First Mango of the Season

Just as I was departing site enroute to Accra then Richmond for Modj's wedding, I couldn't help but glance up and notice a very encouraging sign that my last dry season in Ghana is coming to an end (sorta). Thus a photo of my first mango of the season:

Cape Coast Photo Shoot

It was about time I tro some of my favorite students to Cape Coast for a good old fashioned beach side photo shoot. The plan is print these photos out when I go back to the US for Modj's wedding and then give them to the kids as "going away" presents (they will actually be leaving Abura Dunkwa before I do.)

Trust your Ants

After long ago surrendering in the War against the Ants, I decided to live peacefully and maybe even try to learn a thing or two from them. They, after all, outnumber quite possibly 1,000,000 to one. So I started using some of my free time to watch them and these are a few things I’ve learned:

1. The sweeter the better: if It’s sticky, sugary, and sweet then ants want in.

2. Medicine and toothpaste are not delicious. I am assuming they discovered this through trial and error, but seriously they won’t even eat those tasty tropical flavored TUMS, my dad left.

3. If it comes from America and has more than 2 preservatives in the ingredient list let it lay. Truly ants will not touch a hot and fresh bowl of rice-a-roni.

4. If Ants won’t eat it- I probably shouldn’t either. Read as: Don’t send anymore packaged food from America in care packages. I have a feeling the Ants know something we don’t.

5. If Ants won’t eat it- Bella will also refuse to eat it. What do they know that I don’t? A raw hide stick has been sitting on my floor for two weeks and neither Bella nor the ants will touch it.

6. It’s easier to move large dead things that you want to eat (in their case cockroaches) in groups. I see this lesson as a heartwarming example of friendship overcoming odds.

7. When Raining, the Inside of House provides better shelter than the outside of the house. Obviously, but these ants really have their fingers on the pulse.

8. Always stay in line. I find Ghanaians could learn a thing or two from this behavior.

9. Ari is delicious. Who can argue with that? I get more itchy bug bites from ants than I do from mosquitoes.

10. Me fie ye wo fie: translated from twi as my house is your house. Share your space with the ants and they won’t get in your way that is unless you are covered with something sugary.

Mold is Back

I may have mentioned to a few of you that I may be dying of mold poisoning. Well, the dry season put an end to that but now that the rains have returned I thought I’d take some pictures for the post mortem investigation.

Disclaimer: I have spoken to the PCMO about this health issue numerous times and he claims I am not ACTUALLY dying, I just feel like shit because of my allergy to the mold.

These are the culprits:

The pictures are kind of beautiful in their own way despite the physical discomfort they cause me.

End of Mock WASSCE celebration

My students will be taking their end of High School Examinations this spring and as a result the school has been running some intensive mock-exams for them. Well after that was all over and done with a celebration was in order: and what says celebration better than a table cloth and some rice and stew? You're Invited!

ID Card Project

Here are the school ID cards my counterpart and I designed to be printed for each of the students. The pictures aren't great but I felt the need to prove I was doing something other than taking pictures of my dog and traveling to Rome.

Miss Bella

More pictures of my favorite little Ghanaian:

No more issues with insects

That is to say I no longer fear or loathe them. We’re just roommates. Here’s a pictures of my roommates hanging around the house:

Christmas and New Year’s in Roma

A much needed escape from an increasingly overwhelming experiment in cultural immersion resulted in a spur of the moment trip to Rome, Italy to meet both my Mother and bestie, Bekka. To sum the experience up in a few words: cold, delicious, and brief.

It was just a mere 10 day excursion and despite my mother’s best efforts to ensure we saw everything Roma had to offer, I did lack the relaxing people watching time that Rome is famous for. Keep in mind it was probably 40 degrees Farenheit and after living for 18 months in daily 80-90 degree weather, I was hardly down to sit in an outside café to watch people while freezing my ass off.

I’m better with pictures than words so here are a few of my favorites:

New Bike

It’s sweet and fast. It's a Schwinn.

Thank you Dan Fowler.