A typical day

Oddly enough, I'm already in a bit of a routine here. I'll do my best to summarize a typical day.

5:15am- Wake up to the sounds of Ghanaian radio, chickens, dogs, goats, sheep (they sound like screaming children), and many full volume conversations.

5:15-5:45- Lay beneath my mosquito net until I can motivate to get up.

6:00-6:45am- Will (my closest neighbor) and I go for a run while greeting EVERY Ghanaian we pass in Twi. It's a bit annoying to have to greet everyone when I'm not quite awake but I could have bigger problems than excessive friendliness.

6:45-7:15am- Breakfast (usually oats, an orange and a hunk of bread)

7:15-7:20am- Bucket bath. It REALLY wakes me up the day after a good rain, a good cup of cold water to the face really does the trick. A few days ago, my Ghanaian father explained to me how I've been bathing wrong. I MUST completely dry off before I leave the shower.

7:20-8:00am- Commute to either language or sector training. Language requires 45 minutes of taxi rides while sector is a 20 minute walk.

8am-12pm- Environment lessons (language and sector alternate morning and afternoon so I'm sure you can follow). We've learned about staple crops, water conservation methods, soil types, motivational techniques and much more. It's nice having little experience, it makes for very engaging class. We also do a number of hands on projects which makes the time fly by.

12pm-2pm- Commute/Lunch time. If there's time, I'll take another bucket bath. Walking any distance at noon will soak through a shirt in no time.

2pm-5pm- Language- I'm learning Dangme with two other volunteers. It's great to learn a new language but speaking Twi to and from class and learning Dangme during class gets a big confusing. 3 hours of language is overwhelming no matter what but I've enjoyed it.

5pm-6pm- Commute/sit- I'm usually pretty spent by this time so I'll read or sit around and chat with my homestay family.

6pm-7pm- Dinner- My meals are still somewhat American style but I'm getting better at eating sticky balls of mush and soup with my hands.

7pm-sleep- I'll usually read but this span of time is seldom more than an hour or so.


This schedule is pretty standard from Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday afternoons are at the Dery Hotel. All of the trainees meet up for more cultural and general training.

Saturdays include a four hour language session and is usually followed by an inpromptu soccer practice (trainees vs. trainers in 5 weeks)

Sundays are free.

Next entry will include my first soccer game in Ghana. It was great but deserves a post of it's own.

Love to all