It's Friday, mid-morning. There is only one teacher to control the entire primary school. The kids are a bit unruly -- playing games, screaming, doing god knows what. However, their favorite activity is antagonizing the White Lady. They clamor onto my porch, smash their grubby hands and faces against the screens. Anything to get a glimpse into the fabulous world of the White Lady. I hear them shuffling and shouting, calling for me and my dog. No matter how many times I respond to their greetings, they can't be subdued.

I finally go outside and face them head on. "What do you want?" I ask in Dagbani. Typical response -- "Madam, give me ______!" Give me money, toffee (candy), your dog, book, pen, shirt. Anything really. I say, "No, I will not give you anything. You are very rude." I go back inside and as I'm busy closing windows in the children's faces I hear, "Madam, my hunger." As I slam the last window shut I say, "Then go home and eat rice." I think I'm jaded.

Over the past ten months in Ghana, I've often wondered, where does this 'give me' mentality come from? I think it lies in the role NGOs play. Ghana is simply flooded with NGOs. This makes sense. It is in Africa, the land of destituion and despair. And unlike many other African nations it is quite stable, peaceful, and friendly. It's a pretty logical choice. So Ghanaians (to some extent) have grown accustomed to us whities coming in and giving things away. Unfortunately, this makes things quite difficult for Peace Corps volunteers who are placed in communities for an extended period of time with little to no financial resources. It also tends to completely eliminate any needs assessment activities which, in my opinion, are of utmost importance in development.

I think it is extremely important to allow communities and individuals to determine their own needs. It is easy for NGOs and do-gooders to enter a community and say, "Well, there are no latrines here. This community must need latrines." They will then proceed to provide latrines. However, unless the community has actually expressed any interest in these latrines, they will probably go unused. Or in one case in my village, be used as a chicken coop.

In response to this problem, I decided to only try projects specifically requested by the village. Especially after watching the failure of projects which were not specifically requested. I attempted a latrine project at the request of my counterpart, which failed. Villagers claimed a lack of funds. At the urging of the assemblyman and community women, I attempted to establish a community center which would contain a pre-school, nutrition center, and library. The District Assembly prepared a budget for the building alone which exceeded 100,000 Ghana cedis. Peace Corps has deemed this project too big and improbable. After reading "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus, I wanted to try micro-credit. My parents graciously agreed to donate $100 to the cause. At the first meeting the women complained that the money was not enough and that I did not bring them sodas. The second meeting has yet to occur because it rained during the morning of the meeting. The meeting was scheduled for the afternoon.

So I'm a bit frustrated. I feel as though Ghanaians skipped, or want to skip, some development steps. Shitting in a hole rather than in the bush? Nah. Cell phones and motorcyles? Definitely. Although people in my village claim to see the importance of things such as mosquito nets, latrines, and soak-away pits, they always tend to put them quite low on the priority list. One man spent 60 Ghana cedis wiring his house for lights when there isn't even electricity in Lungbunga. Yet he supposedly cannot afford the 2 cedis for a mosquito net. It's a matter of priority.

Ultimately, this isn't such a bad move on the part of Ghanaians. They figure eventually an NGO will come around and give them these materials -- mosquito nets, latrines, boreholes, etc. So why bother spending money on them? This is perhaps my greatest irk with development work. There is a huge push to bring health, water, and sanitation materials to communities at no cost. However, it is likely that these communities can afford such materials, if only they re-prioritized.

This "give me" mentality is so pervasive that even an educated, Ghanaian adult working for an NGO asked me what I thought Obama would bring to Ghana. I told him I thought Obama would bring his friendship and that should be enough. I feel like something is amiss. If children can say "give me money/toffee/whatever," but few other English phrases, what does that say about the culture? Or maybe more importantly, what does that say about us do-gooder whites?

Whenever I ask Ghanaians about this "give me" issue they say it is mostly a joke. Who thought it would be funny to demand possesions from people? Adults in my village demand my food, money, clothes, dog, pretty much any possession I have that they like. How did this turn funny and why would anyone perpetute this problem by continuing to simply give?

Why does no one else seem bothered by these things?? And finally, am I turning into a conservative?

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've written. I've been busy. Well, relatively (no pun intended haha I didn't even realize that was a pun at first which makes it even better).

First and foremost, my lovely family came to Ghana! If you want to see lots and lots of pictures than go to Picasa website and search it up. It was wonderful and ridiculous, just like most things in the Trottman family. They all did very well and I am very proud! And besides, if I can live the Ghanaian lifestyle, the rest of the Trottmans DEFINITELY can. Some highlights:

1. Mama got The Heat Stroke! She decided it was a good idea to take not only one, but TWO bike rides down the dirt road under the blazing mid-day sun. Each one was about an hour long. After the second one she came back and didn't look so hot (literally, actually - she wasn't sweating at all) and she acted all woozy. The LB set in shortly after. If you don't know what LB stands for, ask someone.

2. Dad learned all about why my village doesn't have electricity! Or rather, why it actually does have electricity, but no one has it. Through traditional Doug Trottman interrogation methods he learned that electricity runs through all the wires in Lungbunga, transformers are in place, and many houses are already wired and equipped with meters. The government, however, has yet to install some small thing (yes, I forgot the name) and so no one can have electricity. Pretty lame. But it provided me the perfect opportunity to chastise my counterpart for spending 60 cedis on getting his house wired (when there aren't even lights), while claiming he can't afford a latrine (20 cedis).

3. Paul played doctor! After finding out he's going to become an actual doctor one day, he decided to do some warm-ups. An NGO called United for Sight came to Lungbunga primarily to conduct eye exams and give out low-cost glasses. They also thought it might be helpful to get some blood pressure readings, since obviously everyone in Lungbunga has access to blood pressure medication. So Paul got the job. I played documentarian for the whole event. I think it was the first time in my life I had operated a video camera. Good luck to whoever's editing it for fundraising propaganda. Sage really is a cute dog though...

4. Angela survived two weeks of Trottmans! Enough said.

We also learned a lot about sheep. Americans new to Ghana have a different, I would venture to say cleaner, smell, which seemed to attract the sheep. Also, sheep really really don't like my dog. One actually chased her. An unprovoked adult sheep chased my dog. And another sheep accidentally head-butted my shin because I was standing between it and Sage.

The Trottmans also experienced a traditional Dagomba drumming and dancing festival, hosted by a family friend living in Tamale. Even dad danced.

