Missing Mekulu!

It feels like it’s been an eternity since the last time I posted a blog. It’s been a busy few weeks, unfortunately not the best few weeks.

About two and a half weeks ago Mekulu, my puppy went missing! She ruled my room, I let her roam in and out at her leisure. She spent some evening in my room with me normally stinking up my room with terrible gas. I don’t think she agreed with fish, but she sure did love it. She also spent several evenings out side roaming around and visiting the neighbors, she had a play mate puppy at the neighbor’s complex. A few weeks ago she went out for her evening on the town and when I woke up the next morning she hadn’t returned but, I didn’t think much of it. When she hadn’t returned the following even I started to get a little concerned, as did Ateiko, my landlord. We walked around the village, from end to end; we asked all the villagers if they had seen her and followed ever lead. Ateiko threatened to arrest anyone who might have taken her and offered rewards for any information and we hired kids to find any information they could. Ateiko called the local police authorities who are several villages away, they held a week long investigation before giving up. Following leads and roaming the village become our nightly ritual for about a week straight. It faded to searching ever other night and stopped all together a few nights ago. I try to ignore the rumors around the village, they say she was stolen and eaten. I’m convinced that she found a puppy love and ran off to make babies some where. I’m sure she could sense that I was going to take her in to be spade in a few more weeks. Either way, at this point I don’t think she is going to return. I’m really going to miss her, she love to run on the beach with me, well run circles around me on the beach. She would never go in the water with me and she hated baths. When ever I came home she would be there with her tail wagging, it would wag so hard her whole body would be swing side to side. It was too much excitement for her little body to hold! It was great having someone excited to see me ever time I came home. I think the hardest part is my village, they show their condolence by asking where she is ever time they see me. My landlord wants to buy me a new dog already but I have asked him not to. I haven’t decided if I am going to try it again or not!

In the mean time, I have been assigned to start 42 environment clubs in surrounding villages for GWS. The task seems tedious and nearly impossible! I taught my first class last week in my village. I went to 3 junior high school classes to teach them about career planning, which lead to the importance of behavior and education. It was a difficult task, I had to speak very slow and repeat myself several times. I’m still not sure how much they understood! I was supposed to go in last week and teach about HIV and AIDS but they had to cancel because there is a very important 5 day soccer tournament that all the schools are taking part in. It’s much more important than education, so much so they are taking all the students out for a week. We also took the sea cruise on a trial run! A school with 60 kids came and we took 3 separate trips out 20 minutes off shore and 20 minutes back. When we made it out there we jumped off the side for a quick swim, just the fishermen and I, everyone else was afraid to swim in the “deep sea” or didn’t know how to swim. It was an exciting fun ride, when we came in they would let the boat turn parallel with the waves and we almost flipped several times.

So all in all, I’m still surviving in Ghana! I miss you all dearly! Oh, I picked up my packages yesterday and I have my camera back again, so I will be posting more pictures next time!

