I've finally made it back to the land of the free and the home of the brave. From Senegal, we traveled through Mauritania, hung out with cool RPCV Jacque, Then a lot of long bus rides through the mine field, into Western Sahara and to Morocco. Marrakesh was cool and eventually I caught the ferry from Tangier to Spain and visited Ana in Granada. Jack went his own way, Barcelona and then Portugal. I flew from Madrid to Dublin and spent a week visiting Sarah and her family, and this morning i flew back Dublin to O'Hare. I'll stay with Drew here in Chicago and see some friends before going up to Madison for Halloween weekend. Ultra brief summary, but it does the trick. ask me for the details, there are plenty.

I'm oh so happy to be back, jet-lagged and overwhelmed, confused and anxious to see what i've missed and who still remembers me here. I'll get home to my parents house in Point next week and then properly relax for a time before looking for the next step in my life. I'm still putting off decisions on that front for now.

I hope to see lots of friends in Madison this weekend and beyond. I don't have a phone yet, so fb or email me so we can get together. If you want me to come visit you where you are, let me know and i'll see what i can do. I still have some money and my freedom. Eventually i'll have to get a job, apartment, school, life, all that.... but not yet. not yet.

love,

-Toby

PS. eventually, maybe soon, I'll get around to putting up some pics from my last days in ghana and my travels afterwards. promise.

After a long dusty train ride and and an even longer bus ride we entered Senegal. We had trouble with the Mali immigration check point, who insisted that we buy the mali visa again because we didn't have our reciept from the first time. We had to walk a half hour in the hot hot sun and then back again to the police station to argue with them. During that time, our bus driver got tired of waiting for us and threw our luggage off the bus. We yelled and pleaded but there was nothing we could do and the bus left. Feeling dejected, i had to hitch back into town to the police and pay for the visas again. On the way back i stopped at the bus station and explained my sad plight to the friendly station master. I assumed that there was nothing they could do, but he sent a young guy out on a moto and he came back a few minutes later saying that there was a bus in the next town and that we should hurry up and go now. We rushed over and found that it was the same bus! Apparently, after leaving us behind, some of our nigerian friends on the bus convinced the driver to wait 2 and a half hours more until we made it. We thanked everyone profusely, borded the bus and proceeded with our 20 plus hour journey.

We finally arrived in Dakar at 5 am and slept in the bus station on our prayer mats. In the morning we began to explore Dakar, and it is really something. Dakar is like a bigger, nicer, frencher version of Accra. There are fancy hotels, highways along the beach, fancy restaurants, aggressive street venders, and a giant statue of some africans boldly pointing westward (built by the North Koreans, of course.) Jack and i hooked up with a big group of senegal pcvs who were all in Dakar for a sector summit and we stayed in their very nice regional house. Free lodging meant we had more CFA to spend on food and drinks. I also went to the beach, a fancy club with a swimming pool, and a cool Kewl Garul dance party. I also drank too much tequila. Overall, a great time in Dakar.

Now we are on the move again, going north now and heading for Europe. We are prepared and being cautious but we won't stay too long in Mauritania or Western Sahara; but push on for Morocco. I'm looking forward to some cooler weather, but i suppose i'll have to wait until after we cross the desert.

Take care all,

-Toby

So far, all good things about francaphone africa.

Bobo is a very relaxed town and we had fun wandering the big market and chatting with people. food, they put everything in baggettes here and make a sandwich. In ghana, it's only the egg sandwich that is recognised as legitimate, but here you can throw what every you have into some long crusty bread and eat it that way. We also met a nice lady on the bus who wanted to introduce us to her daughters. We accepted of course, and ate with her one night, and the daughters drove us around on motos.

On a map, the trip from Bobo to Bamako doesn't look too bad, and the roads are all good, so it shouldn't take 14 hours, but it did. After crossing the Mali border, our bus was repeatedly stopped and made to wait at "security checkpoints" where the driver and conductor had to deal with officials who occasionally wanted to actually check the bus for something. The conductor took a collection on the bus to make up for all the bribes he was paying. Overall, almost half our time was spent waiting at a standstill for approval to continue. Eventually we got to Bamako.

Bamako is a very nice city and Mali just celebrated it's 50th birthday so everyone is happy and the place is all decorated. The only downsides are that it is really hot and beer is hard to find. Also, Jack is getting tired of bagettes and brochettes. But i'm not, and my antibiotics are making me feel powerful. Tomorrow we will take the train to Kayes and from there continue on to Dakar and the beach. I'm looking forward to the water.

All the best to all my bestest,

-Toby

So, I officially ended my peace corps service on August 19. I got all my medical checks upped, signed all the forms, interviewed with the boss and wrote up my Description of service official report. I'm done, I'm free and i can do what ever i want. up to a point of course. RPCV!!!!!

Jack is from Berkley CA and he and i are both without detailed plans when we finally get back to the US, so we are traveling around West Africa before we leave and having fun. After COS, we traveled back up through Ghana and visited Sonya, Brenden, and the TSO before getting to Serena's site. We went to a yam festival with her and had a good time before we continued from there into Togo.

Serena's sight is right on the border of Ghana and Togo, so it wasn't too long of a trip. When we got the border, we tried to buy a visa there and the one lonely togolese immigration officer said we couldn't do that. After a wait, he simply stamped our passports and told us to go to the next Border town and get our visas. Our plans didn't include going to that town, so we didn't. We hung out in chill town called Sokode and then went down to Kpalime, which had mountains and waterfalls of which we saw a little on a short hike. Mostly, we took it easy, tried the local food and beer and tried to hit on the local women. Togo is a lot like Ghana and we felt right at home, but with French influence so they have better food. Both Jack and I speak passable french, and we get by alright. We traveled to Lome and looked for Togolese pcvs but only found one on our last day in togo. We were going to go to the beach near Lome, but decided to save it for Ghana because we know those beaches better. We tried to cross back into Ghana at Lome, and there encountered minor problems. The immigration guys were not so friendly and not amused that we didn't have visas. One guy told me he wanted to slap me, but he didn't do it. They sent us to another building to buy the visa we should have gotten upon entry, but on the way, the Ghanaian officials saw us and waved us over to start entry procedures. They always like us because we have residency permits. We thought we had gotten through without having to pay when a big Togolese official came looking for us. He made us go back to the Togo side where we got yelled at and then had to wait around for a while before they took us the the other place where we bought our visas and passed through. The ghanaians where confused as to why we had left and come back, but still happy to see us.

Back to Accra, we hung around and looked into what it would take to get a visa to Cote D'iviore. Eventually we turned in the paperwork to the cold-as-ice reception lady at the CI embassy. We met some other fellow travelers and hung out with them in Accra: Jimi the Nigerian and Hans the German, cool guys. It's too expensive in Accra, so we went to the beach to wait for the visas. A few days at the Hideout turned into a week and suddenly we realized that we would have to rush back to get to the embassy by friday, or stay the weekend, so we did. Stay that is. We didn't spend much because we ate in the village: Lobster and fufu. Also, the group of omnibus pcvs after us had their COS conference that week and afterwards a bunch of them came to the beach we were at, so we stayed and had fun with them. Eventually, after a total of 10 days at the Hideout, we came back to Accra to leave for real.

Back in the Peace Corps office people kept seeing us and saying "I thought you were gone!" I've said goodbye to some pcvs so many times that it's a little ridiculus. Jack and i got up nice and early and went to the Cote D'Iviore embassy to pick up our passports only to be told by cold-as-ice that we were rejected because we did not have a ligitimate hotel reservation in Abidjan. That was true, we didn't have one because all the hotels there were too expensive. So rejected by Cote D'iviore, means we don't have to worry about how expensive and maybe dangerous it is there. Instead we decided to go back to Burkina.

Originally, I did not want to pass through Burkina because i have already been there three times and the visa just increased to 10 times the previous price. Our grand plan is to travel across west africa to Dakar, Senegal and then up to Morroco and cross into Europe. Get out your atlas and you will see that there are a number of ways we could go from ghana to senegal passing different countries along the way. From Bobo-Dioulasa in Burkina, we will go to Bamako, Mali and then to Dakar. Long bus rides, but only if we get the burkina visa. which we did, in only a few hours and the consular was very nice and the receptionist was cute too. Burkina is now clearly superior in Embassy services to Cote D'Iviore, the only downside is that the visa we got cost 100 USD and is a 5 year multiple entry visa. So I'll be coming back. And yes, they required it to be paid in US dollars, although Burkina uses the CFA.

Tomorrow, we will start again and travel up through Ghana again to Wa. from there, leave and never come back, at least until next year. But we are really going this time, promise.

That's a summary of the travel so far and the tentative plans i've got. It will undoubtedly change, but such is life. Wait, we are going to a bunch of francaphone countries. Se la vie! If you live along the way, i'm coming to visit you, otherwise i plan to be back in WI by the end of October and in Madison for Halloween. oh yeah.

love and kisses,

-Toby

Dear friends,

I haven't posted anything in a while, sorry about that. I suppose you all have gotten used to me not being around and don't miss me much anymore. Well too bad for you i'm coming back! Actually i won't be back for some time, but i'm getting to the end of an era here in Ghana.

July was very busy with the end of the school term, and preparing to finish my service and leave my site. I got through as much as I could with my classes, we finished Plant Reproduction and even looked at some real flowers and seeds in the classroom. It's such a challenge with no science lab and too many students to get in depth hands on study. I've been teaching all of the first year students, four classes and about 180 students and i try to meet with each group 2-3 times a week. We do the best we can with what we have. I set my exam questions and helped the secretaries type up some exams. Always impressive that i can type 50 words a minute. You forget how valuable/useful a skill like that is until you are in a situation where you are the only one with it. Like during a zombie attack and only one guy knows how to fly the helicopter, but he just got bit, oh shit!

I also took a bunch of photos of my students and me standing with my students. I wanted them to have a picture of me to remember me when i leave. I printed off a bunch of them and handed them out. Digital photos are expensive to print here, but it was worth it to see how happy they were to get them. I guess in the US you just email your photos to walgreens and get 'em for like 3 cents each, but here it takes a little more legwork, and ligiri (dinero). On the last days of school, I took a lot of pics of my school, students, and staff, and I arranged with some of the students who have film cameras to snap pictures of me and those who didn't get pictures before. It was really hard to say goodbye to so many good people that i spent so much time with. My students will miss me and I will miss them. so much.

Bismark and other staff planned an end of the year party to say goodbye to me and Headmaster (he's retiring, mandatory at age 60). We had light soup with goat and took one bottle each ( I took two Star). There was time for some speaches and they presented Head and me with smocks. It's my third smock and it is Packer colors, sort of, so I'll wear it to the next tailgate party I go to. Shauna et al. think it unlikely that i will every wear a smock in the US. They are right, but that won't stop me from treasuring them forever. It was great to sit with my coworkers and friends one more time. The week before we had a dog party, that was fun too.

I went to a goat roast at Shauna's and to the big Wa party and said goodbye to a bunch of the other volunteers. It doesn't seem so final or sad to say goodbyes to other PCVs, I know that in the future i will be able to keep in contact with them and see them if we want to. It's much sadder for me to goodbye my friends in the village and people here who i may very well never see again. I do want to come back. I promise I will come back, but I cannot be sure of seeing them again, and it can never be like this again.

After all that, I went back to site for a few last days to pack up all my stuff and say my last goodbyes. I gave away most of my small stuff lots of little things to my students and other crap to all my small girls and boys, but my big backpack is full and probably weighs 100 lbs. I have that plus my small backpack. I also sent some stuff back with Shauna and with Vicki, so i'm bringing plenty of crap home. There'll be something for each of you, my dear friends. Along with my stuff, I needed to pack up my PC water barrel and filter and bring it back to Tamale Sub Office, since i'm not being replaced (I hope they do send a volunteer to my school again in the future). It took some doing to lug all my stuff to Bolga, where I said more goodbyes and picked up more crap.

