"heeeeey PigFarmPigFarmPigFarm!!"

It’s another Sunday evening at Busy Internet – time for another post!

Josh and I had a relatively relaxed weekend here in Accra. It’s our third weekend here; our first without our QPID pals. We had a packed day yesterday, hitting up the supermarket for some staples (and I bought myself a treat – cheese!), the market for some fresh fruit, and the National Museum. We tried a new Chop Bar for a dinner of Watchi (sp?), which is rice and beans with egg or meat - one of my favourites. We chilled at an outdoor patio called Strawberry on our way home through Adabraka, the region in which our guest house is located. Today has been characterized by sleeping, reading, and laundry.

We spent this week entirely at the KITE office. We have been helping to consolidate the data from our recent survey-making in a village, as well as preparing the report which will follow. I have been really happy to have the chance to spend some more time in the office, in order to get to know some of the staff a little better. They’re incredible! At this point, plans are still up in the air, but we will most likely be heading back out “into the field” by Tuesday or Wednesday, to conduct the same survey in a neighbouring village. One thing I’m getting used to is not bothering to try to plan more than a day ahead – I kind of like it.

Successes of the past week include

1. Kicking my stomach bug with the help of the “Cipro-man”

2. Successfully riding the tro-tros to and from work for the first time – despite the scary stories, it was fairly painless. We only got lost once – we wandered around the Achimota station for a good 15 minutes, everyone we talked to pointing us in a different direction, and getting significantly covered in red mud. In the end, we found the right tro-tro, and were only 15 minutes late for work. We have decided the “Pig Farm” route is the best one. The ride has quickly become my favourite part of the day – the best part is the “mate” constantly yelling where we’re going out the window to potential passengers.

3. GOING FOR OUR FIRST RUN! For anyone who knows me even a little, you’ll know how happy it must have made me. We found a route we could trust which takes us down to the beach, along the Oceanside, and back up to the YMCA. Beautiful!

Since they may not have access to internet, I’ll fire a quick update on Lindsey and Amy, for those of you wondering about them. They’ve made it safely to their first project location. They are staying with a friend/family of the owner of the rural business centre. We hear that the family has been wonderful, and that they have been learning to cook all kinds of Ghanaian dishes. During the day, they are training the owner of the Rural Business Centre, and his employee, with some computer skills. Like us, their plans for moving to their next project location are uncertain, but will likely be at some point this week.

I’m looking forward to digging in deeper to our project in the following week, and perhaps another trip north. There’s so much to learn and think about. As always, I send all my love and best wishes home. Thanks to those who have been keeping up with the blog and sending emails – it means tons!