Game Day

I’ve had a very busy few weeks! It started with a trip to Kumasi to visit some very close Peace Corps buddies, Terri and Janet, and catch up on some gossip. Biggest news on the gossip mill is Janet’s engagement to a Ghanaian chief. Janet is 59 and the chief is 55, she is high school sweetheart, head over heals, in love with him. While we were in Kumasi Janet decided to extend her trip and go to Accra with me to talk to Bob about getting married. They have decided to wait till they return to the states to make their marriage official, only because it will be easier to get him a visa.
We got to stay at the KSO (Kumasi Sub-Office) and cook American food, watched TV, and relax, it was great. The KSO just isn’t the same without Sharon though! We stayed at the sub office for 3 nights and went to an African Cup of Nations game. It wasn’t a Ghana game, but the PCV where there in numbers…around 8 of us went to the game. With my recent fear of being robbed we left everything at the KSO and took $10 in our pockets. We had a beer at a small spot just outside of the stadium and I won a Guinness jersey. On the way to the stadium we had our faces painted with Ghana flags… it felt a little odd to stand in a line with 30 kids ages 12 and under, but they all had a great time with us. The stadium was beautiful; I forgot that I was in Ghana for a while. We watched two games, Egypt vs. Sudan and Cameroon vs. Zambia, and then headed back to the KSO around 10:00 pm absolutely exhausted.
The day after the game Janet and I said our good-byes to Terri and headed to Accra. Unfortunately we caught one of the worst tros I had ever been on. 28 people with 6 babies on laps! Fold down chairs are normally built into the isles for more seating. In my opinion they are the worst seats to sit on, besides the fact they are incredibly uncomfortable and have a tendency to tip over on hard turns or bumps putting you in your neighbors lap, they have no where to put your head for a nap. Well, I ended up in a fold down seat that was next to a Ghanaian woman with a baby. She kept falling asleep on my shoulder, dropping her sleeping child on my lap. Things that would make any normal human being uncomfortable no longs faze me, not only were the mother and child sleeping on me, but the breast the child was attached to was resting on my arm also! When I say child I mean 2 to 3 year old kid, still breast feeding which is normal in Ghana. They would wake up and readjust but always returned comfortably to my shoulder and lap. I found it quite funny… for the first 6 hours! But then, we heard a loud chime, the sound of something dragging on the ground as the engine cut off and we coasted to a stop. Everyone unloaded and urinated all over the place as the drive crawled under the tro to take a look. He quickly realized the drive shaft fell off, an essential component to a working tro! But we are in Ghana, and they can fix any problem on a tro with a hanger and Q-tip. A man was sent to find the drive shaft a returned about 15-20 minutes later. It took about a half an hour and the tro was up and running again. The last two hours of the trip I prayed the mother, child, and breast would fall back to sleep…no such luck. The mother spent the remaining 2 hours teaching her child to hit my leg; she thought it was cute and funny. After 6 hours on a hot tro nothing is cute or funny! Janet and I were thrilled and exhausted when we finally made it to the bunk room in Accra at 9pm.
My original plan was to spend one night in Accra to check my mail and then head back to site. With little trouble the crowd of PCVs in Accra had convinced me to spend one extra day there to go to the Ghana vs. Morocco game. I scalped a ticket off a Ghanaian who asked me to marry him in our first 2 minutes of conversation. After I purchased the ticket he informed me that I had the pleasure of sitting next to him the whole game… with no PCVs near me. The crowd of 12 PCV went to buy hamburgers (since we were in Accra enjoying American food) and also bought some sachets of whiskey for the game. We made it to the stadium, had our faces painted again and meet up with 3 PCV who were just getting in. Jacquie and Ira quickly convinced me to sit with them and hope there are empty seats. We went to their section and there were plenty of seats for about the first 10 minutes. The stadium was packed and the seats were filling quickly. The owner of my seat came so I stood up to move to another seat near Jacquie and Ira. I felt a strong grip on my right arm and then I was swiftly pushed back down in my seat. I turned around and a Ghanaian man was in my face screaming, “You are blocking my vision” (you learn to love the Ghanaian English). After 3 sachets of whiskey I decided that I wanted to say something back. I had never been in a verbal argument with anyone before in my life. (I’m going to warn you, the next things I said were vulgar, rude, and out of character…LOL!) I snapped back, “I don’t care, don’t touch me!” He replied, “You are blocking my vision!” so I said, “I don’t care, don’t touch me!” This went on for about a whole minute before I got up and switched seats. Not 5 minutes later my new seat’s owner had arrived and the man I had just been fighting with was inviting me to sit next to him. He and I were buddy-buddy the rest of the match, yelling and cheering together. We beat Morocco 2-0!
I had made plans to take a tro 8 hours home so that I could leave early the next morning to head to Volta on a business trip. It made more sense to have them pick me up in Accra on the way to Volta and save me from 16 hours in a tro. I spent a whole day in Accra relaxing and eating more American food and visiting Casey in the hospital. He had surgery on an infection on his shin. His leg was swollen to double its normal size! The doctor said that if he had come in 4 days later they might have had to amputate his leg. He was flying to South Africa for better medical treatment the next day. If he hasn’t healed before March 9^th then he will be medically separated and sent back to the U.S.
The next afternoon the tro with our tourist sub committee had arrived on the way to Volta. I was stuck in the bad seat again, the fold down chair but decided not to complain after missing out on 16 hours there. 4 hours later we were pulling into a guest house in Hohoe. It was very nice, running water and electricity, mountains and woods, and harmattan weather AKA cold. The purpose of this trip is to show the sub committee (the team of local residents who will take over the Nzulezo visitor center when Ghana Wildlife Society pulls out) what other tourist attractions are like, as well as show them how other tour guides operate. Many of the committee members have never left their village so driving through Accra was quite the experience. Our first day on our trip we woke up at 5:30 for breakfast and then the tro took us to climb Ghana’s tallest mountain. Mount Afadjato stands tall at 2,905 feet, or 5 km and 2 ½ hours of hell. The Ghanaians all put on shower shoes so they wouldn’t get their good shoes dirty. I was wishing I had anything besides my rainbow flip flops. The last words out of Patrick, the tour guide’s mouth were, “We are going to take this slow and finish as a group!” A quarter of the way up the mountain with 5 men back he stopped to see how we were doing. Two more turned back before we reached the top! It was beautiful, although I couldn’t see very far, the harmattan winds made the mountains very dusty and the visibility low. Descending the mountain might have been more exhausting than the climb up. Our muscles were flexed the whole way down trying to avoid sliding down the leaves and falling off of very steep cliffs. It didn't help reading this sign before we left! They Ghana men were not too macho to tell me their muscles were shaking.
I was happy to survive Mount Afadjato and was looking forward to getting home for a nap when I was informed we were going to hike to the Wli falls next. The tro took us to a spot that served palm wine before heading to the next visitor center for another hike. This was another 5 km out and 5 km back, but luckily no altitude. The falls were amazing! The water fell off a solid rock cliff that was 60 meters tall with millions of bats flying over head. We tried to swim in the small pool of water at the bottom of the falls but changed our minds after we were ankle deep due to the temperature of the freezing water. By the time we made it home after our 20 km or 12 miles that we had hiked we were all exhausted. We at rice for dinner and all fell asleep. Day 2 of our trip took us to the Tafi Atome monkey sanctuary. We walked just a few kilometers through the woods before the tour guide told us that because it was harmattan and very dry the monkeys had left to find more food. I was disappointed that I didn’t see any mona monkeys. All the pictures that I’ve seen of mona monkeys very cute, they have black fur around their eyes that make them look like they are wearing sunglasses. We spent the afternoon relaxing at the guest house and taking about pain in our legs.
After a week and a half away from site I was excited to get home. We left at 4:30 in the morning to head back to Beyin. I didn’t get any sleep the night before we left, and you guessed it… I was stuck in the fold down seat! Not even the fold down seat could’ve brought down the good mood I was in finally returning home. Not the fold down seat, or the oil leak that caused us to break down in the middle of no where for an hour in a half, or the second oil leak that took 30 minutes to fix, or the third oil leak that took another 30 minutes to fix. I made it home at 9:30 pm after 17 hours on a broke down tro. I walked up to my house and found 30 Ghanaians screaming and Ateiko trying to mediate, his job as a village elder. He was so excited to see me he stopped everything to hug me and give me a kiss on my hand. I told him I was going to sleep and I would tell him about my trip the next morning.