Now I've finally made it to Tamale and i can leave a bunch of it here. I have said goodbye to all the people and places that have been important to me for the last two years. I left Sirigu for the last time and Bolga for the last time. It was harder than I expected and I felt a really good sadness, so I knew that it is a good thing that is ending now. After a few failed attempts, I cried about it, but it didn't make me feel better, rather i felt more miserable. As Jake would say, it was ugly crying. I'm glad that i started my goodbyes plenty of time in advance and I think I did as good a job as I could getting to everyone and tying up loose ends. I know my village will miss me and I will miss everything here. so much so much.

The end. And also a beginning. I will go to Beth's wedding tomorrow and then to Accra where I'll have my interviews and etc. and then officially COS. Afterward I will not be affiliated with the US gov and then i can do WHAT EVER I WANT! Jack and I are still planning to travel, but we haven't decided what routes to take. more there later. The world is about to open up and i guess i have to dive back in. some traveling will be good before i'm forced to re-enter US culture, my "normal" life, and job/school or whatever. oh man, i'm not ready to think about what i'll do when i get back. let me know if you have ideas. and if you want me to come visit, i will. I don't even need a bed, i can sleep on the floor, i'm really good at it now.

Do good, be well.

-Toby

So,

Difficulties involved in aquiring the neccessary materials for a more traditional celebration of the birth of our nation (dinomite is not the same as fireworks) resulted in some brainstorming and Shauna came up with the excellent idea to build a trebuchet for 4th of July. Jake had a pretty big gathering and we had great food, including burgers, hotdogs, and a variety of cold salads that did not contain lettuce, so the mood was set.

The mention of siege engines inevitably brought out a few others who were into (or too into) that sort of thing, so we went to work. I was quite satisfied with our result, although we did not have the endurance to figure out the proper way to make the sling throw rocks in the right direction (not back in our faces or onto the roof). We settled for the basket-type catapult-treb-cross. As evening drew near on Independence day, and the William Tell Overture swelled in the background, we sent flaming projectiles far afield, to the delight of all. A coke bottle of petrol only costs a cedi. We got some cool videos that Beth promised to post eventually.

I can safely say it was the best 4th in a long time, plenty of oohing and ahhing. It is pretty cool how well a coffee can full of rocks and dried grass will burn when it is doused in gasoline. Also, I'm happy to report that there were no serious injuries incurred.

I hope everyone is well at home. I posted some random more photos on facebook, check 'em. That's all for now.

Do good and be well.

-Toby

Hey all.

This font i'm using is called trebuchet, which is a great name and i was actually just looking up trebuchets on wikipedia before this. everyone should have a trebuchet or two.

My last term of teaching is in progress. I've got about 3 months to go until i'm done with my pc service and on to other exciting things. I'm excited to be almost done. I love it here, but i'm looking forward so much to getting back to all my loved ones and places. I'm feeling a sort of senioritis here, but i can make it the last bit. I've come this far afterall. I've got enough to do here, with saying goodbye to everyone and packing up and giving away all my stuff, making sure i've tied up all loose ends. It will be over so fast.

World cup weekend and my birthday next week! the world accelerates as i experience it.

love, toby

Okay, an update:

I was super busy all of april vacationing and generally having too much fun. Now I'm tired and ready to get back to normal boring life at site, teaching science. Right after classes ended, Corey Serena Meghan and I went up to Ouagadougou and met Lauren, then we all travled into Mali and hiked Dogon Country for 6 days. Fun francaphone times, great scenery, and so amazing to see my friend again. Afterwards, traveled back down to Ghana, hung out at my house and then Lauren and I went to Robert's wedding. Fun fancy dress, ghana church times! Then Lauren and I went to Tenzug, Paga and finally back to Ouaga where she flew back to the us, despite ash clouds and such. I went home for one day and then set off for Ho, in southern Volta region of Ghana for the All Volunteer Conference at a very fancy hotel. After allvols, we had cos conf so basically i was there for 2 weeks. Finally, working my way back up to Sirigu and I will be back at it this week. I am happy and tired and getting excited about finishing my pc service. More on what i'll do next in another post. for now, look at facebook for pics of all these adventures etc.

Love to all,

-Toby

Yesterday and today it has been so dusty that it seems like we are in a fog that covers everything. Even at noon, the sun seems like a hazy glow and doesn't give the normal scorching heat that i'm used to. Don't get me wrong, it's still way hot, like 100 degrees or more every day, but with the sun obscured, it doesn't all get through. I know the UVs will still get through so i'll still get burned if i sit outside to long.

It has been hot and dusty for a while now. some nights it is really not pleasant at all. Lying in bed all sweaty (not from exertion) and no place is cooler. ok, I could sleep outside, that gets a little cooler, but where i live, i would have to deal with all my students showing up and wanting to clean and fetch water at 5am. That's not the way i usually like to wake up. No lights, no fan so i just sit and pretend i'm in a sauna and i like the hot and really sweaty food.

Air is so hot, even at night and even inside. The other night I was trying to light a candle and the candle bent over while i was holding it. The wax was so pliable that i could bend it into the letter S and it wouldn't break, so i made it stand up and lit it that way. The best is when you are sweating so much that it drips into your food while you're eating, then you don't have to add as much salt as usual. I wish i could say that it is getting to the end or that it is almost over, but i'm pretty sure it is going to be like this all through April. By the end of april, hopefully we will start getting rains and the heat will reduce some. Until then, i deal.

School, we are in final exams for term two. That means i have a week to go, then 200 test papers to mark, and then vacation. After vacay, one more school term and that's it. I'm getting close to the end and i'm excited.

I'm also excited for vacation. Lauren is coming and we are going to hike in Dogon Country with some other PCVs. It is going to be great to see her, and the travel should be super cool, too. I'll take lots of pictures. After that, it's All Volunteer Conference, and that will be a blast as well. It certainly was last year. After that, COS conference. I'm super busy all the month of april so i hope i can fit everything in that i want to do. Robert's wedding is in there too!

Love etc,

-Toby

So around here, dry season is the time for funerals and Ghanaians celebrate funerals in a bigger way way than almost anything else. Important people that died this year, (and everyone is important to somebody) get celebrated in a three day event that draws huge crowds from far and wide. Sometimes, families wait for quite a while before having a funeral for their relative, even several years. These days, there isn't so much to do, so funerals are all the time. Every weekend there is a funeral somewhere, drumming and dancing and drinking and eating is going on, usually within earshot of my house, almost constantly.

I went to visit my good friend and housemate Robert and attend the funeral of his fiance's mother. Women's funerals and men's funerals are different, mainly in the types of dancing. Men's funerals may have a War Dance, but there wasn't one of those when i went to this funeral. There are plenty of variations, I'll describe the one i went to recently.

Funerals are put on at the family house of the deceased and family and friends from all over the country come to them. Preparations start 3 days before by brewing pito, which takes three days to ferment. On the third day, the funeral starts and everyone arrives. Visitors bring gifts for the family of the deceased, often alcohol or other beverages. They also bring animals like fowls, guinea fowls, goats and sheep. The animals are food, of course. and are usually slaughtered and fed to the masses. You have to give the animal alive, though. Giving someone a dead animal is strange and suspisious.

Groups of drummers and dancers arrive and perform for tips, people eat and drink a lot, hang out and offer condolences. The atmosphere is not normally sorrowful, it's rather like a carnival. People come from the surrounding communities and there are people selling all sorts of things, plenty of snacks and drinks. Let me stress: lots of drinking. There are sad people, of course. The funeral will have people designated as "chief morners" whose job is to be sad while everyone else has a good time and works hard. The dancing and masses of people are exciting. Sometimes there are fireworks too.

At the end of the first day, lots of tired, full, drunk people sleep all over the place and where ever they can find space. The next day, many say goodby and go back to wherever they came from. They get parting gifts of food and drink. The second day is more for family and they spend the time relaxing in the home, preparing food, cleaning up from the night before, and dancing. The woman's family arrives in the evening and there is more dancing and celebration. Since in a traditional Ghanaian marraige, the woman goes and lives with the man's family, the wife's family is separate and not the same as the rest of the family and guests.

On the third day, the woman's family travel back to their place, and they take the spirit of the woman and the funeral back with them. Before they go, they dance and go around to the neighboring houses to say goodbye to them. They carry gifts and a few belongings of the deceased woman. The neighbor houses also give gifts, food and drink mainly. Animals(food) are common gifts.

After the family leaves, the funeral festival is over and people can go back to their regular work. next week, there will be a funeral at someone elses house and you can go have a good time there.

I had fun at Cynthia's mother's funeral and I enjoy going to funerals occasionally in Sirigu, but there are so many that i don't go all the time. I also attract alot of attention and at a big funeral there are lots of people from out of town and they don't know me so they tend to get bothersome or annoying. Drunk strangers want to talk to/harrass white people, especially white women (which i'm not). But it's not so bad and certainly interesting. Next time you come to visit me, I hope we can go to a funeral so you can check it out.

I posted some pictures from the funeral and other pics on facebook

Love,

-Toby

I posted new pictures on Facebook from vacation with the family.

Today is superbowl sunday, but i won't watch because it comes on at 11 pm tonight and i have classes to teach tomorrow. I hear the Who are the half time show, you'll have to tell me all about it another time.

I'm back to the teaching and it's going well. Also painting the world map on my school, that's fun. My time here is winding down, feels like i only have a little to go, its acutally about 7 months. oh man. when i come back, we should hang out.

love, Toby

I guess I'm not technically on vacation anymore, but I'm still away from site and it feels like so long since I've taught any kids anything at school. My family visit ended and all have gone back to the mighty us, overall it went amazingly well and we did a lot of cool stuff. It was so wonderful to see my family.

We took our time traveling south from Sirigu, spending a day in Bolga to go to the craft village and market and getting clothing made by Rashid. He made a cute skirt for my mom and a very colorful shirt for my dad, Jamie got some nice stuff made too. We went down to Tamale and spent some time in the market there. Mom made some people mad by taking their picture without permission, but that happens. We went out for excellent chinese and invited my ...friend Mercy and some other pcv teachers who were around to join us. It was nice to see them and my parents enjoyed meeting some of my friends. We traveled by bus and tro but the travel was hard on my fam, I knew it would be. Long legs and sore backs suffered.

In Kumasi we stayed in a hotel by a park with really big cows in it. Jamie and I went out for a pub crawl with the guys for Kyle's Birthday. Happy birthday, dork. Next day we continued on to Cape Coast where we chilled and relaxed on the beach and spent several days. My family liked the beach a lot. I feel like I have filled my beach quota for the rest of my service, but i imagine I'll end up there again anyway. I hope Lauren doesn't want to go to the beach. jk. My aunt and uncle flew in for a week and joined us in CC. We went to Kakum natioal forest and walked on the canopy walk early in the morning. It was beautiful and really high, certainly a cool place to see. We had our binoculars at the ready, but we didn't see much for wildlife, dad was a little dissapointed there. We also toured the castle and enjoyed the beach resort night life. I danced with some rastas at the beachside club, the other white people danced some too. There was one african woman present for a short time, and she wanted to dance with me, she was a good dancer but i found out later that she was married. Her husband bought me a drink.

Jamie took a tro back to Accra a week before the rents went back, and we stayed another night at a fancy beach resort, like i said, a lot of beach time. Then we traveled up to Koforidua, stayed in a nice place and visited the bead market. Dad found a good spot to watch birds by the hotel and he was happy. I watched Fight Club and Juno on satelitte TV. Then we went back to Accra and they all flew back home. Except me, I'm still in Ghana.

I'm so happy that my family was able to come see me and experience what i am doing here. I know now that I will be able to talk to them about more of the challenges I faced here and they will know what i'm talking about. The trip was a hands down success. They got sick for only a day each, nothing serious. We visited all the main places we planned. Travel was rough at times, but we got where we needed to go. They also tried most of the local food I love, although we did eat at some pretty fancy expensive places too. I feel a little spoiled on food.

Now I'm getting myself back into mindset to teach and be a poor pcv again. I'm still in Accra for VAC and won't get back to teaching until next week, but it feels more noraml for me now. It also feels like the whole experience is accelerating. Only about 7 months to go, two school terms and lots of visits and events to fill the gaps. I've got to start making serious plans about what i'm doing after this. looking for a job, maybe back to school, where should i live? anyone want to hire me? I'll get back to yall about all that, but i'm always open to sugguestions.

