Censored in Portugal

I have been in Portugal for two days and I haven't been able to write a new entry. When typing at the internet cafe, I wasn't allowed to open my blogsite because the cyber protection found the words "huge cockroach" on the page and wouldn't allow it to open. Perhaps they thought I was being sneaky and covering the true pornographic nature of the material.

Anyways, I'm having a great time and must say that absence really makes the heart grow fonder in many ways. Obviously it has been great to spend time with my mom but it's also great to take hot showers, eat an eclectic diet and sleep with a blanket over my body!!

In the past 48 hours, my eyes have been bloodshot and my nose has been running but I've been in heaven. We met Ricardo (the man from whom we've rented a flat) and had a tour of Lisbon on our first afternoon. From the street in front of the flat, we can see the 25th of April bridge (looks like the Golden Gate) and a few other tourist attractions that are featured in the tour books. We walked to the market on our first morning in town and we able to buy fresh cherries, strawberries, apricots, plums, chorizo and baguettes.

Yesterday, we went to visit a 500 year old monastery and from there went to the modern and contemporary art museum (more like a labyrinth). Last night we enjoyed the second anniversary party of a group of local storytellers. My mom was a special guest and closed out the night with a story (the only one of which I understood more than two words) from her collection and received rave reviews from all around.

Today we have toured Caiscais and the westernmost point of Europe. Over the next 10 or so days I will add what details I can. My goal is to gain 20 pounds while in Portugal. I think I'm off to a good start. I was even excited to eat airplane food!! That should give you an idea of how deprived my taste buds have been.

Love to all.

First Ghana Fever

Eight months and one day after arriving in Ghana, I finally became ill. By this point, one of my fellow PC group members has suffered from Malaria, Giardia, amoebas and salmonilla. Many others have been hospitalized. I woke up at my normal time of 6:30 and wasn't feeling well so I told Stephen and Dorothy that I'd sleep a bit longer. I took my temperature and it was only at 98.8.

Luckily, I had a nearly full ipod battery so I laid back and watched a few episodes of Sopranos while I continued to feel worse. At 9:30, my fever was over 101 so I thought I drink some green tea. While boiling water, a few Bormase locals came to use the phone. Neither of them spoke English particularly well but they thought it would be a good time to offer me a Dangme lesson.

-Onge saminya lo? (Are you doing well?) This is a standard greeting.
-Ooho, I be nge saminya. (No, I not doing well) Garbled response.
-No, you say 'inga saminya.' It means 'I am well.'
-I understand but I don't feel well. I am not sure the best way to respond to you.
-Oh, not English. You have to learn Krobo. Are you agree?
-Yes, I agree. I don't feel well. How do I say that in Krobo?

After he and I repeated the proper way to say "I'm feeling ill" e be ye wam? ( still don't remember) he left me alone.

The longer I felt ill, the more respect I had for my fellow volunteers who are perpetually ill. I wasn't feeling very patient and wasn't in the mood for an impromptu Krobo lesson.

I decided to fall ill on the day that insecticided was sprinkled in the latrine. Not only did my weak legs have to support my squatting body MANY times throughout the day, I had to deal with spastic flies darting back and forth trying to stay alive despite the poison they've just been fed. On one occasion, a huge cockroach fell from the ceiling onto my back while I was mid-business. I suddenly hoped I was back at my impromptu Krobo lesson.

Luckily, my Mom sent me a can of chicken noodle soup several months back. I have kept it for this particular occasion and it was SO good. Comfort food is so nice when you're sick and I really wasn't in the mood for Fufu or Banku. When Dorothy and Stephen asked me what I had eaten, I explained that I cooked a can of soup. I then went into details of how pre-prepared soup is put in a can and you can simply heat it and eat it. I then went on to describe a microwave and the variety of pre-packaged meals available in America and other countries. When dinner is typicall pounded for fifteen minutes with a 6 foot wooden pole or stirred with a five foot wooden spoon for a half hour, a microwave dinner must sound pretty strange.

My ipod battery lasted for most of 4 episodes (my brain couldn't follow "Zen and the Art of Motorcyvle Maintenance,") of the Sopranos and I spent the rest of the day watching my fever vary from 100 up to 102.8. I read the Peace Corps issued "Where there is no Doctor," to see if I had Malaria, Dysentary or Typhus but after a long night sleep I was feverless and feeling great in the morning.

My Bormase family treated me very well while I was ill which was a great comfort but nothing compared to the feeling of being bundled up in front of the TV with my real mom taking care of me.