Paul and Angela stayed in the motherland for an extra two weeks, so they got to witness some more joys of Ghana. For example, a "meeting." Which means travelling an hour and a half on terrible roads to see someone for maybe ten minutes. And then coming right back. Also, "medical attention." My friend has been terribly sick and was diagnosed with both malaria and typhoid. Which is interesting, because most other Peace Corps volunteers who went to this particular hospital were diagnosed with both malaria and typhoid.

Then came the hardest part - tearing myself away from Ghana long enough to vacation in Europe. I spent about two weeks travelling through Europe with a good friend from high school and college. We went to Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria. Needless to say, it was amazing. Except for the part at the end when a bag containing most of my possessions was stolen. But I think the non-boxed wine, real cheese, and creamy chocolate were worth it. I also got to see an Army base. A Peace Corps volunteer visits an Army base. Hmmm...

So now I'm back. Home sweet home! It actually is though, which is nice. Although I just arrived about 12 hours ago, it's surprisingly comforting to be back in Ghana. I'm looking forward to going back to my village and seeing Musah, eating TZ (hopefully not with the phlegm soup), and watching sheep follow Sage girl. I missed that.

Today I took Sage for the big operation. I don't really know if Ghanaians know the word "spay," so I just stick to "operation." That's what they usually say anyway.

So the vet tells me to be at the clinic at 8:00am. I arrive around 8:04. Surprise, surprise the veterinary clinic is locked and empty. Around 8:15 I call the vet to make sure I am at the right place at the right time. Yes, he will be there in "a few minutes." Slowly, the clinic employees trickle in. The vet arrives around 8:45 and we are still waiting for more people. Apparently this operation is a multi-personnel event.

The vet, Sage, and I are relaxing on a veranda when his Nicaraguan wife appears, who is apparently also a vet. She helps him with the Saturday morning spayings. They go inside to prepare and when the vet man comes out he has a syringe full of something. He says to me, "Do we need to muzzle her for an injection?" I say, "I don't know...I don't think so..." Muzzles sound scary. So he says, "Ok, hold her front legs." When I said that she didn't need a muzzle, I was assuming that I would not be involved in the injection process. As he's sticking the needle into her thigh Sage girl is struggling, crying, even half-heartedly trying to bite my hands away.

So then she is drugged. She stumbles around like a drunk person who can't keep her balance. I keep trying to get her to lay down or something, but she's not cooperating. The vet man just stands by, watching. I feel like I should be receiving some advice or assistance, but no. I just stay on the floor with Sage until the assistants have prepped the outdoor, wooden table where she will be shaved.

I guess they forgot soap and water because after the vet man begins shaving Sage he asks an assistant to fetch some. Sage does not like this. Especially the soap and water part. She is moaning, yelping, and crying. I am standing maybe two feet away, trying not to cry. It was distressing!

So she's shaved. They pick her up under her armpits and lug her into the "operating room." (Operating room?) Apparently Sage girl is as stubborn as her mother and will not go under the anesthetics. They keep giving her more and more but she stays awake. And to make it worse, she is increasingly confused and irritated by the people holding her down on the table. She momentarily lifts her head to make deranged, drugged howling sounds. It's kind of heart breaking. The vet man and assistants keep tapping her eyes to see if she is out or not. She's not, clearly.

Finally the vet man decides that a different anesthesia is necessary. Unfortunately the large bottle which they keep in storage is "finished." The Nicaraguan wife has to drive somewhere (maybe their home) to retrieve more. Meanwhile Sage is beginning to come out from under her drugged state. She thrashes and groans more. One of the assistants is called elsewhere so it becomes my job to hold her front paws down.

Sage girl is finally out! Of course they have to administer another round of local anesthesia since the original one wore out after such a long time. I decide it's a good idea to hang around and watch what happens. The vet man cuts open her lower abdomen and begins. He starts by pulling out her bladder and exclaiming on how full it is! Lovely. I circle around the table trying to find the best angle.

Things seem to be going smoothly. Using some forceps he removes the uterus, I think. There's a lot of blood. It even smells like blood in the room. I feel pretty good about the situation, except for the disconcerting glances exchanged between the vet man and wife. What are these looks about? Do they know something that I don't? After all, there is a LOT of blood. And organs just hanging out there. It's understandable that these secretive glances could cause concern.

I guess everything turned out alright. Except towards the end. The vet man pauses in his work and leans back against the wall. He lets out a big sigh. "Is everything ok??" I exclaim. "Oh, my back! It is paining me! You see, we should have a table which can move up and down." I sort of feel better, but would also prefer if he would just put my dog's organs back on the inside. Then the assistant swings open a window. Vet man says, "Oh, I can't see because I am getting old, that is why you opened the window." Please sir, don't disclose your lapses in vision to me at any point during a surgery. Lastly, as he is stitching up the wound and explaining the importance of doing it well, he comments on his shaking hands. "See how my hands shake? Oh, the coffee." What??

Afterwards they swab her off a bit and carry her gingerly back to the veranda. I ask, "So what will you do with the uterus, just throw it away?" "Oh no! We will bury it!"

Poor uterus-less Sage girl rests lifelessly on the veranda. I sit down next to her, not really sure what to do. The wife offers me a ride back to the Peace Corps office, which I gladly accept. No one instructs me on how to move my limp, dead weight dog, so I just pick her up like I always do. I haul her to the car and put her in the backseat. When I look, I have blood all over the front of my shirt. How lovely.

So now we are back in the Peace Corps office. Apparently I was very wrong in thinking that I could take her back to the village as early as...tomorrow. Most of today she spent in a drugged, groggy stupor. When she finally emerged from it she could barely walk and started to bleed from her stitches. Of course I freaked out. I spent most of the evening sitting at her side, stroking her and trying to keep her from licking her stitches. Now I understand why American vets keep the dogs in custody for at least 24 hours after the operation.

So I feel like quite a bit has happened since my last post. A lot of new things. So here we go:

School Health Lessons - I've started going to the JSS (equivalent of middle school) about twice a week teaching lessons. I worked with another teacher doing a malaria lesson, then did nutrition, then did one HIV/AIDS lesson. The kids are fairly receptive and actually seem to know quite a bit about this health stuff. I think it's pretty funny that I'm teaching. I mean, what do I really know? I'm standing up there talking about types of malnutrition like "marasmus" and "kwashiorkor" and I'm thinking, What? When did this happen? Who gave me the authority to teach these kids?