Love and kisses,

-Toby

What a dramatic title for a blog entry!

We've been having fun and not too many snags. Here's a quick overview. Mom, Dad, and Jamie arrived in Accra after lots of bus, plane and airport time and passing through London. they got in a few hours late, so i had fun hanging out it Accra airport waiting for them (not really). We stayed in a pretty nice hotel in Osu and then went to Adda Foah for a few days, stayed at Maranatha beach camp. Dad liked the sand and friendly staff. Jamie and I danced with Antoinette, mom took pictures with her new camera.

Traveled back to Accra and struggled to get cash, missed the Forex by a few minutes and the African ATM did not agree with the people in the bank back in Stevens Point, but we got enough money to buy plane tickets. We took the flight from Accra to Tamale, GHc262 one way, about an hour flight. It was actually really nice, just like any flight. We did have to get up at 4 am but it all worked out pretty good. We saw Andy in the airport with his family, too, doing the same thing we were doing. I spent more money than i make in a month (my parent's money actually) to travel for 1 hr to a place it would normally take me 12 hrs on a bus to reach. Pretty cool. also cool to get from Accra to Sirigu all in one day.

We relaxed in Sirigu, went to the market, sat on some crocodiles and met my good friends. Bismark took us on an excellent tour of his family home, and we got a chance to see some traditional dancing at the Natunia festival. My parents stayed at SWOPA and Jamie stayed with me at my house. We tried some food. Mom likes red red. Jamie had some stomache issues one day, dad said it was from the goat, but we disagreed.

Now we are traveling back south, Bolga today, Tamale tomorrow, Kumasi and Cape Coast after that. Rashid is making us some nice ghanawear and we'll get some gifts and things in the market. maybe a basket or a pot. We'll meet more friends along the way. hope they all can handle long bus rides, we'll use STC mostly.

Love and etc to all,

-Toby

I put some more pics on facebook. the link is here.

enjoy

-Toby

I don't actually know what Boxing Day is, or how to celebrate it normally. The guards at the office reminded me that it was a holiday today too. Happy Christmas to all yall who celebrate it. Happy Chanukah for all of you as well. Other holidays, the same. Yesterday I celebrated with friends and pcvs in Tamale, ate chinese food and candy, watched movies: most of Elf, and Love, Actually. Good stuff. Santa even came and left some beef jerky in my stocking.

The real celebration is tonight and after. My mother, father, and brother are arriving at Accra Kotoko airport anmd I will be there to meet them. I am very very excited to see my family!! It has been over a year and a half since I left and came here to Ghana and I miss them so much. We are going to travel around Ghana and have a great time. I want to show them everything and everyone that I know here and that is important to me. I just hope that all the logistics aren't too exhausting and frustrating. I'm sure i can make it work.

Enjoy yourself and those around you. give yourself a hug and kiss for me.

love,

-Toby

So, it's really dry here now. Like absolutely dry. Like Arizona dry. Not that I actually know anything about Arizona. Anyway, all the plants are dying except the trees that must have deep root systems because they stay green. The thorn trees (pronounced 'torn') actually put out their leaves during the dry season. All the water drys up, the stream becomes a sandy shallow ravine. Everyone finishes their farming and starts on dry season activities if they have any, if not, it's time to sit around and drink pito.

The aridity causes some problems for me personally although i like it overall. My heels do their best to split into little pieces, but i have plenty of moisturizer. My nose gets dry and irritated so i pick it in public, but that's not a problem here, it's the norm. It also gets really dusty and the soil is rocky and clay-y so the dust is Africa Red. After a long car ride on a dusty back road, everyone looks a little reddish. Smart people wear jackets and scarves to keep off the dust, I just wash my neck when I arrive. Also, when you finish a long ride it is quite satisfying to blow your nose and see all the dust that did not get into your lungs.

It's also been getting considerably cooler. I wrote the word "colder" but replaced it while thinking of you all buried in multiple feets of snow, I'm jealous. The temperature during the day still gets hot, but it takes longer to warm up, and the mornings are cool enough to want a longsleeve or even a light coat. My students take every opportunity to wear something over their uniforms to keep out the cold, but these days it's legit. But not at 2 pm. It is a stylish windbreaker, though.

The cat gave birth again! She is so fertile. This time, Evander popped out two little ones, an orange stripey and a gray stripey one. Good thing too, because she was way fat and annoying. This is number 3 and 4 since i've been here. Seems she gets pregnant every 6 months, it means i've been here for a year and a half. Mama cat is my buddy, but her other kids are wild and scardy and don't let us touch them except fleetingly. It's because she hid them as babies and i didn't get to play with them. That might happen to these new ones, too. Evander gave birth in the little enclosure where the hens keep their new chicks, so the chickens, (also very fertile) are out. I'm sure mama cat will move her brood to a more secure location, like the garage.

I have some photos i wanted to post, but i forgot my pen drive at home, so next time. It's still all virusy, so i'll do my best. I'll take it to my friend at the internet cafe, but that sometimes results in a clean and empty pen drive so i'll upload the pics first.

My Mom, Dad, and Brother are coming to visit me here in Ghana. It is going to be so awesome. I haven't seen them in that long time. oh man wow.

Lots a Love,

-Toby

Around here it's the end of the wet season, the harvest is finishing, and people are eating well. It's the season of change, suddenly i can see 10 times as far because everyone cut down their millet. The grass is starting to get brown because it hasn't rained in a few weeks. Pretty soon it will officially be dry season. Then, no insects, no clouds, no work for most people and no water. Dry season is relaxing time unless you are a child, woman, or salaried worker (or a volunteer worker). It's the holiday season in the states, eh? We are getting together at the Tamale Sub Office for Thanksgiving and that should be fun, but otherwise, I'm focusing on teaching. I'm still teaching Science and ICT. Typing practice in the classroom and computer practicals in the afternoons in small groups since we have only 5 computers and thy are set up at the nearby catholic mission since we don't have electricity at our school. It works out, and the kids sure are excited about their computer time. So far, we have learned how to turn on the computer, use the mouse, click, double click, open and close windows, minimize and maximize windows, resize and move windows, and use microsoft paint. Paint is one of my favorite programs, and the kids are pretty excited when they realize they can draw on a computer. Mostly, though, they ask me how to erase. not sure why. The pen pal project with East Junior High in Wisconsin Rapids is going on again, too. My kids are going to write response letters to their american penpals. They love it.

Take care, love to all.

-Toby

It's one of my favorite holidays, no religious overtone or expectation to travel or do any specific thing except have fun. Ghanaians don't know about Halloween, which is unfortunate. The do get the concept of trick or treating, but they do it for Christmas when you are walking down the street. Anyway, i'm trying to help them learn.

I explain to friends that Halloween is an important American holiday where people dress up in costumes, go to parties and get drunk! It is also a time for playing jokes on your friends and also people you don't know, but i've never been that into that aspect. While all of you back home do it up big time, think of me as you roam State St. in the midnight glow of giant spot lights and greet the herds of riot gear-clad soldiers for me. But hold your breath when the tear gas hits.

Last night i went with some other volunteers to the opening night of Bolga's hottest dance club, Celebrity. My friend Kimo, who djs the AIDS radio show with me, also manages the club, so we got a discount, but others were paying more than I make in a day to get in. It was totally a fancy night club, like from anywhere. Lots of very skimpily clad ladies and fancied up dudes were getting down and drinking expensive small beers. The Music was really loud and the lights flashed and smoke machine periodically made way too much smoke. With all the air conditioners it was still a little stuffy. Over all fun, but i wish more of my dancing buddies were there (good times at IQ night). Ghanaians love to dance, and there was plenty of bumping, grinding and general booty dancing by men and women. There's no problem dancing with people you don't know, and i grinded on and was grinded on by some men and women. i think i was the only white guy there, but there were an assortment of white ladies around. I tried to explain to one very enthusiastic dancer that white ladies don't usually like being grabbed without permission. He thanked me for the advice.

The club is fun, but i can't do it that often. It's exhausting and expensive. Tonight there is a party at one of the new VSOs houses. It's a "fancy dress party" so I'm gonna get dressed up all fancy. You'll see pictures. Enjoy the all that don't be too bad. send me your pictures and love. greet old friends.

Love,

-Toby

it's been a while,

here on facebook, more photos from a while ago.

-Toby

So i've been having this little war with some mice in my room. I'm a lover of all animals, but i condone their killing for certain purposes (to eat for example) and I have a hierarchy of tolerance for certain animals that are often called pests. Mostly i just deal with insects in the house, though. it goes like this:

welcomed: i encourage their presence and protect them when i can. ex: spiders, cats

tolerated: I don't mind them if they don't cause a problem. i like to study them. ex: ants, dust bunnies, beetles that get into the flour

discouraged: i don't go out of my way to kill them, but i don't want them in the house. ex: crickets, scorpions, moths, little bugs that fly into lights

kill on sight: i am prejudiced against them and expect them to do harm and no good. ex: mosquitos, flys, cockroaches

Usually I would put the mice in the "discouraged" category, my fellow mammals, i want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but i don't want to share my food with them. and they like to chew stuff up. A while ago, I started hearing chewing noises behind my dresser late at night. I figured a mouse must have take up residence, but she wasn't bothering my food staches so i didn't do much about it. It got more annoying when the noises came more often. When you're lying in bed miserabley hot and sweaty, tiny scratching and chewing sounds get annoying fast. I did some investigations and found that mice had chewed a hole in the wood in the back of the wooden closet cabinet thing i have, and they had chewed up some plastic bags and foam stuff i had stuffed back in the corner. it was time to take action. The cat that lives at my house, Evander, doesn't come inside so often, so i couldn't really blame her for not taking care of it.

I asked around in the market and got some mouse/rat poison stuff. The kid that sold it to me said i should mix it with food and leave it for the mouse, but not to put the dead mouse outside afterward or the other animals will eat it and die, and then i'll die when i eat them. check. I cleaned out around and behind the cabinet and a little grey mouse escaped out from under, so i prepped some treats for his return. The stuff was chemically smelling but looked like dried fish, i mushed it on some bread and stuck it under there.

I was a little concerned about the unpleasant smell of a decaying mouse, so i kept checking to see if it worked, but nothing. maybe he left and didn't come back? that would be good, but no. I left for the conferences and such in Southern Ghana, and when I came back it was obvious that the mouses were still around. Someone had chewed on my candles and even dragged one behind the cabinet. droppings and chewed plastic confirmed the new residents where rodentia. Seems the poison didn't work so well. They had eaten it all and expanded their domain to on top and the side of the cabinet too. I found their reason for all the work when i pulled the bags and stuff out again. The urge to reproduce is so strong, nestled in one of my chewed unwanted backpacks, were four tiny blind mouselets. They were about an inch long each, just growing a bit of black fur, but they squirmed around and huddled together when i exposed them.

My dilemma was this: I don't want them here, they can't survive anywhere else, seems a bit cruel to kill helpless creatures like that, but i also didn't want them to suffer undully. Also, they shouldn't go to waste. I thought about just tossing them outside, but then they would starve/freeze to death. I thought about stomping them, but that would be a little extreme, and not appealing to me. (it would also make a mess to clean up). I decided on a course of action that would lead to the mousies quick demise and anothers benefit. I put them, squirming, in my cats food dish on the porch. Once she found them, Evander was pleased, and so were her children, wild kitties that also live around the house. I do think she was a little insulted at the percieved insult that she couldn't catch her own food. I don't think the babies suffered much.

The next day it was time to clean out the nest for real. I have to empty out the cabinet everytime i want to tip it and get underneath, so it's a chore. when i did, two fat mice ran out and out of the room. I pursued and Evander was there to intercept one. Way to go kitty! She had no problem with a fiesty live prey animal. The other (daddy) mouse escaped for the time being. I thought he was gone, i cleaned up the place good with bleach and all. I didn't expect him back, but then one night i heard the chewing scratching again, so i went back to work.