Love to all!

So much to report

I'll have to catch up starting with my first day in Kpendua. Since my last visit, the World Hunger Feeding Program has become very active in Cheri's community. There is a small classroom within 50 feet of Cheri's front door and each morning, 60+ small children sit on the dirt floor of one room school for pre-school lessons. Cheri and I spent two mornings teaching the children various songs and playing games. I had a great time teaching the children head, shoulders knees and toes while Cheri taught lessons on hand washing and other good hygeine practices. Shea fruit has just come into season so kids are running around with slingshots trying to get free food. As a reward, Cheri and I brought Shea fruit to the class on the second day and whenever a student answered a question correctly, they got to walk to the front of the class for a Shea fruit. To make it more fun. I held the food just out of reach so they had to jump as high as they could in order to reach it. Adding a little laughter and motor skills to trivia can't hurt. I've already mentioned the flooring activities in Kpendua. We did some cooking (homemade tortillas with homemade guacamole and homemade salsa added to spiced corned beef and falani cheese for my first tacos in 8 months), at some local dishes (including adolescent pigeon that was gifted in exchange for our work flooring houses). One night while preparing dinner, a huge bug ran over the top of my foot and into the corner. This but was 3+ inches long and faster than a mouse. I had no clue what it was but it looked like half spider and half scorpion (large front legs but no stinger on the tail). Throughout the night, I had to kill three of this hairy legged beasts before we'd sealed them out of the house. When we asked Cheri's counterpart about the bugs in the morning, he told us that they're calle Pazuriyomyom (literally meaning is "lady who runs fast") and that they're totally harmful. I wonder if they name comes from the fact that the bugs run fast or that they send women running fast. From my one encounter, I can assure that both are true. I drank my first pito while at Cheri's nearest market. Northern volunteers have been raving about how good pito is so I was excited to give it a shot. Pito is millet beer and it's served out of a calabash. We sat amongst at least half a dozen chiefs while drinking our pito and answering questions. Great experience!! From Cheri's site, we took a 5 hour bus ride to Bole for Janet's 60th Birthday party. We arrived at the bus stop hours in advance to ensure we got a seat. Once we were in our seats, we learned that it's common to drastically overbook these buses. I had an aisle seat and had elbows, knees, hips and other body parts pressed against me for the entirety of the trip. While the travel was not ideal, it was great to see Janet for her 60th. We ate great food and played pin the tail on the cow (the Ghanaians got a kick out of it!!) After less than 12 hours in Bole, a group of us woke up at 4am to catch the 5am bus back to Mole (some continued to Tamale and beyond). I slept for most of the ride but would occasionally wake up with sand in my mouth (passing out on a bus in the desert with open windows will do that). By 7am, Cheri and I were looking at the oldest Mosque in West Africa. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures but it was great to hear about the 600+ years of history behind the Mosque and to hear that the tour guides providing the information got their start with the help of former PC Volunteers. From Larabanga (site of the Mosque), we went to Mole National Park. By this point, we'd heard mixed reviews and were worried that we'd spend our money without seeing animals. Quite the contrary!! Within a mile of the gate, I saw a family of warthogs and a HUGE bushbuck. Once we were dropped off at the hotel, we had to walk no more than 20 yards to be able to see a dozen elephants bathing in a water hole 200 feet below the ridge upon which we were standing. It was only 8:30am by this time and our tour wouldn't start for nearly 24 hours so we enjoyed running water, air conditioning and some much needed sleep. The following morning at 7am, we set off to meet our tour guide PK. Foolishly, Cheri and I both forgot close toed shoes and were forced to wear bulky rubber boots with no socks while trekking around in 100 degree heat. PK told us that of the 94 species of mammals that live within Mole's territory, it's only common to see 8. We saw all 8 (Three types of antelope (Kob, Waterbuck, bushbuck), three types of primates (red monkey, grey monkey and baboon), warthogs and elephants. We took a two hour walk at the end of which it sounded as though I were walking barefoot through the swamp due to the sweat in my boots. It was really amazing! After a brief swim, Cheri and I were walking to lunch when we noticed that Ghanaian children are not the only ones who get excited about Shea fruit. While waiting for our lunch, Cheri and I sat beneath a tree and watched over 20 Baboons eating Shea fruit from a tree not 30 feet away from us. Warthogs and red monkeys joined in the fun while the two of us sat with our stomachs in our throats and huge grins on our faces. It's hard to stay still when huge Baboons walk to pick up a piece of fruit at your feet but I'm happy it worked out! We woke up at 3:45am this morning to catch a bus to Tamale and while walking to the bus, half awake in the midst of a rainstorm, I made a bit of a snort to clear my sleepy sinuses and received a LOUD snort from a HUGE warthog as she slept beneath a nearby truck with her baby. Talk about a wake-up call!! 9 hours of travel later and I'm here in Kumasi. More travel tomorrow and back to Bormase.