The funniest experience with this, by far, was the HIV/AIDS lesson. I went through the basics, which they mostly knew, then asked if they had questions. The questions began with condoms, but quickly took a turn for the absurd and bizarre:

"I am hearing that there are people with both penises and vaginas. Is it true?" Well, yes. They are called hermaphrodites. Wait, why am I saying "hermaphrodite" in a Ghanaian classroom??

"Can I wear a condom if I am not having sex?" Umm....and why would you want to do that?

"In the movie I am seeing two women having sex. Is this possible?" Ok, first, where are you getting these movies from? You only watch Nigerian or Dagbani films...and I'm pretty sure homosexuality is illegal in Ghana.

So I quickly had a SWARM of kids around me, all shouting "Madam! Madam!" and flinging their strange questions at me. One smaller boy (whose name is apparently Good Boy) kept repeating, "When you bring condoms, bring MORE! When you bring condoms, bring MORE!" Needless to say, I was exhausted after this. I went outside and began telling to the teachers what had just happened. One teacher explained the importance of condom demonstrations with a wooden penis (which Ghanaians pronounce pen-nis). Apparently some other health educators had gone through the village demonstrating, but were using their fist as a make-shift penis. Months later many village women were pregnant because the men had been putting the condoms over their fists during intercourse. Oh boy.

A Birth - Yes, I saw a birth. I've wanted to see one since I've been here and one day after teaching I went to the clinic to say hello. The midwife told me a woman would be giving birth soon. I asked if she would inform me when it happened. So an hour later a nurse came over calling, "Suhiyini, Suhiyini, it's time, come quick!" So I head over with a weird sense of trepidation. I had the same feeling I get before going on a roller coaster or watching a scary movie.

I enter the room and there's the lady, all laid out on the table. I say to the midwife, "Is it ok, are you sure she doesn't mind that I'm in here?" The response: "What does she care, who is she to say whether or not you can be here?" Well....it is her body and her vagina. So I'm hanging out. The midwife is literally slapping the poor laboring woman's thighs, shouting at her to spread wider, push harder. The woman is SILENT. No tears, no screams, nothing. I am impressed. The midwife demands that I stand right at the foot of the table so I can get a nice view. And then it happened. It was like an alien encounter. I swear. I have never seen anything like that before. The little head starts peeking out and then all of a sudden, whoosh!, here comes the body! And it's creepy because the skin color is less brown, more...purple. So it kind of looked like an alien.

So then the midwife proceeds to grope around inside the woman's vagina to check for bleeding and tears. The blood is just pouring out of her. The midwife constructs a makeshift diaper/pad devise out of strips of cloth and cotton. Then the woman's mother, or someone, comes in and proceeds to make a cup of tea for the new mother, who is already sitting up, getting dressed, etc. And just like that, it's over! WOW. That's all I can really say.

Guinea Fowl Purchase - The long-time vegetarian is now buying an animal to keep and feed in preparation of it's slaughter. A friend from southern Ghana is coming up to visit this week, so I thought in his honor I would buy a guinea fowl to eat. They are not common in the south and figured he should get a taste (no pun intended haha) of northern culture. So on market day I meet up with my counterpart to go in search of a guinea fowl. The whole experience kind of felt like buying illegal drugs. We were just strolling nonchalantly through the market, seeking potential sellers. The birds are all kept in these basket things that are impossible to see into, so you don't really know what it is that you're buying. We found a few different sellers, then went back and forth trying to get a good price. So I finally secured one for 5.50 Ghana cedis. Not bad. So then I'm walking around the market holding this live bird. I just kept laughing at myself. I think mostly because it felt so normal. Which obviously is strange.

Ok, so now that this is the longest post over, I'll stop. I also started a debate club at the JSS, which has been interesting, and I have some newfound ideas about development, both of which I will write about later. Again, I apologize for no pictures, but I promise they will come soon. I will be at a week-long Peace Corps workshop soon with lots of internet time (I hope!). And now I will go in search of a hotel with satellite so I can watch the Tar Heels beat Oklahoma! GO HEELS!

Ok, so internet is down at the Tamale office yet again. So even though I actually took lots of pictures in preparation for multiple blog posts, I won't put them up now. It's entirely too difficult and annoying to do at an internet cafe. But just look forward to many, many pictures to come!

I'm trying to remember highlights of the past few weeks...it seems almost like a blur actually. Things are going well though! I'm feeling more and more comfortable in my village. Getting used to people and people are getting used to me.

I've been going to help out at the clinic on antenatal and baby weighing days. This is interesting and also terribly frustrating. I go and stand around for a while and ask if I can help out anywhere. Sometimes they let me make tallies in a big book, recording the number of pregnant women coming, their trimester, how many kids they've had, etc. So this is nice. I don't mind doing that. But then sometimes they will pair me up with a nurse and give us a task that one person could do easily and probably more efficiently. So then I try to sort of step out. It just seems insane to me. Also, there is NO system or organization at these days, so I want to try to develop a sort of routine. Maybe. Concepts such as "systems" and "routines" and "order" are somehow out of the grasp of many Lungbungians. Maybe most Ghanaians really. So after standing around for a long time doing absolutely nothing I say "Okay, I'm going to go take my lunch." And they proceed to laugh at me and act like I'm skipping out on work! But how can I explain to them that if I stand here and watch the inefficiency and lack of productivity any longer that I might go CRAZY?? It's easier to say that I'm hungry.

The teachers are all still around, which is great. Most of the teachers are really awesome and we can relate in a way because they are generally from Tamale and we have similar complaints about village life and living away from home. They are also great with Sage. One in particular likes to do this weird arm-flailing dance/hop thing and repeat her name over and over. I think he's trying to play with her, but she just looks confused. I've started teaching in the schools a bit. Well, I have once so far. But it's a start. My friend and I taught a lesson about malaria. I'm going to try to get in the routine of going to the JSS (junior high school) at least once or twice a week. The primary school is kind of my worst nightmare, so I tend to avoid it. Dozens of children screaming in Dagbani...why would I want that?

Last Monday was the first day of a two-day Dagomba festival. It was great! It's called Damba and is held to celebrate the prophet Mohammad's birth. The second day will be this coming Monday and is supposed to be even bigger than the first. So I went to the chief's palace with my camera and everything is great, I'm watching the drumming and the old men dance around in their smocks, but then the GUN MAN had to come in and ruin it for me. Apparently I am absolutely terrified of guns! The village thinks it's hilarious. And then they lie to me and say, "Oh no, he won't shoot again." So then I get angry and say, "You are LYING to me!" Haha it's pretty funny though really. I just follow the kid's cues and cover my ears whenever they do. But it's hard to take good pictures and enjoy the festival when you're constantly on the lookout for the gun man!