I tipped the cabinet again, but no mouse came out. I didn't see him, so i tipped it back down. Then I noticed a tail sticking out from under the corner of the cabinet. I poked it and it wriggled around and went under the cabinet, but when i poked under there, i could feel something alive and wiggling. I put a little more weight on the cabinet and there was a little crunch, the tail stopped wiggling. I tipped the thing up again and was able to fish the ill-fated creature out from under the cabinet finally. The tail was a big tail, connected to a big mouse, and his head was squished. I had caught him under the edge of the cabinet when i moved it, and that was the end. I put him in the cat's dish and called them in. This time Evander acted like she had killed the mouse herself, all protecting her catch and growling.

A rather longwinded account of my mundane, if not mildly gruesome adventures. I found it amusing enough.

I also found a baby sheep in a street gutter and lifted it out to be reunited with it's mother. That story is a little more uplifting. as you wish.

love,

-Toby

The other day i ate mac and cheese and spam with a titanium spork. It was awesome.

love,

Toby

Like I promised some time ago.

I've been traveling around a lot lately, briefly: I went to PEPFAR IST with Robert. It was in Kumasi, but not a the KSO, at a fancy hotel with a pool. The only APCD there was John, Wat/San. It was a good conference, learned about HIV/AIDS, hung out with other northern PCVs Some COSing PCVs stopped by too, nice to see them. After a week of that, Robert went back to Sirigu and I went to Accra for National VAC. It went fine, but I spent too much money on food and alcohol in Accra. That's how it always is. Also, some volunteers ran the Accra Marathon and did awesome. I spectated and got a sunburn. we went to a cool little place called Honeysuckle and had bear fights. Bear fights are good times. Now i'm on my way back home to start up the old teaching schedule. it will be good to get back to normal after all the irregularity and debauchery. (Yeah for acronyms! don't worry if this part is a little opaque, it's not really that important.)

Travel in Ghana is easy if you know a little about how it works. For our PST, we went out and figured out how to travel around Accra on our second (maybe third?) day in country. If you are in the south and going short distances, the easiest thing to do is catch a trotro. A tro is a mini bus or big van that holds about 15+ people and cruises along set routes, picking and dropping passengers. The "mate" hangs out the side of the tro and calls to people telling them where the tro is going and encouraging people to get on. example: "AccraAccraAccraAccra!" You wave at the tro and it screeches to a halt, then you jump on and it goes again. You give the mate a few coins, the prices and routes are set, so it pays to know where you want to go. When you want to drop, you yell to the mate or the driver and they stop. The tro is one of the cheapest ways to travel, not too comfortable, and pretty fast. Be prepared to deal with overcrowding, breastfeeding mothers, goats on the roof, crazy loud music and honking horns, reckless driving, and less than water tight windows and roofs (hopefully only rain falls on you.) Tros come in all colors and styles, mostly old and rebuilt, lots of stickers on them with wierd sayings on the back window like "Still Innocent Boy" or "Think Twice".

Around cities, you can charter taxis as well. Agree on a price before you get in, because there's no meter. If you don't, you're likely to get ripped off or cause an argument. It's appropriate to bargain with the driver, and it again it pays to know the local standard. You can also take a line car, which is the same as a taxi but it runs a set route and picks and drops people along the way for a low set price. You won't be as crowded in a line car, and if you want, a line car can turn into a dropping car (chartered). Before you get in, you should ask the driver where he's going and if he's a line car. Taxis are mostly little sedans or hatchbacks and have yellow side panels front and back.

For longer trips, you can also take tro. Go to the area of the station where you can get a "filling tro" to your destination. You buy a ticket in advance and wait for the tro to fill up. You can wait on the tro or sit at the station, but sometimes you can be waiting for a long time... like many many hours! there are certain routes that fill faster and times of the day which are better, so learn this stuff if you can before you travel. Once you're full, they'll load lots of stuff on top and take off. It's still crowded and fairly uncomfortable but a pretty good price, and if it fills fast, can be very convenient. I take a filling tro always from Bolga to Tamale, leaves in about a half hour, 4 cedis for 3 hr ride. not bad.

For longer rides still or for more comfort, there are lots of bus companies in Ghana. They go from city to city, leave at set times and make few stops along the way. For many, you can get advanced tickets the day before. The nices buses, like STC, have air conditioning, comfy seats, play movies and are generally very nice when you have a 9 hr bus ride. Bolga to Kumasi on STC is 14 cedis. Cheaper options like Metro (9 cedis) lack AC, movies, and have harder seats, but sometimes I prefer to sacrifice comfort for money. (5 cedis is three beers!) Some buses leave in the evening or afternoon and go all night. PC says we shouldn't travel at night, so of course i never do.

All of these travel options bring with them the possibility of a beakdown. If it's just the tire, the driver will get out, change it and get going again. If it's the axel, you're walking. If it's with a bus company, you're waiting for another bus to come and take you the rest of the way (i waited 7 hrs with STC once).

A little travel story: When Rachel was here, we were riding on a metro bus and our bus hit another truck! we were in the back, when suddenly swerve and smash! It was rather scarey. We didn't die, our bus was only minorly busted: crunched front corner, cracked windshield, scrapes along the side. The other truck was pretty smashed up, right ont he drivers side. It turns out the driver of the other truck (bigger than a pickup, smaller than a semi) was parked going our way, then started to turn into us and we swerved and clipped front corners. The truck spun off and a lot of the rice bags in the back broke and spilled rice all over the road. They took the other driver to the hospital before i saw him, so I don't know how bad it was, but there wasn't any blood in the busted cab, so i think he might have survived. We the passengers of the dented bus had to wait 6 hrs for them to bring a new bus to finish our trip. Luckily Rachel and I used the time to go visit the Kintampo Water Falls. worth it if you have 6 hrs to kill at the falls rest stop. So why didn't I tell you about this incident sooner? I didn't want you to worry, and really, time is relative, so it may as well have happened yesterday from your point of view. Rachel posted some pictures of me and the bus on facebook, check em out.

Love to all yall,

-Toby

Rachel posted some nice pics on facebook of when she and I traveled and the Obama visit. Thanks Rach. I'm having trouble with mine, otherwise i would have posted by now. Check them out by going to my profile page.

love all,

-Toby

Hey All.

It feels like it's been a while since I posted anything of substance on here. I've been having a good time being on break. Traveling a bit, but mostly staying at home. I have spurts of productivity: gardening, student grade reports, laundry. Since my housemates are gone, I've been living more like a bachelor, as evidenced by the way my dishes pile up in the sink until I have nothing to eat off of. One of my students, Louisa, came over the other day and washed them for me-I tried to stop her, but I couldn't. It's like that sometimes.

Languages are fun to learn. Communicating is one of my favorite things to do, and I really enjoy language study. I like learning new languages and speaking to people. I guess I'm pretty good at it, people tell me all the time that I am "fast", but really i just practice all the time. I work hard at it. Recently, I was passing through my village center and noticed two white women waiting at the station. They were undoubtedly tourists who had come to visit SWOPA, I thought, but I also knew that there wasn't going to be a regular car coming anytime soon. It was too late on a non-market day to get public transport back to Bolga. I chatted with my friends selling evening type food and then went and greeted the soulimias (strangers/white people). They were friendly Spanish nurses working in the Northern Region, and they were happy to speak spanish with me. They had called a taxi driver, but he hadn't arrived, so they were simply waiting. We talked for a while, and I was very happy for the opportunity to use a skill that I spent so much time learning. During our conversation, I spoke spanish to the nurses, sometimes translating, frafra and english to friends in the village, twi to a bus driver from Ashanti, and attempted some sign language with a deaf boy i know (i don't know how to translate his name, it's the letter "E" tapped on the palm of the hand). There wasn't anyone around to speak french with, unfortunately. It was quite the mental workout, and I kept getting confused and mixing languages, like yelling at children in spanish, and using frafra words while speaking to the nurses (se llaman Laura y Quese). It was also lots of fun. The nurses were impressed that I could speak to everyone, Quese started calling me "blackandecker", like the electric tool that can do anything, she said.

Finally, a car did come and I helped them negotiate a price to get them back to Bolga, and we said goodbye. I saw them again the next day in Bolga, and we had a beer, and they invited me to visit them. Since I'm on break, I took the opportunity and had a great time visiting them in Binde. Two other nurses, another friend, and a doctor were staying and working there, all from Spain. I stayed with them and spoke spanish and played the guitar (blackandecker). They were great hosts and it was a very nice visit, although a long bumpy bus ride. It made me want to study more languages and travel to more places (i have to visit Galicia, Saragoza, and Barcelona again). I'm also working on my french for when I get a chance to travel around the rest of West Africa. I'm a polyglot! Ay, debo visitar a Las Canarias tambien.

Es increible que puedo recordar algo asi pero casi no usarlo por tanto tiempo. Hace meses y meses que no he hablado espanol, pero todavia lo empeze facilmente, aunque me perdio algunas palabras devez en cuando. Asi yo se que realmente he aprendido la lengua. Mis amigos siempre dices que han estudiado la lengua, pero ahora no lo recuerda, pero pienso que si lo tengo para siempre. Es como el numero de telefono de tus padres, o como montar un bicicleta, nunca lo pierdes. Me divirte (mal decido?) hablar con ellas y a veces traducir las cosas, todos hablan ingles, pero parecian mas comodas hablando en espanol. Tambien les gustaba cuando usaba frases estranyos ecuatorianos "bien chevere", "chuchaki" y mis palabras inventadas. (si tomemos, bailemos, fareemos, y pasemos un tiempo lindo, yo no tenia el chuchaki.) no tengo idea de cuanta gente lee este blog, pero seguro que la mayoria no van a leer este bloque, no me importa. Si lo lees, te quiero, eres especial y te quiero para siempre. Nesesito uno de estos counters para saber cuantas me visitan aqui.

that's enough of that. spell check hates me.

One last note, There are chameleons around now. They are way cool, swively googly eyed, robot walking and changing colors and all that. the biggest ones I've seen were about a foot long but small ones are like 4 inches. Ghanaians are not fans, they are frightened when i try to pick them up. My students were scared of a pair that was mating in a tree at school. They told me that if one bites me, i will not be able to concieve. The chameleons in the tree didn't seem to be having any problems (he sudddenly changed color!)

Love to all. Next time, I'll tell you all about transport. My mom suggested the topic.

Chao,

-Toby

Love is wicked.

I'm hard at work not working too hard over my long vacation from school. It even gets a little lonely sometimes since Robert and Headmaster have gone home for the break. I hang around the house, read, play guitar and do little projects. I'm going to paint a world map on my school. I want to build a new little shelf for next to my desk. My gutters need a bit of repair. I've got a little garden with lots of basil in it. I need a girlfriend. You know, little projects to keep me busy.

I go into the market when I want to talk to someone, and there are always people there to chat with. The weather is beautiful and wet and green. It's been raining alot. I go into Bolga for exciting big city life. It's all good

Shauna's friends came to visit and we had a very nice time. I stirred TZ for them and it came out pretty good. When I get back, ask me to prepare Ghanaian food for you, and I will. Other pcvs may come to visit me sometime, and I might take a little trip sometime, but I don't have much planned.

I noticed that I missed Hippie X-mas, I hope y'all found some good stuff on the curb. One person's trash is another's treasure. Like cursed aztec gold...arrrr.j

love,

Toby

I've been busy, here's the q and d.

I traveled down to Accra for Mid service Medical. It was fun, I hung out with Meghan, Corey, Kyle and Jack and relaxed (read drank). I'm healthy except for some little amoebas in my lower intestine. I took some pills so now they're probably gone. I pooped in a cup three times and had my teeth cleaned while drinking cappuchino. I haven't lost any weight to speak of, it's just redistributed a little.

Rachel arrived and I picked her up at the airport. She said it was hot but I hadn't noticed. We hung out in Accra for a day, went to Adda Foah beach near Kyle's site for a day, came back to Accra to see Obama. Rachel got food poisoning and threw up outside the US Embassy and a whole bunch of PCVs waited around for 5 hrs and finally we went to the airport and saw the POTUS, as one security guy said. Obama gave a short speach and then shook some hands. I wasn't able to shake his hand, but it was an amazing experience none the less. We cheered everytime he mentioned Peace Corps. my telling of it is brief, but feel free to ask questions.

