Accra to Kumasi to Tamale and beyond...

Hey folks! Once again, I have some unexpected internet access so I thought I'd give another update that has some more details about what I've been doing here! Yesterday we hung out at the Peace Corps headquarters in Accra so more people could get vaccinations (we have so many more to come... bleh). In the evening, we participated in sort of a Peace Corps tradition of going to the American Ambassador's house for a reception with him and his wife, along with our Ghana Peace Corps staff and other foreign service officials in the area. It was a great night (the Ambassador's house is so big!!) where we were able to unwind and see another really beautiful side of Ghana.

After a late night at the Ambassador's house, I woke up at 3:30am to leave with several other volunteers who are spreading throughout the country for the rest of the week on vision quests. We traveled for an hour to get from our site to the Capitol city of Accra, then we hopped on another bus for a 4 hour bus ride to the city of Kumasi. Thankfully there was a Peace Corps worker who met us there because bus faires and communication can sometimes be difficult with our limited knowledge of Twi (one of the most common official languages) and limited knowledge of the way things work in Ghana... So after arriving to Kumasi, we had to catch another bus to the city of Tamale, which was about a 6 hour bus ride. Needless to say, we didn't arrive in Tamale until about 7pm, which made for an incredibly long day. There is a Peace Corps policy that says we can't travel at night, so we are crashing here at the PC office until the morning when we will all split up and head to our locations for the next few days while we shadow current volunteers in their jobs. I am going to visit a water and sanitation volunteer in a small northern village for my vision quest tomorrow. My friend Mike is also traveling with me and staying with the same volunteer, so I don't feel as nervous about trying to find her and maneuvering around the area...

Even though today's bus rides were long and VERY uncomfortable at times, I am so thankful that I got to travel to the Northern Region within such a short time of coming to Ghana. After this trip, I've seen a lot of the various backdrops in Ghana- cities, tropical forests, plains, mountains, small mud hut villages, etc... I must say, even though the Northern Region is more remote, the landscapes are absolutely stunning and the villages seem to be very tight knit communities within themselves. I would absolutely love if I was placed up here, but I probably won't find out for another 2 weeks or so, and I'll be happy no matter where they send me in the country!

Well, I must close out this post because it's time to relinquish my computer rights and head to bed. On a final note, however, tonight as I and two of my friends were walking back from a nice, quite expensive (about $5 total... crazy, right?) dinner, we had to stop so my friend could add minutes to his cell phone. We just stopped at a shack on the side of the road, and we saw that there was one boy working the counter and another boy cooking something over a fire. Then we asked him what he cooking at the said "I thin you call it the rat." lol. It turns out he had just caught that rat with his hands and decided that it would make a lovely snack, so he was just perched on the side of the road cooking a rat over an open fire, skin, head, and all. lol. So anyway, remember that tomorrow as you're eating dinner, I know I will, and I'll certainly enjoy my rice and plantains a little more than usual :)

~Katie