Well, I came to Accra yesterday to take the GMAT today. This morning I went to the testing center, it was closed, so I called the number on the door. The man told me the appointment was canceled and someone from GMAC was supposed to inform me. Well, that never happened! Gah! So frustrated. Now I guess I'll have to take it back in the US. Oh well, this is how Ghana goes. Somehow I think that this situation would not have occurred in the US. Maybe its a good thing...I was definitely not as relaxed as I would have been if I was in America. I don't like Accra and especially Osu, the section of Accra where the testing center was.

Other than that, things are good. My PCPP project is underway and just about half-completed. Tomorrow the women are going to have their basic business training in the nearest city to my village (now I'll be able to go since the exam was canceled).

So now I'll just go to the Peace Corps office, hopefully pick up a package, then head back to my village and be around for the training tomorrow.

This morning I felt like I was really a part of my community and the greater traditional community of my area. I got on a tro tro to come into the nearest city. I knew at least 4 people on the tro. I greeted all of them and they greeted me. I've marveled at how many people I've met from, not only my village, but from all the traditional area communities. I guess in two years you rack up the friends. Well, as I was sitting on the tro and reflecting on how content I felt at that moment and how happy I was to feel like i belonged, the driver stopped the tro to pick up more passengers. Now the seat in front of me was becoming overloaded. My friend was sitting there with her baby boy. There was also a small girl sitting next to her. To make room for the new passengers, she directly turned around to me and handed her baby boy to me (Ghanaian women will often hand-off their babies to someone else when they have too much in their laps). Then slid over to the small girl's sp0t and put the small girl on her lap. No one in the tro laughed or made a comment about the abruni holding a black baby. My friend didn't hand me her baby because she wanted to see my reaction (people often ask me to do things, just to see if I can do them or just to watch my reaction and laugh) or because she wanted other people to know she was friends with me , but because she looked around for someone to hold her baby and I was the most appropriate -- a trustworthy friend. Well, I was so happy/proud/whatever the feeling is and I was trying not to draw attention to the fact that I am actually very inexperienced with babies (unlike all Ghanaian women) and the baby was really heavy! That boy was big! I kept trying to shift him around inconspicuously to give my arms a break. We got to the city, some passengers in her row got out and she was able to take her baby back. I just handed him over the back of the seat and she said 'thank you'. It was natural.

Gosh, I remember when I wrote one of my first blog entries and it was about being in Ghana for just a few weeks. Now next month, it will be two years on the 18th! Crazy.

Well, time is flying by now. So much to do in so little time. I have the women's group project to get underway. It is taking a seriously long time just to get the supplies! Still waiting on bricks and wood! Ahh! Also, Fo Nicho has started a new cassava-dough processing group that is doing some serious work as they are being helped by an organization who has taught them how to make the dough and gave them a press. And the TMT is actually holding training sessions (or so we had one yesterday) and I've been teaching a lot of computer lessons to various people in my village. The chief's daughter got a computer from her brother, so every few days we have a few hour session.

On top of all that I am studying for the GMATs, so keeping busy!

On my way to my group's COS (close of service) conference, where we'll discuss how to end our service well and we'll get our COS date!

This past Wednesday two German volunteers came to hike the mountain and see the caves. I didn't know tourists had come until the financial secretary kept flashing (repeatedly calling my phone, but hanging up before I could answer) my phone. I called him back and in a breathless voice he told me that a tourist had collapsed on the mountain. That was a really scary thing to hear. I was picturing a tourist completely passed out on the top of the mountain, unconscious. After that phone call, I call the chairman to tell him what happened and we agree to meet in town and wait for the tourists and the financial secretary to come down. Well, we end up waiting about an hour and half. The tourists come down and I begin talking to them. Apparently, after they went through all of the caves, one of the tourists became very tired and weak. His legs collapsed from underneath him, but he never went unconscious. Thank God. There was just a small boy who had taken them up the mountain (because none of the tour guides could be found) so when the tourist collapsed, the small boy ran down the mountain where he found someone to call the financial secretary. The financial secretary then found a tour guide and they proceeded to run up the mountain (literally. The physical strength of these people are amazing). They brought the tourist a coke and some salt. They waited for him to regain his strength, then they made their way down the mountain slowly. I think the tourist was embarrassed, visibly tired and was anxious to get back to their hotel and rest, so they left pretty quickly after they got down to town.

Of course, this raised many questions in my village and in my TMT. What do we do next time there is an emergency on the mountain? We need to buy a cell phone strictly only for the use of the tour guides when they bring tourists up the mountain. If there is an emergency, we can't wait for the tour guide to come up the mountain. Help needs to be called immediately. Also, the tour guides need to have scheduled days when they are to stay in the community, in the vacinity of the tourism office.

It is interesting that this should happen around this time. Monday, we just went up to the caves and made a plan for making the trails and the cave more accessible and safe. I am very concerned, as they chairman is, of a tourists getting hurt on the trails or in and around the caves. It iss just bound to happen. We were very fortunate this time that it wasn't too serious.

Yesterday, I went to the closest city with three of the executive members of my womens group. They finally opened a bank account and discussed becoming a registered cooperative with the Cooperatives Officer! Wow. Only took me 6 months, but I'm proud....haha. However, today I did have to return to the bank and bring a picture that one of the women forgot. She only brought 2 passport pictures, but they needed 3. I had to talk the bank manager into trusting me that I would actually0 come back today and bring the picture.

So, for the meantime I'm just waiting for my PCPP to get funded (if anyone knows any person or group who is interested in funding a project like mine in part or whole, send 'em my way!) and then we can start building a structure for them to do the work in and get them some business training in Ewe.

Today I met with a representative with a local bank. I wanted to ask about a few of my friends who are interested in getting bank loans. We've been discussing the possibility of creating a susu, which they could eventually make into a group bank account. All went well, though its seems the banks don't really trust groups like that as members often have alternative motives.

So, I have about 5 months left of my service and I'm just about ready to go back to the US. Time seems to be dragging by now, though I am a bit busier. I miss being anonymous and my family and friends (oh and food!). My friends just posted a picture on Facebook of them in front of our old college apartment. It made me so sad that I couldn't be there! Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on a lot in the US. However, I know that this experience is doing me well. I just can't see all the benefits of this experience right now! But I've heard many RPCVs say that you can't know the fulls ways in which your PC experience has changed, affected or benefited you until a few months or years after you've COS'd.