Rachel and I traveled to Cape Coast, toured the slave castle and walked on the beach. Then we traveled to Erin's site and stayed with her for a day. Then we proceeded to Kumasi, Bolga and finally up to my house. On the way, our bus hit another truck and we delayed in Kintampo for 5 hrs and saw the falls. It was pretty cool. The other truck was pretty banged up but I didn't see any blood, so I think the driver made it. Our bus was only minorly damaged. It was a whirlwind trip for Rachel, and I was tired of traveling too, by the end. I showed Rachel around my house, then we traveled back to Tamale and I put her on a tro to Kumasi and eventually back to Accra. She made the return trip by herself, she's such a world traveler! It was great to have her visit, even for the short time she was here.

Now I'm getting back into things here at site. This week and next week are final exams for my students and then after that, holidays for over a month! I plan to stay at site and relax (read play guitar and read). I've also got plenty of small projects around the house to keep me busy.

I'll get some more pictures up, including Obama, eventually, but my pendrive is sick so it won't cooperate today. I think it has malaria.

love,

-Toby

Here are some more photos from the STARS Conference. I've got more to come and I'll tell you all about what I've been doing in the last few busy weeks. I saw Obama...

love,

Toby

The STARS Conference in Kumasi was a lot of fun and I think my students, Grace and Alfred, benefitted a lot from the experience. check out the STARS website for lots more details about the event. I even wrote some of the content.

I only got a few days at site and now I'm traveling again. At the TSO, we had a little 4th party on the 2nd, and then I'm going down for an actual 4th tomorrow at the KSO. Should be a good time and fun bbq. I'm not missing anything at school, we have mid term break for the rest of the week. Actually, I'm on my way to Accra for my Mid-service Medical check up. They're gonna give me a physical, sample some body fluids, and look at my teeth, too! We are scheduled in groups to have the mid med done, so it's a chance for me to hang out with some friends in Accra for 3 days. They have fancy stuff in Accra like cheeseburgers and shopping malls.

Also pretty awesome, Rachel is coming to visit me! she gets into Accra about the time i finish with the med, so I'm gonna take her with me down to the beach and then back up to site, give her a little ghana tour.

Also, to celebrate my birthday, I gave myself a little gift. When I first got to site, I put half of my underwear away to protect them from rigorous handwashing. For my birthday, i gave myself almost new undies! They feel really nice, I'm wearing some right now! I also put a new blade in my razor. smooth.

Love,

Toby

I've been keeping busy here, plenty going on. Besides teaching my science, i've been doing some typing practicals with my kids. since we don't have electricity, I've photocopied a picture of a keyboard and pasted it onto a piece of cardboard, then covered it with clear tape to protect it. I've made 24 of these "keyboards" so far and the kids love them: asdf jkl; Most of them have never used a computer before, so it something we can practice and a skill that they can actually use in the future.

The new group of volunteers arrived and their training is underway. That means that I've hit the one year mark in Ghana! wow! it passed without big event, and I feel good and prepared for the next one. I'm looking forward to another year of this life. The new volunteers went on Vision Quest, where they visit a current volunteer, (see early post of mine) and a guy named Arjun came and stayed with me for a few days. I showed him around and he visited the school and SWOPA and I think he had a good time. I had fun. visitors are always fun.

It was my birthday yesterday, now i'm 26. to celebrate, Robert and I ate riceballs with bito, aleefu and groundnut stew, my favorite! we drank wiskey satchets, not my favorite, and i listened to Enrique Iglesias sing "Si pudiera ser tu heroe" on the radio. It was great.

Next week is the STARS conference in Kumasi. I'm taking two of my students, Alfred and Grace, down to the conference. I'm at least as excited as they are, I'm going to see a bunch of teacher volunteers that I haven't seen in almost a year!

Also, a few new photos on facebook.

Love,

-Toby

I'm well. Things are normal. Some stuff happened.

I was hanging out outside my house with some little kids, goofing around and playing guitar when one of them pointed up into the sky and said excitedly, "air-o-plan!" (kid didn't know how to spell). I was actually more excited than the kids. It is pretty rare to see a vapor trail from a jet crossing the sky here. It is such a common thing to see in the sky in the states. I guess that where i live is not on the way to anywhere where people want to go too often. One little girl asked me if there were people inside the plane, and i explained that it was like a lorry(car) with people traveling inside, but it had wings and went really fast. I demonstrated the wings and fast for them. They took some guesses as to where the plane was going. I was happy that they were able to name a few of the larger cities in Ghana, it might have been going to Accra, but maybe not, I don't know.

I am very attuned to the lunar cycle here. I know that it will be a full moon in a little more than a week, about 10 days. I don't have a calender or anything, i just look at the moon a lot. with no lights in my house, it is a significant factor in planning evening activities. "If I stay til dark in the market today, will I be able to see to walk home? when will the moon rise?" It's a waxing crescent now, it'll be at about 60 degrees above the western horizon at sunset.

I have a cat at my house. Two actually. I don't really consider them my cats, they just happen to live at or near my house and i feed them sometimes. They are actually pretty annoying. The baby is crazy wild, I named him Tyson. The mother, which i named Evander (she's missing part of her ear), is nicer. The other day, i was watching her stalk a lizard by a tree by my house. The lizard came down off the tree and moved along the ground. Evander took off running and got between the lizard and the tree. Before the lizard could escape, she pounced and pinned it, then picked it up and brought it back near me. Evander is a little cat, and this lizard wasn't the biggest i'd ever seen, but it was quite a catch for her. I was a good 6 inches long, like a mini iguana. the lizard was definately still alive when she brought it back, but she held it down and crunched it's head a bunch until it stopped struggling. Then, she ate it all. yum.

One time Evander also caught a morning dove in the field by my house. I didn't see it, but one of my students who was reading near the house did. He went out and collected the bird, still alive again, and brought it back to the house. He was very excited while he held the injured dove, and asked if i had any rubbish that he could burn. I advised him that cooking over a trash fire would make his meat taste bad and showed him some sticks he could use to make a fire. David definately killed, plucked and roasted that little dove over a tiny camp fire. He made sure to give some to the cat as a thank you. I tried some too, the meat was sweet! Ghanaian lesson: every animal is etible.

Other stuff happened, too. It's been raining so the green things started to grow. It's nice, and the farmers (that's everyone around here) are tilling and planting their fields.

love,

-Toby

And just like that things started to grow. Brown earth has become green again. grass is there, trees have leaves again and the sky has clouds. It is still very hot and not always comfortable, but the water makes a huge difference. Now food will mold instead of stale in a matter of hours! Actually it's great. It's the lean season now, since people are begining to plant crops, but there is nothing to harvest yet, and food stores from last year get low. I can only buy tomatoes sometimes in the market now, and they aren't very good. Grafted mangoes are back, though, and awesome.

One unfortunate thing is that the bugs have come back with the water. Not too many mosquitoes yet, but there are definitely more flys around. I'm well and the third term is underway. I'll be taking two of my students to the STARS conference in Kumasi in June, which will be exciting for them and for me. (more info in previous post). I also had some nice visitors the last weeks. Some other ghana pcvs came up and visited me. I also bought a bootleg dvd with all 6 starwars movies on it.

other than that, it's life as usual for me.

Love, Toby

New photos on Facebook right here. Hope all is well and good with you.

peace,

-Toby

That spelling of extraviganza doesn't look quite right, but oh well. I had a great vacation travels with some pcv friends here in ghana, and now i have no money. Being a tourist is Expensive!

First, Anthony, Kyle, Brian, Matt, and Tristen came up to Bolga to visit me. I went in and met them in the bus station and took them to a nice chop bar where we ate TZ and groundnut aleefu stew. It's one of my favorites and the guys from the south (all but Tristen) had never taken TZ before. It's common in northern Ghana, but you don't really see it anywhere in the south. They liked it and you will too, because aleefu is excellent. See previous post for more about Ghanaian food.

We hung out in Bolga for the day, I showed them around, but there's not really that much to see. We sat and had a beer with Shauna, JJ, and Kirsten, my omnibus neighbors. Kyle and I increased our awesome factor by a billion (see pictures). We took a walk throught the market and then headed back to my house in Sirigu. It was fun to have visitors, and I showed them around my house and school, then we went into the village and ate some snacks and took pito at Bismarks house. They were impressed with how dry and dead everything up here is, because in southern ghana it is still all green and foresty and in the Upper East it is still brown and dusty. They also enjoyed not getting mobbed and hassled by the locals. In general, the people in the north are very laid back and relaxed. They are still curious about white people, but they don't grab us or yell at us or bother us excessively. I was proud of my village and my community and my friends were impressed with my language skills when I talked with my Sirigu people in Frafra.

The next day, we got up early and saw the sights. Transport can be a challenge up here, but we got pretty lucky. We took a tro to Paga and visited the Crocodile Pond. It was still a big mudhole with crocodiles in it, and they still wanted to charge us too much, but i bargained with them and it was ok. We sat on a crocodile and then fed it a live chicken. Pretty cool. Crocodiles are pretty cool. Also in Paga, we visited an old slave camp where slaves were brought before being sold south to other slave markets and eventually to the coast. Our guide was named Aaron and he was excellent. Sometimes tourist places in Ghana are frustrating and not worth it, but the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga is definately a winner. We walked around the camp and learned about the way it ran and saw some rocks and stuff. Highly recommended.

We took a taxi back to Bolga. The six of us (and we aren't small guys) crammed into a normal sized sedan taxi. Along the way we negotiated with the driver to take us to a town near Bolga called Tongo to see another tourist attraction. The driver was not sure about that, so we stopped in Navrongo, he talked with is brother and we switched taxis and negotiated with the brother. We made a deal for him to take us to Tongo, wait, and then take us back to Bolga. He even stopped along the way so we could get some lunch, what a guy, the drivers name was Walkalone. Cool name.

Tongo is a little village in some foothills south of Bolga. We took a tour of some interesting rock formations and caves where the locals hid during the British invasion of the region. We also met the chief wandered through his very enormous compound house. The guide had a lot to say, but we were tired and I spend most of my time making faces at little kids. Lastly, we visited a the Tenzug shrine. We climbed up a hill after our guide got permission from the head priest. The shrine is sacred and treated like an oracle; you ask it a question or tell it a problem and then sacrifice some fowls and your problem/question will be solved/answered! In order to approach the shrine, however, we had to take off our shoes, roll up our trowsers and take off all hats and shirts. It used to be a naked only shrine, they say, but now it's just a topless shrine. The actual shrine itself was a sort of cave with an old guy sitting in it and he had all sorts of animal bones and horns and a big pile of feathers from the animal sacrifices. Our guide wanted us to ask a question, so I asked the shrine to help our schools develope and for our students to be successful. They seemed to like that, and we donated some money to buy two guinea fowls to be sacrificed to the shrine for us. We didn't see the sacrifices, they said they would do it later, there weren't any guinea fowls around. Our guide told us that the sacrificed animals are usually eaten afterwards, unless the shrine says otherwise. The shrine was also to visit us in our dreams, he said, but I haven't been visited yet.

After a long day of touristing, we returned to my house and relaxed, drank and played guitar by candlelight. The next day, we visited SWOPA, the ceramics place next door to my school. After that, we traveled back into Bolga and then to Tamale, and stayed at the TSO. Beth joined us 6 guys there, she is very patient and tolerant. We played Risk and I won. Anthony and Kyle won, too.

We left the next day for Mole National Park. The bus wasn't scheduled to leave until 12:30, and it didn't actually leave until 4:00. The ride was pretty rough at the end, and we didn't get to the park until 9:00PM or so. We stayed at the fancy Mole Hotel, but the pool was closed for the night so we had to take showers instead. The next morning, we got up early and went on a guided nature hike. We were very luck to see lots of elephants right away! there were some right up by the staff quarters and we took lots of pictures. Elephants are very big, they are like dinosaurs. We hiked down into the valley and saw elephants bathing and playing and some young small ones too. We also some antelope-like hooved mammals, cob deer and bush buck, a 4 ft. monitar lizard, lots of worthogs, and crocodiles and birds. We had breakfast, swam in the pool, and had lunch and swam in the pool. Kyle and I got delicious fufu for lunch and there were baboons all around that wanted to be our friends. They were very used to people and tried to come and take our food. One baboon wanted Brian's mango, so Brian gave it too him. That made the baboon happy and Brian was happy too.