I decided to skip church on Sunday and catch up on a few things at site; number one priority was my wash. Without a clean stitch of clothing I spend 3 hours washing everything I owned. I was so carried away with washing I gave Mekulu, my puppy a good scrub down next. After two weeks away from her she must have doubled in size. She was so excited to see me, and not happy with me after her bath. After I did my wash I headed into town to buy a cell phone charger and replace my broken one. I made it to Tikobo 1 and everything was closed because it was Sunday (I don’t know what I was thinking). I found a hardware store that was open and bought some mesh to build a mesh guard for my garden. My garden survived one week against the snails and lizard that ate everything that had germinated. I also bough chicken wire so I can build a rabbit cage. I have decided to become a rabbit rancher! ***This coming from a girl who had pet rabbits her whole childhood. My landlord had tried to raise rabbits once before but the burrow he dug for the rabbits collapsed and killed his rabbits. I would never be able to eat rabbit, especially after I raised them, so I will be a breeder. Rabbit is a fast producing was of getting protein for villagers. It has not caught on in my village, however Ateiko is willing to try it and he can help spread the word. I came home and replanted all the seeds that had been in the water sachet bags (make shift pots). I also bought a bucket to replant my mango seed that has now grown leaves.
I went to our village meeting today and was shocked when a more serious than coconut thieves was brought up. The village came in numbers when the elders demanded that the kids be brought from school to attend the meeting, and the parents were also required to drop what they were doing and go to the meeting. The topic of the meeting was the lack of respect the children were showing as well as their slipping grades. I wasn’t too concerned till the teachers stood up and told about the two students that were caught having sex in the school house. When caught by a teacher they said very rude things to the teacher, which resulted in the teacher quitting. After the meeting I was taken to the school by all the teachers to speak to the students impromptu. I introduced myself to all the classes, although they already knew me. I told them that starting next week I would be coming in once a week to talk to them about behavior, their future plans, the environment, and HIV and AIDS. I am planning to go in with games and treats. I will talk to them about what they want to be when they grow up; most of them have very few life goals. After we identify their goals we will talk about what it will take to get there, leading into a talk about grades, education, manners, and respect for others. The following week I will lead into HIV and AIDS. The kids caught were only 13 and 14 years old and having unprotected sex, fortunately she announced to the village that she was not pregnant. I swear Africans just don’t get embarrassed ever! It amazes me!
My two week vacation/work trip was just what I needed to recharge my batteries! It feels great to get back to work!
Skip and Teri corner: For family and friends concerned about my health! I’m sad to announce that my worm has died. I guess I wasn’t the best host! My toe has also healed up along with the rest of my bug bites. I am still battling heat rash; I’ve noticed it is just on my right side. I finally realized that I sleep on my right side; I fall asleep and wake up sweating most nights…so that is where the heat rash is coming from. Besides that I am in perfect health, and getting a little of my tan back. I have been going to Nzulezo a lot this week trying to put together a brochure, so I’ve been in the sun more than I should. Try explaining to an African why your skin has turned red, I have to reassure them it will turn back white. I had a Ghanaian try to scratch off once of my freckles for 10 minutes yesterday before I convinced him that it wouldn’t come off.