Flooring video

This past week has been busy but I thought I'd try out the video portion before writing up the whole entry. This video shows part of the flooring process in Northern Ghana called Zoa. Women in Kpendua work all day (it's maybe 110 degrees) fetching dirt and water, spreading dirt and pounding the dirt into a firm floor for their housing compound. The following day, these women will stain the floor with the juices of a local plant and this process will protect their homes from erosion. I helped with the process(I was the only man) for fewer than two hours and spent the next two hours laying on the floor painfully dehydrated.

I hope the video works. These women are amazing and I literally got chills throughout.

Love to all

I love travel in Ghana

While working my way up North with Travis, travel was uncomfortable and long as expected. We made it from Koforidua to Techiman (7 hours) without any uncharacteristic problems. My right leg was asleep from being crammed between the wheel well and the seat in front of me. I got countless strange looks as I repeatedly stood up to adjust my position and allow a new part of my body to go numb. I've recently downloaded 60 Minutes podcasts onto my ipod which makes time go by quite well.

Travis and I met up with Jon, Mandy, Mandy's brother Griffith and Terri at Terri's house in the early evening. After a mellow night, we parted ways with Jon and took a 2 hour tro ride to Fuller Falls near in Kintampo. The sound and feel of rushing water is incredibly therapeutic and the few hours we spent there worked the travel funk out of my body just in time for a trip up to Tamale.

Jeremy, an eco-tourism volunteer based in Kintampo took our group back to the main Kintampo station where he assured us that we'd be able to get a car to Tamale without much wait. Within 10 minutes of arriving, Jeremy ran up to Travis and me and told us to rush to fill the last few seats on an inexpensive, spacious bus to Tamale. We gathered our bags and ran through the crowded tro lot only to see the driver watch us run while driving away with empty seats in his bus and two full fares unpaid.

I wasn't particularly worried about missing this bus since it seemed as though a constant stream would continue to come through. Travis, Jeremy and I sat down with some fried yams and beers and waited. Bus after bus came through but either had no seats available or accepted more aggressive Ghanaian passengers ahead of us.

After 3 hours and 3 beers, a northbound bus pulled into the station. Losing my patience, I was at the driver's window before he'd even stopped the bus. He assured me that there was only one seat and we would have to talk to his boss. Rather than following his advice, I took the one empty seat and texted Travis (from maybe 50 feet away) and told him to hurry with the bags. The 50+ passengers alighted for their 15 minute break and I strapped my bags to the outside of the overhead luggage compartments. I was going to get a ride on this bus!!! Rather than going the polite route, I thought that the driver would have a much more difficult time kicking me off the bus than telling me that I couldn't get on. Travis sat in the last remaining seat with his legs sticking into the aisle while I sat on a small plastic stool in his leg space. When the driver returned, he sat no more than 5 feet away from me and my makeshift seat offered a great view of the side of his head.

Not only were we allowed to stay on the bus, there were 2 passengers who sat on the stairs, one who sat on the 100+ degree metal console immediately next to the driver. My favorite passenger was the driver with whom I'd initially haggled. He was taking his break and trading legs of the trip with another driver. With no seats available, he simply laid pillows across the dashboard and slept while laying against the windshield.

There I was expecting to cause problems with my presence and all I had to do was hold 30 mangoes in my duffel bag (I traded luggage space with a fellow passenger) on my lap and sit on a small plastic stool for nearly three hours. Despite the less than ideal setting, I had a nice nap with mangoes on my lap and a small boys head against my knee and upon waking up, I felt that I had reached a new level of acclamation.

I'm in Tamale now and will leave shortly for Kpendua for my second visit to Cheri's village.

Love to all!

AIDS radio show

A few weeks ago several Eastern Region Volunteers took part in a monthly HIV and AIDS radio program. The below link should let you listen to the show. I was a late addition so didn't have any scripted news to share but helped answer questions toward the end.

I hope it works,

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5Z7QQMRH

It might ask you to sign up for something but you can skip that part.

Love to all!!