We went with another group of 'mer'cans to Larabanga to see the famous Mosque there. I'm sure the mosque is great, but when we got there, the local guides were really annoying and aggressive, so Brian, Matt, and I decided to go to a spot instead (spot=bar). Some of the others paid and saw the mosque, but Tony said it was underwhelming, and they didn't get to enter because they weren't muslim. We gave Larabanga an unenthusiastic thumbs down.

Back at Mole, we swam in the pool, relaxed, swam in the pool, watched Baboons, and Beth did laundry. We ate supper at the staff quarters because it was cheaper and they had Ghanaian food. We played Texas hold 'em and I won. I gave my winnings to Tristen because he won the night before and I owed him money. Kyle did not win. Our only option to get back to Tamale was the Mass Metro bus that left Mole at 4:00am, so that's what we did. We got back to Tamale early and had a relaxing afternoon. We played risk and Kyle won. I did not win.

Now I'm broke and ready to go back to site and relax for a month or three. I'm better versed in Ghana tourist attractions, so if you come and visit me, I know where the good ones are and I can show you. I hope everyone over yonder is doing well and keeping busy. I will post many new photos on facebook soon so you can see all the stuff I just wrote about.

Love,

-Toby

I've been busy last couple of weeks. Here's the short version:

I traveled to Accra for the National VAC meeting. (Volunteer Advisory Committee) We met with Accra Staff and discussed lots of different issues from our regions. The meeting was pretty efficient and we got some things accomplished. People complained that the meeting went for 3 hours, but I don't know what they're talking about. I'm totally into 3 hour meetings if something actually happens at them. Co-op skillz! In Accra I ate pizza and a cheezeburger and really good indian food and drank and generally spent too much money. That's just how Accra is, it doesn't really seem like part of the Ghana that I know.

After Accra, I went to visit Kyle at his site because he lives close to the beach. We spent a few days swimming and being lazy at Adda Foah. Hung out with some Canadian nurses and Brits on gap year. Most other internationals I meet here are volunteering in some way or other. Often they have to pay to come to Ghana to volunteer, and usually it's for a few months at most. They are usually very impressed at what we do, it's a little more intense than their deal. We call them voluntourists. I don't look down on them though, they're nice to talk to.

I traveled back north, stopped in Kumasi and smoked a hookah with some of the new omnibus crew, then got home. The last few days of the school term were uneventful except for some entertainment we had organized for the students. Football game, and then Jams! (school dance) I danced the night away with my students, only occasionally awkward. Now school is out and I'm on holiday, which is nice.

I traveled to Tamale for Easter, had mexican food and spoke spanish to the two latina pcvs that are here. That is cool, because I don't get to use the ol' espanol much. Ana is actually from Quito, Ecuador where I studied abroad, which is cool. She uses the Quito f when she speaks! We spent lots of time watching "I'm on a boat" and listening to Miley Cyrus, it was awesome. On easter sunday, we went swimming in a pool with actual chorine! And then played ultimate frisbee. It was great.

Next week some of my teacher friends are coming up to visit me and then we are going to Mole National Park to see an elephant. We may see two. It will be lots of fun fun fun.

Obviously I'm having a good time. dancing, spanish, chorine, frisbee, elephants, what more could I ask for?

Love,

-Toby

PS. A few new pictures on facebook too.

Each year, PCVs in Ghana plan and organize and leadership conference called STARS for Senior High students. Each volunteer brings one boy and one girl student to the week long conference so that they can attend workshops and lectures from successful Ghanaians, learn important skills and topics, and meet other motivated students from across the country. I am hoping to bring students from my school to this years conference in June. Although I am not working on the planning for the event, many other hardworking PCVs are. We get a variety of sponsorships from different organizations in Ghana, but the more funds we have available, the bigger and better the conference can be. Please help if you can by donating something small to help us help ours stars in Ghana. Below is a letter with more information from Kim, the Coordinator for the conference.

Dear one and all,

Greetings once again from Ghana! The STARS Conference project has now been APPROVED for funding. The next part is up to you! As you all know (some of you from first-hand experience!) STARS is an awesome annual conference for secondary school kids. We each bring our best and brightest for a week-long youth leadership camp. It is an amazing experience that I believe is changing lives for the better. Some of these kids have never travelled outside their home region before. We give them a chance to come together for a week of activities with their peers, interacting with Ghanaian guest speakers who have succeeded in their lives.

If you want to see more info about last year's conference, you can check out the website or blog:

http://starsconference.blogspot.com/ or www.starsconference.com (which might be having technical trouble right now...bear with me!).

Of course, this doesn't all happen magically--it takes time, money, and plenty of "sweat equity" as we run around Ghana securing donations from Ghana corporate sponsors, planning the agenda, lining up guest speakers, etc. This year, we also decided to apply for Peace Corps Partership Program (PCPP) number so that our loved ones in the states can donate money to the project tax free. If you make a donation, I personally guarantee that 100% of your funds will go to this worthwhile project. Click on this link to donate!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=641-261 (If the link doesn't work, go to www.peacecorps.gov, then click on "Donate Now", then "Donate to Volunteer Projects", then search for Ghana, then you'll see my project (K. Weaver / S. Safavi).

I've heard the website is manually updated so if it's down, PLEASE PLEASE keep trying. We have to have the project "filled" by the end of April. Even $5 will help us a lot. In case you are wondering what your donation will be used to buy, here are some ideas:

$5 will provide 3 good meals, a snack, and housing for a student for one day of the conference. $10 will allow us to give an "HIV Peer Educator Kit" to the students so they can take what they've learned back to their schools--and thus reach hundreds of students.

$20 will allow us to pay for transportation for a student from a remote village school to and from the conference site.

Anything at all you are willing to donate would be much appreciated by me, the other volunteers working on the project, and of course, the kids who get to have this amazing experience. If you have any questions, send me an email!

Warmly, Kim

Anything you can do to help us out would be great. Thanks in advance to you all.

Love,

-Toby

Hey all,

So almost everyone in Ghana it seems has a cell phone. There are about four major companies competing and service is pretty much available everywhere, even in remote little villages like Sirigu. It is all pay as you go, that is, you buy units and add them to your phone, then as you make calls the units get used up. The prices are pretty good and there are lots of different kinds of phones around, some very fancy. Mine isn't fancy, but it has an excellent feature: It has a flashlight built into it. This is particularly useful for me because my house doesn't have electricity. In small villages like mine, most people do not have electricity in their houses. Also to note: roads are not paved, no piped water, outdoor toilets only (mine is actually inside, but with no water, I have to use a bucket to flush), and overall poverty compared with the standard of living you are probably used to.

So why this apparent paradox? Ladies selling food off their heads in the market have cell phones? It's just an example of the success of private enterprise, I guess. The cell phone companies are all private and competing, so the quality and availability of the service is pretty good. There are cell towers all over Ghana, there's one in Sirigu and one in Kandiga (where Shauna lives, 20 min bike away). Advertising campaigns have convinced people that they should have a mobile phone, so some eat poorly or little and wear broken flipflops in order to buy phone units. It's just the way it goes. Of course to charge your phone, you take it to your friend who has lights. Electricity and water are controlled by the National Government, and seem much slower to develope and extend service, although it is coming. We may get water and power to the school by next year if we are lucky. The students would like that...

I suppose cell phones are getting more and more common now in the US. How about it? Does every junior high school kid have his own cell? My students can't bring theirs to school, and if they do they get confiscated. I'm always looking for a new phone, I tell them.

One other note. The technology is here, but the culture and ethics of mobile phones is a bit different here. It is not uncommon for someone to answer their phone during a meeting, or interrupt you to talk on the phone. Ghanaians listen to music on their phones a lot, many have mp3 or radios in them. Also, because there is no voice mail, someone may call you repeatedly when you don't answer, like 15 times in a row. That's not an exaggeration. It's usually just better to answer since they probably only want to greet you and talk for a minute or two about your dog. oh well.

And the dog: sorry to let you all know that Kraman Baa has died. It happened a little while ago, and I was avoiding telling everyone at home. I was sad, but now I'm okay. She had been sick, and then one day she went up to the big kennel in the sky. I asked Robert and he said that dogs can't go to Heaven because animals have no souls. I'm not worried. I decided to give Kraman Baa a traditional Ghanaian dog funeral. Ask if you really want to know what that means.

Love to all,

-Toby

I'll tell y'all a little about the traditional foods that people eat around here. Around here is northern Ghana, specifically the Upper East Region, because that's what I know and that's where I am. Other parts of the country do it a little differently, and the southern half of the country is significantly different culturally and culinarily, but you'll get the idea.

Ingredients are fairly limited around here, so people make due with what they have. A basic meal is usually made up of a dense carbohydrate and a vegetable based stew or soup. Basic ingredients available: tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, oil, groundnuts (that's peanuts), okra, peppe (little, very hot peppers). Another ingredient that is in most things is maggi cubes (commercial bullion seasoning) but I don't use that much.

The most typically northern food is called TZ (pronounced Tee Zed), which stands for "Toa Zhafi", the name in Hausa (widely spoken west african langauge). In Frafra, the food is called "sagebo" (pronounced sah-gay-boh. TZ is made from flour and water and can be made of maize, millet, or wheat flour. I like the maize TZ the best, and that's the kind that Robert makes most often, and is teaching me to make. Water is mixed with a small amount of flour and heated to boiling. Some of the flour water is removed and then lots of flour is added to the pot. Stirring continuously, the watery mixture is added a little at a time to make a thick cream-of-wheat consistancy. You have to stir constantly or it will burn, so it is cooked on the ground. Specially made metal hooks are put through the handles of the thick cast aluminium pot and the ends of the hooks are held with the feet, to keep the pot steady. Both hands are used to stir with a big wooden spoon/paddle. When the TZ is ready and the right thickness, it is poured into bowls and plates and allowed to cool. As it cools, it gets thicker and thicker until it can be eaten by breaking pieces off the main lump. It reminds me of semi solid cream-of-wheat cereal. It can also be made with slightly fermented flour water, or boiled seeds and tree bark can be added for a certain flavor that I don't really like.

When you eat it, you use your hands, of course, and only your right hand. I break off pieces of TZ and dip/scoop up some soup to go with it. TZ is best with okra stew or groundnut with Aleefu stew. Both of these are tomatoe based, with onion, peppe, and oil, okra strew has boiled cut up okra, which becomes very slimy and stringy. It's kind of like snot, and takes some getting used to. Okra stew is mostly only eated with TZ. Aleefu is a leaf (looks similar to a maple leaf) that is boiled and is similar to spinach when cooked. Canned fish is sometimes added to this one. Groundnut paste (peanut butter? it's not butter!) is added to make the soup smooth and creamy. Yum!

Rice balls are made by stirring rice cooked with a little extra water. It becomes a thick paste that is then made into balls (tennis to soft sized) and allowed to cool. It is eaten the same way as TZ with groundnut soup.

Banku is fermented corn dough formed into balls and eaten with the hands along with light soup or sometimes okra stew. Kenke is also fermented corn dough that is wrapped in corn husks (Gaa kenke) or plantain leaves (Fanti kenke) and boiled for some time. The names refer to the tribes that originally made them, but they are both common here and neither tribe is from the north. Kenke is eaten with a bit of tomanto stew or some peppe sauce (like salsa). Fufu is made by pounding boiled cassava, plantain, yam, or a combination of two until it becomes a dense sticky doughy lump. Fufu isn't northern, but people make it here sometimes. It's usually eaten with light soup, which is (as the name implies) a light tomato-based soup with plenty of oil and peppe.

Along with these foods, rice is very common: Plain rice with tomanto-vegetable stew, fried rice with a few veggies in it, and jolloff rice (rice cooked in a spicy tomato-fish sauce). Chicken, fish, or meat (usually goat) is normally offered as well. If you go to chop bar (food stand on the street) they may give you some "salad" with your rice which consists of shredded cabbage and lettuce, carrots, green peppers and some mayonaise-ish salad cream.

