From Kumasi

After living so primitively this hotel is such a luxury.  We have a real bathroom, long deep tub, king size bed with very firm mattress, swimming pool even a bar at the pool.  The Wadoma Royal Hotel “Where the Smile Lingers”  Ha!!!

We have meet our counter parts and are doing workshops with them.  She is VERY pretty, about 21 yrs old, lives at the same compound, with her Mother, brother/father and their families including a Grandma that needed someone to look after her, they have for me.  She has finished what we would call high school and wants to go to school but does not know when.  Her English is good but I still word my questions a couple of different ways to see if we are talking about the same thing.  Meetings are never fun but sometimes this is soooo long, 8 – 5 with no breaks in the afternoon.  We are talking cultural interaction, HIV/AIDS information, getting down whether we know anything or just myths, real events that have happened to volunteers and how we would handle if it happen to us from both the Counter Parts and the PC Trainees and security. 

I took a walk down the road after dinner with 5 other trainees to go buy cards for my phone.  I am waiting for Lisa to get money on my phone for me so I can quit having to look for these things although they seem to sell on every corner.  We stopped at a couple of “Spots” where there is music and drinks looking for cigarettes for one of the guys.

Got a call tonight from a PCV that is hosting an HIV/AIDS clinic in her village and she was wanting to make plans.  We are going to meet her next week in Tamale at the TSO, pool money for food, then catch a ride to her village to stay in a guest house – no elec, some kind of running water, and outhouse – so we can help her with the clinic to get an idea how these things work.  I  will leave from our site meet up with 5 other PCT in Bolga then go on with the rest of our trip.

Called a PCV tonight that knows the young man that was at my site and just left this summer so I am trying to get to talk to him to get some logistics of the site.  It is a very small town but the Nyariga Doone Women’s Club is the group I will work with and I just found out they sell their baskets at Whole Foods.  I saw them before I came but I did not know anything about where I would be so I didn’t click, but found it on their web site this afternoon.  The town is very small and I live next door to the Chief wonder if I will feel different living next to Royalty Ha!!!

Guess you are caught up.  Can’t put on pictures because my camera got wet and it is ruined SICK!! Trying to decide what to do about a new one.  Take care  Barbara

Here is a utube about my village: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUshVADV2jw&feature=related