I MADE IT!

Thanks to all of you who posted comments and to those who have simply come to the site to share my experience. Some of you were probably wondering what happened to me. Not to worry - this is just the first time I could actually get to the blog site to make an entry.

Oh - before I forget - a special Hi to Caitlyn's Mom! She told me in Philly that you had already found my site and asked her to look up the "nice looking older man". She's doing great, as I'm sure you know, and I told her I'd say Hi when I got to my blog site. If you plan to send her any packages, throw in some Oreos for me!

Also - congratulations to Dharma for quitting InterTel and following the dream that you have already begun to materialize. You are an inspiration to many in so many ways.

What's that? Oh..........you all tuned in to find out about Ghana??!! OK - where do I start? The country is absolutely beautiful - at least the parts I've seen so far. The part of the Volta Region that I was in for a few days is lush green and looks to me like tropical rainforest although I'm told that Ghana's rainforest is in a different region. Volta has incredible mountains dressed in lush, verdant foliage with dramatic waterfalls highlighting different areas. I got to hike up to one of them and swim in a beautiful cold pool with a natural jacuzzi built in! The cold water felt great after a pretty good hike to get up to it.. although the two youngsters I went up with (Jim's about 35 and Thuy is 10 years younger)didn't seem to be sweating near as much as I was.

Now I'm in the Brong Ahafo Region for my 9 weeks of training. Though not as lush as what I saw in Volta, we are at the end of the rainy season and this area is plenty green and gorgeous in itself.

When we first arrived, we spent 10 days in the Accra area. Accra is the capitol of the country and is roughly the same population as Phoenix. Though I didn't find the city nearly as attractive as the other regions, people who thrive on the big city buzz can certainly find that in Accra. The thing that floored me was how incredibly nice the people were. There were 3 of us trying to find certain places in Accra as part of a Peace Corps "scavenger hunt". We stopped a man to ask him directions and he spent the next 3 hours walking us to all the places we needed to find and filling us in a lot on life in Ghana. Another man on a tro-tro (read, "bus")paid the fare for all 3 of us and we hadn't even met him!!

During training, I'm staying with a family in a small village close to Techiman and this is a great way to begin to integrate into the Ghanaian culture. They have been very good to me and help me in many ways. In fact, it is very uncomfortable for me, and most Americans I think, to allow them to sweep my room, cook all my meals and serve me, wash my clothes (and there are no washing machines - it's all done by hand in a wash tub and bucket), carry my bags, etc. etc.

Which is not to say that I'm staying at the Ritz. There are very few amenities although I am very thankful that we DO have electricity - even though there is no outlet in my room. No running water so I have learned how to take bucket baths. I've done them with cold water (and on hot nights that really does feel better) but I prefer heating up the water for my morning bath. I can get used to this for the next 2 years but I KNOW that a hot shower will be high on my list of things to do any time I get the chance! "Sleeping in" is now defined as 6:30 since the roosters start crowing around 4:15. I can't help but feel like this might be a bit of what Sharon experienced when she first moved out on her own in the Navajo reservation. We'll have to compare notes, Sharon!!

Some notes on the Ghanaians. Unlike black people in the US who have diverse backgrounds and are therefore all different shades of black and brown, Ghanaians all have the same beautiful creamy, smooth skin that is somewhere between milk chocolate and dark chocolate. The young men, and many of the older ones, could be in ads for LA Fitness with their 6 pack abs, broad chests and shoulders, and cut biceps and all without ever lifting a barbell or doing a push-up!! Life here is physical and rock-hard muscular bodies is a byproduct. I find many of the women to be strikingly beautiful with posture my Mom would be proud of (a direct result of carrying everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, on their heads from the time they are small girls) and a natural sensuality that is accented by their beautifully colorful clothes. In fact, all of the clothes here are of goreous patterns and colors and I'm looking forward to having some made (you can get tailored clothes for under $10) but I may wait until I get to my assigned region Daboya in the Northern Region) in December. The thing that strikes me about the children, along with how incredibly cute they are, is how little crying I hear! Oh sure - there are tears now and again but not nearly what I'm used to in the States. Even kids under 4 are remarkably well behaved and I doubt that anyone in Ghana would have any idea what "terrible twos" means!

There is so much I haven't touched on but I need to get back to my village for dinner. I'll try to get back for my next entry sometime in the next few weeks. ALL responses are welcome and feel free to ask questions.

That's it for now from your roving African reporter!!