"NCHU ABA GA"

For those wishing to learn Gonja, that means "The water is rising big time!" During rainy season, two things happen in this neck of the woods - it rains (DUH!!) and Burkina Faso (the country to the north of Ghana) releases water from their dams since they are also getting a bunch of rain. Combining those things is what caused the flooding in Daboya last year. This year, we have been lucky and it hasn't gotten quite as high but the river sure looks a LOT different than it does in dry season. Though no homes were destroyed this year, many farms were lost to the flood waters. The good news, however, is that the water level has now started to drop so we should be out of the woods (well....out of the water) now. I have been gone for a week at a conference in Kumasi (Great hotel, good food, a swimming pool, nice weather, and NO MOSQUITOS (Hallelujah!) so I had a wonderful time and the sessions (HIV / AIDS) were interesting and helpful) and will be here in Tamale for 2 days so I'll see for myself the level of the river on Monday when I return and take my canoe ride to Daboya. In dry season, that is a 5 minute ride. When I left for Kumasi, it took 30 minutes!

Good news: I bought another cell phone. For those who never erased my number, it stays the same. Together with the country code and everything, you dial 011 233 27 311 0018 to get me. Just remember there is a 4-5 hour time difference (dependent on daylight savings) between here and the East Coast. It is later here, so 9 pm East Coast time is at least 1 am here ...... bad time to call! I bought a case and a strap for this phone so I WILL NOT LOSE IT!

Bad news: I did not get chosen as part of the training team for the new PC trainees but I have found my peace with that and I'm sure I'm just where I need to be. I'll have two of the trainees with me at Daboya for a few days to get a feel for what this Peace Corps life is all about and I'm looking forward to spending the time with them.

Great Big Thank Yous to Rob, Carol, Mike, Phyllis, and Weezy who, along with Kara, sent me VERY nice birthday CARE packages. UNLIKE Kara's, which got to me around my birthday in mid-July, all of these took two months to get here and then all came at the same time! So I went from no snacks in my house to being a veritable convenience store!! You want brownies, I got 'em. You want Oreos, Hershey's Almond Kisses, Peanut M&M's? I got 'em. How about Licorice AllSorts, Good and Plenty, Gummi Bears, or Marshmallow Candy? I got 'em. All in all - over 20 kinds of snacks and that doesn't include the REI style dinners and desserts and non-food items that now line my shelves. I am literally in Fat City!! So Thank You, Thank You, Thank You !!!!

As for Tourism - things are moving along. We have our whole 34 person Management Team put together, Constitution finalized, committees formed, and work started in many directions. Also putting together our budget right now. We may be needing some small financial assistance and Peace Corps has a vehicle to allow people to donate money to a specific project. Watch for details on this blog site when we are in position to launch our request. You could also let me know that you are interested in supporting this project by sending me your email address and I'll create a distribution list to notify when we are ready.

HEY - speaking of good news - I see that my Arizona Cardinals WON their season opener against the 49ers. Undefeated so far, baby!! The bad news is that we play the Dolphins tomorrow. That's my big brother's team and one of us is going to have to lose. I always have mixed emotions when we play the Dolphins or Giants (my niece Kara's team) or Green Bay (my buddy Mike's team) but I have to admit that I feel worse if the Cardinals lose than if their teams lose!!

Believe it or not, 6 days from now will be the one year anniversary of my arrival in Ghana! Amazing how fast the time goes by. It has been a good year with memorable experiences - most good, some not so good, but all will make good stories for when I get back to the U.S.

That's it for now. Keep those cards and letters coming.

"Kasa chau asau".........("Love is better than things")................Larry