It has been a long time since my last entry, I know. I don't really know why: laziness, disinterest, lack of anything interesting to say, unbelievably slow internet...the list goes on.

I was in a 'funk' from September to December of last year. I was just really tired of the same old routine (and probably the prospect of another whole year). Somehow I managed to re-charge a bit. Now I'm just trying to enjoy my last months here (only about 8 left to go!) and not worry so much about actually getting anything concrete accomplished. No use in stressing myself out.

A good friend of mine ET'd (Early Terminated) her service a few weeks ago. Her community was not very cooperative or supportive of her. It was just time for her to go. Its really hard for PCV's to go home early because we all committed to two years service and if our projects don't work out (as many of them don't) we tend to blame ourselves or keep hoping that a breakthrough might happen. It takes a strong person to admit and confront the reality that things just didn't work out the way they hoped for. So, I'm proud of her. She knows how to make herself happy.

Tourism development in my village is moving at the fastest pace it ever has since I've been here. We are holding training sessions on business management and development. So far we've covered an overview of the tourism industry and community-based tourism and management and governance. It is going well, but as usual we're still having trouble getting everyone to attend meetings. Something is better than nothing I guess.

My womens' group is still working on getting an estimate for a building for them to do the work in during the rainy season. They keep telling me its coming. I told them to get it to me by today, so that means maybe next week.

Also still working on the business plan with the transportation union...they're supposed to get biographies and financial projections, but have been delaying on that for at least 2 months.

The mushroom project with the local chapter of the Ghana Association for the Blind has petered out. The leader told me something about them trying to organize a storage area and some more funds.

The reading and writing club is going strong. I have a core group, though they are getting rowdier with every class as they realize I'm a push-over.

Soon I'm travelling to Togo and Benin with another PCV. It will be a welcome break. So, I'm studying my French, au revoir!

I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt the other day that had, "Got Purpose?" printed across the chest. In my mind I thought, "Well, yes actually." Peace Corps may not be all its cracked up to be (or, the other way around: my expectations of Peace Corps may have been very naive), but I do feel like I am helping some people in some small way. That is my purpose. Always, in the back of my mind, I've felt my 'purpose' was to help people in some way I could never quite define. When I finish my service, I'll probably feel that way again unless I find a job that enables me to help others in some way I can feel content with. Never have I felt so sure that I have purpose until recently.

Its funny that I've been thinking of what having a purpose means and that I saw the t-shirt because I just called my PC neighbor and friend to ask how she is (see my last few entries) and she started talking about having a purpose. She feels like she is not fulfilling her purpose in her village (or the purpose she was hoping for) and that people don't understand what her purpose is supposed to be.

My PC-designated counterpart has gone to school near the coast and will be attending for the next few years. He was the financial secretary of our TMT, so we found someone to replace him. The person we found is a good friend of mine in the village -- kind of a counterpart and friend. So, a few weeks ago we re-vamped the record-keeping system for the financial secretary and treasurer. It is now a much clearer system. The financial secretary before the new one, my counterpart, kept very odd records that are very hard to understand and follow. He also took over 100 Ghana Cedis of the TMT's money with him to school. Says he'll pay it back in December when he comes back for break. Hmmm...we'll see. Amazing the things you are able to find out a year into service! Ha!

The palm oil women are doing well and have saved about 60GHc! Awesome! We've written a basic constitution which is a step toward opening a bank account for the group. ALl we need now is to organize the 3 signatories and get the Cooperatives Officer to write a resolution letter. Also, I am trying to get the women to get information together (building estimates, supply lists, etc.) so I can write a proposal to get funding to build a structure for them to do the work in, possibly buy machines and get some business training in the local language (language gap is just too large for me to effectively do it). I know we can get the money, so I want them to do the work that they are able to do. I won't just hand it to them.

Lastly, my English Reading and Writing Club has taken off! WE've met about 5 times (once per week since the term started). About 10-20 students show up every week. I've started with simple simple things: what a sentence is, what a sentence begins and ends with and some vocabulary words (their capability is supposed to be better than this by their year, but the school system is just so poor). We had a small exam a few weeks ago and, sadly, most didn't do well. Maybe they just can't understand me? Maybe what I think is simple isn't? Who knows, but at least they are hearing me speak and practicing reading and writing. My friend in the north teaches too and she's had the same issue: lessons don't seem to be sinking in. But it is really fun -- I look forward to it each week!

I've spent the last few days visiting my friend Gertrude in her village about 1 and 1/2 hours from my village. We really have not done much, but we've spent a lot of time discussing life as a PCV, our role as PCVs, how easy it would be to just 'throw in the towel' and go home, and relationships (with significant others) and how being a PCV complicates them. So, I've named this entry after something Gertrude's counterpart told her. Toward the beginning when we got to our villages and realized that we have A LOT of free time, Gertrude asked her counterpart how she should fill her time. He told her to just, 'chop and sleep.' ('Chop' or 'chopping' here is a synonym for eating). So, the last few days since I've been visiting and because Gertrude's projects are at a standstill we've basically been sleeping and eating a lot -- probably too much. Lately we've been talking about how easy it would be to just go home. Gertrude has been having a hard time in her village. She's heard through the grapevine some negative things people in her village have said about her (one said that she is a spy from the US and part of Al Qaida. What? Really?) which makes her feel unappreciated and frustrated because people don't understand why she's here. Furthermore, secondary projects, not to mention her primary project, haven't really worked out. We're a year and two months into our service. When is 'enough, enough?' When do you tell yourself that you've tried and, for various interrelated reasons, things just didn't work out? Why do some PCV's stay when they just feel like things aren't right? Stubborness, a feeling of failure if you go home or selfish reasons like you know how much you are personally gaining, how good two years 'looks'. It is good to have someone to 'lean on' who is in a similar situation to you. I hope she works things out and is able to get over this rough spot. But if she decides to go home I hope she comes to peace with her decision.

Sunday I had two meetings in my village. One was with the TMT and the other was with another group in my village who wants to start a mushroom-growing project. So, that was a jam-packed day! Ha!

