Laughable moment in Ghana:
this has been up for 11 months now

I would kill to have all my power tools here. Not only would it be another hobby to keep me busy but it would make things go a lot faster with the basketball court. It has taken literally 3 days to get the school carpenter to cut a board in half. With the lack of progress on the court I’m glad there have been some steps taken in my primary project.
I work with a new NGO called the Kabor Foundation that works in many fields to fight poverty in Ghana. In November I wrote up a proposal for a tourism customer service workshop for them and didn’t think too much of it. Suzy, the chairwoman, took the proposal around and got it funded and set up the entire workshop. She found me on Thursday and told me I was going to be presenting on Saturday. I didn’t really want to but I figured I could make an opening presentation. Friday I wrote up a good (at least I thought so) presentation with lots of info but figured just do a handout and cover the main points. I show up and find out I am the ONLY presenter. Suzy had 30 people there from the District Assembly and local tourism sites which is very impressive (including 5 of my weavers). My buddy Sylvanos translated most of my presentation and we ended up covering everything I had written down and then came a million questions of very good quality. It took almost 2 hours! People really seemed to get a lot out of it. To top it off Suzy made me the Project Coordinator (like 5th in charge) of the NGO which is a nice resume boaster.
This was probably the most influential thing I’ve helped with for my primary project besides the rubbish bins and my mom’s stationery and I did minimal work for it. It was definitely a nice change of pace from the usual time/payout ratio here.
I’m also getting help from a GVSU international marketing class. We’ve had people from over 30 countries come to Kpetoe now so it’s about as international as you can get. This lets the class work with a real project and above all helps me where I’m the weakest; marketing. Last semester Dr. Pope’s class helped us advertise our Kente Festival and we ended up with our biggest festival yet. They help with brochures, flyers, posters, tour groups, internet references, etc. It’s a good thing for everyone involved.
Without like our top 6 players the Blackstars still snuck out of group play and are in the quarter finals of the African Cup of Nations, go Blackstars go!

My weavers that attended the presentation.

Back in GHANA

It was so hot and the kids were bored so obviously it was water gun fight time.

While in America:
“Are you excited to go back to Ghana?”
“I’m excited to go back so I can come back to America again!”-PCV Julie Nguyen

Home was full of family, friends, laughs, supermarkets, hugs, cold weather and delicious food (gained 12 needed pounds). I answered more questions about Ghana and what I’m doing than I thought I knew answers to. It was motivating to see how interested people were.
Transitioning back worried me but within a day I was back into my routines. I’m not saying it was/is easy but it helps that I also got to bring 100 lbs of American goodness (dart board was 10).
Ghanian Moonshine (Akpethesie) wasn’t such a great item to transport. My brother and Joe (basically brother) both did a shot and didn’t feel well. The one I did was bigger and I was fine which makes one wonder about my stomach. Joe bounced back like a champ in a couple hours but my brother ended up going home for the night! Joe made the wisest choice of the night and dumped out the rest.squirt gun fun
My assignment is getting more convoluted yet it’s still calmer here. If everything doesn’t get done today there’s always tomorrow; just be sure to get something done. We aim to break ground on the visitors centre within a month. I’m hoping/praying that the basketball court will be done before. Today I’m taking the dimensions for the backboards to the school carpenter. Put those together with the rims and poles we already have, throw them in the ground, find even more sand, pave and paint it and we’re good to go. Easy right?
Dry season is in full swing (last night it got down to 88). That means bush fires to burn out animals. Therefore power is on and off and cell phone service has been horrid. That normally wouldn’t change my day much but I had to get a message from PC to everyone in my region. I rode my bike all over the district sending out 1 text message at a time if I was lucky. Still it’s great to be back and I think I’m ready. Being nonstop at home reminded me that this laidback lifestyle is pretty sweet. 10 months.


NEWS: The President of Ghana has forbidden all Government workers from watching TV during work hours. This sounds legit but that means they can’t watch the African Cup of Nations going on right now, which is all anyone is doing, especially after the attack on the Togolese team. They are not happy. We set up a radio in the weaving centre and the guys even found an English speaking station for me.

Sorry it's sideways but Desmond is a reader favorite. I had to pick from like 6 good shots of his moves..

The exams at AGOTIME SECONDARY SCHOOL (where the court is being built). Too hot inside the buildings.

Akpeteshie distiller James. Palm wine goes through this twice to become Akpeteshie.

foundation of court filled w/sand

Michael's class only had 1/2 day of school so they came over to play catch.