At home, when I cook "ghanaian" or when Robert cooks, we have rice and stew, TZ, and rice balls most of the time. When I cook for myself, I tend to make some variation on macaroni and cheese.

I'm eating well and enjoying the food here. An interesting note on "table manners": very different expectations here. When you eat with your hands, you naturally tend to hunch over your bowl. In Ghana, it is seen as rude to talk during a meal and very rude to reach into a communal bowl with your left hand. Also, you always bring food to your mouth with your right hand.

Try this next time you are eating with tolerant people. A rice dish is a good one to practice with: Hunch over your plate and put your left hand in your lap. Wash your right hand and put your right elbow on the table so that you can reach your food with your hand. Mix your food around and play with it a little (eating has now become a tactile experience!). Pick up some rice in your hand and hold it on your last three fingers. If you want, you can squeeze it to keep it together. Cock your wrist so that your last three fingers point towards your mouth and act like a spoon. Put the food in your mouth, push it off your fingers with your thumb. Lick your fingers often. You can eat anything this way, but if it is a very thin soup, just pick up the bowl and drink it after you've finished your TZ.

Food is fun, and I look forward to cooking and eating Ghanaian food with you, my loved ones, when next we meet. Take care of yourselves and eat well.

Love,

-Toby

photos on facebook, now with captions!

I saw an abyssinian roller the other day. beautiful. use google image search to find a better picture than i could ever take.

Anthony, another PCV in the Western Region told me that he saw one of his students wearing a SPASH 2002 t shirt. Amazing, that's even the year I graduated. Cloths from the US that no one wants in the thrift stores gets bundled up and sent to Africa. Here, people call it "obruni wayru" which means "dead white man's cloths". That's because people think the only reason some would get rid good cloths is if they died. I see people wearing all kinds of strange second hand clothes, mostly they have no idea what the thing means. I've seen some pretty funny ones too, like an old man wearing a pink shirt that says "That's Miss Bitch to You!" or a housewife wearing "Eat, Sleep, Fish" Shirts with other people's names on them are popular too. I guess that's true in the US as well.

Happy St. Patties day coming up. I celebrated this weekend with some Irish volunteers in Navrongo, Mary and Sarah. They sang Irish songs and taught us an Irish dance and Mary played a tune on a tin whistle, an Irish instrument. It was lots of fun. We drank and danced a lot.

Happy birthday, mom. I love you.

-Toby

Normally, I wake up around 6:30 or 7:00 am, it's light out by then. I often hear my housemates, Robert and Headmaster, up before then, sometime they pray or play the radio very loud. I also hear the students who come to the house in the mornings. There are two form 1 girl students who come to the house three times a week to sweep, clean, and sometimes do dishes. This is a system that my housemates want to be in place, and I've gotten used to it. Louisa and Mamuna are nice and I've gotten to know them so that I don't feel uncomfortable finding them in the kitchen when I stagger in to look for breakfast. Other students often come in the morning looking for the buckets so they can fetch water for us, usually as a punishment imposed by the prefects. That can be annoying, but I manage.

I usually take tea for breakfast. In Ghana, tea means anything you mix with hot water, so I usually have hot chocolate. Lipton yellow tea is also available, but we don't have any Nescafe in the house. With my tea I take bread with groundnut paste and fruit jam, or oats with some dried fruit depending on what's available. On days when I have more time, I make pancakes or french toast and eat it with my dad's real maple syrup. Yum! I offer to Robert sometimes, but he's not as excited about breakfast foods as I am.

After breakfast, I go to school. I walk out my door, walk 30 feet and I'm at the school. First period begins at 8:00am, but the students are usually expected to arrive by 6:30 or 7:00. I teach 19 40-minute periods a week, as long as other events don't interrupt classes, which they frequently do. Staff meetings, Assemblies for Moral Talks, school elections, and sporting events all normally take place during normal school time. I meet my classes and teach my lessons, and hang out in the Staff Common Room or under the Tree with other teachers when I'm not teaching.

I eat lunch during the long break (20 min) at the "Common Market", which is another tree near the school that some ladies sit under and sell food. I usually have fried yam or kosi (fried bean cake) with peppe, like salsa. Food you buy from a vendor like this is called "chop", and it's used like a verb too: I will go and chop some kosi. When you buy, you order by the price, not the quantity you want. I say, "Wuntenga, la-ang wani? Oh, la me ang sunga. M-bene fu may, bo ma kosi 2 tousand busa 2 tousand. M-puheya." or (translated) "Good afternoon, how are you? Oh, I am fine also. Please, give me kosi 2 thousand and yam 2 thousand? Thank you." I spend the equivilant of 20 or 30 cents usually. Too much fried food...tasty though.

Sometimes I teach in the afternoon, but the students get restless and some of them inevitably dodge home early. They get tired and hungry, many don't have money for chop, and there's no water at the school either. Classes end and closing assembly is at 2:30. The students gather, sing, pray and announcements are made. I often stay for closing and make announcements about whatever is going on. Most staff don't. There are also Opening assemblies Mon, Wed, and Fri, at 7:30am, but I don't go to those too often.

When school closes, the students go home but sometimes some come back for extra classes. I go to my house and relax, play the guitar, read or prepare lessons for the following day. I talk with Robert about what we will cook for dinner. If it is a Sirigu market day, I go into the market to buy food and talk to the market ladies. I really enjoy the market, because it gives me a chance to socialize and practice my language skills. Lots of people know me there, and they are very friendly. I also take my phone and ipod to charge at Bismark's house because he has electricity. His kids are fun to play with too.

I ride home by dark usually, and Robert or I cook supper. It's dark by 6:30pm, so we often cook by headlamp or candlelight. Robert cooks more often than I do and he's a good cook. Headmaster often goes into town in the afternoon, but sometimes comes home and eats supper at the house, although not with us. It is not typical in Ghana to gather to eat, usually people eat on their own.

After eating, doing dishes, feeding the dog, and listening to the radio, It's getting late and I'm getting tired. I bath in the dark, then light some candles in my room and read, listen to music, play guitar, or do more school work. I'm usually in bed by 9:00pm, and often asleep by 10:00pm.

That's a typical school day for me here in Ghana. Not very exciting, but the time goes fast enough. I use my weekends for trips into Bolga, doing my laundry, or visiting friends.

All in all, it's going pretty well. Love to all my friends and family back home. I miss you all.

Love,

-Toby

PS. There's a few more new photos on facebook. find link on previous blog post. -tk

My school, Sirigu Senior High School, let me tell you about my school. First let me tell you about the educational system in Ghana. ok, here we go...

Ghana Education Services (GES) is a the branch of the gov't that we deal with and the system is very centralized, overall. There are very few private schools, especially at the primary and secondary levels. Students go to Primary school for 6 years, starting at about age 5 (depends on the parents, if they need them at home). Some kids don't go to school at all, but Primary is free except for some school fees, cost of uniforms, books, pencils, etc. (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.) Each year is called a "Form" instead of a grade, so we say a first year student is a P1 student. Uniforms for Primary School students is usually brown on the bottom, yellow/tan on the top. There is also Nursury for little kids before Primary, but that seems to be mostly in more urban areas. Little ones wear cute checked uniforms in different colors.

After Primary, students go to Junior Secondary School (JSS). JSS has 3 forms, and the Form 3 students help organize things with a prefect system (like in Harry Potter!). Their uniforms around here are blue bottom and yellow top, except the prefects, who wear tan bottoms and white tops. It's a day school, so the students go home at the end of the day, as in the US. At the end of JSS, the form 3 students take a standardized test called BECE that determines which Senior High School they will go to. They list preferences and if their scores are good, they go to a good school. If their scores are okay, they come to a smaller, not as good school (like mine) and if their scores are not so good at all, they go and work on the family farm and don't go to SS.

They have just added a fourth year to SS, making it SHS, so I teach Form 2 and Form 3 Integrated Science. Prefects, seniors chosen by their peers, keep the other students in line and do a lot to keep the school running. Around here, uniforms are tan on bottom and light blue on top, prefects wear pink on top. Most SHS schools are boarding schools that house and feed the students as well as teach them. Usually, students want to go to a big school that is at least a little ways from their home town. The attitude is similar to HS seniors in the US looking at colleges-they want to move away from home and all that. Boarding schools have higher school fees, more students, and more buildings. Sirigu Senior High School is a day school, which is uncommon for SHS. It has no electricity or running water; a borehole to fetch water is a 5 min walk away. It is not as expensive (annual school fees are about $50) and there are many fewer students than other schools. Many of my students are from the area, and still live at home. Others rent rooms in the village and have to feed themselves. They want the school to become a boarding school, but that will take a lot of development at this point.

In Ghana, the students normally stay in the same classroom and the teachers move from room to room. The rooms are very sparce, at my school, there are only desks for some students, so the rest have to bring their own. I teach in a open air classroom, tin roof, cement walls and open windows with shutters. (That is actually a basic description of a lot of buildings here) The blackboard is smooth cement on the wall. The students occasionally paint it with battery acid (not a joke) to make it black, but it comes off on my hands and only lasts a week or so. The classes are small at my school, 10 to 25 students. The school offers different "courses" similar to majors in college in US. Sirigu SHS offers Business, General Arts, and Agric. Students sit with their form mates who are offering the same course and a class captain keeps track of the class.

At the end of 3rd year (will soon be 4th year) the seniors, or candidates take a massive standardized test for all of English-speaking West Africa called the WASSCE. Basically, it determines weather they can go to university, technical school or any other tertiary ed. We spend a lot of time teaching to the test, as it is so important.

Looking back at what I've just written, it is informative but fairly dry. I'll write some more interesting and detailed stuff another time. Overall, I like my school and I am happy to be there. The students are what really keep me going. They are eager to learn and try hard, even though their obstacles are many.

Love,

Toby

It's getting cooler, and windier and dustier here.

Photos on Facebook

love, Toby

It seems like it's been a long time since I've been on a normal school calender. That's because it has been. School is finally starting again and I'll get my groove back and do even better than the first term. Just give me a bit to remember how to teach.

Anyway, the break has been relaxing and interesting for the most part. The elections all happened without incident, although PC did extend the standfast because one district had to revote. Eventually the Electoral Commission announced that the NDC had won and that John Evans Atta-Mills would be the next prez of Ghana. That's fine with me, and I'm glad to see that most Ghanaians are happy or at least content with it. Change is good, right?

I celebrated Christmas small with Bismark's family, but didn't do anything too exciting. It didn't really feel much like Christmas in the states, no snow, no Santa, no commercialism, no lights. Plenty of Jesus, though. Overall, it seems that people here don't celebrate Xmas (that's how they say it) as frantically as we do in 'merica, even though there are lots of christians. One church did have a camp-out sing-a-long near my school. For about three nights in a row, they sang and danced and preached, and people came from other towns to participate. It was fun to see, and a bunch of my students were there. They were impressed that I could speak Frafra. One thing that was interesting is that in Bolga, there were groups of kids roaming around and wishing people merry christmas. They were all dressed up in their best cloths and had their hair slicked or fancied with pomade. It was sort of like a cross between caroling and trick-or-treating. They were expecting to be given candy after delivering their holiday greetings, but since I wasn't prepared, I just wished them merry christmas back.

New Years was cool, too. I went to a festival in Natugia, a nearby village. There were lots and lots of people there and different groups danced and drummed and recieved monies. People were selling candy, balloons and little cheap toys, and there was plenty of kids running around. There was also plenty of alcohol, but that's how you celebrate around here. The party went late, but I didn't stay too long once it got dark. I usually go to bed pretty early here.

Finally, after standfast ended, I went to visit my friend and housemate Robert's village. It was very nice and I met all his family and friends and the family of his fiancee. We visited his alma mater, watched crazy Nigerian movies, and drank pito (locally brewed from millet, it's good) with some old men. Then we traveled together back to Sirigu for a day and then left for In-Service Training in Kukurantumi.