Lungbunga's been having some crazy weather too. A few nights ago there was an intense storm - I mean like hurricane intense. I had just finished dinner and was getting all excited for a little evening rain (since I rarely ever see rain anymore), when suddenly the lightning started to flash and the wind started howling and my back door completely blew open even though it was latched. Oh and a panel in the bedroom ceiling started popping off. So my excitement kind of turned a bit panicy, but once all the windows were closed and everything valuable was safely away from the wind and rain I started thinking about the implications of natural disasters in the developing world. You don't get any hurricane watches, or hurricane warnings. Nope! It just COMES and pretty quickly too. I feel like I have a better understanding of the devastation communities go through due to weather - failed crops, floods, houses destroyed by wind. It's crazy! We're lucky in America! I remember back in elementary school doing all those drills for different natural disasters. Get in the hallway, duck and cover, go in the closet, etc. All those annoying tests on the radio all the time for severe weather. But that's nice! It would be nice to get a little heads up on these things.

That pretty much sums things up. My house is definitely starting to come together and I'm feeling very much at home. I really do love my house. I'm also still learning how to cook. Slowly getting better at the whole rice and beans thing. I need to be better about cleaning the rice though, I think eating rocks is bad for your teeth.

I hope you all liked the pictures! I wonder if it's at all what you imagined. I will try to be better about putting pictures up. So here's what's been happening in Lungbunga --

I've started to do a bit of small work. I started doing a census where I go around from house to house with my counterpart asking questions about health, water, sanitation, etc. A lot of the answers are redundant, but it has given me some good project ideas. I'm finding out about mosquito net usage, illnesses, water sources, what they want me to teach in the schools (one person said singing haha), this kind of thing. Most importantly I discovered that there are hardly ANY latrines in Lungbunga. No one has private household latrines and the public latrines are apparently "occupied with feces," according to one respondent. So they just go out to the bush. Which is gross. This is a good project for me to work on - bringing my village a place to defecate.

Also, the school holiday ended. This is good and bad. Good because the teachers moved back to the teachers quarters where I also live, so I have some neighbors and people to hang out with. Also good because I can go to the schools and help out. Bad because kids are annoying. This is a very important lesson I've learned that I forgot to mention last post. I used to think that non-American children were somehow cuter than American ones. This is NOT true. Not at all. My house is right by the primary school so when the children go on break they come rushing to my window to terrorize me. They yell my name, yell my dog's name (except the usually can't pronounce "Sage," so they say Sadie or Seidu), ask for things, mock me, etc. Many times I go running outside and tell them that it is rude to look through people's windows and if they want to speak to me they can come to the front door like normal people. So yes, African kids are just as annoying as American kids. If not more so in some cases.

Oh and last weekend we had kill dogs day in the village! I let Sage out to run around and the teachers warned me to be careful with her because the villagers were going out to kill dogs. Yes, apparently they were fed up with the wild dogs eating their sheep and goats so they rounded up the guns. They assured me that since everyone knows Sage belongs to me that she will be fine. Also that she is too small to kill any goats or sheep. So I felt somehow reassured.

Other white people came to my village last week! Two older British people who come to Ghana every year for three months as volunteers work with an NGO called King's Village that I also work with. So they just showed up one day! It was exciting to see other white people, and even more exciting because they are more cynical about Ghana than I am! They looked at me and said, "How are you coping?? How are you finding the food? What do you do for friends?" They were also highly suspicious that the meeting we scheduled for this week would actually start on time. And very vocal about it. So that made me feel better about my own cynicism.

So those are the Lungbunga updates! Of course I have good days and bad days, but who doesn't? I'm still feeling good about being here and that's what matters I guess. I'm continuing to get more settled in my home and making more friends, which is nice. And sometimes they bring me food which is even better.

So here are some pictures! FINALLY!! I know it's taken a long time, but I'm not very camera-savvy. And I'm kind of lazy about taking pictures. Oh and I'll write a real post later on. But I thought pictures were most important. So, welcome to my new life in Ghana via pictures.

Ok, so that first picture that sort of resembles a food is fufu and groundnut soup with some kind of meat. Maybe chicken. Maybe goat. Mom, dad, Paul - get ready! Then there's the local dam that I walk to everyday. Then my bedroom and kitchen. The next one is a girl I often see on my dam walks. This is the path to the dam. And the third to the last is my backyard. See, I really do have a village in my backyard! The last two are my little babila (meaning small dog in Dagbani), or Sage. So there you go!

I have survived my first two and a half weeks at site!! All alone. Through the holidays. Due to the presidential election Peace Corps had us on "standfast" (yes, another strange Peace Corps term) from Dec. 24-Jan. 2. Then there was election drama. It is Africa after all. It might have been bigger drama if there was NO drama. So standfast was extended until Jan. 6. All of this meant that Peace Corps had us quit EVERYTHING cold turkey. No American friends. No non-Ghanaian English. No electricity. No running water. No cold drinks. We could not leave site at all during this time. So it was a bit intense and I feel like there were a lot of ups and downs. However, I did learn some valuable lessons:

1. Wear underwear on market days. I generally don't wear underwear because it is just one more thing to wash. Seems excessive. So two days after I got to site was my first market day. This involved travelling to a nearby village so I could get things like plastic buckets. So that I can wash myself, clothes, and dishes. This was right before the standfast and I was still free to travel at will. So anyway, the cars to this nearby village are all PACKED. My village friends help me climb up onto the tire of the large truck and into the drivers seat to climb across and into the passenger seat. First leg of the journey. Then I get to my friend Ana's site. We have to get another car. Unfortunately the only thing available is a cargo truck. So we hop up. Well by hop up, I mean climb a ladder up. We go rattling down the road and we're jostling up a storm before I notice that there is a COW a few feet away. A fucking COW! And we didn't even notice. So we make it to market. A bit dusty and shaken. On the way home we take a car again and they wedge me in the very, very front between the windshield and dashboard. So in the future, I will remember to wear underwear when travelling to and from the market.