I miss you and love you all! Take care!

Zachley's Pandemic

This pandemic has been haunting Ghana since its birth 50 years ago. Zachley’s Pandemic is when your breath smells zachley like your ass! I don’t know why Ghanaians think chewing on wood is the same as brushing them with a tooth brush and tooth paste. Both of which I must mention are available everywhere in Ghana. The breath is bad, it could drop an elephant from a mile away.
Why we are on the medical topic, you might be interested to hear about my worm and my witch doctor. Better known as Ateiko…my landlord! He says he is a doctor, but nobody knows his qualifications, besides the fact he has been practicing medicine for 35 years. I came home from Takoradi with a hook worm in my foot, according to the Peace Corps. It was a red, puffy, itchy line across the top of my foot, starting at one of my infected lovely bug bites. I showed Ateiko and told my foot for conversation sake at the dinner table (you can do things like that in Ghana at the dinner table). I told him I was going to the chemical store (pharmacy) tomorrow to get medicine for the hook worm. He said it wasn’t a hook worm and I should be worried. He informed me it was a different type of worm, but he didn’t know the English name for it. He said the only way to get rid of it is to cut a small hole in my foot and grab the end of the worm. You wrap the end of the worm around a stick and twist the stick until the worm is all the way out. If you ask Betty, a woman I work with, I should mash the pill up till it is a powder, then cut my foot open and put the powder in the cut. I am going to sneak to the chemical store tomorrow and lay low till it goes away, or Ateiko and Betty forget.
Our village has meetings every Tuesday morning. It is 4 to 5 hours of arguing, screaming, clapping, and laughing. At this meeting I told the community that I would teach computer lessons on the early 90s model computer that has been donated, assuming that it works. I’m not exactly a computer wiz, but I will be teaching very basic skills like how to turn the computer on and how to type.
At the village meeting we also discussed the serious crime wave that is sweeping our small town. Coconut thieves! Please, don’t worry about my safety, I am happy to announce the vicious criminals have apprehended. They are being held until they pay their bail of $50 (big money in Ghana), reimburse the people whose coconuts they had stolen, and buy a bottle of gin for the community. What would we do without that bottle of gin? I know I could never forgive the thieves without it!
I went on a trip to New Town, it is the boarder town between Ghana and The Ivory Coast. We went on the beach, my Supervisor Cynthia and I, and it was a beautiful drive…for the most part. I learned that Ghanaians who don’t have latrines, which is the majority of the people who live in coastal villages. They make their bawl movements, #2s, poops, commonly called shit, but I like who the Ghanaians put it best, toilet. The Ghanaians make toilet on the beach. They dig small cat holes and toilet in them, some but not all fill their holes. I did learn on our little trip that Ghanaians get diarrhea to, at least 50%, it’s not just the PCV. And, it’s all orangeish yellow, my guess is from all the plantains they eat. It was not the prettiest drive ever. I’m just happy that mine is one of the more clean beaches!
Today was the first day of the African Cup of Nations! Ghana beat Guinee! It was pure chaos and excitement in my village. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen them.
Well, my time is up! Till next time…

