Back in Ghana

Hey all-

So write now I'm going to continue using blogger, but I'm looking for a better alternative. Adam and I are discussing the possibility of me posting Word documents as a web page.... Blogger's just letting me down, photo-wise right now. Even on my sister's super highspeed connection at her university, I couldn't get the photos to work. So I'm annoyed and ready to switch, but I will post here and let you know if I do any switching so you know where to look.

Anyway, I'm in Ghana again!!!!! It's wonderful! The harmattan came early this year, so it's not even to hot! The haze blocks the heat of the sun, enough so that I often can walk around mid-day without a problem. We were going to stay with Mus's parents, but right now, their place is kind of full- there are 3 full families living there, plus some extended family, so the grand total of occupants in the four bedroom house is a rocking 4 children and 8 adults. And it's been nice having a quieter space- the jetlag hit me hard this time. Coming over, the trip was 34 hours, most of which I didn't sleep or eat. I had a horrible headache which gave way to horrible stomach problems, neither of which let me sleep. So when I got here, there were days when I was awake for maybe 6 hours total, and the rest I spent sleeping. I'm finally now on my feet a bit more- although I still fall asleep every night at 8 pm.

But being here is wonderful. And already is a very different experience from last year. My interactions with Mus's family are very different from those with the family we lived with last time. His family is so thoughtful, so considerate, so fun and full of laughter. His mom calls him twice a day to make sure he's feeding me properly, which is funny because she always cooks me an awesome dinner every night. I'm amazed at what a good cook she is. Apparently she talked to Mus and found out the types of food I'm used to, and then adopts Ghanaian ingredients to give me something I will enjoy. She's very good at it. Like last night, she came up with this dish; it was mashed sweet potatoes with margarine, and roasted garlic and onion, and wild mushrooms. All this was mixed together- it was different from American mashed potatoes, but it was really good! And she just came up with this idea out of her head- no recipes or anything. Tonight for Thanksgiving I'm going over and we're cooking together- my mom and dad sent mus's family some wild rice and dried cranberries, and I"m going to show his mom how to cook the wild rice. I'll also fry some cornflakes, which is one of those strange holiday traditions in the Malsack household...

As for my time right now, I'm still a little lethargic but getting better. I'm spending most of my waking hours hanging out with Mus's family or typing tests for Mus's school. For those of you who don't know, Mus is teaching at an elementary school; he's in charge of the computer lab, as well as the library now. I'm just pitching in at the school when I can. They have end of term exams (yeah, in elementary school. How weird is that?) and I'm helping to get them ready. Before too long, Mus will have a break for the holidays, and we'll do some traveling.

We're also trying to work out some arrangements at the hotel we're staying in... It's really nice. A nice ceiling fan, lots of windows, a resouvoir with plenty of water, and a generator for power outages. It's really great. And there's a communal kitchen in the middle of the place we cna use. The hotel already has some long term tennants- we'd like to be added to the list if we can work out a good price. Plus, it's within walking distance of all the important places, like Mus's school and his parents house, and also the school I will be attending for Twi classes.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope to hear from you!