2. While cleaning up your dog's shit, remember to close the doors or bats will fly into your bedroom. On New Year's Eve I went outside to talk on the phone because I have almost no phone service at site. When I came back I saw that Sage had pooped. I was angry, scolded her, cleaned up and went to bed. I'm laying there and here a whooshing sound. Uh oh, I think. I turn on a flashlight, and sure enough! A bat! A bat is in my room. So then I corral it out. Bats actually are kind of frightening when they fly at you.

3. Guns are common at funerals. I went to my first funeral celebration the day after Christmas. Many men wield large rifles, which they shoot off into the air at various times. Call me crazy, but something about a large group of African men shooting rifles just doesn't sit right with me. I think my village friend could tell I was visibly uncomfortable and although he assured me they weren't using guns, just gunpowder, we still left early. One man even held a rifle in one hand, a baby in the other and just shot the gun off like it was nothing. I wonder if that baby will ever hear again.

4. Buy toilet paper in Tamale. They do not sell toilet paper in Lungbunga. Or in my market town. So I haven't had a square to spare!! (Seinfeld reference?) I will stock up today.

5. Absolutely nothing gets done during elections. My furniture has STILL not arrived (since October or November) "because of the election." There have now been THREE elections and I have yet to see a spec of furniture. I don't get it. What are these carpenters doing, sitting with their ears glued to the radios waiting for the latest news?? Somehow I doubt it. Also, no one wants to start on any work in Lungbunga, "because of the election." Insanity.

So that's all I got for now. I'm doing well, glad to be in Tamale with friends, recovering from my two and a half week lockdown. I managed to survive thanks to BBC, sudoku, and little Sage. My friend Consuelo is coming to stay with me for a few days so it will be nice to have some company at site. I had a cheese sandwich, french fries, and a cold Fanta for lunch today so I am already feeling recuperated! And tonight I might even get a cold beer! Oh boy.

I'm a real, full-fledged volunteer!! Swearing-in was last Friday and was a hilarious occasion, of course. Peace Corps had us go sit out in the lawn for about an hour while everyone else (trainers, homestay families, country director, ambassador, etc.) came in and found their seats. Then Peace Corps had us get up and file out of the lawn so that we could make our grand entrance! Boy, was everyone surprised to see us! Peace Corps also hired a brass band that was about as good as most of the bands I heard in middle school. They didn't seem to be playing the same melody as one another and spontaneously burst into song throughout the whole ceremony! We also had to give several "cultural" performances. By this I mean our language groups had to perform a song, skit, or dance in front of everyone in our local language. The Dagbani song and dance we did about waist beads (beads women wear under their clothes on their hips) wasn't awkward at all. And the burning garbage a few hundred feet away provided a lovely aroma.

After swearing-in I began making my way to site with my little puppy, Sage. Yes, she is mine now! She has been quite the trooper travelling all the way from southern Ghana up to the north. On the way up to site I stopped at Lake Bosomtwe with a few friends for a couple nights. It was beautiful and relaxing. Kind of felt like high school spring break - we drank during the day, ate cheeseburgers, and played games (yes, I got roped into ping pong AND a card game). As several signs on the way to the lake noted, we had fun, but thought about AIDS. And yes, these are real signs. I'm not making it up. The lake was by far the most beautiful thing I've seen in Ghana so far and I even got to see a beautiful sunrise. And no, I wasn't still awake for it, I was actually awake that early in the morning.

So this morning we woke up at 4am in order to take a bus from Kumasi to Tamale. While standing in a ridiculously long line to buy a ticket for a bus before the sun even came up I began reflecting. I'm standing there with a puppy in my purse; my friend has a bunny in a box; and we are about to get on a seven hour bus ride. All around us are women with stuff on their heads (literally, water satchets, bread, wood, fish, underwear, etc. in bowls on their heads) and people yelling. It's loud and hectic and crazy. Sometimes I still think to myself - "WHERE AM I?? WHAT AM I DOING??" I've been here almost 3 months now and feel pretty adapted, but every now and then I have those moments.

Tomorrow after navigating Tamale to buy a stove, pot, utensils, toilet seat, laundry supplies and everything else I need to set up house (with a puppy still in my purse), I will go to Lungbunga to LIVE. For TWO YEARS. WOW. Of course I have mixed emotions, but I am mostly excited. I feel like I'm going home. Unfortunately my New Years and Christmas will be lame - the runoff election for Ghanaian president is Dec. 28 so Peace Corps is forbidding everyone from leaving their sites Dec. 24-Jan. 2. But I have little Sage to keep me company! She's a good dog - miraculously house broken somehow.

Oh and a headline from the Daily Graphic (Ghana's newspaper): "Leperacy Covered By National Health Insurance Scheme." So in case I get leperacy, I'll be ok. Oh, Ghana.

I made it through homestay! Just moved out this morning. Thank God. Last night and this morning were especially noisy, maybe because of the election. People yelling and slamming doors at 10pm (I know, so late). Even though I am actually IN Ghana, I am still very unclear about the election results. From what I've heard it's very close and there might be a run-off. Maybe all of you and your reliable news sources will have more information. If so, feel free to pass it along.

I managed to pass my language exam last week so it looks like they will have no reason to send me home! Which means on Friday I will be sworn in as a volunteer!

The biggest news right now is that I might have a puppy! I say "might" because one of the trainers got her as a Secret Santa gift. First of all, who gets PUPPIES as Secret Santa gifts?? Only in Ghana...But it looks like I might end up with her. We will see. She is black and white and a little brown and FLUFFY! Fluffy dogs are very hard to find in Ghana, so I'm trying to take advantage. I found her yesterday, which was Jim Morrison's birthday, so I think she is a gift from Jim. If I keep her I will name her Sage after Jim and his girlfriend's dog.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I am very jealous of the cold weather and all the good food. I am mopping my face with a sweat rag and wondering if I will get rice or plantains for lunch.

I AM IN LOVE WITH LUNGBUNGA!!

Just wanted to say that first. After visiting my site last week, I now feel like Peace Corps is something I can actually DO! I have an amazing house, am surrounded by amazing people, and think Northern Region is beautiful.

My home is in teachers quarters, meaning I am surrounded by JSS and primary school teachers. However, I have the same amount of space all for myself that most teachers share with THREE other people! I have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, courtyard, bath area, and bucket flush toilet all to myself!! It was built within the past year, so the bat shit hasn't started seeping down the walls through the roof, like most other people's homes. Lucky me. (I do have bats though - I almost got hit in the face with one while eating dinner in my courtyard one night.)