Chicken in Church!

Yesterday sure was an interesting morning. I went to church as I do every Sunday morning but this time was different. Just before church began one of the donations got loose, a chicken to be exact. Everyone started chasing the chicken around the church; it was pure chaos and commotion. Finally the bird was caught! It was bound and tied properly and the service continued.
I have to be careful in church, you know, really pay attention. I get lost in the language and find myself staring off into the candles. Before I know it my blonde head is the only one sitting up in the church and all the other heads are down praying. I put my head down and start playing with the little girls through the pews. But, I seem to make it through every Sunday without offending anyone.
I got a letter in the mail the other day. The card read, “Why is the sky blue? asked Piglet. To give us something to talk about, said Pooh.” The card made my mind wonder, because “Why is the sky blue?” is such an easy question compared to some of the questions I have been asked. For instance, “Why does your hair grow long and mine doesn’t?” How does one answer that question? Then there is always the, “Will you marry me?” for which I respond, depending on my mood, “You can not afford to marry me. It will cost you 20 cows!” I have to be careful because they often respond that they will find a way to buy 20 cows. Sometimes they first ask me if I am married before asking me to marry them, often this comes before they ask me my name. If I am honest and say no, they ask me if I will marry a Ghanaian. I say no, I will not marry a Ghanaian. This is followed by another very hard to answer question, “Why won’t you marry a black man?” I have learned the right response, “Yes, I am married! My husband is in America.” I have even had Ghanaians continue, telling me that they will beat up my husband and take me as their wife. This is when I decide that if they want to play I can play… “You are just a small boy, (what they call children here) and my husband is a big man who could beat you up!” Other hard questions, “Can I have your skin?” or my nose, or my hair. This is an easy one; I say “Yes, take it!” I haven’t got all the answers just yet, but I am learning.
Harmaton has come! Finally it is getting cold! Last week I woke up one morning and it was cold. I had to lie in bed for a moment and convince myself that it was true. I thought my feet were asleep, cause they couldn’t possible be cold. It must have been upper 60s, lower 70s, sweater weather for sure. I walked to work in the morning and by noon I was sweating again. I had 3 more cold mornings and now they seem to have stopped. But they sure were nice while they lasted.
Oh, good news and bad! I am still not part of the “I shit my pants in Ghana” club, but I am part of the “I was robbed in Ghana” club. Only the hard core PCVs can make that club! Unfortunately another PCV was added to the club roster this week. She was robbed at gun point while in Accra. It was 5:30 in the morning, just around the corner from the Swissrest (the Peace Corps hotel). She also lost her cell phone, camera, and money, in addition to my losses she also lost an ipod and prescription sunglasses. Ironically enough she happened to be the same person who bought my cell phone off the black market for me. I had to buy my cell phone back from the thief who stole it from me. Well, she contacted me on my old cell phone to tell me that she had been robbed. She is keeping the cell phone that was stolen from me, since her cell phone was stolen. Twisted story huh? Lesson of the day, be careful in Accra, travel in groups, during the daylight, and take taxies as far as you can, but mainly carry as little on you as possible.
Dave, the SED (Small Entrepreneur Development) Director recently came to my site. He conducts site visits to everyone in the SED portion of Peace Corps Ghana in the first 3 months at site. We all meet before IST (In-Service Training). He brought me my mail, and my laptop. My Dad had it sent to a PCV who went home for Christmas, and that volunteer brought it back to me in Ghana. I am very excited to finally have my laptop, and the pictures and music on it. I finally have some Christmas carols to listen to, just a little late celebrating. When it goes to the screen saver it flashes all the pictures that I have saved. They really make me miss home! My favorite pictures are the pictures from the coast with my 3 favorite kiddos. My nieces and my nephew! We have pictures with the whole family, last year at the coast. I also love to see the pictures from our family cruise last year. I also have pictures taped to my wall of my family… all 3 of them. Thank you for sending me the Thanksgiving pictures Mrs. Pfleugar, they made my day.
I am finally starting to identify a few secondary projects at my site. My primary project is working for Ghana Wildlife Society, the only NGO in the Western Region. I am trying to help market a few tourist attractions in the Amazurie wetlands. We are building a tourist center for Nzulezo, the stilt village. We are also setting up a whale watching sea cruise, sea turtle, crocodile, and bird watching. The money that the NGO makes from the tourist will be divided and distributed to local communities. My secondary projects include environmental education, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, beach clean ups, and waste management. One of my village’s biggest problems is the heaps of trash that are all over. I am designing a poster to be made to educate surrounding villages about trash disposal. I am going to my villages elders meeting on Tuesday to talk about starting a local land fill and burn site. I will be going to the school in my village this month for my first lesson on HIV/AIDS as well. In the next 6 months I hope to revive the NGO’s environment clubs in the local schools and organize a beach clean up competition. I haven’t decided the prize for the winning community with the cleanest beach. I also would like to organize a soccer tournament based on HIV/AIDS education for the children. I have lots to do, and my language learning isn’t going as well as I had hoped.
Life is getting better slowly but surely. I am getting used to the banku every night now. I have started making fried rice, but wither I cook or not I always have to eat the banku with Ateiko, my landlord. I am not good at making fried rice, the rice seems to be too clumpy, and so when it fries I come out with fried rice balls. Not quite right, but still much better than banku. I figure I have 2 years to critique my recipe. With all the seasoning I have received in the mail I can at least have different flavored fried rice balls, butter buds, season all, everglades seasoning, but normally I just load it up with eggs and onions. My toe is still attached, and my bug bites are finally starting to heal. Everyone seems to be curious if I look different since I’ve been here. The answer, yes! I don’t have a gorgeous tan from living in a beach village though, the malaria prophylactics have made me white as can be. My skin won’t tan for anything, I don’t even have tan lines anymore. I am doing everything I can do avoid banku belly, I don’t know if I’ve gained weight or lost because there are no scales here. Ghanaians tie beads around their waists and when the beads get tight they are gaining. When in Ghana, do as the Ghanaians do… my beads haven’t gotten any tighter or loser so I guess I am about the same as when I left the states. After 4 months here, my hair is finally starting to get longer. I think it is the longest it’s ever been. Middle of my back, and I’m finally starting to get used to the curls. I miss my hair straightener!
Well I had better wrap this up so I can get to market, the post office, and back to site before the tros make their last run. I will hopefully get my new camera in the mail soon and then I can post some new pictures. I will be back to the internet in about a week and a half to two weeks. I can’t wait to tell you about the African Cup of Nations game that I am going to on the 26th of January. I only wish I had a camera for it! I will stop in Accra to pick up mail before returning to site. So until next time, stay safe in America! Oh, and eat lots of good food for me, and see all the latest new movies. I love you and miss you all!