My TMT is 'trying' to re-organize. This means they meet every once in a while and have a semi-serious discussion about getting new members. Well, at our meeting on Sunday we did get one thing accomplished: we figured out that no one is chopping money. The receipts were checked to the record-book and cash and all checks out! So, that's nice for me to know. Now, I just have to try to get them to hold a community meeting to set everything straight (there was a lot of suspicion in my village that the TMT members were chopping money) and inform the community of how the money is and how it will be used. Oh and today a few of the members are to come into the nearest city to open a bank account. Yay!

The other group is trying to start a mushroom-growing project to raise some money for the group, so I am helping them to start this. Other volunteers around here have been growing mushrooms for their personal use or with a group, so they have given me information about where and how to grow the mushrooms. I'm glad to work with this community group because they are a local chapter of a larger organization: the Ghana Association for the Blind. They are a disabled group of individuals, so it feels good to be able to help them.

My boyfriend came back from his trip home to the US just a few days ago. He brought me SO much chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, so I'm pretty happy. ha! His grandma also gave him this DVD player that looks like a small TV screen. Pretty awesome. We borrowed some bootleg movies from my neighbor and have watched a few on Sunday. Realized movies are much more entertaining when the video and the sound actually match. HAHA. But beggars can't be choosers. I've never been one to be really into watching TV, but I really enjoy watching movies as a way to forget about where I am and just take a break now and then.

My good friend just posted a message to me commenting on my English writing skills, which made me and my PCV friend giggle. This gives me a good topic to talk about! Thank you Nikki!

Ghanaian English leaves something to be desired when it comes to writing and speaking, especially. It is a product of the poor education system and that even though English is their national language, it is learned as a secondary language for all Ghanaians. Those people that can speak English in my village wouldn't speak it to anyone unless I was there, so they don't get much time to practice.

So, all this is leading up to why I can't speak or write English anymore. Ha! I really can't! My boyfriend is always teasing me about this one time where I was trying to ask someone from my village if he has a fridge (mind you, this was on the phone, so it was even harder). I kept saying, "Are you having a fridge?" because that is the way they speak here. Also, they use the word 'small' to describe so many things like, "I am just going to sit here small." Translation: "I am just going to sit here for a while." Or when people are leaving somewhere they say, "I'm coming" when really they are leaving.

My English was never great to begin with (especially writing), but now since I spend most of my time talking to Ghanaians it has gotten so bad. I don't know enough of the local language to speak it all the time, especially when talking about business things, so I'm always speaking Ghanaian English. When my friend from home came to visit she commented on the way I would speak too and that's when I realized how I had changed. I'm constantly thinking about how to phrase sentences when I am speaking English with a Ghanaian, unless they are highly educated. It is like I am speaking another language and translating my English into that language. I'm learning Ghanaian English as a Second Language!

Things have been slow since I visited my friend in Europe up until about a week ago. I didn't seem to have too much to do (not that I ever do), but now an influential man from my community who now lives and works in Accra has come to visit the village fr a few weeks' time. He's a member of our TMT and was very upset to hear how the TMT was running. Apparently, many people in my village thought that TMT were using tourism funds for their personal purposes. Well, he asked me to write a report of my own recommendations for the improvement of the TMT. I did and we had a TMT meeting this past Sunday. People actually showed up! Its' amazing -- the power of 'Big Men'. There was a lot of arguing with the Financial Secretary about record-keeping and accountability. Then, we decided that Wednesday we would all bring suggestions for new members of the TMT -- to start fresh. Then the Financial Secretary withdrew. I know he wants to go to school in September and he was complaining at the meeting how he is not getting paid for the work he is doing. I guess a combo of things made him quit -- he was really coming under fire too. He's a really hard person to deal with both outside of the TMT and on the TMT. Maybe things will run smoother now?

Other than that I am lonely because my boyfriend has gone to the US for vacation. Thought I would get a chance to see whether I would spend more time in the village if he wasn't so close. Well, it turns out so far that there's really no difference in how much time I spend in the village. I'm just a lot lonelier. Now I know how most other PCVs feel.

Oh, a few weeks ago a woman in my village gave me bananas and some cloth. Nothing surprising or new except that cloth is a very generous gift. Well, when my friend Mawuli heard about the gift and who gave it to me he became worried. He told me that the woman used to do witchcraft. She once turned into a wild beast in the bush and when a hunter from our village was about to shoot her she said, "Don't shoot, it is me" and she turned into her human form. Well, as the story goes, the hunter told everyone in the village this. They now call her, 'It's me' in the local dialect. Apparently, she has repented for her witchcraft and now attends church, but no everyone is convinced. So, she may have been trying to put witchcraft on me. I was a little worried and was scared to eat the bananas. Ha! My boyfriend told me I was crazy, so he took some of them. He's OK, as far as I know. Haha. The cloth is on top of my fridge because I'm waiting to sew it. Mawuli told me that he would pray over the cloth, but then he left for Accra! Crap! I don't believe in witchcraft, but guess I'm a bit superstitious!

This leads me into another topic: 'brain drain'. First, a good girlfriend of mine left to live in the nearest city, Mawuli just left because he got a job in Accra through a friend and soon my counterpart will be leaving to Cape Coast to attend training college. Serious!

I got a cat from my counterpart. She's a cutie -- white fur with black and brown patches. One patch is over her eye. I got her about 2 months ago. She was only the size of my hand, her fur was pretty ragged and her hind-region stunk! Now she's very healthy-looking (I feed her well. Ghanaians don't keep pets, so animals only get scraps) and she doesn't stink! I'm really happy about that. ha.

I got a message from a former PCV (months ago!) and I'd like to finally answer her questions:

1. What Ghanaian customs/practices make a lot more sense than what Americans do?

Most Ghanaians are extremely welcoming to foreigners. When I go to my friends' houses they insist on making me comfortable -- giving me a seat and offering me water or another beverage. Once seated, we greet each other and thank each other for days' past and the current day. This is another great thing about Ghanaians: just being happy to be alive and to have friends.

A great African practice is carrying heavy objects upon ones' head. What a smart idea: leaves your arms free and distributes the weight along your body. I did, just today, have a discussion with a teacher in my village about whether or not the pressure on ones' head would affect the brain and spine. I'm sure it does, but to what extent I do not know.