I am working with people who are called things that I aspire to have in life (not kidding, their names are Justice and Comfort). Comfort is a midwife who already started calling me her daughter. My counterpart/contact person who I will work with on projects is great; he brought me meals three times a day. And supplied me with all the groundnuts I could eat!

Personally I think Northern Region is just beautiful. When I got to my home I opened the back door, looked out, and literally exclaimed "There's a village in my backyard!!" I'm not sure what else I expected, but when I look out my back door I know I am in AFRICA. There are round mud huts with straw roofs, women cooking over fires, beautiful trees, and big open sky.

I don't have electricity, which I actually don't mind too much (surprisingly!). I can see so many stars at night! During dry season when it gets really hot I will probably be sleeping in my courtyard and will have beautiful stars to look at. And reading by candle light really isn't so bad!

My project description is still pretty vague and ambiguous, but I can deal with that. I do have two years to figure out something to do. Fortunately there is a clinic in Lungbunga, so I can go there a few days a week to help out, which will give me some structure.

So that's my site! I LOVE LOVE it and can't wait to go back up there. Only two more weeks until I swear in and become a real volunteer...crazy.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a good birthday. I was at site. My "supervisor," a former Peace Corps volunteer doing Guinea Worm work, brought Andy and Ana, my two closest neighbors, up to Lungbunga to celebrate. He brought me beer and cake! I even attempted to SHOTGUN a beer!!! I'm sure those who used to drink with me are shocked by this. AND I ate a double cheeseburger and french fries the next day when we spent the night in the Kumasi Sub-Office. Shotgunning beers and eating double cheeseburgers...I don't even know who I am anymore!

Thanksgiving was also fun. A friend and I went into the nearest big city to eat American-ish food. We had egg rolls, french fries, and ice cream for lunch. Delicious.

On another note, when I move to site in the middle of December I will have a new address! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has written me (yes, all three of you)...letters are so much fun to get. Packages are also wonderful and I am surprisingly easy to please these days. So if anyone is feeling especially in the Christmas spirit or just wants to do a good deed, feel free to mail something!

Here are some things I can ALWAYS use: books, shampoo, candles, incense, St. Ives Apricot scrub, Arm and Hammer toothpaste, magazines/newspapers, and any kind of American food. And of course letters!

Address:

Catherine Trottman, PCV

P.O. Box 962

Tamale, N/R

Ghana, West Africa

Given people's track records, I would be willing to bet that Bro Paul and his friends will be the first to put together a package and mail it. Haha...I'm hoping to put a little competitive spirit into this!

So those are the updates for now! My homestay family wants to celebrate my birthday on Sunday - we'll see what all that entails. I'm sure it'll be a good story. I have my technical and language exams next week...I better study up on Dagbani! I am happy and healthy (still!) and so so excited to move to Lungbunga. It is my Ghanaian 214 Mitchell Lane (minus Whitney, Dylan, and Gobi of course!).

This week we leave for SITE VISIT!! I am so so excited. I can't wait to find out what my house is like. After all, I will be living there for two years (hopefully haha!). I hope it lives up to 214 Mitchell Lane standards.

Also during site visit is my 23rd birthday (on Nov. 24 in case you didn't know)! I doubt I will tell my Ghanaian community about it...they don't really make a big deal out of birthdays like us Americans and I don't want anyone thinking I'm expecting anything. But I will get to celebrate in Tamale with some fellow Peace Corps friends on Tuesday, Nov. 25 which will be nice. And also on that note, I don't think I have good cell phone reception at site with my current phone number. So if anyone wants to call or text happy birthday messages (which I'm sure you DO) you should wait until I go to Tamale on the 25. And yes I'm aware that I'm shamelessly asking for birthday attention!

I also get to meet my counterpart this week. My counterpart is the person living in my community who I will work closely with on most projects. Very exciting. I'm extremely relieved to see training almost over. It's great to be with lots of American Peace Corps volunteers all the time (I really do love them), but I'm tired of homestay and not living independently. I'm ready to move to my new home, settle in, and work on some projects. Swearing in is less than one month away!!

The Ghanaian national elections are coming up! On Dec. 7 they will elect a new president. It's all pretty exciting and interesting to see how an election happens over here. On my taxi ride to the internet cafe we drove through an NDC rally. Pretty intense!

MOST EXCITING NEWS SO FAR: I have TWO kitten possibilities!! My homestay family offered me a baby calico who is gorgeous. And there is also a tiiiiiny kitten I found at the spot (bar) on Friday night who I fell in love with. The spot owner said she is a "lost cat" (maybe I'll name her Losty haha) and they really want me to take her. So hopefully something will work out. I am very lonely without my baby boy (Dyl) and I need some animals in my life!

My health has been miraculously great thus far. With the exception of dusty lung I have had no sickness. I'm very lucky. I'm also getting more accustomed to the food (I even asked for fufu the other night. By the way, fufu is basically pounded yam. It's a doughy consistency and used to scoop up soups and stews). Old Tafo (my homestay community) is a bit intense for my tastes -aggressive and in your face a lot. After visiting Northern Region I am so excited to move there. It was much more laid back and relaxed. It is also predominantly Muslim, which I imagine will have to be quieter than the Christians down here in the south. Except for the 4AM calls to prayer...

I am also still making lots of good friends in Peace Corps. I have created a little family for myself, it's wonderful! Consuelo, my surrogate mother, is AMAZING! I hang out with her all the time and she is even going to help me PACK for site visit today! Two of the married couples in their mid and late 20s have adopted me as their baby sister too! So I am surrounded by lots of wonderful people. At site I will be living close to Ana and Andy, two other good friends in the WatSan sector. I'm lucky.

So that's that for now! My mother says she likes short blog entries and my father says he likes long blog entries so I have to do some of each to appease them. You are a dedicated blog reader if you made it to the end of this one!

So at home I was woken up in the middle of the night by smoke detectors, drunk roommates, or parties. These days it's a bit different...I am continually woken up by the girl who lives next door to me because of her LOUD PRAYING!!

These Ghanaian Christians are OUT OF CONTROL. They sing, clap, stomp, speak in tongues, chant, drum...anything to be as loud as possible. The other night some dogs were attacking each other outside of our window, so my neighbor began loudly praying to make them go away. She said the dogs came because of her failure to go to church that night. I strongly encourage her to attend church EVERY night, to avoid dog attacks as well as midnight prayer sessions.

Anyway. Yesterday we went to an herbal HIV treatment center. It was very interesting! They use ARVs still too and refer patients to the hospital, but rely a lot on herbal remedies. They showed us mysterious bottles which could supposedly cure stroke, menstrual cramps, all sorts of things...interesting, to say the least.