Cause of death...toe infection!

Things are going much better since my so sad posting about my holidays. I made it back to site and got back to work. Being back to a normal schedule has really helped my attitude. Shortly after I returned was when I got all my ant, bed bug, and mosquito bites. I had a small ant bite on my big toe that I didn't even realized I had scratched. Well the scratch turned into a small scab. Small scab turned into a toe infection that caused my whole foot to swell up so big I couldn't bent my toe at all, or hardly walk for that matter. Along with the foot swelling came a fever of 102 degrees. The toe went from having a small scab to swollen and fever in a matter of 4 or 5 hours. At this point, in the middle of the night, I pulled out my flash light (because the electricity was off) to take a look at this toe of mine. My whole toe was read and all around the scab was gray. It was really cute! So I popped it (I'm sure all of you really want to read the next few details!) and puss and blood came gushing out. I cleaned it up as best I could and put a bandaid on it. By morning the fever broke and since then the swelling has slowly gone down. So what was my first near death experience in Ghana has become a serious lesson learned: don't let cuts "breath" in Ghana! Otherwise... you could end up losing a limb... or at least a toe!
Well, I'm going to get back to work now! I have to figure out a way of teaching a community that lives on stilts (Nzulezo) to dispose of trash in a way other than throwing it in the water. If they continue what they are doing much longer they won't be living in water anymore... only trash!
I miss you all!