2. Where is the place I feel most comfortable, though I am the only white/American person in my village?

In my house I feel most comfortable -- I can wear shorts and tank tops and, of course, be alone where no one is watching me as if I'm a zoo animal.

Outside of my house I feel most comfortable at the chairman's house (the chairman of the TMT) because him and his family are very calm and pleasant. I also enjoy going to the seamstress' shop. I can go there and just sit with her and her workers and watch the 'goings-on' in my village.

3. What is the craziest thing I've seen in town?

I've seen an all-out physical fight between some of the women in my village. Punching, kicking, slapping, screaming -- everything! This was on Valentine's Day (when I was just about hitting the 3-month mark living in my village) and my counterpart told me (obviously sarcastically) that 'they are just celebrating Valentine's Day'. Ha! But actually it had to do with a daughter and mother-in-law problem that I could never quite get the full story on. It was an interesting occurrence -- Ghanaians are really not violent people at all.

4. What is something that is, 'No big deal' to live without?

My music. I listened to my music so much in college. Here, my Ipod broke a few months ago, so aside from my radio (which doesn't work well at all) I never listen to music. I listen to my boyfriend's Ipod when I go to his house and, of course, I hear African music and American music here and there at friends' houses or in town. I do miss my personal music, but have adjusted to a somewhat very silent house devoid of music.

5. Are there weevils in my rice?

Yes! Really interesting-looking bugs.

Thanks for writing to me!

So, I just wrote this entry and then the computer freaked out, so I lost it. GAAAHHHH! So, this entry might be a little shotty.

So, I've managed to meet almost all of the groups I am working with in my village over the last week. What is that you say? How the heck did I manage to do that in Ghana? Well, coincidence, actually. haha. After postponing our TMT meeting for about 5 consecutive days (where I woke up at about 5 or 5:30 in the morning, then going to my tourism office and waiting for an hour or more for people to either show up and cancel or not show up at all) we finally met one day. And accomplished some things. Small small. Well, they argued for about a half an hour about something that is wrong with the books. So, that was annoying but at least they are talking together! We are going to open a bank account for the organization on Monday, hopefully ;).

Also, the Palm Oil women met and I am trying to work in getting them a mold to make a hand-cranked nut-sheller. I am trying to connect another group to the Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to do some education about taking proper care of livestock. Lastly, we had an ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Committee meeting this morning. My village wants to fund raise to get funds for building a library/ICT center. Hey, that's cool. It is a big project, but they are really taking control of it and owning it. I'm starting to realize my community is pretty motivated compared to some others.

Well, I'll elaborate on all this another day! Some people have been writing comments with questions, I'll get to them soon!

I'm going to visit one of my best friends in Spain in about 2 weeks. We will travel small around where she lives and then she will come back to Ghana with me and travel around here for a bit and come and stay in my community with me. I am so excited. She is one of my very best friends from college and she would, actually, be a really good PC volunteer. She never feels awkward in situations that most people would feel awkward and she likes to take her time with everything she does. Perfect for PC Ghana! haha.

I need a little bit of rejuvenation anyways. Life here gets very monotonous and it is easy to get wrapped up in the everyday this and that. It is nice to get away and let your mind rest from trying to figure out how and what to do in the village.

After our last regional meeting, about 2 weeks ago, myself and two other PCV's went for a hike up to one of the mountains around this area. It was really beautiful from up there. We then hiked from there to some other villages and then finally up to one of the other PCV's villages, where we spent the night. It was really nice to get away from people (as a white person, and foreigner, in general, people are constantly watching and scrutinizing everything you do) and just hike through the bush.

So, as I asked people have been requesting I write on certain topics. So, my mom asked me about food. In my village, the people eat the same food everyday. A typical meal is Fufu (boiled cassava and plantain that are mashed until they are sticky - kind of like a dough pre-baked that is sticky) and fish with some sort of soup (light soup basically made from Pepe and some other spices or Palm nut soup made from palm nuts). They also eat banku with soup or stew, which is similar to fufu, but not as sticky. It is made from corn dough. I used to like fufu more than banku, but I have since changed my opinion. You have to swallow fufu whole in little balls. You aren't supposed to chew. I just can't do it, so I prefer eating banku because now eating fufu makes me want to gag. Other times people will make slices of yam either boiled or fried and eat it with a thick stew usually made from some sort of mixture give and take of tomatoes, garden eggs, onions, garlic and ginger. There is also plant leaves that they put in their stews sometimes. They call is 'sefa' in the local dialect, however I don't know what it is in English. People don't really eat ground nut soup or stew (peanut stew) because it is expensive to make, apparently. Though, it is my favorite out of all Ghanaian soups. My homestay mom makes the best. Meat is expensive here, so most eat smoked fish - salmon, I think it is. In the cold store you can buy chicken, turkey, and different types of fish: salmon, tilapia, and one other kind I am not familiar with.

My village also eats rice dishes. One is called Jolloff rice, which is made from tomatoes, onions, and pepe. It is really good. You can also add different vegetables to it. I've had it with carrots and green beans. Also, there is something called wachi (that is the phonetic spelling, I am not sure of the real spelling). Wachi is a mix of spaghetti and beans. It sounds bad, but it is not all together. Oh, in the next village over they sell beans with gari (not entirely sure what gari is - some type of carb mashed small) and either fried plantains, yams, or boiled eggs. My boyfriend eats that almost everyday because it is easy, but I think it is pretty gross. For some reason, beans don't agree with me here.

I think that's about all of it. When I cook, I make stir-frys, pasta dishes with tomato sauce, egg salad. I eat a lot of eggs and try to eat a lot of fruit. Right now, mangos are basically raining down from the skies. Mango skins are everywhere because everyone is eating them. I also eat bananas and I can get apples in the nearest city. My boyfriend and I have learned to perfect some good meals. Some of our best meals are bean burgers, fried garden eggs (like egg plant) and stewed tomatoes over rice, deviled eggs (yes!), pasta with a red sauce (now that I have italian spices), french fries or fried yams and some others that I can't quite think of right now. Local peanut butter is easy to find and bread is also. Women get bread from the nearest city, then bring it to the villages to sell. I drink a lot of tea also. It seems to fill the belly.