So now that I'm not (as) delirious, I have more to add about field trip.

Well one thing really - on the way home from Tamale, I FELL OUT OF THE TRO!!! My skirt got caught on one of the jump seats and I kept going and my skirt stayed there. The skirt ripped and I fell backwards out of the bus, skinning and bruising my leg, scraping my back, and bruising my hip pretty badly. And now I'm back in Old Tafo with what feels like dusty lung or something. Pleasant.

I am so so so excited Obama won!!! And so proud of my little blue North Carolina. It's been fun watching it over here. And by watch I mean refreshing CNN.com and half-listening on a wind-up radio. But people here are actually really excited. Yesterday in the car ride home from class an Obama song came on the radio! It was mostly in Twi, but the chorus was "Obaaama, Obaaama, Obaaama!" Amazing. Haven't heard any McCain songs, that's for sure!

I think most of you know the hellish experience of Dance Marathon. Either you did it with me (lucky you Whit, Bro Paul, Luke, Blake, Angela) or you've heard about it. But I think you know the gist - on your feet for 24 hours with the same people. There are moments of fun, agony, exhaustion, and delerium. I am writing this entry at the Tamale sub-office, at the end of what I would consider my Ghanaian version of Dance Marathon.

These past five days were spent on what Peace Corps calls "field trip." It is an opportunity for volunteers to travel to different parts of Ghana with their sector to learn more about other volunteer's day to day lives. Since we are the largest sector, WatSan was split into two groups - one gong to northern Volta region and one going to Northern region. Please refer to your nearest map of Ghana to try to understand Peace Corps' brilliant idea: in an effort to save money we were all taken in one vehicle from Koforidua up through Volta region to drop people and then up to Tamale in Northern region. This is not the most efficient way. Especially with road conditions taken into account. Our vehicle is a 22 passenger yellow minibus. Some of these are not even real seats, but ones that fold out to fit extra passengers. There are also lots of cockroaches living in the bus. Most of the roads are not paved and all are riddled with potholes.

We leave Old Tafo at 5:30am. We arrive in northern Volta at 3:30pm. Thinking that the bulk of our journey is behind us, most of us are excited. Little do we know that we have another EIGHT HOURS TO GO. On the worst roads so far. And since we are trying to arrive before dark (ha), there is no time to stop for dinner! By the time we get to site at 11:30pm we are absolutely FILTHY. Literally. The dust is so bad that our skin is a nice orangeish-brown color. The guy in the back left corner of the bus changed color so much that we nicknamed him Sandy Andy. We are all in very foul moods.

So here we are on field trip. The first night we sleep outside, which was nice, until we woke up and there was so much dew we thought someone had played a joke on us and poured water everywhere. All day we do WatSan activities, including inspecting boreholes, visiting chiefs, discussing sanitation, and playing cards. We also participate in a football (soccer) match with Ghanaians, who were taking it WAY more seriously than we did. I don't play (of course) but most of the rest of the group does. Our team sustained minor injuries.

I think the highlight of this field trip was the random fit of hysterical laughter that plagued me and my friend J.J. We are teaching children about HIV/AIDS, hand-washing, malaria, etc. but most of these kids don't speak English very well. We are trying to encourage them to create a song, dance, or drama. After receiving only blank stares for a good three minutes, one boy softly (and robotically) sings, "Wash, wash, wash your hands..." After an awkward pause, J.J. and I realize that this is the entire song. For whatever reason, this combined with the vacant stares sent both of us into a fit of hysterical laughter right in front of the children!! We both had to turn away, had tears streaming down our faces, and had to get someone to replace us. The rest of the day we could hardly look at each other without the rumblings of hysteria.

It is now 2:18am and I am STILL AWAKE!! This is another reason why this field trip is like Dance Marathon. I haven't stayed awake this long in ages! I am waiting for election results and also have to be up at 4:00am to drive back to Old Tafo, so I figured I would try staying awake. I feel delirious.

So here is what I did today:

6:00am: Wake up to the sound of sheep and roosters

6:30am: Eat breakfast (some sort of porridge..reminds me of Malt-O-Meal...remember that fiasco, family??)

7:00am: Laundry - approximately 2 skirts, 6 shirts, 6 pairs of underwear, a towel, and a washcloth take about one hour. And I need to figure out a way to do laundry without making my knuckles bleed.

8:30am: Market - buy rice (with ants in it), tomatoes, garlic, onions, charcoal, and eggs so that we can cook a meal with our language class.

11:45am: Lunch - our egg/tomato stew turned out well!

Afternoon: Plan lessons to teach small children about hygiene i.e. where and how to poop, how to wash hands, etc.

Tonight I have maybe more rice and a cold beer to look forward to. What I would do for a glass of red wine and some CHEESE!

Also, I forgot to mention my proudest moment in Ghana thus far. The other morning I was on my way to bath and approached a small child. He was TERRIFIED of me. He screamed "obruni" (white man) and cried and literally ran way from me!! I laughed. After being chased and tormented by screaming children for the past month, I was thrilled to get some payback. It's the little things here in in Ghana.

So I feel like most days here I am doing the opposite of what comes naturally to me. For example, this week we took a field trip to visit LATRINES. I'm not kidding. We spent an entire morning touring a community looking at their latrine variety. Some were broken. And I mean very broken, like the floor was caving in and you could see poop coming up from the ground. And there were maggots and all sorts of gross things. I can't believe I have agreed to do this for TWO YEARS!! Sometimes I think I am crazy!

Also, today we went on a HIKE. Yes, I was hiking. And some of it was actually kind of hard. There were some steep rocky inclines and declines and I thought I was going to break my ankle quite a few times. But I made it! And I guess the view was worth it...my family would be SO proud if they had seen me!

So that's just a quick update about what I've been doing in Ghana this week -- looking at poop, talking about poop, learning how to keep poop away from your mouth...oh and hiking. I think I'm already a changed woman.

I made it another week! Things are settling down now, I am thrilled. We have moved in with homestays, found out our site placements, got cell phones, and are operating on a regular SCHEDULE (my favorite)!!