Hand in Hand! (A lesson on culture)

God's in Ghana!... he's everywhere here! He is plastered on every taxi and tro tro (van taxi). He is in every house on cheap plastic toys. He is in the title of every salon, small shop, chop bar (restaurant), spot (bar), or seamstress. These are in fact the only 5 things you will find in Ghana because the word "entrepreneur" does not exist. If it hasn't been done 1,000 times, successfully nonetheless, then no Ghanaina will attempt it. I suppose that makes sense because Ghanainans never try new things. Anyways, Religion is very important in Ghana! So I've started going to church now, as you can read about in my last blog!
For those of you reading, if you are planning to visit, or someday find yourself in Ghana their are a few things you should be prepared for. As most of you know, you eat with your hands....well hand. You never use your left hand, it is used for one thing and one thing only, wiping! Use your right hand to wave, shake hands, exchange money or goods. If you ever have to use your left you should say, "Pardon the left!" Another interesting cultural difference, Ghanaians have spots (or bars) and chop bars (or restaurants) , normally they don't eat and drink together though. Also, they drink in the morning more often here than in the states. It is not uncommon to see men holding hands here, or women holding hands, but rarely will you see a man and woman holding hands. Public display of affection is very taboo in Ghana. Also, being gay or lesbian is against the law, so same sex hand holding is a symbol of friendship. It's really taken some getting used to!
When you arrive in Ghana say hello to everyone. Greeting is a sign of respect here, and not greeting someone is considered extremely rude. Typically when you greet them you will shake their hand, and when Ghanaians shake hands they can tend to shake for an uncomfortably long time. Be warned, if you begin walking while in the middle of the Ghanaian extended hand shake it will often turn into holding hands. Another important fact about the Ghanaian hand shake is the snap. As your hands begin to separate at the end of the shake, your middle finger and thumb will snap off of theirs. This is typically done between close friends, so don't take offense if you don't get a snap. Ghanaians are also very close talkers and a good way to add distance in a conversation is to embrace the long shake and use it to push back. Be careful though, they can trick you and use it to pull in! Women, beware! If you are shaking a man's hand and he scratches your palm with his finger while shaking your hand, pull it away and smack him. That is his disgusting way of saying he want to do much more to you than shake your hand. Ladies, also be prepared to be proposed to....ALOT! But mainly, be prepared to meet some of the nicest, most caring, and genuine people you will ever meet. I'll just leave that at that! If you are going to have more than a greeting on the street, say a sit down conversation, their is a customary introduction you must know. You will enter the room and shake everyone's hand from the right to the left as you greet them. Next you will sit down and greet the group as a whole, introduce yourself, then state your mission, or why you've come. They will welcome you and then they will stand and shake everyone's hand. You are then free to have your conversation, which will usually take place over some sort of alcoholic beverage, apateshie, palm wine, or gin. You must thank them and say good bye before shaking hands your final time. Good byes can often be 2, 3, or even 4 hand shacks long. Well on that note, I will say my good bye... so until my next blog! Stay safe, happy, and healthy!

I'm seeing red...