I'm having a 'rough patch' as many call it here in the PC. Every little thing is frustrating me. I am bored out of my mind, honestly, lately. Some people in my community have these high expectations for me: that I can miraculously get computers that can function and maintain themselves without human intervention, that I can just bring more tourists to the mountain, and that after I leave here I will continue to do the same work from America as I did here. What?!?! Hello, we are on 'African' time here in Ghana. We were supposed to have a TMT meeting last Wednesday. The chief decided to travel on that day, so it got moved to this morning. Never happened. Now, the plan is for Sunday. We'll see. These high expectations drive me mad when I can't even gather 5 people in one room at one time. Grr... so, in between talking talking talking about what we could/should do I have almost NOTHING to do. I try to keep myself occupied reading, doing small research on different topics here related to the different 'projects' I am trying to get underway and studying language. Sometimes I can do that...sometimes I just drive myself mad with boredom and the feeling of uselessness. But I really can't blame people for being on 'African' time...its their culture and I enjoy the slower pace, at times. However, as a busy-bodied American I am going crazy small small.

This morning I went to talk to the chief about starting a club for the children. All he kept telling me was, 'It is not a bad idea.' haha, ok. That's what I thought, myself. Apparently we are going to talk about it another day. Oh well, all I can do is try. After the meeting with the chief, I was standing outside the chief's palace and his brother comes up to me and asks me if I have a computer. Why, no I don't. Well, I get a dumb look and questions like, "Well, why not?" I know, I know. I'm white. I'm crazy rich and can afford to buy ten computers for the village, so why didn't I buy one for myself? Geeze, did that get me going. I ranted about how money doesn't grow on trees and, if it did, I would just pluck it off and buy everyone in my village a computer (not to mention health care, nutritious food, and clean water). As I ranted, my chief, counterpart and my friend just thought it was the funniest thing ever. Oh well, at least someone got a kick out of it.

Haha, so now I'm ranting again. Someone once said that people in your community can be good support for when you are feeling homesick, frustrated, whatever. Well, it is true. I almost wanted to cry today after the guy started asking me about computers. Then I started venting to my counterpart and his brother. Surprisingly, they understood and commiserated with me. I felt so much better after that.

All isn't as bad as I'm making it seem. I am really just going through a rough patch. I'm sure something will come up soon and I'll see the bright side of things. Hopefully ;)

So, this is my life for the next year and a half. I think I've come to terms with it. Well, maybe the phrase, "come to terms" is not the write phrase to use. I like it here. I am happy. Not to say that I want to live the rest of my life here, but for now this is where I want to be.

I finally feel like I am doing work in my community. The womens' group is coming together slowly, but surely. They were even talking about exporting at our first meeting! What?!?! Where did that come from?!?! haha. I didn't know they had that on their minds. They are really 'gung-ho' about this group. Honestly, they are much more motivated than the Tourism Management Team that I am working with. It makes sense, though. This is the women's livelihoods. The people on the TMT are just doing it on the side. It is not their 'job'.

So, speaking of the TMT, I finally got them to meet! The second time in almost 6 months! We set monthly meeting times and have discussed many ideas for improving the TMT and the tourist reception center. My chief wants to have some in-village training sessions with just my TMT. He is very interested in trust and transparency in the organization. PC really pushes the trust and transparency issue becuase of all the corruption in Ghana and because we are supposed to be developing community-based tourism. Without transparency, how will the community know where the money is going and how it is benefiting the community? Also, one of the members mentioned to me that they were told to form this TMT by the district assembly, but they really don't know what their function is. Hmmm...very revealing. Only took me about 5 months to figure that one out...haha. Yes, another example of just how slow things here are (that is, compared to the US.)

So, I've had the shits probably about 6 months straight, on and off, since I've gotten to my village. I called the PC nurse today and she told me to take some meds for it. Hopefully, this will work. Only my third different med. that I'll be trying. haha. Oh well, my body is going to be very messed up after this experience. I'm on Larium, first of all and now all these meds. Oh well, I think it is worth it.

Currently, I am reading 'Guns, Germs and Steel' - a book about why some civilizations evolved differently than others. Really a very intersting book. I recomend it to any and everyone. Especially those of you who think that these types of things have to do with race ;). The book sheds some light on factors that I know I've never really thought about such as those involved in the development of farming and written language. I'm also reading The Cider House Rules by John Irving. I loved this book in high school, so my boyfriend found it for me in the Accra office. I hope it really is good still.

Well, that's all for now. Send me any comments with questions and I'll answer them. Sometimes I have a hard time thinking about things to write about.

I think I have finally found a secondary project to do...it only took me 4 months :) haha. The women in my village make two types of palm oil, which they cook with and sometimes make soap from, out of the covering and nut of palm nuts. Most of them make it, but on a small-scale. It take a ridiculous amount of energy and time. I spent a whole day with some of the women making palm oil and the next day went back to thank them with one of my friends who speaks English. Through this friend, I found out that the women have been thinking of creating a palm oil producers group, which would allow them to produce much more and then have surplus oil to save to sell during the dry season and some oil to put aside to make soap from. I hope it works out! I told the head woman that I would like to help them out, if they are interested - helping them keep records, or organizing, or anything like that. The women are really excited. My counterpart told me that the women were telling the chief. Many of the women have been asking me about it and asking me how they can get involved. I keep telling them that it is up to them and they have to talk to the woman who is heading it up. Then once they call a meeting, I will help them organize. I want to make sure it is something they are willing to do, rather than me pressuring them.

Sometimes you would think that the Peace Corps has only been around for a few years and, on top of that, that Peace Corps Ghana has only been in existance for a short time. It is frustrating how some things are so unorganized. You would thank that in almost 50 years of PC Ghana they would have some things figured out. Just to get reimbursement for official travel is a ridiculous process that involves writing and re-writing a form until the admin ladies accept it. Apparently, both old and new PCV's have problems with the form...you would think that they would try something different: maybe clarifying the form?