Lately the Hammonton (I spell it differently each time I think) season has been in full effect. It’s when the winds change and the temperatures do too. After this it gets really hot. Right now the nights are cool and there’s a constant breeze. It sounds refreshing but lots of people, especially PCVs, get sick during it. I’ve been sick for like 2 weeks now but only 1 really bad night and day. That night I had to put on my longsleeve tshirt for the 1st time here and covered up with my lightly used sheet and was still freezing; it wasn’t fun at all. The next day I just stayed in bed, read, and listened to BBC and now am feeling a bit better.
As for the basketball court, our sand man (literally) finally found a new source and got us the needed loads. Now the foundation is filled and it’s a good spot to stop as both the school and I will be going on break and the sand can settle. When I get back we will get the backboards made, install the poles, lay the concrete, and paint the court. That will still probably take a while but overall we’ve moved pretty well even if it doesn’t seem like it to someone in the States.
All the required information for the visitors’ centre will be with my NGO as of Wednesday so hopefully by the time I get back things will be ready to roll on that too. Lots of stuff has been happening in Kpetoe so it’s pretty cool. Topping all of this we no longer have a “tv hut,” we now have a building with walls and a ceiling fan! Next thing you know that internet café that’s been “coming soon” since March will open.
With my trip home this close the last week has gone by so slowly! My friends here have given me presents for my parents and will cover for me on work, yardwork, and bills. I’ll miss them but I think I’ll be so busy catching up with family and friends that the 3 weeks will fly by. My computer lessons with my friends here haven’t quite reached the point where I’ll let them blog for me however, so this will be the last entry until I get back January 8th.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Our first try at the floorplans for the visitors' centre. All those years of Chuck Messengers Architecture class being used.

Poles for the basketball court at the welders.

This is my token cute African kid for the day. Ladies I'll be home in 10 days; I'm building him a court.

Our initial signboard, we'll see how much it changes.

Internet everyday last week was fun but once I found out I was healthy I was ready to get back to site. While I was gone there was absolutely no progress on the basketball court which was disappointing but we’ve made up for it lately. Still doesn’t look like it will be done when I go home but Friday Mukaila and I finally tracked down some poles! The welder did them over the weekend and yesterday Mukaila got them delivered all the way to the school. Now we just need to find some more sand (something my dad says Africa shouldn’t run out of).
I’ve also been getting kente ready to take home and meeting with our tourism group about the plans for the visitors’ centre. We get to design our billboards and pick 6 locations throughout the country to put them. We also got to design the actual visitors’ centre within given dimensions; this is the stuff that I love to do and the guys are excited about it.
I have only been weaving about an hour a day so progress is slow on my latest pattern but we did set a 1 day record with 28 visitors on Saturday. 18 were Ghanaians from Accra and spent more time watching me weave than any of the other guys. I thought they’d be mad but they were amused. Bright and Joshua also decided that it was insane that I had been here for 15 months without having the “meal of the chiefs.”
One night I asked what they did for Christmas since I had only been in my village for like 2 weeks last Christmas and didn’t know anyone. They said go to church and have a special Christmas meal. Worst decision I’ve made in Ghana was asking what that meal was.
Cat. Only men are allowed to eat it the “meal of the chiefs.” They wouldn’t let me go home without trying it. Joshua tracked down one and told me how feisty it was. They were so excited about it all week. Sunday rolls around and they come to my house to take me to where it’s prepared. On the way we did a shot of Akpeteshie to “grow our appetite.” Rule to live by from Danny V: “Anything you need to take a shot before eating can’t be good.”
Akpeteshie is by far the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s Ghanaian Moonshine, double distilled palm wine that tastes like gasoline mixed with tequila that’s “industrial strength alcohol.” Seriously, it’s disgusting but it’s very cheap and gets the job done.
There was plenty of cat to go around especially since I only had 2 pieces. They made fun of me a lot for not eating much. By the time we were done I was late for my tourism meeting (usually I wait hours for them) but no one was mad, they were so proud that I’d finally had cat.

Thanksgiving in a small World

Congrats to Lumen Christi football for their 8th state title!!
Grand Valley is moving towards another national title too so that helps me deal with Arsenal's falling apart of late.
Thanksgiving at the Ambassador’s was very fun. I was the first to arrive at embassy employee’s house of the 3 of us staying there. You might not think much of it but it had Armed Forces Television, hot water, and AC in every room. I watched Home Alone 2 one morning!
Me-What state you from?
Host-Michigan.
Me-What high school did you go to?
Host-You wouldn’t know it because it’s not around anymore but it was St. John’s.
Me-Which combined with St. Mary’s to form Lumen Christi.
Host-…yes
Later that night we figured out that he’s friends with my aunt who is now a nun. If you met Sister you would know why after he found that out he was even nicer to us.
Thanksgiving had awesome food that I have never been more thankful for. It was open bar with actually good drinks too. Before I knew it the Ambassador was mixing my drinks and from there it got fun. I did lose my Adidas sandals that I had worn for over 430 straight days here. My feet have so many blisters from this new pair I’m trying to wear now.
While hear I also sold a lot of kente to other PCVs or Expats that I’ve met. I’m getting to know more and more Expats and they are an extremely interesting bunch. I feel pretty lame compared to most of them but they can’t weave kente so it’s ok.
I’m stuck in Accra for Midservice Medical so I can’t really do too much for the court. I did what I could so they could get some stuff done while I was away but we’ll see. It’s Hammaton Season which means the changing of the winds and I’ve got a cold. This is the first time I’ve been sick in Ghana.
Today I have a meeting with my supervisor about starting work on our visitor’s center! The plan would now be to break ground by February. There are a few steps we have to do until then which should keep me kinda busy when I get back from the states! 17 days!
Happy December!!