time, it didn't have to be during his office hours since i have my internship then.  He said he really wants to make sure that if i have any problems i should see him and get help.  I think by now he's drilled it in to my head enough! Ive never had a professor be this concerned but at the same time, i am the only international student in his class and he cares that i understand and do well, so that is really comforting.  How he has been towards me however has shown me that some professors do give special treatment to their international students...and in this circumstance i dont think its a bad thing as i am the only one in the class and he doesn't want me to be confused.  Most of these students have had some background in statistics he said, and i have not had any, which he knows.

I am so drained now...i think it is from the heat and a lot of walking since other than that, i haven't done a whole lot!