So, my stomach has not been feeling well lately. My neighbor is going to Accra this weekend to pick up some things. I figured I would do a MIF kit (you basically take samples of your poop for a few days and send it for analysis) and have him bring it to the office so they could figure out what the heck is wrong with me. Included in the MIF kit are a few bottles of mercury and a few droppers of iodine. The directions (which actually are included in kit) are pretty clear and understandable. They tell you to squeeze the iodine into the mercury. So, my neighbor and I are going through the kit and he is telling me what to do since he had to do one. He then tells me that he remembers when he had to do a MIF kit that Peace Corps told us in training to ignore the directions INCLUDED in the kit and to use directions in this medical manual they gave us. Wow, does that make a whole bunch of sense. There is so much going on during training and all of us were just new to country that who is going to remember that, when we have fifty-million other things to remember? Well, apparently my neighbor remembered, but for anyone who knows me I definately did not remember. What the heck is the point of including those directions in there if they are not accurate? AND, if they know they aren't accurate, why don't they take them out of each kit before they give them to us OR put a label on the container telling us where to look for the correct directions? So many questions left unanswered about PC Ghana.

Today, I am in the nearest city waiting for some of my PCV friends to get here. They are coming to visit me in my village this weekend.

So, those community meetings I keep talking about. Yup, still have not happened. There is a festival in my village on the Saturday before Easter where all of the villages in our cultural area come together to celebrate. So, the chief has been busy with that and taking care of his farm. Every time I go to talk to him about announcing the meetings he tells me that he has not forgotten and that we will have them soon. Hmmm...I think it is over 2 months and counting since I brought this up to my community? haha.

So, as you can tell I am a little grumpy today. It is a really hard adjustment to go from such a busy life back home to one where just sitting around all day is considered 'work' and normal. Honestly, I feel lazy here. I try to occupy my time with visiting people, studying and practicing language, trying to set-up meetings, but I still get so 'bored'. The wierd thing is that the 'feeling lazy' is all in my head. I think I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing: trying. haha. Life is so wierd here.

I am pre-writing this as I am sitting on my porch. It is about 5-something in the evening. Thunder is rolling in from Togo, just over the mountains. A few children are playing in front of the house. I know they are here to watch me because, as I am writing this, they keep peeking their heads over the wall that contains my porch to see what i am doing. However, when I lean on the wall where they are in plain site of me, and I of them, they continue to play as normal just saying things to me that I don't understand in the local language and then trying to translate into English for me.

Today was Ghana Indenpendence Day - the 6th of March (the date when I am hand-writing this). My village had a small 'festival' at the football park where the primary school children marched around the field and some groups of adults did too. The chief and elders stand at one end and when the marchers reach him, they salute him. After that festival, I went with some of the women to the next village over hwere their school children (they have primary - high school) did the same. Some of the adults there also marched -- hairdressers, one farmer acted out burning and planting his farm, and another group acted out a priest curing an ailing man.

The woman who I was with, I realized today, is very popular. She greets many people and knows many people. She has a very good reputation (I am gathering) by the way she acts and, being as, she is the only woman on the Tourism Management Team in my community.

It is amazing the things I 'waste' that others find perfectly fine to use/consume. Earlier I made some pasta and vegetables and I threw the vegetable peelings next to the house. The children just brought the tops of the carrots to me asking which piece to eat and then proceeding to eat the stub.

have been interesting. As Peace Corps tends to say, "the first 3 months are the hardest." It is tough to be a business volunteer. Your primary assignment does not take all of your time. I am having trouble getting my Tourism Management Team (TMT) to meet. The person who, basically, heads up everything lives in Accra and the TMT does not seem to want to meet without him. I have many ideas for them to consider...but I think the next time the TMT will meet is around Easter time....so that means I have a few months...haha

SO, I have been trying to find other things to do. I have been observing classes at the local primary school. It is actually really depressing to me. The children just memorize things, they don't actually 'learn'. A majority of the teachers were not there, so the students are just hanging around not learning anything. I sat in on a teacher teaching English - ALL DAY! He taught a lesson in English in a block of about 4 hours that he could have taught in 1 hour. He just had the children read some sentences from their 'readers', then yell at them for not teaching correctly. Then he would tell them to copy those sentences into their notebooks for an hour. While they are doing this he would either go walk around outside, go to his house (a short walk from the school), or talk to me about how the students are so much smarter where he used to teach. He blamed the students poor english skills at this school on how the kindergarten teachers were teaching well. But yet his teaching is, "Nothing to write home about," but he can't see that. And I'm not in a position to tell him that. I told some of my friends in the village about what I saw at the school and how it bothered me. They were like, "Well, we will ring the gong gong and you tell the teachers what they should be doing and tell the parents to get involved." I was like, "I can't do that. That is not my place. I shouldn't be telling people what to do." My counterpart wants me to teach at the school. If I do start teaching (which is why I started sitting-in on classes) I will try to talk to the teachers or the headmaster once I get to know them. But I'm not here to boss people around or tell them what is "right" or "wrong" in my opinion. Things are so different here.

There is potential there for me to teach and that will start to give me a schedule. However, some people have been asking me how the children will understand me since they are so young and know so little English. That is a really good point, however I am debating whether me at least being there and trying to teach is better than what is going on there currently. We'll see what happens. I am going to have some village meetings when I return from Accra (where I am now). At these meetings we will map-out the community (hopefully) to determine important places in the community, important structures and where people frequent. Afterwards, we will have a discussion about community needs/wants and current resources (again, hopefully). Who knows how these will turn out. I've been waiting for the chief and others to make lists of different groups in the community -- male/female age groups, so I can meet with them individually. I've been asking for the last two months. They say the lists are ready when I return. Who knows...I guess I'll find out tomorrow :).

So, this is what my day is like right now:

6am: wake up and go to my counterpart's house to hike halfway up the mountain (I do this for exercise and he wants to come along)

7:30am - 9:30am: go to meet with/greet people (somedays I don't do this b/c there is no one for me to meet/greet). After this, I return home and bathe and eat.

whenever I return home - 4:00pm: Go observe at the school or go hang out with some of the market ladies. Sometimes I'll visit other villages with my counterpart or other community members. One of the young women in my village has been teaching me how to cook Ghanaian food (though now she has moved to the nearest city).

4:00pm-ish/5:00pm-ish: my counterpart teaches me the local language. Afterwards, we might go meet with people or I'll go hang out with the lady who sells bread outside of the chief's palace.

dark - 10pm: No one really does anything at night except for the sketchy people who hang out by the roadside, so I'll just stay in and read or make this rug I've been working on for the last 2 months...haha. My PCV neighbor and I cook and hang out together a lot too.