Getting to IST was a bit of adventure. We stayed over in Tamale, and left on an Accra bound STC bus in the morning, but the bus broke down outside of Kintampo (3 hrs out of 10). We ended up waiting for 7 hrs as they tried to fix the bus and failed. It was a drag, but some kids kept me company as I finished my paperback and started writing my own. Finally, another bus arrived and we got on that one and continued our journey. The original plan was to drop at Bunso and get to Kukurantumi from there, but that wouldn't have worked to well at 2 AM, so we went all the way to Accra, slept a few hours in the bus terminal, and got up at 5 AM to travel back up to Koforidua and then to Kuku. It worked out alright in the end, only that we arrived a day late to the training conference. I was hungry, tired, and stinky when we got there, but all three were remedied eventually. The conference was good and it was nice to see friends again, even though it had only been a month since All Vol. We even got a chance to play a little of my GRPG (dorky fun).

Now I'm en route home again and have to start thinking about Integrated Science. I'll post some pictures soon, too.

Love,

Toby

Here are some photos from PST so far.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2410397&l=94d79&id=8603855

Some interesting cultural differences that I've noticed:

Greetings. You greet everyone as you pass them, to be polite. You say "good afternoon, how are you? i am fine, and how are you? i am fine also." You do it all the time, and you always greet elders and peers. If you don't greet, or someone doesn't greet you, it could be taken as a sign of disrespect. Consequently, it takes a long time to get anywhere walking if you have to stop to talk to so many people.

Left hand. The left hand is asociated with uncleanliness and disrespect, so you never wave it at someone, or offer or accept something with your left hand. If you need to exchange something, you do it right hand only. This takes some practice when buying things or paying the mate of a tro. If you are eating with people, which you normally don't do, you should only reach into a communal bowl with your right hand, and you should only eat with your right hand. I practise this, I try to usually carry my stuff in my left hand, so it is unavailable to unintentionally insult someone. Most people wouldn't be insulted if you left-hand-waved at them, they would just think you were a foreigner and didn't know better.

Everyone asks me where I am going. Ghanaians are very friendly, and they all want to talk to me. They are very curious about me and have many misconceptions about the US. We are all rich, and are all there to give them money. They want to know where I'm going, partyly because they are curious, and also because they want to help me get there. There is a saying that if you can talk, you can never be lost. The people almost all speak some english, some speak well. Some want to teach me twi, the local language. If I say something in english, they correct me with the twi, and won't leave me alone until I repeat the phrase and act like I understand. Even though I am learning Gurune, they want to teach me twi.

There are children everywhere. I heard the statistic that half of the population is 15 and under, and I believe it. There are schools everywhere, and kids in uniforms are so common running up and down the streets, across the fields. I walk past two primary schools and a Junior secondary school (JSS) when I go places, and they almost always shout at me and call to me. I have trained many of them to calle me Bra Kwame (Bra=brother Kwame=Saturday-born) instead of Obruni, but sometimes they call me by the name of one of the other Americans in town. I have a group of kids that I hang out with often who live by my house. One little boy is named Doctor, he's about 6 years old. Another girl is named Kevin, she's about 7. The little girls love to dance, and we have dance parties sometimes. I played Hey Ya for them and showed them how to "shake it like a polaroid picture." They are good dancers, and sometimes their dances are very adult, almost inappropriate, but it's mostly just funny.

My host family has 5 kids. Mavis is 23, but she attends the university in Accra, so I don't see her much (Accra is 2-2.5 hrs away). Michael is 18 and in his final year of SS. He is about 6'6" and very nice. He plays Ultimate frisbee with us and can catch anything. Lydia is 15, she's also in SS. Princilla is 9 and Nancy is 7. The girls often bring me my meals and play with me. They show me around and explain things to me when adults say things I don't understand. They all speak english well, but nancy is shy. I help them with their homework sometimes, and we even drew with colored pencils one time. My host father is the Headmaster of a small primary school in town where the younger girls go to school. My mother sells meats out of part of her family house. They are taking good care of me.

Mail is pretty reliable here. I can send a letter for pretty cheap too. If you want me to write you, let me know. Write me a letter at the PC address (below).

That's all for now. I've been in this internet cafe for way too long, and I'm getting hungry.

love,

Toby

They keep us pretty busy, and the last time i tried to post, it didn't work so well. I just finished two weeks of practicum teaching at a Senior Secondary School (SS) in Koforidua called GHANASS. The school happens to be one of the best in Ghana, and it is really nice. It is not really like a high school in the US, at all. It is a boarding school, there are three grades (form 1,2,and 3) the students wear uniforms and, for the most part, are very well behaved. If they aren't they can be caned. They are fed at the school, and there are dorms on the campus, but the dorms are locked during the day, so the students don't really have much freedom, they have to go to class. They certainly can't leave the closed campus without special permission. It took some getting used to, but I understand the Ghanaian school system better now because of my time there.

I will teach integrated sciences at my site, so i practiced teaching chemistry, physics and biology. My class was form 1s, so they were pretty young, but very smart. I'm told that most schools in Ghana are not as nice and the students are not as good. Even at such a good school, there was a significant lack of basic materials. there were few extra pens, paper etc. The students were nice, but they started acting up because they thought I was soft. I was not as authoritarian as the teachers they were used to. I still need more practice before I feel like I'm ready to lead my own class, but I'm getting there.

I arrived safely in Accra after around 25 hours of travel from Philadelphia. We had a layover in Amsterdam, but we couldn't leave the airport, so no one got into any trouble. I have been very busy with training and getting adjusted here, so I'll just summarize what has happened so far:

Accra Phase

Our trainee group (33 of us) arrived in Accra on June 10. We went straight to a private university campus outside of the city called Valley View. There, we did some basic orientation and met many of the staff members who have been working with us to make this program work. We visited the Peace Corps Office in Accra, and met more staff, including the Country Director, Bob Golledge. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful. "Akwaaba" is Welcome in Twi (pronounced like "chewy, but one syllable). We also visited the Medical office, got some more vaccinations and got our malaria medication. I get to skip most of the shots because I already had them for when I lived in Ecuador. Most people are getting around 13 different shots, spread over the course of Pre Service Training (PST). During Accra Phase, we also got a chance to explore the city in small groups. We learned to use the transportation, the tro-tro and visited some important parts of the city. Mostly, we just got a chance to get out there and see what is is like. Ghanaians are very friendly people, and especially in Accra, almost everyone speaks some english. Many speak very well, although there is a certain accent that we call "ghanaian english" that takes some getting used to.

Vision Quest

I traveled from Accra by myself to the site of anther volunteer and stayed with him for 4 days. It was a very cool experience and I got to see what it is really like for Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in the field. My host's name was Matt, and he taught math at a small secondary school and stayed in a tiny village in the Brong-Ahafo Region near Nkoranza. I got to watch some of his coworkers at the school teach and talk to the students about their school. So many things are so different than in the United states. I'll have to devote a separate post to that topic. Vision Quest made me excited about having my own site and got me thinking about how I would like to set up my house, and how I would interact with my community members and coworkers.

PST

I traveled from Matt's site with another Peace Corps Trainee(PCT) to our training site in Kukurantumi, a small town near Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I arrived on June 18th, my 25th birthday! I got a pineapple for a present from one of the other PCTs. After a few more days of training and meetings and interviews, we were placed in homestay families in some of the surrounding communities. My family name is Yeboah and everyone here calls me Kwame, which means Saturday-born. It is common practice for Ghanaians to have a day-name as well as another christian name (the country is predominantly christian). I'm staying in Old Tafo. I have electricity (one outlet) and a nice pit toilet all to myself.

After three months of training, including 2 weeks of practicum teaching that begins tomorrow, I will go to my site in the Upper East Region. The village is called Sirigu, and the nearest larger town is Navrongo. I'll be replacing another volunteer who is teaching there now. I will teach integrated science, which is a combination of biology, chemistry and physics. It will be at a Secondary School, roughly equivalent to a high school in the US, but the students must apply to it after completing junior ss.

I got a cell phone here and there is pretty good reception most places I am now. Check facebook or email me if you want the number. It is free for me to receive calls and texts, but it might cost you a lot call or send 'em. I'm making fast friends with the people in my training group, but today there was a mail call and I didn't get any. I realize that this is because I haven't posted my address. You should send mail to the PC office at this address:

Toby Koy c/o

Peace Corps Ghana

PO Box 5796

Accra North, Ghana

West Africa

It seems to take as little as a week or two for letters to arrive, although one package that was recieved took over a month (he sent it before he left). The flat rate boxes are a better deal, I'm told.

That's all for now, sorry that there aren't more details. I'll write more later.

Love, Toby

The last two days have been very intense. On Saturday morning, I said good bye to my parents and flew from Madison to Milwaukee, and then to Philadelphia to my Staging Event, a three day pre-training training before I leave for Ghana. It was sad to say good bye to all my friends and family, although I was getting tired of doing it over and over. Thanks to all who wished me well and encouraged me. I am so excited and scared to be doing this amazing thing!

On the Plane to Philly, I chatted with the woman sitting next to me about what I was doing, and the guy in the seat behind me heard and introduced himself. He was also going to the same staging event to become a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Ghana. His name is Anthony and he also went to school at UW and was roommates with some guys that I went to high school with. Interesting coincidence! We got to Philly, (the plane was only delayed a little), and found other people carrying big bags and and wandering around like us. There were lots of other to-be PCVs and we took a shuttle bus together to the very fancy Holiday Inn hotel in the Historic District of Philadelphia. There, I checked in and gathered my paperwork for registration and training. More and more people gathered in the lobby and lounge areas of the hotel, and we all introduced ourselves to one another excitedly. I realized that there were a lot of people in our training group, and that we were all going to Ghana to become teachers.

Our group consists of 35 people, a few more guys than girls, two couples, mostly mid-twenties but a handful of older people, including 5 people over 50. They are from all over the country and four of us are from WI. There are only a few people of color in our group. These people will become my new best friends (I hope) and we will be a support network for one another for the next 10 weeks of intensive training in Ghana. The Staff who ran the staging did an awesome job. We had trainings and activities all day yesterday, about PC policies, expectations, cultural adjustment, and logistics. They answered all of our questions and made us feel unified as a group and excited about Ghana! I have really only begun to get to know these new friends, but already I am very excited. A lot of them are teaching science, like me, but others are teaching math, visual art, or information communication technology (computer stuff). We have the chance to go out to lunch and dinner together and we also went out to some cool local bars and had a pool party at the hotel. PC gave us each $180 to spend on food, accidentals, and reimbursement for transport and airport fees. I spent a good portion of it on alcohol and sushi. It feels really good to not have to worry about money, and know that I will have enough to live and get what I need while I am serving in Ghana. I filled out my loan deferment forms and the only thing I have yet to do is get a new watch battery(or a new watch).

Tomorrow, we go to the Clinic to get malaria medicine and a yellow fever shot, then we check out and ride a bus to New Jersey in order to fly out of Newark Airport. We fly to Amsterdam first, and have a 3 hour layover there. Unfortunately, our trainers insisted that we did not have enough time to leave the airport. From Amsterdam, we fly to Accra, (accent on the second sylable) the capital of Ghana. It will be almost a full day of only travel. I'm not really looking forward to the flights, except that I'll get to spend a lot of time with some of my groupmates. When I get to Ghana, the real work begins. I'll be busy with language, cultural, and technical training. Don't worry if you don't hear from me in a while because this this stuff, no news is good news. I'd love to get comments or emails from you all, and I'll answer all your questions about how amazing this all is.

love,

Toby

I'm going to use this online journal to recount my adventures in the future. I like that better than sending out the occasional mass email. If you really want to know how I'm doing, just look here.

Soon, I will be beginning Peace Corps service. I will leave Madison on June 7 and go to Philadelphia for 3 days for training before flying to Ghana, West Africa. I will train for 3 months near Accra, the capitol of Ghana, and I will be learning at least 2 local languages, as well as going through cultural training and learning how to do my job: teaching science at the secondary level. After my training, I will be placed at a site in a small community in Ghana. I will be the only Peace Corps volunteer in the community and likely the only American in the area. I will teach at a school and have a simple living situation that may or may not include electricity or running water. I will probably only have internet access once in a while. I will teach in Ghana for two years. After that, who knows?