Well I'm seeing red dots all over, my holiday present from Ghana were ant bites, bed bug bites, and heat rash. But I made it through the holidays, and that's something to be happy about. I can't say they were my best, but they sure were memorable, and I learned a lot.
I would like to apologized for the lack of photos on this posting. It seems my idea of posting pictures on my blog won't work due to the fact my camera was stolen two nights after Christmas. I will explain that later though!
Christmas Eve was the beginning of my holidays and challenges. Midnight mass! Those of you who know me know that I've never been much of a church goer. However, respected community members are church goers, therefore I am a church goer. I came here to live the way Ghanaians live, I've decided that just living is enough at this point, any way I can. So I've decided to immerse myself in the culture, and a very big part of culture here is religion. My small village happens to have one small church, Saint Matthia's Catholic Church, it is the largest building in my village. (Insert picture of my church here) I normally arrive at church promptly at 9:00Am and it starts promptly between 9:30 and 10:30. The whole service is in Nzema, so I typically daze off and watch the kids, who all sit close to me so they can shake my had, or I watch the old ladies doze off, only waking up to wipe their sweat with small neatly folded white hankies. I have become a small hankie carrier also! Anyways, we normally have 3 to 4 collections which are somewhat different than in the states. Instead of passing the collection plate around, they put a plastic bowl in the front of the church and we dance up to it to make our donations. Well, Christmas Eve midnight mass started at 9:00 PM and apparently I didn't get the memo, I was supposed to bring a food donation for Christmas. Tonight everyone brought eggs, rice, plantains, etc instead of money. Mass ended at midnight and I headed home!
My next big feat was surviving Christmas day, which was surprisingly easy! I went to mass once again, and once again did not get the memo! Apparently everyone wears white to mass on Christmas morning, I decided to wear my best bright blue Ghanaian dress and stick out like a sore thumb... as if I didn't already! Besides being at church on a Tuesday I would've never known that it was Christmas. After church I walked around town and greeted people. I spent my evening packing for my 2 day trip to Accra. I took a break from packing to enjoy our Christmas feast of a dinner, I mean I ate banque and fish again. My day was made when I got to call my friends and family and hear about their holidays though!
With Christmas down, I just had New Years to go! The morning of December 26, or "Boxing Day" in Ghana, I decided to head to the capital, Accra, to pick up my boxes. I left at 5AM and managed to make it to Accra in the early afternoon. With little cash on me I went to the Peace Corps bunks and stayed there to wait for the banks to open in the morning. In the morning I made it to the banks and ran some errands with Carolyn, my PCV buddy. We enjoyed American food and conversations about diarrhea, food, and gossip, as most Peace Corps conversations go. That night we went to Champs for a trivia game and an expensive American meal. When I was leaving the restaurant I walked down a back road to get a taxi just past dark, and a man came up behind me and took my bag. He snatched it right off my shoulder and jumped a fence. The whole thing happened so fast I didn't even know what had happened till I realized I was now missing my camera, cell phone, and some cash. I never even got to look at the guy. With my remaining 3 dollars I went back to the Peace Corps bunks. The next morning I went to the office and reported the crime to the Peace Corps only to learn they can't reimburse me for any of my losses. After I made the report I checked my mail and have to admit, they came at the perfect time! I had 5 packages waiting for me, full of candy, books, CDs, lights, pictures, egg nog, and money... just enough to replace my cell phone. I spent the rest of the afternoon going to the bank, and buying a new phone. I left the next morning and headed back to site for the New Years festival.
I made it home and relaxed for a few days and went to work. New Years Eve meant midnight mass again, and what do you know, I missed another memo! I guess I was supposed to bring a candle, because we were going to do a parade through town, dancing, candles, and singing (in a language I don't know!) So I had to explain why I didn't have a candle... Ghanaians always seem shocked that we don't do things the same exact way as them in America. So I did my shuffle my feet and sway dance through town, with every 15, 16, and 17 year old girl wanting to dance near me and be my best friend. We finally made it back to the church and lit a huge bonfire (well really it was only about 12 feet, small to any Aggie!) The fire was lit and followed by... big surprise.... more singing and dancing! We went back into the church and the service continued and we prayed till midnight when we all shook hands. In the morning it was back to mass for me! Can't wait for the holidays to be over just so I can get a break from church! After mass we relaxed for a few hours before I headed to the big festival 2 villages away. I got there and about 20 drunken Ghanaians rushed up excited to see me and asking if I would take pictures with them. The photographer started taking pictures and the situation quickly got out of control. Before I knew it standing next to me went to hugging me in pictures. Someone tried to kiss me on the cheek in a picture and I pushed them away very mad. (I found that you have to set the limits, early and straight with Ghanaians) So I started pushing all 20 of them off of me and I felt hands grabbing me all over. As soon as I got out of the crowd I headed back to my house more frustrated than ever. I stayed in my village away from my only friends in the country to celebrate this big festival with my community who got drunk and tried to take advantage of me. I left before the festival even began.
So my holidays were a flop! But I'm looking forward to life getting back to some sort of a normal schedule. I hope everyones holidays were better in the states!