So, that's my day in a nutshell. It varies, though. Hopefully after the community meetings I will determine what other projects I am going to do in the community and if I am going to teach at the school.

My community is starting to get to know me better. The children don't call me "Abruni", but they call me by my local name and can actually tell me apart from other white people, which is pretty awesome. The women yell at the children who do not call me, "Sister Lelabi" because saying 'sister' before a name is a sign of respect here. That is pretty awesome - I hope that means they do actually respect me.I'm in Accra right now at the Peace Corps office. It is so nice to use internet that works at a high speed. I can actually check my email - haha.

I just realized that I titled one of my old blog posts, "3 weeks strong". It makes me realize how long I have been in Ghana...almost 5 months. And I have almost been at site for 3 months. wow. time is going so fast, but at the same time so slow. Sometimes I feel like I have been here for years.

It has been long since I have last written. It has been a chore just trying to check my email with the internet being slow and unreliable.

So far I have just been getting to know my village and letting them get to know me. The first 3 months are all about just settling in and builiding a reputation (hopefully a good one) for yourself.

I've just been greeting elders and other commmunity members, learning how to cook some Ghanaian foods, hanging out with my counterparts and supervisor, visiting nearby villages and settling into my house.

So far, I can say that I am fairly happy here, but it is a tough adjustment. I feel that i retain my core reasons for comeing here, but some of my reasons have also changed. I will elaborate at another time. I am constantly asking myself why I am here. It is tough.

Well, today I am travelling for a PC meeting. Soon I'll send a more detailed update.

Hi Everyone,

This entry is probably going to be completely random and probably a bit incoherent...bear with me ;)

Today is Saturday...we had language in the morning and then we had to go into Techiman, so one of the PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) could help us develop HIV/AIDS presentations for school children. The Peace Corps takes HIV/AIDS very seriously and wants each volunteer to incorporate HIV/AIDS teaching into their projects. Tara, Beth and I are presentint to JSS (Junior Secondary School) children. They are a bit older and know English pretty well, so we won't need translators.

Sometimes PC Ghana is pretty unorganized. SED often seems to be the last sector to know when they are supposed to do things. For instance, we did not know that we had to do AIDS/HIV presentations until yesterday and we have to create 2 hour presentations for Tuesday. Not to mention we should make it fun and interesting since they are for kids.

We had a four day excursion, which we just returned from now...ok I am starting to write new from here. I was about to write about our excursion a few days ago and a big storm hit, so I was not able to finish, but luckily blogger saved what I had started to write!

So, it currently Wednesday. Ok starting from our excursion: we went on a field trip (called excursions in Ghana) to all these different businesses and organizations near Kofaridua and Kumasi. It was an ok field trip...very long and a lot of riding in a packed tro. I'm glad that is over.

Oh, as I wrote about before...we had our HIV/AIDS presentation yesterday. I presented with Tara and Beth. We tried to give them a True/False quiz....really hard to do with Ghanaian teenagers. haha they did not understand what was going on...luckily their teacher was helping us to translate. After that quiz, we played a few games with them which went over well. I'm glad we were able to have that experience. I think I would like to do HIV/AIDS education in schools and elsewhere.

One other note about our presentation: we did have a mix of girls and boys in our class. It was interesting to see that the girls really did not participate. I think one girl raised her hand and contributed once throughout a whole two and a half hours. Interesting.

Well, that is all for now! We are going to buy some ingredients for pizza that we are going to attempt to make!

Hi Everyone!

Akwaaba (Welcome in Twi)! This is my first official update that I am not writing in a rush, so it is going to be a long one! One of the other Peace Corps Trainees (Carolyn) is letting me borrow her computer, so I don’t have to spend a whole lot of money or time at the internet café typing this up! J

Well, what to say about Ghana? So much has happened in the last few weeks. I actually feel like I have been here for a month when, in actuality, it has only been 3 weeks.

We had about a week of basic training (cultural, language, health & safety) in Accra for a week when we first arrived. Then we went on Vision Quest where a trainee visits a current volunteer and gets to see what life is like as a volunteer. That was cool. I traveled with Beth to visit John’s site near Kumasi. He is a SED (Small Enterprise Development) volunteer, the same as me. He is also doing Ecotourism work – trying to help people in his village bring tourists to their area. In his village the people make Kente clothe, which is a traditional type of weaving. It is a very expensive clothe in Ghana due to the fact that it is labor intensive.

Now we are in a village outside of Techiman where we are continuing our training. Here we get our intensive 10 weeks of training. We have language Mon-Wed and on Saturdays. Mon-Fri we have sector training (there are three sectors in my training group: Water & Sanitation or WatSan, Environment, and SED. Sector training is like basic business training. How to conduct Needs Assessments, creating business models, facilitation (PC is all about facilitating instead of just hand-outs) and business advising. I love OCLD and am glad that I studied what I did in school because I feel relatively prepared and confident. Right now we have ‘internship’ projects where we go in pairs and talk to a local business. Carolyn and I are talking with a local seamstress named Joyce. She doesn’t speak much English, so it is a little tough sometimes, but we are making it through with the little Twi we know and the little English she knows J. Also, other community members are nosy and come by. Today, Richard who is a shoe-maker in town came by and helped us to translate.

We also have Peace Corps training in Techiman where all of the sectors come together. We are trained on Peace Corps philosophy, sustainable development, participatory community development (PPGIS has come in handy!), health and safety, and cultural issues.

Traveling in Ghana is pretty crazy. There are these vans called Tro Tros where they shove as many people as possible into them. The safety standards and capacity standards are just not the same here in Ghana J. Taxis are also jam-packed with as many people as possible. We take taxis from our villages to Techiman and also to other training villages. We have also taken public transportation on big buses like we have in the States (charter buses). These are also jam-packed with a whole bunch of people going into Techiman (They are more so packed on Techiman’s ‘market days’. Techiman has West Africa’s largest open air market).