I am living in Old Tafo, a community near Kukurantumi, our main training site. My homestay family situation is odd. I'm not entirely sure who I live with and who my family is. I know the mother, father, and about 3-4 siblings, but they do not all live in the same compound with me. They are all nice though and most speak English. That's a plus. I also have my own latrine (BIG plus) with a lock on it. It doesn't smell too bad at all, but sometimes it is scary when the flies tickle your butt. Not pleasant. I like my room a lot, I have made it cozy, but the sound of rats scuttling in my ceiling every night is disconcerting. The rats, along with loud choir music/tongue speaking and bleating goats can make sleeping difficult at times. But interesting, nonetheless.

The eating situation is a bit strange. I eat alone, like a child who is being punished. I actually like it though. I am nearly at the end of my tolerance for yam, plantain, fufu, and various meat stews, so I don't mind that my family doesn't witness how difficult it is getting for me to eat. My mother or sisters bring food to my room while I am away at class and then take the dishes away after I have left again. A little mysterious.

For the next two years, I will be living in Lungbung (or Lungbuna, I think it has various spellings). It is in the Northern Region, about 35 km northwest of Tamale, which is a pretty big city. I am happy with my placement. I get to work with NGOs including the Carter Center and UNICEF on things like guinea worm and just general health and sanitation. I am close to other volunteers too (the closest one is only 10 km) and 4 of us live along the same road to get to Tamale. My accommodations actually sound nice: a bungalow associated with the junior high school, including 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, private bath, private bucket flush toilet (!!), and courtyard. Unfortunately my Ghanaian mansion is not equipped with electricity. So I will be going to bed around 7pm every night.

I also have a cell phone now! I have no idea if it's a bad idea to put cell phone numbers on blogs, but I feel like it might be, so if you want to call (or text!) ask my family or Whitney, they should know.

I am still doing well. I have yet to get deathly ill. Amusing events happen on a daily basis and it's hard for me to remember them all. Last night I was with other volunteers on the way home from a spot (Ghanaian bar) in a taxi. We are driving down the road and the driver pulls over to purchase something from a man. I notice that it is a very large rat. Like a Gobi-sized rat. Maybe slightly larger. And the rat is STILL ALIVE. The driver purchases the rat to take it home, kill it, and prepare it for a meal. He keeps it in his lap and under the front seat of the car the rest of the way to Old Tafo. I was sitting directly behind him and TERRIFIED it was going to crawl on me. Luckily, it didn't.

Here is a story that nicely sums up the Peace Corps experience and the bonding that we all go though: it is commonly known that you become a "real" Peace Corps Volunteer once you have shit your pants. One of our group joined the club recently and was telling the story to a group of other trainees. He actually shit himself in his bed while he was sleeping and was asked what he did with the dirty underwear. He replied, "I just threw them in the closet." In perfect unison, the trainees all said, "You have a closet?!?!" Not, "ew gross, you are a grown man and pooped yourself" or "ew gross, you thew poopy pants into the closet." Amazing. And this is why I love Peace Corps right now.

Well we made it! All the way to Ghana. I have been in country about a week and a half now, after a weekend of "staging" in Philadelphia. Peace Corps likes to use lots of funny names and acronyms all the time. Like staging. It has been a whirlwind so far, lots of learning and traveling, so I will try to mention the highlights.

For those of you curious about technical details, there are 42 of us in the program. We are known as the "omnibus" group, which means that there are Environment, Small Enterprise Development, and Health/Water Sanitation volunteers all together. I am in Health/Water (known as WatSan) and my group has 16 people in it. A group of teachers came earlier this summer and they just swore in recently.

So we arrive, hang out on a sort of "campus" I guess you would call it, called Valley View. At Valley View they gave us all sorts of fun stuff like an enormous medical kit complete with every sort of medicine imaginable. We also get lots of shots. We all just form a line and go up to the nurse, tell them our name, sit down and get the shot with everyone watching. I'm sure it's uncomfortable for those who are squeamish about shots. Valley View was kind of boring. We did get to have dinner at the ambassador's house, which was nice. I drank the last red wine I will have for a long, long time.

Overall, I am liking Ghana. Here were some of my initial observations:

1. The sun seems very high in the sky even early in the morning. It feels mid-afternoon, but it is only 10am.

2. Store owners like to name their shops after Jesus. For example, Trust in God Cosmetics Shop, Master Jesus Spare Parts (my personal favorite), and God is Good Eggs for Sale.

3. The people are amazingly friendly. We ask for directions and they will personally escort you to your destination. And in some cases they even paid for peoples fares.

4. Animals are EVERYWHERE. Which makes me very happy. I am obsessed with goats. Although I have a hard time telling goats and sheep apart sometimes. And sometimes even dogs.

So after Valley View we went on "vision quest" (another weird Peace Corps term - I think it conjures images of native americans tripping on peyote in a cave somewhere). This is when we travel to another part of Ghana to stay with a current volunteer to give us an idea of what we will actually be doing (since all of this is mostly unclear. Even now it is still unclear). I traveled to Wechiau, which is in the Upper West region. It is apparently the most neglected and underdeveloped region in Ghana. We took a 14 hour bus ride to Wa, the regional capital, before heading out to Wechiau.

I have to take a moment to discuss the bus ride. We used STA buses, which is apparently the nicest, most comfortable way one can travel in Ghana. They were nice. The best part was the movies. There was a TV in the front which showed what I think were Nigerian films. They usually involved who I initially thought were small boys, approximately 8-10 years old. However, when the boys began picking up prostitutes and drinking liquor, I became confused. Supposedly these were not boys, but midgets! Ghanaians apparently LOVE midgets and find them hilarious. So in all the movies and programs they showed, small-looking males were the main role. Very odd, but I found this hilarious. At one rest stop the bus driver pulled me off with him, encouraging me to drink apateshi (a homemade liquor) and eat snake meat. I opted for a Pepsi.

My vision quest was fine. I liked my village. We rode on a pick-up truck with picnic benches in the back to get there. They are known as "bone rattlers." I am eager to get to my own site, which won't happen for another two months. On Monday we find out where we will be placed. Very exciting! Now we are back in Kukurantumi where we are training. We learn language and skills that are more relevant to our specific sector. I will be living with a homestay family in a village called Old Tafo. This afternoon we are having a "cultural fair." Who knows what Peace Corps has prepared for us this time. I will keep you posted.

So blogs aren't really my thing. But I figured I want to keep in touch with people and fill them in on any crazy African adventures, so here goes. I haven't left yet though, so I don't have much to say now. I don't think anyone really cares to know the details of my packing list. Hopefully I will be able to write something shortly after I arrive, but who knows. Africa is crazy. I'll end on that note.