"Did you think you had Malaria?" - concerns of a hypochondriac

Finally a few pictures...

My apologies for the massive delay... if you had my internet connection, you'd understand though, I assure you.

Me avec corn rows... here it is, finally! I am sitting with Shanika, pre-party... fun times! Not entirely sure long they will last, as one by one they fall out in my sleep... it took three hours, and YES it hurt, imagine THREE women all pulling on your hair, add that to the fact that I am generally a bit of a whiner (no comments please family), and you end up with quite the intense headache!

Me and Naureen - our first trip to Makola Market... summed up in one word - MAYHEM.

This is the group of us that traveled to Cape Coast. We're eating (long overdue) at Hans Cottage, which has loads of alligators/crocs (I think the latter) in its moat... pretty neat.

Well as it seems, uploading pictures is quite the chore… so instead I am going to try for an exciting post. I do realize pictures are better, and I apologize, but it takes a long time to send some E-MAILS folks… so you can imagine the fun I have attempting to upload a few photos.

Anyway I am long overdue for an update, so here goes.

I was sick for a few days, hence the hiatus. I just had the flu, not malaria, don’t freak out. Although the flu was massively uncomfortable, particularly because our power outage “schedule” has gone [okay I want to write a-rye – how do you spell this? is it even a word or something I have made up? I am writing it anyway…] arye. SO, instead of three days on, one half day off, we have had 4 days of random power outages… mostly beginning in the morning, but a few overnight. It is rather hellish to try and sleep sans fan if you are already hot because you’re sick, PLUS you are using a mosquito net… I thought I might not last through until the morning on a few occasions. Luckily I did, and can continue entertaining via the web. [I imagine many a sigh of relief]

I need to say a bit about my landlady right now… we all call her “Mummy,” [don’t worry real Mom, until I start calling her random things like M and M, you have no need to worry about being replaced J ) and she is LOVELY. Her kids are all in America (am I sounding like a non-North American or what) so we are her “children” in Ghana. She is ever so sweet, and kept asking if I was fine, when she found out I was sick. She calls her children (all five) every night to make sure they too are fine, and we were sitting upstairs late one evening, so we chatting with one of her girls who is in Toronto studying engineering I believe… pretty neat.

Anyway I am rather thankful for our fantastic set-up, and probably think this to myself once a day, or every few days at least. There are a great group of us living in the ‘compound,’ which has made this month literally fly by. We often discuss how hard the transition must be for those individuals who lack the immediate support network. I really can’t imagine.

I have started taking a tro to work, mostly to save money. It costs a fraction of what it does to take a taxi, and only means I add about an extra half hour each way… plus it is far more of a real experience, and let’s face it, more money saved = more money I can spend on coffee at Vasili’s (one of two places I like to get REAL coffee). Anyway it seems worth it in the long run… especially if I do end up traveling in East Africa post-internship.

True to form I should mention something about a new treat I have discovered. Papaya with lemon. It is pretty amazing actually… no one seems to enjoy papaya here, but I have been buying it from Florence, our lovely fruit lady, pretty much daily… anyway my supervisor at work brought some that had lemon on it… the taste was about a thousand times better. I probably won’t be able to eat plain papaya anymore.

I wonder if it is beginning to get cold in Canada yet. I have been informed that in a month’s time I won’t be able to put jeans on… this is rather unfortunate as it is proving to be a good way to avoid mosquito bites at night. We’re lucky to have arrived in September, because it has been quite mild and really eased us in… although I already feel about 15 shades darker, and the sun is intense in a way that makes me feel like standing still is a surefire way to get skin cancer.

This evening is the concert! Jay-Z AND Beyonce. Pretty insane I know. Most of us wouldn’t have bought tickets if it were in Canada/our respective countries… myself included, but in GHANA? I mean it would have been a shame if we hadn’t! We are planning on queuing at six, although it starts at eight… apparently it will be mayhem. This does not entirely shock me.

This weekend should be rather relaxed, especially if tonight is insane, which it definitely will be. I am hoping to get a t-shirt for Ben… who turns NINETEEN today! For those of you who know him, that definitely should make you feel like an old timer… I mean, my baby brother is 19… when did we get so damn old? Happy Birthday buddy… I miss you guys! Lindsay is back on Sunday, so we’ll likely eat ourselves silly… back to the gym on Monday, which is good – this flu has taken a serious toll on both my appetite (a miracle?) and my gym routine. My parents sent her a lot of stuff to bring back, which is kind of exciting… a backpack without a broken zipper, some fun shoes, and a few dressy things… hooray. Who knows WHAT I will do when I get to the UK… ahaha hopefully it won’t be super cold!

People keep asking what I am doing in my job – why this is interesting I am not entirely sure, but I suppose it is worth a mention! I have been doing a variety of things, including helping draft and edit grant proposals for various projects that WANEP needs funding for, gathering background research for presentations/articles, working on my own research for the joint paper Lindsay and I are writing on children in the post-conflict peacebuilding process [specifically DDR for those poli sciers out there], and beginning to think about my personal pet project: peace education stuff… more on that later though. I enjoy the people I work with, especially my supervisor… I am especially happy to have the opportunity of working in a very local organization; it is providing me with a quite unique experience so far.

Last night quiz was absolutely shameful. We named ourselves Team Lindsay in honour of her absence, and disgraced her name… we came in second to last. But wait for it… the ONLY team we beat did NOT speak English well… absolutely horrific. We sat there thinking, we are rather smart individuals… aren’t we? Apparently not.

I am resisting paying for the internet at this café (instead I am leaching off of El Italia’s network which is next door), so it is taking ages to load the blog… hence the massive post.

Anyway I guess I better call it a day and sign off here… hopefully that was a decent enough post to make up for my lack of stories this week… it’s insane that I have been gone a month… do write and send updates!