Right now my state of mind: I am definitely in the irritability stage of culture shock, where I am beginning to reject the host culture. Little things have been annoying me lately as I am becoming more and more aware of the differences between Ghana and home. A little girl grabbed my breasts the other day and started calling me, “Momma.” That annoyed me. For those of you who know me well and know that having children of my own is not one of my main aspirations, you can imagine my lack of amusement with this. On top of that, having my breasts grabbed is not my idea of fun. Haha. I told that little girl, “Yen fre me Momma. Ye fre me Sista Ama.” This mean don’t call me Momma, call me Sista Ama. I also am having trouble explaining to my host family that I want either an egg in the morning or porridge. They were giving me either of those for the first few days I got here, then they stopped. Then I asked them, on my language teacher’s recommendation, to return to giving me either one of those foods in the morning again. Haha, well this morning I got porridge and an egg. Apparently my father, who I asked to translate to my mother did not understand the initial message. When I tried to explain to my mother that I only wanted one or the other, she did not understand and called over my neighbor. I tried explaining it to my neighbor, but as many things do in Ghana, it ended with them laughing at me and the message was lost. Oh well.

Sister Ama is my Ghanaian name – it is the name given to a Saturday born child. Eventhough, I was physically born on a Tuesday, I came to Nsuta on a Saturday. Ghanaians have a hard time pronouncing my name (and other volunteers’ names). They call me Lynn when trying to pronounce my name or they just call me Ama. My brother and my father are about the only 2 people, besides PC people, who call me Leanne. They are getting better at pronunciation.

We found out our site assignments (where we are going to be stationed for the next 2 years) about a week ago. I am going to the Volta Region to a village of about 2,000 people. It is in the central part of Volta and is close to the Togo border. Apparently my house has a beautiful view of the mountains (the Volta Region is supposed to be beautiful in general, but is known for poor transportation). My main assignment is Ecotourism. I am helping the local people to bring tourism to their area. This includes adequate sanitation (probably public latrines among other things) and trying to get staircases built in the caves. I have some other assignments including helping them to create a Youth Training Center. Not exactly sure what that is yet, but I am interested to find out. Oh, the site I have is a new site. No other volunteer has been there before. I am probably going to be the villages first American who is living there. Oh boy J. However, there are other volunteers currently stationed around me. There is a teacher who is living just a few minutes from where I will be working. One of my trainers knows him and says he is a cool guy. I have been texting back and forth with him. I am going to meet him in a few weeks when we get to go visit our sites before we move there.

While my assignment is what I was hoping I would get, I have begun to think about my role here in Ghana. I want to be a part of sustainable development and I want to empower the people here. Since they were colonized for so long and there are so many other volunteer organizations and NGO’s just giving out handouts, the people have lost much of their creativity, motivation and capacity to help themselves. The PC is here to try to help people to think creatively and innovatively within their communities to improve their lives and also to help open lines of communication between village peoples (who may be illiterate) and the government (district assemblies – much like our county governments). Which all in all is good and I am into that part of it. However, I am not sure where the lines between imposing “Western” thoughts, ideas and ways of doing things are. In other words, is tourism what my community needs and, if so, are the notions of efficiency, recording keeping, etc. something that I should bring to my community? I guess I will have to figure all of this out when I get to site – after the first few months. From what I gather, the PC is pretty chill about letting volunteers define what their assignments are once they get to their village and conduct formal and informal needs assessments.

Oh I almost forgot. I am learning the language they speak in the Volta called Ewe (Ay Way). It is so hard and one of the other trainees in my group is super smart and remembers everything! And, being as I have virtually no memory, language class is very stressful!

Well, that is all for now! Leave me nice messages!

Leanne

Thank you to everyone who sent me words of encouragement! I appreciate that!

Right about now I have been in Ghana for about 6 days, but it feels much longer. Not in a bad way...it is just that there has been so much going on. We had Staging in Philly for two days and then we've spent the last few days in University housing about an hour outside of Accra.

So far our training has entailed basic cultural, language, health and safety and security training. It is VERY busy. We go to bed late and wake up early every morning. We didn't even have a day off to rest after we got off the plane. They threw us right in.

I have to admit that I was second guessing myself a tiny bit on the plane, but when we got off in Ghana and walked out of the airport there was a line of current PC volunteers and PC staff there cheering us on as if we were celebrities. It was awesome. I am much more confident now as I have spent the last week or so getting to know the other trainees in my group as well as the trainers (a mix of PC staff and current volunteers). I have to say that all of the people here are very kind, generous and open. I'm excited to start training in Techiman after our Vision Quest.

Today we are in transit to Vision Quest. We travel alone or with a partners to a current volunteers site and hang out with them for a few days. We have specific assignments like going into the comunity and meeting people or doing specific tasks. I'm am excited. I am going to stay with a Small Enterprise Development volunteer who is in Ecotourism as well. Another trainee is coming along with me.

Yesterday, we all went into Accra in groups of 2 or 3 and had to explore different areas that were assigned to us. We had specific tasks to do, but our group somewhat deviated. We weren't supposed to eat street food b/c the trainers thought we might get sick since we haven't all quite acclimated to the food and water yet. However, we ate Fu Fu, which is a common dish here made out of yams and pounded until it is really really soft. We at it along with Ground Nut (peanut) soup and Tilapia. Yummy. I'm travelling with one of the other trainees and neither of us is sick. Awesome :) We were in a place called Osu, which I still cannot find on the map - haha. We went to the beach there. One of the main things we were supposed to get out of going Accra is how to get around. There are vans called Tro Tros, which cram a whole bunch of people in - very hot and sweaty - definately an experience.

Sorry if some of this is incoherent!

I recently graduated from Ithaca College and am about to begin my Peace Corps training and service as a Small Enterprise Development volunteer in Ghana! I am going to be a Business Advisor working with Ecotourism (hopefully), which is great for me because I obtained my degree in Organizational Communication, Learning and Design (now CMD) and studied Environmental Studies and some Ecotourism while in school at Ithaca College and through a School for International Training program in Australia.

I have wanted to join the Peace Corps since I was in high school and always dreamed of being the type of person that could be accepting, flexible, and determined enough to handle Peace Corps service. Well, here I go – we’ll see how I do. I joined the Peace Corps for various reasons, two of the most important being: to help those who are in need of and want help, and to take advantage of an opportunity to live in a different culture and see the world from another perspective. On top of that are bonuses like traveling around the area that I will be stationed in, breaking stereotypes about Americans, and meeting other people who have the same ideals and interests as me.

Please feel free to write to me because I would love to hear from those that I know and love and also new friends visiting my blog!

Welcome to my Blog...write to me while I'm in Ghana :)